Alright, so it may not be Spooky Season, but I think creepy stories are really season-less. And recently, I was in the mood to read some, which is how I came across this older Reddit thread by user vinny72 in which they asked: "Redditors who have seen a UFO, Bigfoot, or any other mythological creature. What is your story, and how did the people you know react to your story?"
Lots and lots of people chimed in to share their paranormal stories. Here are some of the top-voted and best stories:
1. "I lived in a funeral home, and we had speakers to hear if anyone was downstairs. We'd hear slamming doors and footsteps only to find no one there."
2. "I've lived out in the middle of nowhere for about 10 years. I'm a smoker and a night owl. I smoke outside. So, I've seen some strange things. But the one thing I've seen, that gave me chills and baffled me, was a black oblong object (think cylinder/thermos) floating through the sky. It was darker than the night sky behind it, utterly silent, and maybe I'm misremembering, but I recall the night being completely silent, too. No crickets, no cicadas. Just silence. This was in the middle of summer. I told my family, and they just shrugged their shoulders."
3. "About 10 years ago, my family and I were up in the White Mountains of Arizona to cut down our Christmas tree. My dad was driving our truck with my grandpa in the front seat, and my mom and sister in the back seat. I was in the bed of the truck along with our family's German Shorthaired Pointer. We were driving along a forest road, and all of the sudden, my dog starts barking and growling. So, I look to see what it is, thinking it is maybe a bear or mountain lion."
4. "I was camping in the Rockies and was stargazing and spotting satellites. I found a satellite and tracked it for a while. Eventually, it halted and switched directions. No one believes me, but I saw it. No, I wasn't high/drunk/tripping. It was a very clear night, and I was sober. Maybe there is another explanation, but that night, it was an unidentifiable flying object to me."
5. "My dad and I were hunting in the mountains north of Idaho City. It was about twilight, and we were hiking back to the car. We began to smell something terrible. Like burning bone and hair. It was the worst stench I've ever experienced. The smell got worse as we kept hiking. We could hear what we thought was someone or something running at a great rate of speed from behind us. My dad grabbed me and held my face to his chest and dropped to the ground. I held close to him as the running got louder."
6. "Mine was a ghost. I was about 19. My grandmother had died less than a month prior. We were having a family gathering unrelated to her passing. I couldn't sleep, so I stayed up late watching some old Nick at Nite reruns on their old tube. I drifted off on the couch around 2 a.m., partly wrapped in a rough green and brown handmade blanket a friend had made for me. I woke up between 3 and 4 a.m., felt cold and groggy. Looked up and saw my grandmother.
7. "My mom was taking master's courses when I was in preschool through first grade. I would wake up in the middle of the night and go downstairs to eat an apple and do a puzzle when she was studying. I distinctly remember floating through the dining room on multiple occasions on my way to the kitchen. I would scream for my mom, but she wouldn't hear. I would then wake up to my mom carrying me upstairs because she would find me sleeping on the dining room floor in the same spot behind the table. I was never freaked out, until I learned the first owners killed themselves and their young son, who also had red hair, and his body was found in the same spot. I never thought anything of it until I looked up the history of the house; my mom was visibly upset when I showed her."
8. "I was about 8; my sister was 6 or 7. My family and I had went camping about an hour north of Kingfisher Lake in Northern Ontario. It was a routine camping weekend, fishing, hiking, fires, etc. Well, on the second day we were there, my dad was chopping up some firewood and had asked me to go grab some kindling and to take my sister along. No problem, off we went."
9. "It was around sunset, and I had just left my house to go visit a friend. As I walking on the sidewalk, I saw this triangle shape craft hovering over a house. I froze up and just stood there watching it hover for about 10 seconds or so. After that, it started to fly away very slowly before taking off very fast into the setting sun. I unfroze and then let out a scream and ran home."
10. "You know, I've read some very creepy stories from deployed men in Afghanistan. One of my students (I used to teach college courses) told me that he was on fire watch and saw a man approaching base from the empty desert. He yelled at him to stop. The man bent backwards and started to 'dislocate all his joints' and crawl toward them. They raised their weapons, and the thing evaporated."
11. "I was hiking in Göschenen in Switzerland when I was a kid along with my parents and several of my relatives. We stopped to eat something along the way, and me and two of my cousins went exploring for a bit. We found several half hidden holes the size of basketballs; the holes were completely dark, so we decided to start throwing shit inside to see how deep it was."
12. "Was on a commercial fishing boat — us and another boat saw this thing: a UFO. Ten feet above my head. Silent. Three lights, triangle pattern. Size of a car maybe. Brightest lights ever that left no light on the deck of boat, but was blinding looking up at it. The UFO followed us for 20 seconds. Then, it literally vanished in the blink of an eye."
13. "I was about 6 years old, and I had woken up in the middle of the night. My room was on the second floor, and I was walking to my parents' room which was at the end of the hallway. We had stairs that went directly down to our kitchen from the second floor; anyways, when I passed the stairs, I saw this tall, green silhouette standing next to the fridge with the door open. It turned around and looked at me and came bolting up the stairs. Ended up running into my parents' room and jumping into their bed. Never ran so fast in my life."
14. "I lived in an apartment complex, and there was a creature, alien-looking, that knocked on my door. I know what I saw; my sister saw it, and my dad, too. However, he denies it now."
15. "This happened in Houston, Texas. It was a really stormy night, and I was driving back from the gym. There was a lot of lightning that illuminated the sky. Then, I spotted something. It was massive. The local news even reported it. I'm not gonna lie, it actually looked similar to Frieza's spaceship."
View this video on YouTube
16. "My friends and I didn't believe in ghosts, so just for fun, we went to a haunted hotel and stayed in the most haunted room to see if we could contact a ghost. We mostly played video games until around 1 a.m. and then said, 'Okay, let's try this.' We expected to get nothing and go back to video games, but something surprising happened. We set a flashlight in the bathroom and said, 'If there is a ghost, turn that flashlight on.' Lo and behold, the thing turns on, and we all flip out. We then say, 'Okay, now turn it off.' AND IT TURNS OFF."
And lastly...
17. "In the '80s, my cousin was on a camping trip with his wife. It wasn't a busy day for camping, and according to my cousin, the ranger told them that they were the only ones camping there that night."
You can read the full thread of responses on Reddit.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.