We recently asked members of BuzzFeed Community to share with us the craziest stories they believed growing up, and here's what they had to say.
1. Submitted by lauraelizabethr
My older brother told me fish sticks were made out of little girls. I totally bought it, and to this day eating fish grosses me out.
2. Submitted by Kirsten King
When I was younger, my mom used to tell me to put Vaseline on my stomach whenever I had a stomachache. I was convinced this was some magical remedy for WAY too long. One day in my late teens, I had a terrible stomachache and began putting Vaseline on it. One of my friends asked me what I was doing rubbing Vaseline on my stomach, and I responded, "Oh, I have a really bad stomachache." She responded, "Is your stomach, like, dry, or something?" So... moral of the story: The placebo effect is REAL and my mom is a con artist.
3. Submitted by Amanda Highlander (Facebook)
Spontaneous human combustion. I literally would stay up for hours and hours, scared that if I fell asleep, then I would burn to death.
4. Submitted by justins4870b73f9
When I was 5, my mom wrote "Candyman is coming" on the bathroom mirror. I was terrified of the mirror for years. My mom was a huge horror movie fan, and she ruined my childhood because of it.
5. Submitted by bghacker3485
There's a big factory along the highway by my house that has giant steam vents, and for the longest time my parents let me believe that was where clouds were made.
6. Submitted by jenniferr39
My mom is a big believer in aliens. She swears she had a close encounter with a ship shortly before she found out she was pregnant with me. My older sister had me convinced that that alien was my father, and that when I was 15 he would come and take me away. I believed that for way longer than I care to admit.
7. Submitted by Betsy Rogers (Facebook)
When I was about 8, they built an enclosed water slide at a nearby water park. While waiting in line, my dad told me that one kid went down the slide so fast, his brain came out. They had to shut down the slide for weeks trying to clean up the brains. He said they did a pretty good job, but if you kept your eyes open, you could sometimes see little bits and pieces stuck to the slide. Naturally, I tried to keep my eyes open to catch a glimpse of some brain goo, but never saw any. A year later, I was starting to tell a friend the same story while in line, and then I realized it was clearly made up. Thanks, dad.
8. Submitted by pattys4212518f5
When I was 9, my mom told me we were from another planet, and that the mothership was coming back to get us that night. I didn't believe her at first, but then she told me that aliens have a birthmark on their butt, a trait that I knew my brother (who at this point was also playing along), my mother, and I all shared. Mom also told me aliens could twist their tongues. Again, all three of us shared this trait. "Your father isn't an alien. Go ask him to twist his tongue," and out of pure luck my dad couldn't do it. I cried for an hour because I didn't want to get on the mothership. My mom and brother nearly pissed themselves with laughter.
9. Submitted by Yasmeenrashed
My brother and I believed we could get our feet sucked into the vacuum because one time, my mom "accidentally" vacuumed over my brother's foot and his sock got sucked in and clogged the vacuum. 'Til this day I can't stand being one inch close to a vacuum unless I have shoes on, and I'm pretty sure my brother feels the same way because whenever he hears a vacuum, he starts walking on his tiptoes.
10. Submitted by tierrexx
My mom used to say that watching scary movies provided a portal for Satan to come through. I think she just wanted to keep me from watching them so I wouldn't get scared, but the thought of the devil entering my home through a television was so much more terrifying.
11. Submitted by deannav4b3c1e554
When I was really little my grandfather, who lived on a farm, kept rabbits for me to play with when I visited him. My mother worked a lot, so it was pretty much all the time. But one summer I went on vacation with my family and when I came back the rabbit's spots had changed. My grandfather told me that when it was hot, the rabbits would change color. I bought it for years, and it wasn't until I was 15 did I realize that it was an elaborate lie to cover up that the rabbit had died and he'd replaced it.
12. Submitted by nathalienaran93
My dad told me that the reason Titanic sank was because of the scene where Jack yells, "I'm the king of the world!" And only God is the king of the world, so that's why the boat sank.
13. Submitted by katelynnvaleg
One day when I was really little I had this itchy spot on my lower back, and my dad told me that it was nothing to worry about, that it was just the spot where my tail would grow in. I spent my entire childhood terrified of growing a tail, and my dad continued to tease me about it until I was about 12. I don't know why it scared me so bad, or why nobody ever told me that he was seriously yanking my chain.
14. Submitted by virginiajahn27
I come from a very large family of 14 kids. Once, I accidentally ripped the tag off of a pillow. Two of my older sisters read me the warning on it, which stated that "this tag should not be removed under penalty of law." They pretended to call the cops, and I spent the next couple of hours hiding under a bed, convinced that I was surely going to go to prison.
15. Submitted by marissaa441bf2f0f
One time I was playing in the backyard of my grandparents' house when the voice of God began speaking to me. All I remember him saying is, "Marissa, this is God." I didn't find out till later that it was my older sister hiding behind the corner of the house making her voice deep. I really believed God was talking to me. My family laughs about it to this day.
16. Submitted by William Diaz (Facebook)
Growing up in San Francisco and going on camping trips to Lake Berryessa, my mother used to tell me that the Zodiac Killer was never caught, and that he may still be lurking the streets, camping where we camp, or our next-door neighbor. She used to continue to say, "If you don't check in and come home when we say, the Zodiac is going to get you, kill you, and chop you up, put you in little ziplock baggies and mail parts of you home to me for the rest of my life. You don't want that, do you?"
Needless to say, I actually believed Zodiac lived near us, and was always watching us when we went camping at Lake Berryessa. It was only later my mom admitted that our picnic we had at the lake one day was actually the site of one of the killings. For years I believed that Zodiac would chop me up and mail parts of my body home for the rest of my mother's life.
