When you move to a new place, you can decide on a lot of things—the location of your property, the style it comes in, the furniture that you put inside—but one thing you typically can't control is who you live next to. If you're lucky, you could get a neighbor who keeps your best interests in mind. That said, by the same token, you could also get a neighbor who is just an absolute nightmare to deal with.
Read on for some spine-chilling stories about the worst neighbors ever.
1. Feline Vendetta
For seven years, my neighbor was a lovely old man. He recently got married to a woman who had a 20-year-old daughter. She occasionally let loose and partied, but generally, she was also pleasant. One day, we found our one-year-old cat's body in their garden. We couldn't definitely blame the neighbor, as the cat could've had a heart attack or something. We brushed it off as an unfortunate, random event.
Two months later, we had a new cat, younger and more adorable. One day I got home, and my cat was dragging himself to me, meowing loudly. That's when I made a horrifying discovery. My cat had been shot. Yes, shot with a bullet! Our gardener claimed he saw the neighbor apparently firing at pigeons, shortly before my cat got hurt.
So, understandably, we've kept our distance from the neighbors ever since. On a brighter note, our cat did survive after surgery and is doing great, even if he's now down to eight lives.
2. Kooky? More Like Spooky
At first, we thought she was just a free-spirited Scandinavian woman with unconventional child-rearing ways. But as we got to know her better, we realized the truth: She was just a horrible person. The first sign was when she took my four-year-old son for a playdate, and they played, rather shockingly, without clothes.
Not being upset initially as I knew Norwegians are more relaxed about clothing, I firmly stated that it wasn't acceptable going forward. I had a talk with my son afterward. Her older child, though, was often problematic. During her first visit to our place, she smeared lip balm all over a wall. At six, she should've known better.
Another instance was when she snuck into our house and dug into freshly baked brownies while I was enjoying time outside with my kids. She even performed a mock pole dance on our front tree, singing, "Shake your money maker," at just six.
We were invited to her children's birthday parties and we gifted them, only to find out their actual birthdays were months away. When she invited us again, we declined, explaining that we don't celebrate half birthdays despite her insistence that they do. As things worsened, we decided to restrict our kids from playing at her house.
We would bump into her on our way to school. She'd tell me about seeing actual demons disguised as humans and how I was on the verge of embracing Christianity. When someone called Child Protective Services on her, she blamed me, even though I wasn't the one who did it – although maybe I should have been. She still had one last stunt to pull.
We eventually moved away, but one day she found me to drop off a bag of hand-me-downs for my daughter. Shockingly, I cut my finger on a hidden razor blade in the bag – not too seriously, thank goodness. I haven't seen her since.
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3. A Near Fatal Mistake
My neighbor returned from the pub along with his buddy, and both seemed a little buzzed. At some point, for some unfathomable reason, they thought it'd be fun to mess around with a handgun. Then, an accidental shot pierced their floor and - would you believe it - landed in my apartment. The worst part is, I was hit in the stomach. Immediately, I dialed 9-1-1 and while being whisked away in the ambulance, my frazzled fiancé was preparing to follow suit, as instructed by the EMTs.
My neighbor showed up, quite perplexed, and said "What's going on? We heard a loud noise!" Soon after, the officials arrived and he was ushered away in handcuffs.
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4. Sketchy Dealings
During my time at university, I found myself in a five-bedroom flat where each room was rented out individually. I shared this living space with four total strangers, but we all got along fairly well, except for the usual roommate disagreements.
Everything was fine until it was time for the others to move out before our lease ended. They didn't want to be saddled with the extra rent, so they arranged subletters. One of these replacements, brought in by my roommate, was a complete unknown. I ran into him shortly after he moved in. He immediately gave off a strange vibe.
He seemed a bit dodgy, but I put it off as him being a fellow penny-pinching university student. I hardly got the chance to know his name. A few days later, while my girlfriend and I were watching a movie, I heard what sounded like radios. I simply thought it was part of the film.
Twenty minutes later, we had a knock on our door. With none of my other roommates present, I opened it to find not one, not two, but five officers, one carrying an SMG. Their questioning led me to the conclusion: it was the new roommate. He wasn't currently home so they didn't get an immediate response.
Thinking this was odd, I inquired about the situation. The officer's cautious response hinted that my new roommate might have been involved in some sort of incident and could be injured. To our surprise, five minutes later, there he was, standing in our entrance hall.
Our conversation was disturbing. He casually mentioned being part of a drive-by shooting earlier that day but assured me he fled the scene, then nonchalantly went to his room. My girlfriend and I were stupefied.
Another knock later revealed more authorities, this time with backup and dogs. I steered them to his room as an officer unstrapped his weapon. I quickly sequestered myself and my girlfriend in my room.
That night, I emailed my landlord about the incident and informed her of my early departure, expecting no additional charges on my last month. She agreed without dispute.
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5. The Good Prevails
I work as a surveyor. We got a call from a lady complaining about her neighbor's garden encroaching on her land. She was quite irate about her neighbor and shared a slew of negative comments about her. However, when we met the neighbor, she turned out to be incredibly kind. She was open to moving her garden, but only after the survey was done.
As it happens, we marked out the boundary line, and it sliced right through the other woman's shed. That’s when chaos broke out: she lashed out at us, yanking our stakes from the ground and attempting to swing them at us. The neighbor, the one with the garden, was thrilled to find out she was in the right and was almost moved to tears. She made the woman relocate her shed and then built a sizeable fence around her property. I'm always delighted when good triumphs over bad.
6. White Flag
We moved into a sparkling new home, only to find an old toilet, trash, and a broken hot tub in our neighbor's front yard - not exactly the welcome wagon. Shrugging it off, we baked cookies and went to say hello. To our surprise, he laughed and rudely closed the door on us. Little did we know, this was just the start of a neighborhood nightmare.
A few days later, as my husband and I were busy prettying up our lawn with new bricks, our neighbor strolled past. He sarcastically shouted, "Well, I can see who wears the pants!" We were both pretty puzzled by his comment. Fast forward a few months and we adopted a puppy. Our other neighbor informed us that she'd seen the guy's son flicking lit matches at our puppy from across the fence.
Mysteriously, we found about 50 matches in our yard. Tragically, she also had to flag down the authorities after his other son smashed her garage lights and did his business on her doorway mat (all recorded on her security camera). Around six months after that, I received a complaint followed by a hefty $500 fine because of our dog's barking. It was preposterous - our dog was not a nuisance and only barked when people passed by or came knocking.
Though we had supporting letters from our 16 neighbors advocating for our well-behaved dog, they were disregarded. Eventually, we had enough of this bizarre neighborhood drama, sold the house, and moved away.
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7. Karmic Justice
This took place before my brother, sister, and I were born. My parents were house hunting, and they fell in love with the home we live in now. As they first saw the house, they pulled up on their motorcycles.
After settling on the decision to make a bid, they bumped into the would-be neighbours. In a funny twist, the neighbours said they were relieved that the "motorcycle couple" hadn't snagged the house. They went on to vent about their disapproval of bikers... not realizing my parents were the very couple they referred to.
As you might guess, things got awkward when the neighbours noticed the bikes belonged to my parents. But, the story gets juicier – a few months after this exchange, my parents were inside, just enjoying a quiet evening when they were startled by a sudden blast. Rushing outside, they found their beloved motorcycles ablaze.
Promptly, they dialed up the fire department, who managed to douse the flames. After inspecting the scene, a firefighter suggested to my mom that it was likely intentional, pointing to scattered matches around. For some reason, my mom didn't take the matter up with the authorities, but in her anger, she told my dad, "Whoever did this is going to end up with a broken right leg."
Believe it or not, a week later, one of the neighbours was seen hobbling about, his right leg in a cast.
8. Mr. De Vil
When I was 13, my neighbor attempted to take my dog and her puppies. He brazenly broke into our home one day to make his move. Thankfully, my mom and I happened to be there. When he caught sight of us catching him red-handed, he let go of the dogs. He did, however, threaten us, saying he could harm us any time he wished. Charming fellow, that one. Naturally, we alerted the authorities right after.
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9. An Act Of Hate
When I was around eight, I got into a car accident. I was with my two sisters—one younger, one older—in the backseat behind our babysitters, who were dear family friends. We slid off a risky curb on our own street, known for accidents, and our car flipped multiple times. This happened during a chilly Northern Vermont winter swathed in snow.
Since it wasn't a high-speed crash, we all remained unharmed but trapped. The Jetta doors had buckled in, and our only escape route was to kick out the shattered windshield. Despite our babysitters' best efforts, we couldn't escape. At that moment, the guy whose lawn we'd ended up on came over. He was kind, but unable to help, so he went to bring his parents who lived nearby.
When he returned with his parents, our babysitters seemed stunned and worried. The problem was, our babysitters are Black, and this guy's parents— their neighboring supremacists—were nothing short of hostile. They'd often fire towards our babysitters' home, proudly declaring their nationalism during any vaguely patriotic holiday.
Matters worsened one year when they fired through two layers of our babysitters' protective fence. Now, seeing us trapped, the guy's parents looked equally disgusted and amused. Their cruel refusal to help—"We aren't lifting a finger for these losers"—and their self-satisfied laughter... It still haunts me to this day.
The guy was mortified and apologized for his parents. A fire truck soon arrived, and firefighters pried open our doors. My sisters and I were chilly and bewildered. That act of hatred has significantly impacted me. To this day, I hope those two bigots get the painful justice they deserve.
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10. Real Peaches
Our neighbor treated the hedge we share with some sort of substance, which completely ruined it. Initially, we planted it next to her chain-link fence as a natural barrier for some privacy. Everything we've tried growing there always dies, with the decay seemingly starting from her side. She's really inquisitive and seems to be always staring out her window, which prompted us to plant in the first place!
To add to this, I'm pretty sure she's moved her in-ground sprinklers onto what I believe is our land. They're practically brushing our driveway, and she schedules them to come on during the night while our cars are parked. She dismisses the idea of changing the schedule to when we're at work, claiming it would "disturb her gardening time." The result is annoying water spots on our vehicles. The marks are large, white, irregularly shaped spots trailing down one side of our car!
It cost me $250 last year to hire someone to use acid to get rid of them, but they didn't quite fade completely. She had the audacity to suggest our son park his car there instead because the color of his car might camouflage the water spots better! Her husband passes time by marching up and down their backyard, whistling at our dog to instigate her bark, then the wife complains about our dog making noise.
They're real peaches, believe you me.
11. The No-Gooder
We were attempting to sell our house, but our neighbors' nephew was actively trying to foil our plans. Whenever we stepped out so potential buyers could come see our house, he'd act suspicious and this would discourage many of them. He even had the audacity to enter during an open house viewing and advise people against buying our house. He resided barely 100 yards away from us, and to this day, his motives remain a mystery.
The situation escalated when he threatened my sister who had kindly assisted him after he collapsed on our driveway. We ended up involving the authorities and had him legally commit to stay away from our property; the document he signed stated that if trespassed again, he'd end up behind bars. Thankfully, we managed to sell our house after this incident.
12. Crossing A Line
This story's about my next-door neighbor, just two houses down. We had a decent rapport, almost on the brink of being friends, but then everything changed in an instant. At one point, he was even my boss. I noticed he had a habit of using people's things when they weren't around—he once even used a guy's carpentry tools in his absence.
I made it clear to him: "Hey, it's okay to borrow my things, but make sure to ask first. I'm not a fan of surprise visits either, so a text or a call before you come over would be great." I was just outlining my preferences for if he ever needed to borrow tools again, or anything else for that matter. I'd previously lent him a 17mm impact socket.
Fast forward two weeks and I had the sinking feeling that he'd misplaced it. No big deal...I just resolved never to loan him anything else. But after a couple of extra days, he approached me: "Hey, you weren't home so I returned the socket and borrowed something else." Apparently, he'd clambered over my fence in broad daylight, when I was out, opened my garage, returned the borrowed socket—now scratched and damaged—and helped himself to more of my tools.
He mentioned this in passing a week after it happened, as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. That was the last straw. I warned him to keep his distance—not just from me but also from my home, my family, and my stuff.
13. Driveway Dispute
We moved into an apartment, and our neighbor claimed that she owned half of the ample driveway we were sharing. No big deal, right? It was spacious anyway. But after about a month, she began defining her alleged territory by placing rocks as a border. We were okay with it since we still had enough room.
However, over two months, she steadily inched this makeshift partition towards our apartment, to the point where we had to physically move the rocks to get in and out of our driveway. This prompted our landlord to have the property professionally surveyed and, lo and behold, it turned out our neighbor didn't own any portion of the driveway. But Karma got her at least. She had to start parking her car on the street. It served her right for fabricating things and exploiting our goodwill.
14. Bird Calls
Look, I might just turn out to be the villain in someone’s story, even though they are not quite aware about me yet. In our apartment building, a persistently beep-beeping smoke alarm is a running sarcastic gag among us tenants. It’s been emitting annoying noises all day, for the past two months. However, the fix-it team just can't seem to solve the enigma of stopping the chirping.
The plot twist here is that, the actual smoke alarm only played that vexing tune for around three days. The sound effect you've been hearing ever since? That comes courtesy of my parrot. She took a fancy to the noise and has been happily imitating it whenever she pleases. My neighbors aren't aware I own a parrot. My next-door lady assumes I have a dog, since my flighty pet also loves to bark and then proceeds to scold herself for the noise!
15. Up In Smoke
When I got home, my apartment was full of smoke, so I immediately phoned 9-1-1 because I couldn't figure out what was causing it. Turns out, our folks downstairs decided it'd be smart to set up a charcoal grill right on their stove, all for the sake of indoor barbecuing. Incredible. What put me at ease a little was knowing a pal took my dog for a walk earlier that day - glad he wasn't stuck in all this smoke for the entire afternoon.
16. Public Pool
Our neighbors firmly demanded we set up a gate between our backyards, so they could enjoy our above-ground pool freely, especially when their friends visit. We refused this request, causing them to react negatively and seek a way to "retaliate." All the while, the pool had been causing us quite some trouble with expensive leakage problems into the yard.
They threatened to report us to the overzealous HOA claiming that the leak was affecting their infrequently used yard and making their dog ill from drinking the water. To avoid any complications, and also to rid our backyard of the small lake that was attracting frogs, my dad chose to spend his birthday leave working under the sweltering Texas sun. He dug a trench and put in a pipe to facilitate drainage.
Throughout the ordeal, the neighbors felt the need to persistently belittle him, saying that installing a gate would've just been a simpler solution. If only they knew, it would've been much easier to use the shovel on their pig-headed minds, those darn miscreants.
17. Don's A Dog
My old neighbor would take his dog on a leash to let it do its business in my yard. Once, my mom had me toss the waste back into his yard and he got so angry that he called the authorities on us. A few months later, my family and I were on our way out of town when we realized we'd forgotten something. We headed back home—and discovered something that made us FURIOUS.
There was our annoying neighbor, in the middle of our yard, with his dog on a leash leaving a mess in our front yard. All I recall is my mom rolling down her window and shouting, “Enough, Don!”
18. Black Tie Event
When I was a kid, my next-door neighbor lost a family member. The day of the funeral, he knocked on our door and asked my dad if he could borrow a tie. My dad felt for him and handed over a black silk tie, which was fitting for such an event.
We later attended the funeral only to notice that our neighbor wasn't wearing the borrowed tie. We were puzzled until we saw the casket; the man inside was wearing my dad's tie. None of us wanted to create a scene, so we kept it to ourselves. Hence, the tie was laid to rest, never to be returned.
19. You Think You Know Someone
I used to live next door to Bob Berdella in Kansas City, one of the most evil men in history. For five years, I had daily chats with him, as he was the leader of our neighborhood watch. I had no clue he was living a hidden life, remorselessly abducting people and making them disappear. His capture came when one of the young gay men he had kidnapped managed to flee, running down the street wearing only a dog collar.
In those days, I primarily listened to tapes and CDs, so I didn't hear anything about it on the radio. Coming home to a street swarming with officers that night totally caught me off guard. When I learned the truth, my reaction was like that of any neighbor in a similar situation: "But he seemed like such a quiet, nice guy..."
They brought in excavators and backhoes to dig up his garden, even tearing down my fence in the process. Eventually, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, where he ultimately passed. His house was subsequently sold and demolished. It was all very strange. He had a shop in a flea market that displayed four skulls in the window with a sign saying "Final Four." Disturbingly, one skull belonged to one of his victims.
20. The Psycho Next Door
My aunt, who was a solo parent running a home daycare at the time, lived next door to a person with some serious issues. One winter, after a severe ice storm, a heap of tree branches collapsed into her backyard. Her neighbor's husband, just being the helpful type, came over and helped with the clean-up. She warmly thanked him with a box of drinks - you know, just to show appreciation.
However, his wife misinterpreted this as flirtation, sparking a one-sided feud against my aunt. The details are a bit fuzzy because it's been a while, but some things still stick out, and they're horrifying. One time, she attempted to hit my aunt's dog with her car. On another occasion, she phoned child services, falsely claiming my aunt was working nights and neglecting her daycare duties.
Perhaps the most disturbing incident was when my aunt discovered a patch of scorched grass near her house. A close friend from high school, who happened to be a fire inspector, confirmed that the fire was artificially started using an accelerant. My aunt ended up taking her to court over these issues, but I can't recall the outcome. I'm fairly certain at the very least, she was granted a restraining order.
21. A Huge Disturbance
Our neighbor accidentally overcooked something in his oven, which filled his home with smoke. Instead of opening his windows to let it out, he opened his hall door and ended up triggering the building's alarms. We all had to brave the chilling cold outside while he stayed comfortable in his apartment, waiting for the fire department to arrive. The firefighters had to open his windows and, in no uncertain terms, told him his mistake was quite foolish.
Even after all of this, we remained outside while they conducted routine checks to ensure that his blunder was the only issue. Keep in mind, this was in the frigid month of January, in New England, right in the middle of a bitter cold spell.
22. When Greed Takes Over
I'm based in Puerto Rico, where the majority of the island has been without electricity for the past two months due to Hurricane María. Our local government's response has been rather slow, so many communities in my area have resorted to hiring private contractors to restore power. I found a contractor ready to help us out, but I had to get everyone in the neighborhood to agree and pitch in for the cost.
Most of my neighbors were game, but two refused for a surprising reason. They literally said they preferred us without power, hoping we'd get fed up and leave so they wouldn't have to deal with our, in their words, "annoying and pathetic" faces. So, hiring the contractor was a no-go.
A week later, the plot thickened - turns out these neighbors had a buddy in the power authority. They were asked to block private contractors in our area so that the authority could get all the credit for restoring the power when they eventually did.
23. Ulterior Motives
My neighbor next door was kind of strange. He often invited us inside just to play with his cats. One day, he was about to move out and offered me an Air Force One jacket. I was just 10 then. He explained that if I wanted the jacket, we would have to go fetch it from someone else's house. When I mentioned needing to check with my mom first, he suddenly vanished.
Even now, I can't shake off the feeling that he intended to snatch me.
24. Caught In The Middle
My neighbors certainly had their struggles. Every night seemed to be filled with loud arguments and occasional physical altercations. They were in a relationship but weren't married, creating an unstable, on-and-off dynamic. The dad was well-known to local law enforcement due to his heavy drinking habits.
One sleeping night was interrupted by the heart-wrenching screams from their son — my little sister's close buddy. Moments later, he was at our door, seeking help from my mom.
We quickly brought him inside, and shortly after his mom appeared, bruised and bleeding. Fearing the risk of losing her son, she hesitated to call the authorities. So, my mom provided them a safe haven; turning our couch into an emergency bed, locking the door, and making a warm meal. My sister and the boy were soon sound asleep. However, the ordeal was far from over.
Roughly an hour after the mother and son took refuge, the dad arrived, pounding on our door and shouting loudly. My mom held her ground, engaging with him from behind the locked door for nearly an hour until he finally left. Afterwards, my mom organized a place for them to stay at a women’s shelter an hour away and drove them there the following night, after the dad assumed they'd departed.
For two weeks, my mom quietly offered support to them as she found a local apartment where she felt they would be safer before they eventually returned home.
25. The Dog Days
My current neighbors are truly challenging. As a Navy man, I'm often away, leaving my wife to handle things at home alone. Our neighbors recently got a Staffordshire Bullterrier and instead of taking it for walks, they simply let it loose in their yard to relieve itself. Eventually, it ran out of space in their yard and started hopping over to ours for its bathroom breaks. Here's where the real problems start.
Our son, who's afraid of dogs, now feels uncomfortable playing in our own yard. Being at sea most of the time means my options are limited beyond promising my wife I'll address it when I get back. The dog now spends so much time in our yard that it's started growling at my wife, likely thinking it's its own home. I advised my wife to leave the gate open so the dog could roam outside to do its business.
The next day, the man was yelling at my wife, accusing her of being a witch because his dogs had escaped and were possibly hit by a car. He then threatened my wife and son over the situation before departing. Shocked, my wife reported the matter to the authorities. To our disbelief, our unbearable neighbors suggested we were the ones being unreasonable for not allowing THEIR dog to use OUR garden, which is OUR property, as a toilet.
Regardless, he received a warning from the authorities and was ordered to build a fence to control his dog or the dog warden would confiscate it.
26. The Pesky Beggar
Back in college, I had a peculiar situation with a neighbor. Every week, she'd routinely knock on my door asking for money. Every time, I had to remind her that I was just a broke student who had nothing to spare. What struck me as odd was that she was in her 50s and employed. I couldn’t quite figure out why she did this.
One day, I had enough. The next time she rapped on my door, I told her, "Sure, I have some money for you." I instructed her to extend her hands and then dropped about two dollars worth of nickels from my change jar into her open palms. After that, she never asked me for money again; much to my surprise.
27. Problem After Problem
I stayed on the uppermost level of a sketchy house during my university days, for the simple reason that it was the only place willing to accommodate the seven of us as tenants. Our initiation into the place was quite literally explosive - just a week after we moved in, the SWAT team conducted a raid on one of the apartments beneath us. Their door was forcefully broken and flash grenades were even used.
One of the other apartments gave off a steady stench of urine and seemed like a bustling hub of sketchy transactions, presumably involving substances.
Our keys barely functioned in the lock due to multiple botched lock-picking attempts. Eventually, our cable and internet connection ceased to work. Upon calling the cable service and upon their subsequent investigation, the technician shepherded us over to an external box where he pointed out nine different cables siphoning off our internet.
I could continue to elaborate but I reckon you get the picture. The house had its dubious perks though. For instance, we could delight in firing bottle rockets along our corridor, safe in the knowledge that no one was likely to report us.
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28. Doorbell Bandit
We had a neighboring retiree in his 50s, a former officer, who was dingdong ditching us for about a month. The wild part was, we had no clue it was him. Turns out, he was frustrated with us because of our noisy dog, but he never expressed this to us. So, I didn't feel too guilty about his prank. Still, we wanted to catch him in the act at least once, just to give him a bit of a scare.
Finally, the day before we were moving, he did the prank again. My wife and I locked eyes, and without needing a word, I bolted out the front door. She rushed out the back door. We had this silent understanding between us, like, "Let's corner this guy!" I was completely amazed that we acted in sync without needing to discuss it.
I caught up with our bare-chested neighbor and he surrendered, declaring, "Alright, you got me." I asked, "Man, what's going on? Why are you doing this?" He was decidedly tipsy and began to explain about our barking dog. He apologized and admitted he should’ve discussed the issue with us. You don't say!?!
29. Downstairs Disturbance
I once leased a home with a basement apartment included. It had a single bedroom, but wound up housing an adult woman and her two grown sons. They'd brawl often, routinely char their meals, and the smell would stick to our house. And the icing on the cake? The woman owned the most yappy dog imaginable. My five-year-old, who had seen something relevant on TV, innocently mentioned to the woman that he had heard noisy dogs don't live long lives. She took offense and after that, she completely cut off communication with us.
Eventually, they all moved out, which was a huge relief.
30. Right Back Atcha
I once had a downstairs neighbor who didn't realize our building had thin walls. He'd blast his music loudly throughout the day and sometimes even late at night. This went on for months but unfortunately, the landlord hadn't taken any action. One day, he found a new favorite song, Gnarles Barkley's "Crazy."
He played it so many times in one hour that I couldn't take it anymore. Seeing as I love karaoke and had all the equipment, I decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. I hooked up my speakers to my computer and searched for the worst "karaoke cover" of the same song.
I found one sung by a really unskilled guy who seemed to be in his late 40s. It sounded nothing like the original, he was painfully off-key. I put my speakers on the floor and cranked up the volume, playing the awful cover three times in a row. It was loud enough to remind him of the importance of being considerate of others.
To my delight, he never played that song again. He started being much more mindful of the volume of his music. Come summer, he left, and I haven't heard "Crazy" being blared from his apartment since. I can only assume he learned his lesson.
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31. Exam Stress
My upstairs neighbor had been quite considerate all year, until he decided to blast his music during the finals week of my senior year. I approached him twice, politely requesting him to lower the volume, but he ended up turning it up again just a few minutes later. The bass was so intense, it made my windows tremble. After the third attempt, I had no choice but to call the authorities, who then gave him a ticket.
Once the officers left, he thought it would be a good idea to invite a few of his buddies over and attempt to break into my apartment. It took me brandishing some iron through the window to finally scare them off. I was definitely relieved when my college experience came to an end.
32. Heavy Footed
I live in Brooklyn, NY, in an apartment I recently found in Greenpoint. I'm fortunate to have a wonderful job in midtown Manhattan with ample overtime opportunities. However, this means that I work irregular hours and travel to and from work daily. Most nights, I wind up leaving work late, typically around 11:45 pm, resulting in a commute home via late-night trains that can take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour.
After arriving home around 12:30 am, tiredness sets in and I end up nonchalantly kicking off my shoes, tossing them and my duffle bag towards the nearest convenient spot, often right by my front door. When I first moved in, I kept hearing banging noises coming from my downstairs neighbor. It felt odd, thinking, "Really? Are they doing some renovation work at 1 am in the morning?!"
However, about three weeks ago, it dawned on me that the neighbor might actually be bothered by my late-night noise. Perhaps the layout of our apartments is distinct, with their bedroom situated directly below my living room. Conscious of this, I've made an effort to reduce the noise when I arrive home, gently removing my shoes and setting my belongings on the couch instead.
The funny part is, my downstairs neighbor has never directly talked to me about this. I often laugh quietly to myself, imagining them lying in bed, clutching a broomstick, ready to thump the ceiling at the faintest sound from my apartment.
33. Driveways And Fences
My current neighbor has suggested that we should remove our driveway. It seems she's upset that it's inclined and allows water to stream downhill. She's quite eccentric. The driveway has been there for 25 years, installed by professionals, and is built in compliance with the rules and regulations. She's indicated she may sue us as her yard is downhill from ours. We live in Georgia, and it rained heavily last year.
As a result, her yard ended up with three inches of standing water. She claims to have consulted a lawyer who supposedly agreed she has a case. She also confirmed the situation with our neighbor who happens to be a builder. When persuasion didn't work, we came back one day to find a fence dividing our yards. I guess it was meant to ruffle our feathers? But, we loved that fence!
As they say... good fences make good neighbors. Since that fence went up she hasn't disturbed us and we are both generally polite to each other these days.
34. Open Fire
Just three days back, my neighbor's dog, an unleashed pitbull lookalike weighing about 60 lbs, attacked my leashed dog in the open street. It came charging at us out of nowhere. I had no clue whether it carried any diseases, and I definitely didn't want a bite on me. So, to scare it away, I shot at it once, and it after that, it ran off.
The shot alerted the whole neighborhood, including the dog's owner who had the audacity to shout at me as if it would have been more sensible to let myself or my dog be mauled. This commotion drew three officers to the scene, making it feel like a full-on spectacle. I now face a court hearing for firing a weapon within city bounds. Honestly, though, I'm looking forward to my day in court.
35. The Worst of The Worst
My sister and I noticed something unsettling as we relaxed at home one afternoon around 5 pm, enjoying an episode of Doctor Who. An alarming yelp from outside interrupted us, prompting us to investigate. We discreetly looked through a backyard bush and what we saw chilled us to the bone - our neighbors apparently "training" their pet dog by suspending it by its back legs.
We immediately dialed 9-1-1 to let the authorities handle these bullies. Interestingly, it wasn't their first offence with animal mistreatment. However, it was only after we spotted them this time that they were finally confronted and taken into custody.
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36. Floridian Feud
We moved to Florida and, I gotta tell you, our neighbors were the most terrifying people I've ever encountered. Trust me, it's a long list, but here's the gist: They threatened to harm our dog, would constantly throw things in our yard just to provoke us, and even set up two webcams in a window to spy on our house. The list goes on.
Once, while I was taking a swim, a shoe fell into our pool. So there I was, just a 13-year-old kid, I picked it up and tossed it back over their fence. Believe it or not, they dialed up the authorities and spun this wild tale—they claimed that I had thrown a shoe that somehow hit their grandma in the head while she was busy gardening. It almost landed me in big trouble.
To this very day, I can promise we didn't do a thing to trigger their awful antics. We were friendly with them up until they kicked off this bizarre behavior.
37. No Consideration
I could share countless tales about my current neighbor. Once, she decided she didn't fancy the bush next to my mailbox and simply ripped it out. She's got four dogs, none of which she EVER keeps on leashes. They always dash across to other people's yards to relieve themselves and she doesn't lift a finger to clean up after them. Plus, she lets them roam the streets freely and delivers a glare to anyone who dares to hit the brakes to avoid her dogs.
I recently got a pup myself. When we're outside, he's always on a leash in my front yard. If her dogs are out, they'll dart over and frighten my little guy so much that he scurries back inside. I've spoken to her about leashing her dogs to keep them out of my yard. Her replies? "They don't like being leashed," and "Your dog needs to get used to others."
So, yeah, here's to you and your subpar dog parenting.
38. THAT Neighbor
Back when I was about 10 years old, my next-door neighbour would sometimes watch me as I checked my mailbox, hoping to find my GameStop magazine. Each time, she'd warn me, saying she'd report me to the authorities because it was against the law for me to open my parents' mail. I was 15 before I realized she was pulling my leg.
39. The Best Revenge
When I was a kid, we had neighbors who were simply unbearable. They were noisy and inconsiderate, always blaring their music and littering our lawn. They also owned a Great Dane whose favorite pastime seemed to be strolling over to our yard to leave enormous presents, sometimes even depositing them on our porch. My dad spoke with them a few times, but they claimed they were helpless to control it.
One day, my Dad decided to counteract. He began using a shovel to fling back the gifts their Great Dane had left on our yard. However, the real highlight is yet to come - these neighbors had kids around our age who were rather disagreeable. They were once amusing themselves in an inflatable pool, situated on a hill. As we watched, the most priceless thing happened...
The pool unknowingly tipped over and those little rascals went careening down the slope, ending up drenched in the remnants of their own dog's mess. We had a hard time controlling our laughter - it was easily one of the best days of my young life.
40. About The Garbage
There's a retired lady in my neighborhood who takes it upon herself to tidy up after the garbage truck comes by removing the trash cans from the street - it seems she doesn't like how they look. That'd be okay, but the issue lies in her leaving these cans smack bang in the middle of our driveways. This is problematic because there’s no stopping allowed on our street during peak traffic hours. So, you're left with two unsavory choices: either park a block away, walk to move the garbage can, then return to the car, or run the risk of getting a fine as you quickly relocate it.
Because the houses are quite close, we discovered her habit in a rather frustrating way - we knocked over a garbage can while turning into our driveway. Apparently, it was just far enough back that it was out of sight until we made our turn.
41. Family Feud
The authorities were called because the oldest son of the family was under the influence and ended up arguing loudly with his mother in their front yard. Turns out, he was also on the run from several serious federal offenses. The officers initially got the wrong address and banged on our door at 1 am. This, naturally, annoyed my father, who then pointed them to the correct house.
42. Case Of The Ex
One evening, I heard quite a ruckus. I stepped outside and found a fire extinguisher on the ground, with a seemingly flustered woman nearby on her phone. It was a bit baffling, but I just returned the extinguisher to its spot and retreated indoors. However, the noise resumed shortly after. When I ventured out again, I discovered the woman attempting to bash in the door opposite mine with the very same fire extinguisher.
From what I gathered, she's the ex-girlfriend of a friend of my neighbor and was adamant about locating him, despite his clear absence. Not knowing what else to do, I phoned the authorities. In a curious twist, my neighbor later informed me that she also got a D-U-I that night in an event that seemed unrelated.
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43. What Could Have Been
The guy who lived next door to me during my childhood had both bipolar and schizophrenia. His actions varied from strange to outright intrusive, like giving our front door an unsolicited, terribly purple paint job when we were away. After his wife decided to call it quits, he took to parking his car under our balcony, soaking it in gasoline, and turning it into a bonfire. Thank goodness the fire department got there quickly. But here's the really creepy part...
We later discovered he had sneakily fitted a deadlock on our fire exit earlier.
44. NOT Welcome
When I moved into my new house, I made a point to get to know all my neighbors. Instead of just knocking on their doors, which could feel awkward, I opted to introduce myself whenever I saw someone outside over the span of a few months. One evening, a Black neighbor was hosting a lively party, so around 8 pm, I decided to walk over and say hello.
Turns out it was a birthday party for one of his grandchildren. Despite seeing a lot of people around the yard, I still thought it seemed alright to greet them. I said, "Hi there, I moved a few houses down a couple of months ago and just wanted to introduce myself." He responded, "Do you look like the color that's supposed to be in this yard?" Apologetically, I retreated back home.
A couple of years later, he tragically succumbed to a heart attack; perhaps a result of his acerbic nature.
Pexels
45. A Horrible Trade-Off
I began cutting our grass when I was about 11 or 12. We only had a manual mower that wasn't ideal. Our neighbor, who had a motorized lawn mower, generously offered me free usage of it. The only condition was to refill the gas tank after each use. I was thrilled!
But, there was a catch. My dad suggested I should also mow the neighbor's lawn as a sign of gratitude.
I thought, "Okay, surely the riding mower can handle that", but my dad had more ideas. He didn't like the uneven look when the lawn next door was taller than ours. He also felt guilty about mowing just one neighbor's yard and not the others', so to avoid playing any favorites, he suggested I mow both our neighbors' lawns.
So, suddenly, my Saturdays consisted of mowing over four acres across three lawns. Thankfully, within a few years, a new neighbor moved into one of the houses and chose to take care of his lawn himself.
46. Here's Your Proof
When I initially moved into my home, I wasn't sure of my precise property boundaries. I placed a marker next to a tree thinking it was part of my land. My neighbor argued that the tree was his, telling me to remove the marker. So, I decided to have a professional surveyor determine our property lines to clear up the confusion. You should have seen my neighbor's face when I showed him that not only did the tree belong to me, but also an extra 10 feet beyond it. So, that issue was quickly resolved!
47. Blood On Her Hands
Around 15 years ago, my family and I lived in Fort Wayne, Indiana. We had made friends with a neighboring family, a mom and her two children. One day, while hanging out together, I noticed her son had some noticeable bruises and a prominent bump on his head. However, we just carried on with our play. Later that night, the boy's mother made a startling revelation to my mom.
She confessed to taking her son's life. She then sunk into unsettling specifics, showing zero regret for her actions. Once she went home, my mom contacted the authorities without delay, and they brought her in for questioning shortly thereafter. The most chilling part was, she threatened to do the same to my mom upon release. Terrified by this, we made a fast exit from Indiana and relocated to a different state.
48. Slipper Sniffer
My apartment neighbor, just across the hall, is a bit offbeat. There's something about him that's just strange. You see, I have this habit of leaving my sandals outside my door each night because I prefer not to wear shoes in my home. One particular night, my best friend came over really late. She's not familiar with my place, so I went out to meet her at the front. As I opened the door, I witnessed my neighbor doing something downright unhinged.
He was gently stroking and sniffing my sandals. I was shocked and a bit scared. When he noticed me watching, he let out an odd chuckle, made some excuse about his kids needing him, and before I knew it, pulled me into an awkward side hug. From then on, I keep my shoes inside my apartment in a box. What a situation.
49. Noise Complaint
I used to live on the top floor of a really old building, above a guy who seemed to always be bothered by the loud creaking sounds from my wooden floor whenever I walked. I wasn't stomping my feet or deliberately making noise, but he'd frequently come upstairs to complain about it. At first, I felt sorry for him, he seemed truly upset, but he couldn't seem to grasp that the noise wasn't intentional.
I tried reaching out to my landlord multiple times, hoping for a solution. Moving out wasn't an option because I was bound by my lease agreement. The only suggestion my landlord had was, "Buy more rugs." I soon got tired of all the unpleasant confrontations, I ended up either tiptoeing or literally leaping around furniture to travel across my own living room.
Finally, I decided to face this matter upfront one day, and went downstairs to have a chat, believing that if he could see my honest intentions face-to-face, perhaps he'd understand. After I explained myself, his response was straight-up terrifying: "If this happens again, don’t be surprised if I show up at your door with a huge knife." His stare chilled me to the core.
Scared out of my wits, I bolted out of there, immediately called my landlord, mentioning I’d been threatened by my downstairs neighbour. A month later, he moved out and as soon as the opportunity arose, I followed suit.
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50. Double Eviction
My inaugural apartment was home to quite a peculiar pair: an eerie old man, I'll call him George, residing in the basement unit, and a similarly eccentric guy in his early 30s up top. These two took turns lounging around the front porch at different times, always managing to intersect with my arrivals.
In a moment of unease, I'd misled George about my actual name. When he discovered my falsehood, his greetings became more forceful, flaunting my real name as if to demonstrate my wrongdoing. Spotting my evasion attempts via the back exit, he'd proactively circle the building, even camping out on the back steps to intersect me. Despite addressing this with the landlord twice, George's conduct only escalated post-restrictions, with an added tinge of bitterness.
George's audacious behavior eventually saw him pilfering the wreath from my door and discarding it, merely because I was the only tenant with one. I demanded my landlord to review the CCTV footage, leading to the discovery of George's repeated loitering near my door during work hours. The inevitable eviction followed, but that was only half my problem.
The top floor tenant, peculiar in his own way, hadn't been a concern until then. Post-George, I'd opted for harmonious relations with other residents and started exchanging greetings. Big mistake. He misinterpreted the friendliness, spreading talk about our nonexistent steamy relationship.
Tired of his antics, I chose to ignore him. Within two days, I found him lurking near my window, pressing his face against the glass in a futile attempt to spy. Upon being spotted, he tried to act nonchalant but the damage was done. A call to the authorities revealed his prior indiscretions, landing him an eviction notice as well.
51. Her Spot
My cousin parked her car on the street close to my house. Suddenly, our neighbor stormed out, claiming that was her spot. Instead of arguing, my cousin just moved her car. Thankfully, karma had her back. Not long after, one of the kids from our street accidentally rode a bike RIGHT into our neighbor's car in that very same spot.
52. One Foot Out The Door
When I was 14 years old, my neighbors had a big family with about 10 kids. I'd often ride snowmobiles with two of the younger ones in the winter. One morning, I headed over there and had to wait for them to get ready. While chilling at their table, I heard odd sounds coming from upstairs.
I asked what was happening, but nobody seemed to want to fill me in. Then, the youngest son chimed in, "Mom, show him." The mom fetched a piece of toilet paper from the fridge, plopped it on the table in front of me, and unraveled it. To my shock, it revealed a baby's leg with a toenail on the big toe.
She explained that one of their daughters had an abortion earlier that week and wasn't feeling well when she came home. "This fell out of her" when she used the bathroom. I bounced, hopped on my sled, and went home. It took me a few days to tell my parents about it.
Turns out, our small town's rumor mill was buzzing with tales of the girl being pregnant by her older brother, one of the kids I used to hang out with. That image of the leg with the toenail is still stuck in my head. It's odd that the mom didn't take it to the doctor but kept it almost like a conversation piece.
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