23 Creepy Night Shift Horror Stories

The homeless flasher

“Worked at a liquor store for a few years. One of the homeless guys probably late 50’s that stood outside would ask for money and 9 times out of 10 if they said no he’d flash them his old wrinkly crusty package… had to chase him off every night so people didn’t have to suffer that sight.

Annoyingly people who saw me chasing him off or threatening to call the cops often gave me dirty looks like as if I hated homeless people or treat them like trash. When in actuality I was saving them from that which you cannot unsee.” — Slevin424

The boss that used to check on me turned out to be a murderer

“as a teen, I used to close down the gas station/truck stop I worked at, alone. My boss used to pop up out of the shadows as I was closing down the till with the backup lights on. He’d be super calm and act like it wasn’t creepy at 11pm when he should be home with his family. He was even at my high school graduation, he and his wife’s numbers still in my phone. Anyhow, he is currently on trial for murdering a prostitute via stabbing her to death, back in ‘94. Cold case potentially solved via DNA & modern science.” — ShesAFirecracker

Staring man

” I work nightshift at a rehab facility. We have a protected gate with a camera looking down from above and one of those doorbell cameras. In the office, the camera monitor is on one wall and the doorbell monitor is on another. I was doing some paperwork and see this guy walk past, stop for a few seconds, then slowly turned around, walk back and stared up at the camera. And he kept staring. The facility is in a rough neighborhood so I’m fairly used to folks hanging out around the gate and usually ignore it. But the way he was staring was off putting. Like, his eyes and expression were hollow and dead, almost as if he were in deep thought about something horrible. I was pretty sure he was zonked on synthetics. I used the intercom to see if he was okay but he just kept staring directly at the camera.

We have a rule – if it’s not hurt or trying to come through the fence, just let it be. No sense in engaging needlessly with somebody potentially hostile or fucking with the locals. Y’all, he stood there and stared at that camera for two hours. That same dead-eyed expression staring right at me. I did a round and came back to find him gone, which only creeped me out more.” — deleted

A hand

“Used to work nights at a Home Depot.

There was one time where for a week or so our store stayed open 24 hours. For the most part this wasn’t really a problem–typically nobody comes shopping for home improvement items at two in the morning (except that one couple that came looking for marble countertops at 1:30 in the morning and the woman was wearing a nice dress). I guess there was also that one young lady who came looking for a toilet paper roll holder a little after midnight (I had just gotten off my first break) and she was wearing jorts and a one of those white-with-black-belt stereotypical karate outfits. She was oddly specific about which roll holder to get, too.

But the real story lies within the insulation. It was nearing three in the morning and me and another guy were stocking insulation, as well as fixing the bays and some such maintenance. A bunch of big R-30s had fallen in their bay and while I was sorting through them a fuckin hand came out of the mess and grabbed my arm. I lost my mind enough for not only the guy I was working with to freak out but also for my boss, who was across the store, to come check out the commotion.

Turns out a homeless drunkard had come into the store at some point, and I can only assume before the night crew showed up, and had made a nest in the insulation where he fell asleep. The dude was in bad shape, too. Like, far-gone into whatever inebriation that we had to call the police to remove him. I was always a little more cautious around the insulation after at, for at least the time the store stayed open 24 hours.” — Nice_Bake

Pedos

“I used to work at a small hotel and the manager there told me a terrifying nightshift story. It was about midnight when she got a call at the front desk from a man. He said that he’s with his 8 year old daughter who dances competitively and needed advice on what she should wear. She gave him some basic fashion advice. He asked my manager “What about fishnet leggings? Do you think those are too sexy?” Then proceeds to talk in graphic detail about how he thinks his own daughter has been trying to seduce him for weeks and how he’s starting to enjoy seeing her dance in these cute outfits. Meanwhile my manager is looking through a computer system trying to figure out who this man is so she can call the cops. However the room he was reportedly in was empty. The man ends up hanging the phone up before she could find out where he was truly calling from.

A couple months later at around 11pm my manager answers the desk phone. A familiar voice asked her if she could help him pick out an outfit for his daughter’s next dance recital. She asked him “let me guess you want to know if she should wear fishnet leggings?” The man immediately hangs up the phone.” — lawandorderSUV

The Grim Reaper

“I used to work night shift as a care aide in an old folks home. It was already creepy, the home was an old hospital that was converted.

Some asshole kept walking around the courtyard after dark dressed as the grim reaper knocking on doors. It was actually really scary, he ran off and the facility got a security guard for a few weeks.” — thegamblerx

Kangaroos

“Many many years ago, I worked at a regional radio station in the middle of fucking nowhere, Australia.

I was the overnight operator – keep the overnight playlist running, set up for the morning, do all the manual checks for the next day, and jump on the desk if anything funky happens.

I spent a lot of time sitting in what was essentially a tin shed in the middle of a paddock, with my dog, shoes off, listening to 50s & 60s music and doing crossword puzzles.

Except one night when the roo shooters came through. They spooked the kangaroos in the paddock, and one of them jumped head-first through our office window.

So there’s me – barefoot and half asleep, when this 6’ tall kangaroo smashes through the glass window. Blood and glass everywhere. My dog starts chasing the kangaroo, I’m chasing my dog.

And the kangaroo bounds around the office, knocking shit off desks in the dark, bleeding everywhere. I ran and opened the studio bay doors, and my dog chased it outside. Where, I’m assuming, the poor thing (the kangaroo) was shot.

Then I had to call my boss.” — FormalMango

Do you know where the morgue is?

“Was an orderly in a hospital. Two of us were sitting in the basement office adjacent to the morgue. A guy passed our office, looking at us a little shifty, came back again and asked if we had access to the morgue. We said “yes,”thinking he was doing a pickup for a funeral home, but that seemed strange given it was around 12:00-12:30 a.m. Nope. He wanted to pay us to let him in, and leave him alone with the bodies for an hour. We escorted him up To security. Apparently he had tried it in the past, as security knew him.” — odd-42

Lots of crazy people

“Was running the register at 24 hr supermarket. Stock person comes running into produce carrying mop handle screaming “you mother fucker”. Out of sight, he keeps yelling “fucker!” and smacking handle at something, for like 5 min. I am ringing up customers, and freaking out because he was losing his mind, but I am not interested in getting involved in a murder..so I ignore it. Later I find out he was chasing a rat.” — conniption_fit

The world is creepy at 3am

“Many years ago I briefly had a job that started at 3:30am. The job itself was very boring, but the commute was wild. The world is at its weirdest in the very early morning. Road hazards haven’t been called in yet, so one day I pulled off the freeway and discovered that the off ramp was completely flooded, deep enough that I have no idea how my car didn’t stall.

But the most interesting discovery was that if law enforcement has to raid a home, they do it around 3 or 4 in the morning because that’s the best chance of everyone being peacefully asleep. One day I was nearly to work when I noticed something off ahead of me. I slowed down and came up to a massive police blockade, squad cars everywhere and absolutely crawling with heavily armed officers… but all in ABSOLUTE silence. They silently waved me down a side street. Just a creepy, unsettling experience.” — QueerTree

Morgue trips

“Did hospital security for about two months. It was small hospital out in the sticks so we were responsible for removing patients who had passed from their rooms and transferring into the morgue freezer.

We had just brought a decedent to the morgue and right before we were about to transfer them to the freezer their cellphone rang. Granted, pretty tame compared to some stories, but at the time it gave us a decent fright.” — MurphysCousinInLaw

Night terrors

“I worked in a residential treatment center for teen girls. One girl with some severe trauma (rape, abuse) came sleep walking into the room screaming to please untie her while clawing at her wrists. She was begging me to help her because “he’s torturing me!” I sat her down and pulled her bracelets and watch off. She went completely limp then got up and went back to bed. It freaked me out seeing the raw emotion of her trauma since she was always smiling and relatively calm during the day.

Another time I was doing my nightly checks and a guy suddenly walked out from behind the door coming at me. I screamed and threw my flashlight at him. It was a smiley face balloon.” — ChumBucket311

Evil logging truck

“Leaving one night from work I was followed by a log truck and it kept going faster and faster until I was at 100mph. I pulled off as the truck blew past my car rocking it. Thing was there was twisty turns ahead.

Couldn’t find the truck.” — rickrolo24

Bang

“Work in the winter for me is plowing and snow removal, it was late and I had been out for over 24hrs at this point, pulled over into a small cul de sac with the nearest house being over a 100 yds away so I could let the truck stay on so I could stay warm (6 wheel mack things loud)

As I’m nodding off, there was a very loud bang and it felt like someone than pulled on my driver side door handle. Luckily I always lock my truck doors. I immediately threw on every strobe/rear/headlight and started looking around and I saw absolutely nothing it scared the shit out of me

Needless to say I never sleep anywhere other than lit parking lots now.” — Lovetopuck37

Chance encounter

“More of a very weird event. Sometimes work night shifts. One time was going home around 4am or so. It was pitch dark outside and very quiet. Person on a bike came out of nowhere, said he remembered me from middle school (even said the right school name), and rode off.” — jmedina94

Domestic violence

“Worked as an evening manager at a major Hilton property. Got a complaint from a bunch of guests about the noise coming from one of the rooms. Turns out, a drunken man was beating the shit out of his wife and had the door barricaded so we couldn’t get in. I called the cops, and they had to get into the room using the balcony from the room next room over.

I’m still traumatized by what I saw when they finally arrested him and got the wife out of the room. She was covered in blood. It was horrifying.” — StevesMcQueenIsHere

People of Walmart

“Used to work night shift at a 24 hour Walmart. Customers are nuts enough in the daytime, but they become WEIRD after midnight.

Once had an elderly guy come in wearing only a jean jacket and fishnet stockings. He came up to my register, leaned in, and asked if we carried anything to get rid of lice…

Those plastic barriers all stores have now to protect cashiers? They need to keep those even after the pandemic ends. I lost count of the times customers got into my personal space to ask about products for fleas, lice, rashes, etc” — thrown12212020

Creepy men

“I was once staying late doing some scenic painting in a college campus theater. It was late, pitch black dark outside and very quiet in the building. A few of us were up on the stage, not really talking, just taking care of business when suddenly I saw out of the corner of my eye something go very quickly by the open door to the lobby. Wtf? Then it went by again and I actually saw what it was. A guy with long hair, wearing pajamas, and no socks or shoes. He was tip toeing in a very exaggerated way, pulling his knees up very high, and grinning. WTF?! It sounds kind of funny but it was creepy as hell. We all made eye contact and one of the other painters was just about to go shut the door when the dude walked right in. He stood there staring at us for a full minute. You could have heard a pin drop. He threw his arms out to the sides dramatically and said, “I am YOUR SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST!” no one responded and he eventually walked out. I guess he was hoping to get more of a reaction. The door was promptly shut and locked behind him and security called. They were not impressed. Turns out that he was a patient at some sort of group home nearby and had done this multiple times. I still get creeped out to this day if I’m working in a theater at night though.” — cellrdoor2

Mannequins

“Was walking through the simulation lab for nursing students at the hospital I work at on very little sleep, all the lights were off and it was my first time working night shift, turned a corner and saw what I thought was a person standing behind a lamp that was on, turns out it was a mannequin holding the pull cord. Really freaked me out and I was awake after that” — Ghoulthrower676

Yikes

“I was closing supervisor at a grocery store and someone managed to shit between the bathroom and the exit doors at 8:59 (we close at 9:00)

You’d think “Oh there’s literal shit on the floor surely people will walk around it” no instead they continue to plow through it so now there’s shit on multiple grocery carts, the exit is scattered with feces, there’s shit on people’s shoes undoubtedly, and there’s shit in the parking lot.

Luckily for me my less squeamish supervisor working with me that closing night volunteered to mop up the exit and bathroom which to our surprise had also been shit on. For the record human shit makes me immediately gag and vomit when I get a whiff of it so I ended up puking in the trash next to the shit exit.” — LocusAintBad

Security guards

“Working late at my office/workshop one night. I’m doing analyses that take a while to run so I tend to snack and watch netflix, or try and do another mundane task that needs to just run by itself. This is a BIG building, but I’m in the basement where no one goes, and the aircon shuts off at night with little ventilation so it gets warm.

The horror story was more for the security guard that walked in on me, a 2m tall man, with no shirt on, heavily tattooed, eating cereal at like 3am walking around. I could never look him in the eye after that.” — chalk_in_boots

Animal bodies

“Worked a parking garage at the airport. Cleaning the top deck and noticed about a hundred ravens all over a truck with a tarp over the bed. Took my flashlight expecting something awful. Noticed as I got closer the smell and the ravens taking turns going in a hole they had torn open and popping out covered in gunk. some guy left a broke down beater with a couple animal carcasses in the back to rot. No heads.

Checked the logs and the damn truck had been there since November and it was April, so everything was just thawing and breaking down.” — greatwood

Death

“Working 3rd shift security at a condo, and a mother left the bathroom to check on their Mac n cheese, her 2 year old drowned in the tub… once the police were done, my boss called me and told me I had to go talk to the family, and find out what happened even though we knew from the police telling us… my daughter was about 2 at the time, it broke my heart to even hear the story from the guy I relieved, and then I had to go ask the family to tell some dumas rent-a-cop about it as well.” — The1Bibbs