As sinister as it sounds, there is a reason a lot of horror focuses on families and their interactions. There is something about a “familiar” setting (in the most literal sense) that makes creepy and eerie actions and words hit that much closer to home. As it turns out, this experience might be more common than we might think.

Someone asked “What’s the creepiest thing a member of your family has ever said?” and netizens shared all the strange things they’ve heard. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote the worst examples and be sure to add your own in the comments section below.

#1

My grandfather told me not to dance at a wedding because I might “tempt” the men. I was 13.

Image credits: anon

#2

I was going through a divorce, I was staying with my sister. I was sleeping on the floor in her spare room.
I woke up and she was standing over me with a knife in her hand.

She said: “IT awakes!”
I replied: WHAT?! What is going on?

She blinked and turned and walked away.

I began to look for a different place to stay after I locked the room’s door and stayed up for the rest of the night.

She struggles with paranoid schizophrenia.

Image credits: jenljbear

#3

I was babysitting my nephew overnight and he told me there was people on the stairs.

Image credits: kyungsookim

#4

My mom would always remind us before big family gatherings “Don’t go sit on Uncle Vern’s lap. Don’t be alone with him either. He has a history”

As a kid I was like wow that’s kinda scary. As an adult with kids my question is “Why the f**k was this dude invited back?”.

Image credits: SoonerBeerSnob

#5

My youngest son was about 4 and playing by himself. After a bit i realized he was talking to someone or pretending to. I asked him who he was playing with and he said “an old man.” I asked him what the old man’s name was and what he was doing and he said “grandpa and he’s walking with his cane.”

My kids call my dad “Papa” so it was weird to me, and my husbands father they called Papa Launery. I asked him who is grandpa, what does he look like? And my son says “my grandpa, he has a red shirt and brown pants.”

It creeped me out but I didn’t think too much about it. I posted on my facebook page about the interaction and my grandmother posted a picture of my great grandfather who I never met in an old family photo, wearing a red shirt and brown pants. He had a prosthetic leg from the war so he walked with a cane. Id never seen that photo before and my son certainly never had either. My family is convinced he was visiting to say hello. Still the creepiest thing my kid has ever said.

Image credits: ThingPutrid1016

#6

My alcoholic uncle at my 12th birthday party: “You grew up real nice. If we’re ever alone I’ll take it as a yes.”

I had no clue what he meant until I was older.

Image credits: True_Panic_3369

#7

After my twins passed away (shortly after birth), my sister said, “It’s a good thing they died when they did, so you didn’t get too attached.”.

Image credits: SkiPhD

#8

My mom told me recently when I was ill that if I died, her neighbors would bring her free meals for a couple of weeks. She genuinely thought that sounded exciting and like an outcome she was hoping for.

Image credits: fire_thorn

#9

This happened when my youngest was about 3 years old.

Twice when getting her out of bed, she looked to one corner in her room, waved, and said, “Bye.”

Image credits: Testicleus

#10

My dad once said to me, “If I could get you to eat half as much as you do, and your sister to eat half as much as you do, I’d have two perfect daughters”. Thanks, Dad. 🙌🏼.

Image credits: TouchTheMoose

#11

My grandpa asked me if I was going to breastfeed when I was pregnant. I said I was absolutely going to try. He then gave one of my b**bs a little jiggle and said “With these little things? Good luck!”

I was left with my jaw on the floor.

Image credits: pxluna

#12

I had an uncle buy me silk underwear for my 16th birthday and when I opened it said “you should try it on right now”.

Image credits: CherryManhattan

#13

I used to have a horrible recurring dream about an alien abduction while camping. Sometimes I would wake up in a light sweat, sometimes I’d jump out of bed into the corner of the room until I came to my senses.

No, I am not an abductee. It’s just a bad nightmare.

So….
My kid brother used to wake up and come to my room in the middle of the night to sleep there. One night I wake up from that nightmare and he’s just standing there at the edge of my bed.
I nearly jumped out of my skin.

He looks right through me and says, “they’re coming for you too”. Then he turned and walked back to his room.
I didn’t go back to sleep that night.

Image credits: Any-Bottle-4910

#14

My kid looked into the dining room at night, light off, and said “Who’s that guy with the red eyes?” Freaked me the f**k out. Left lights on for weeks after that.

Image credits: spareparts969

#15

When my cousin was 14, my uncle (her father) said her first boyfriend would be very lucky to have her as a girlfriend. I agreed, saying she was becoming a wonderful young woman. My uncle looks me in my eyes and says “yeah, but he’d also get a go on her fantastic t**s” 🤢
Guess which uncle is never going to see my daughter (who is now a teenager).

Image credits: Other-Coffee-9109

#16

“Go back to sleep, there isn’t anything under your bed”.

“Hes behind you now”.

Still haven’t gotten over that one and shiver at the memory.

Image credits: heart_bunnys

#17

When my son was three, his mom had to send him to a timeout for some reason. He didn’t want to and threw a fit, so I reiterated he had to go and be by himself til he could behave. He started storming away, then turned, walked close to me, and hissed- actual hiss, like a villain- “They’ll never find you.”

He’s 12 now and he doesn’t remember it. But when I told him about it he just nodded and said “Yeah, that sounds like something I would say.”.

Image credits: Appropriate_Set_4705

#18

He was my cousin. He found me on yahoo messenger. He said he was distancing himself from his side of the family. We would chat about once a week. A couple months in, he invited me to visit. I turned him down because I was broke. He said I could share his bed. I was just “wha?”

He then went into a spiel about we could move to Kentucky, he had researched it and cousins having sex was legal.

I just said “ew” and blocked him and deleted messenger

I refuse to ever attend anything he would be at.

#19

My stepbrother and his wife were visiting my bio father and stepmom, while I was temporarily living with them. Their baby wasn’t too happy about being in a strange place with strangers, but somehow me and the kiddo hit it off. So I would often wake up when they asked me to take him during the night when he was fussy, babysat, etc. I adored it.

My bio father was “helping” me babysit, then suddenly his mood changed and he looked down at the baby, roughly pushed him over. I managed to grab the baby before he fell off the bed. Meanwhile, my bio father was chuckling and said “what are (his parents) going to do about it? They are staying in my home and financially dependent on me.” He then made a faint like he was going to smack the baby in my arms, then walked away.

I left a few weeks later and haven’t spoken to him in 30+ years now.

#20

– “no one will ever love you”
– “I’m going to set fire to the house with us in it”
– “if you tell anyone, social services will take you away and put you in a children’s home where they’ll hurt you really badly”
– “drink the poison kid”

Take your pick.

Image credits: GDACK

#21

My grandpa said he’d marry me if I wasn’t his granddaughter.

Said I n front of my future husband the weekend of our wedding.

Image credits: throw_me_into_space

#22

When I was 4, my mother told me she never wanted me. She tried to give me away at the hospital. I wasn’t a boy, and the youngest of 7.

Image credits: potawatomiproud

#23

First girl I ever brought home (that I was interested in) when I was 13… my dad comes home from work, before I can even introduce them to each other, my dad says, “So, have you two had s*x yet?”

I was mortified.

She left.

My dad didn’t meet another one of my “girlfriends” until I was in my mid 20s, and my GF and I rented a place together.

Image credits: Wrathwilde

#24

We were all gathered around the dinner table. My 1 year old daughter was sucking on a corn on the cob and my boomer father saw her and said she’ll make a man very happy one day. It was quiet for a second and I told him to stop sexualizing my infant child. He quit drinking shortly after that but I still keep an eye on him and he isn’t left alone with my children.

Image credits: angie1061

#25

My 33 year old cousin tried to “subtly” convince me to have sex with him the night before his wedding when I was 15.

When I was 17, I was at my family reunion and on the phone with my boyfriend and the same cousin grabbed my phone and said “why should she go across the street when she can go across the hall?”.

#26

When I was about 3 we had a cat that had still born kittens. I asked my father if we could make crosses for them, which he did. As he was making them I asked:

“aren’t those too small?”,

Dad: “What do you Mean?”

Me: “aren’t we going to nail them to them?”

Dad: (after several moments silence) “we’re not going to do that”

Me: “oh”.

#27

We adopted a baby from China 20 yrs ago. When I casually mentioned how my husband was in love with her, his uncle said, “just make sure he doesn’t love her TOO much.” This was around when people were still commenting on Woody Allen running off with Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter. It was a pretty gross thing to say about a toddler. And my husband.

#28

My nephew (who is several years older than me) called me and told me these utterly horrific stories of things he was forced to do in Afghanistan and he was clearly drunk and crying. I was like 17 and had no idea what to do as he talked about having to kill a little boy because he was shooting st them, just all kinds of horrors of war….

It stuck with me for years, utterly haunting… a couple of years ago I found out none of it ever happened. He was a paper pusher because he injured his knee playing basketball.

#29

My half older brother is about 25 years older than me and obviously, we didn’t grow up together. Never were close. But he once sent me a FB message to share a fond memory with me —

Apparently when I was 3-4 I had a dress with matching bloomers to cover my diaper. He said I’d laugh and giggle, looking at him while rolling around as if I “wanted him to look at my bloomers” in *that* fashion.

I blocked him and never looked back. I feel gross just typing this.

#30

Once at a family birthday party, my FIL told his 15-year-old daughter “You’re the sexiest woman here.”.

Image credits: princessparklebottom

#31

Had a cousin who had done 2 deployments to the Middle East and had some real PTSD, during a family dinner he casually stands up walks to the front window and looks out it cones back a minute later and says nothing a minute later he says “God I miss k**ling the enemy”.

Dont worry, he since has gotten a really good therapist and has gotten good help for his PTSD.

Image credits: EatMoreCardboard

#32

Way back when my then three year old looked up from playing with whatever he was playing with and kindly informed me that ‘the puppet master controls all the dead children’, then went back to their game.

Edit: I was later told by my older kids that it was five nights at freddys related, eased my mind slightly…

Image credits: nemprime

#33

My (then) three-year old daughter, wearing a nightgown, sleepwalking into the middle of the dark playroom and just standing there until I looked up from my chair in an adjacent room and, squinting into the shadows, asked her what she was doing awake.

“Shhh!” she whispered, putting her finger to her lips. “Don’t wake up the toys!”

Then she turned around and silently padded off into the darkness, back to her room.

Image credits: _Kit_Tyler_

#34

There was a small room at the back of my grandparents house that myself and cousins were all terrified of growing up and would refuse to sleep in. All the adults would assure us it was fine and we were being silly.
When my extremely religious granny of dementia she kept talking about the things “going on in that room” and blessing herself. She refused to enter it 😭 knew it was haunted.

#35

“You’re gonna look reeeaaal pretty with those braces off”

I was 13, and that was said to me by my (then) 22 year old cousin.

Image credits: Dashi90

#36

My uncle once told my mum – his biological sister – that he was in love with her.

Image credits: re_Claire

#37

My father said “You look like your mother, why weren’t you born a woman?” and he finished with a couple of jokes about changing me to replace her.

I stayed with other family after that. He wouldn’t have done anything that I know, the jokes unfortunately left me with bad sleep due to scary dreams.

Image credits: skummelgutt

#38

The female members of my family were always commenting on how jealous they were of my large breasts. I was an early bloomer and always had big boobs ever since my mid-teens.

The kicker was when my aunt got plastic surgery to enlarge her breasts “because she was inspired by me.”

No, I don’t speak to any of them now for a multitude of reasons.

Image credits: CrispyPancakeEdges

#39

My brother in law asked me what size bra I wore when I was maybe 15 or 16 and he was in his 20’s. He’s my EX brother in law now.

#40

My little sister (toddler at the time) needed to have a small surgery. They were at the check in with the doctor and she was playing with toys. During a break in the adult’s conversation, they heard my sister have one doll say to the other, “this is my dad. He hits me allll the time.”

My dad did not hit us. The doctor had to ask a few very awkward questions to get it sorted.

#41

I got dressed up for a baby shower when I was about 9 and my Uncle told me that if I was “40 years older or he was 40 years younger” we would have fun together. I knew what he meant because I grew up sideways and just blushed and walked away. About a year later I wasn’t allowed to visit his house until I was 16 and no other lewd comments were ever made. It made me wonder for years why I couldn’t go over during that time but when I git older I realized he had predilections that he hated about himself and was protecting me from him (as he was the one who said not to come over).

#42

I took care of my mother between 18 and 22. I was her sole 24/7 carer. I knew she was finally succumbing to her long-term illness when my friend and I asked her if she was going to be okay for a couple of hours so that I could get a gym session in with him around the corner of my house.

She said “you’re going to have to call your aunty…”

That aunt had been long since passed away and they never got along.

#43

When I was 14, my then 28yo uncle (who is my mother’s much younger half-brother) told me, “If you weren’t my niece, I’d date you.”

I cut contact with my uncle and never told anybody until two years ago when he was involved in the unexpected death of my beloved grandfather. I told everybody exactly why I stopped speaking to him, as they always wondered since we were very close when I was a kid.

It still makes me uncomfortable to this day, and I pray I never see him again.

Image credits: starsandsunandmoon

#44

When I was about 15, I was laying on the ground watching TV. My grandmother walked in, smiled at me, and said “Who’s this sexy little kitten lying on the floor?” All I could think to say to her about it was “What the f**k?”.

#45

When my brother was little, maybe 3, we were all sitting outside on the porch in relative silence. The sun was setting and as it got dark he suddenly said in this super stoic voice, “Darkness…COMES.”.

#46

When I was a kid, my family got together with my closest Aunt and cousins to take a trip to the San Diego Zoo. We were split into two cars with the boys in my Aunt’s Land Rover and us girls in my Mother’s station wagon.

About halfway there, my Aunt turns around to address us kids in the backseat. She asks my little sister, who was a 5 year old angelic cherub of a girl with curly platinum blonde hair and a disturbing affinity for ruffled dresses, what she wants to be when she grows up.

“A witch doctor.”

The grown-ups laughed awkwardly, then my Aunt asks, “Why?”

“Because I want to kill things.”

The rest of the drive was silent.

#47

When my uncle told me how old his gf was when they started dating. He was pushing 30 and she was 15.

#48

My aunt took photos of her dead son with a disposable camera. He died in his sleep of a heart attack. She called 911 then while she waited she took photos. Heres the twist. She gave my mom the camera a week later and asked her to take it to Walmart to get developed for her as a favor. She didn’t know what was on the camera. When she picked them up her and the Walmart employee were weirded out. Let’s just say my mom was not happy.

Edit: sorry read that as done and not said. Oh well, I’m leaving it.

#49

My uncle at my wedding. He got super drunk and at one point in the evening he said to me: “If you weren’t my niece I’d show you a trick or two…” with a nice big leer.
Icked forever.