Everybody needs a friend. We especially needs friends when we're young. But sometimes the right friends don't arrive soon enough, so as placeholders.... we make up friends to fill the void. The imaginary friend, really and truly is everyone's first best friend.
It can be a fascinating look into a child's psyche when you listen to the world they create with imaginary friends and often times, in can be downright scary. Some of these invisible people can be no good. Which is worrisome.
My friend's name was Alfred. He's dead now and he knows why... don't ask.
Redditor u/destinykarmalove wanted to hear from all the parents out there about some of the people their children hang with that they may have issues and possibly.... don't exist in corporeal form by asking.... Parents, what's the creepiest thing you remember about your child and an imaginary friend?Robert
Tom Hanks Reaction GIFGiphyI heard from my parents that I had an imaginary friend named Robert, apparently he had died in a fire. I don't remember this but my parents told me that I would stare at our fireplace in the winter and say "Turn it off, Robert doesn't like fire." and "Robert said fire burns." I would say some really creepy stuff.
"get rid of her."
My daughter had two imaginary friends when she was about 8. The first one's name was Lucy. Apparently she had asthma and one day we were driving in the car with the windows down. It was summer and the AC wasn't working so it was pretty hot. My daughter was sitting in the front seat and she said Lucy was sitting on the floor between her legs.
All of sudden she's screaming and crying because Lucy had an asthma attack and died because she was so hot.
She got a replacement friend. Her name was Keeshe, and according to my daughter, she was Japanese and Jamaican. Well Keeshe was mean and she used to bite people so my daughter said she had to "get rid of her." Whatever that meant.
Nobody.
Not a parent, but my sister's imaginary friend died in a hunting incident. "Mr. Nobody" was accidentally shot, due to the fact that he was invisible.
My brother and cousins and I all had a shared imaginary friend named Mr. Nobody. He was also invisible.
Woah I called my imaginary friend Mr Nobody when I was a kid.
Everly.
Ice Cream Eating GIFGiphyMy brother had an imaginary friend called Everly. Whenever we got into the car my mum also had to put the seat belt on him. Extra ice cream's were bought for him as well as extra breakfast, lunches and dinners dished up. Looking back I think my brother was just a greedy moron.
Meow.
My daughter used to chat away to nothing looking at the end of the bed. Quite some time later (months), she said she missed her friend. Asked her who she was talking about and she says the boy that used to sit and the end of her bed and talk to her.
She also knew the name of my cat who died before she was born and we are sure no one told her.
Chills.
My daughter had started having an imaginary friend named Riley shortly after we moved into an apartment. It was all cute until she told me he died because his mommy was a bad person. A few months later I met an upstairs neighbor who told me a few tenants ago there was a lady who killed her son named Riley. I had chills.
Chuck.
When I was about four, I had an imaginary friend named Chuck. One day I started screaming because I saw my dad run Chuck over with the lawnmower.
About a year later, my brother grabbed some hamburger off the shelf in the supermarket and had me sound out the sticker on the front: GROUND CHUCK.
My brother is ten years older than me. I'm 40now, he's 50, and he's still a fool.
Jack.
jack nicholson yes GIFGiphyWhen my daughter was around 4 she had an imaginary friend named Jack that lived under our back porch. He liked to shove sticks down people's throats. I told her that maybe Jack wasn't the nicest person to hang out with!!
All my Pals....
Me as a kid had multiple. The memorable....
- Gogonagi. Gogonagi was a 9 foot long rat. I got the idea from a movie that I have never been able to find again.
- Silly Beaver. Silly Beaver use to jump in my head and I would jump around hitting the side of my head shouting "silly beaver silly beaver get out of my head". This gave my father nightmares.
- Soggy. Soggy lives in a pond. He had a very wide smile.... bc someone made it with a blade. Soggy may actually have been a ghost. AllMyBeets
Hey Grape....
grape GIFGiphyWhen I was little I had an imaginary friend named Grape. My parents told me that I believed he lived underneath the floor in my room. I remember him being a dark purple silhouette, but I have no idea if that's a false memory or not.
It returned.....
I didn't remember this until my mother reminded me and then the memories came pouring in....
About 3 or 4 yrs old. I used to see a woman's face appear in the ceiling, or she would appear full-bodied in the strangest places. She had black hair, fair skin, reddest lips, green eyes and wore white.
She would usually only appear in my bedroom in the ceiling or sitting above the curtains. One time i saw her sitting on the bonnet of the car when we were driving... i would always freak out when i saw her.
My mum was kinda superstitious so she told me to ask it to leave me alone. It didn't come back for a while. Then maybe year or so later my mother asked me if i had seen it lately, i decided to see if it would come back so i called out for it. It returned. I told my mother and she told me to ask it what it wanted. I did and it answered it was just watching.. i never saw it again after that, but i like to think my countless near-death experiences have been narrowly avoided thanks to this being.
Not Fred
freddy krueger horror GIF by absurdnoiseGiphyWhen my daughter was eight, My wife went to wake her up for school. Her window was open, so she asked if she was hot last night. She replied:
"No my friend Fred comes over, and he takes pictures with me at night."
Instantly my wife goes into panic mode. She asks her teacher about anyone named Fred in class or any teachers with that name, nope. Therefore, she asks for more details about Fred. My daughter then pulls out all the letters he's written her. Well, the letters are in her handwriting, so you could easily tell he was fake.
Ohthankgod crisis averted.
gabba....
When i was little i had an imaginary friend named abba gabba. abba gabba was a fish boy who used to be a fish before his owner dropped his tank and killed him. I don't remember much about abba gabba, but i do remember that he had these weird sorta sunken black eyes and red and blue skin, along with long gills extending down about fifteen-ish feet off of his face, and had kinda sharp teeth and a long blue tongue. and for some reason he liked finding curly hair because his owner had it before he turned six.
Coincidentally, six was abba gabba's favorite number. i told my dad about abba gabba one day and he went all pale. apparently my dad had a fish named abba gabba that died when he dropped his tank on his eighth birthday. my dad also had curly hair up until he was six. freaks me out to think about it now.
Effie.
elizabeth banks GIF by The Hunger GamesGiphyI have a funny, not a creepy, imaginary friend story. For years my son had an imaginary friend name Effie. Effie was a robot with a tail.
When he was probably 4 or so, he told us that Effie's mom had come for a visit. When I asked him what Effie's mom's name was, he thought for a minute, and responded matter-of-factly, "Mother Ef".
I nearly died of laughter. He had no idea that mother ef had actual meaning, to him it was a clever name he thought up all his own.
I am from Eastern Europe....
I wonder if this is some sort of cultural phenomenon. I am from Eastern Europe, and I don't recall kids having imaginary friends, or concepts like this. I came across this concept in American films.
Eastern European who hasn't had any imaginary friends or known anyone who did. However I remember reading a bunch of stories about children's imaginary friends in a local mommy forum There was one funny story about a lady who had to drive all the way back to the store after shopping because her daughter forgot her pack of imaginary friends in the parking lot and was inconsolable lol.
Evicted Gale....
I have told this story before but the creepiest thing about my son's imaginary friend was that he was so... lame. My son said he had a triangle as a head and square as a body and lived behind one of our chairs in "his apartment".
His name was Gale and he always had problems at work and a boring job.
Eventually he got married and had to work more because of his wife. They are eventually had three or four imaginary children and still lived lived in the tiny imaginary apartment. Gale kept his imaginary lame job and had to deal with his wife and kids.
I felt bad for the guy.
Kenya Lives....
im alive GIF by Team CocoGiphyMy kid had an imaginary friend named Kenya. She was a pretty great imaginary friend. One day, my daughter casually mentioned that Kenya is dead and likes to visit her.
Dark Lady...
My son used to start screaming at night about a lady with dark curly hair in his room, he was about 4. He said she wanted to tickle him and kept telling him to relax. We assumed it was a recurring nightmare and brushed it off but then he started telling me he couldn't go in the living room because she came out of the wall there during the day. It really started impacting our everyday life.
We even asked a therapist about dealing with it but it still continued. A month or so later we moved (unrelated) and it stopped. I asked him about it casually so I wouldn't freak him out and he said she was sitting on the floor in the hall outside our apartment door. She had asked him if she could come in and he said no. No more episodes after that. I don't believe in the supernatural but that creeped me right out.
Sacos and Pacos.....
I had 2 imaginary friends. Sacos and pacos. They were a blue square and a yellow triangle. Then one day someone called our house asking for Pacos. It was just a wrong number for a Paco but my dad busted out laughing thinking it was a prank call.
In the Shed....
My daughter and I were in the shed one day, she was about 4 at the time. We were just chatting etc. when I notice her looking over my shoulder, she looks back at me and says" daddy, who is the man standing behind you?" I look around quickly thinking I left the door open but it was shut. Forget me, sent a massive chill down my spine! Not sure what she could see, but whatever it was, I couldn't see it.
Bob.
scooby doo halloween GIFGiphyMy daughter had a man who she called "ghost bob." She said he hung out in the corner of her room.
My grandfather was named Robert, who I called Grandpa Bob. I was very close to him and he died of lung cancer when I was 13.
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