Latest news with #creepy
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
5 Creepy, Dark, And Messed-Up Things I Learned This Week
Hello! I'm Crystal, and I write the That Got Dark newsletter, BuzzFeed's weekly roundup of all things creepy, macabre, and horrible AF. And if you looooove this kind of content, you should subscribe to get your weekly dopamine fix of the macabre delivered RIGHT to your inbox! Here's what the newsletter is covering this week: Related: 1987 sleepwalking murder case of Kenneth Parks in Toronto, Canada. One night, ALL while sleepwalking, Parks got out of bed and drove almost 15 miles from his home, where he killed his mother-in-law, then attempted to kill his father-in-law. Parks, who said he was unconscious through the whole ordeal, had entered his in-laws' home with a key he'd been given in the past. He bludgeoned his mother-in-law to death with a tire iron, then attempted to choke his father-in-law to death, who miraculously survived the attack. In an extra surprising twist, Parks then drove straight to a police station (still covered in blood), and told the cops, 'I think I have just killed two people.' Parks would even go on to say he was fast asleep when he surrendered. A year later, he was acquitted of murder and attempted murder using a rare legal defense known as 'non-insane automatism,' supported by evidence of parasomnia (a sleep disorder). Related: existence of Heritage USA, a massive Christian theme park and resort complex in Fort Mill, South Carolina, that was built in 1978 by televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. At its peak, Heritage USA drew 5–6 million visitors annually, billing itself as the third most-visited park in the US and being called a "Christian Disneyland." It closed in 1989 after a major financial scandal, the loss of its tax-exempt status, and damage from Hurricane Hugo. Today, some structures remain, with parts repurposed by a church ministry, but nearly everyone who's seen it since says its abandoned state and sketchy history make it very creepy. Above is "Praise the Lord" board chairman Rev. Jerry Falwell sliding down the 52-foot water slide at Heritage USA. And here's what one Buzzfeed Community member had to say about their IRL experience with the eerie theme park: 'In the mid-'80s, my brother returned to school as a journalism major at the University of South Carolina. One of his assignments was to write a story about the newly opened theme park. So, one weekend, off he went. He later told me that the whole time he was there, he felt like he had to keep looking over his shoulder because he felt like a couple of guys were going to come up behind him, grab him, and say, 'You don't belong here.' Wish he was still here to tell the story himself.' —Anonymous horrible case of Genie, a 13-year-old feral child who was discovered in Arcadia, California, in 1970 after years of horrific abuse. Related: Genie (which was a pseudonym) was discovered after being brutally isolated and starved, strapped either to a potty chair or a crib, and forbidden to speak by her abusive father for almost her entire life. Her treatment had been so bad, it resulted in severe physical and linguistic deprivation. She was subsequently placed under intensive study and gained some vocabulary and basic communication skills, but failed to acquire normal grammar. Genie's case became known as one of the "worst cases of child abuse" in the US, and ultimately raised ethical concerns about the treatment of vulnerable subjects and their rights. tragic death of actor Angus Cloud, who died of an accidental drug overdose — a lethal mix of methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine, and benzodiazepines — on July 31, 2023, in his family's home in Oakland, California. Cloud had reportedly been staying with his mother following the death of his father in May. In an interview with People, Cloud's mother, Lisa, said that she found her son in the morning slumped over his desk. She tried to resuscitate him, but by the time first responders arrived, it was too late, and they later determined Cloud had already been deceased by the time they'd even been dispatched. Lisa explained to People, "He got tired from lack of oxygen. Everything just slowed down, and eventually his heart stopped and he went to sleep. But he didn't kill himself.' the case of gruesome serial killer William Bonin, known as the 'Freeway Killer,' who raped and murdered at least 21 teenage boys and young men in Southern California between 1979 and 1980. Related: Bonin would lure victims into his van, often with help from accomplices, then assault and kill them, dumping their bodies along freeways. Caught in 1980, he was convicted of 14 murders and died by lethal injection in 1996 — California's first to be carried out by that method. His last meal: Two large pepperoni and sausage pizzas, three pints of coffee ice cream, and three six-packs of Coca-Cola. I think that's just about enough unsettling stuff for the week, don't you? In the next issue, we'll tackle the story of the 'Twitter Killer' and the infamous murder of Sharon Tate. Love this kind of content? Subscribe to the That Got Dark newsletter to get a weekly post just like this delivered directly to your inbox. It's a scary good time you won't want to miss. Do you have a weird, creepy, or shocking story you want to share? Perhaps there's a strange Wikipedia page you want to talk about? Tell me all about it at thatgotdark@ and who knows, maybe it'll be featured in a future edition of That Got Dark! If you are concerned that a child is experiencing or may be in danger of abuse, you can call or text the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 ( service can be provided in over 140 languages. If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, you can call SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) and find more resources here. Also in BuzzFeed: Also in BuzzFeed: Also in BuzzFeed:
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'The Home': Pete Davidson goes dark in retirement home horror movie from 'Purge' filmmaker James DeMonaco
DeMonaco talks Davidson's horror skills, teases 'Purge 6' and recalls the impact of watching Francis Ford Coppola 'handcuffed' by the studio for 'Jack' The man behind the Purge franchise, writer/director James DeMonaco, put fellow Staten Island talent Pete Davidson into the horror genre for his new film The Home (now in theatres), a thriller set in a retirement home. Davidson plays Max, who's fulfilling his court-ordered community service at the facility, when he start suspecting there's something sinister happening in this, frankly, creepy residence. "I saw certain people in my life getting older and some of the facilities that they were put into, I found the facilities quite creepy in and of themselves, ... especially to a little boy who saw these things growing up," DeMonaco told Yahoo about where the idea for The Home started. "I saw a very scary one when I was a young man, and that stayed with me." "And then there were various things that played into that, I think, over the years, [but] that was probably the seed. And my writing partner, [Adam Cantor], ... something happened with his grandparents that mirrored my experience when I was a very young man. ... And then for me, there was a movie that had a great influence on me, it was Robert Altman's 3 Women, which is set at an elderly spa in the desert. ... I think it's one of the greatest films ever made, and it has incredible creep factor." While The Home leans into its "creep factor," the majority of people still associate Davidson with comedy, but DeMonaco knew that he had the ability to take on a different genre of storytelling. "He literally lived down the street from me here in Staten Island, ... his mom still lives down the street," DeMonaco said. "People know him as a comic, but I knew him as something else. ... He surprised me at how good an actor he was outside of the comedy." "I wrote it during COVID and my buddy Adam, a local guy too, ... we were writing and thinking, well who's of this age, 26, 27, there's not many names out there. ... We're not going to get Chalamet. I was writing with Pete before that. We were, ... oddly, writing a comedy right before COVID hit, and we were keeping in touch during COVID. ... There was something natural in ... the character of Max in The Home that I felt that Pete could tap into. ... Pete had some trauma in his life, a lot of trauma in his childhood, so I felt he could relate to what Max was going through. Pete's an artist, Max is an artist. And he, I think, purges some of that trauma through his art, and I felt Max was doing what Pete does also. So I felt there was something there." 'I need to be invested in the character's plight' The most lofty task for DeMonaco in The Home is achieving this slow burn of the story, but also building tension effectively to give the audience a powerful final act. "The Purge, I always say, is like a punch in the face. I thought here ... we were building something with various layers and twists and turns that The Purge really doesn't have," DeMonaco said. "I wanted to get to this point where the audience would need a cathartic release, ... as Max did. ... I also wanted them to be so angry at certain characters in the film, without giving anything away, that I felt that they would be looking forward to this last 20 minutes." "Sometimes I think filmmakers, ... when we work in certain parameters, we have to pull punches. We can't show everything we want to show. And I was like, no, no, if I'm going to do this, we're going to go, we're going to turn it up to 11. ... It's a matter of always giving [the audience] enough, but not too much, especially when you're dealing with somewhat of a mystery." DeMonaco added that having the audience engaged in Max's journey was critical to the build up of tension in the film "I think, hopefully, Pete's engaged in the mystery of what's happening in The Home, and the audience will stay with him and want to follow him," DeMonaco said. "I know that there are some horror films that kind of work just as visceral rides, but I think for me, I need to be invested in the character's plight. So we took a lot of time, I think, trying to build what Max went through, the trauma of his past." "And I think when you get to the editing room, that's where everything changes. And you could throw out all your ideas and say, alright this is going too slow, we need to move this faster. Let's move this scene up here, because we need a little jolt for the audience to give them a little more. ... My producer says it's almost like a Swiss clock. It's got a lot of moving parts and you've got to make sure they're all fitting, and we're just giving enough to the audience, and not letting them sit there in the dark for too long." Big budget vs. more control But when it comes to filmmakers having to "pull punches," DeMonaco highlighted that there's a trade off between working on a big budget film, with more "parameters," or having more freedom, but working with a smaller budget. Taking advice from famed producer Jason Blum, DeMonaco was told, "the smaller your movie, the more control you have." An example of that for DeMonaco was working on the 1996 film Jack, which DeMonaco wrote with Gary Nadeau, and the film was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring the late Robin Williams. "I was always writing to direct, that was my path to directing. And I wrote a couple of big movies, big budgets compared to what I'm working with now, ... big directors, and I noticed how they were handcuffed by the studio system, because, somewhat understandably, you're dealing with tens of millions of dollars, and that doesn't include marketing budget," DeMonaco explained. "When I worked with Francis Ford Coppola on my first film, I don't think any of us were truly excited by the film. ... He was really handcuffed by the studio. There was a cut of that film that was much darker, much more interesting to Francis and I and my co-writer at the time. Yet, because of the budget level, they even reeled in Francis Ford Coppola." "And so when I saw this [I thought], what are they going to do to me? ... So when I started getting closer to directing, when I met Sébastien Lemercier, my producer, ... we always had somewhat kept the control. ... When we made Purge one we shot it in 18 days, and it was not easy at all. Even This Is The Night we shot in 25 days. ... At the end of the day, I think that not having people tell you what to do, there's a great benefit to that. Having said that, I do wonder what it's like to make a $100 million film and have all those toys." James DeMonaco teases 'Purge 6': 'We meet some really cool women' As DeMonaco shared that he's finished the script for Purge 6, he also addressed navigating the pressure of continuing the franchise, but also doing it from a place of passion. "I did one job, literally, for money, ... and it was terrible. What I wrote was terrible. ... And this probably really limits me, but I have to work from something that comes from another part of me, that is not just motivated by money or just product," DeMonaco said. "So I knew Jason was calling, studio's calling saying, 'Yeah, we want another one.' ... I'll be honest, I wrote one before this one. I had written another one, but the budget was too big. ... We were going to try something different and go big, and that didn't really work out." "So I told Jason, and he gets it, Jason's great, he's a wonderful producer. So he's like, 'You've got to feel it.' But I think there's always part of Jason that's like, if you don't feel it, we may have to hand off the reins to someone else. [Sébastien and I], we always said we do have a fear that if we hand it off to someone else, it could be turned into something that we don't like. We always see it as a morality tale, and not that everybody has to see it like that, but ... we want to continue what we see. So it was a little pressure of, I'm afraid what someone else will do with it, but I did stick to my kind of internal guns, like make sure you feel something in your soul, because you know you're not going to do good work otherwise. And I think it worked out, meaning everything kind of came together timing-wise where I had an idea, there was some time to do it, and I just finished The Home, so it all kind of came together nicely." As fans are anxiously waiting to see what DeMonaco has in store for Purge 6, the filmmaker stressed that he always said he wouldn't go back to the franchise if he "didn't have something to say," but particularly in today's political climate, he had a story to tell. "There's always a sociopolitical commentary within the Purge movies, and I try not to be preachy, although I think I got preachy in four and five, but I try not to be that preachy," DeMonaco said. "We're in such a weird political time now that something hit me about, I guess five months ago when I pitched the studio my new idea, and they seemed to be really jazzed." "I would say that we get to see some of our old favourite characters. ... We meet some really cool women in this one. That's the tease. We meet some really, really cool women, and I think that's all I probably should say, but that's a big part for you, 90 per cent of it. So I'm pretty excited."
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Can't Sell, Must Sell viewers jump out of their skin as woman reveals VERY unusual collection of ornaments in 'cluttered' home - gasping 'it's my idea of hell!'
Can't Sell, Must Sell viewers jumped out of their skin as a woman revealed her very unusual collection of ornaments - gasping 'it's my idea of hell!' The Channel 4 programme sees property developers Scarlette, 38, and Stuart Douglas, 47, help guests transform their unsellable homes to become market ready. The fourth episode of the new show, which aired on Wednesday night, had the siblings visit two homeowners in Kent who had been struggling to shift their houses. They first headed to the seaside town of Margate where they met retired cleaner Gail, 68, who had lived in her four-bed home for 36 years. But in that time, she acquired a taste for some very unsettling collectibles - a series of life-like dolls, which cluttered every room in her house. Viewers found the eerily realistic toys very creepy, taking to social media to say it would have stopped them snapping up the property too. One said on X, 'Gah f***ing hate dolls', adding: 'There's a hotel in Broadstairs [in Kent] that's full of porcelain dolls and lots of lace. 'My parents say it's lovely (apparently the rooms aren't dated, just the hallways etc) but it's my idea of hell.' Another commented on the social media platform: 'Look like dead babies!' Someone else wrote: 'To be fair, I'd never buy that house in case the dolls came back.' In keeping with this, Gail - who was struggling with living alone amid various health struggles - had been advertising her property for seven months without success. She had managed to secure four viewings but had received zero offers. Presenter Scarlette invited some local property experts along to see the house, to figure out what might be putting buyers off. They said the jumbled house felt too 'busy' and like it had 'no space' - an assessment Gail was not impressed by, calling them 'rude'. She toured the camera crew around her doll collection too, explaining: 'They're very heavy because they're weighted, like babies... I just love them.' The homeowner even pointed out two particularly strange dolls in her collection of some 22, named for some notorious gangsters: 'They're Ronnie and Reginald Kray.' Speaking with her daughter on the programme, Gail said: 'Nobody's coming through my front door and I don't understand it. It's not a bad house.' Her daughter replied: 'It's not a bad house but it's very cluttered.' The mother shot back: 'It may be cluttered for you but I don't think it's cluttered for me.' Despite her determined defences of the current state of her home, Gail eventually embraced the renovation process. She liked a fair few of the changes the Douglases made, even jokingly asking the hosts whether they would like to move in to enjoy the transformed home with her. When the show caught up with her two months after the renovations, she was enjoying continuing decluttering and was feeling hopeful about making a sale. Speaking with her daughter on the programme, Gail said: 'Nobody's coming through my front door and I don't understand it. It's not a bad house' Her daughter replied: 'It's not a bad house but it's very cluttered' Elsewhere in the episode, a woman named Nicky was trying to sell the property she inherited after her father passed away. She put it on the market shortly after his death but 18 months later, there had not been any enthusiastic interest, with only 12 viewings in that time. Nicky choked up as she told of how difficult this period had been: 'Everything is starting to hold me back.' But everything changed after her appearance on the show, with the renovations pulling in more viewers - and even a possible buyer. It comes after Scarlette spoke out some of the most memorable moments from filming Can't Sell, Must Sell - which included discovering Gail's doll collection. The property expert, known as a presenter on Channel 4 house hunting programme A Place In The Sun from 2015 to 2022, just launched the show earlier this month. She co-hosts the first series' six episodes with her retired footballer-turned-property expert brother Stuart. It follows the pair's presenting collaboration on Channel 4 renovation programme Worst House On The Street. The property expert (left, with her brother and co-host Stuart), known as a presenter on Channel 4 house hunting programme A Place In The Sun from 2015 to 2022, just launched the show earlier this month Before the new show's release, Scarlette recalled working on Gail's house. 'One lady was very attached to her house and its Victorian style - she has lots of dolls', she said. 'When you walked in, everything felt oppressive. It was dark, dingy and scary. Even her daughters were trying to get her to sell it. She didn't want to listen.' It was not the only tricky project Scarlette found herself helping with, having also worked on a quaint cottage that unfortunately stank of dogs. The presenter explained: 'I love dogs but you can become nose-blind to them. 'One of the properties was a really beautiful cottage but the minute you walked in, it smelled of dog. 'They were so used to the smell that they couldn't get their head around it. Those are things you're not going to see but they affect a sale.' Stuart recalled fondly how happy the renovation made the guest: 'What made it important for me was how important it was for the owner. Before the new show's release, Scarlette (pictured on Lorraine in June last year) recalled working on Gail's house 'She was a really lovely lady. The transformation of the house itself was amazing but the transformation in her was memorable. She was so grateful.' Filming got even more emotional when the siblings visited a widow, whose home was stuffed full, overflowing with memorabilia, particularly china plates. Scarlette explained how this had happened: 'Her husband did the DIY. She couldn't do anything around the house. 'She was so grateful at the end, I was an emotional wreck.' The siblings also emphasised that throughout the shoot, no one on set, including them, was afraid to get their hands dirty. 'We're not just walking in, saying our piece and walking out. We really do get involved, even off-camera', she said. Her brother agreed: 'We had great teams. But we needed lots of hands on deck to complete the transformations. 'Even the cameraman took things to the skip. Everyone chipped in.' Scarlette added: 'That level of involvement was essential, given the scale of the jobs – and the tight turnaround. It was hard and stressful. 'We started around 8am and wouldn't finish until about 11pm. We cover two houses in a week. But the end result made it all worth it.'
Daily Mail
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
People left 'unsettled' after spotting 'ghost' hidden in group photo - so, can YOU see it?
A seemingly normal photo of a group of friends on holiday has been branded 'creepy' after people spotted a 'ghost' hidden in the snap. Reddit user who goes by the name CursedEmoji posted the snap online - saying their friend had sent them a picture of their trip to Chile. Upon first glance, it may seem as though there are a group of six people - four women and two men - posing for the snap while trekking in a forest. However, a less obvious, much darker looking face appeared to be lurking in the snap. After being shared online, people were quick to share how they were 'creeped out'. One wrote: 'Oof. That definitely made my heart jump when I finally found it.' Another penned: 'I thought it was about the top of a head behind the guy on the right. Oh yeah, I saw the witch too!' A third said: 'It was a completely normal picture before zooming in. It's a creepy picture with a very clear ghost face.' A fourth commented: 'Looks like someone's grandma is travelling with them,' while a fifth chimed in and added: 'Nah that actually scared me a bit.' Upon first glance, it may seem as though there are group of six people - four women and two men - who are posing for a selfie while trekking in a forest - but on further inspection, there appears to be a spirit lurking in the picture However, others questioned whether the picture was real, with some theorising that it might've been a camera glitch or even Photoshop. One wrote: 'Creepy! Seems a little too good to be true, though.' Another penned: 'That's absolutely Reagan from the exorcist photoshopped in, things like this sadly dampen paranormal photography.' A third said: 'Looks photoshopped to me, just too obvious. I saw it pretty quickly.' A fourth commented: 'Looks like a digital error of some kind. Face looks similar to the dude on the left.' This comes as a professional exorcist debunked movie myths and revealed which people are most likely to get possessed by 'demons'. Ralph Keeton, a medium and exorcist from Hull with more than 25 years of experience under his belt, went on the People Are Deep podcast to share his stories of apparently communicating with spirits. The interviewer on the show spoke about the 1973 supernatural film The Exorcist, which follows a young girl who has become possessed, after playing with an Ouija board. In one scene, she is filmed sitting up as her head spins around and she is also seen throwing up green vomit while having a violent fit - but this is an inaccurate depiction of a possession, according to Ralph. He said: 'It's much more of a natural phenomenon. On a very rare case is someone lifted or moved around a property. 'Most of the time, it's more physical things happening to a person. So it's like an object hitting you or a lesion coming onto your skin or mental breakdowns. 'It's things that are more common. That case with the film, I've never witnessed anything like that.' Ralph gave an example of one of his rarer cases where he dealt with a woman who had 'a sexual ghost attacking her'. He said: 'When you see fingerprints on skin, legs being pulled apart and lifted up and dragged, you can't tell me that's her doing it because we couldn't physically stop it. 'It was a case of me getting hold of her and then deciding what we were going to do. 'It's a hard concept for anyone to get their head around, because this type of stuff exists in CGI and films and things like that. When it's happening in real life, it's a whole new ball game.' During the chat, Ralph revealed that 'weak' individuals are the most likely to apparently get possessed as they will likely allow the spirit to take over their bodies. He said: 'You've got to be quite weak-willed for it to happen because you need to let someone take control of you. In most cases in life as a human being, you naturally go against that. 'I don't know about you, but when someone says "No" to me, I say "What do you mean, no?" But they will try and take over you.' The experienced medium said that it can be challenging to get rid of an energy once it has taken over someone's body. 'Once an energy is gone, it's like a bereavement. In half the cases I've dealt with, a lot of people are half expecting it to come back,' he added. 'Well if you're half expecting it back, you're half bringing it back again.
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Yahoo
'I Felt Like I Was Being Watched': 31 US Towns That Totally Freaked People Out
Do you love all things weird, dark, and creepy? Subscribe to the That Got Dark newsletter to get your weekly dopamine fix of the macabre delivered RIGHT to your inbox! We recently asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us about the mysterious, cult-like, bad-vibes towns they came across in the United States. And I'm not exaggerating when I say there were A LOT of responses. Here are the sketchiest ones: Note: Apologies if your hometown is on this everyone's experience is personal, and who knows, maybe you agree with what these people experienced? of Refuge/Miracle Village, Florida — "It's a community for registered sex offenders. Tucked away in the vast, quiet stretches of South Florida, Miracle Village stands out for reasons that make you blink twice. Built in the 1960s for people who worked on sugar cane fields, it now houses a population you won't find gathered anywhere else. Florida's hardline laws push people convicted of sexual offenses to the margins, and these margins lead straight to Miracle Village. It's a place where they're allowed to exist, one of the very few places that'll have them. Here's where it gets sticky, though. The town offers a shot at redemption, but at what cost? Some folks think cramming everyone with the same past into one place is a ticking time bomb. But life there? It's quiet. Almost too quiet. The village's isolation serves two purposes: keeping the residents out of sight and giving them some peace, a sanctuary of sorts. It's eerie and leery." —smellycowboy28 New Mexico — "Took a wrong turn going to Albuquerque on Christmas Eve. Google Maps said it was a straight line to the connecting highway, and it and through a mountain. The road had sharp turns and steep dropoffs with no rails. It was getting dark, and fog started to settle in — puddles on the road would soon be ice. We were very low on gas, and the hairpin roads were too small to turn around. Cell phone reception dropped off. Thank God we rolled into not. Nothing was open. Not a soul in sight. We found a cop car sitting under a lamp in the tiny town square. I got out of the car to approach him, and when I got close, I saw the cop was a mannequin! Oh, hell no. I ran to the car, and right then, two teenagers walked out of the fog. Out of desperation, we asked how to get to the main highway. They showed us a road and we coasted on empty away from that creepy town and down the mountain. The Hillsboro has eyes!" —Anonymous Related: Texas — "I was born in Beaumont, near Vidor, as was my father. Vidor has always been a sundown town, and we avoided it if at all possible. When we lived there (mid-1970s), they still had signs posted saying, 'N-word, don't let the sun set on your head in Vidor.' I'm sure they are still there." —mindymegasloucks A sundown town refers to a community in the United States that historically excluded nonwhite people — especially Black Americans — through formal laws, unofficial policies, intimidation, or violence. The term comes from signs that were often posted at town or city limits telling non-white people to leave by sundown. Oregon — "Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. He started a cult, tried to take over a town, poisoned the city (not the entire city), and had armed guards. Just Google the name. Too much BS to remember all the things he tried to get away with." —evilminion33 Popularized by the Netflix docuseries Wild Wild Country, the Rajneeshees (followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh) founded a commune called Rajneeshpuram in central Oregon during the '80s. They fought with locals for many years, and there was even an internal assassination attempt on Bhagwan's personal doctor. Michigan — "It's a (not-so-former) Klan town. Not so much creepy in the background vibes, but blatant white supremacy and racist cult vibes for sure." —Anonymous Washington — "It's where the Ramtha School of Enlightenment 'cult' is headquartered. I visited a bookstore that was all new age and had Ramtha-related items, and I bought a bookmark with just a picture of the eyes of the leader, J. Z. Knight. Weird place. " —Anonymous, 43, Maine City, Iowa — "Everyone is Dutch and Christian, they don't accept you into the community unless you join the church. Main Street has fake fronts on all the buildings to make them look Dutch. When I lived there, I was in middle school, and they pumped canned music through the town on loudspeakers. You could be arrested for mowing your lawn on Sunday. It was freaky." —Anonymous Vermont — "A friend and I stopped at the Yellow Deli in Rutland before we had any idea who it was run by. We dealt with several people who were so ridiculously polite and friendly that it was actually kind of creepy; my friend and I joked that they must be in a cult. I got the 'Deli Rose' sandwich. I don't support the Twelve Tribes cult that runs the place, but that was hands-down the best sandwich I've ever had. I don't know what kind of secret ingredient they put in it, but I've tried over and over, and I can't replicate it. Now that I know who they are, I can't go back, but that was roughly fifteen years ago, and I STILL think about that delicious bastard two or three times a month." —srandlett25 Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona — "They're sister cities and Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints strongholds. Thirty years ago, it was like stepping into The Twilight Zone. People would watch you as you drove down the street by peeking out their windows, but as soon as you looked back, they would close the drapes. The police would come up and drive slowly behind you until you left town. Those who were out and about would look at you like you were the spawn of Satan himself. Children were never riding bikes, playing ball, or doing kid stuff. They looked like mini adults with worried looks on their faces." —Anonymous California — "I was there on a cloudy April day, and the vibe alone scared me despite being with a large group of people. When we went to a coffee shop, the people inside stared us down like we didn't belong. They were all pretty quiet and shady. There was unfinished construction on every block, and overall, the town had a ghost town feel, and strangers looked at you from what felt like every angle. I've never had such strong feelings about a place before, but I know I'm not going back there ever again." —sleepingtruck497 Related: USA — "The theme park founded by televangelist Jim Bakker and his wife Tammy Faye. Also, it was not me, but my younger brother (no longer with us). In the mid-'80s, my brother returned to school as a journalism major at the University of South Carolina. One of his assignments was to write a story about the newly opened theme park. So, one weekend, off he went. He later told me that the whole time he was there, he felt like he had to keep looking over his shoulder because he felt like a couple of guys were going to come up behind him, grab him, and say, 'You don't belong here.' Wish he was still here to tell you himself.' —Anonymous Vernon, Washington — "Walked into a Christian bookstore in the early 1980s. In the back they had Nazi books and, being Hispanic, I got a very creepy feeling." —fancyghost473 Missouri — "Look up Ken Rex McElroy, read about his murder, and then go visit the town." —boringgamer763 Ken McElroy was known for "terrorizing" the town of Skidmore, Missouri, in the 1950s. Over many years, he was accused of several crimes, including assault, theft, rape, and others. He gained notoriety as the "town bully." He was eventually convicted of attempted murder in 1981 but released on bond not long after. It was reported that residents got so "fed up" with his crimes that they organized an "extrajudicial killing," shooting him to death as he exited a bar in July 1981. Washington — "My ex-boyfriend and I went camping at Hood Park, which is just right outside of Burbank. We went into town to get some beer and went to the only bar they had in town. There was not a soul out in the looked totally abandoned! We walked into the bar, and all three of the patrons turned around to stare at us. We felt so out of place. It was soooo creepy. We left a bit earlier than we had planned." —amariem_88 Salton Sea, California — "It's an inland lake in Imperial County that was formed when an irrigation canal burst in the 1920s, letting the Colorado River flow into the below sea level desert. It's smelly, fly-ridden, and slowly dying due to poor environmental management and farm irrigation regulations. It is so polluted that the area has the highest rates of asthma in the US. In the 1950s and '60s, there were resorts and casinos built, and it was full of fish, swimming, boating, and life. All the resorts and casinos are abandoned and crumbling now. Everything is salt crusted and the meth labs have taken over the area. In the winter, there are modern-day hippies and RVs camping on the abandoned concrete slabs in 'slab city,' left over from a World War 2 military training ground. If you drive through, people stop to look at you like you're an alien. The surrounding desert is filled with trash and coyotes. It's the weirdest area in Southern California." —purpletortoise186 Pennsylvania — "Racist. Racist! RACIST!!! Look up Worthington billboards and you'll see what I mean. The most racist guy owns a gas station that has cheaper gas than anyone else, so everyone goes to him, and he uses his profits to display the most vile things. He got in trouble for displaying Swastikas, but after a half-ass apology, went back to displaying them. The whole town excuses his antics." —Anonymous Related: Minnesota — "I grew up in a previously abandoned house in Wasioja. It is a tiny unincorporated town that fizzled out after the Civil War. The house I lived in was a boarding house for seminary students, who lived there for three years before they went off and were killed almost immediately in the war. All around the town were rings of trees planted in yards in honor of those men who had died. The railroad bypassed the little town, and with all the men gone, everyone moved away. All that was left in the '80s when I was a kid were a few old bristly pioneer types and a bunch of old buildings that were built in the 1860s. It was kind of like a time capsule that never wanted to be one. The whole village felt 'off.' I always felt like someone was watching me wherever I went. My parents ended up flattening the house I grew up in, and got out of there. I moved a few hours away." —sportypony353 18."Rhyolite, Nevada — Pulled into this ghost town in the early '90s with a friend to check it out. Someone who apparently had taken up residence immediately started shooting at us. We left as fast as we could." —Anonymous Texas — "It's the town that weed built. It has a river running through town, and you could see weed growing on the riverbanks as you float by. The community is just now starting to integrate. Fifteen years ago, you did not catch a person of color living in the town proper. It is common to see a man beating his wife or kids at the Dollar General or the gas station. People pick up and eat roadkill. The mayor of the town is rumored to be a Branch Davidian, and he brags about attending Trump events when he is not fighting on the internet with misspelled words and handmade memes." —Anonymous Iowa — "Super conservative, religious culty vibes. People here live in a bubble where they think their views are the same everywhere. They are stunned when opposing views are expressed. So much so that those who don't agree are afraid to speak out. Plus, there is a small 'members-only' church with guards at the door to prevent non-members from entering." —susans4176e6f6a Georgia — "I've been there twice (4 nights total) while on a drive to Disney, and it looks so creepy. Shit ton of gun stores, smoke shops, and strip clubs. And the highest rated hotel? Paint literally peeling off the walls." —Anonymous Mississippi — "Dated a girl from there, and aside from the inbreeding that went on, the whole town seemed 'too happy.' I can't describe it. False cheeriness, like the townspeople had something to hide. It felt very surreal. Years later I learned it was near where they had The Valley Of The Kings cult, where the leader and his son were sexually abusing minor-age members of the congregation." —thesettledpirate Francisville, Louisiana — "It has the honor of being named at least at one time, the most haunted place in America. I grew up there, and there are definitely creepy places there. There's Myrtle plantation, where I myself have seen some stuff. From apparitions in the windows to voices within walls and hallways, this place is definitely haunted. Also, the battle of Port Hudson, the longest battle of the Civil War, was fought nearby, and most of the current town served as a cemetery for the battle." —michaelcarlson New York — "I visited for work once. It's a legit decent-sized city, but the downtown area was completely devoid of life. No cars, no people on the streets. It had apocalypse vibes. Weird." —Anonymous Washington — "Stayed there a couple times, just a very odd movie set kinda vibe. You feel like you're being watched every minute." —Anonymous Related: St. Louis, Illinois — "This city has the worst vibes in the Midwest. You cross the Mississippi River over a bridge from the beautiful, modern metropolis of St. Louis, with its Gateway Arch welcoming all, to the lawless, burnt-down, post-apocalyptic remains of East St. Louis. It feels like the only businesses in town are strip clubs, maybe a few gas stations. The whole area feels like the US headquarters for human trafficking and drug/arms dealers to meet and exchange best practices. Not very 'cult like' but extremely sketchy nonetheless. It always felt like we were taking our lives into our hands when we crossed over that bridge to the East side. Apparently, it was a nice place to live until a little after WW2. " —Anonymous Wisconsin — "They provide you with all the amenities, but they own your soul. Plus, all the leaders there are swingers. You will love all the secrets you stumble upon there!" —Anonymous Kansas — "People have cult-like rituals. For example, there was a high school graduation involving people taking mushrooms and basically worshiping of oak leaves. Weird stuff. They also have a fear of outsiders, and many homes are proclaimed to be haunted." —Anonymous Palms, California — "It would be a great location for a David Lynch-esque vampire film if you catch my drift." —happybee333 Vermont — "My son and I were there for a college interview and tour. We went to dinner at a local restaurant. When we walked in, the whole place stopped talking and looked at us. I didn't want to seem nervous about it, so I said nothing. Halfway through dinner, my son said, 'Is it me, or is everyone staring at us?' They continued to stare throughout dinner. I don't know if it's because we were dressed up, brown, or outsiders. He ended up going to that college, and a woman who owned a B&B told me that it was like that for her for years when she first moved there. She was from Brazil." —Anonymous Maine (in general) — "'Town' is too broad a word, but if you ever drive through Maine at night, you suddenly understand why Stephen King sets all of his novels there. Maine is mostly dense evergreen forests dotted with farmland, even on the coast, and outside of the interstate, most major roads/highways have no streetlights. The darkness is all-consuming. It's a tangible, oppressive feeling that is just so unsettling. If you're lucky, you'll have the moon. If not, it's just you, the trees, an endless highway with maybe a house every 10 miles and another car every 20, and the beams of your headlights." —lobster_lemon_lime Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity. Is there a creepy US town you'd add to the list? Tell us about it in the comment or via the totally anonymous form below, and who knows, maybe there'll be a part two! Love this kind of content? Subscribe to the That Got Dark newsletter to get a weekly post just like this delivered directly to your inbox. It's a scary good time you won't want to miss. Also in BuzzFeed: Also in BuzzFeed: Also in BuzzFeed:
