Many classic horror movies begin with the protagonists driving on a dark, desolate road in the middle of the night.
More often than not, an ill-timed flat tire leads them to knock on the door of the home of someone with deceptively sinister intentions or walk through the woods in hopes of finding civilization, only to find themselves pursued by a beast with supernatural abilities.
Even though these films are works of fiction, they have no doubt corrupted the minds of anyone who finds themselves driving alone in a remote area at night.
As a result, these poor drivers might find their eyes deceiving them, making them hit the gas in hopes of reaching civilization sooner.
Or worse, what the things these terrified drivers thought they witnessed actually turned out to be true.
Redditor SeeleInstrumentality was eager to hear the things people have seen driving at night which forever impaired their ability to fall asleep at night, leading them to ask:
Eyes That Follow You Wherever You Go...
"A f*cking owl standing on the carcass of a large buck in the mountains at 3-5am."
"All you see as you approach are two glowing red orbs, then slowly a becomes huge dark form standing on the edge of the road with eyes of fire."
"Then you get close enough and this massive f*cking owl just gives you the death stare as you go past."
"You realize it was just a large a** owl standing on the remains of fresh road kill."
"Freaked me out for the rest of the dark part of the drive."- cidiusgix
Familiar Face, Unfortunate Circumstances
"Someone I knew locally came across a jeep that had just crashed into the ditch on a highway at night, flipped on it's top, wheels still turning kind of thing."
"He was the first on scene so called 911 and ran down into the ditch."
"The driver, who was badly mangled, had been tossed from the car and was dying."
"This guy held him and the driver died in his arms."
"The weirdest part of it all was that he found out the next day that it was his cousin, but he hadn't been able to recognize him."- Auto_Fac
How Did This Even Happen?
"Driving down a 2 lane divided highway."
"I came up to a couple semis and went into the left lane to pass."
"I did a shoulder check to get back into the right lane when I saw headlights in front of me.. in my lane."
"The car was going the wrong way."
"I managed to swerve into the ditch, felt like I was mere centimeters from death."
"Thought my wife's scream would be the last thing I ever hear."
" And I never want to hear it again."
"The semis I passed all pulled to the shoulder to come check on us."
"Didn't see the car anywhere."
"I think they just kept going."
"Had to pull into a gas station after and collect myself."- trplOG
music video headlights GIF by Lady GagaGiphyGone In A Flash
"I was following a grey Toyota Tundra in a massive blizzard through Montana on McDonald pass."
"He was going pretty quick most of the way but must have been unfamiliar with how steep the final few miles are."
"He got away from me as I slowed down to about 35."
"Not 5 min later I passed his tire marks in the fresh snow that went off the side of the mountain."
"Pulled over and looked down to see his truck upside down and on fire about 300 yards down."
"Called 911."
"He didn’t die but was burnt up pretty bad."
"Sad and scary and don’t go 50 in the snow just because you have a truck or 4wd!"- r34lsessattack
Some People Just Don't Belong Behind The Wheel...
"An a**hole overtaking a petrol tanker around a blind corner, coming my way."
"Scared the sh*t out of me."- xilog
homer simpson truck GIFGiphyOne Reason Not To Stray Off The Beaten Path...
"Whilst driving from Morelia to Ciudad Hidalgo, in Mexico, back in the 80's we had two ways to get to Ciudad Hidalgo which was the national road or the old national road which was called Mil Cumbres."
"Mil cumbres basically means 1,000 curves."
"That stretch of road literally had 1,000 curves so a lot of people would get motion sickness when on that road."
"One evening on our way back to my grandparents, who lived in Ciudad Hidalgo, my grandfather was driving and he loved taking Mil Cumbres because it had really nice views and he just really loved driving that road."
"But since we had the new national road, not a lot of people used that road anymore so it was kind of desolate with the exception of passing one or two little towns."
"It was dusk so soon that meant that being on such a desolate road in the moutains, we would be in complete darkness on the road with no many other cars on the same stretch of road."
"It took 2 hours to get to the town on that road so maybe 45 mins into the drive it had already gotten really dark and as we were driving my grandfather started slowing down."
"I was sitting in the back seat because my grandmother was in the front with my grandfather so I kind of stood over the front chairs to see why he was slowing down."
"That's when I saw a hug tree log blocking the road."
"My grandfather came to a stop and immediately started going in reverse to turn around and get out of the immediately."
"After we turned, my grandfather stepped on the gas pedal and I was sort of thrown back into the back seat."
"I immediately turned around to see if I could see anything and as we were speeding away."
"I could see men, very dimly since it the light from the tail lights from the car were starting to get dimmer and dimmer, coming from out of the adjacent trees next to tree log on the road, with flashlights and guns."
"We were about to get robbed and thanks to my grandfather's quick thinking and taking action immediately, we avoided it."
"That was the last time I was ever on that road."- Hex_Code_Glitter
Be it on an open highway, or a dimly lit dirt road, always best to be on high alert when driving at night.
And always remember to lock your doors.
Elaine Miles/Facebook
@doctor_kristinm/Threads
@PeteHegseth/X
The White House