The archive
True Ghost Stories
These are first-hand accounts of hauntings, voices, shadows and rooms that felt wrong — told by the people who lived them. Every story on WAWDOS is written by a person and read by a human moderator before it goes live.
What makes a ghost story feel true
The details nobody would invent: the exact time on the clock, the smell before it happened, what the dog did, what you told yourself afterwards. Real encounters are often small and unresolved — a whisper, a cold spot, a door that was locked — and that is what makes them stay with you.
Read them the right way
Each story lists where and when it happened, so you can read encounters from the same country or decade side by side. Save the ones that unsettle you, and leave a comment if something similar has happened to you.
Had an experience of your own?
You can share it anonymously. Names, addresses and other personal details are kept out, and you choose the place and period it happened in.
Read true ghost stories
Aliens sighting?
This happened a couple days ago and it is pretty weird that it happened right when I was thinking of this thing happening. I have encountered multiple thimes this light event but t
Something has been listening to me
So, this story is 100% true and happened to me recently. I’m just a normal person, but for privacy reasons, I’ll use the name “Evan” in this story. Over the past two months, I’ve b
I heard someone Whisper My name inside my APARTMENT
I heard someone whisper my name from inside my apartment. I live alone, and this happened around 2 AM. I had just gotten into bed when I heard what sounded like someone quietly say
Am I mentally ill?
It has been a couple weeks for me ever since my sleep has turned to a weird part of my day. I feel like every night I go to sleep it might happen,and it happens when I least expect
I think someone was living in my apartment while I was at work
I know how this sounds, but I genuinely don't think I'm imagining it. A few weeks ago I started noticing small things being moved around my apartment. Nothing major. A kitchen chai
Disturbing camping encounter story
I worked as a camp counsellor and was camping with a group of children on a lake. A co,counsellor and I took turns supervising the kids while they swam, built forts, and played gam
Watergate
The Watergate scandal involved the administration of President Richard Nixon. Operatives associated with Nixon’s reelection campaign were caught burglarizing and planting listening
The Whistling Man
The first time I encountered the whistling man, I was shopping with a friend. I heard a strange whistle several times while walking through the aisles of a toy store. At first I as
The tighty whitey twins
My boyfriend and I had recently started living together, and we both relied on word of mouth to find work. He did carpentry, while I offered cleaning and organizing help. One day,
Don’t Follow Vultures
When I was a child, I became interested in bird watching. I carried a camera and binoculars while exploring the brush and waterways near my home, hoping to identify a black vulture
Creepy Christmas encounter in the forest
My partner and I went for a walk after a holiday meal. We carried a powerful flashlight, and I brought a camera because I enjoy photographing nature after dark. We followed a narro
The Circus Next Door and My Rebuilding Year
I moved into a townhouse at the end of a long row of units while trying to rebuild my life after a difficult breakup. The place was nearly empty, and the surrounding neighborhood w
Masked Paper Bag Person surveils my husband and I
My husband and I were walking home after having a drink. We were chatting and paying little attention to the houses we passed. At an intersection, I noticed a cat sitting on a fenc
I accidentally discovered an online shrine
I received a friend request that reminded me of this story. I had met Lily after starting university. We shared a class, and she began asking me to eat lunch with her after it. At
She Just Got Into My Car
One evening, I left my girlfriend's house and drove home. Before I left, she had been sitting in my car with me, and when she got out she forgot to lock the passenger door. I chose
The Basement Door
My parents lived beside a small house that seemed strangely empty. Cars were often parked outside, but I never saw anyone enter or leave. From our yard, two large windows were visi
Chased through the woods by a man with a crossbow
A friend and I drove to a small, secluded graveyard surrounded by woods. We had visited it before during the day, so we knew the short path and the layout. We walked around the gra
Stalker in the forest
I was taking photographs alone in a secluded wooded area when I noticed a person repeatedly passing the entrance to the trees. The person had parked nearby and kept looking at me f
A strange man hunted me through a national park
I was camping alone in a remote wilderness area when I woke and found a man sitting beside the remains of my fire, only a few feet from my tent. He had no visible pack or supplies.
Church in the Woods
A friend and I used to explore wooded areas near the railway tracks, build small shelters, fish from bridges, and camp away from the paths. Years later, we decided to repeat one of
Creepy Teens in the Woods
I regularly walked alone between home and school along a wooded path. The route crossed a shallow creek with steep banks. After rain, my footsteps were quieter than usual. As I rea
The Man in the woods
My father operated heavy tree cutting machinery and often worked alone in remote forests. He and a coworker were clearing a new work site when they began hearing faint chatter over
Someone Memorized the Family Knock
My friend had a cabin near a lake, and one evening she, her cousin, and I went fishing at a secluded beach. To reach it, we walked through a small section of woods and climbed a st
The Folk-Dancing Creeper
My friends and I attended a folk dance where participants paired with different partners for each dance. An older man I had seen at previous dances asked me to dance. I initially d
All I wanted was a place to sleep
My husband and I arrived by train and discovered that the hotel room we had booked had been given to someone else. We had nowhere to stay, so we found a cheap hotel online and took
Florida woman crawled out of my hotel mirror to rob me
My coworkers and I returned to our hotel after a day of work. As I opened my room, I saw a woman standing in the bathroom holding my bags and clothes. I asked what she was doing, a
Camping Gone Wrong
A group of friends and two older siblings went camping in a remote forest. There was no phone service, and the campsite was far from the nearest homes. They set up two tents, cooke
The Laughing Bicyclist
I had recently moved into a house and was still unfamiliar with the neighborhood. One night, I stepped outside alone to smoke after playing guitar. A faint metallic noise caught my
Hysterical Laughing at 3AM
My boyfriend and I were staying with another couple in a rented house while visiting friends. The house was pleasant enough, but it had an unsettling atmosphere. When I put our bel
The Singing Lady
After my divorce, I moved into a small gated neighborhood where every house bordered a man made lake. Most of the residents knew one another, but I kept to myself. The only neighbo
Shooter at the Airport
I was a young child when my grandmother and I went to an airport to meet a relative. We waited near the baggage claim doors, which were made of glass so arriving passengers could b
Friend turned almost school shooter
I had been friends with a boy since middle school. He was socially awkward and often seemed strange, but I had known him for a long time. He came out as pansexual and told me that
Wrong House
I had recently moved back in with my parents, who lived in a wooded area away from the main roads. I was sitting on the couch drinking coffee while my daughter played on the floor.
The Smoker in the Woods
While studying biology at university, I joined a field trip to collect water and soil samples for an ecology experiment. Our group consisted of students and a supervising professor
My girlfriend and I went for a night hike
A few months ago, my girlfriend and I were bored at home and spontaneously decided to go for a hike. We rarely went hiking, but the idea appealed to us. Even though only about an h
Three men in the woods and the button latch on my axe
Last summer, my partner, our large dog, and I were camping beside a creek at an established site in a nearby forest. It was not a formal campground, but it had a parking area, a fi
Saddle Shoes
This story began with my mother’s brief acquaintance with a man she met at a wedding while she was still in school. He played drums in the band and commented on the saddle shoes sh
After School Nightmare
As a teenager, I usually walked home from school using a wooded shortcut. The path was used often enough to be recognizable, but sometimes I was alone. One afternoon I noticed a ma
Laughing in the Woods
A few friends and I took an annual camping trip to reconnect. We chose an isolated clearing in the woods, far from any established campsite, and set up a large tent. After dinner a
Almost ran out of gas in Oregon
A friend and I rented a car for a coastal trip and planned to return to our hotel after dark. I knew we needed fuel, so I planned to stop at the next station. We followed the GPS o