42 People Share Horrifying Tales Of Waking Up To A Living Nightmare
1. Went out to the garage and found my husband. He had hanged himself.
“Fell asleep on the couch downstairs. Never slept soundly there but for some reason that night it was like I’d been sedated. Woke up with a start and checked the time on my phone. 3:30. Had a missed text from my husband saying ‘I can’t imagine my life without you.’ Decided to grab a cup of coffee since I usually get up at 4:30 anyway. Saw the garage lights on. Went out to turn them off and found him. He had hanged himself.
Edited because I forgot to include the scariness that actually jolted me awake: My two dogs were howling and whimpering and running back and forth at the kitchen door. That alone scared the bejeepers out of me.”
2. A black bear was about eight inches from my head, breathing heavily.
“This was just last summer. I was out camping up by the boundary waters (MN/Canada border area). The next day we would drop in and spend a few days/nights canoeing and camping in the area.
I was solo in my small tent and fast asleep. I was having a bizarre dream that I don’t quite remember. However in the dream someone kept saying, ‘Hot….Hot…Hot…Hot’ over and over in a very throaty deep voice and in rhythm fairly rapidly.
I suddenly woke up and realized what it was. There was a nose of some animal, I think it was a black bear given the size, poking against my tent and breathing in the same cadence and low guttural kind of voice that was in my dream. It was indenting my tent about 8 inches from my head and sniffing about, breathing heavily.
Strange how your brain integrates external stimuli into your dreams.”
3. Woke up suddenly to see a young child at the end of my bed, who then started to slowly shrink in size until gone.
“Woke up suddenly to see a young child at the end of my bed, who then started to slowly shrink in size until gone. Not so much scary as very odd.”
4. Waking up to a room full of smoke.
“Waking up to a room full of smoke. My roommate fell asleep with a lit cigarette and burned our house down.”
5. Woke up and the kitchen was on fire.
“A fire. I was visiting my uncle and I fall asleep deeply when suddenly he opened the door aggressively telling me the kitchen was burning. Worst day of my life, felt like I was going to die the whole time.”
6. Woke up to my dad covered in blood shaking me like a lunatic.
“Woke up to my dad covered in blood shaking me like a lunatic. Apparently, he had a dream that he was in an army and was killing people he woke up went to the bathroom saw he was covered in blood (from a nosebleed) and thought he sleep walked murdered his family.”
7. An intruder in the next room, talking quietly on his cell phone.
“An intruder in the next room, talking quietly on his cell phone.
It was 4am, and it took me about 5 minutes to figure out my next move.
My shotgun wasn’t there, so I couldn’t shoot him. I was in an apartment with windows that didn’t open, so fleeing into the night wasn’t an option. He was between my room and the door to the apartment, so no luck there. I heard him step out onto the balcony, so I ran like a maniac to the door and locked him out in 4 seconds flat.
Prior to that, I was certain that I was experiencing my last few minutes of life.”
8. The screams of my girlfriend’s roommate being stabbed.
“The screams of my girlfriend’s roommate being stabbed. :-(…I can type up more info when I get home but in a nutshell, guy snuck into the house at night, grabbed a knife from the kitchen, tried to rape the girl but she was strong and started winning the fight. I guess he panicked and started stabbing her then ran off. She got stabbed maybe 4-6 times in the back until the knife got folded over from her shoulder blade. It was one of those 12-14″ carving knives. She got a punctured lung and bled a lot but lived.”
9. I was sleeping on my belly when I felt something on my back…it was a big-ass bat…and now I’m terrified of bats.
“I was sleeping on my belly when I felt something on my back…I didn’t think anything of it because we had cats and I figured it was one of the little kittens. I then look over and realize my door was closed and that when I went to bed there were no cats in my room. Queue me touching this thing on my back.. it flops onto my head and starts screeching, I instantly get up and fling the thing off my head into the wall…it was a big-ass bat…and now I’m terrified of bats.”
10. I woke up with a rat IN MY FUCKING HAIR.
“A field rat in my hair.
Field rats are about the same size as a pet rat, so nothing like those giant scary city rats, but I still don’t want one IN MY FUCKING HAIR.
One summer at my father’s acreage a few field rats had found their way into the house, and this particular night I was sleeping in the basement where they were sometimes a bit more active. I had really long hair (to my lower back) and in my sleep the ends had fallen down over the edge of the bed and almost reached the floor. I awoke to a field rat climbing my hair like fucking Rapunzel and it was absolutely terrifying.
I was not a fan of rats, or that basement, or sleeping after that experience.”
11. I woke up to a wolf sleeping next to me.
“My family owns a house on the mountains of Jordan with the neighbors being only family. Anyways the first time I ever visited (2-3 years ago) I left the door open for the breeze that there is. Anyways, I woke up to a wolf next to me. The wolf fell asleep within a couple feet of me and I nearly shit myself. It turns out my uncle had domesticated the wolf and no one bothered to tell me that it sleeps next to my house.”
12. I had a music box on a shelf, around midnight it started playing all own after not being touched for more than 5 years.
“I had a music box on a shelf, around midnight it started playing all own after not being touched for more than 5 years. It’s why I believe I hold the record for fastest land animal.”
13. His tiny little voice says, ‘no, please don’t take me, I don’t want to go on the scary space ship again.’.
“When my son was 3, we shared a room briefly. I was very pregnant and working extremely long days/nights. I had come home from work around 11 and he was fast asleep. Usually sleep wasn’t an issue because I was always exhausted, but this night I had trouble getting comfortable. I finally am starting to drift off when his tiny little voice says,‘no, please don’t take me, I don’t want to go on the scary space ship again.’ I didn’t sleep for a minute that night.”
14. There is something so indescribably creepy about waking up to a four-year-old standing at your bedside, just staring.
“My daughter was a sleepwalker. There is something so indescribably creepy about waking up to a four-year-old standing at your bedside, just staring. She wouldn’t make a sound; she’d let her stinky breath wake me up. Then once I recovered from the shock of her being there, she’d speak in tongues because she wasn’t really awake. I’d assure her she was asleep and escort her back to her room to be tucked in, never taking my eyes off her for fear her head would swivel around fully and she’d laugh maniacally at me. Scared the piss out of me every time.”
15. All I would see when I looked up was the black silhouette of a child standing in the dark doorway like I was in a zombie movie.
“When my son was little, he used to stand silently in the doorway of my room in the middle of the night. I’d wake up with the feeling that someone was watching me and all I would see when I looked up was the black silhouette of a child standing in the dark doorway like I was in a zombie movie.”
16. There was someone in a mask swinging on the swing set talking to themselves.
“I live in an apartment right by a playground. My wife was out of town for the weekend so I decided, what the heck, I’ll have a few drinks and just call it a night! So when it hit about 1:30 I went to bed. It was a cool night out so I had the windows open. I woke up at 2:30 hearing a constant squeaking, like every other second was a squeak of metal rubbing metal. I got up and looked out my windows and saw nothing, so then I went to my patio door and looked out towards the playground and there was someone in a mask swinging on the swing set talking to themselves. I proceeded to freak out a little and made sure all windows and doors were locked. I looked back outside to see if they were still there and they were, so I was about to call the cops because that was a definition of suspicious persons. Right as I went and got my phone there was a banging on my door. My gut dropped, I went and got a kitchen knife and looked through the peep hole and it was a lady, so I opened the door slightly. It was the person from the swing set because as I opened the door I saw the mask. Come to find out it was the apartments crazy lady, or Krazy Kim as we all call her. She said she noticed me looking out the window and didn’t want me to call the cops and she apologized, told me a poem/riddle thing, then went back to her apartment.”
17. A figure standing at the edge of my bed panting in pitch-black.
“A figure standing at the edge of my bed panting in pitch-black, was this person masturbating to me? No, it was my dog who had run out of water.”
18. I wake up and see out on my deck a guy with a chainsaw!
“We had a nasty thunderstorm and I suddenly hear a loud motor. I wake up and see out on my deck a guy with a chainsaw! After freaking out a little bit I found out it was a guy from the power company. My neighbor’s tree was in danger of falling on a power line so they had to cut it…thanks for asking first.”
19. I woke up to a faint tapping on the window.
“My bedroom is on the first floor and looks out onto the back garden. Our kitchen is an extension, the roof of which is right below my bedroom window. About 5 years ago when I was home alone in the middle of the night I woke up to a faint tapping on the window. Took me a brief few moments to work up the courage to open the curtains. Turns out it was my drunk brother who had climbed onto the kitchen roof to get my attention as he’d forgotten his keys. Closest I’ve ever come to a heart attack I believe.”
20. What I saw outside was only lava on the ground. Everything was red and melting slowly.
“Was on an airplane. It was packed with businesspeople. (I was never on a plane before.) It felt really realistic. We were flying for an eternity, I asked why we don’t land. The guy next to me pointed to the window. What I saw outside was only lava on the ground. Everything was red and melting slowly. I was panicking and woke up sweating like hell.”
21. I woke up to her holding a knife over me.
“Crazy ex-girlfriend.
This was like the ultimate definition of a nonfunctioning relationship. I desperately wanted out, but I didn’t know how to do it without sending her on a suicidal spiral that she would have attempted to take me into. She often told me that she didn’t want to live without me, and she didn’t want me to live without her. It started out as sorta cute jokes, but it became super insane in a short amount of time.
I woke up to her holding a knife over me. She’d found texts I’d sent, expressing how scared I was and that I wanted to get out, but asking advice on how to do it correctly. She told my she was going to kill us, and that she was serious. I could see it in her eyes and I tried to get away but she held the knife to her throat and said she was going to slit it if I ran out. I didn’t know what to do and I tried to talk her down but she was hysterical. I’m a guy and I had only heard of abusive relationships carried on by guys so I felt responsible to fix it. I finally talked her down and she fell asleep, shaking and crying on my lap. I was so overwhelmed with fear and guilt that night, I won’t forget it as long as I live.”
22. One night I woke up when my bedroom window opened and a person started climbing through.
“At one point I lived in a rundown apt building in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I had the ground floor apt and there was a alley behind my window. When I first moved in, I noticed a lot of people walking up and down the alley at night. I asked the Manager why and he told me the apt about 6 down from me was selling drugs out the window (the complex had security gates that had to be buzzed open) so customers walked down this alley to get their dope all night.
One night I woke up when my bedroom window opened and a person started climbing through. he was about half way in when I pressed the colt 45 against his forehead. He backed out really fast, I sat down and shook for a while. I moved as fast as I could.”
23. He began to slide open the window, which snapped me out of my dream state.
“During a break at college I stayed at my house with one of my roommates (she lived upstairs, I downstairs). I woke up in the middle of the night to what I thought at first was a dream of a man peering through my window. Then he began to slide open the window, which snapped me out of my dream state. I didn’t know what to do, but when he started crawling through I jumped up, pushed him out and screamed/ran upstairs. It was so scary knowing all the houses next to me were empty and he could have done anything he wanted if I didn’t wake up.”
24. It started with a drunken scream.
“I used to have a CD alarm clock. Every new album I got went straight in there so I could listen to it first thing in the morning while my mind was fully receptive in a half-asleep daze.
I can’t remember what album it was, but it started with a drunken scream. Scared the shit out of me as I was tugged out of a deep sleep expecting to be attacked by a crack crazed tramp trying to take my lungs. I took that CD off rotation immediately.”
25. I used to hear this heavy breathing in my room coming from the back corner every single night.
“I used to hear this heavy breathing in my room coming from the back corner every single night. I’d shit myself and be lying in bed for ages. Got to the point where my really religious aunt believed I was potentially being followed by a demon and literally held some sort of fucking séance with no result.
That night I heard the breathing again, but this time it seemed closer, almost to my bedside. I said fuck it and stormed out of the room, and as I piss bolted out of my door I heard the breathing again, but coming from my parents’ room. It was my dad snoring. That whole fucking time.”
26. I awoke to lightning striking my house.
“This happened when I was around 12 years old.
I awoke to lightning striking my house.
The lightning hit my brick chimney which pretty much exploded sending bricks flying.
The bricks then fell through our aluminum awning making a horrific loud and scary sound.
Bonus! My dad then bolts into my room to make sure I am okay whilst smashing his toe off of my door and falling to the ground screaming in pain. I had no idea what the actual fuck was going on.”
27. I woke up with my heart pounding and in disbelief that I was a serial killer.
“A dream that I was a serial killer and that the police were closing in on me. I woke up with my heart pounding and in disbelief that I could have done something so horrible. Then I realized, it took me a solid 15 seconds of sheer panic, it was a dream. Most relieved I’ve ever felt in my life.”
28. He walks inside and starts taking off his pants.
“I was living in the dorms during undergrad (single rooms). I had gone to bed maybe an hour prior, when I’m woken up to a key entering the lock to my door.
I look at the door and think it must just be one of my neighbors drunk accidentally trying to get into my room except….it actually unlocks.
The door slams open and I sit fully up, there’s an obviously hammered bald student wearing jeans and a heavy jacket silhouetted by the fluorescent lights in the hallway.
I say ‘Hey man, wrong room.’
Nothing.
He walks inside and starts taking off his pants.
Me: ‘Hey, buddy, this isn’t your room.’
He’s unfazed, finishes taking off his pants over his shoes and starts with his jacket while stumbling towards the bed with me in it.
I decide this is going to take a heavier approach and stand up, reach over and turn my desk lamp on.
‘HEY this is NOT your room!’
The look on his face was sheer panic. He looked like he saw a monster coming at him. The fella turns and tries to sprint out of my room and back to the elevators, but is too drunk and hits the wall, then the door, then my neighbor’s door, then finally goes down the hallway while keeping his left shoulder on the wall to keep him propped up.
He forgot both his pants and keys, I folded them up, put them outside my door with the keys on top and went back to bed.
They were gone in the morning and I went straight to the desk to request my lock be changed.
Here’s to you Mr. Drunk stranger who tried to crawl in my bed a 3am.”
29. A kid banging on our door at 3 AM who had just escaped from their drunk parent beating them.
“A kid banging on our door at 3 AM who had just escaped from their drunk parent beating them. That scream…”
30. A fox, they have a fucking weird scream.
“A fox, they have a fucking weird scream.”
31. I thought it was probably just my school bag or something, so I didn’t think much. Until it started moving.
“I remember waking up to an intense pressure at the foot of my bed, like something heavy was just placed there. I thought it was probably just my school bag or something, so I didn’t think much. Until it started moving. I remember hearing it start to breath really fast, panting almost. I knew whatever it was right at my face, so I opened my eyes so slowly.
Only to see my 90-pound German Shepherd holding a tug of war in her mouth and her tail wagging. She wanted to play at 2:30 am. Bless her soul.”
32. I dreamed that my little brother was seriously hurt and fell on top of our bed.
“I believe the scariest thing that has ever woken my SO up was when I dreamed that my little brother was seriously hurt and fell on top of our bed. In my dream he was laying where my SO usually sleeps and I started punching him really hard in the chest in some sort of attempt to give him CPR.
Then I woke up to my SO screaming ‘What the fuck are you doing?!,’ and all I said was “Oh, I thought you were my brother. Good night’ before I went back to sleep.”
33. Was woken at 3am by a drunk man trying to open the external door into my room.
“Was woken at 3am by a drunk man trying to open the external door into my room. It’s not something you expect to happen when you live out of town, surrounded by paddocks. Oh, and there was also the time I woke up to a possum on my side table. That wasn’t pleasant for either party.”
34. When the door opened, I froze like a statue.
“We were living in Kentucky at the time. It was a one-bedroom apartment with my mom and brother. I was sleeping on a mattress on the floor in the living room. We were living like this because it was for 6 months while I finished high school and we were moving to San Antonio. One night someone starts banging on the door and screaming. Scares the shit out of me because this is just feet away from me. I run to my mom’s door to tell her to call the cops. Then the scariest shit happens, the front door opens.
I learned something about myself. I’d probably be shit in a do or die situation. When the door opened, I froze like a statue. I didn’t scream. I gasped. Somehow, I gasped so hard that it made a very loud sound. The guy immediately closed the door and ran away. The next day someone came to our door looking for their wife. Apparently, the guy lived there with his wife, went to McDonald’s and never came back. The locks were changed immediately.
TLDR—former tenant had keys to our apartment, entered our apartment in the middle of the night.”
35. Out of nowhere a small white alien with big black eyes staring directly at me jumps from the end of my bed directly onto my chest.
“I was raised in the country on a cattle farm. No matter what we did we always would have to deal with something getting in the house or getting loose.
One night, when I was about 17, I went to a party with friends and came back home a little intoxicated. So I marched straight to my bedroom and passed out. I completely forgot, or didn’t care that the light in my room was still on and fell asleep. At approximately 3 in the morning I get woken up to something hitting the wall above my headboard and my eyes shoot open, but I don’t see anything. Then out of nowhere a small white alien with big black eyes staring directly at me jumps from the end of my bed directly onto my chest. At this point I am freaking out and even though I am a manly man, I let out the most girlish scream imaginable and punch the thing right in the face. It screams and runs off out of my room on both legs and proceeds down the hall. I get our of bed still terrified, but it’s headed for my little sisters room. I grab a baseball bat and go after it. As soon as I exit my room the alien is flying through the air directly at my face. I never hit the ground so hard in my life. It flew directly above me and hit another wall. That’s when I realized it was a gigantic barn owl that somehow found its way into my house. The feeling of relief when I put that together was amazing. I ended up getting a fishing net and catching him and released him outside.”
36. I started hearing someone whispering my name in my room.
“I was probably about 13 or 14 when I had the only bedroom on the first floor of our house, everyone else was upstairs. As I was slowly falling completely asleep, I started hearing someone whispering my name in my room. I had siblings, so I assumed someone was messing with me. I called my mom and asked her to check everyone’s rooms to see if they were in their beds—they were. I figured I was just tired, so I went back to sleep. Shortly after, I started heading it again. I tried to ignore it, but it got closer and closer. I was now terrified as I felt air next to my ear as a voice whispered my name. I freaked out, turned on all the lights, and called my mom to come downstairs. I hadn’t told my mom what had happened, but just someone was messing with me. She came downstairs and immediately told me to grab my pillow and blanket and come to her room.
The next morning, my mom asked me if I heard someone whispering my name, even though I hadn’t told her. We eventually moved from that house a while later because weird things like that kept happening.”
37. 150-year-old oak falling and slamming into the house.
“150-year-old oak falling and slamming into the house.”
38. Lightning hitting the tree right outside of my window.
“Lightning hitting the tree right outside of my window. Thought my heart was going to pop out of my chest it was beating so fast.”
39. I woke up to the sound of someone whispering my name.
“I woke up to the sound of someone whispering my name. I lived with my mom at the time, which meant that my mom, my stepdad, my sister, and my stepbrother were all in the house—so hearing my name wasn’t totally abnormal.
I groggily opened my eyes, kind of looked towards my mostly closed bedroom door, said ‘whaaaat?’ and got no answer. Instead of falling asleep again, I slowly got out of bed, went over to my door to see who it was. Nobody was there.
Went out into the hallway. Checked my sister’s room, parents’ room, stepbrother’s room. All of them were dead asleep. Went through the whole house to see if I could find anything, a little creeped out, but saw nothing. Went back to bed and noticed some weird substance on the floor—it was pink and kind of gummy, like it was glue or something. Didn’t think much of it though because I was half asleep.
The next morning, I asked all my family members if they’d tried to wake me up. They all said no. I shrugged it off, maybe I’d just heard my name in my dream and my subconscious woke me up or something, and the punk gluey stuff was forgotten.
Then I left for work, and I noticed streaks of the pink stuff on my steering wheel. Hadn’t been there before and it freaked me out because it was the same stuff that was in my room.
Still have no idea why I heard my name, or why there was pink stuff everywhere. Not super scary, but it creeped me out a lot.”
40. I flew out of my bed and punched it in its stupid demon face.
“I experienced sleep paralysis a lot as a teenager. Whenever I had an episode it wasn’t uncommon for me to see dark figures standing in my room. One night I had an episode and I saw a dark figure in my doorway. It’s always scary but I reminded myself it was just an episode but shit got scary when the figure started moving towards me. By the time, it was halfway to my bed I snapped out of the episode but IT WAS STILL THERE. I remember thinking ‘fuck, this is real’” and flew out of my bed and punched it in its stupid demon face. After landing a hard hit it shrieked, ‘Jesus Christ! What the fuck is wrong with you?’…it was my dad. Turns out my dad checking in on me cuz I was making weird noises. Sorry Dad :(”
41. My ex slapping me awake for saying another girl’s name in my sleep.
“My ex slapping me awake for saying another girl’s name in my sleep.”
42. Right on my dresser was about a four-foot-tall dime with FDR staring directly at me.
“I was like 5, and I wasn’t even feverish or anything, but I was having a nightmare, and I thought I woke up and I looked over at my dresser, and right on my dresser was about a four-foot-tall dime with FDR staring directly at me, and that scared the ever-loving shit out of me. Looking back on it, it was probably the worst nightmare I’ve ever had, and definitely the most bizarre.”
