12 Unsettling Stories People Swear Actually Happened

Alfred Hitchcock made a career out of stories that rattled nerves and left audiences second-guessing every shadow. But sometimes, real life is even stranger than fiction. From figures in doorways that vanish like mist to babysitters who refuse to return after what they’ve seen, these true accounts prove that the most unsettling stories aren’t always scripted.

• Back in the ’90s, we had one of those answering machines with little cassettes. One day, we came home to hear our own voices recorded. We were talking and laughing in the living room... except we hadn’t been home all day.

• This happened when I was a kid. I used to sleep with my door closed, and I had no idea what time it was, but I heard my door creak open. When I opened my eyes, I could only make out the figure of a strange tall man with a hat and a coat. He just sat on my bed and stared at my door. This went on for a few minutes before he got up and left. I don’t have many memories of my childhood, but this one I can relive very well. © Yuk1yuk11 / Reddit

• My family was gone visiting other relatives, and I was holding down the house, feeding the pets, and such while they were away.
  While listening to music on my headset and singing along loudly, I heard someone shout, “Shut up!” I shouted back, “RUDE!”
  It took me about three seconds to realize something was wrong. © rocknin / Reddit

• I used to live alone in a studio apartment. Almost every night around 2 a.m., I’d wake up to the sound of someone pacing across my tiny kitchen. The worst part? The floorboards only creaked when someone heavy walked across them. Still have no idea what it was.

• I woke up in the middle of the night to someone standing next to my bed. I thought I knew who it was (a friend and this person shared the same physique), but then I remembered that they don’t drive, and I had never given them my address.
  I talked to my parents in the morning, but they had never woken up. Besides, this person was rail thin—definitely neither my mom nor dad.
  I still don’t know 100% of what happened. The night was a blur, and I remember only bits and pieces. © BoringNameBoringLife / Reddit

• I bought an electric bike a few days ago. I had the battery plugged into the charger in my room. After leaving my house for a few hours, I returned to find it unplugged and in a completely different spot. I still don’t know how to explain this. © Throwaway17810 / Reddit

• Many years ago, when I was about 14, it was my first night alone in the house while my parents were out. I was lying on the living room floor reading, with my cat sleeping next to me. Suddenly, the cat woke up, stared intently into the dark corner of the room behind me, hair on end, growled, and then bolted out of the room and upstairs. I looked behind me and saw nothing, but I followed the cat upstairs and hid under the covers. It freaked me out.
  © LairdofWingHaven / Reddit

• My husband and I had gone out for the evening and left our toddler with a new babysitter — sweet, soft-spoken, came highly recommended. When we got back home, she was standing by the front door, pale and serious, clutching her bag like she couldn’t wait to leave. She didn’t say much, just mumbled that everything was fine and left quickly. The next morning, I found a crumpled note on the kitchen counter. In shaky handwriting, it said: “I’m sorry, but I can’t come back. I don’t like the man in the hallway who keeps smiling at me.” There is no man in our hallway.

• One summer when I was around 13, my mom and I were sitting in the living room talking late at night. For some reason, we looked out the window and saw two people walking past our house. They were about 7 feet tall and wearing silver parkas. It was hot and humid outside. As they passed our house, the pipes in the chimney started shaking violently and didn’t stop until the people were out of sight. There weren’t any pipes in our chimney. It was eerie.
  © rowdymark / Reddit

• My sister and I were home alone when we heard someone big running up the stairs. The stairs make lots of noise with slight pressure, so when there’s someone big on them, you can tell. I went out of my room to check but saw no one anywhere. My sister also came out of her room and asked if that was me. I said no, and we both looked around to see if there was anyone, but we found no one in the whole house. We were confused, so we called our parents and just waited until they got back, and that was that. © Unknown author / Reddit

• In grade 9, my best friend and I were having a sleepover at my house. My parents and younger brother were visiting family, so we were home alone. After it got dark outside, we started watching a movie while lying on separate couches, facing a TV situated next to a door frame that led to the kitchen, bedrooms, and basement. In a matter of seconds, I saw a feminine figure standing in the doorway, facing me, and for some reason, I instinctively said, “Don’t leave me!” My friend, lying on the other couch, also saw the figure and said to me, “Don’t worry, he’ll go away in a second,” thinking it was my younger brother.
  
  The figure just faded away, kind of like mist, into the other room. We looked at each other and realized what had just happened, then quickly turned on all the lights and sat on the same couch. We’re 28 now and still have no idea who or what that was or why I said that, but I still think about it often. © raviolidotca / Reddit

Whether you believe in the paranormal, unexplained glitches in reality, or simply the tricks of a stressed mind, one thing is certain — these moments stay with people for life. And maybe that’s what makes these stories so disturbing: the idea that something could slip quietly into your world, just long enough to remind you how little control you really have.