With Spooktober finally here and Halloween right around the corner, it’s officially time to start carving pumpkins, work on your costume, and, of course, brush up on your storytelling skills – some would argue that there is no better time for scary stories than this.
If you’re more fearful of not having enough stories to tell, rather than the stories themselves, you’re in luck, as today we’re shedding light on quite a few of them. Scroll down to find some terrifying tales, as shared by the ‘Scary Stories’ Instagram account, on the list below and expand your selection of chilling accounts to scare your friends and family with this spooky season.
Below you will also find Bored Panda’s interview with a behavioral scientist at the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University in Denmark and in the Psychology Department at Arizona State University, Dr. Coltan Scrivner, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions about why people like scary stories.
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Really, hope whoever comes up with this stupid idea get arrested and fired. That is invasion to priorities.
Many people can’t wait for October to start. For them, few things feel better than a chilly fall breeze, a cup of cocoa or a pumpkin spice latte, and shades of yellow, brown, and red all around. But more than that, some people can’t wait for the spooky season’s activities, and it’s not hard to see why – whether it’s a visit to a pumpkin patch or a ghost hunt, we’re here for it. According to Statista, more than seven-in-ten people in the US are, too, as that’s how many are reportedly planning to take part in Halloween activities this year.
In October, an abundance of creative individuals start decorating their homes; and their family members, for that matter, putting them in all sorts of Halloween costumes. More of Statista’s data reveals that this year, US adults are planning to spend roughly $104 on Halloween-related items – a sum that was only higher last year (over the last two decades, at least).
I'm old enough to remember the TV ads reminding people of the danger and to remove the doors from any old refrigerators they were disposing of.
While some people love decorating their homes or working on their costumes the most, others get most excited about telling spooky stories; and there is arguably no better time to share them than Halloween.
But those who do not belong to the latter category might not understand why one would want to listen to a bunch of terrifying tales. Discussing what in the world draws people to such content, Dr. Coltan Scrivner told Bored Panda that people are naturally drawn to information about threats – it’s a phenomenon called morbid curiosity. “Terrifying content by its nature provides a wealth of information about threats,” he noted.
The murders, a nazi terrorist group. The victims (except the last one, who was a policewoman) were all immirants, mostly from Turkey (one or two from Greece). They were shot in the middle of day in their self-owned shops. I am so truely ashamed to say that for YEARS, German police did not suspect rascist motivation, even when the families and immigrant communites got the message. Instead, police suspected the victims were part of organised d**g crimes and therefore assisinated by some mafia groups, and kept questioning the families about their dead father's criminal businesses. They killed a total of 10 people in 7 cities and only got caught after setting their camping van on fire. The two men died, the women survived and was convicted to life sentence. It is likely that not all supporters/criminals have been detected.
Kathy Bates is really good at portraying characters that are just off. I expect in real life, she's a very nice person.
“Enjoying the feeling of fear is related to one's level of sensation-seeking, which is their predisposition to experience extreme sensations,” the expert continued. “However, many people enjoy fearful situations not just for the feeling of fear, but also for the learning experience that happens when you safely experience fear. Safely experiencing fearful situations allows one to learn about their own reactions to fear and how to better control those reactions.”
He used to babysit the neighbours kids. Also may have had an accomplice. To dig up a grave in the middle of winter in one just one night would be near impossible with the frozen ground. Especially on your own.
In an interview with Bored Panda, Dr. Scrivner noted that the extent to which a person finds scary stories interesting depends on the degree of morbid curiosity that they have. And judging by the fact that the ‘Scary Stories’ Instagram account alone has close to 75k followers, it’s safe to assume that many people are plenty curious.
Just call it "the hot hole challenge" or something equally stupid and people will be falling all over themselves to do it for internet clout.
Kid’s first name was Tyler. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tyler-hadley-who-killed-his-parents-at-17-then-threw-party-sentenced-to-life/
If you’re wondering who are the most morbidly curious people out there, we took a closer look at that, too, and found that Mexico is the place where horror seems to rule the most; when it comes to people’s screens, at least. According to Statista’s data, close to six-in-ten people there watch or stream horror movies, TV series, or videos. Second on the list is Spain, followed by the US, South Africa, Germany, and Poland respectively.
Personally, I'm ok with him not getting his spaghetti-o's.
If you’re a big fan of horror stories and similar horrifying content yourself, you’re in luck as we have quite a few spine-chilling topics covered here at Bored Panda. After reading through this list, continue to one featuring stories that wouldn’t be as scary if they weren’t 100% real or browse one of our previous editions on spooky stories.
I get to deal with sleep paralysis as a symptom of my ptsd. It super sucks being trapped in a nightmare, unable to move, while hearing and feeling my husband trying to wake me. It's terrifying.
The first thing I thought of was the gom jabbar.
Which is why it's believed that syphilis is a New World disease. The conquistadors brought smallpox and measles, and returned with syphilis.
I read a book about her and the whole thing was just appalling from beginning to end. The kid was being subjected to horrendous abuse at home. Then she murdered those two little boys and afterwards smilingly asked one of the bereaved mothers if she could please see the victim in his coffin. She was also aided by another young girl who seems to have been drawn in by her and who after their arrest acted like you'd expect a child that age to act, crying and terrified. Mary, on the other hand, was eerily calm and told all sorts of elaborate lies to try and get herself off the hook. She was eventually set free as an adult and even had a child of her own.
The guillotine was meant to be merciful. Before its invention, people were beheaded by axes that weren't always the sharpest. Sometimes it would take several minutes of hacking by the executioner. With the guillotine, one slice and you're done.
The Sawney Bean stories are probably made up. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawney_Bean#Sources_and_veracity
An eternity in Heaven is indistinguishable from an eternity in Hell.
So the film she used up during the day, some how got an extra photo on them, taken at night, after it was taken out of the camera...? Maybe update this scary story with a digital camera. Would make more sense
Not quite. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Paolilla#Murders
If it has never happened before or since, ok. My daughter used to sleepwalk when she was younger. She and her husband were staying over once, she crawled into bed with me(wife sleeps in other room), she still sleepwalks apparently, at 36. Had no recollection.
I’m disappointed that this is an apparently random mix of things from real life, “friend of a friend” stories, and creepypastas. I understand that the source presents this kind of mix, but I would hope that BP would curate the entries better for its listicles.
By far the best short horror I've ever read is the one that goes: A girl was at home in her room when she heard her mother calling her to come downstairs. As she made her way to the stairway a hallways closet burst open and a strong figure pulled the girl inside. "You can't go down there! I heard it too!" Her mother whispered urgently into her ear. Or something like that. I dunno why but that one actually gives me chills.
That one is actually pretty creepy, I liked it, thanks!
Load More Replies...I stopped reading after a few. The ones I read were not creepy at all, but quite interesting. How is a spider creating a diving bell,out of web crepy?
Again it starts with interesting facts, then it turns into obviously fictional stories - nothing wrong with any of those but please keep them in separate posts!
Bored Panda, so often when the screenshots or pics are clear you repost the words, word for word in them. This thread was abysmal for vision impaired like myself, some photos were extremely hard to read to impossible. Now *that* I find scary when there's so much meant to be done to assist with disabled online viewing. You can do so much better and you usually do ♿🔍
I am 48 and for years and years and years I believed that the house I grew up in was haunted. One room in particular. I am also missing many memories of my childhood and my teens (just those at home). I've thought about and considered stories I'd tell myself, partial memories, quirks and phobias. And in the past several years, dreams. I suspect there was no haunting, but a more concrete reason for t he e "haunting" story I told myself.
I’m disappointed that this is an apparently random mix of things from real life, “friend of a friend” stories, and creepypastas. I understand that the source presents this kind of mix, but I would hope that BP would curate the entries better for its listicles.
By far the best short horror I've ever read is the one that goes: A girl was at home in her room when she heard her mother calling her to come downstairs. As she made her way to the stairway a hallways closet burst open and a strong figure pulled the girl inside. "You can't go down there! I heard it too!" Her mother whispered urgently into her ear. Or something like that. I dunno why but that one actually gives me chills.
That one is actually pretty creepy, I liked it, thanks!
Load More Replies...I stopped reading after a few. The ones I read were not creepy at all, but quite interesting. How is a spider creating a diving bell,out of web crepy?
Again it starts with interesting facts, then it turns into obviously fictional stories - nothing wrong with any of those but please keep them in separate posts!
Bored Panda, so often when the screenshots or pics are clear you repost the words, word for word in them. This thread was abysmal for vision impaired like myself, some photos were extremely hard to read to impossible. Now *that* I find scary when there's so much meant to be done to assist with disabled online viewing. You can do so much better and you usually do ♿🔍
I am 48 and for years and years and years I believed that the house I grew up in was haunted. One room in particular. I am also missing many memories of my childhood and my teens (just those at home). I've thought about and considered stories I'd tell myself, partial memories, quirks and phobias. And in the past several years, dreams. I suspect there was no haunting, but a more concrete reason for t he e "haunting" story I told myself.