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Surfing the web can sometimes feel like going on a night dive, venturing into the pitch-black ocean. You may blindly encounter things that could leave you scarred for life, or, at the very least, trying to shake off an awful, indelible memory. 

Suppose you haven’t ventured into those parts of the internet; lucky you. But if you want an idea of how dark things can get, these responses from an old yet relevant Reddit thread should clue you in. 

We’ve compiled some of them on this list to satisfy your morbid curiosity. Scroll through at your own risk.

#1

Young woman under blanket looking intently at a laptop screen, reacting to terrifying things found online at night. When I was struggling with eating problems as a teen I googled looking for anorexia help. I was hoping to find sites with advice on recovery etc but instead came across “pro Ana” blogs, and they’re honestly terrifying. They treat anorexia as a lifestyle and actively encourage girls to become anorexic, claiming that all non-anorexic women are disgusting and fat. They’re full of advice on how to avoid the temptation to eat, and you could find yourself an “ana buddy” to encourage you on your journey of anorexia. I’m so glad I never got caught up in that s**t and the anorexics who write those blogs are completely sick in the head.

penguinpyjamapants , cottonbro studio/Pexels Report

Jihana
Community Member
3 weeks ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They are probably all dead by now...

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    #2

    Close-up of a smiling woman with dark hair, related to people sharing the most terrifying things they’ve found online. Junko Furuta's Wikipedia page. It may be gone from my browsing history, but never from my mind.

    anon , Furuta family Report

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    #3

    Person holding nose underwater with eyes closed, illustrating a visual metaphor for terrifying things found online. I found a site with a forum for aspiring Mermaids (/Mermen?).

    One of the posts was made by someone who had been following advice on the forum, such as holding your breath underwater (presumably in a tub) for X amount of time.

    Someone replied with advice like "when you run out of air, you just need to breath in and stay under."

    TawmAimz , Diana ✨/Pexels Report

    #4

    Person in dark setting typing on a laptop, representing terrifying things found online by 31 people. Once googled my work email address because customers would post it on forums as someone they could contact to complain to.

    Found some dudes blog who had some sort of vendetta against the company and any of the staff he came into contact with.

    He’d posted their email addresses, photos of them from any social media he found them on. Pictures of their kids with threatening messages against them.

    He managed to find out where one of our employees lived using Facebook and street view. Posted pictures of her house (from street view) saying he was going to pay her a visit. Likely an empty threat but creepy anyway.

    We told the police who arrested him while he was on the phone to our call centres threatening our staff.

    Crazy guy. Never found out if he went to jail but I assume he did.

    jert11 , cottonbro studio/Pexels Report

    Upstaged75
    Community Member
    3 weeks ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    At one place I worked we had a security alert about a (crazy) woman who had been trying to get in touch with a certain staff member. Apparently he had put a chip in her head and she needed him to contact the aliens to remove it. (Or something like that) The building was card-access only so she couldn't get in, but we were sent her picture and told to report her if we saw her around. I hope she finally got some help!

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    #5

    Explosion and smoke billowing from a high-rise building, illustrating one of the most terrifying things found online. The 9/11 recaps of people willingly jumping off the building to escape the fires. Watching that as a 13 year old got me good.

    KittyRandomness91 , TheMachineStops (Robert J. Fisch) Report

    Mike F
    Community Member
    3 weeks ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Almost 25 years on and I still don't watch the videos.

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    #6

    Blurry vintage video of a creepy doll dancing in a dimly lit room, one of the most terrifying things found online Back in the ebaumsworld days i found this video called evil bunny tap dancer. very skinny woman tap dancing on weird old film something about it just terrifies me.

    entreethegiant , lex_04 Report

    Barong
    Community Member
    3 weeks ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Oh I remember ebaumsworld, I had sadly forgotten all about it. Along with SomethingAweful, crunchyroll, icanhascheezeburger, photobucket, and Friendster. The internet was fun the terror had already started.

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    #7

    Person in dimly lit room looking scared and hugging themselves after seeing terrifying things found online. A girl on TikTok recently posted a video 2 days ago of someone breaking into her apartment while she was making a video. She was on the second floor of an apartment complex, and a random guy climbed onto her balcony and opened her balcony door. She was asking him to leave and ended up running out of her front door. The guy did leave where he came in, but she asked a neighbor if she could come in and her neighbor let her in to call the police. According to the comments, the guy was arrested but released on bail.


    Update: turns out the guy had been stalking her for months, but she had no idea since he lived in a complex across the street and he stared at her. He had made uncomfortable come ons to her, but she assumed he was “just a creep”. He had cut several Christmas lights that were hanging outside and climbed up the balcony that way. He’s currently out on bond while awaiting trial and the girl is asking that if anyone else had been harassed, stalked, or assaulted by that man to please speak up.

    anon , cottonbro studio/Pexels Report

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    #8

    Hands counting cash on a desk with financial charts, calculator app, and a laptop showing terrifying things found online. This article shows how much you need to save to retire. $1,250,000 to generate an annual income of $50,000. That is by far the scariest thing I have encountered.

    anon , Tima Miroshnichenko/Pexels Report

    David Paterson
    Community Member
    3 weeks ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Those "you need $X to retire" are total rubbish. I was so worried when retiring early about whether I'd make it through the next year. Since then I've bought a second house and a new car on my retirement savings.

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    #9

    Black and white photos of two serious individuals, illustrating terrifying things found online shared by people. A true crime site had a piece on the moors murderers - Ian Brady and Myra Hindly. They were serial killers in the mid 60's

    part of it was a link to a recording they had made - later used in court evidence - of them torturing one of the victims. It was a young girl (about 10? I am not going to look it up) weeping and asking for her mum, saying she wouldn't tell on them. it was profoundly disturbing.

    when ever they got mentioned on the news (Brady only died a couple of years ago) I could not help but think of hearing that recording.

    ArcTan_Pete Report

    Cee Cee
    Community Member
    3 weeks ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Keith Bennett was 12 when he was mu ordered by this pair. His body was never found and his mother died still not knowing. So sad. RIP Keith and all their victims.

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    #10

    Old medical tools and bottles displayed on a table, illustrating some of the most terrifying things found online. Lobotomy procedures. Please don't go and search it around. Still gives me horrid dreams as I am a depressed individual who has been struggling since quite long and found out that it was one of the treatments that used to "cure" depression and "crazy" in the US in the 1960's or something.

    afrostylady , Sillerkiil Report

    Stardust she/her
    Community Member
    3 weeks ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    They did this to poor Rosemary Kennedy even though at worst she could’ve been mildly autistic. According to the doctors who performed the operation, they kept her awake throughout the procedure without anaesthetic and made her say the Lord’s Prayer as they kept working in her brain. They stopped the procedure once she became incomprehensible

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    #11

    A white car driving on a winding road surrounded by dense green trees and grassy landscape, representing terrifying online finds. That one video where the car was driving down that mountain road and you had to pay close attention and then it turned out to be a screamer.

    _Halcyon_Daze_ , Brienn Rockhill Report

    Howl's sleeping castle
    Community Member
    3 weeks ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    A colleague of mine sent it to my outlook account. I opened it and of course I screamed. Shocked the whole department.

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    #12

    A young woman staring intently at a screen in a dark room, reflecting the fear of terrifying things found online. I stumbled on some forums and there was a thread about people who felt like they were being followed. Like, an example: some woman said she dropped her wedding ring down the kitchen sink and couldn’t retrieve it, then years later, after moving to a different house, she was home alone and found it on her floor.

    scythaah , Mike Chang/Pexels Report

    Lotekguy
    Community Member
    Premium
    3 weeks ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    By following them, you added to the problem.

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    #13

    Person focused on laptop in dimly lit room, representing terrifying things found online experiences shared. I once found my email address listed on a website with my password. This was back in the days when hotmail was king and everyone had just discovered messenger!

    It wasn't a simple password either ... had 2 upper case letters, 4 lowercase, a couple of other characters.

    grownup_me , Mizuno K/Pexels Report

    Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het
    Community Member
    3 weeks ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I use this completely random selection of numbers and letters as a password i10v3@na1

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    #14

    Animated green creepy figure with large eyes in a barren landscape representing terrifying things found online. Salad fingers creeped me out.

    DeliciousCrepe , David Firth Report

    Highwaytozen
    Community Member
    3 weeks ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    i was weirdly obsessed with S F in my early 20's when it came out...

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    #15

    Close-up of a terrifying insect on a branch, illustrating the most terrifying things people have found online. That video of the decapitated wasp where it picks its head up and flies away.

    No snuff flick or murderporn or crime scene photo or creepypasta I've seen online can ever truly encapsulate the horror and dread that particular bit of video filled me with.

    anon , David Hablützel/Pexels Report

    Lotekguy
    Community Member
    Premium
    3 weeks ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It's on YouTube. 30 seconds.

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    #16

    Person in a dimly lit room with red light, focused on a laptop, representing terrifying things found online. That video of the Station Nightclub fire. The sight of all those people stuck jammed together at the exit was haunting.

    There was also something a few years ago, I don't remember all the details, but it was an elevator accident on a cruise ship. A technician (?) was working on an elevator when it started moving, wound up crushing him. There's video of someone walking into the lobby to the sight of blood just flowing down the outside of the elevator.

    86sleepypenguins , SHVETS production/Pexels Report

    Mahiera Etsuhae
    Community Member
    3 weeks ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I saw the video of cruise ship elevator. It took my brain a moment to register that it was not special effects, then the horrible reality hit me. That poor man.

    #17

    Close-up of a man wearing headphones looking intently at a screen, experiencing terrifying things found online. At one point a couple of years ago, someones voice just popped up in my computer headphones, speaking a different language. Sounded like he was asking me a question Like "You there?" then when i responded they started talking in a creepy low voice. Sounded like hindi or maybe a middle eastern langauge (it was a while ago).

    Thought it was some audio from a website so i quit everything and i could still hear it coming through. I think I quit skype and it disappeared. No call was active or anything. I have no idea how it happened, but i instantly ripped out my network cable and rebooted. Ran like 4 virus scans and a malwarebytes scan. Found nothing. Never happened again. I freeeeeaaked out.

    EDIT: I dont believe in the supernatural

    EDIT: My headphones are fibre optic, this wasn't caused by my cable picking up radio transmissions. Although we used to make that happen with my brothers guitar amp when i was a kid. Fun times.

    Edit: for the record this happened a couple of years ago on an older machine.

    Sojio , Ron Lach/Pexels Report

    otiose
    Community Member
    3 weeks ago

    This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

    Seriously this was scary because? I mean, they couldn't even understand what the person was saying! Just 'a creepy low voice'! And it obviously didn't happen again.

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    #18

    Middle-aged man with mustache wearing suit and tie, looking serious, representing terrifying things found online. The recordings of the Toy Box Murders. Its literally on YouTube. Horrific, to say the least..

    AbnormalSkittles , Wikipedia Report

    #19

    Person lying in bed at night, looking at phone with a worried expression, reflecting terrifying things found online. For sheer stomach churning gore, a hand degloved by an industrial papershredder. It was sort of satisfying in its uniformity and neatness. Mechanical precision and all that.

    For sheer existential terror, a short video of a boy dying of rabies. Hes delirious and sick and it's just sad. But then for a second or two he locks eyes with the camera and snarls in a perfectly, quintessentially animalistic way. And you realize how easy it is to lose yourself and become other - to become reduced to just base instinct and bodily functions with no *you* left. Yeah, rabies is a splashy version of that, but I think a lot of old age illnesses - how we are all increasingly more likely to die - isn't so different. And the ultimately terrifying thing is that its all so much worse to watch that and know we are potentially next than to live through it.

    iamasecretthrowaway , cottonbro studio/Pexels Report

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    #20

    YouTube channel Marble Hornets page on screen related to terrifying things people have found online. Marble hornets gave me the biggest spook back in early high school.

    Awportune Report

    #21

    Handwritten eerie note on aged paper, part of the most terrifying things found online shared by people. I’m currently trying to find this video talking about some mystery that a YouTuber was trying to solve, except he wasn’t very popular so nobody was keeping up with it. The narration itself was chilling, but the last message he found was linked to some ye olde English type stuff, leading him somewhere to the Northwestern part of the UK (the guy was from somewhere on that land mass, can’t remember where). Anyways, the last message had letters with different colors. If you took all the yellow ones it spelled out “I’m so lonely” or something similar, but the guy didn’t know this. A couple days later, only one body was found in a field in that area, but the question remained whether it was that YouTuber, or a potential killer that had been k****d in self-defense.

    mrepicsaxman , AdamButcher🦎Stretchmancer Report

    otiose
    Community Member
    3 weeks ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    So OP can't find the original video, but DOES happen to know about a dead body turning up in a field in the area where the video creator was heading? I think we know who the mürderer is, OP! No wonder you knew about the yellow letter message!

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    #22

    Young woman in bed reacting with disgust while browsing the most terrifying things found online on her laptop. My friends and I once found a website with a challenge where you had to watch a series of videos each worse than the last, and if you made it all the way to the last video you won. Very disturbing stuff, I felt sick the whole time. I completed the challenge, but I didn’t feel like a winner.

    edit: Some people have reminded me that the challenge is called "Run the Gauntlet," if anyone is feeling particularly brave.

    PerplexDonut , cottonbro studio/Pexels Report

    quentariel
    Community Member
    3 weeks ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I've watched them too, as a young adult and I still can't forget some of them. They start from quicker, deathly accidents like aspiring escape artist drowning in a bathtub, go through some maggot infested wounds and end up with sickening violence and m****r. The last videa lasts like 20 minutes and I wish that I've never seen that. (It involves a person being hammered with some weapons until they don't even resemble a person anymore, but person recording keeps shoving how they are still alive for the most part of it all). So please, don't watch this challenge. and if you start it, please don't go through the end.

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    #23

    Intravenous drip bag hanging on metal stand against a dim wall, evoking terrifying things found online. I saw photographs of a Japanese man who’s DNA literally melted. The images scarred me.

    FoxehTehFox , Bushra Islam/Pexels Report

    #24

    Young woman wearing a headset, focused on her computer screen while exploring terrifying things found online. 911 calls that just sound so scary . Like the call about the woman who got attacked by a chimp.

    AstronomyDummy , MART PRODUCTION/Pexels Report

    otiose
    Community Member
    3 weeks ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Sound scary? Wasn't the chimp eating her face? That IS scary! 911 is REAL PEOPLE, not some kind of entertainment!

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    #25

    Young man in bed wearing a sleep mask on his head, looking at his phone with a concerned expression, symbolizing terrifying online finds. A guide on how to groom children. It was several pages long. I read the first couple before leaving to see if it was real. The most shocking part was just how casual it was.

    Herogamer555 , SHVETS production/Pexels Report

    otiose
    Community Member
    3 weeks ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Isn't that part of Project 2025?

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    #26

    Creepy in-game avatar with low health and eerie lighting from a video game fitting terrifying things found online theme. Ben Drowned got me good when I first saw it! Still freaks me out to this day, but not as severe!

    Lakin5 , Jadusable Report

    #27

    Close-up of a human eye reflecting light, symbolizing people discovering terrifying things found online. I saw a guy literally stick 2 spoons in both eye sockets, he would put it first in his left eye socket and try and take/rip his eyes off.

    He did it with his left first then his right, i watched up until he was on his right. I went off it but it was way too late, i had and still remember the events of that video and to this day i remember it.

    I don’t talk about it as it makes me think about that video instantly and it’s not a very nice memory to have as you probably could guess. The scariest part tho was that i stumbled across this on google, it wasn’t the dark web or deep web or anything just regular plain google.

    The internet is far more scary and dangerous than people think.

    alanb1888 , Mathias Celis/Pexels Report

    #28

    Person holding a video camera capturing footage, illustrating terrifying things found online shared by people. There was some girl back in 2008/2009ish who used to post really cringy videos on youtube. she had some weird disorder where her mouth didn't move and her eyes didn't blink. she posted a lot of final fantasy cosplay stuff. I vividly remember a video where she was dressed like Tifa Lockhart. it was unnerving to say the least.

    anon , Beyzaa Yurtkuran/Pexels Report

    #29

    Woman looking at laptop screen with a concerned expression, experiencing terrifying things found online. Old creepypastas and fake ghost cams used to terrify me when I was younger, now not so much.

    icekingofmemes , Polina Zimmerman/Pexels Report

    Apatheist Account2
    Community Member
    3 weeks ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The child-catcher (Robert Helpmann) in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang still gives me shivers. I was 6 when I first saw it.

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    #30

    Don’t know if it still exists and never want to find out, but there use to be a website specifically to have the most disturbing photos and stories or gore that I use to look at once a week. The worst photo I saw was an old stand alone bathtub containing the remains of a man in his 80s that turned into human soup because he had a water heater connected to the bath water, he died and over several weeks his body cooked and slid off his bones creating a brownish liquid soup like material.

    mrinkyface Report

    Ace
    Community Member
    3 weeks ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Sadly Emma's comment has fallen foul of the URL thing, but as well as rotten dot com she mentioned, there were a couple of spin- offs from it including ones called gorish and ogrish or variations on those. Yes, some sickening stuff on them.

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