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“My Uncle Didn’t Die In A Car Accident”: 30 Horror Movie-Worthy Family Secrets
Interview
Keeping a secret is hard. But revealing it might also not be easy, especially if it’s related to the people you love. That might be one of the reasons why many people keep certain things to themselves for years or only share them anonymously if they need the load lifted off their shoulders.
A bunch of ‘Ask Reddit’ community members have recently lifted such a load, after one user asked them to share the darkest family secrets they could never tell anyone. Their stories ranged from upsetting to absolutely shocking and everything in between, with many being worthy of a horror movie scenario, but if you’re brave enough to see what they entailed, you can find them on the list below. Just bear in mind that some of them are seriously disturbing and browse them at your own risk.
Below, you will find not only the secrets but also Bored Panda’s interviews with the OP themselves, as well as with Jennifer Guttman, PsyD, a psychologist and author of Beyond Happiness, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
My last name shouldn't be my last name. My great grandfather got it off a tombstone while on the run from the law. My great grandma found out she wasn't legally married after 30 yrs and 5 sons. She ended up in some mental institution in New Orleans and got a lobotomy over it.
She raised me till her death and she was an amazing woman that didn't deserve any of it. She was from the south but studied medicine and wasn't allowed to practice so she ended up teaching black kids to read to p**s off her father. She was one of the first women to vote and have a drivers license in Georgia.
An all around amazing woman that I'm lucky to have been around. She was born in 1899, RIP Irene.
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#2
The darkest family secret used to be that grandma [ended] two husbands. But since she's died and out of reach of the law, I'm telling everyone lmao. My grandma was a bad a*s and was willing to do whatever it took to protect her children. Those guys chose the wrong woman when hunting for children to harm.
Joshua David 1 day ago
Good for her. I also hope she ended up being able to choose more wisely after a while.
#3
I tell people this all the time, but it's considered pretty taboo by a lot of my family.
My MIL is married to a very religious man, who is very judgmental/outspoken about what's right/wrong.
He's very active in his church (which he constantly reminds people that his father 'built', whatever that means) and will freely remind you that taking the lord's name in vain, or living together before marriage is your free ticket to hell.
The thing is, he's a serial adulterer. He was married to his first wife for over 20 years, and cheated on her almost the entire time.
In fact, he had a long-running affair with my MIL when she was in her 40's. She broke it off because he refused to leave his wife.
When his first wife died, he was knocking on my MIL's door looking for "companionship" before the wife was even buried.
We know of at least two other women with whom he carried on for multiple years.
Apparently in his mind, swearing and failing to go to church every week are mortal sins, but that stuff about adultery was only a suggestion.
I'm always sure to point this out to the young people in my family whenever he drops his holier-than-thou judgements on their lifestyle.
"Say what you will. It's true that I haven't set foot in a church since my wedding 20 years ago. But since then, I never slept with anyone but my wife in that time, either." -Me, at Christmas.
Talking to Bored Panda about the thread, the OP shared that they wanted to ask a question that they wouldn’t necessarily expect many responses to. But quite a few people shared their stories, in many cases, opening a can of worms that few people could have seen coming.
“I had not expected to see some responses that were a bit more dark, to say the least,” the redditor said. They added that their family, too, is not immune to secrets, but they’d rather keep them to themselves. Wondering why many people didn’t refrain from sharing the darkest secrets of their kin, the OP speculated that it was likely the anonymity that Reddit provides that made it easier for netizens to open up.
#4
My great grandfather was well known in town 80 years ago for trying to publicly [end] himself a bunch of times before finally succeeding, I didn’t know until I was 20 and found his obituary. I’m named after him and as a kid my pediatrician, who was really old, always asked about my mental health and encouraged me to talk to a therapist about any dark thoughts I may have. I think the doctor remembered my great grandfathers story and wanted to make sure I didn’t go that way.
#5
No one knows where my uncle came from.
So my grandfather was a very high-ranking policeman, but also a raging a*****e. My nana unfortunately had a stillborn baby, and my very Catholic grandfather was a right d**k about her grief. He refused to acknowledge the baby as having any right to be buried in the family cemetery as it was not baptized. Nana suffered ernomously in her grief, and Grandad was sick of it.
So, one day he comes home with a newborn, told Nana they had adopted him and she could stop crying now.
And that was my uncle.
He came with zero paperwork. No birth certificate, no adoption papers, nothing.
Our best guess is that he was the baby of an incarcerated woman, but as both grandparents have passed away now, we really don't know for sure. I personally don't care about the legacy of an angry and abusive man, but the rest of the family keep it under tight wraps so that his service history with the police won't be tarnished over the fact that we're pretty sure he stole a baby.
Jennifer Guttman, PsyD, seconded the idea that anonymity makes it easier for some people to open up or reveal secrets. “It allows them to distance themselves from the information they’ve been keeping secret. It’s the first step in opening up. It allows them to say or write it even if they aren’t taking responsibility. That’s a big step for some people. Whether it’s sharing the information openly or anonymously, getting the secret out is better for a person’s overall wellbeing.”
#6
The IRA gave my granddad a full military funeral. Nobody alive has any idea why.
#7
Not exactly dark, but I found out my father wrote p**n novels under a pen name to make ends meet when I was a baby. I've been trying to find one ever since.
#8
Don't think it matters here in the United States but my Great Grandfather, from Japan, was a Buraku (a social caste seen as unclean and impure in Japan) and he had to get fake family history papers and IDs in order to marry my great grandmother. He got the fake papers and IDs from a friend who may or may not have ties to the Yakuza, not really sure, but that's how the story was told to me by my father.
Discussing the effect keeping secrets from family members can have on a person and their relationships, the expert noted that such secrecy can make family relationships feel less genuine and more guarded.
“This can lead to increasing feelings of tension or awkwardness and eventually reduce communication,” she told Bored Panda.
As for keeping secrets about the family and not from it, Guttman noted that it can make the secret keeper feel isolated, depressed, and anxious.
#9
My great grandfather would smuggle in alcohol from Canada during prohibition. It was also illegal for native Americans to drink in local bars. But he would invite them in and claim they weren't native Americans but they were from Mexico so they could drink with him. He also had a brother who ran away and joined the circus and eventually became a Hollywood prop man.
I also had a great Uncle that [hurt] his wife so badly she [ended] him. She was one of the first women to win the court case using the battered spouse defense.
A few generations back part of my family were LDS polygamists . Fortunately I'm not directly descended from them.
It's nuts all the dirt you find when doing genealogy!
#10
I had to put my dog to sleep in 2023 because she was lethargic and dehydrated, with vomiting and diarrhea, and lost the use of her back legs. I assumed - paired with her CCD - that it was time for her to go.
Three months later, I received a recall notice informing me that a batch of her prescription dog food was formulated incorrectly, causing the exact symptoms (minus the CCD) she experienced the night before I had her euthanized. I threw the notice away and never told anyone about it.
#11
I've told this story but it's still pretty f*****g dark. My great grandmother's father was a family annihilator and [ended] her mom and all 4 of her siblings when she was very young (5 or 6). While he was [attacking] everyone else she hid under the porch. Apparently he called her name looking for her for hours before finally giving up and committing [self-harm]. She was the only survivor. I didn't find this out until after she had passed away when I was in my teens.
Edit: I know it's technically my great great grandfather but f**k that and f**k him.
“The secret keeper may experience somatic symptoms of distress such as headaches, insomnia, and loss of appetite,” Guttman continued, discussing how keeping secrets can influence a person’s well-being. “Keeping secrets can also lead to difficulty focusing or making decisions in other areas of the person’s life because they are distracted by the energy it’s taking to keep the secret.”
#12
My mom gave birth on the floor of her apartment. I used to think it was because it happened so fast, that's what she always said. I recently learned it was because she was in denial she was pregnant and never got any prenatal care..denied it up until the baby was literally coming out of her.
CommanderDucky-He/Him 1 day ago (edited)
Pretty sure my parents denied that my birth happened even after I was born
#13
I found out right before she died that my grandmother was r**ed by her brother when she was 16. She was pregnant and my grandfather married her and raised the child as his own.
#14
Already been said on here, but might as well say again.
I'm half-Japanese and half American. My Japanese grandpa fought against the Chinese in WW2 (though he was forced into service despite how much he didn't want to). He saw minimal fighting and was not part of any of the Japanese atrocities (Reddit is bad at understanding that not all the Japanese soldiers back then were not barbaric).
He only told two short stories of his time in war.
1.) When Japan was leaving Shanghai during the end of the war, my grandpa lost a coin toss with his friends for the first boat out. He sat on the docks as he watched the boat with all his friends and half his company get blown up by allied bombers.
2.) Last military mission. Hiroshima was bombed. He was ordered to find survivors if any. He only said, "We were told to find survivors... We only found ash."
After the war, he became a diplomat for Japan from 1950-1998 advocating heavily for peace and being anti-war. He never told anyone, besides my grandma, about his military service. Only found out about his past when he was nearing the end of his life.
I wouldn't call this dark, but more of "Oh... Right. I have family that actually fought against the 'good guys' in WW2 technically... This is a weird feeling."
#15
My Great Grandfather was a member of the Klan Wrecking Crew in Mississippi in the teens and twenties. He later became something called the Grand Kleagle I think.
So yeah, he was a racist a*****e.
Luke Branwen 1 day ago
If I had to guess, I'd say "Klan Wrecking Crew" was a crew that wrecks klansmen... Disappointing.
#16
My uncle didn't die in a car accident. He [ended] his mistress and then [ended] himself by crashing his car with her body in the trunk.
#17
My great grandpa robbed a bank and did serious time for it. This was a big secret, but it all came to light when my great uncle tried to join the FBI as a forensic accountant. Needless to say, he wasn’t hired.
Simon Chen 1 day ago
He was rejected because of his relation to a criminal? Without being a criminal himself? Is that legal? Sounds pretty unfair to me
#18
The person my uncle thinks is his older sister is actually his mother but my family has kept it a secret this whole time. Most of us know except for him… She got pregnant in high school and they’ve pretended his grandmother was his mother because it’s taboo
#19
After my mother found out that her husband was infertile, she decided to have 6 children with her father in law. On top of that she brainwashed her husband (my legal dad) for years into believing the diagnosis of infertility was wrong and had him raise us as his children.
#20
My mom runs an illegal ferret-breeding/rescue operation in California where they're banned
She has about 200-300 ferrets living in her home at any given point in time
#21
My brother committed [self-harm]. I helped my mother and sister pick up the pieces. They both viewed me as somebody very safe and responsible and comforting, and nobody in the family has ever found out that I failed to complete my own attempt years before he did, spending four days in hospital and two months off sick.
He was always better at things than me.
#22
Like so many others, during The Depression my great-grandfather lost his job. His wife and their baby son moved back in with her parents but they wouldn’t let my great-grandfather come with them. He had to sleep on benches, stand in bread lines and try to find work to send money to his wife and baby.
Why?
Turns out the great-grands had knocked boots before they were married (Irish Catholic), which ultimately resulted in the birth of the aforementioned baby. They did get married before the baby was born, but my great-grandma’s parents never forgave what they viewed as his fault. From what I understand, he was a gruff, but good man who worked a blue collar job to send his four children to expensive private schools. That baby grew up to be an engineer who helped design airplanes and the NASA space shuttle.
#23
My two older brothers are adopted, their bio mom was my dad's sister. It was common knowledge that their mom was [ended] while being a high paid escort. I had no idea they never knew this their entire life. Onetime my brother said something about wondering where his mom was because she left when he was a kid, and I was like holy moly that's not what happened. My brothers were in their 40s when they finally found out.
#24
I have an uncle literally nobody talks about... I have no idea if he's even still alive.
He [made love] with a woman. She told him she had AIDS. He [ended] her.
Now, that's what he claims. The woman didn't have AIDS and he didn't contract it
I didn't even know about him until I was doing a family tree thing online. Asked my grandparents about it and they told to me to never ever speak of him again.
Brought it up with my dad a few years later. "He said he's not your real uncle, don't ask about it again" in the most chilling way I've ever heard.
#25
My grandfather had two families, in the same town, at the same time. The 1930 and 1940 census were very interesting. Of course everyone in my mother's side (her father) denied it was the same person, but it was.
#26
It’s me. My dad never told his family I existed. I was shameful, maybe he was more ashamed. After he died they found out about me and kindly asked me not to come to the funeral. I get why he never told them.
#27
My uncle [ended] my grandfather (his father in law) in the 60s. He had a heart attack after my uncle pushed him down the stairs. My mom was 6 and witnessed it. Everyone covered it up and said it was a fall so that my uncle didn’t keep my aunt, who was being abused, from being able to see her family. I didn’t find out until I was 19. I hugged that man more times than I can count. This has really f****d my family up.
zims 1 day ago
Why cover it up? If you get him on a murder or manslaughter charge you save the wife WITHOUT her continuing to be trapped with a homicidal abuser. At the very least "he killed my father" is a reason any divorce judge would accept while uncle is tied up in the murder trial, even if he gets off.
#28
My uncle bought a yacht. The previous owner had had a heart attack in the yacht. They kept his body in the freezer.
#29
My father was always very distant when I was a child and eventually my parents ended up getting divorced. I never really saw my dad again after that but it was always odd to me. My parents never fought, argued, yelled or anything. The house was always quiet, clean and we were always well off.
We eventually found out he died from word of mouth in 2020. My mom for the first time started sharing stories. Turns out he'd go completely silent sometimes, just absolutely mute. He would go to work, come home and not speak or interact with anyone in the house, I was young so I don't really remember.
I was always curious as to why he would do that because from my mom's stories it seemed to happen regularly. A few weeks ago my mom told me a story of my dad and her being at dinner with my dad's parents and how his father (my grandpa) smacked my grandmother at the dinner table and everyone just continued like it was normal. Ever since I've heard this story I've been trying to delve into my family's history but it's been very hard to find anything. My theory is that there was some very heavy [mistreatment] going on and my father probably suffered from some intense mental issues because of that.
Eastendbird 1 day ago
My Dad used to do this when he was going through his deepest depression. My mum told me, years later. He could manage to talk to my brother and me, little conversations about what we'd done at school, but he wouldn't/couldn't talk to her. She said it used to break her heart. She still stayed with him. And yes, she tried to get him to talk to a psychiatrist, but he said it was "a load of nonsense": "he keeps asking me about my childhood...as if that matters..."
#30
After grandma and grandpa were long dead, my dumb cousin does an Ancestry DNA or 23 and me, figures out that his DNA doesn’t match with the other cousins who have done this (my two aunts’ kids). Someone went through the details and figured out his mom is not the child of grandpa. My aunt (who is a horrible person) proceeds to have a meltdown.
Heir of Durin 1 day ago
Was she having a meltdown because she found out her dad was not actually her birth father? If so, I’d say a meltdown is warranted…
Note: this post originally had 56images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
What do you think ?
Robert Beveridge 1 day ago
This is probably more common than I expect, but I convinced multiple people for non-trivial amounts of time that we get duck sauce from squeezing ducks.
FrogMan 1 day ago
There is something I want to get off my chest. It's about that summer, when you went away to community college. I got an offer to do Playgirl Magazine, and I did it. I did a full spread for Playgirl Magazine. I mean spread man, I pulled my butt apart and stuff. I was totally nude. it was weird, I... I mean you probably didn't hear about it because I went under the name of Mike Honcho. But I just wanted you to know that. If you can hear me, if it got into your brain somehow. That I spread my buttcheeks as Mike Honcho
Chris the Bobcat 19 hours ago
"This little piggy went to the market" was a common phrase in my childhood, but I didn't learn until later that he didn't go to shop. No, his fate was... darker. Didn't find out until I was an adult, but when I said something to Mom, she didn't realize it either. My grandmother must have been hiding that terrible secret to her grave.
Robert Beveridge 1 day ago
This is probably more common than I expect, but I convinced multiple people for non-trivial amounts of time that we get duck sauce from squeezing ducks.
FrogMan 1 day ago
There is something I want to get off my chest. It's about that summer, when you went away to community college. I got an offer to do Playgirl Magazine, and I did it. I did a full spread for Playgirl Magazine. I mean spread man, I pulled my butt apart and stuff. I was totally nude. it was weird, I... I mean you probably didn't hear about it because I went under the name of Mike Honcho. But I just wanted you to know that. If you can hear me, if it got into your brain somehow. That I spread my buttcheeks as Mike Honcho
Chris the Bobcat 19 hours ago
"This little piggy went to the market" was a common phrase in my childhood, but I didn't learn until later that he didn't go to shop. No, his fate was... darker. Didn't find out until I was an adult, but when I said something to Mom, she didn't realize it either. My grandmother must have been hiding that terrible secret to her grave.
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