Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Divulge The Scariest Thing That's Ever Happened To Them

People Divulge The Scariest Thing That's Ever Happened To Them
closed glass-panel window inside dark room
Photo by Josh Nuttall on Unsplash

All of us have fears which some might call irrational.

Up to and including ghosts, witches, monsters.

But more often than not, reality can be far scarier than the supernatural.

And there are very few people indeed who don't have a memory of a moment when they were truly and genuinely scared.

And not by an otherworldly encounter, but by things that could quite literally happen to anyone.

Redditor GodhimselfUwU was curious to hear the scariest experiences people have lived through, leading them to ask:

"What’s the scariest non-supernatural thing that ever happened to you?"


Intruder

"I was 14, alone at my grandmas house around midnight."

"She was across the street at the bar she owned."

"I was playing games on her computer, about 15 feet from one of the windows facing the backyard."

"All of a sudden the glass from that window shatters, and I ran to one of the bedrooms."

"I can hear my name being called."

"Eventually I see my grandma's ex-boyfriend enter the living room where the computer is."

"He keeps saying my name."

"I’m scared sh*tless, but I walk out and confront him."

"He says my grandma stole his ID and that’s what he came for, as he’s taking money from my grandmas purse."

"He looks f*cked up on something."

"I forget how he leaves but when he does I call the bar and people come over looking for him."

"They didn’t find him."

"About a year later he did it again, and I was once again alone there."

"Except this time instead of breaking a window he decides to try to kick the side door in."

"I’m just there chilling when out of nowhere I hear the loudest bangs coming from the side of the house and I instantly knew what was happening."

"I immediately called the bar and they sent a bunch of people over before he could make it in."

"He apparently tried to jump from one of her sheds into the alley next to her house and broke his leg."

"He went to prison."- nfreshn

They're coming right for us!

"Two bison charging right toward me down a narrow wooded path in Yellowstone when I was 12."- pcc2

Open Range Running GIF by Reconnecting RootsGiphy

Uncomfortable in new surroundings.

"My sister has mental health issues."

"We were in a foreign country, driving across mountains on a one lane dirt road with no guardrails."

"She had a complete mental breakdown and threatened many times to drive off the edge."

"To this day, my mom swears my sister wouldn't have done it."

"All I say is, 'you weren't in the car'."

"'You have no idea'."- BlorengeJulius

Lost in the woods.

"Getting lost on 350 acres of woods in southeast Georgia."

"Was found about 6 hours later."

The dog found me hours before the people did.- No_Regrats_42

Scared Woods GIF by Brat TVGiphy

A near death experience.

"Was working as a linemen tasked to replace a 16m wooden power pole which requires climbing up to untie the lines from the isolators."

"I checked if the pole had any rot beforehand, climbed up, untied the lines, climbed down, as I was packing my tools up , the pole fell from its own."- LimaRadek

He wasn't who he claimed to be.

"A man claiming to be a meter reader was in our yard and tried the back door AFTER trying the front."

"It was unlocked because there was a field behind us and our gate had a lock, that he somehow got by."

"The meter reader man was nearly eaten by our Great Dane who was dumb and peaceful, except for when she laid eyes on him."

"Our other dog also wanted to kill him and he was up on our trampoline begging us to call the dogs off, which we, my then 11 year old sister and I, refused to do and went to get our dad, who worked from home."

"The guy escaped while we got our dad and my dad let the police know what happened."

"The real meter reader man came the next week."- Applesintheorchard

Dog Bouncing GIF by AFV PetsGiphy

Had no idea what they were witnessing.

"I guess watching a loved one have a seizure when I didn’t understand what it was."

"Legit thought I witnessed a death."

"Scary stuff."- Peppapigisgodly

Always look both ways.

"I got hit by a car while in a crosswalk a few months back."

"Had a split second where I saw him coming and realized what was about to happen."

"I thought I was going to die."- jolalolalulu

Big Sister to the Rescue.

"Saved my sisters life."

"We were boating and my parents just kinda assumed we’d be ok with them only out a couple hundred feet."

"I was about 17 and she was about 7."

"I’m laying there chilling and see her slip and fall into the water and just straight up sink."

"Ran over, dove in and pulled her to shore."

"She spit up a bunch of water and was fine but that experience rocked me to my core."

"Not a super crazy story but almost seeing a sibling die has always stuck with me."

"I’ve broken almost every bone in my body, I died one time and was in a coma for a little bit but for some reason this one stuck with me."- Present-Trip5231

Often, an experience that left us scared does make for a good story down the line.

Though whether it was a good enough story to make having gone through the experience worth it, is debatable.

Want to "know" more?

Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Elon Musk Just Revealed His New Net Worth Goal After Hitting $800 Billion—And The Greed Is Off The Charts
Elon Musk Ripped After Setting Net Worth Goal To $10 Trillion

Elon Musk Just Revealed His New Net Worth Goal After Hitting $800 Billion—And The Greed Is Off The Charts

If you're wondering if there's an amount of money that would ever be "enough" for gazillionaire sociopath Elon Musk, the answer is apparently no.

He's already the world's richest man, with his net worth surpassing $800 billion in February after his company SpaceX acquired xAI earlier this year

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Meidas Touch Network

Trump Just Tried To Impress Some Kids With His Putting Skills At A White House Physical Fitness Event—And It Went Hilariously Awry

MAGA Republican President Donald Trump signed a memo at the White House on Tuesday, reinstating the Presidential Fitness Test Award.

Seated at the C&O Desk—Trump removed the Resolute Desk in February of 2025 for some "light refinishing"—in the Oval Office, the POTUS was flanked by schoolchildren, professional athletes, and members of his cabinet during the event to mark National Youth Sports and Fitness Month.

Keep ReadingShow less
Chuck Schumer; Donald Trump
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images; Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Chuck Schumer Claps Back Hard After White House Shades Him With Racist Cinco De Mayo Meme

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer responded after the White House marked Cinco de Mayo on Tuesday by sharing a racist AI-generated meme of him and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries celebrating the holiday.

In the image, the two men are depicted seated at a table near the border, wearing sombreros and raising margaritas in a toast, with a sign placed in front of them that reads: “I LOVE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Hannah Natanson
Tom Brenner/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

'Washington Post' Journalist Who Had Home Raided By Trump's FBI Just Won Pulitzer Prize—And Her Reaction In Viral Video Says It All

Washington Post journalist Hannah Natanson won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for her coverage of the Trump administration's disastrous DOGE initiative and her somber reaction to the news underscores how taxing the political environment has been for journalists just trying to do their jobs.

DOGE founder Elon Musk previously stated that his goal was to reduce federal spending by $2 trillion from the $6.75 trillion annual budget recorded in the 2024 fiscal year.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kid Cudi (left) removed M.I.A. (right) from his Rebel Ragers Tour following backlash over her onstage remarks.
Joseph Okpako/WireImage via Getty Images; Gilbert Carrasquillo/Getty Images

Rapper Kid Cudi Fires M.I.A. From His Tour After Her Rant About 'Illegals' Draws Instant Backlash

If M.I.A. was hoping for attention, she got it—just not the kind that comes with a tour slot. Following backlash over her rant about “illegals,” Kid Cudi made it clear he’s not co-signing the controversy, dropping her from his Rebel Ragers Tour with zero hesitation.

It all went down on May 2 at Dos Equis Pavilion in Dallas, where fans captured the British rapper in a monologue that quickly went viral online.

Keep ReadingShow less