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Are you one of those horror junkies who spend their free time watching horror movies and listening to true crime podcasts until late at night? Welcome to the club, our twisted friend!
We’ve all seen some crazy stuff. From creepy-crawly insects to serial killers and haunted houses, there’s nothing we won’t watch if it’s on the screen in front of us. But as frightening as these movies and shows are, some scary facts about our world make reality way more disturbing than fiction could ever be. For example, did you know that Aztec priests offered still-beating hearts to the gods, freshly severed from sacrificial victims? Or that safety coffins were invented because so many people got accidentally buried alive? Or again, that there’s a museum in Pennsylvania that displays mutations, tumors, and anomalies for everyone to see?
Well, you already know the world is full of creepy things, but it’s better to remind ourselves of how much from time to time, right? So here we are with tons of other disturbing facts for you to enjoy! You might be surprised by how many of them sound like urban legends but are actually true.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Brain-eating amoeba exists, and they live in our waters.
Megan ️ ️ 2 years ago
You can swim in the ocean/lake etc. but you can’t accidentally get water up your nose because the amoeba. You can swim in swimming pools because of the chlorine in the water
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CalicoKitty 3 years ago
They're common in warm areas. Luckily, infections are very rare - aside from requiring the water to be splashed up your nose, the body usually manages to stomp the amoeba into oblivion. On the other hand, if you are unlucky enough to contract it, you're dead within the fortnight. Period.
RELATED:
#2
There are over 200 bodies on Mount Everest, and they’re used as landmarks.
Frando Bone 3 years ago
I can confirm this from first-hand experience. Having said that, the Chinese govt has made great effort in relocating many back down to basecamp.
The Queen Of Upper Butt Crack 3 years ago
Did you make it to the Summit ?
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KombatBunni 3 years ago (edited)
Part of the track is known as the Rainbow Valley, so named because of all the brightly coloured ski gear worn :( It’s too dangerous to bring the remains down from the mountain as well :( (this is just what I remember, so could be wrong..)
NonbinaryIdiot 2 years ago
Bro, when can we stop? Right when we reach Dave in a few miles. (I AM SO SORRY. THIS IS REALLY SAD IM SO SORRY)
#3
There are more vacant homes than homeless people in the USA.
#4
Locked-In Syndrome is a scary condition where you are conscious while in a coma.
#5
Crows are so intelligent they can recognize a human face, even hold funerals for their dead.
Kookamunga 3 years ago
And if you make friends with a crow, they'll bring you presents. crow-gifts...46b72b.jpg 
Tabitha Frost 3 years ago
I would love to befriend crows! Though I would be worried about my neighbors abusing them. :(
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Robin Evans 1 year ago
and when THEY hold grudges it's "so smart" and "so cool" but when IIIII do it it's "petty" and "over dramatic". damn you, crows.
tara 3 years ago
When one of my cats disappeared, I was yelling for him in the yard. The crows down and across the road started cawing like crazy while I was yelling. When I looked down the road in the direction of the noise, I saw my cat, lying on the side of the road. The crows hadn't disturbed his body even though it looked like he had been laying there, dead, since the day before. :( They told me where to find him.
#6
Teratoma is a tumor made up of several different types of tissue, such as hair, muscle, teeth, or bone, and can occur anywhere in the body, including the brain.
CalicoKitty 3 years ago
Obligatory "do not look this up if you don't enjoy looking at bloody mutated lumps". Meaning "monstrous growth", the form you're imagining is mostly found in females and derives from the ovum. Usually, these are benign. In males, the teratoma is usually found in the testicle (as they derive from sperm) and is usually also aggressively cancerous (yay!). On occasion, teratomas may be congenital, which is how you get them in weird places like in the brain or attached to your tailbone. A common alternate name for the teratoma is the "dermoid cyst", and that's what a lot of women who get them removed know them as. It gets worse, of course, because the function of a germline cell is to create whole new human. So if a teratoma decides it's going to be some advanced form, well. That's how you get eyeballs. Or malformed fetus-things.
Kookamunga 3 years ago
"All my life, I had a lump at the back of my neck, right here. Always, a lump. Then I started menopause and the lump got bigger from the hormonies that started to grow. So I go to the doctor, and he did the bio... the b...the bobopsy. Inside the lump he found teeth, and a spinal cord. Yes. Inside the lump was my twin." - Aunt Voula, My Big Fat Greek Wedding
mongo 3 years ago
They are quite interesting. The downside is that benign teratomas are usually full of sebum with dead skin cells which results in a smelly oily yellow paste. On the upside they can have glands, bone, cartilage, neural tissue, teeth and other goodies. The hypotheses of origin are also interesting.
#7
As recently as 1999, it was widely believed by medical professionals that babies could not feel pain until they were a year old.
ambiguous Fox 2 years ago
This is not true, they knew that babies could feel pain they just lacked the knowledge to use the correct medicine to numb the pain without killing the children
Andrea Aguilar 3 years ago
Wow, that’s dumb.. just because they can’t communicate yet but their screaming, crying, and expressing their facial expressions are enough to tell you they’re in pain!
#8
Your cat might sense when you are dying.
Disgruntled Pelican 3 years ago
The nursing home my mom used to work at had a cat and the staff always knew that someone had a day or two left because she would refuse to leave their room.
Behind you! 3 years ago
I've heard that too. It's something to do with the body heating up just before you die, and the cat lining the extra heat.
Load More Replies... #9
According to the FBI, the number of serial killers, that are still not caught among the USA, varies from 25 to 50.
Hope Springs 3 years ago
There are probably more than that. There were more than 600 in the 90s alone, including those apprehended. I recommend the book Sons of Cain by Peter Vronsky. It's a fascinating read ☺️
#10
Doctors treated women “hysteria” through a “pelvic finger massage.”
Benita Valdez 3 years ago
And then created vibrators. Atleast ine good thing came out of that horrible treatment of women
Robin Evans 1 year ago
"doctor i'm hysteric AGAIN" "becky it's the sixth time today" "JUST DO THE DAMN MASSAGE AGAIN DOCTOR"
#11
Even after decapitation, human heads stay conscious for a while.
#12
In 2007, a woman died after drinking more than a gallon of water in three hours. She did it to win a Wii.
Benita Valdez 3 years ago
Hyponatremia or water intoxication. This can also happen in dogs sadly. Unfortunately I knew a dog who had this happen because it ate too much snow over the past winter. It was so sad; she was just a puppy. Always keep an eye on your pups in the snow
LoneTomato 3 years ago
Wouldn't it have to be more than a gallon for your kidneys to shut down?
Fenchurch 3 years ago
That's not what happens. Your kidneys can only process about 1 litre of water an hour, so the extra fluid builds up in your cells diluting your body's salts and minerals causing the cells to swell up. It's more dangerous in the old and the young.
Load More Replies... #13
Fatal familial insomnia makes it impossible for someone to sleep for months.
Piper L 3 years ago
It does seem to be linked to one specific family lineage however. That's the familial part.
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#14
People can die with no discernible cause of death. We're talking about sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS).
#15
Around 8% of young people are thought to hear voices at some stage in childhood. This makes hearing voices about as common for young people as having asthma or dyslexia.
Dario Tijerino 3 years ago
Ok this happened to me at 10. Have asthma, though all those voices told me random stuff like “the witches will save u”
Cracked Justin 2 years ago
Mine told me that i’ll burn and that im worthless like, aight dead people voices
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EzraTheWeirdo 2 years ago
I have these. They usually happen when I’m trying to sleep and they scream so loud, it’s so hard to sleep and it happens like everyday.
#16
The Asian giant hornet’s sting is so painful that one entomologist described the sensation of being stung as feeling "like a hot nail being driven into my leg".
#17
The Mutter Museum displays various mutations, tumors, and anomalies of human anatomy.
#18
Mike the Headless Chicken was alive for 18 months after being decapitated.
Puppy prints ️ 3 years ago (edited)
This is a cool story. I did a paper on it once. Basically, Mike only had part of his head cut off. The part that wasn’t cut off contained the brain stem and his left ear. he was still able to walk and eat small foods, and his owners made a lot of money off of showing him. He died because mucus got stuck in his throat and his owners couldn’t help him in time. (let me know if i need to fix anything) hope this helps!
Puppy prints ️ 3 years ago
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_the_Headless_Chicken
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Phoebe Stein 2 years ago
They barely did anything besides cleaning the wound and feeding him!
Load More Replies... Kathy Rayborn 3 years ago
I think I saw his cousin at a county fair side show. Admission was 1.00.
2763MilesAway 3 years ago
I think I heard this before, but it could be different. Apparently he died when food got stuck in his throat or something? I could be wrong but I heard a story like this somewhere.
#19
In 1973, two men in a small submarine experienced a malfunction in the sub. The sub slowly started sinking. Although the men were able to radio for help, they knew they only had enough oxygen to survive for three days. When the rescue team finally found them, they only had 12 minutes of oxygen left.
#20
Medical errors cause around 250,000 deaths every year.
Robin Evans 1 year ago
i'm so sorry for your loss 🫶🫶 it really sucks when something could have been avoided yet it wasn't due to error.
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Chris Yuen 3 years ago
Only in the United States... https://www.millerandzois.com/amp/medical-malpractice-statistics.html
#21
The FBI has reported that approximately 40 percent of USA's homicides go unsolved.
#22
H.H. Holmes, America’s first serial killer, constructed a “Murder Castle,” a hotel with secret compartments and gas chambers to murder unsuspecting visitors of the Chicago World Fair. He confessed to 27 murders, but is suspected of many more.
Abigail Howell 3 years ago
This actually isn't entirely true, he did in fact own a hotel in Chicago, and murdered multiple women, as well as one of the women's children, but he never had secret torture rooms. He did have secret rooms, but they were used to hide furniture that he had stolen. The press (yellow journalism) during this time played a large part in exaggerating the stories of his "murder hotel", purely for the sake of good headlines.
xXbluthsbannanastandXx 3 years ago
bro was the first, and the most creative. this need to be a movie titled "The Murder Castle"
Kate 3 years ago
Directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio? Check Hulu.
Load More Replies... #23
Aztec priests, using razor-sharp obsidian blades, sliced open the chests of sacrificial victims and offered their still-beating hearts to the gods.
Bouche Clay 3 years ago
The Aztecs believed that the gods would weaken without human (the most precious) blood. The sacrifices were to keep the gods strong, so they could keep the world going longer.
Mario Alberto 3 years ago
And they were pretty good at it; the Spaniards dared to say that they saw 2000 sacrifices performed the same day.
Pandalea 3 years ago
And then the Spaniards k*lled most Aztecs, as à "sacrifice" to their God, their King, and their greed, not necessarily in that order.
Load More Replies... Mario Alberto 3 years ago (edited)
Old school religion when people made offerings to their god/s instead of requests like today.
#24
We only have good information on less than 5% of the world’s oceans, and maybe sparse information on another 10%.
Natalie the bored otter 2 years ago
I kind of hope we leave the rest untouched if you know what I mean
Carden Blackthorne 3 years ago
What's worse is, we most likely don't want to know what's down there.
#25
Some fish have human-like teeth.
#26
Postpartum psychosis can happen overnight.
#27
As many as 80 million bacteria are transferred during a 10 second kiss.
Bouche Clay 3 years ago
Great. Now Bouche's tummy is all covered in Bacteria. Sorry, Bouche. Ok, I lied. I'm not sorry, and if you roll over and show me your adorable kitten belly again, more bacteria are coming your way!
#28
Babies grow hair in the womb that spread to cover their entire body and are called Lanugo.
Grudge-holding Treefrog 3 years ago
They then consume it right before being born, and it is their first poop
SkinnyMini 2 years ago
You can develop lanugo as an adult if you’re suffering from malnutrition or an eating disorder.
#29
Disneyland’s famous Pirates of the Caribbean ride used real skeletons. And some people, including former Disney employees, insist that a few of them are still being used.
tara 3 years ago
I read the original poltergeist movie used real skeletons dressed up with guck and gore to look like rotting bodies. I would be really irritated if I left my bod to science and I ended up an extra in a horror movie. Ha ha no I wouldn't, it would be awesome....but if my loved one left their body to science and was used that way, I think I would have a fit.
#30
The dust specks you see floating around is mostly dead skin cells.
#31
Your house pet will probably want to eat your dead body.
Mario Alberto 3 years ago
This is a primitive instinct that even some herbivores have (like bunnies), it's because a dead body would cause many diseases to the pack besides stinking and catching the attention of other predators, so since they cannot drag your body away the only way they have to get rid of the dead body is to eat it.
#32
1 in 50 people in the United States has an unruptured brain aneurysm, which is a bulge or ballooning in a blood vessel in the brain.
CalicoKitty 3 years ago
And that's how you get a haemorrhagic stroke. Aneurysm goes pop, blood goes everywhere. The other form of stroke, ischemic, is caused by blockages from blood clotting (often in narrowed vessels), like a heart attack, but in your brain.
#33
Scaphism is an ancient form of execution where the victim was trapped between two boats, fed and covered with milk and honey and left to be devoured by insects.
Ian Richardson 3 years ago
Thanks to the Irish podcaster Blindboy Boatclub for this being catapulted into the zeitgeist. He has a short story all about it
#34
Your bed can have up to 10 million dust mites.
#35
Vampire moths are real and they can drink human blood though skin.
#36
Ancient Romans believed that drinking gladiator blood not only would give them strength and vitality but also cure epilepsy.
#37
Pigs will eat anything, and that includes humans.
Carden Blackthorne 3 years ago
Yep. If somebody ever asks you if you want to see their pigpen, the correct answer is no.
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tara 3 years ago (edited)
"You gotta shave the heads of your victims and pull the teeth out for the sake of the piggies' digestion. You could do this afterwards, of course, but you don't want to sieving through pigshit, now do you?"
Load More Replies... Snakeloverforever 2 years ago
Maybe that's why farmers with pig are not suspected of being a murder 🤔 🤨 🤔
#38
Most species of Horned lizards can shoot blood from their eyes.
#39
The Catacombs of Paris hold the bones and remains of nearly six million people.
TheGayBanana 3 years ago
-Basic Catacombs History- When the plague hit, they ran out of space for the skeletons. Even after mass burials, they still didn’t have space. The solution? Put them all in a giant tunnel. (and arrange them in fancy patterns)
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#41
Dance marathons, also known as endurance contests, were events in which people dance or walk to music for an extended period of time. Couples would compete to see who could dance the longest, often for cash prizes. Unfortunately, sometimes people would drop dead from exhaustion on the dance floor.
#42
During mummification, ancient Egyptians removed the brain through one of the nostrils.
3 years ago
yup. with a real long hook up ur nostril, mixed it up a lil, and yoinked it on out
#43
A single golden poison frog has enough poison to kill 10 grown men.
#44
“Prosopagnosia” is the inability to recognize faces.
#45
1.2 trillion gallons of sewage, stormwater, and industrial waste are dumped into US waters every year.
#46
Within three days of death, the enzymes from your digestive system begin to digest your body.
#47
A rat’s teeth can gnaw through substances as hard as lead sheeting and cinder block.
Myboneswerestolen 1 year ago
I got a piece stuck to the bottom of my hiking boot one time, i slipped and sprained my ankle on sharp top mountain
Load More Replies... #48
In the 1920’s, the American domestic terror group Ku Klux Klan had a youth chapter called the “Ku Klux Kiddies.”
#49
The “sleepwalking defense” has been used in order to have defendants acquitted for murder.
#50
Mobile phones are seven times dirtier than toilet seats.
Carden Blackthorne 3 years ago
I get so sick of this. Everybody needs to stop comparing things to toilet seats. Most of us clean our toilet seats so compulsively that they're one of the cleanest things in the damn house.
NonbinaryIdiot 2 years ago
Technically you don’t shít on your toilet SEAT. You s**t on the toilet, so the toilet seat is actually quite clean besides touching your āss
Load More Replies... #51
It takes the death of 27,000 trees daily to make toilet paper for humans.
Oerff On Tour 3 years ago
But because Poplar trees (the main source for paper) grow so fast, and are so easy to replicate, they are more abundant today than we cut them
#52
Our bodies swell up like balloons after death, due to the release of gases and liquids.
Tabitha Frost 3 years ago
It happens with whales too! So, please don't approach dead whales, it's dangerous.
#53
Every 18 minutes, someone has a brain aneurysm that ruptures.
Tamra 3 years ago
What is it with Bored Panda and aneurysms lately? This is the third list that mentions brain aneurysms.
Helen Downey 3 years ago
It's at least the second time that THIS list mentions them!
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#54
The birthday effect is a statistical phenomenon where an individual's likelihood of death appears to increase on or close to their birthday.
$cagsy 3 years ago
I read yesterday that there is a simple reason for this and assuming you're otherwise healthy it won't happen to you. The reason is that when people are nearing the end, they hold on and rally in order to make it to special occasions like birthdays etc. perhaps so they can see their whole family one last time. So please don't worry, if this is correct then birthdays shouldn't be too scary.
who stole my bamboo 4 weeks ago
still not skipping my familys sit in a 200 celcius oven for 20 minutes challenge this year
#55
Scientists have found a new kind of tarantula with a horn on its back in southeastern Angola.
Training for the ballet potteh 2 years ago
sure its cool, but its also terrifying.
Load More Replies... #56
“The Devil’s Bible” exists, and it’s a contract between a monk and Satan.
Bouche Clay 3 years ago
The sinner's Bible also exists. They left out the word "not." Guess which commandment.
Carden Blackthorne 3 years ago
I actually know this one. It's "Thou shalt not commit adultery."
Load More Replies... #57
2019 was the second warmest year in NOAA’s 140-year climate record.
#58
A book written 14 years before the 1912 sinking of the Titanic may have predicted the ship’s tragic demise. The novella titled "The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility" was about an unsinkable ship hit by an iceberg.
Your Local Forza Enthusiast 2 years ago (edited)
"tell me you're a time traveler without telling me your a time traveller."
#59
The average person sweats between 0.5 - 2 liters an hour during physical activity. But according to some studies, people may lose a minimum of 3 liters a day, even without moving around all that much.
#60
The Zoroastrians, an ancient Persian religion followers, leave their dead in special towers to be eaten by birds of prey such as vultures.
Carden Blackthorne 3 years ago
I actually wish it was legal to do that here in the United States. I want to be fed to the crows.
#61
Being buried alive accidentally occurred so often that people invented “safety coffins.”
Your fav(?) nerd (they/any) 2 years ago
Actually it didn’t happen all that often, but it was a huge widespread fear, which is why they did this, and also because of that doctors at the time would stab their patients after proclaiming them dead, just in case. Correct me if I’m wrong
#62
A person will shed around 75 pounds of skin in a single lifetime.
#63
Women in the 18th century used lead as makeup.
CalicoKitty 3 years ago
Lead carbonate. The lead would slowly cause lead poisoning, leading to blemishes which were then covered up with more lead. White lead was used as a pigment for a looong time. It also tastes sweet, which led (heh) to children eating paint chips. Delicious.
#64
There might be a haunted Russian radio station that has been broadcasting the same tone for 45 years.
#65
An estimated 41% of adults in the US face health-care debt, ranging from under $500 (16%) to $10,000 or more (12%).
Chris Yuen 3 years ago
First they try to kill you (see 250.000 medical errors post), and if they fail they want to kill you financially?
Disgruntled Pelican 3 years ago
We have a family friend who hit 1 million in medical debt thanks to very aggressive cancer and numerous surgeries over the course of a year.
#66
Did you know that the American actress Glenn Close was raised in a cult?
#67
Wes Craven’s “A Nightmare on Elm Street” is based on a real story.
$cagsy 3 years ago
Not so much 'based' on a true story as 'inspired' by a true story. Writer and director, Wes Craven, read a story in the LA Times about Hmong refugees in the 1970s. The article said that they were plagued by terrible nightmares and afraid to sleep because of it. That's where the 'true' part ends. Thankfully.
DippityDooDerp 3 years ago
It wasn't based on a real story. It was loosely based on/inspired by a few incidents in the 1970s. Long story short some Hmong refugees fleeing from genocide and war in Laos and other countries started having nightmares and refusing to sleep. A few died in their sleep. Medical professionals called it Asian Death Syndrome.
Load More Replies... #68
Isla de las Muñecas or the “Island of the Dolls” is one of the most haunted places in the world.
An Unpopular Opinion. 3 years ago
Seen an episode of something on that, freaky place lol. All those dollsss, even if it wasn't hauted or whatever I'd never step foot on that place
An Unpopular Opinion. 3 years ago
Whoops, double posted, sorry! Internet sucks
Load More Replies... Samyan Elrod 2 years ago
I really need to write down my bucket list. It's getting too long to remember lol
#71
The Judas Cradle was a means of torture where the victim was forced to sit on pyramid-shaped wooden device.
Emma Dakin 3 years ago
adding weights to the ankles to cause the victim to slowly get shafted by the point at the tip of the pyramid. I saw one at the Amsterdam torture museum.
#72
Microscopic mites live on our eyelashes.
Lonely Leafeon 3 years ago
They're our friends though! They eat dead skin around our eyelashes
Load More Replies... #73
Doctors used the teeth of dead people to make dentures.
#74
You can actually fit all the planets in the Solar System in the space between the Earth and the Moon.
#75
Lady Bugs are known to eat their own larvae to ensure the survival of the other larvae.
#76
When the movie trailer for The Exorcist first came out in theaters, people were too scared, so eventually they stopped playing the trailer in theaters.
#77
More than 99% of the four billion species that have evolved on Earth are now extinct.
#78
The cosmological theory of the Big Rip posits that as the universe continues to expand at a faster and faster rate, the force will pull galaxies further from each other, then galaxies will be pulled apart, followed by the planets and objects from their stars, the stars themselves, planets, and so forth until even nuclei in atoms are separated.
#79
An average of 4.8 and 12.7 million tonnes of plastic enter the oceans every year.
Frando Bone 3 years ago
Typical BP, people downvoting facts. 20201126_1...92be1d.jpg 
#80
People used hollowed human skulls as bowls and cups back in ancient England.
#81
The average person consumes around 38 ounces of mucus every day.
#82
Charles II watched William of Orange consummate his marriage.
#83
Muscovite palaces and courts had professional foot-ticklers.
Kaylee Best 2 years ago
Yes, are you not one of them? You must be an average foot-tickler then.
Load More Replies... #85
Mice and rats can spread at least 35 different diseases to humans.
Lonely Leafeon 3 years ago
Actually it's the fleas that carry bubonic plague. People need to stop blaming the rats and mice.
Load More Replies... #86
In the Middle Ages, people used to eat mummies for medicinal purposes.
#87
Your coffee mug probably has fecal matter on it.
Benita Valdez 3 years ago
Well I can guess from improperly washing your hands after pooing.
Load More Replies... Samyan Elrod 2 years ago
I think I'll start drinking out of those skulls mentioned higher up on the list now.
#88
The Vent Haven Museum houses vintage ventriloquist dummies.
#89
King Charles II drank alcohol mixed with pulverized human skulls.
#90
The Roman Emperor Vespasian taxed the trade of urine.
#91
Rat Kings are real and they're more interesting than you might think.
who stole my bamboo 2 months ago
its when rat tails are intertwined or merged making a ball of rats
#92
Museo delle Anime del Purgatorio displays documents signed by haunted souls in purgatory.
#93
The most haunted island in the world is Poveglia, Italy.
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