I don't know what it is, but there's just something about Thanksgiving dinner that invites those in attendance to be on their worst behavior. I was reminded of this when I read through these jaw-dropping stories of Thanksgivings gone wrong, sparked by redditor u/IAmA_Wolf asking folks to share the "trashiest" thing someone did at a family Thanksgiving. These were the wildest responses, and I can guarantee they'll make any weirdness you experienced this year feel a lot less severe in hindsight:
1. "My aunt invited all of us over to her house for Thanksgiving, which was out of state. All food and drinks were going to be provided by them, so our family offered to bring something, anything, just as a thank-you. My aunt insisted that we shouldn't. The dinner was good, and it was an overall great Thanksgiving. Well, about a month later, we got a request from that aunt proclaiming that we now owed her $75 to cover the cost of the meal. My parents were furious, as we had just spent a lot of money to go down and see her and had even offered to lighten her load by bringing some of our own dishes. They honestly wouldn't have been mad if it weren’t for the fact that she didn’t even tell anyone about this when she was giving out invitations."
2. "My uncle made a scene about having dropped something on the floor. When he was sure enough of us were now paying attention, he bent over to pick it up, his shirt rode up, and we saw a tramp stamp tiger crawling out of his butt crack. It was a temporary tattoo that he had my aunt help him put on — specifically for this occasion."
3. "My aunt, uncle, and cousins make no food and take 90% of it home as leftovers. They also arrive late and leave first."
4. "The woman my cousin had just married stole a Costco-size box of individually wrapped Cheez-Its packages from our garage. I happened to notice they were gone when putting food in the fridge. I asked about it publicly and she looked up, started stuttering, and went to get them out of her car. She returned with the excuse, 'I thought these were mine. I have a box just like them at home.'"
5. "My uncle poured Crown Royal on his turkey and ate it."
6. "My husband's brother and his other brother's wife always disappeared for about 20–40 minutes at the same time. This happened for four years in a row before anyone got nosy enough to go looking for them. My sister-in-law is now married to the Thanksgiving-hookup brother."
7. "My wife’s family decided that we would all make homemade ice cream instead of doing traditional desserts. It was fun, and all of the kids enjoyed it a lot. But when we were done making the ice cream, my wife’s aunt put the ice cream aside and proceeded to pull out some shitty store-brand ice cream to serve the kids. She explained that the homemade ice cream was only for the adults, so the kids would get store-bought ice cream because they 'couldn't appreciate the good stuff' anyway. The kids were really put out, and some tears were shed. I spoke up and said to let the kids have the stuff they made — at least a little bit. I mean, in my family, the kids are the focus on holidays. My wife's aunt refused, saying, 'No, there wasn’t enough to go around,' and 'You don’t understand, you don’t have kids.' She added, 'If you want them to have some so badly, then you can share your portion with them.' I said, 'Alright, then.'"
"So when I went to serve myself, I got a big-ass salad bowl and filled it all the way to the top, grabbed six spoons, and then went and sat at the kids’ table and we all just pigged out on my 'portion.' Since there was hardly any left, my wife's aunt had to pull the shitty ice cream out of the fridge and eat that instead, sulking. I was worried my wife was going to be pissed and tell me off once we got in the car, but instead, she laughed her ass off and told me she loved me."
8. "My aunt always brought several large plastic containers and would begin packing up 'leftover' food for herself immediately after everyone had filled their first plate. If you thought you might want seconds, you had to take them the first time around, because there was often nothing left after she'd filled her containers. Of course, if you did that, she'd make a snide comment about how much food you were eating. I don't recall ever seeing her sit down with a plate to eat with us — she was always in the kitchen packing up the food that she hadn't paid for or prepared."
"Her daughter, 28 at the time, wouldn't speak to anyone and fed the shrimp appetizers to the cats. They're no longer invited."
9. "We were hosting Thanksgiving and prepared all the food ourselves; my mom spent all morning cooking and baking. My aunt, uncle, and cousins arrived right before dinner and walked in with a White Castle case and said they just stopped to eat a few minutes ago. We had prepared Thanksgiving just for them, and they decided that they wanted White Castle instead."
10. "My father’s new girlfriend sat at the head of the table at my house and acted as if she was the host while monopolizing the entire conversation. I was her waitstaff. It was my first time meeting her. Five years later, they are still together, but I haven’t seen her since then."
11. "I was at my wife’s uncle's house for Thanksgiving, and his wife decided to play their wedding video right after dinner, since it was their anniversary weekend. She looked for a half hour to find the videotape and gathered the group of 25 to watch it in the living room. In the video, right as she’s walking down the aisle, midway down the aisle, it goes fuzzy and cuts to...Dale Earnhardt’s funeral. Uncle Joe used that tape to record Dale Earnhardt’s funeral. Everyone froze in complete shock, and I started laughing. I felt like I was in a sitcom, but it was real life."
12. "My sister was responsible for bringing the dessert. She showed up three hours late, and instead of bringing dessert, she brought an open bag of frozen pierogies. It was a real downer."
13. "The Pudding Wars. As a child, my grandmother would make banana pudding for Thanksgiving. Every year, my mom and her brother would outdo themselves trying to keep the other from getting the pudding. My uncle broke into our house one year to steal it, and my grandma took to making decoy pudding and hiding the real stuff. But one year takes the cake. My grandma refused to make the beloved pudding. My great-aunt stepped in and offered to make it. My great-aunt showed up, and my mom took the entire tray of pudding from her hands and ran into my grandmother's bedroom, screaming at my younger cousin to get her a spoon. She locked herself in the bedroom with every intention of eating herself sick on that banana pudding. Unfortunately, my great-aunt can't cook. Instead of smooth, creamy custard, the pudding had bits of scrambled egg yolk in it. Only moments after locking herself in the room, my mom returned, disappointed, and ate her turkey in sullen silence."
14. "One of my mom's friends was invited to our Thanksgiving because her kids were at their significant others' families for the holiday. That year, my uncle brought a bottle of homemade limoncello to share. The stuff was delicious, but it was also 50% alcohol. Everyone was drinking it out of little 1-ounce glass cups. Instead, my mom's friend poured herself a FULL wine glass (half the bottle) when no one was looking, downed it in 15 minutes, and then tried to go back for more. She was passed out drunk at least an hour before dinner even began."
15. "My mom picked up an entire stick of butter with her hand to butter her corn. No wrapper — just hand to bare butter stick."
16. "My mother-in-law is trashy every Thanksgiving. My wife and I host, about 15 people come, and everyone brings side dishes. Not her mother, though. She only brings stuff for herself. She proudly announces that whatever she brings is just for her. It's not for diet purposes, because she eats all the other food, too. Also, she treats our guest room and bathroom like a hotel: When she leaves, she takes the toilet paper rolls, the tissue box, paper towels, and soap."
17. "My grandmother faked a heart attack. It was very surreal, and her husband was so embarrassed. She didn't like my dad very much, and she picked a fight with him on Thanksgiving, so he decided that he was going home. When she realized my stepmom (her daughter) was going home with him, she yelled a lot, and then, as a last-ditch effort, dramatically clutched her chest and collapsed very carefully. It was outside, and I guess she didn't want to bump her head. Dad offered to call 911, but my grandfather said it wasn't necessary, and when my grandmother realized no one was taking her seriously, she opened her eyes, allowed my grandfather to help her up, and went inside with him while fake sobbing. Normally she was quite nice, but she had her moments and really wasn't happy that her daughter had grown up and had a life. Holidays usually brought out the worst in her."
18. "My mother told our aunt to help herself to some leftovers, and she took a nearly full bottle of $350 whiskey. She got called out on it and claimed to have 'accidentally grabbed it, sweetie, no big deal.' She returned it half full, so either she chugged some in the car or dumped some out in spite."
19. "My uncle and grandfather don't have a good relationship but were tolerating each other, because...Thanksgiving. My uncle was cooking lasagna and my grandfather decided to help, so he grated the cheese. Flash forward to dinnertime: The food is coming out, and as tradition dictates, we always start with lasagna. My grandfather made some joke, like, 'I know you hate me, but at least I'm grate,' and the shit hit the fan. My uncle literally went into a rage and was yelling at everyone. He proceeded to flip the table that ALL the food was on. My grandfather called him outside to settle the score, which resulted in two grown men fistfighting in the backyard, culminating with my granddad getting thrown into the pond and slicing his leg on a jagged rock. The rest of us ordered Chinese food and kicked my uncle out."
20. "My aunt nastily told my sister she was going to hell for living with her fiancé before marriage — even though my aunt had been married multiple times and was known to...get around. She berated her for minutes about sinning while they were at my grandmother's house cooking. We live in the middle of nowhere, and our houses are divided by small pastures. Cue my sister running home, crying, and my dad jumping three fences to go kick my aunt out of my grandmother's house. It was quite the scene for the neighbors with the yelling and whatnot. We took all of our turkeys to the other aunt's house."
21. "My cousin's husband ate probably 5 pounds of turkey and got thirds of all the sides my grandmother worked all day to make. After he ate, he got up and left. He waited in the car for my cousin. Never cleaned up his plate, and never said thank you. Trash."
22. "Last year, my husband's grandma hosted Thanksgiving dinner at her house and asked us to provide the turkey — and that's not even the trashiest part. We had to go to spend Thanksgiving with my husband's dad's side that morning, so we dropped the turkey off on our way to his dad's house that morning. His grandma said that they would be eating at 4 p.m. We arrived back at his grandma's house around 3:45 p.m. so we'd be early for dinner. Everyone had already eaten all the food. Including the entire turkey."
23. "My aunt and uncle showed up an hour late to dinner. My aunt then proceeded to yell at all of us because we started eating without her. The rest of the family still makes jokes about it, and some are still not on speaking terms with her."
24. And finally, "Grandma threatened to shit in the turkey if we didn't let her watch Jeopardy."
What's your own Thanksgiving horror story that you still think about to this day? Tell me all about it in the comments below or through this anonymous form.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.