We often think that gut-wrenching and chilling situations only happen in movies, yet real life can bring even more thrilling scenarios than any work of fiction.
Some of these eerie events have closure, but many remain unexplained forever—making them all the more spine-tingling.
Here are 14 stories that will make your heart beat faster:
Story 1
The night before my best friend, 16, vanished, she handed me $5 and said, “I owe you money. Take this bill!” It felt random, but I tossed it into my jar without looking twice.
Three weeks later, I remembered and pulled the bill out. When I examined it, my blood ran cold.
On the corner, in tiny blue handwriting, she had scrawled: “No matter what happens, you will stay in my heart.”
I froze. It could’ve been a simple note between friends, but the timing felt sinister. I rushed to the police with it, but it led nowhere.
It’s been 10 years, and though she was never found, that bill still burns in my memory. Was it a goodbye… or a warning?
Story 2
When I was about 13, I lived in a two-story house. One evening, I heard my dad calling me from upstairs.
I answered, but he didn’t reply. As I walked to the stairway, I happened to glance outside—and froze.
Our driveway was empty. The truck was gone. My dad wasn’t home.
So what had been calling my name?
Story 3
When I was six, my mom tucked me into bed and kissed me goodnight. I swear I saw her walk out the door.
But minutes later, I heard her keys jingling. She came in through the front door, groceries in her arms.
“Sorry I’m late,” she said.
I never told her that someone who looked exactly like her had already tucked me in.
Story 4
When I was in my early teens, I dreamt of a man on a beach, flying a kite while two dogs ran circles around him.
A month later, during a holiday in France, we visited a beach. I looked up—and froze.
The same man. The same kite. The same two dogs.
Despite the blazing sun, I went ice-cold.
Story 5
Our apartment has high ceilings, so we bought an eight-foot bright neon yellow pole to change the lightbulbs.
Last week, it disappeared.
We’ve searched every inch of our tiny place—closets, under beds, even the building’s basement.
There’s just no way to misplace something that big and that bright. Yet it’s gone. Completely.
Story 6
I was staying in a hotel alone on a business trip. After washing my face, I reached to the right for the towel I had hung there.
But instead of fabric, my hand brushed against… skin.
I spun around.
The towel was hanging behind the bathroom door—where I hadn’t placed it.
Story 7
Visiting my grandfather’s grave for the first time, I sat quietly in the grass. Suddenly, a golden retriever appeared.
He pressed his head against my knee, staying with me in silence. When I finally stood and turned back—he was gone.
Maybe it was just a dog. But part of me believes it was my grandfather saying goodbye.
Story 8
One night, I woke up and went downstairs for water. My eight-year-old brother was in the kitchen, staring into the sink drain.
“What are you doing?” I whispered.
Without looking up, he said, “They’re coming.”
He was sleepwalking. I led him back to bed.
But I still can’t shake his words.
Story 9
I had what I thought was a lucid dream—someone in my room, leafing through my bookshelf, then patting my head before leaving.
When I woke, my flatmates told me someone had broken in during the night through our unlocked back door.
That’s the day I bought a lock for my bedroom.
Story 10
I left my Droid phone on my bed and went to brush my teeth. As I brushed, I thought randomly about John Bonham’s drumming on “Good Times Bad Times.”
When I returned, my phone—locked before I left—was blaring “Good Times Bad Times” on Pandora.
No one else was home.
Story 11
Once, I called my grandparents but couldn’t remember if their last number was a 7 or 8. I guessed wrong.
A man answered. I apologized.
Before I hung up, he asked, “Is this [my name]?”
My stomach dropped. “Yes… who is this?”
He chuckled darkly: “You don’t recognize my voice, do you?”
I hung up. To this day, I don’t know who he was—or how he knew me.
Story 12
When I was 10, I kept hearing scratching sounds under my bed. My parents brushed it off as mice.
One night, I leaned over with a flashlight. Two eyes stared back.
I screamed, but when they rushed in—nothing was there.
Story 13
Once, while home alone, I woke at midnight with a nosebleed. I filled the trash can with bloody tissues before crawling back to bed.
In the morning, the bin was empty. I convinced myself it had been a dream.
But when I went to wash my face… my nose started gushing again.
Story 14
When I was 16, I was changing in my room when I saw a flash at my window. I thought it was lightning.
A week later, I woke to the sound of heavy breathing right outside. When I called out, footsteps pounded away and someone vaulted the gate.
I thought I was imagining things until my mom admitted she’d heard noises, too.
We moved the next month.
