Life

11 Real-Life Poltergeist Stories That Will Make You Sleep With The Light On Tonight

by Kaitlyn Wylde

Watching a scary movie can be fun — but when you're looking for some serious goosebump action, sometimes you don't want to sit through 90 minutes of narrative and effects just to get to those few spooky scenes that make you hair stand up and get your heart racing. Thanks to the spooky interwebs, though, we've got websites like Reddit where people have rounded up their own freaky collections of real-life scary moments so that we can pack way more horror into 90 minutes than any movie could ever offer. To prove this point, I spent sometime cruising through Reddit for some real-life poltergeist stories that people have posted in a variety of different scary threads. (If you're curious about what a poltergeist is versus a ghost, a poltergeist is classified as an entity that makes itself known by interacting with things physically, i.e., making noises and moving objects, and by wreaking havoc on their surroundings.)

With this collection of real-life poltergeist accounts, you can jump between numerous stories without having to waste any time with exposition or non-scary scenes that you often find in films. Because when you're really looking for a solid spook session, you just don't have time for all that cinematic stuff. And here, with these alleged true accounts of poltergeist interactions, you'll have to weather through the stories without the comfort of being able to tell yourself that it's fiction. According to these Reddit posters, these ghost stories are first-hand, honest experiences. Read on at your own risk...

Making Noises

This poltergeist really wanted to be heard. While tapping a spoon might be subtle, there's nothing more obviously loud and interruptive than a fire alarm. Clearly this spirit had something to say.

Musical Ghosts

As scary as it would to be sharing a space with a ghost capable of using a computer, you have to admit that this is pretty sweet.

Get Out

Uh, could there possibly be an explanation for this? Maybe it was a racoon? Regardless, if that happened in my bedroom, I'd find a new place to sleep.

Let The Right One In

Yup, this would scare the crap out of me. It's not just the fact that a ghost was there, or even had the power to make the door handle move — the fact it was aggressively trying to open the door is the spookiest part.

A Punctual Ghost

This could totally be the result of an epic prankster, but I give the hotel employee a lot of credit for giving this potential ghost the wake up call they wanted. That's one way to stay on their good side.

The Great Disappointment

You'd think that a Great Dane would be the ideal animal to protect you from pesky little loud-footed ghosts.

Salt Bae's Ghost

I'm really more interested in why the ghost was using a salt shaker. Was it eating a ghost meal that the Redditor couldn't see, or was it just playing with the shaker?

A Story For The Silver Screen

While I feel really bad for this Redditor, who, surely, was very freaked out by this experience, I can't help but think this occurrence would make a great spooky impact on the silver screen.

Hot Cocoa-Lover?

This is one of those uneventful stories that freaks you out because it's such a random, weird, unexplainable event.

Phone Troll

Perhaps this ghost is trying to make it clear to this Redditor that they're spending too much time on the phone? Just a thought.

Unexplained Signs

It's hard to tell exactly what this Redditor managed to summon, but it's clear that something was awoken and I can't imagine it was a dog playing the guitar or messing around in the bathroom!