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There’s something about an old, crumbling building that sparks a very specific kind of curiosity. Peeling wallpaper? Yes, please. Weird mirrors and creepy symbols? Even better. A suspicious liquid that causes nosebleeds and makes concrete smoke? Okay, now I’m drawing the line.
Because there really is a fine line between “adventurous” and “absolutely not,” and that usually comes after you hear unexplained footsteps in a pitch-black hallway.
Yep, Reddit’s delivered another goldmine. Someone asked the chilling question: “People who like to explore abandoned buildings – what’s the biggest 'Nope, I'm out' moment you had?” - and the responses range from unsettling to nightmare fuel.
More info: Reddit
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#1
Broke into an abandoned house in the village I grew up in in England back when I was a teenager, maybe 15 year ago now.
Was with a couple friends but broke off by myself and ventured upstairs, when I turned at the top of the stairs I saw a figure standing in the darkness just staring at me.
I bolted out of the building as quickly as I could and my friends heard me and panicked, they weren't far behind. Went back there a couple of weeks later with a bigger group to "prove my story" and to my embarrasment.. it was a tall mirror at the top of the stairs, the figure I saw was me. Not my proudest moment.
Blue Bunny of Happiness 1 week ago
And things like this are why I have a daft phobia about mirrors in the dark!
RELATED:
#2
Late to the party but used to work for a guy renovating houses. He'd buy dumps for like 5 to 10 thousand that had been abandoned for years, we'd fix them up, and he'd rent the houses out. His daughter would go to houses to take pictures after he bought them since he'd buy a lot of them site unseen because they were so cheap.
One house she went to take pictures at and she was kinda creeped out by the basement and did not want to go in. She just opened the door, leaned in, reached her arm out and took a picture. When her dad reviewed the pictures he saw a man standing in the basement about 5 feet from the camera staring directly into it.
The Majestic Opossum 1 week ago
Eff that! I sure hope he didn't send her to take pictures ever again after that.
#3
My friends and I went into the Gibraltar Mansion in Wilmington, DE. It was cool until we came across a room with and older man squatting in it. He was terrified of us and we felt pretty horrible, so we left after apologizing.
Edit: Squatting is a term meaning living somewhere illegally. The confusion this caused is absolutely hilarious though.
Every horror story starts the same way: someone thinks, “This’ll be fun.” But fun quickly fades when your flashlight catches a glimpse of something that shouldn’t be there. These urban exploration stories are not just spooky - they’re the kind of tales that stick with you long after you’ve locked your doors and double-checked your windows.
Urban exploration, aka Urbex, is the curious, and slightly chaotic, hobby of sneaking into long-forgotten places to poke around and soak up the eerie vibes. Whether it’s abandoned hospitals, derelict mansions, or crumbling asylums, this pastime is part scavenger hunt, part ghost story, and part adrenaline rush.
While most explorers go in looking for old graffiti and cool architecture, some end up sprinting out of there, spotting mysterious figures in the shadows or, worse, finding a real-life coffin surrounded by vintage furniture and letters from the 1950s. Yep, that really happened.
#4
I walked into a old abandoned cabin in my neighborhood. I saw movement around me and when I shined my flashlight to the walls there were thousands of cockroaches and spiders on the walls. I noped right out of there
#5
Exploring an abandoned prison part of the ceiling collapsed. It didn't hit me but it was close enough to knock me over. I guess [users] used it as a place to shoot up because I fell on an old needle. I got tested to make sure I didn't get anything from it but it scared me enough to stay away from abandoned buildings to this day.
So, why do people even want to creep around deserted asylums and forgotten hospitals in the first place? Turns out, there’s some actual psychology behind our love for spooky spaces. Exploring abandoned places taps into our innate desire for novelty, mystery, and risk, which can stimulate the brain's reward system, creating excitement.
For some, it’s a way to escape the mundane and experience a kind of controlled fear, like when you’re riding a rollercoaster or watching a horror movie. Urban explorers often feel “drawn” to these places, not just for the fear factor, but for the sense of forgotten history.
#6
As kids we would walk this 1/4 mile railway tunnel near where i grew up, there were no tracks but it was next to two live tunnels so there was a slight element of danger.
That and the fact it was trespassing i guess and railway workmen or transport police could catch us at any moment.
So as you can imagine it was dark, REAL dark in the middle, but towards the end there was enough light to barely see.
One day we took an old school pal down there and after walking the length, almost at the end of the tunnel just as it was beginning to get light he stopped to look down a large uncovered square 3ft by 3ft manhole....
No he didn't fall in, but after a flash of brief confusion he took in a deep breath and screamed, then immediately started sprinting for daylight.
"Oh s**t, Fuckn RRUUINNNNNN!!!" he screams
Naturally without question we ran, having a hard time catching him up.
At the mouth of the tunnel we stopped.
All out of breath "WTF !! What's wrong? What did you see?" We asked.
His face was pure white, and shakeing barely able to speak he said " there was someone down there, looking up at me!"
Now this buddy was and still is a good friend of mine, but back then he wasn known for not being the sharpest tool in the drawer...
instantly we had an idea what just happened, but slowly we returned to open manhole.
Then as the four of us stood around this hole looking down, sure enough..... Reflected in the still water about 5ft down this feckn hole was our four faces looking back up at us.
.
#7
There was a coffin, a real coffin. We were in a abandoned factory that some rich family had owned, and there was this one room with a bunch of personal stuff, letters from the fifties, furniture, old photographs, clothes, even booze, like someone’s home had been put in there. In the middle of it all a coffin. I swear. The room was gloomy, it was a late summer afternoon, no power and we didn’t have flashlights. My friend was like “we gotta open this coffin, we can’t leave unless we do, we gotta” and straight up lifted the lid. A sweet smell came from the darkness. When my grandmother died I was the one to find the corpse and I remember that one quite well. So my heart skipped a couple of beats. The coffin was full of candles. They had a sweet smell.
Edit: typos.
#8
I used to walk around an abandoned building near a forest which was initially a child hospital in the 70s, a refugee housing in the 90s and a language school for Chinese students till 2007. Since then it's abandoned. The students left quite suddenly, so I found diaries, certificates and even food. It was interesting since the place was not vandalized at that time. Once I was inside the building again when I realized someone else was walking upstairs. I never left this place so fast, jumped over the gate and headed to my car. When I reached there, a policecar stopped in front of the building and the two officers jumped over the fence to enter the building.
No idea what was there, but sometimes I wonder if I avoided more than just a report for trespassing.
Serena Myers 1 week ago
Would be interesting (hold on while I adjust the zoom button thingy so I can read without squinting) to know why the students left so suddenly?
#9
Wow, I can’t believe I have a place to tell this story. When I was in middle school we went upstate in the summer. There was an abandoned house in the woods we explored. Top floor was pretty pristine - the beds were made and drawers/closets shut with stuff neatly arranged inside. There were bats.
The lower you went the more disordered. The basement/garage was in complete disarray. Books and random c**p thrown around. Beer cans and used condoms. We went to the far end of the house where the wall partially collapsed and that’s when we saw the bear. Foolishly ran with all our might. Thankfully the house between us and bear’s lack of interest is why I’m typing this.
The Majestic Opossum 1 week ago
Bears use condoms? Glad to hear they're being safe. Ok I'm done now, I'm sorry.
But pretty much every explorer has their version of the moment when curiosity turns into pure survival instinct. Whether it’s a figure staring from the darkness, weird graffiti written in... well, let’s just say not paint, or an actual human in the basement of a recently purchased home—there’s always a breaking point.
Some folks do it for the thrill, others do it for the Instagram likes. And some, let’s be honest, probably watched too much true crime.
#10
Got busted by a soldier who told me, rather calmy, that the spot was used for training with real bullets and that I'd better get out of here before he drags my a*s to the cop
The guy was really nice, took the time to explain why it was dangerous, and send me on my way. I didn't insist
Weirdest part is we explored for one or two hours before getting busted and met no one. We weren't hidding or anything.
#11
Found a bottle of some liquid in an abandoned drive in theater building. Knocked it over and the concrete starting smoking and we got nosebleeds instantly. Still no clue what it was but we got the f**k out.
#12
Exploring an abandoned manor with some friends. We had been drinking and smoking and thought it would be cool. The ground floor entrances were covered with bricks so we had to enter through the first floor (~8 ft height) using an improvised ladder made of old trash and wood pieces. It was quite unstable and hard to climb and we were 5 or 6 people. Being the only way out, and knowing how slow it was, I was on edge the whole time.
We were exploring the floor, cool glass ceiling, lots of debris, but suddenly we find a room filled with plastic containers with pink and brown liquids... Some friends decide to explore the ground floor, which was pitch black and involved going down a broken staircase missing several steps. They heard someone coughing in the dark and feel several people *moving* in the darkness as their eyes get used to it... At this point I was hearing someone slowly walking in a room on the first floor, carefully stepping over the broken glass on the floor (to not make noise) which was really creepy. We got the f**k away and on our way out we saw a roughed up man with bloodshot eyes leaving a shack outside the house and staring at us. I still shiver when I remember his look.
Probably just some [users] living there but for overly high 15 year olds it was scary as f**k.
The Majestic Opossum 1 week ago
Trust me, for a sober 40 year old that sounds scary as f*ck too.
True crime and horror culture have glamorized the spooky unknown. The mix of fear, history, and personal storytelling can get folks easily hooked. And apparently, half of the folks in the U.S alone enjoy this genre. That might explain why someone would climb an old grain mill, without stairs, only to find the body of a deer neatly placed at the top like some kind of bizarre sacrificial offering.
And while exploring ghost towns and abandoned chapels might seem like harmless fun, it’s not always as fun as it looks. Structures in decay can be dangerous—floors collapse, air quality is poor, and there’s always the risk of encountering someone who doesn’t want to be found. It’s one thing to be spooked by a shadow, but it’s another to walk into a danger zone.
Just like one netizen did when exploring an abandoned prison, only to ditch part of the ceiling that had almost collapsed right on them. Okay, now that’s a bit too real for my taste.
#13
There's a big abandoned factory near the center of our city that teens regularly visit. My friend was telling me a story about how she and a group of friends were walking around the ground floor (almost pitch black in places) when they saw a lone chair in the middle of a big room. They started joking about how it looked like the type of place a kidnapper would tie a victim up, when in the distance they heard glass being smashed. They all took one look at each other, turned around and got the hell out of dodge, scared it was someone trying to escape.
Rachel Pelz 6 days ago (edited)
I guess the person someone tried to escape from might even have been a bigger concern.
#14
There’s an abandoned old cabin in the middle of the woods that’s near my house. I believe it’s from the early 1900s, and it’s falling apart and blocked off by the rangers. But they don’t really patrol this forest so it’s easy to jump the gate and hike up to the cabin. I decided to explore one day and climbed up the rotting deck to the main cabin. It was so dark and musty with broken glass and acorns everywhere. I went deeper into the cabin to explore the different rooms. As I was walking around, I started to hear a rustling noise. Me being a d*****s, I started to walk closer to the sound. I moved a rotting board over to the side and a f*****g squirrel leapt out and attached itself to my sweater. I start screaming and grabbed the squirrel with my hands and threw it off me. I ran out of that cabin and never looked back. I still pass the cabin when I hike with my dog, but I’ve learned my lesson. It belongs to the forest now.
#15
Went exploring an old Nato missile site in Europe with some friends. It was so dark in one room, we almost stepped into a open lift shaft that went down about 150 ft. We didn't notice it because of other shadows on the ground when using our flashlights. Minutes later, cops pulled up to investigate the area. We didn't realize that there were motion sensors installed on the perimeter.
On the way out, we nearly got locked in due to a safety on the exit door that locks closed if you don't hold a switch in the guard room next door.
The Majestic Opossum 1 week ago
And this is just one of the many reason why you don't go wandering around abandoned missile sites 🤦🏽♀️
So why keep going back? Well, despite the occasional (okay, frequent) horror movie moment, most urban explorers aren’t deterred. In fact, the more chilling the story, the more badge-of-honor points they rack up.
It’s all about the adventure, the stories, and that rare feeling of stepping into a place where time forgot to keep ticking.
#16
This is not scary but its interesting story. My friend was walking in the forest and found old house. When he moved some stuff the ceiling broke and old german light machine gun fell down.
The Majestic Opossum 1 week ago
Apparently this old house is located in Slovenia, Central Europe, where there were many German camps during WW2. Hence why an old German machine gun might be there. (Also, to find more info, I suggest clicking on the name below the photo, it will take you to the original Reddit post where there is often more information or you can ask the person directly.)
#18
Used to break into this old abandoned childrens hospital with some friends when we were teens.
One time (I think perhaps the last time) there was a fresh, child-sized hand print in the dust on a wall, and what seemed like blood droplets/spray nearby.
StrangeOne 1 week ago
Sometimes people sneak in and put pranks around to scare others. Sometimes it's something more sinister that should be reported.
#19
Abandoned insane asylum on long island. Giant place with plenty of history. My friend and I were joking about getting haunted by "lobotomized ghosts."
We go in and start taking photos. One of the first shots came out with what seriously looked like a little orb dude. We decided to stop making fun of the undead, but we did forge ahead. It was very creepy, especially when we found the morgue.
The Majestic Opossum 1 week ago
I have no doubt these places are all very haunted. To think of the horrific things that happened in them... ::shudder::
#20
I was with two others. I wandered off because I like to go explore on my own sometimes. I heard whispering and thought they were f*****g with me. Turns out they weren’t even near me at the time. F**k that s**t. We haven’t gone back since 😂.
#21
As 12 year old kids, we were exploring the woods as kids do. The forest parted to an open field and in the distance was an abandoned farm. Naturally we crept inside and in one of the horse stalls were all discarded hypodermic needles and old food. Our parents were quite mad when we told them what we found.
Brian Droste 6 days ago
Sounds like some one or someone's were using that place to shoot up/hanging out.
#22
I was exploring with my parents an abandoned soviet small city where the solders and their families stayed. It was getting dark because of the coming storm. I found a basement and thought to just take a fast look into it. It was really dark, but I heard my mom saying on the other side of the basement corridor that she found something and I should see it. I just asked where she was, then I heard my mom again FROM BEHIND telling me to hurry up because the storm is coming and it started to rain. I was 20 yo at the time, but I turned around and got the f**k out of there with tears rolling down my cheeks and shaking like there's no tomorrow. I told my mom amd she said it's another reason to just leave asap.
The Majestic Opossum 1 week ago (edited)
To give more context: "It was me who begged them to come with me because they didn't let me use the car, there was no way for me to get there with public transport, and they didn't let me go with a friend because we both would be two young girls out in the nowhere exploring in bad weather. I really love exploring abandoned places and it wasn't the first time. They all have some eerie vibes, but this was the only bizarre thing that every happened to me for the first tl time and I, myself, couldn't believe it. I was thinking about it when we drived off and explaining it to my parents.I still sometimes remember it and think about it from the safety of my room ofc "I should have checked it Out". Still makes me curious what made that sound, and by that I mean "what" as to there must be some scientific explanation. Good old wind, or there were people we didn't know about, I'm also very sad because we didn't get to explore more." Someone has since bought the land so you can't explore anymore. t's called Szentkirályszabadja, iř someone would like to google it. It's in Hungary.
#23
The Hammock, FL, 1976. I was 14, and had ridden south on A1A with buddies, one of which drove. We stopped at Marineland [locals got in free at that time] and got Cokes from the snack bar at the north end of the park. We motored south and began exploring an old, abandoned two story house. The back right room was full of women's shoes. They all appeared new. Odd. Upon a closer examination, there seemed to be only right hand shoes. The room was 2 feet deep in footwear. If there were left hand shoes in that room, we could not locate them. TBH, we might have missed any left handers, though. We were being goof balls and not really searching all that hard...
We then found a small dark burgundy velvet jewelry box. When we opened it, there was a glass eye in it. That was a bit creepy, but then we saw that the glass eye had a goat pupil in it. We were OUT of there. To this day, I remember the shiver that went down my spine. I mean, who makes a glass eye for a goat? Yikes.
#24
My friends and I were exploring an abandoned military housing complex at night. It was in pretty bad shape but there were lots of interesting things to see. We almost pissed ourselves a couple times because of mannequins behind doors and stuff. There was also a neat art installation with records hanging from the ceiling. Anyway, we climbed up some stairs to the tallest part of the building. We saw some faint light coming from under a door.
Somehow the door had been boobietrapped, and as soon as my friend opened it there was a crash - and a cinderblock on a rope that came swinging out the open door and just missed us. I got a split second look inside where I saw a small fire, a mattress on the ground, and then A MAN moving quickly toward us. He was silhouetted by the light so I couldn't make out what he looked like or what exactly he was holding, but I wasn't about to stick around to find out. I yelled "RUN!" and we bolted out of there as fast as our legs could carry us.
EDIT: I found a couple photos from that night. Here and here. Unfortunately I didn't capture anything too scary for you guys. These are from 2013 and I think the place has since been torn down.
The Majestic Opossum 1 week ago
I don't understand why people are so shocked or scared to find the unhoused in abandon houses... Where do you think they would stay if the house is otherwise left empty??
#25
Oh man, my friends and I were exploring the hospital I was born in that had since been abandoned. We explored down to the underground floor strapped with paintball guns for safety. There was all sorts of weird s**t, a room full to the ceiling with toilets, mushrooms growing on the walls, etc. While exploring the underground floor, we found a McDonald's burger still wrapped up. I picked it up... It was warm.
#26
A group of us went into an old abandoned care home. (We got in legally). It was pitch black and I mean the type of darkness where you cannot see you hand in front of your face even when you let your eyes adjust. Fortunately we had a few light sources with us. After walking around and finding copious amounts of evidence that there was squatters staying there (not at the time of our arrival thank god). We found ourselves standing in a room filled with graffiti but not graffiti from a paint can. This was spelled in dried blood and excrement. The stench was horrendous. We got out of there so quick and have never been back since.
#27
Found a dead deer on top of an old grain mill. All of the stairs were removed so people couldn’t climb them. Getting up there is hard enough without carrying a deer carcass on your shoulders. I think about it all the time lol.
The Majestic Opossum 1 week ago
Not sure where this was, but here in the Midwest there have been many reports of large animals in seemingly impossible places after a tornado comes through.
#28
Dead crows and satanic symbols on the walls in an abandoned building on an island.
Bored Trash Panda 1 week ago
Most of those are from the tv show Supernatural, maybe some others from other religions, but not pretty sure none of them are Satanic.. Probably just some idiot kids with nothing better to do.
#29
I had crept an abandoned house in Seattle in the 90s. The guy had recently died, but not before hoarding three stories worth of groceries, unopened QVC orders and tons of ephemera. The power and water had been shut off, and he was s******g and pissing in buckets. I opened a couple of these, which would have been revolting on it's own but for some reason, he was putting wigs and toupees in with the waste. There were stacks of wigs that had yet to be put in the buckets. I did get three big bags of Liberty Dimes before I fled in disgust.
#30
Got into an old cement factory with a few friends 15 years ago.
No smart phone, no fancy gadgets. Just a halogen flashlight and each other.
We walked around for hours. The basement was flooded and the water crystal clear, everything heavy still in place. Surreal.
Climbed the stair case at one end of the factory up to a room that had huge motors inside, black filthy windows and a weird smell.
Started to walk into the darkest area of the rooms up there and the smell got worse and worse, found a smashed window pane for some air and light.
Shouted for my mates to come to me so we could share the flashlight and look around properly, 1st mate comes up and freezes...
2nd mate, with the light already on and aimed straight at me, gagging and covering his face.
Pigeons hanging from the walls and carcasses on the floor, a huge symbol scratched and painted on wall.. the windows black probably from the blood of these poor birds.
We noped out of that room pretty quick, f**k knows who had been there messing with birds like that.. turns out the smell was likely death and rotting animals.
#31
Came very close to a black widow spider and noped the f**k out.
#32
We were finally going to explore the second floor. We went up the outside stairs (for context it was an abandoned house not a building) and we were facing the brick sealed entrance which had a whole where a person could fit.
Out of nowhere, my mate's phone started playing loud music and he quickly turned it off. We looked at each other and laughed, not knowing what would follow. The second after we were filled with relief, from the other side of the entrance, we heard a cough and a door creeking. My mate just turned to me and said "Run! " and we did.
Afterwards, we concluded it was probably just a homeless person living there. But, we were never completely sure.
#33
Friends leg fell through the floor.
Edit: since this blew up a bit bit of added context. She was wearing heels and the place was so run down some of the roof was missing.
We got her out she was relatively easy pick up.
It was at an office building at a partially abandoned naval base in California.
The Majestic Opossum 1 week ago
Who tf goes exploring abandon buildings in heels? I've done a lot of dumb shít in heels but even I knew better than that...
What do you think ?
Apatheist Account2 1 week ago
Never had the urge to explore abandoned buildings. Just as well.
Mike F 6 days ago
For sure, since it's become fashionable I've been too old and slow, lol.
Load More Replies...
The Majestic Opossum 1 week ago
There was an abandoned dog track near our house for the longest time and my husband and I always talked about exploring it. Then it had a mysterious "electrical fire" that somehow burned down the entire 1m sq. ft. Structure and all the out buildings. I still regret not going in there when we had the chance... Some local guy did go in and get some photos before hand, it was wild to see all the old furniture and betting stuff just sat like it was about to be used, covered in 20+ years of dust and surrounded by graffiti
Nikole 6 days ago
Oh that would have been cool! With all of these I’d only be concerned about the building crumbling under me and/or crazy people.
Load More Replies...
SpiderWoman13 1 week ago
There was once a time when it was "fun" to explore abandoned buildings and structured. Now's not IT. (Pun intended, Stephen King...)
Apatheist Account2 1 week ago
Never had the urge to explore abandoned buildings. Just as well.
Mike F 6 days ago
For sure, since it's become fashionable I've been too old and slow, lol.
Load More Replies... The Majestic Opossum 1 week ago
There was an abandoned dog track near our house for the longest time and my husband and I always talked about exploring it. Then it had a mysterious "electrical fire" that somehow burned down the entire 1m sq. ft. Structure and all the out buildings. I still regret not going in there when we had the chance... Some local guy did go in and get some photos before hand, it was wild to see all the old furniture and betting stuff just sat like it was about to be used, covered in 20+ years of dust and surrounded by graffiti
Nikole 6 days ago
Oh that would have been cool! With all of these I’d only be concerned about the building crumbling under me and/or crazy people.
Load More Replies... SpiderWoman13 1 week ago
There was once a time when it was "fun" to explore abandoned buildings and structured. Now's not IT. (Pun intended, Stephen King...)
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