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I remember when I was little, I went to the toilet after watching an episode of The X-Files and while I was sitting on it, I was convinced a monster might emerge from the pipe, grab my bottom, and take me with it.

One reason we consume horror is to invigorate ourselves. Exposure to terrifying acts, or even the anticipation of those acts, can stimulate us both mentally and physically in opposing ways: negatively (in the form of fear or anxiety) or positively (in the form of excitement or joy). Watching a scary TV series can simultaneously activate both types of stimulation, with the most pleasure experienced at the most fearful moment. The biochemical level inside our bodies changes; fright can trigger the release of adrenaline, resulting in heightened sensations and surging energy.

But sometimes it's the horror that finds us. Interested in these cases, Reddit user Noahs_25 made a post on the platform, asking everyone "What is the scariest story you know that is 100% true?" And the replies came pouring in.

Continue scrolling to read some of the most chilling ones, and don't miss the talk we had with photographer Alicia Rius, who loves exploring abandoned places.

#1

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) I would call it creepy more than scary, but my mom's friend had a small house and lived alone. She noticed weird things: a batch of soup depleting faster than usual, missing eggs, damp towels in the hamper when she hadn't used any, extra dishes in the dishwasher, etc... This went on for months, she thought she was just being forgetful. One day she heard some thumping around in her attic and went to investigate. She found some make shift living quarters. Small radio, hot plate, sleeping bag, pillow, food wrappers, etc... She called the cops who came to keep an eye on the place. They ended up catching a homeless man climbing a tree, trying to sneak into her attic window. He had been doing this almost daily. He would wait for her to go to work, then go down stairs and help himself to food and amenities. The funny part about this story is they got to know each other throughout the ordeal, and the guy was actually very respectful, just down on his luck. She didn't press charges, instead, let him move in, helped him get a job, and he lived in the attic until he got back on his feet. Creepy s**t with a happy ending.

Saganic , Mika Baumeister Report

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SheamusFanFrom1987
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Now that's more of an ending that we need with the world being one giant, never-ending horror movie.

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You could say Rius got attracted to the unknown during her childhood, when her curiosity pushed her to see other people's houses. Now, she enjoys visiting everything from deserted medical facilities to closed places of worship; sites that some of us would dread even from a distance.

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Of course, that doesn't mean that the photographer feels at home in those places. "A few things creep me out [during these trips]," Rius told Bored Panda. "The first is the fear that someone is already in the building. Someone that can hurt me."

#2

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) Two off duty US soldiers were on a train in France. When walking past a toilet they recognised the loading noises of rifles coming from inside. They waited outside and jumped the guy when he came out. He was a terrorist who was about to go through the train killing people.

jplevene , Chris Yang Report

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zububonsai
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Thank god..., or rather these soldiers for knowing how loading weapons sounds like a n d acting accordingly (non-religious non-American here).

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Then, there's the environment itself. "The state of some of the places I've been is really decayed. They are very dangerous to go into. From falling ceilings to holes in the ground," Rius continued.

"And last, the feeling that there are spirits or energies floating around. I get a feeling of weight in my chest when I photograph abandoned homes that are still full of personal objects. It feels like I'm not alone. I never get this sensation if I take pictures of an empty factory, for example."

#3

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) When my aunt was about 16 she was working at a grocery store and had a boss in his mid twenties. One day he called the house and was begging her to sneak out and hang out with him. She was considering it because it was her boss and she didn’t want to say no. My mom, who is two years younger than her, always gets these incredibly spot on “gut feelings”. She had one that night and begged my aunt not to go out with him.

Thankfully she listened to my mom and told him no which made him really angry. He ended up going out that night and meeting another girl. He took her out to some cliffs and r*ped her and pushed her off. Somehow she lived through this and was able to get him sent to prison. I feel so sorry for that girl and so thankful for my mom and her gut feelings.

Always trust your gut.

pessimisticoptimista , Franki Chamaki Report

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KnightOwl
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

About 20yrs ago, my brother had made plans to go out with a couple of friends, just as he was getting ready to leave I suddenly got a horrible feeling that he shouldn't go. I begged him not to go, even blocking the door to stop him leaving, we argued for a while before I managed to bribe him by telling him I'd order his favourite food and give him £30. Later that night he got a phone call from his best friend who was in the hospital. His friend hadn't been happy when my bro cancelled their plans but decided to go out anyway, he'd met up with 2 female friends and they decided to just go for a drive. (He'd recently gotten his licence and his first car, so loved going on long drives) after driving around for a few hrs they got into a serious car accident. My bro's friend broke both his legs but somehow managed to drag one of the girls from the car which was leaking petrol, it burst into flames killing the 2nd girl. The surviving girl was paralysed and never walked again. Trust your gut!

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But these difficulties make Rius's explorations and the shots that she brings from them all the more worth it. She sees abandoned places as time capsules, waiting to tell forgotten stories about our past to anyone who dares to step inside.

And that's the thing with fear. We can fight it. With gradual, controlled exposure to the thing we're afraid of through repeated and prolonged contact (maybe with the guidance of a professional as well), we can develop an ability to cope and even get past our petrifying experiences.

#4

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) I spent my first 10 years in New Delhi. Back then, we would find dead women (burnt with acid or set on fire) and it used to be so "normal". Like oh look, another one of those dowry cases where her family didn't pay the husband enough money so they killed her.

Many years later i revisited those memories and realised how insane that actually was! I'd totally forgotten about all that.

saywat30 , Aquib Akhter Report

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Sarah Parker
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's horrific. Humans are far worse than any fictional monster could be.

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#5

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) Was working the evening shift at a gas station. Man comes in all disoriented. I go to help him out. he has a gash on his head and doesn't know where he was. I couldn't see any crashes around so assumed he had fallen or something. Normally we are supposed to stay inside the glass shielded register area whenever anyone is in the store. I, being a nice human being, went to help while calling the police/EMS. They got there and checked him out. They thought his head may have been fractured. Took him to the ER. I went back to work. Cops stopped back by for some coffee a few hours later. They told me the guy got hit by a baseball bat trying to break into a little girl's bedroom and was wanted for r*pe and murder in two other states. I never left the register area at night again.

anon , adrian susec Report

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#6

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) The story of Mary Vincent always stands out to me.

In 1978, 15 year old Mary was hitchhiking. A man named Lawrence Singleton picked her up.

He brutally r*ped her, and eventually made her get out of the car. She planned to run, but he noticed, and cut both her arms off. He threw her into a ditch/ravine and left her to die.

She packed her stumps with mud to stop the bleeding and spent all night crawling out.

She eventually makes it to the highway and starts walking, naked and covered in blood. The first car that saw her sped away in fear. The second car was a couple on their honeymoon. They picked her up and she survived.

-spookyxghost- , Dmitry Shulga Report

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Manomnomnom
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This was one of the most tragic and horrifying stories I've ever heard, but I would like to add a happier note to this. Despite losing both her arms, Mary is now a professional artist (painter).

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#7

Alright, so my pre-school teacher who also ended up somehow changing jobs and becoming my 11th grade english teacher had a super interesting life. Her mother had some super famous book, her father worked high up in the government, but enough about her family. First, let me describe her to you, she had dark hair and blue eyes (you'll see why this matters in a minute). She told this story every single year to the new students in her class...when she was younger, she was driving through Arizona on a two-way road while her boyfriend at the time was following behind her on his motorcycle. For those who don't live in Arizona, certain stretches of it can be quite isolated and deserted. She said that they were on a long drive (it's been about 6 years since I was in her class so details are fuzzy), but basically her and her boyfriend both knew the destination where they were heading by memory and eventually got separated by a few miles. A man who was behind her in a Volkswagen beetle kept pulling up beside her into the other lane (no one was coming) and motioning at her to pull over. She somewhat ignored him the first few times, but he kept doing it and began getting more frantic each time. She said that she believed that he spotted something wrong with her car, so she saw a parking lot off the road for a deserted gas station and pulled over. Once pulled over, she said that she instantly got an eerie feeling. The man was suspicious and kept telling her that he saw something wrong with her headlight and insisted she get out of the car so he could show her what he meant. Her boyfriend who was a few miles behind her, eventually caught up and spotted her car at the sketchy gas station. Right as she was out of the car, her boyfriend began to pull in. As he did that, this man got into his car and SPED off like his life depended on it.

They later were able to identify that the man was Ted Bundy. She said she cannot imagine what would have happened to her if her boyfriend had been even another 3 miles behind her on the road.

january-7 Report

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#8

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) An acquaintance of mine sent his son to triathlon camp in Texas.

A week later, his son came back from camp. The next day, the son was complaining of a headache. Four days later, he was dead. Healthy, happy, fit 12 year old one week, dead the next.

Turns out the lake had [Naegleria fowleri], the brain-eating amoeba. Nothing scares me as irrationally as already being dead and waiting for your body to catch on.

persondude27 , Sebastian Beck Report

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#9

From when I was delivering pizza

I walked up to a trailer park house and knocked, dude answers the door wearing a swastika armband and he’s bald, I tell him the total and he invites me inside while he gets the money there’s 10 more dudes all bald all wearing arm bands, sitting in a circle in metal chairs guy gives me the money, I go to leave, he grabs my arm and gets in my face and asks “do you like n****rs?” I don’t want to be murdered so I respond “nope not at all hate those f*****s” and leave as quick as possible.

The scary part is every other delivery driver but me that night was black and they might have never been seen again if I didn’t take the delivery.

LewisRyan Report

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#10

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) My friend's boss bought an Audi A4 convertible, back when they were new and interesting. One of the talking points was the pop-up roll hoops that were hidden unless you rolled it.

A few months after buying it he got to test those roll hoops out, as he lost control and skidded down a steep bank about 10m (~35ft) deep.

The roll hoops did their job, and he survived with just cuts and scratches from the bushes he'd plowed through. The car ended up the right way up and he got out, walked back up the bank to the side of the road, then got on the phone to the police to report the accident. While he was standing there a driver from a car that had seen the accident came over to speak to him.

Approaching from behind the other driver asked if he was okay. My friend's boss turned around to reply and dropped dead. His neck had been fractured, but was in one piece right up until he turned his head, when it severed his spinal cord.

BigBadAl , Michael Jin Report

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SheamusFanFrom1987
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Dang!!! Talk about sudden death after surviving the odds :-O

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#11

A female friend in college disappeared from a party at another university in the city town 25ish miles north of our school. She had arrived with another friend who I believe had driven. At some point she split off to play corn hole or something and was later inexplicably gone. Phone calls went to voicemail, police were called, but she was simply missing.

About 10 days later she was found by a homeless man who witnessed her crawling up to a bus stop in the city, begging for help. She had broken a leg and an arm, and was in very bad shape.

At the (quite large party) she had her drink secretly drugged and was then led off by a group of men into their vehicle. She was taken to an apartment where she was drugged, repeatedly r*ped, and locked in a small room in between with a bucket to use as a bathroom. At one point after being injected with heroin and r*ped, she somehow managed to convince one of her captors to allow her to use the actual bathroom to clean herself up. This bathroom had a small window to the outside, and with the shower running, she managed to squeeze out and fell from the third story into a large hedge/bush. From there she crawled from the apartment complex to the road and bus stop, where the homeless man saw her and called police. Many cars stopped upon seeing her, making her captives unable to recapture her.

Three men were later arrested for the crime after surveillance cameras allowed police to locate the apartment which she jumped from. She returned to our university almost two years later, graduated, and became a nurse. She was obviously traumatised, never "partied" again, carried a gun everywhere she could, and somehow moved on with life. It was a terrifying tale none of us ever forgot. She was an 18 year old freshman when the incident happened.

KrombopulosDelphiki Report

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Kales
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She sounds like a badass. I can't believe the hell she went through. I hope she's still doing okay.

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#12

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) There was a woman who worked in a science lab who spilled two drops of organic mercury on the back of her gloved hand. Those two drops destroyed her entire nervous system and brain.

radseven89 , Julia Koblitz Report

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Camilla Koutsos
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She's a cautionary tale. She was wearing gloves that were dimethylmercury-permeable. She told medics what her prognosis was five months later, and was proven correct. She was a poisons expert and professor of chemistry. Standard PPE for handling organic mercury changed as a result.

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#13

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) My mom was driving, and a guy ran out in the road, so she stopped so she couldn’t hit him.

It was night time, so it was pretty dark out, and 3 other men emerged from the forest around, all trying to use the door handles of her car to get in. She locked them luckily, and gassed it to the nearest town.

Remember to always lock your car after you start it, because if it wasn’t unlocked who knows what would’ve happened to her.

Oxidias , Zoltan Tasi Report

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SheamusFanFrom1987
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Locked car doors saves live. Which is why I insist on doing so up to today, moreso when I got my new car.

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#14

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) This is a hometown story that stayed with me. It happened literally right around the corner from where I grew up, maybe a two minute drive away.

Judy Kirby murdered six children and one adult by intentionally driving the wrong way on a divided highway in an attempt to commit suicide. She had been hospitalized for depression, but had also just ended a relationship with her ex husband's brother and was by some reports involved in drug trafficking and fearing an imminent arrest.

She picked up her sister's son, who was celebrating his tenth birthday that day. She then loaded her three children into the car, supposedly to pick up a gift for the nephew. Instead, she went missing with the carload of kids. A short time later, calls started coming in to 911 about a car going the wrong way down the highway at a high rate of speed. They made it about 90 seconds before a head-on collision with another vehicle, driven by a father with two children and another child along for the ride.

The crash annihilated both vehicles. The only survivors were Kirby herself, and the child who was along for the ride in the other car. There were pieces of children all over the highway. She was sentenced to 215 years in prison.

chrisw1984 , Iván Rivero Report

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SheamusFanFrom1987
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Depression is one thing, but for literally murdering that many kids, may she rot in her cell forever til the end of her days.

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Susan Raskin
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

as a nurse, we were always trained to know that suicide is one breath away from homicide.You must be very careful when dealing with a suicidal person. Their rationale for taking others with them? Only they know but it could be to hurt others to cause pain to survivors, because the suicidal person is in deep pain, or perhaps they feel the world is so horrible they are doing you a favor by ending your life too.

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Kathryn P. Schmitt
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i don't understand why suicidal people want to take others with them.

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Monday
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah. You really wana kill yourself? Fine, that's your right. It's your life and you can do with it what you want, but as soon as you involve someone else you're scum.

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Delta Dawn
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sounds more like psychosis than “regular” depression.

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Nathan Pogorzala
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There was just an accident 3 days ago in my hometown where 6 kids stole a car and were going crazy excessively fast on a notorious highway. they crashed and 4 out of the 6 kids died horribly while, like this story, the driver and ringleader lived. It seems like everyone always dies except the one who "deserves" it.

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K1tt3n
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Unless the survivor is a soulless shell of a person, I'd like to think that the faces of those they so senselessly and stupidly killed will hang over their heads and haunt them for the rest of their miserable lives. I hope...

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Black Pearl
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is so f****d up. I can't believe someone would be willing to kill that many innocent children because they want to kill themselves. I hope the guilt from killing those children hangs over her head for the rest of time.

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Fluffy mommy panda
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why would you try to take a bunch of kids out with you. Like why even do that. That is so sad.

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Mykidsartrocks
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Andrea Yates... Killed her own kids but not herself because suicide is a sin and she killed her kids to save their souls. Her husband, Rusty, was never charged with a crime despite leaving her alone with the children after he had been told she was dangerous. It is sad really. So many messed up people in this world.

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Bubs623
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why do the drivers of these crashes or drunk driving always seem to survive??

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Vix Spiderthrust
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, alcohol is a muscle relaxant. You're less likely to get injured in an accident if you're relaxed. So that might go some way to explaining why drink drivers tend to walk away.

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Billie Templeton
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm an aunt. I would willingly give my LIFE for my nieces. I can't imagine anything more horrible than what this POS did. (And her poor sister! Having her son murdered by his aunt.) this makes me sick.

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Poppy
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I suffer with depression and I have been suicidal and made a couple of attempts. In both of those attempts I didn't try to kill other people at the same time. Depression is not an excuse for killing others in your suicide attempt.

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Billie Templeton
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Poppy I hope you are feeling better. Might I suggest checking out "The Mighty?" Peace and shalom

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PoppyFlower
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It always seems as the ones trying to do this stuff or is drunk, always survives..

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Java Addict
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If this is the case I'm thinking of I saw a documentary about this, her family was in complete denial that she chose to do this and kept hiring experts looking for a reason (drunk, on drugs, etc) but they never found any.

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Kat Min
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That is not depression. She ran amok, she just did't use a gun.

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Avery August
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's called karma people! Karma, if you want more information listen to Taylor Swift's song.

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ButFirstCoffee
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I live in a house where there 2 murders and 1 suicide happened 20 years ago. The mother, a nurse, had severe depression. She poisoned her husband and teenage son (she had planned to poison her daughter who was in college in another city, but couldn't be there that night). She set the house on fire and killed herself. Depression is terrible. I heard that they were a super nice family. When we visited the house, we felt a positive vibe.

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kkathleen517
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Was it really necessary to say that c**p at the end? About bodies on the road?

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zeli papa
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If I was the judge ,death penalty by firing squad immediately no wasting tax payers money

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#15

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) Artimus Pyle the drummer from Lynard Skynard survived a plane crash and walked to a nearby house only to be shot by the homeowner. The homeowner saw a bloody long-haired man and winged him. Pyle survived that as well and made a full recovery.

Rickson20 , wikimedia.commons Report

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Sarah Parker
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The only thing I get from this is 'judgmental a-hole homeowner'. Sees blood and long hair and first thought is to shoot? People need in-depth psychological evaluations before anyone considers selling them killing machines.

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#16

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) Years ago when I was 8 my family lived in this big weird house kind of on the edge of a small town. The school district was in the middle of a big restructuring so even though we were only a couple grades apart my brother and I went to different schools and took different buses. This left me as the last person to leave in the morning and the first person to get home in the afternoon, which meant it was my job to make sure all the lights were off and the door was locked.

One morning I noticed the basement door was open and the light was on so before I left I turned off the light and closed the door. When I got home that afternoon the light was on and the door was open again. I just assumed that I’d forgotten to actually take care of it when I noticed it in the morning so I went over to turn off the light and close the door. When I got to the top of the basement stairs I looked and there was a big shadowy male figure towards the bottom of the staircase. I freaked out, slammed the door and pushed a bunch of boxes against it and then went and hid in my closet. For months I didn’t tell my family because I was positive what I had seen was a ghost and didn’t think anyone would believe me.

Then about a year after that incident my mom and her boyfriend realized that small amounts of money had been going missing for months (totaling around $800-900, but never more than $60 at once). So we all walked around the house with flashlights trying to figure out how they could have gotten in. Turns out some creep was climbing in through a small hole in the outside of the house, shimmying through a crawl space, then coming up into the house through the basement. Realizing I had been alone in the house with him on at least one occasion was one of the worst, most terrifying moments I’ve ever had.

wesailtheharderships , Jérémie Crausaz Report

#17

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) One of my friends had someone following her home, hiding in the bushes so they couldn't be seen. She booked it to her house, got inside, and he was watching the house from the outside. She called the cops. They come along quietly and got the jump on him. He had condoms, handcuffs, and a knife. When they got his DNA, it turned out that he was linked to a half dozen r*pes in the area. She credits her regimen of running sprints to outrunning him that night and firmly believes she would have been r*ped if she couldn't outrun him then.

JimmyL2014 , Brad West Report

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Serial pacifist
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why is BP censoring the word R A P E? It is a word that names a despicable deed, the word itself is not “guilty”.

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#18

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) Nutty Putty Cave in Utah was sealed up in 2009 after John Jones was trapped upside-down in a small crevice while spelunking. When rescue teams finally arrived he had been upside-down for so long that his legs were drained of blood.

The only possible way to have gotten him out was to break his legs, which would’ve sent him into fatal shock. He died after being trapped for 28 hours. His body’s still in the cave.

anon , Michael Costa Report

#19

My wife arrived at her Parents house that she was currently living in due to health issues of her Fathers. She got into the house (no one else was there at the time) and instead of going further in, stopped in the first room that held the computers which was right by the door. She went into the room and was messing around on the internet when one of the cats came into the room. Her cat to be precise.

Well this cat was super laid back. Loved everyone and never picked fights or got aggressive. He would literally lay down and let squirrels throw pecans at him from trees and do nothing but take it. Not tonight however, tonight he was growling and hissing intermittently while standing between my Wife and the entrance to the rest of the house. A laid back sweet old cat was acting like he was going to rip out a throat.

Turns out they found the back door wide open (super bad, her parents and her NEVER leave the door unlocked much less open). She came to find out later from those cops that they were hunting down a serial rapist that had been spotted in the area and that was why there were rolling down a safe (normally) residential street. Super spooky.

Life pro tip? Always trust the cat.

runostog Report

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Xenia Harley
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes, I had two cats who would growl like dogs if someone came to the door that was unfamiliar. Cats can be protective like dogs.

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#20

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) My friend tripped and fell onto the tracks, landing his face onto the 3rd rail. We kinda stood there in absolute shock because we thought he was dead, but then he said, "can I move? Will I be electrocuted?" We told him to move instantly and he did, we got him off the tracks, and no less than 2 minutes later a train went zipping by. I think the 3rd rail turned on seconds after his face came off of it. I know that's not scary to a lot of people, but to me it was because I would have lost a close friend back when I was about 12.

tacolikesweed , Boris Stromar Report

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Booklover<3
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't live in a place with subways or train tracks, but I've heard things about this third rail, can someone please explain??

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#21

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) A guy i worked with was riding his dirt-bike through the woods and somebody hung a cable between two trees. My buddy caught his throat on it and saw the dude steal his dirt-bike. Woke up in the hospital with a lacerated throat and a broken larynx. Pretty crazy what somebody will do for something so cheap.

Beatleborg22 , Vitor Rossetto Report

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Bella10
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Unfortunately a lot of the world don’t have a childhood that is able to provide them with safety and ethics. They view life as a dog eat dog world and you take what you can get to survive. That dirt bike was probably not at all cheap to them, and they would have had no empathy for the person they had to steal if from.

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#22

Ex girlfriend at just under 18 years old had her father attempt to r*pe her in her sleep. Woke up to him attempting and struggled endlessly until finally he got up and left. Few days later he tried to offer her money for sex. A few weeks later she turned 18, packed up her stuff and I got her out of the house while he was at work. Over the course of the next 3 years I stayed in a relationship with her while she lashed out and completely let loose. Cheating, partying, lying, fighting, etc. It completely ripped the girl's life apart and she lost all inhibition. I stayed so she had a constant to come "home" to, we're both in agreement that if I didn't stay she'd probably be dead. We split up about 5 years ago, but are now best friends and she's living a great life.


It was hard for me not to do something to that dude....

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xxx
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How heartbreaking. You are a very good person.

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#23

Happened to me, have posted about it before. I was around 11 years old and I woke up in the middle of the night to a man straddled on top of me with his hand over my mouth and nose. He told me to roll over and not scream. I rolled onto the floor and tried to scream bloody murder ( I say tried cause when you are truly terrified it can take a second to find your voice) my mom heard me screaming and came in and fought with the guy, he was at least 6' she was 5'3" and scared him enough with the fighting and screaming that he took off out the window he had come in through. Never did catch him.

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#24

This is from South Africa. The woman is called Alison Botha and she was abducted, r*ped and then choked until she blacked out. She was driven into a secluded area, stabbed 30 times in the abdomen and 16 times in the throat and left for dead on the side of the road.

She had to use her shirt to keep her organs inside her body and hold her head up because of a damaged muscle in her neck and proceeded to crawl to the road where she was eventually spotted and rescued.

She survived the attack and now does motivational speaking I believe.

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#25

I've posted this before, but mine: When I was a baby, my dad played on a softball team. Typical social team, out for beers and pizza after with the guys, family event-type-thing. My parents were good friends with 2 of the other couples, both of them had young kids as well.

On this occasion, the other 2 couples had left their kids at one of their houses, with a baby sitter they were splitting. They invited my parents back to the house to have some more beers that night, but I was being fussy and my mom nixed the idea (though they would 100% have normally gone back to hang out)

Well, it turned out my fussiness on that day saved our lives. When the other parents got back to the house, they walked in on a home invasion. Two men had broken in, tied up the kids and the baby sitter (and her boyfriend), and were waiting for the parents. Took the parents hostage as well, and made the dads drive with them to banks/a grocery store where one dad was manager and clear out accounts/a safe.

They then came back to the house, and slaughtered both families, the baby sitter, and her boyfriend. Kids included.

They caught the 2 guys later on. My dad attended the trials, and said it was the first time he had ever had thoughts of supporting the death penalty. It still gives me chills to know how close we came to getting killed that day, too.

WhoIsYerWan Report

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SheamusFanFrom1987
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I seriously hope both those scumbuckets eventually end up being flayed or get their miserable skulls bashed in while in prison!!! Then, may they spend their eternities on Purgatory's flaying board!!!

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#26

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) The Lake Nyos Disaster. The lake periodically belches a cloud of invisible carbon dioxide gas that suffocates everything within a 16 mile radius. In 1986, over 1700 people and all their livestock died without even understanding what was happening to them.

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Headless Roach
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

By Wikipedia: "A degassing system has since been installed at the lake, with the aim of reducing the concentration of CO2 in the waters and therefore the risk of further eruptions."

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#27

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) Tough to pick just one because there is true evil in humanity out there. Stuff like the blood eagle ritual is pretty awful.

But in terms of really scary...probably stuff that just kind of happens on accident. Like the story of Kyle Plush. Just awful. He was in a minivan that has one of those back seats that you can push backward to lay flat in the trunk for extra storage space. He went to grab something in the trunk, leaning over the seat, and it tipped backward and pinned him, upside down, against the back of the car in a position such that he couldn't get himself out.

He called the police TWICE. The second time he called and gave them a very clear description of the car.

"Plush called 911 again at around 3:35 p.m. Police said this time he provided a description of the vehicle as he desperately pleaded for help but couldn't hear the dispatcher. Isaac said the information didn't get relayed to officers at the scene.

"This is not a joke," the teen said over 911. "I'm almost dead."

He asked the dispatcher to "tell my mom I love her if I die."

Just a horrible, random accident that could have happened to anybody. This kid didn't go looking for trouble, like he didn't try and go down a chimney or go caving like other people who have gotten stuck and suffocated. He was just reaching for something in his trunk, got pinned, and then was not found in time. Nightmarish for the kid and his family.

beepborpimajorp , CincyPD Report

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Black Pearl
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is one of my worst fears. Dying by some freak accident without anybody there to help and not being able to say goodbye to anyone. It just seems like such a terrible way to die.

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#28

This may just horrify me more than others:

Dude was working on a tuna steamer and they closed him in and steamed him. I can't help but imagine that as anything but a truly terrifying and painful way to die.

One of the main reasons I never could bring myself to do real factory labor is because I don't trust people enough to not tuna steam me.

EDIT: Thanks for the gold. RIP Jose Melena.

anon Report

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Jaaawn
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's why I prefer jobs that vary day to day. As soon as you give in to monotony, you can slack off a bit and become less aware/careful (albeit unintentionally.)

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#29

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) The 1904 Cincinnati Privy Disaster. In 1904, nine schoolgirls drowned in an outhouse after the floor collapsed. They literally drowned in human waste.

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#30

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) i was in a c**ppy motel. the room had bedbugs. i was too exhausted to go to the front desk. i just needed to make it until the morning. i slept in the tub. hours later i hear someone breaking through the window. i had a big knife with me and ran out into the room to find a man halfway through my window. we stared for awhile at each other in shock. i think we both were scared. then he says," is this your room?" im like," yes, this is my room man!" more staring. then he slowly starts backing out while cursing me for leaving my window unlocked and not expecting him to break in.

motel on watt ave, sacramento.

anon , Natalia Yakovleva Report

#31

My long-term partner decided to end his life suddenly and unexpectedly a few years ago. He was the happiest person I knew and even with 20/20 hindsight, videos, poring through old messages etc I wouldn't be able to identify any warning signs.

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KnightOwl
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The fact that we never know what's going on in other people's minds is both terrifying and incredibly sad. So many people get so good at hiding their pain that no-one around them has any idea they're struggling. I know a few people who've committed suicide and most of the time it's a huge shock to the people around them. Always check in on people around you, even if they seem happy and 'normal' sometimes all it takes is one person reaching out and showing some kindness to save a life.

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#32

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) In my town in the early 90's there was a notorious killer that had all of BC, Canada on watch. My wifes mother (years and years before I knew them) had been home alone while her Husband was in England doing tree surgeon work (arborist)

She was in her laundry room when a man walked up from her basement, completely scaring her, she freaked out and said what the hell are you doing here?

He said he was friends with her husband and was just coming to see if he was here, apparently he told him he could just walk in. Which she knew was b******t.

She was smart enough to tell him that he was just at the store and would be back any minute. He said he would wait outside for him, as soon as he left she called the police, but he was long gone by the time they got here.

Two weeks later, the killer was caught, his mugshot put on TV and it was the guy in her house.

sixesand7s , Keagan Henman Report

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Black Pearl
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wait I'm confused. Why would he not just kill her and then wait for the husband?

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#33

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) My dad and some friends got drunk and went for a drive on some back roads and were going as fast as the truck would go as teenagers. My dad was slightly less drunk than the others and eventually demanded they let him get out. They pulled over and he and one other girl got out. He and the girl started walking to town while the other three sped off in the opposite direction.

Well less than a mile up the road from where they got out is an extremely sharp turn, which they missed and hit a tree going pretty close to triple digits (miles per hour). Two of them died on impact and the only reason the third survived is because they crashed in front of a house that two doctors lived in. The survivor was paralyzed and lost his leg and part of his arm and was in the hospital for eight months before dying. This was in the ‘60s so medical care wasn’t what it is today.

When I first got my permit my dad took me to that corner to explain the importance of safe driving. It gave me goosebumps about how close he was to being in the truck. He said that the dad of the driver got what remained of the truck to be hung up in the center of town for months after to be a warning to all.

justthatoboist , Clark Van Der Beken Report

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Jaaawn
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This happened to my mother when se was a young woman, although in her case they wouldn't let her out. Car took a very sharp turn which it couldn't handle and ended up rolling over 5 times. Was a miracle she was uninjured. Seatbelts and pure luck.

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#34

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) Amateur rugby. Guy gets hit pretty hard and dislocates his hip. While waiting for the ambulance, a guy runs up saying he's a physio and can at least relocate the joint.

He cracks the hip back into its socket and the guy SCREAMS.

One of his testicles had been jolted out of place in the accident - and had been chilling out in the empty hip socket.

Squish.

chocolate_on_toast , Pixabay Report

#35

[The Toy Box Killer] and his [transcripts.]

If you absolutely want to have your day ruined, this has to be one of the most disturbing, creepeiest things ever. Serial killer David Parker Ray would play these tapes for his victims, so they had an idea of what was coming and to also mentally break them. Here the start of one tape to give you an idea:

>"Hello there, b***h. Are you comfortable right now? I doubt it. Wrists and ankles chained. Gagged. Probably blind folded. You are disoriented and scared, too, I would imagine. Perfectly normal, under the circumstances. For a little while, at least, you need to get your s**t together and listen to this tape. It is very relevant to your situation. I’m going to tell you, in detail, why you have been kidnapped, what’s going to happen to you and how long you’ll be here. I don’t know the details of your capture, because this tape is being created July 23rd,1993 as a general advisory tape for future female captives.

Can you imagine how terrifying it would be to wake up in a place you didn't know and have someone play these tapes for you telling you what horrible things were going to happen to you before you died?

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#36

A bunch of girls in my friend group decided to have a night out and ended up at the local gay club (I can’t remember why I didn’t go but I’m sort of glad I wasn’t there, however I also wish I had been so I could’ve helped). Anyway, they noticed a girl on the dance floor who looked super out of place. She had sweatpants and a t shirt on and wasn’t wearing makeup and had her hair in a ponytail. She also had a backpack on. Basically, the exact opposite of typical club attire and not at all what someone would usually wear to this place. They said that she seemed very dazed as well, and more importantly, there was a very large man grabbing her and grinding on her and she was just kind of standing there letting it happen.

One of my friends tried approaching her to ask if she was alright but the guy spoke for her and insisted that he was her boyfriend and that she’d just had too much to drink but that she was okay. Everyone was suspicious but at that point there wasn’t much else they could do so they just kept an eye on the two of them. Eventually the guy left the dance floor to go to the bar and my friend was able to talk to this girl again. She said that she was EXTREMELY out of it and that it seemed more likely that she had been drugged rather than just drunk. The girl managed to convey that she didn’t know the man she was with and wanted to leave. So my friend grabbed her and made for the exit, but not before this guy came back. He IMMEDIATELY flipped out, got right in my friend’s face and started screaming at her. It escalated to the point that he eventually swung at my friend who just barely dodged the punch. Thankfully, someone else had went and found a security guard and they were able to prevent this guy from hurting anyone, meaning that my friends and the girl were all able to leave safely. She was still super messed up when they left so nobody could get the full story out of her but she did say that the guy had been following her around town all day.

The really scary part is that the bar staff couldn’t technically do anything other than throw this guy out after my friends had left. One of them called the cops and gave them a description of the guy but they said they couldn’t really do much other than be on the lookout for him. So chances are that he’s still out there somewhere and may do this again.

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#37

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) That there's a guy casing the bar that I work at literally right now, and I can't do anything to stop him.

He's been in asking what time/days we're open, and what days we have security. Caught him feeling the corners of our windows and doors too. Unfortunately, until he breaks in and robs us, the police won't do a thing.

ExtraEvilJesus , Clem Onojeghuo Report

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SheamusFanFrom1987
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sounds like booby-trapping the place might be in order, or at least arming the staff with tasers in case things get nasty since law enforcement is so ineffective.

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#38

On September 20th, 1987 in Bellingham Washington, a Georgia Pacific paper mill worker was sent to inspect a heat exchanger system in the steam plant. Inside the base of the stack, he spotted a charred skeleton. To this day, no one is certain who the victim was, how they wound up in such a horrible place, nor why.

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#39

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) Neishabur train dissaster is something that reminds me how death can come at any moment.

A train with 51 wagons of sulphur, fertiliser, petrol and cotton wool somehow broke loose and rolled down the track about twenty kilometers until it derailed in the town of Khayyam, Iran. There were no humans on board.

Chemical leaks ensued and authorities tried to extinguish whatever fires broke out.

At one point, the whole thing explodes. And it really explodes. The whole town of Khayyam is literally demolished, 3 nearby towns are badly damaged and it was heard 70 km away. The wreckage continued to explode for several days after. Around 300 people died and more than that injured.

An earthquake of 3.6 on Riechter scale was produced

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#40

People Are Sharing The Most Terrifying Things They've Witnessed In Real Life (40 Posts) I'll tell you one that happened to me, or rather, I was witness to.

One night, I was out at a bar with a friend I was visiting in New Rochelle, NY. We went outside for a cigarette, and a car came flying past the bar. The car burned through a red light, and started going up this hill that was on a curve. We watched as he veered over the double yellow, and smashed head on with another car coming from the other direction. Both car's hind ends lifted up, then slammed down. The car that was driving correctly burst into flames. I ran inside and grabbed the fire extinguisher, then yelled to the bartender to call 911 and say there has been an accident.

My friend, a few other patrons, and me ran to the cars. Now, I used to think this was a fictional trope, but I was pretty drunk before this happened, and I swear it sobered me up instantly. I tried spraying the fire, but it did nothing. The fumes and heat were awful, and all we could do was stand back. The worst part was, and this will haunt me forever, was that the woman in the burning car was screaming as she died. My God, it was the worst sound ever.

The fire department came and put the fire out. The police took us back to the bar and took statements.

I found out the next day in the news, that the car that was not speeding was being driven by a young woman coming home late from work. She was a block away from home, and I think she was either newly married or a new mother. The rotten m**********r driving the other car was some rich drunk c********r. He lost a leg, but otherwise was physically unharmed. I have no clue if he did time, as I left to go back home a day or so later.

I'm trying to find a link for the news story, but I can't, as this was maybe 6 or 7 years back. I remember it being reported on Lo-Hud and Channel 12 News.

anon , Artyom Kulakov Report

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Chich
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Was on highway rescue for years. Drunk drivers should just be shot and left to rot in the ditch. They seem to often come out of the mess they created better than their innocent victims. Definite proof there is no god.

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