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30 People Reveal The Darkest Internet Rabbit Holes They’ve Fallen Into
Interview With Author
“I almost wish I hadn’t gone down that rabbit-hole—and yet—and yet—it’s rather curious, you know, this sort of life!” said Alice as she tumbled into Wonderland and found herself in a world of bizarre adventures.
If there’s anything that can rival Wonderland’s strange allure, it’s the internet, where you can find weird and wonderful things about almost anything.
But sometimes, curiosity leads to some truly unsettling places. These Reddit users shared the most disturbing online rabbit holes they’ve fallen into, and they’re definitely not for the faint of heart. Read their stories below, and don’t miss our chat with horror researchers Mathias Clasen and Coltan Scrivner about our fascination with fear!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
I forget the subreddit, but it shook me to my deepest fiber. It’s a Reddit where they ask you if you can ID where a photo was taken. At first I thought, oh cool, this sounds fun…
Some of the photos clearly had a small child edited out, they were f*****g trafficked and trying to find where the perp is who is committing the heinous act(s).
I looked thru every single post to see if I could help/recognize a landmark/indicator. Not every photo has a person edited out, but, you can just tell.
Realizing there’s people/children *right now* needing to be saved breaks my heart.
Edit: thanks Filiberto, the page is r/TraceAnObject, if you’d like to see for yourself.
RELATED:
#2
Japan's SOS sign incident. Everything about it is weird and disturbing.
FrankSonata: For those who haven't heard of this one:
In 1989, some hikers got lost in Northern Japan. A search quickly began of the mountains in the area where they'd been, and helicopters found a huge "SOS" sign made from logs on a mountainside, visible from the air.
The missing hikers were found 2-3km away, and were successfully rescued. But when asked, they knew nothing about the SOS sign. They didn't make it.
It appeared another hiker also happened to be lost in the same area, so another search was conducted. Near the sign they found human skeletal remains, as well as a backpack containing personal items, including ID. It was Kenji Iwamura, a 25-year-old man who had gone missing 5 years earlier, and was a known hiker.
Records of aerial photos showed that the SOS had been there for at least two years, but no-one had seen it until other hikers happened to get lost in the area. And clearly it was too late for Kenji by then.
But analysis of the bones indicated a woman, so they weren't Kenji's. Yet there were no matching records of missing women in the area. Who was the mysterious woman who'd died, what happened to Kenji, and why did she have all his stuff?
The backpack also contained a cassette tape player, with the music of one of the tapes partially recoded over. It was a man saying he was lost on the mountain, unable to climb through the thick vegetation, and asking for help from anyone who listened. He didn't mention his name. Kenji's parents listened to it, but due to the poor quality (it had been lying in a backpack on a mountain for years) they couldn't say for sure if it was Kenji or not. Kenji's friend did confirm the tape was likely his, since it was music he had liked.
There are conspiracy theories that Kenji is still alive, that he was abducted, kidnapped, that the taped voice is an impersonator, that the woman is a spy, etc.
Analysis years later showed the bones were actually male, as far as can be ascertained. Weather damage and poor forensic work caused the initial error. (Of course, some people maintain that this is a coverup)
In all likelihood, Kenji died on the mountain, and the bones, belongings, and voice recording are all him. By coincidence, his SOS sign was only found years after he'd died, when other people got lost in a nearby area. Just a sad story of someone who died alone in the wilderness. But people love all the uncertainties, and get carried away, when really it's just tragic.
Beak Hookage 2 months ago
Wherever he is now, it's nice to imagine that he's glad that at least his SOS saved others.
There’s something undeniably captivating about scary experiences—be it a chilling horror movie, or a bizarre conspiracy. To understand why we’re so drawn to them, Bored Panda reached out to experts at the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University.
Mathias Clasen, co-director of the Lab, and author of A Very Nervous Person's Guide to Horror Movies, told us what inspired him to study fear and horror. “As a teenager, I became deeply fascinated with scary fiction—books and movies, mainly. I would devour Stephen King novels and chain-watch slasher movies,” he recalled. Despite the shivers running down his spine, he couldn't help but wonder why he was so drawn to experiences that made him want to keep the lights on at night. “It isn’t just me, of course. The majority of people enjoy a scary experience every now and then,” Clasen noted.
According to Clasen and his colleagues, scary content offers a unique chance to play with fear in a controlled environment. “We are curious creatures, and we have evolved to find pleasure in learning about the world—and scary content lets us learn about the darker sides of it,” he explained. It’s this curious paradox that pushes us to explore fear while generally steering clear of it in our everyday lives.
#3
My TikTok algorithm showed me a video of the worst motel in Georgia. I looked up the reviews and found one left by a young homeless guy clearly struggling with mental health / addiction that was living at the motel. It said the guy had left 200+ reviews. I clicked on his page and realized that he wrote reviews every day at every place he went to. Many were "they helped the homeless" or "they wouldn't give me food and I'm starving. F**k this place." I was basically able to see every place the guy stopped for almost two years. I went back to look further at the seedy motel reviews and the guys dad left one saying that he was grateful his son had a roof over his head. It crushed me. I don't remember the name of the motel but I was crying at 4 am.
#4
Elisabeth Fritzl’s story.
to put it brief, her father imprisoned his own daughter in a self made bunker/prison, and kept her for over 24 years. In that time, she had 7 children, was r**ed nearly every single day, and Elisabeth’s dad was soon imprisoned for life, and caught because Elisabeth needed to take one of her kids to the hospital.
yea. don’t look at the details, please.
This idea resonates with Reddit user Xxxbigfootisreal_, who started the thread on disturbing rabbit holes. Bored Panda connected with him, and he shared, “As I was exploring the smartschoolboy9 case, I became extremely curious about whether there were other disturbing cases out there.” His search led him to dark, harrowing tales that fueled his curiosity about the more sinister aspects of life.
Coltan Scrivner, a behavioral scientist at the Recreational Fear Lab, discussed the various motivations behind our consumption of scary content. “Some people enjoy the adrenaline rush they get from feeling afraid. We call these adrenaline junkies. Others don’t particularly like feeling afraid but enjoy overcoming their fear—these are the white knucklers. Finally, some use scary content to work through difficult emotions, known as dark copers.” This classification highlights the variety of reasons people are drawn to horror and fear.
Clasen pointed out that engaging with scary content can actually be beneficial. “Playing with fear can help you develop resilience. It’s sort of like an inoculation,” he explained. “When you watch a scary movie or step on a roller coaster, you’re actively engaged in regulating your own emotions.” This practice helps us learn to handle stress and fear more effectively in real life.
#5
Bots will downvote me into oblivion and I won't be believed, but up until around 2005, if you looked up 'Balfour accords' on Encyclopedia Brittanica's website, it was shocking how much it disclosed. Even at the time the Wikipedia article and the Encyclopedia Brittanica's article were very different. It described how the Ottoman Empire, and the whole Middle East was carved up, and their oil was largely given to the conquering powers, IE France, Britain, US. "BP" only exists because it was founded as a company that was taking Middle Eastern war spoils (oil) and selling it through England. The borders of the countries as they are now are because that's how the west decided them to be. And they were purposely carved out in a way to prevent Persia from ever re-uniting.
The articles today hint at this and if you dig deep enough you'll find all this to be true, but back in the day the history was laid out in a very stark, obvious manner, and having read that and living today, I can see clearly the erasure of what really happened by way of framing.
#6
The Nuremberg Trial documentary. Not a modern documentary. The actual documentary made back after WW2 when they took the National Socialists to trial. Actual footage used in court. It's absolutely rough. Yet free in wikipedia where it's been out in HD. Amazon has it in the original pixilated form. IDK which is worse.
Scrivner supported this, saying, “Experiencing fear in a safe setting allows us to practice regulating it.” However, both researchers caution that too much fear can have the opposite effect. Clasen emphasized the importance of finding that “sweet spot” of fear—if a movie or experience is too intense, it can lead to negative feelings, rather than the intended enjoyment.
The “paradox of horror” shows that being scared can actually be enjoyable, especially when framed as recreational fear. Clasen pointed out, “We learn something about the dangers of the world. We learn something about our own responses: What does it feel like to be afraid? How much fear can I take?” This engagement with horror serves as a critical tool for personal growth and self-discovery.
Incorporating scary content into our lives can take various forms—horror movies, true crime podcasts, or unsettling Reddit threads. Finding your comfort zone is key: start small and gradually increase the intensity of what you consume. Clasen suggests beginning with lighter horror, like children’s films that have spooky elements.
Exploring these experiences with friends often enhances the fun. Clasen emphasizes that recreational fear is usually a social activity. “Few people go to watch scary movies or run through haunted houses alone,” he said. Experiencing fear together can amplify the thrill and create memorable moments.
#7
I used to follow high fashion models in the late 2000s/early 2010s. Frida Gustavsson, Sasha Pivovarova, Vlada Roslyakova, Olga Sherer, Snejana Onopka (as you can see, I gravitated toward the Slavic models, mainly)--those were my favorites. I was looking up runway photos of either Roslyakova or Sherer and stumbled upon a blog "congratulating" one of the models in a candid photo for enjoying a breakfast of black coffee and a cigarette. The caption was, "We approve."
That was the day I learned that there was such a thing as a "pro-ana" community, or "thinspo." This was the opposite of a support group--unless your understanding of a support group was supporting each other's addictions and unhealthy coping mechanisms. They exchanged "tips" like sprinkling black pepper on lettuce to make you think you were eating more than you actually were. It was... frightening.
Edit: typo.
Huddo's sister 2 months ago
There was a huge investigation into the impact of 'thinspiration' by Australian journalists a few of years ago. One major point was that all someone had to do is watch one video or picture connected to weight loss etc and the algorithm (like most things on social media) would bombard you with more. Teenagers were particularly susceptible to this and many developed eating disorders because of it.
#8
Definitely not the most outright disturbing but still incredibly disturbing and more inexplicable was the existence of the monkey hate community. And they’ll just sit around watching videos of baby monkeys commenting s**t like “next you gotta put that f****r in the microwave and watch him squeal”. The part that’s really confusing to me is how these people woke up one day and said “f**k monkeys in particular” Since it really does seem to be specific to monkey for them.
#9
Fatal caving accidents. Nutty Putty, but also Floyd Collins too (don't Google these). Learned way more than I care to and it only ensured I will never go caving, at least not in caves tight enough to get trapped forever.
#10
Definitely the Russian scientist that sewed the top half of a dog to the back/neck area of another larger dog to see how long it would live. Like some human centipede [nonsense].
#11
One of the most disturbing rabbit holes I stumbled into was reading about abandoned, haunted amusement parks around the world. What started as an innocent curiosity turned into hours of looking at eerie photos, creepy backstories, and even watching videos of people exploring these decaying, forgotten places. It left me with chills, but I couldn't stop digging deeper!
#12
Hisashi Ouchi.
In 1999, the nuclear plant at Tokaimura had a radioactive accident, and Hisashi was the closest victim to the incident. It happened during the purification process of uranium oxide. There were 3 victims in total.
Hisashi survived despite being exposed to the largest amount of radiation on record.
And the Japanese kept him alive. Against his will. For 83 days.
It is the most painful, extended death I have ever read. They could have humanely ended his life.
But they kept bringing him back. To experiment. Despite all the injuries, skin loss, burns, and organ failure.
Do not read about it if you are weak/sensitive to graphic details.
Beak Hookage 2 months ago
I looked into this one once, and the doctors get way too much blame in all this. The family wanted him to survive and he himself was very set on making it too. If anything it just draws the blame away from the real villains in this story: the astoundingly irresponsible fools running the power plant whose negligence allowed the accident to happen in the first place.
#13
Datura trip reports rank pretty high. I've had bad trips on psychedelics, but nothing even remotely as f****d up as what people experience on deliriants like datura.
On psychedelics, no matter how crazy it gets, you at least know you're tripping. The s**t you see is clearly just overlaid on reality - you know you're hallucinating. That's not the case with datura. From what I've read, the s**t you see doesn't look psychedelic at all - it looks real. You might not even realize you're tripping.
Your dead grandpa is really in the room talking to you. Your friend is really getting brutally [attacked] in front of you. The giant spiders are really crawling all over you. It's all 100% real as far as you can tell.
Since you have no connection to reality, you can get into serious trouble or even die. You might think you're fighting a demon and then get arrested for assaulting a random person in a park. All bets are off with that s**t.
Oh and also it lasts several days.
Savahax 2 months ago (edited)
*orders* Jokes aside, this "Engelstrompeten" as my friend called it is exactly what this post is saying. He said he saw a friend walk into the room real as it gets and he exploded. His pack of cigarettes was endless. He said at some point he took all cigarettes out, closed the pack, and when he opened it again it was full. He did this dozens of times and had a massive pile of cigarettes on the table. He could grab them and smoke them and everything. Unreal
#14
The leg found at the OKC Bombing site.
Nutshell: A random leg was found in the aftermath of the OKC bombing back in '95. They identified the leg, and exhumed the corpse it belonged to. Only problem? He was already buried with two legs. Except one wasn't his. They swapped his leg, and set to work trying to find the owner of the other leg. DNA testing failed to find out who it belonged to.
...So whose leg was it? Nearly 30 years later, we have no clue. Some say it was a widely believed *third* accomplice to the bombing.
#15
Stumbled upon an antivaxxer group once …. the sheer tin foil hat stupidity was utterly astounding.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 2 months ago
Did you find out which essential oils you needed to protect yourself?
#16
On Reddit there used to be yearly thread for a while talking about supernatural experiences of Sailors. It was such a fantastic read . Every couple of years if I am bored and travelling I love to re-read them.
#17
Ant walking alligators.
Survivors of nuclear bombings. Very NSFL stuff.
The "alligator people" bit refers to their skin being so charred and cracked it looked like reptile skin, and their lips and eyes melted away, making them look like some sort of human-reptiles
The "ant-walking" bit is separate, referring to how they aimlessly followed each other around, crawling on all fours due to their ruined limbs, all while making a neverending murmuring noise as they tried to scream but had too damaged vocal cords and throats
The more detailed descriptions are probably worse than what you're imagining, but the veracity is also somewhat questioned. The book that describes all this was later withdrawn by the publisher for having several factual errors, exaggerations, using bad sources, etc.
Zero Costa 2 months ago
barefoot gen is a very good manga about the attacks, loosely based on the author's own experience through the bombing of Hiroshima. it's a real hard read though
#18
Artifacts from Spanish inquisition Era. A couple of Books supporting their beliefs was enough to make one puke. Then they brought out various "devices" and the explanation scarred me for life. Can't believe that humans came with such seriously effed up things to be used on someone. I used to hate humans in general but had a little faith in humanity. After watching the documentary in wayback machine i doubt nothing much has changed. There were also 77 pages fully filled with the names of the victims and the name of the priests who "handled" them. It was a french documentary from 90's and I was just curious about Spain's history, very dark stuff that almost nobody outside Europe/Spain knows about.
#19
Watching the new videos about the TitanSub that was destroyed last year. While I have zero sympathy for the owner who was knowingly breaking the rules, dying in that sub, I feel bad for the crew that he conned into going.
One video that I watched last night suggested the possibility that they knew they were in danger and was trying to raise up to safety when they imploded and it wasn't a quick thing, like they knew for approximately a minute that they were moments away from instant death, but the death was so sudden and so violent that no one knew it happened, human brains don't work fast enough to process an implosion at that speed. .
#20
Deep diving into the toy box killer, the tape he plays to his newly kidnapped victims is pretty disturbing even just reading the transcript. .
Pencil McGovern 2 months ago
Can we just take a moment to admire the *extraordinary* courage and fortitude of Cynthia Vigil and Kelli Garrett? They were two of his victims who survived and somehow found the strength to actually testify, in gruesome detail, against him in open court. Without their bravery, he may easily have gone free.
#21
The logistics of crowd crushes.
Bob Brooce 2 months ago
"Logistics"? As if somebody deliberately planned it and ordered the necessary supplies? I think the word the OP was looking for is "mechanics".
#22
Diphenhydramine addiction.
No part of it sounds enticing, yet it's still abused. I don't know that I've seen any other d**g related sub be so adamant about avoiding it at all costs.
glitteryvomit: diphenhydramine is what began my descent into drugs. I had insomnia veeeery young and my pediatrician suggested Benadryl to my mom. I began sneaking obscene amounts the older I got. I didn't think twice about it. eventually it got worse but you know life decisions xyz.
sober from pills (it got to benzos/etc) for 7/8 years now. OTC pill abuse is an issue most day to day people don't see.
Just stopping by 2 months ago
I have never heard of this with allergy pills. I’ve been taking Benadryl since I was a child and it’s never been like this. And yes I have severe allergies so I have to take some form of allergy medicine no matter what.
#23
I spent one night reading all about staircases in woods stories and was thoroughly creeped out, only to discover the next day that the stories were all fake.
#24
I saw someone mention Junko Faruta so I looked her up.
Edit: The worst part was, I had no context before looking. I can’t remeber the exact circumstances, but it was a Reddit post that someone casually mentioned her name but as a missing person or something far leas than what it was. Certainly not the horrors that poor women went through and what happened after. But it was almost a casual mention. The only reason I looked her up was because I thought the name was quite unusual and rather interesting. So I was just wondering if she was famous in Japan or something to look up while being bored and meandering around Reddit. Little did I know…. This was quite awhile ago. Her name comes up frequently now, but it was almost unknown (internationally, I am sure it was well known in Japan) at the time.
VeryOddNaw: F***ed up thing is some of the guys who did that are still walking the streets without a care in the world, I have seen some people spam Junko’s image in there accounts though but still I want them dead or behind bars forever.
Bob Brooce 2 months ago
Was that intended to leave us curious or send us on our own searches? A 17yo was kidnapped, raped, tortured, and murdered, and it went on for 40 days. Perhaps the most f****d up thing about it is that it's not even exceptional in terms of what some sickos have done.
#25
That girl with munchausens that picked her legs to the bone so she could be a double amputee.
Zero Costa 2 months ago
is that munchausens? there's a syndrome where people want to self amputate etc
#26
Raw isis and cartel execution videos
I deeply regret both.
#27
Looking up my physical symptoms… i have health anxiety.
Kangaroo 2 months ago
I was recently introduced to the concept of “intellectualizing.” -“Intellectualization is a defense mechanism in which people reason about a problem to avoid uncomfortable or distressing emotions… By channeling mental energy into a logical assessment or abstract discussion, an individual can avoid painful emotions or remain distanced from beliefs that challenge their sense of self.”
#28
I got sucked into the world of creepy pasta stories and ended up staying up nights reading about haunted websites and urban legends. It was eerie and I had to take a break to clear my mind!
#29
When eugenia cooney was on twitch. I was disturbed but curious about how she was able to be like that. I would watch her streams every once in a while and ask simple and vague questions that she would sometimes read. Just wild to me a human can live like that.
#30
The Sreberencia Massacre, which led to reading transcripts from the Hague war crimes trial. Absolutely horrifying.
What do you think ?
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 2 months ago
Well this lot has cheered me right up. All good now for a day at work...
Freya the Wanderer 2 months ago
Time to decompress with funny kitten videos
Load More Replies... Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 2 months ago
Well this lot has cheered me right up. All good now for a day at work...
Freya the Wanderer 2 months ago
Time to decompress with funny kitten videos
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