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.
I used to suffer in my teens too. Even after learning about it, going through the experience was always terrifying each time. The earliest episode I remember was the feeling of someone massaging my head. My dad would do so when I was sick with headaches so I assumed it was him but the only problem is I could hear him snoring away in his room at the time. Also I slept with my head at the foot of the bed then so I had the intense fear of someone being at my head but not being able to check or scream for help. The last several episodes were of someone choking me with a pillow. I would scream and try to break free but to no avail as neither sound or any body movement could be elicited. Luckily I haven’t experienced any sleep paralysis episodes in several years now. But instead they’ve been replaced with vivid nightmares related to my childhood trauma where I would scream, cry, and trash so loudly that I end up waking myself up :((
Load More Replies...This is the explanation behind the succbus and incubus demons visiting people.
Wouldn't mind a succubus to be honest, always wanted to leave with a bang
Load More Replies...I've only had one episode of sleep paralysis, and it was a throughly enjoyable experience.. I woke up unable to move, but also without any of the pain I usual feel when first waking up in the morning. All my fibromyalgia pain was gone, and I remember just laying there thinking what a wonderful feeling it was, and how I didn't want to ruin it. It lasted about 5-10 minutes, then slowly the feeling came back, and so did the pain. I didn't even know what it was then, it wasn't until I was telling my ex about it that he explained what it was. I kinda wish it would happen again..
I wish that had happened to me. Instead I thought there was someone in my room watching me and I tried to move because of the pain but I couldn't. The last time though, I was lucid enough to recognise what was happening and talk my brain out of it.
Load More Replies...Happened to me, but only when I was at my brothers old place. Would have a loud Metallic ringing and grinding noise in my head, then the shadow man would be on my bed, and I would get pinned to the bed. Twice, at my girlfriends place, I've woken her up by shouting "help me" as I'm getting dragged out of bed. Now I get bad headaches and see things behind me when I turn my head slightly. Explained these to the hospital when i went in with pains behind my right eye. Got brain scans booked for 3 weeks time, the hospital want to rule out a tumour.
I used to see a man shaped shadow moving around the room, and I'd try like hell to scream but couldn't. It was terrifying.
The bad thing is also to keep trying to turn on the light, having the feeling of doing it, and not being able to. Luckily it doesn't last long...
Load More Replies...heaps of people i know say that theyve seen ghosts while sleep paralised
I used to get this, often.... Eventually discovered it I was laying with my neck turned a certain way it would happen, if not, it wouldn't. I've adjusted my normal position and it's been gone since.
My wife used to get this. Adjustment to pillows and the angle of the bed, plus trying to avoid sleeping on her back, has removed it for a long time now. Apparently one is also more likely to have happier dreams if lying on one's right side rather than one's left.
I lived in a haunted house for 5 years. Every single night I slept in that house I experienced sleep paralysis. Every night! It was exhausting and scary. I even developed a way to pull myself out of it. I had only experienced it once before and never again since I moved. I don't have any neurological or behavior disorders. So the theory it is just your brain tricking you doesn't align with my experiences. Interesting for sure.
Same here, and I am very happy to be able to do so, as nightmares have been very few and very far between my whole life. I don’t have any recollection of ever experiencing sleep paralysis, because I can change the whole feel of my dreams in midstream, like changing the TV channel from a horror movie to a comedy. So if I was ever paralyzed in my sleep, it had to have been such a brief episode I maybe thought it was part of a dream and just “changed the channel”. I don’t know.
Load More Replies...But, what if there are monsters too? Always have thought how sad it would be if "psycho" people were not psycho at all but merely on another level and were just open vessels to the potential horrors that lurk in other planes or dimensions or whatever. I mean what IF. How horrifying to not be believed or to be locked away with them.
Mine used to happen more often in college (attributed to lack of sleep) but I still have sleep paralysis occasionally. It's always accompanied by a shadow monster lurking in the corners, or an overwhelming feeling that someone is watching you and is going to kill you. It is f*****g terrifying and I would not wish it on my worst enemy.
Kind of a wide discrepancy if it is between 8% and 50% - did they lose count?
I try to wake myself by attempting to fight against it by thrashing about. When I came out of anesthesia I fought so hard they had to strap me down.
when i was i kid, my dad once woke me up asking "who wants to go jogging today!" I said yes, but i didn't hear my voice, i said yes several times before i screamed yes! and still didn't hear my voice, it was frigging scary at that age, it was gone in few minutes however
You’d think they could pin down the incidence rate to something a little narrower than a 42-point spread.
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.