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“I Did Not Like The First Final Destination Movie Years Later”: 73 Times People Got Saved By Their Gut
In many situations, it’s easy to dismiss that little voice in the back of your mind telling you something feels off. We’re taught to be rational and not to overreact. But sometimes, that voice is too loud and too persuasive to be ignored. And for good reason.
When Reddit users were asked to share the scariest times their gut feeling told them to leave immediately, thousands responded with scary personal stories.
From random encounters with suspicious strangers to close calls in the wilderness, danger is often lurking just around the corner. Hopefully, these experiences will serve as a reminder that listening to your intuition can make all the difference.
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#1
Met up with someone whom we shared mutual friends with many years ago before a party. He made drinks for us and at one point kept tipping my cup back and encouraging me to drink. I said I had to go to the bathroom. I ran out of the house and called a friend to pick me up. I don't remember the rest of the night because I was spiked.
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#2
Guy in minivan insisting that he knew my mom and would drive me to school, i had no idea who he was, my mom had not mentioned anyone agreeing to let someone drive me to school. And i repeat he drove a nice and spacious minivan *with no windows*
I dont *know* if he was a kidnapper (we live in a small town) but he sure as hell felt like one, even to kid me, the scariest part is that if i had been a little more trusting of a person i would totally have gone in since i could not poke a hole in his story outside of calling my mom and making it a huge deal.
I just felt... off at the offer, and, just in case i said something along the lines of "oh no thats okay, i can walk, its not that far and i like to walk" which was the absolute truth but, still.
#3
TLDR: went to a frat party and saw rooms with door handles only on the outside.. bugged out as fast as possible
This was a loooong time ago now. Maybe 15 years or so. I was a freshmen in college and got invited to a frat party. My roommate and I knew the guy who invited us and we were considering running for that fraternity. He was a year older than us and was a member so we decided to go.
Well, we get there and where everyone was dancing and drinking there was a whole wall of rooms on one end with super heavy oak doors with cots inside with door handles only on the OUTSIDE of the room.
We both gave each other a look and just dipped the out of there as soon as our "friend" was out of sight. Like nope, there is no way we're getting seen within a 1000 yards of this place. This particular frat was then busted for a bunch of stuff a few years later.
#4
Hiking in a a slot canyon and noticing a trickle of water running down the floor of the canyon.
I told my friend to gtho and hurry back the way we came. Within an hour the canyon was half full of raging water.
#5
Walked out of a bar with two friends many years ago. They were hammered and oblivious to any and everything around them. I was more tipsy and still aware of my surroundings. Just as we exit the bar, two very large men pass us going the opposite way on the sidewalk. I get a very odd feeling about it for reasons i am still not sure of to this day. I turn around, and they’ve both stopped and are watching us intently. I immediately call out to my friends and make up a lie about leaving something in the bar. We go back in and I convince them to just hang out there for a few more minutes.
The next morning, a story comes out about a guy who was stabbed nearly 50 times and robbed in the parking lot of a bar just down the road. I saw those two large men again in the posted mugshot.
#6
On a bike camping trip with my buddy, we were getting close to the site. The foliage near this particular backwoods area gets extremely dense and the only way with mountain bikes for a bit is the designated trail.
We're biking along and I see the biggest pile of bear scat right in the middle of the path and we stop. I'm like "Man, I don't know. If there's a bear there's literally nothing we can do except turn around, shout, and bearspray." My buddy urges me to keep going.
Sure enough, another hundred metres and a corner, and there's a huge brown bear sitting like an adorable doofus on the trail. We start slowly going backwards and it matches our pace for a long while. Very stressful. Couldn't make it to the site that night, that's for sure.
#7
Paramedic on scene of a call of a man who had an injury to the head in his home. He didn’t know who it was or where the guy went. I kept begging my work partner to leave the scene with me and patient because I had a bad feeling. Cops ended up not searching the place until I decided to take the family and go outside. The attacker was in the closet with a loaded gun the whole time not 15 feet from us. Wound on patients head was a gunshot.
#8
This one was eerie, to us at least
I climbed out the bathroom window of a gutted out party house because I could feel the crowd turn bad. I could just feel it. I needed to leave sooner than we could reach the exit so we went out the nearest window. I was so thankful because it was like a reverse horror movie, where everyone was like yeah, seems logical, time to go. Got on the same page and took off back to our car.
A huge fight broke out, cops were called, emergency services came because the fight got really bad and a bunch of people jumped in. Not to mention all the minors that got busted. I could just feel the anger in the air and I had to get out. There was some really heavy music playing and you could feel people on edge, you could literally smell it. So glad I bailed.
#9
My worst was a school trip to Tokyo. Two of us were grad students, and the rest were like 19/20 year old kids. Our professor said we could go out, but put myself and the other grad student "in charge."
Stumbling around Tokyo near Shinjuku at about 2:30 AM trying to get back to the hotel and we very obviously turned down the wrong street into a back alley. From the left and right of the alley, 4 absolutely well dressed men in suits and neck tattoos barely peeking out just kind of appeared. Myself and the other grad student were in the front of the pack and stopped d**d in our tracks. The younger kids didn't notice anything. The 4 guys kind of stood still and basically squared off with us, staring me and the other grad in the eyes, then did kinda a tongue click thing and nodded back in the direction we came.
IMMEDIATELY. It's time to go. We will be leaving now. I bowed, and immediately started turning the kids around.
#10
Was 9 months pregnant, about to go on a hike in a large park that borders several residential neighborhoods and a big open area that has a playground and some picnic shelters (in LA). Trail entry is a narrow path and once you turn the first corner you're fully "in" the park and not in view of the residential areas or the playground. It was not a busy day, but as I was about to enter the path, I saw this guy walking about a block away. He was bent a little to the side. I couldn't see him but something didn't seem right. Suddenly he starts running straight at me.
Nope. Time to go. Luckily my husband and I could get to our car, which was parked about 10 feet away from the trailhead. The guy chased our car as we drove off. Freaking bizarre.
#11
We booked an Airbnb last minute in rural Alabama after kayaking all day rather than making the drive back to the city. It looked nice enough, just some old house, but one slightly weird thing was that one room was locked and you could see a sliver of light under the door. My husband found a switch that turned that light off in the kitchen and we went to sleep, exhausted, figuring the locked space was just the laundry room or something - I’ve definitely stayed in Airbnbs where that’s the case.
But in the middle of the night, he woke up, and the light was not only back on, the previously locked door was hanging open. The room had a window in it, but not much else. We ran to the car and floored it before we could put any more of those puzzle pieces together and drove straight back to Atlanta at 3am.
#12
My family is from a small town in northern Mexico. We used to visit every summer and winter. Everyone in the town knows each other/is related. Some cousins and I were walking from an aunt’s house to the corner store for snacks one evening. We were all teenage girls.
We noticed this old beige car driving our way. It was full of men. I didn’t recognize the car or the men, and I instantly felt that hot panicky feeling all over my body. We all grabbed each others hands and ran back as fast as we could. We didn’t have to tell each other a word, we just knew we would be taken if we kept walking. I turned back to see if they were following us and saw the barrel of a large gun sticking out from the window.
This was the year that cartel activity escalated. Several kidnappings happened in those areas after that incident. We were so, so lucky.
#13
When I was a kid in the 80s my Mom took me to the local drug store. Our area was pretty sketch back then.
I was spacing out looking at Star Wars action figures when she abruptly guides me out and says, “let’s go.”
I was really confused until as we were walking out I saw a dude with a gun holding up the checker.
We got in our car as the guy ran out and down the street. Mom had a bit of crime watch lady to her so we sneakily followed behind him in our car as he was walking blocks away.
We somehow found a pay phone (remember 80s), called 911 and told them where he was walking — and they got him!
We crimestopped him!
#14
My bf and I were sailing on a hot summer day and anchored up behind an island on the ICW in SW Florida. We thought we would go for a swim and after about 2 minutes in the water we both looked at each other and just swam back to the boat and were like yeah we’re done. A minute or so later a huge bull shark swirled a few feet away from the boat. It was weird we both could sense the potential danger.
#15
My wife and I were staying with my brother and his friends at a shared Air BnB in Boston, visiting for a football game.
They were all pretty heavy alcoholics. At one point I was on the porch having a cigarette, talking to one of my brother's friends. I can't remember what I said, but all of a sudden his face just went cold, like shark eyes, and told me to stop talking about whatever I was talking about. Idk what it was but it just rubbed me deeply wrong, that look in his eyes.. Just cold violent rage. I can't even remember what I said but I remember that feeling.
My wife and I ended up leaving the next morning and catching a flight back early for many reasons (not fun sharing a place with a bunch of alcoholic binge drinkers in their 30s), but that man really freaked us out.
A couple months later he m******d his ex and mother of his child for.. going on a date with somebody else.
#16
My parents and I were flying home one summer in the mid 90s. Got on our plane on the layover and something just felt bad. I got more and more nervous to the point that I told them that there was something wrong with this plane and we need to get off. They finally listened to me and we were going to deplane. Not more than a minute later the flight attendant nearby (we were in the way back), who had also heard the whole ordeal, received a call from the pilot that we all had to deplane as there was damage to one of the wings found on inspection.
Needless to say, I did not like the first final destination movie years later.
#17
I was a Mormon missionary and while teaching someone who let us in while knocking there was this unbearable smell. I realized it was rotting decomp.
My companion wanted to stay but I got him the F outta there. Turns out he was living with the corpse of his mother collecting social security checks and the freezer had broke.
#18
When my friends and I were around 10/11 we were walking in a neighborhood new to us and a random dog came out of left field and started to chase us. My one friend K fell down and she scrapped her knee and was bleeding. Across the street this old man comes out of his house and asks if we need help. The dog ran off and we tell him what happened. The second I saw him he gave me bad vibes. We told him we were lost and he got his truck and yelled at us to get in. We got in and he left to go get something in his house real quick. We’re all scared thinking are we going to get kidnapped? I tell them we need to leave right now before he comes back. We all book it even though my friend can barely walk before he came back. We had no idea where we were going but knew we needed to get out of there and away from him. Minutes later K’s mom comes by in her car looking for us and we didn’t have the guts to tell her how we almost got kidnapped.
#19
At 19 I went to an interview for a really cool job I saw posted online, which I now doubt existed. When I got into the mixed use high rise, it turned out the interviewer was meeting me in his apartment.
He was very confident and dismissive of any concerns, but he also mentioned his wife which made me feel better. Then, towards the end of the 'interview' he said something like, "A lot of girls are willing to do anything to get this job. What would you do?" My eyes darted to the door, and I thought about running for it, but he was between me and the door.
Fawning has never yet failed to get me out of these situations unharmed, but that one was pretty terrifying.
#20
I was in college, about to turn 21. The date was 9/16/11… I was over at my buddies’ “studying” which really meant I took an Adderall and was just hanging out chain smoking cigs. I didn’t talk to my mom all that often - ever since my parents had divorced 4 years earlier and my mom had remarried.
But I was struck with an overwhelming gut feeling that I needed to call my mom. It was unlike a feeling I’d ever felt. So I picked up the phone and dialed her. When she picked up, there was a lot of loud noises in the background, and I told her I couldn’t hear her. She walked away from the crowd she was standing in, towards some parking lots. We chatted for a few minutes, she told me she was at the Reno Air Races because her husband was running ATC for it.
After we got off the phone, she calls me back not even a minute later, freaking out and sobbing. While walking back to the crowd, a P-51 Mustang had a rudder hardover, lost control and slammed into the crowd pretty near to where my mom had been standing prior to my call. 11 people were k****d in this accident.
That one always stuck with me - was weird having this info a good 15 minutes before it hit the news wire. Grateful I listened to my gut, can’t be certain she would’ve been k****d, but she was initially within ~100 ft of where the plane hit.
#21
My husband and I stopped at a gas station to not only get gas but walk our dog in Tuba City, AZ. He pulled around back to give the dog some space and I was walking him while my husband was making a call. It was about 98F and two teens both wearing parkas and backpacks are walking toward us. My husband noticed one of them had what looked like a machete peeking out from the bottom of the parka. The young man was holding his jacket closed with one hand. My husband called out to me to get in the car with the dog. I heard the timbre of his voice (he's never told me to get in the car before) so I hustle in and buckled up with the dog. The teens turned around and walked into the gas station/casino and we went to a gas station on the opposite corner. I bought a soda and was telling the man behind us what just happened and his reply was that we were lucky it wasn't a chain saw. The cashier overheard me and said there's a lot of strange things that happen here... I will never stop in Tuba City again and will consider bringing a weapon for the rural areas of the west.
#22
I was driving with my mother down an empty street at night in Seattle. I slow down in front of an alley to make a turn. All of a sudden, there's a loud pop and glass bursts from my windshield. My mother tries to leave the car to figure out what happened. I lock the doors and speed away. When we get back to our Airbnb, I check the dashboard, and sure enough, there's a 9mm bullet just sitting there. It would have gone into my shoulder if it hadn't been stopped. The cops found bullet casings in the alley, but we never figured out why we were shot at. That same night, four other people had been randomly shot around the city. Life is strange.
#23
Us being a bunch of dumb teenagers decided to cross-country ski across a frozen portion of Georgian Bay to a small island for a cookout. Midday the sun was out and the temps kept going up and the ice started cracking. Just got a feeling we needed to head back right away. Started out back across and could see the water moving just below the ice. Made it back safely but I’ve never been so terrified. We knew nothing about the ice depth and hadn’t discussed our plan with any adults. Just stupidity.
#24
Woolsey Fire 2018. I packed our valuables into our SUV by 5:30pm. By 7:30pm the air was thick smoke and the wind was blowing like a giant fan was aimed right toward us. We evacuated at 7:45pm.
Formal evacuation order came at 2am. People frantically packing and getting in their cars, only to be stuck in gridlock traffic, with fire literally everywhere.
We were safe in a hotel 27 miles away. My phone was lit up all night. Scariest night of our lives, but we spared our young kids the trauma of the evacuation most everyone else was caught up in.
#25
Rest stop in the middle of nowhere in Texas. It was a much-needed break in a long cross-country road trip, on one of those roads that you're happy you have enough gas because there's nothing for miles. There were some storms moving in, but nothing alarming. We were all running around, happy to use our legs after hours in the car.
Then the air shifted. Not sure how to describe it, it just felt suddenly oppressive in a very uneasy way. My ex waved across the grass field we were playing in, signaling us to get in the car. I felt it too, so I stayed calm but gathered everyone up as quickly as possible.
Moments after we started driving, our littlest daughter turns around and points out the back window to show me the "interesting thing" behind us. I looked in the rear view mirror and a tornado was spinning up right next to the rest stop we were just at. We watched it cross the highway behind us as we sped off. If we hadn't left when we did, we would have been right in the path after it formed.
#26
Visiting a city I didn’t know, was trying to find a particular neighborhood people had recommended but must have got off on the wrong train stop. Walked a block or two, turned a corner to find a parked car fully engulfed in flames and a bunch of people sitting around on their stoops as if it was just an ordinary day. No cops, no fire department. Turned to my husband and said “I think we should leave now”.
#27
Riding the bus and got a really bad vibe off a guy a few seats behind me. He didn’t look at me or anything, just a really bad gut feeling. I got off the bus a few stops early and raced into the vet’s office I took my cat to and called my mother to come pick me up. When I looked out the window he was across the street staring at me through the office window. Took off when my mother showed up and we drove off.
#28
When I was a teenager I was jogging at night in my neighborhood and this car passed me driving really slow. I started running a different direction, and it turned and followed me. I cut through a neighbor's yard, but was still pretty far from my house, so I just hid for a while. It passed slowly several times, and seemed to be looking for me. My mom was walking- we didn't stick together because I wanted to run and she wanted to walk, and she called me and asked if I was okay, because there was a car that was freaking her out and it drove away when she pulled out her phone. We met up in a well lit area and went back home together. It really freaked us both out.
#29
Many years ago, hiking through the Rockies in Canada, with a bunch of youth under my care.
The forest had gone eerily quiet, which most folks know is generally not a good sign. We were already on the way out as-is, and simply had hastened the pace a little just in case.
We were maybe a click or so from where we parked and the forest just... stopped. Where there was eerie quiet with the odd chirp or chatter from some critter, a woodpecker here and there... there was now this ... bizarre all encompassing thick silence. Like when you're home alone with no sounds and that "hiss" sound is deafening in your ears.
Anywho - the temperature and wind were doing weird things as well. Rapid cooling, with "sort of windy" translating quickly into a standstill. Gut said it was time to GTFO quite promptly - we double timed it as the sky started to turn this ugly green colour...
Oh yes. THAT kind of green.
That thing touched down about 30 minutes later right where we had been jog-walking... When we went back, there was nothing left of the big huge d**d tree stump thing we'd been resting at. As if a hand had reached down and ripped what was already left clean out of the ground just... cleanly gone, like a toothpick.
Best part though?
Across the river maybe 100 feet or so... bear and her cubs coming out from whatever hidey hole they'd found, looking around like "WTH?" I don't blame them.
Have never seen a sky like that since. Almost a teal-green. Yech. No thanks!
#30
I was in downtown Denver 2023 after the nuggets won the championship. Not just a feeling but could tell as the night went on the number of idiots increased exponentially. Looked at my boy who had a kid on the way and said ‘we all have too much to lose for this.’ Walked back to our car with my group of 6 and we heard gun shots right in the heart of downtown 20th and market. Luckily no one died but 4 people got shot.
#31
When I was 13, my friend had been texting a guy. We had never met him, but he told her he was a friend of one of our friend. The guy told us he was about our age. After a few days, we (my friend, the guy and I) decide to meet up at a gas station close to my house. We were just talking and I ask him how he knew the friend we had in common. He told us he doest know him. After a few minutes, he says one of his friend would like to hang out with us, so we walked to that friend’s appartement. My friend and I stayed outside, but the guy went inside the building. He came back outside to tell us his friend wanted us to meet him inside. He insisted alot. My friend was about to follow him, but I had a bad feeling. I whispered to my friend that we should run. So, as soon as the guy was turned around, we ran back to my house. It’s been more than 10 years and I still don’t know if he had bad intention, but I’m glad we did not go inside.
#32
My bf and I were driving around looking at Christmas lights in the wealthy neighborhoods near my apartment. We live right outside of a city so the whole area is heavily populated. As we are slow rolling a guy pops out from behind a car and jumps in front of my car (my bf is driving). I scream stop and my bf comes inches from hitting him.
I literally saw this guy JUMP and put his hands up. My hackles are up. It’s dark and cold and my bf starts to stop the car to get out to yell at the guy and I scream no and tell him to hit the gas that it was intentional. He’s a smart guy and immediately gets what I mean. We speed out as quickly as possible.
The area is prone to carjackings. I’m almost possible we dodged a felony that night. Crazy.
#33
February in NYC as COVID really got underway. I was an ICU RN at the time. Walked into that unit that day and several other RNs were there as patients, intubated, etc. the manager looked at us all hopelessly after saying the mask you have is the only mask you’ll get. The hospital was out of them. I did that shift and when I got home I told my wife and we need to leave now.
Luckily was able to work as an ICU RN in another state & hospital that had adequate supplies. My wife has a congenital heart condition. So while I felt bad leaving, I didn’t want to get her fatally sick. Never been that scared in my life.
#34
Eh…when I was 18 I got followed home driving home from a club at 1am. I realized what was going on, panicked, took off crazy weaving through the neighborhood, lost the car behind me, drove around for an hour and a half before I was brave enough to go home.
My parents dismissed me, said I was freaking out for no reason.
The next week we found out that the neighbor across the street had been held at gunpoint the night before this happened to me and the neighbor to the south of us had likewise been held at gunpoint the night after.
These were two middle aged dudes and they were just robbed of their cash. Me, I was an 18 year old girl, and really really bad things happened to people like me in our neighborhood.
I never went out at night alone again..
I left that city as soon as I could and I never want to go back.
#35
Walking through a park at night with a friend. See a group of people walking rather fast in our direction. Group seemed ominous, too many people this late at night (00:00) in the park (we where the only ones there) We decided to turn around almost immediately and get out of there unscathed. Later learned that same night, that same park, several people had been robbed at knife point and one person stabbed.
#36
When I was in college I had a textbook where one of the chapters started with an image of a woman on a mountaintop laughing because her long hair was all standing on end. The caption explained that moments later the mountaintop was hit by lightning.
Fast forward several years and I am watching my daughter's soccer game when one of the girl's hair starts standing on end. I yelled to get the attention of the ref and marched onto the field.
"Hair standing up like that indicates a very high static charge in the air. This is what happens before lightning strikes. I'm taking my daughter home and I suggest we call off the game NOW."
There is no way for me to look at hair standing up and not get an impending feeling of doom. It's like seeing all the water in the ocean quickly recede. It's time to get out.
#37
I was rockhounding with a couple girl friends in the Arizona desert, some 20-30mi off-road in BLM land, picking our locations by GPS coordinates on downloaded maps because there’s zero cell service. We parked my truck and walked another mile or so. We never came across other people when we were far out in the desert like this, so when we ran into this guy out there we were surprised. He asked for a ride because his truck ran out of gas, and we said sorry our car is pretty far back. He said he had been stuck for days and he was out water and food and his phone was d**d. He had erratic behavior. One of my friends offered him her phone to make a phone call out to somebody with her 1 bar of service and he said he had no friends or family anymore. We offered him water and he also declined. We immediately didn’t feel safe, even though none of us said anything to each other. He lingered around for a bit while we looked for some rocks and then wandered back over to his truck. We were up on some hills so we finally got a sec to talk to each other without him around, and agreed to try to lose him and started planning how we’d get back to my truck, when suddenly we see another truck come barreling through the desert towards the guy. We immediately started running down this gravely sage bushy hill towards my truck and sprinted the whole way.
All of it felt so sus. Being in the middle of nowhere as 3 women with no self-defense and shoddy cell service was def not smart. No clue if they had been following us or what.
#38
When Putin got elected. Again. 10/10 best decision of my life.
When results were announced I distinctly remember I turned to my wife and said "There's no future here".
#39
When I was I think 10, I might have been 9 I was waiting for my stepdad to get back from work, and my mom made me keep watch out the front room's window, she'd come over to check and it was snowing at the time and we saw a young guy, maybe 20 wearing a coat and a toddler being carried without a coat, looking limp. My mom at first said "Oh that's a bit weird! Why's the little boy not got a coat on?" and then had a realisation of what went on and told me to go into another room.
When my stepdad got back later she said we needed to move ASAP, it turned out the uncle of the little boy had m******d his nephew and was carrying his body around, trying to hide it. I think we moved like a week or two later.
#40
I've licked a nine volt battery before. Yes, it's stupid. It tingles a little and doesn't hurt much at all, it's an interesting feeling.
Once, I had that same feeling on my tongue during a thunderstorm. I freaked out and hurried inside. This was at my dad's place. We took a lot of lightning strikes there that destroyed various electronic equipment.
#41
Broad daylight, driving to New Orleans, stopped somewhere in Alabama at a gas station. The lady behind the counter looked at me and my boyfriend and said “this place ain’t safe for you”.
We found another exit.
#42
I was slowing down for a stoplight, and instantaneously had a feeling like I needed to watch what was going on around me since this was a brand new light in a really weird spot. If you didn’t know it was there, it would be easy to mess up and continue through. I look up in my rearview mirror and see a semi truck that is obviously not slowing down. There was one minivan behind me with a mother and a couple of kids. I get myself into the second lane and start honking. The Mom gets the idea and moves over with probably 3 seconds to spare before the truck barrels through the intersection. Really happy that nothing bad came from it, since the other lane had a green.
#43
We were rolling down the 401hwy Ontario Canada My husband and I in front seats our 2 little sons in backseat Something in my gut kept screaming at me to get in other lane something bad was happening. I told my husband calmly please get out of this lane he said this lane is fine.. I then started panicking and crying to get out of this lane. My husband finally listened as he was just turning to get us out that lane into next there was a explosion the truck who had been driving beside us 4 tires just blew. If we hadn't moved we most likely would have gotten badly injured or worse. We were safely in New lane and since then I've never ignored my gut feelings. Id like to think our gut feelings are actually our guardian angels alerting us.
#44
Not we, since I was by myself. But many years ago I was on holiday in Egypt taking a shortcut on foot through the desert (honestly no idea how I've survived this long), when I found an ancient looking deserted village. After a bit, I saw armed soldiers canvasing the area. I hid and made my escape once the coast was clear.
Turns out it was a holy site and my guide at the hotel later told me it was a shoot on sight situation with trespassers.
#45
I have 2:
It was a windy day for a hike in the canyon. I sat down on a boulder under a tree and suddenly, I felt that I needed to get up right now. As I stood up, a massive branch from the tree fell where I was sitting just moments ago. We left immediately after that.
The second one scared me more:
I was changing my daughter in our car in a full, covered parking lot. There were a few people passing by, men and women, all going to the beach. I was standing outside the open car door, preoccupied, when I felt something was off. I looked over my shoulder and there were 3 men standing just behind my car, blocking me and my daughter. I looked at one of them and made full eye contact and something in his gaze scared me. I immediately got into my car and locked the doors. They left soon after. I secured my daughter and we left the lot. This experience made me get a pepper spray.
#46
One of the creepiest experiences I've had happened while driving home late at night with my puppy.
It was well after 11 PM, and I pulled into one of those little highway pull-off areas so she could get out and pee. There was nobody else around. While I was there, another car pulled in behind me. Nothing obviously wrong happened, but the second that car showed up, I got a really bad feeling.
I immediately picked up my puppy, put her back in the car, locked the doors, and sat there for a minute watching.
The guy got out of his car and walked around the front. He appeared to be looking at his headlights, which were both on and seemed perfectly fine. Maybe there was a legitimate reason. I honestly don't know. I can't say he was pretending or that he had bad intentions.
I can't say anything other than that was one of the few times in my life that I got that big GTHO feeling.
#47
I was travelling alone for work. Checked into a London hotel, got my key card and the moment I opened the door my fight flight freeze mode was activated. I can only describe it as the strongest smell of man. Someone had to be in there. So strong I didn't even cross the threshold. Everything inside screamed don't go in.
I went back to reception asked for another room and suggested they checked that room for an occupant. I don't know if there was anyone there, but I've never had a reaction like that anywhere before. It was an utterly physically warning to "run"
Edit to add i (Female) was early 30s at the time travelling alone.
#48
I was out hunting on my family's chunk of land. I heard my mom say my name like she was right next to me, while I was alone in the middle of the woods...mind you she passed two years prior. It freaked me out. I had a horrible feeling something bad was happening or going to happen. I headed home, to find my dad on the floor having a dangerous low sugar level being diabetic. 911 called, panicking trying to get him to take his glucose tablet. I'm just glad I went home in time to save him.
#49
I was out with a friend that was visiting, so we were walking to a bar near my place in the downtown core when we came across an argument outside that exact bar. There was two groups in a heated argument with two main players and their crew.
I worked in bar/venue for many years, and I know the look that a man gets that means he won't be talked out of a fight. I saw that in the one person's eyes when I walked past, so I told my friend to turn around, that we were going somewhere else.
That argument resulted in a m****r. The joys of living an major urban core.
I don't know which dude died that night, but we read about it in the news the next day.
#50
Coming back from missouri with my family on a trip, we'd stopped to get gas. Alot of cars would just go to the pump, and get out of their cars, and leave them. Something felt off. We managed to get gas and some food, and were just eating in the car. I had to get out to get a water bottle on the other side of the car. When I got out, there was a car next to us and it just gave me a bad vibe. Walking back after getting my water, I manged to see in the car. The driver and the passenger had guns. Once I got back in the front, I convinced my folks, it was time to go. They left without question. Found it later, the station had gotten robbed not long after we left.
#51
We were standing on a sidewalk outside a restaurant waiting on a table. There was an alleyway that ran along the side of the restaurant. A car pulled up and I just felt immediate dread. I told my husband I wanted to leave and we’d just grab takeout somewhere. That night and in that exact spot, I’m not sure how much later, a couple was attacked. The man was tied up and the woman was assaulted there in the alley.
We were shocked when we saw the news the next day. Because of this, my husband never questions the rare occasions where I get weird vibes. I’m sure I’ve been often wrong, but that night I wasn’t and we’ve never forgotten it.
#52
On Fridays I only work half days and like to go hiking at a nature preserve after. One Friday I was planning to go as usual but started feeling weirdly tired on the drive there and my brain kept telling me to go home so I did. A couple of hours later severe storms rolled through and one produced a tornado that touched down right in the nature preserve in my favorite area to hike and watch birds. Tornados are not common where I am. I definitely think my brain was trying to warn me.
#53
I was in college studying abroad, arrived in athens train station quite late and intended to sleep there for a few hours, but got kicked out. Started walking up the street with no hostel reservations, and ran into two friendly guys.
I asked them where I could stay for cheap and they said just come stay at our place. I said oh that's nice, and I had couch surfed before, and hitch hiked, and stayed in a lot of weird places before, so it wasn't that far out of my comfort zone. They led me back to a tunnel that went under the train tracks into pitch black, saying "our place is just over on the other side", and my gut literally turned over. I've never bailed like that in my life, but I noped the hell out, walked for a mile, and found a hotel. I'm glad I don't know how that story ends.
#54
I was about 13 years old and my mom and I were on a road trip. We had our dog with us and we pulled into a rest stop. There was only a semi our car and a van.
My mom went into the bathroom left me to walk the dog around then we would switch. The dog was going nuts just barking and barking and barking and it was kind of unlike her she usually didn’t pay attention to her surroundings and just sniffed dirt.
Mom came out and I told her I had a weird feeling she was annoyed because we were running behind schedule so told me to go to the bathroom and hurry up.
I walk into the bathroom do my thing still have such an eerie feeling.
I go to walk out of the bathroom and a man comes walking in tells me to be quiet and not scream. I can also still hear my dog going insane.
2 seconds later a cleaning lady comes in and says THERES NOT GOING TO BE ANY PROBLEMS TODAY RIGHT?? the man takes off running towards the semi. My dog and mom come running into the bathroom because my mom said the dog was going to break her neck trying to get to me.
So anyways moral of the story TRUST YOUR GUT AND YOUR DOG.
#55
I'm a night owl, but I decide one afternoon in college that I'm super tired and so I go to bed really early. I cant sleep though, so I'm just lying there with my eyes closed in full fake-it-til-you-make-it mode.
My *weird* roommate comes in. He's so weird, and I don't want to talk to him, so I keep my eyes closed and pretend to be dozing.
Roommate walks over right next to me, and I can tell he's staring at me
Then dude starts muttering to himself.
Talking about how much energy I have.
Talking about how he needs to k**l me to eat my energy.
Talking about sawing off my head.
Needless to say, I kept faking sleep until well after he fell asleep, hid all the knives, and called the cops.
Turned out the guy had stopped taking his meds, had a history of schizophrenia-induced violence against housemates, and had changed his name to dodge the open warrants for his arrest.
I've never been so grateful for insomnia.
#56
Pre-smartphone era: I was near the silage pit on our farm when the wind made the tops of the trees bend over sideways and it was completely still on the ground. The cattle started running around in an erratic manner and the sky had turned a gray-green color. 5 minutes later it was rain/hail as I drove quickly back to the farmhouse. We got everyone into the basement and sure enough, an EF3 tornado touched down about a half mile away. Scary stuff.
#57
Years ago my boyfriend and I got home from traveling to our old apartment complex late at night, like 2 or 3 in the morning. We had to park in the auxiliary lot pretty far away from our building, but it was usually no big deal as we lived in a pretty sleepy, safe area.
I got out of the car first and looked up to realize there was a car next to us with two guys inside. They immediately got out, and initially I thought nothing of it, but my boyfriend was getting his bag together and not out of the car yet so I had a second standing outside waiting for him. I watched the guys look at me, look at each other, and then look back at me. They weren’t smiling, just completely blank, and when I met the eyes of the one guy, I had the worst feeling of dread I have ever felt in my life.
When my boyfriend got out, they realized I wasn’t alone and they hesitated. We started walking towards the building, and when I looked back, the guys were talking to each other quietly and then started following us.
My boyfriend immediately put his hand on my back and started propelling me a little ahead of him, without saying anything we both clocked what was going on. We got to our apartment building exterior door and inside, but I heard the guys speeding up and trying to catch up to us. When we got upstairs and looked out the window at the door, the guys were arguing with each other, and pretty clearly were pissed they didn’t catch up to us.
I found out later that people were getting robbed in that lot by two guys with a knife, and a girl who had been alone was almost assaulted. Definitely made me realize things can happen anywhere, realized how lucky we were to make it to the door, and if I ever feel that feeling I trust it immediately.
#58
Being stalked in the woods.
We live in extremely rural (4 hours to a mall type rural) Canada and have an abundance of trails right out our literal back door. One day in late summer I was coming out of the tree line after taking my dogs for a hike, when suddenly I felt ice run through my veins. All the hair on the back of my neck stood up and it felt like my hearing "zoomed in". I immediately knew that I was being watched, so I turned to face the tree line and slowly backed down the trail until I caught up to my dogs in our field and went inside.
Two days later my neighbour stopped by to tell me that he caught a mother cougar and her three adolescent cubs on his wildlife camera. A week after that, another neighbour woke in the middle of the night to find the same mother cougar attacking her horse.
I still get so creeped out just thinking about it.
#59
9/11.
I spent most of my career in the shadow of the trade center; JP Morgan at 60 Wall Street. We merged with Chase the year prior - so little by little over 2001 we were leaving 60 Wall and moving to midtown. My move date; Monday September 10th. I was still unpacking and filing on the morning of the 11th. On the phone with a colleague still at the old building. He yelled - the line went d**d, and I looked out my window at the smoke. No panic at first - we had a TV in the office, saw the news and also had Bloomberg and Reuters - all reporting it was a small plane. From my angle I never saw the second plane, but saw the explosion. That’s when we knew It was time to leave.
At the risk of stating the obvious; you realize very quickly Manhattan is an Island. Tunnels closed; bridges closed; No trains, no buses. I ended up walking to the 59th street bridge with a large group and waited. Finally, they let us walk over.
EDIT; I wrote this awkwardly; my friend / colleague was fine and managed to get underground after the collapse and out of the dust cloud. We are friends to this day. We spoke about it on the evening of 9/11 when I was relieved to hear he was ok. 25 years later - we have never spoken about it again.
#60
I was in the basement of a K Mart with my two young kids shopping in the toy department when I locked eyes with a man walking by us. Immediately a wave of shear and utter panic overcame me. I don’t know how or why but I KNEW I had to get me and my babies far, far away from that man. I put both my kids in the carriage and found another mom shopping with her two kids and told her we needed to get out of there asap. She and I started walking towards the elevators and we saw the store manager, I told the manager about the man and he went looking for him. I left everything and took my kids and left. As I was loading the kids into the car I watched that man come running out of the store and he ran all the way across the entire parking lot and disappeared into the woods.
#61
Was at 4th of july party and just got this bad feeling. So i left. The next day i hear that fireworks blew up in a dude's face.
#62
2020 Feb - I was in Florence and the way trains were cancelled was just ominous. We decided to leave that day for home. Complete covid lockdowns ensued as soon as we reached home. I often wonder what would have happened if I had not listened to my gut because the hotel staff laughed when I was checking out and frantically booking flights.
#63
I was with three girlfriends from highschool, one of them had been chatting with some dude down the street around our age but went to a different school. We end up going to his house and hanging out in his garage and he just seems a little "off" to me but there's four of us and we're just in the garage so I'm not too worried at the moment. Then he tells us to wait there because he's going to grab his guns from the house to show them to us.... we're in suburban Canada....guns are not something you encounter in like 95% of homes and teens should definitely not have access to them. He goes inside and I basically make the other three leave with me by threatening to call 911 if they don't. No regrets.
#64
Around 5th grade back in the late 60’s, my friend and I went to a field to play and climb trees. Rode our bikes. A guy stopped nearby in a wood paneled station wagon and asked us if we saw his little dog because he lost her. Started getting out of his car and we took off running like Usain Bolt. Ran all the way home, left our bikes there. Went back hours later to get them. A few years earlier a little girl was found m******d near our town and I’ll always wonder if we were in real danger.
#65
Turkey. 1988. School trip. Me and some schoolmates (all girls, 13-14). Invited to a “tea shop next door” to the shop we were buying our fake Lacoste t-shirts from.
Led all the way down the road. Up a side street, down an alleyway. Into some sort of warehouse and introduced to some big burly moustachioed bloke.
Fortunately the others finally heeded my whispers of: “this really doesn’t look like a t-shop” and we all made a big thing looking at our watches and going on about being late to meet our teachers and nope the hell out of there.
#66
My late husband and I were admiring the ocean in a cliff side overlook in St. Croix. I heard a dog or two barking in the distance, didn’t think much of it until my husband said, “Get in the car. Get in the car now.” He realized the dogs were barking to each other to the left and right of us. They were hunting us. We peeled out of there quickly. Man, that man never let me down. He was always looking out to protect me.
#67
I was 16, driving my 15 year old friends to the movies. Way before cell phones. On the way home about 9:30, we ran out of gas on a lonely stretch of highway. We decided to walk to the next exit to call my parents, but as we were 50 feet or so from the car, a passing car pulled over ahead of us and started backing up toward us. We noped out and went back to the car, this car followed. The lone driver gets out and offers assistance. We ask him to go call our parents. He says he can’t do that but would take one of us to go get gas. I’ve never wished for a transporter as much as in that moment. Luckily just then a police car pulls over, and the guy just leaves. May have been nothing but we thought he was pretty sus.
#68
I was at a playground with my child, one in a wooded area of my neighborhood. Leaves were all over the ground due to it being fall.
All of a sudden, a man stands up from being completely covered in leaves, in a camouflage jumper and a mask on. He starts walking around and I was so scared. He looked like he would pull out a gun at any second. I grabbed my daughter and went as fast to the car as I could and drove off.
I never saw a news story of anything happening so I guess he wasn’t there to cause harm. He was a weirdo and maybe just trying to scare people. Still demented though.
#69
(Not me, my wife).
When my daughter was 4-5 years old, my wife took her to a local mall for the Build-A-Bear store. They were there for an hour or so, and bumping around doing other things. My wife said she just suddenly got a bad vibe...and decided they needed to leave.
That night on the news, we saw that there was a riot about an hour later...shots fired, etc.
#70
Was house-hunting with the lady and found a sweet place: Old Victorian style, everything was original wood, well taken care of, cheap too! Somewhat below market rates.
As soon as I entered the place I got a... "vibe"... that something was not right. Couldn't put my finger on it. Tested the floor to see if there was a "fun house effect" at play, but everything was fairly level (even in the corners!). Checked for mold in all the usual places. Nothing. Meanwhile the lady was gushing about how amazing the place was.
As we continued the tour the feeling begins to turn oppressive. I decretly went outside to get some air and... the feeling lifted. I felt fine.
As soon as I went inside the feeling came down again; harder this time. I asked my partner if we could go and she reluctantly agreed.
In the car I emphatically vetoed the place from consideration and told her, "something is not right there. Just trust me."
I checked the records on that place a few minutes ago. 2 different owners in 5 years.
#71
About 10 years ago my husband and I were just dating, and pulled up to a gas station about 1:00am on our way back to his apartment. When we pulled up to the pump, a car pulled up right next to him where both drivers windows were inches from each other. The most unsettling looking man was staring at us smiling with full teeth and zero emotion in his eyes. My husband rolled his window down and said “what’s up?”. The guy just sat there holding the same lifeless smile at us and did not say a word or move. I got that feeling that we needed to get out of there fast. My husband pulled away quickly and we left without getting gas. As we were pulling out, another man walked out of the gas station with a large black garbage bag, threw it in the car and got in and they took off.
I’m not sure what was going on. I called the non emergency number just in case if it was some kind of robbery or the gas station attendant was in trouble but never heard anything. I have never in my life had such a strong feeling of “get out NOW”. To this day I can see the guys face clear as day. Hopefully it was something innocent or the guy was just trying to get a rise out of us but I genuinely think something was horribly wrong with that man.
#72
Was at a party in high school that got way more crowded than expected. I told people the deck was gonna fail, and most people ignored me or laughed and said it was fine and that I must just be super drunk and crazy talkin. I told one of my friends that we needed to get out of the yard area because I could just feel it coming. Said I’d prefer to leave the party altogether. She said okay, and as soon as we got off the deck and into the house it collapsed. Of course then a bunch of cops and ambulances showed up, but we were gone by that point. Nobody was seriously injured thankfully. I’m sure the girl who hosted it was in hot water with her parents for quite awhile after that one.
#73
There was a choice of 2 crosswalks to get us to our cars. In one direction, there was shouting that indicated a fight was about to start and we'd have walked right into it. I had a visceral response and said sternly, "We're going this way," almost grabbing my friend to change direction. It took them a few moments to figure out why I went feral.
What do you think ?
Eliel Oliver 12 minutes ago
My last salary was $8750, ecom only worked 12 hours a week. My longtime neighbor yr estimated $15,000 and works about 20 hours for seven days. I can't believe how blunt he was when I looked up his information, This is what I do..... 𝐉𝐨𝐛𝐀𝐭𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞𝟏.𝐂𝐨𝐦
Eliel Oliver 12 minutes ago
My last salary was $8750, ecom only worked 12 hours a week. My longtime neighbor yr estimated $15,000 and works about 20 hours for seven days. I can't believe how blunt he was when I looked up his information, This is what I do..... 𝐉𝐨𝐛𝐀𝐭𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞𝟏.𝐂𝐨𝐦
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