My new house SCREAMS

I'm not someone who scares easily, which is probably why this ended up terrifying me as much as it did. My wife and I had just finished moving into a new house, and although I was exhausted from carrying boxes all day, she couldn't shake the feeling that someone might still be inside. She asked me, more than once, to check every room before we settled in for the night. I rolled my eyes, grabbed my phone for a flashlight, and started making my way through the house. It was completely empty as far as I could tell, and I kept joking that we weren't in a horror movie.

One by one, I checked the bedrooms, closets, and every corner of the house. Nothing. The last place left was the guest bathroom. The light was off, and the door was sitting slightly open. I remember thinking how ridiculous I felt, carefully opening a bathroom door in my own house. I reached out and pushed it the rest of the way open.

The instant the door moved, I heard the loudest, most blood-curdling scream I've ever heard in my life. It didn't sound human, but in that split second my brain didn't care. The scream exploded right beside my head, so close that I physically jumped backward and slammed into the wall behind me. My heart was pounding so hard I honestly thought I was going to pass out. For a second I was convinced someone had been hiding behind the door waiting for me.

Then I heard a furious hiss and saw our cat shoot out from behind the bathroom door like a rocket. Without realizing it, I'd accidentally caught the tip of her tail in the door jamb when I pushed it open. She let out one final angry scream, sprinted down the hallway, and disappeared under a bed. I felt awful once I realized what had happened, but I also couldn't stop laughing after the adrenaline wore off. Even now, years later, that scream is burned into my memory. If you've never heard a cat scream at full volume from six inches away in a silent house, I hope you never do. For one terrifying second, I was absolutely certain I'd just found something far worse than a frightened pet.