We recently asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us their worst period horror story. Here are the frightening results.
1. Submitted by Michelle J (Facebook)
I was maybe 13 years old, and I decided to go for a run in the fields behind my childhood home (wearing white shorts, I might add). Mid-run, I realized that something didn't seem right. Sure enough, my period had started! I knew there was a Port-O-Potty in the field, as soccer teams would use the field to play games. I entered the Port-O-Potty with the intentions of cleaning myself and my white shorts, but there was NO toilet paper! I proceeded to grab a leaf from a plant nearby to attempt to fix the situation before running home in bloody white shorts. Boy, did I pick the WRONG leaf. Poison Ivy on the Vajayjay! This situation made for one hell of an interesting doctor's appointment.
2. Submitted by cmc557
I got on somebody's shoulders at a concert, and when I got off there was blood all over the shoulders of their white t-shirt. I just walked away. :/
3. Submitted by Rookster
As a figure model (nude model for artists/art students), I generally try to schedule modeling gigs around my period. But there was one occasion last year when Aunt Speck showed up early. About 45 minutes before a sitting I ran to the store for tampons. And then had to cut down the string on each one so they wouldn't show. Heavy period. I wish I could've had more breaks to change them out. About four hours in, the artist said: "you should take a break… your tampon is falling out."
4. Submitted by Kristin Kianka (Facebook)
The first time I got my period, I was in ShopRite. I knew something was odd when I went in the bathroom (it was the kind with more than one stall, so my mom was waiting by the sinks). Understandably, I got very upset when I noticed I was peeing blood, so I started crying. This concerned my mom, of course, who then had to explain that "it's totally normal; you're losing the stuff that would feed a baby if you were pregnant" through the stalls. Being in the blood-induced hysteria that I was, I misunderstood her and shouted: "SO I CAN NEVER HAVE A BABY?????" Laughter immediately started pouring in from the stall next to me, and that's when I realized we weren't alone in the bathroom.
5. Submitted by GenLy
I was around 19 on a family road trip with my parents and siblings. We had stopped for food at a little restaurant, and I excused myself to use the bathroom, to change my tampon. In the stall, I discovered a disgusting toilet that I did not want to sit on. So, I braced myself to remove and replace my tampon while standing (which I know is normal, but wasn't the way I usually did it). As my used tampon was sliding out, I heard a noise. I looked up to see a woman had opened the stall door, which apparently had an untrustworthy lock. We made eye contact… while my used tampon dangled from my hand between my legs. Not one of my favorite moments.
6. Submitted by Laura Gauthier (Facebook)
I got my period fairly young (10 years old) and at the time was very uncomfortable with using tampons. This worked out for me pretty well until I went on a camp field trip to a waterpark at age 12 and become aware of the problem my lack of tampon use posed. My delusional, youthful solution was to wear a pad with my swimsuit, with shorts to hide it. It was all fun and games until I went on a particularly intense waterslide. When I got to the bottom I realized something was... missing. I turned around and, like something out of a horror movie, saw my pad coming down the slide after me. Needless to say, I became aware of two things that day: 1) Swimming and pads don't mix, and 2) waterparks are gross
7. Submitted by Iwillbite13
I was nine when I went shopping with a friend and my mom, who is both blind and half-deaf. When we were sitting in the restaurant (outside, since my mom has a guide dog), I suddenly got rather... wet. Turns out I had gotten my first period. Since I had no clue what was happening, I had to ask my mom to follow me to the bathroom for some advice. She refused, not knowing what was really going on. So, since she's half-deaf, I was forced to scream-explain to her what was happening, in the middle of a busy shopping street with people all around. She then gave me a tampon and explained very loudly how I was supposed to use it. After my friend and I retreated to the bathroom, a woman from a nearby table entered, saying she would be happy to explain how to use the tampons. I have never been so embarrassed in my life, and since that day I've never asked my mother for advice in public again.
8. Submitted by Mari
Mine started at a really young age. I was nine, and my mom and sister took me to go see Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. We were sitting in the theater, and my stomach started to hurt so badly, but I didn't want to leave because we only went to the theater once a year. The movie ended and the house lights came on and there on the seat and all over my yellow shorts were puddles of blood! I thought I was dying! It was the first I got my period.
9. Submitted by Emilia Grillo (Facebook)
I was dating my current boyfriend for only a month (we've now been together for five years) when we went to a friend's house for a night of drinking and fun. I also happened to be menstruating on this particular night. At one point, my tipsy boyfriend and I started getting a bit flirtatious, and after he had fallen on the floor he pulled me on top of him. We stayed there for a few minutes, him laying on the floor and me sitting on his stomach. When we both stood up, I noticed a very red circular mark on his light gray shirt. My heart sank, but he hadn't noticed the stain, so, in a panic, I immediately grabbed my girlfriend and dragged her into the kitchen to tell her what happened. She then grabbed a glass, filled it with a red wine, and in a "drunken mishap" spilled the wine on his shirt, right where the stain was.
10. Submitted by abigaelhenthorne
I was in a marching band parade and was on my period. Having a heavy flow myself, I was marching and the only feeling I felt was something wet flowing down my legs. I tried to discretely tell my band director, but they didn't let me stop marching! And to top that top off, I was on the outside of the formation, walking down a two-mile street, playing a freaking instrument! The blood just kept coming out like Niagara Falls, in front of everyone in the streets.
11. Submitted by Meagan Kissick-Romanchuck (Facebook)
I was 11 and had gone to a rural town with my volleyball team. The lower half of our uniforms were white, and there I was, sitting spread eagle at the all-star game when the crimson tide hit. I didn't notice until the whole gym started to point and stare. My best friend finally looked over, grabbed me, and hauled me out of there. No one had a pad, so I had my very first tampon experience in the school bathroom with the Grade 9 girls standing on the other side of the stall door, shouting instructions. Later on the referee pulled me aside to let me know the string from the tampon was visible. And on the bus ride home, blood seeped all the way up the back of my white shorts, forming a lovely crimson river. That weekend was one of the worst weekends of my life.
12. Submitted by Jaleesaa
I was in middle school when I first got my period. As soon as I got back from the bathroom, I went to my guidance counselor's office, and she was immediately sympathetic to my situation. She offered to call my mom to pick me up, but I thought I could handle it on my own since I was "becoming a woman." She handed me a tampon, and I went back to the bathroom. But the thing was… I had no idea how tampons worked. I completely threw away the cardboard applicator, and with the force of the Hulk, I shoved that thing into my vagina… the wrong way. The dangly string was pointing up inside me. It was terribly uncomfortable and I had the worst time getting it out back out.
13. Submitted by Trainmanswife
I was 17 and was at my boyfriend's house with just him and his dad. We were standing in their kitchen, and I had just put a tampon in less than five minutes before. Then it happened… blood started running down both legs. I was standing behind my boyfriend, trying to tell him to get me out of there, but he didn't hear me (he had hearing aids in both ears). The blood was running so rapidly, it was now dripping off my foot and onto the kitchen floor. The family cat came over and licked the blood off the floor. At that point, I wretched, started to cry, and told them I was sorry and had to run next door to my aunt's house. I'll never, ever, ever forget that day.
14. Submitted by Queen1z
It was sixth grade and my third time having a period, and I knew when I bled it kinda felt like I was peeing. So I just taught myself to know I'm not peeing on myself, that I was just bleeding. Anyway, I went to the bathroom and pulled down my pants but was still standing up, and I felt like I had to pee, but I assumed it was blood so I just let it out, assuming the little bit of blood would fall to the pad below. Nope. I actually had to pee. A LOT. The next thing I know, the floor, my pants, and underwear were drenched with pee and blood. I didn't know what to do. I was too embarrassed to tell anyone, so I got some napkins and wiped down my pants and put a jacket around my waist. Even though it dried eventually, I'm pretty sure I went around smelling like urine. Good times.
15. Submitted by Lauren Esmon (Facebook)
I don't really have a horror story because when I first started having my period, I was so paranoid about surprise attacks that I wore a pad every. single. day. to school. No one taught me that shit was on a cycle and you could predict it. I just thought it was like ovary guerrilla warfare.
16. Submitted by lacdav
I had just met this guy and we were at a club, getting ready to leave together. I was right in the middle of my period, so I was totally prepared to just make out and focus on him. When we were hooking up back at my place, he started his descent, so I tried to subtly hint that it wouldn't be a good idea. He backed off but then returned a little later. I thought he had misunderstood, so I outright told him I had my period. He shrugged it off and went to town anyway. I was surprised but wasn't going to object, so I let him do his thing. After we were through, we turned on the lights, only to reveal what looked like a small murder scene. It was all over my sheets, pillowcase, mattress pad, and his underwear. I was embarrassed, but he was so cool about it. He went to the bathroom to clean himself up while I stripped the bed. I didn't have any extra sheets, so we slept on an itchy, makeshift setup that night. Props to him for calling me the next day.
17. Submitted by Deadredead
Sophomore year of high school. With two guy friends and one girl. We decided to go hang out by the river. On our way back home, we hiked up the riverbank, and I had to pee. Found a spot, did my business. Well, with the squatting and peeing, it pushed my tampon out some. I did my best to get it secured, but with the strenuous hike and it not being in there all that great, I could feel it slipping out. No big deal: my undies will hold it, right? Well, I'm a stupid idiot and wasn't wearing underwear. So I could feel this thing just traversing farther down my pant leg. It got to my ankle, and I bent down and acted like I was tying my shoe, so I could secretly fish it out. Being the genius I am, I decided to conceal it in my clenched fist until the opportune moment when I could chuck it away. One of my guy friends starts clowning around and accidentally bumped into my elbow. It caught me off guard and made my fist relax, at which point the dirty tampon came flying out of my hand, hitting the ground right in the middle of our little group. No one else really said anything, and I was cripplingly embarrassed, so I didn't offer an explanation. We continued to walk home and no one ever spoke of it again.
