Some people love being home alone, however, for some people it can be quite an unsettling experience!
One strange person took to Reddit to uncover some of the most terrifying stories that people had to share about being home alone, by asking, “What is the most terrifying thing you’ve ever experienced while home alone?”
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You will find below a collection of the most scary answers that people had to offer; however, be warned, some of these are not for the faint-hearted. Extra care should also be taken if you are home alone right now as well!
Seeing Someone In Their House On The CCTV
“I was home alone one night while my wife and son were visiting my MIL. I walked back to our bedroom to see someone rummaging through my son’s room on the video baby monitor. Grabbed my firearm and yelled to the otherside of the house ‘I AM ARMED. COME OUT SLOWLY!’ Over and over while slowly making my way back to his room.
“Got there flipped on the light and… nothing. Searched the whole house pumped full of adrenaline. Finally satisfied I was alone I went back to my room and THE GUY WAS BACK in the room. I took a closer look and I am ashamed to say I was looking at myself. The camera is a live feed on our wi fi and it was steaming on a huge delay.” ⏤ Merv_86
A lot of people spend a lot of time searching for themselves, but few do it armed with a firearm.
A Man Smoking At The End Of Their Bed
“I was about 21 or 22, living by myself, and I left my window open on a pleasant night. It was low enough to the ground that you could get in if you really tried, but the screen wasn’t easy to take off and I lived in a fairly safe neighborhood. Woke up in the middle of the night because I smelled smoke, and I reached out to turn on my lamp and my hand hit what was very obviously a person.
“I realized there was a shirtless man in my bedroom, smoking a cigarette and staring at me. I remember yelling for him to get out, and I must’ve spooked him just as badly as he spooked me because he leapt out my window and took off. I slammed it shut and moved a bookcase in front of it, and when I went out the next morning in the daylight found the screen sitting against the house.” ⏤ soileilunetoile
They went on to say that they have never slept with a window open since, and can’t sleep on the bottom floor of a building to this day. I wonder if it had ever happened before then and they didn’t wake up?
Someone In The Attic
“I was chilling on the couch, doing whatever, when suddenly a really heavy person starts sprinting in our attic. Sounded like steel-toed boots and everything. I’m a really small woman, so I immediately freaked out, thinking there’s a gigantic man stomping around my home. Then the screaming starts. Literal screaming, like something from the Exorcist, and there’s MULTIPLE voices.
“I sneaked outside and cried, extremely shaken, and called the cops. Guess what’s in my attic. Not a big man, no. Raccoons.” ⏤ bloodfields
To make things worse, apparently, the raccoons were mating, hence all of the screaming. Hopefully the cops saw the funny side of it!
Seeing Someone Walk Passed Their Bedroom Door
“A couple years back I woke up at 3am to see someone walk past my bedroom door. Got out of bed, stupidly forgetting to take my phone or any kind of defensive item with me and went into the front room where the light was on to be met with a random guy staring at one of the walls, I asked him who he was and got no answer.
“At this point, I’d actually woken up enough to realise I could really be in trouble so ran back to the bedroom, grabbed my phone and ran outside on the phone to the police who showed up within a few minutes. Turns out the guy was mentally ill and to this day neither myself or the police know how he got in.” ⏤ strebork
I don’t think that I’d be able to ever sleep int hat house again until I knew for certain how they had gotten in and how to stop it ever happening again in the future!
Hearing Coughing In The Basement
“When I was young, I came home from a party in the middle of the night, when my dad was out of town. I started making a midnight quesadilla when I heard someone cough in the basement. I yelled and ran outside, and they took off through the back yard.
“Come to find out, my dad’s ex gf’s daughter stole her key to our house and came to rob us. She was busted a couple years later doing this to her SIL.” ⏤ BasicSpeech
A lot of people pointed out that if this happened nowadays, they’d be more scared about someone coughing than being robbed.
Explosions!
“One evening an explosion at a petrochemical plant (located a mile from my house) blew out the double window in my living room while I was in the room. I definitely thought we were being bombed until I remembered where I live.
“I had just let my dog out to the backyard and he was completely traumatized. For the following two months I had to carry him outside and sit in the grass with pieces of chicken just so that he would potty.” ⏤ fireflyfly3
Of all of the things you think will happen when you’re home alone, a damn explosion is definitely not high on the list! Thankfully, their dog is now perfectly back to normal!
Static On The Baby Monitor
“I was babysitting a kid who had a video monitor and was told that she wouldn’t wake up while the parents were out and if she did to call them right away. I was watching tv with the monitor set off to the side to keep an eye on her and right around 11, the cameras view shifted a few inches. It then began to slightly jiggle like someone was messing with it.
“I was squinting at it trying to decide what I was actually seeing, and I kid you not, the whole screen burst to static for a few seconds, and the kid started WALING. She stood up and was screaming in her crib just like one of the kids from the sims. When she didn’t fall back asleep after a few minutes I called mom and she said ‘okay were on our way home anyway. We think she has nightmares sometimes it’s fine.’
“Never again.” ⏤ BrokeWABunny
Is Anyone Home?
“One day while I was working afternoons a couple years back I woke up at around 10am and started to watch American Dad before getting up. I hear my back door open. A normal thing in our home since we only use the back door. But no one was supposed to be home yet. I assumed it was my mom.
“I heard footsteps coming up the stairs and I call out to my mom and get no response. My door cracks open and it’s a 30ish-year-old man with a blonde beard and a big mane of greasy hair. Before I was able to realize what was happening he asked ‘Is this the ____ residence’, to which I reply ‘no?’. He makes a swift exit and before I can recollect my thoughts he’s not even in my driveway.” ⏤ DaleDofront
They went on to say that a family friend who was a police officer told them that a man matching that description had been using this technique to rob many houses nearby.
Drug Addict In The Living Room
“Not exactly alone. But I was home with my newborn son and someone knocked on the front door. I was expecting my mother, but she usually comes in through the garage. I thought it was strange, but yelled ‘come in!’ because why wouldn’t I?
“Then this cracked-out old woman comes stumbling through the door, and asks me for a ride to the nearest gas station. I told her I didn’t have a car seat for my son so I couldn’t go anywhere.
“So she starts screaming ‘THAT’S JUST INAPPROPRIATE!’ And doesn’t stop even when I’m telling her she needs to leave or I’ll call the cops. After a minute or so, my mother actually pulls in the driveway, the crackhead sees the car and bolts back out the door, and I never see her again.” ⏤ GoliathBoneSnake
Apparently, this person’s truck was broken into that night and they suspected the old woman. I think that it would be one hell of a coincidence if it wasn’t her.
Choking On Skittles
“Had a choking scare when I was 11 and home alone watching TV and eating Skittles. I liked to put a bunch in my mouth and make a Skittle ball. Something on TV made me laugh and I swallowed the ball and it got lodged in my throat.
“I then experienced a few seconds of sheer terror because I realized that there was nobody here to help me at all and I was probably gonna die. Then I remembered some cartoon or something where someone jammed their stomach on a chair and got something unstuck from their throat. So, I lunged at the corner of the recliner as hard as I could with my stomach and it actually worked and popped the small ball out.” ⏤ -eDgAR-
This person was incredibly lucky to have gotten out of this situation okay! They went on to say that they never ate Skittles in this bizarre way again!
Explosions Inside Their Room
“I was in high school at the time. Three AM, I’ve just finished a term paper that’s due the next day. I fall asleep on the couch for a few minutes but slowly claw my way back to consciousness. As I trudge through the kitchen in complete darkness, half asleep and looking forward to passing out in my bed… BOOOM!!!!
“The loudest explosion I’ve ever heard. I hear stuff shooting in every direction. Including small bits of something whizzing past my head. I damn near had a heart attack.
“Turns out my younger brother had made root beer as a class project. He left it on a window sill and it fermented until it built up enough pressure to rupture the glass bottle. The stuff flying around was glass shards. The shattered a ceramic plant pot and embedded themselves in various surfaces. Fortunate I was unhurt. But for a moment I was completely confused and absolutely terrified.” ⏤ IronFires
Overly Pushy Jehova’s Witnesses
“Two Jehovah witnesses just walked into my bungalow and started being aggressive and pushy about their beliefs. I think they thought that because I was young and used a wheelchair I would be an easy target. They only left when I threatened to call the police.” ⏤ Blackcat1206
I mean, it’s annoying enough when they knock on the door and try and shove their religion down your throat, but to just walk into someone’s house is something else!
Visit From The Hell’s Angels
“One afternoon someone knocked at my back door. I thought it was the guy coming to read our meter, so I opened the door. Next thing I know, two huge guys pushed into the house, and one of them threw me up against the wall. They told me they were Hell’s Angels, and they were pissed because my bf was selling too many drugs, cutting into their profits. They kept calling me by my nextdoor neighbor’s name. I just kept telling them I wasn’t her. One of them searched the house, while the other kept me pinned to the couch.
“They started to realize they were in the wrong house, because they couldn’t find anything. Then I showed them my mail, because it showed my name, and they knew they messed up.” ⏤ MorgainofAvalon
This person also went on to say that after they had admitted they were in the wrong house, they robbed her anyway and then left. They sound like absolutely lovely gentlemen.
Otherworldly Voices
“I was alone a few months ago and it was raining heavily. Was watching a movie with headphones on in the middle of the night with lights off. Suddenly I heard a voice that didn’t fit into the movie. I took off my headphones and I still could’ve heard it. It wasn’t human but it wasn’t natural either. It came from the next room. There was also light coming from there.
“Turns out it was just my sister’s Furby (one of those smaller, newer ones with glowing eyes) It was raining so heavily that vibrating window woke it up.” ⏤ DoktorKokosik
Furbys used to creep the living daylights out of me when I was a kid, and I reckon that they still would to this day! Something about the eyes was eerie as hell.
The Disappearing Candles
“I lit 2 long taper candles for some ambience while I was playing guitar late at night. I was facing the other direction looking out the window while playing and shortly later turned around and went back towards the candles and discovered one of them was completely gone.
“The stand was still there, but no melted wax, just a bare candle holder and the other one was still lit and no shorter than it was when I lit them. It was almost 3am and I was so terrified that I got in my car and left and drove to my dad’s house.” ⏤ QueenMountain
Yep, I’d have been out of there like a shot. This is one of the eeriest on the thread, and I’m just grateful that I don’t ever light candles in my house!
Jumping Inanimate Objects
“You know those tongs in the kitchen that have a spring but a latch to keep them together. I had a pair of those and I put the latch on and put them down on the counter. I went away for a bit and came back and then they jumped off the counter at me. Biggest jump scare of my life. The latch had come undone and they sprung open. But in the millisecond when inanimate objects suddenly come to life and jump at you you don’t realise this and totally freak out.” ⏤ cyanophage
This is one of the daftest on the thread, and is perhaps my favorite for that very reason. I can perfectly picture the scene, and I know it would scare the pants off me as well.
Sleep Paralysis
“Sleep Paralysis. Waking up from a nightmare soaked in sweat, with a weight on my chest and completely unable to move. Sometimes I see shadowy shapes or feel there’s someone watching.” ⏤ SilentSamamander
As someone who has suffered from this quite a lot in the past, I can also confirm that it is one of the most unsettling experiences that you can experience.
The Creaking Door…
“Got a 5 channel sound system. Nothing too fancy but the best I’d ever had. Watched a action film and heard a creaking door to my left in the distance. I had to clear my home as I thought there was an intruder.
“Nope, just better stereo sound.” ⏤ XaqFu
The second person to be betrayed by the technology in their house on this list! It’s messing with us, this is the start of the robot takeover!
“Somebody tried to break into the house while I was by myself.”
“The whole place was quiet and dark at nighttime. I walked past the front door to go upstairs for bed, and the handle suddenly started jerking around like The Hulk was trying to get in. Then whoever it was started to either kick or shoulder the door, and it was making the whole frame jiggle. I completely froze and my mind went blank. Just standing there like an idiot and staring.
“My dog bolted down the stairs like it was her time to shine, scrambled on the tile, and let loose the most vicious barks I’ve ever heard. Whoever it was left. She was a very good girl. I miss her.” ⏤ sleepytimeghee
Dogs can be an excellent deterrent against people trying to break into your house! There were plenty of people sharing stories about times they were saved by their dogs!
Someone In The Garden
“I moved into our house a month before my husband did and I was painting our guest room with the windows wide open. I was busy painting, listening to music when I realized it had gotten dark outside. I heard the leaves crunching outside but didn’t think anything of it because we have a lot of neighbors who walk their dogs. When I went to close the windows I saw a man standing in my backyard under the tree maybe 5 feet from our back door staring up at me.
“I fell to the floor and realized the back glass door was probably open and nothing but the screen which he could have easily just walked into my house. Crawled to my phone and called my husband who then called 911 while rushing home to me. We have a 6 ft tall fence around our yard, this person hopped it to watch me. I couldn’t sleep right at night for months.” ⏤ tankincolour
Do you have any unsettling stories to share about being home alone? If you feel brave enough, then be sure to share them with us in the comments below!
