Babysitters Confess Their Creepiest Stories of Childcare Gone Weird

July 9, 2023 | Christine Tran

Babysitters Confess Their Creepiest Stories of Childcare Gone Weird


Childcare is a tough work, but does it have to be creepy? The babysitters of Reddit have come together to share their spookiest encounters while on the clock. From getting caught in the middle of fighting parents to the kids who seemed connected to other worlds, childhood is truly the creepiest time in a person’s life. Lock the doors to these 42 horrifying stories about babysitting gone weird.


1. Nobody’s Home

I was babysitting my little sister while my grandparents were out of town (we lived with our grandparents) when we hear my grandparents’ bedroom door open. I grabbed the only weapon I had, a mini Yankees baseball bat, and was just sitting with my sister quietly in my room. We heard someone walk down the hall to the kitchen when I called my uncle to come check on us.

This whole time, I wasn't completely convinced that what I was hearing was real, so ten minutes later he arrives and comes in through our front gate (we had a large outdoor courtyard). He comes and searches the house. I went with him, and what we saw still sends shivers down my spine when I think about it. We go into our grandparents’ bedroom. Their sliding glass door to the courtyard was open, and the chair in front of it was pushed forward, propping up the blinds.

So, someone had clearly entered the house, but my uncle searched the house, and no one was there. We assumed whoever it was had probably left when he heard someone come, so my uncle left. After that, my sister and I were in the kitchen eating some food when the doorknob to the garage door starts rattling, first softly then harder (the knob was broken and is almost impossible to use).

I grabbed my sister, ran out the front gate, got in my car and left. I have never been so scared in my life.

babysitters

2. Fighting that Animal Instinct

A 3-year old said: "There's strangers....there's strangers in the backyard..". "THERE'S STRANGERS IN THE BACKYARD". Kid runs. Back door starts rattling. Called my dad who lived across the street. In tow with my brother, they scavenged the backyard...to find two raccoons fighting.

Babysitting FactsPixabay

3. A High-Fat Fashion Statement

A little girl I was watching didn't speak too much yet. Her mom made her bacon before leaving her in my care. As the girl was eating, she takes a piece of bacon and puts it on her head, and very matter of factly says, "HAT!"

Babysitting FactsShutterstock

4. Hit and KISS

I was attempting to find the bathroom at their house and accidentally walked into a room that was a shrine to KISS. I mean, the whole darn room was covered in just KISS memorabilia. Then, later, the little girl threatened to rip my throat out.

Babysitting FactsShutterstock

5. Indefinite Work Hours

When I was about 20, I babysat for a family friend. She had two kids, and her husband was out of town. She had to go in to work early. I had to make sure the kids got to school on time. Babysitting itself was uneventful. The time she wrote down was wrong, so I ended up driving them in. However, once they were at school, I went home.

Around noon my mom called. Apparently, instead of going to work, the kids' mother had attempted to kill herself. She was in the hospital. She survived, but it was a bit jarring for me.

Cheating Exes FactsShutterstock

6. The Devil Is in the Details (and My Brother)

I had put the kids to bed, and I was chatting on the phone in the kitchen when suddenly I hear the three-year-old girl crying uncontrollably. I dropped the phone and ran into the room, and she basically jumped in my arms, clinging to me for dear life. Her two-year-old brother was lying in bed, wide-eyed and silently terrified.

When she finally calmed down enough to talk, I asked her what was wrong, and she looked me straight in the eye and said, "Satan is scaring me". Her brother just nodded.

Scariest Things They've Woken Up To factsShutterstock

7. Drowning in the Guilt

I was babysitting my cousins (3 boys), and we and some neighborhood kids were playing kick the can in the front yard. After a while, I noticed the youngest (about 9 years old) was nowhere to be found. For some reason, I instinctively ran to the back yard to check the pool. To my horror, there he was—submerged in the water.

I still don't know how I did this, but I reached into the water with one arm and pulled him out by his leg. Once he was out on the ground, I performed CPR. He spat up a lot of water and a partially eaten hotdog and came to. I never told my aunt and uncle. He is a healthy 25-year-old today.

Life-Ruining Secret FactsMax Pixel

8. That Escalated Quickly

While babysitting 3 kids, ages 4, 8, and 9, the 8-year-old decides to throw a steak knife in the air. It hits me in the forehead. It drew a little blood, so I went to look for napkins...and found the mom's drug lab. I called my mom, and she took care of the rest.

Wildest Concerts In History FactsGetty Images

9. Tall Order of "No Thanks"

I was babysitting my cousin one time and we were playing dress up, so she decided to start making my hair. We were sitting in front of the mirror and the entire time, she kept looking at something over my shoulder in the reflection. There was nothing there, so after about 10 minutes I asked her what she was staring at.

She goes, "The tall man, he says he wants to play with you". Needless to say, I did NOT want to play with him...

Worst Thing Done on a Date FactsShutterstock

10. Pet Cause at Any Cost

I was babysitting a really sweet, polite 9-year-old girl. She was telling me about the pets she'd had in the past. Apparently, she'd wanted a guinea pig (which she has now), but her mother wouldn't let her get one because she already had a goldfish. So, she's telling me this, and then she leans over to me and goes, "So.... I murdered it".

According to her, she waited until everyone had gone to bed, then snuck downstairs and repeatedly ran over the goldfish with a toy truck. Put it back in the tank, and upon discovering its demise, scuttled off to get her new guinea pig.

Babysitting FactsPexels

11. Hole in One Horror

I was babysitting a couple of kids whose parents lived on a golf course. That was all fine and dandy, until someone started knocking on the windows after they went to sleep. They had those stupid silhouette blinds that aren't completely opaque, so that was fun for me. The night ended with someone spray painting and throwing the paint can at their back window.

I called the authorities and noped right on out of there. Never found out who it was. Probably no imminent danger, but it was not fun for a twelve-year-old.

Babysitting FactsShutterstock

12. From Friend to Food

I used to babysit for these three kids who lived out in the country, and the family at some point got a cow and named it Chase. One night, I asked them what they wanted for dinner, and they gleefully replied "Chaseburgers". It didn't immediately click (I hadn't noticed the cow was not around), and I guess I didn't understand what they were saying.

They took me to the chest freezer and showed me package after package of meat labeled by the cow’s name and cut of meat. In other words, the kids ravenously ate cheeseburgers made from their pet cow named Chase, which they called Chaseburgers.

Dumbest Patient FactsMax Pixel

13. Bystander to the Battle at Home

Mom and dad came home hammered and fighting. The dad went out to walk the dog, and the mom locked the door with me inside. She kept saying "Shh-shh," while the dad screamed from the outside. She started saying things like, "He wants to kill himself instead of be with me—who says that?" I reached for the lock to get out, and she pulled my hand back, saying, "No, leave him for a while".

I waited as long as I could, then busted out of there.

Aggressive couple arguing about their problems.Getty Images

14. A Million Little Cuts

I was once babysitting a 7-year-old who was mad because I didn't allow him to go to his friend's house when his parents specifically said not to let him. He then proceeded to take a large knife and make small cuts on his arm and face, and told me that he was going to tell his parents that I did it to him. So I started secretly recording him in case the parents didn't believe me.

When his parents returned, I had to explain the situation, and of course they believed their precious son because he had (minor) cuts all over him and was bawling his eyes out. After being threatened, I showed them the video, and they tried apologizing. At that point, I was so fed up and annoyed that I left. Needless to say, I never babysat for them again.

Caught Lying FactsShutterstock

15. Mystery Baby

While I was in college, a girl I hadn't spoken to in over two years called me out of the blue and asked me to babysit for a child that she had babysat before. She just gave me an address and told me to go there. I couldn't believe it—I was not really the babysitting type, and the girl had quit hanging out with my friend and I because we partied way too much.

I told her I would do it—even though I had to be there in ten minutes. I get there, and the lady is waiting on the front porch. She is all impatient and the like, and tells me the baby is asleep and probably won't wake up—then she takes off. I was kind of shocked—I didn't even know her name, or the kid's name, or even if the kid was a boy or girl or how old it was.

I went into the house and found the kid's room. The infant (couldn't have been more than 3-4 months old) was asleep in the crib, so I checked on it and went downstairs and watched some TV. She said she would be back in about an hour, but three hours later, she still hadn't shown up or called, and the baby finally woke up and I assumed it was hungry.

I changed his diaper (this was when I found out he was a boy) and took him downstairs to find something to feed him. I wasn't sure what to give him, and there were no instructions. I couldn't get a hold of the girl, so I called my mom. She told me to just give him some formula. I wanted to, but there were three different kinds, so I picked the one for sensitive stomachs, made it, and fed him.

He calmed down, and I held him on the couch, playing with him for another 2 hours, until the parents finally showed up. The mom walked in, handed me a $20, and told me I could go, so I did. I never did learn anyone’s name, and found it really weird that they would entrust their infant with some random chick, but I guess that time they got lucky.

Creepiest Things Heard On Baby Monitors factsShutterstock

16. Baby Matchmaker

So, I'm a female and I babysit two brothers (9 and 12). One day it was me, the brothers, and their dad in the car. The 12-year-old then randomly said, "Hey dad, don't sleep with this babysitter hahahaha". Worst car ride ever. The dad stopped the car and yelled at his son and told him to apologize to me for making me feel uncomfortable.

Later, the dad explained that the son was making a reference to the movie The Babysitters. Still not sure...

Tipping Point in Relationship factsShutterstock

17. Long-Term Contract

I babysat two girls, maybe 8 and 6. Their mom said she was planning on being home around supper time. Well, supper time comes and goes, and mom doesn't show. A few more hours, and I receive a tipsy phone call from mommy dearest. I asked her when she expected to be home, and she said she didn't know. She asked to talk to her oldest, and I put the little girl on the phone.

Kid gets upset and runs to the kitchen, grabs a large knife and runs out into the night. I panic but manage to find her. She was hiding in the yard, didn't get too far. Anyway, long story short, it's now the next day and I call a friend of mine to take over since I was exhausted. Mom shows up three days later, and gives my friend $20 to give to me.

I’m furious and vow to never sit for anyone again. A few weeks go by, and her boyfriend shows up and apologizes for her actions and hands me $150. That family moved soon after that.

Angriest ever factsShutterstock

18. Too Little to Sit

Being six years old and barely being able to take care of myself, let alone an infant. I came up pretty poor and my mom struggled to make ends meet. One day, she had an interview and had to leave us (me and my brother who was 4) alone for 6 hours or so while she left to go to a job interview. Not to mention we were living out of a small motel room.

Anyway, I could handle my brother, so that wasn't too bad, but about 30 minutes later this lady who lived next door to us knocked on the door calling for help. Since I knew her and saw she was in trouble, I opened up the door. She then convinced me to babysit her 3-month-old infant while she did god knows what and darn, I was six, what was I going to say.

The worst part was her leaving me nothing but some half-eaten Chinese food to feed the kid for the day. Hours later, my mom returned home and cursed me out for opening the door and taking the baby, though she knew that I was only trying to be nice. The lady returned late that night, and my mom went crazy on her.

I never found out what happened to them, being that my mom got the job and we moved to an apartment soon after, but I hope that child ended up okay. I still think about it to this day.

Parents Never AdmitWikimedia Commons

19. When You Gotta Go, You Gotta Go

I once babysat a friend's son. I forget how old he was, but it was potty-training time and the kid was seriously uptight. He simply refused to go number two without the aid of a diaper. So, this one time I'm at my friend's house with the kid, and it's becoming obvious that he needs to go. I start to ask, "Do you need to go to the bathroom?" and "Do you need to go poo-poo?"

But the kid continuously shouted "No!" Finally, he starts to flip his lid, as he realizes that he can't hold it any longer. He starts running around the house with his hand covering his butt (did I mention he's not wearing pants or undies at this point?), trying to hold it in, screaming, while I'm chasing after him trying to urge him to sit on the toilet.

Finally, it happens. He stops running in the kitchen, looks up at me, and then—bam—lets out a huge log of dump right onto the kitchen floor. Without saying a word, he steps back and begins to stare at this monster poop that he has released, in clear awe that such a thing could have come from his bottom. Then he tries to touch it.

I managed to get him away and clean it up before things got any worse. I suck at potty-training and had to clean up an ungodly-sized toddler dump off of my friend's kitchen floor.

Babysitting FactsShutterstock

20. Sick of Caring

I used to babysit for a family who had a child with cancer. The siblings, being very young, at points could not understand the urgency of certain situations. Once we were at the community pool and I received a phone call saying that we needed to leave immediately to see the sick child in the hospital (which is obviously worrisome).

Several of the kids refused to get out of the pool. Even when I pointed out that we needed to go see their sister (which usually they get very excited about) they started freaking out. When I finally got down to one kid who would not listen, he glued himself to the ground, screaming that she should just die already so he could continue swimming.

The other siblings frantically tried to get him off the ground, and people were now staring. Being a community pool, everyone knew the family and knew there wasn't much I could do. He was just so hurt. It was a scene. It was heartbreaking to say the least. The kids were not very well-behaved, but there is so much love for this little girl in the family.

It takes such a toll on them to deal with her illness.

Instant Karma factsPxHere

21. The Bare Truth

When I was in high school, I babysat an 8-year-old boy and his 5-year-old little sister. As soon as their parents left the house, they thought it was hilarious to strip down and jump on the couch, no matter how much I begged them to stop and get dressed. I never told the parents because I didn't know how to bring it up.

Embarrassing Things Toddlers Have Said factsShutterstock

22. Childcare Is a Crusty Calling

When I was a preschool teacher, we would do lunchtime followed by nap time. The room was quiet, and I was cleaning up. I was at the sink washing my hands when I looked over at one of the boys. He was sleeping on his back. He had vomited and was basically suffocating on his own puke. I don't know how long he had been like that.

I rolled him over and started cleaning puke out of his mouth and nose. He coughed and started breathing. I started bawling. I got him cleaned up and held him until his dad got there. Unfortunately, I have too many gross stories about kids. I was also a nanny to 5 kids. They are disgusting creatures.

Scary-Smart Student FactsShutterstock

23. Man’s Best Limbs

I have rather hairy legs, and I was wearing shorts. This four-year-old boy just gets on the floor and starts petting my legs like I'm a dog.

Babysitting FactsShutterstock

24. Fashion or Fear?

In high school, I met a nudist family at the local clothing-optional beach. They asked me to babysit, figuring I'd be comfortable with their lifestyle. No problem, easy money. Two boys 7 and 9, well behaved. The weird thing was that as soon as the parents left for their night out, the kids would start putting on clothes, like they couldn't wait to get sweaters on.

By the time the parents got home, we were usually bundled up watching scary movies on TV. They always seemed a little uncomfortable with that, like I'd been perverting their kids into putting on clothes.

Babysitting FactsShutterstock

25. Sweets or No Relief

I was babysitting an eight-year-old who got angry because I wouldn't let her eat a ton of candy at midnight when she was supposed to be in bed...so she sat on the kitchen floor and urinated.

Babysitting FactsPixabay

26. Too Young for That Kind of Candy

I haven't babysat in a while, but when I was a teenager, I watched two kids up the street. The mother was single and had another single friend with two kids, so I usually watched them all. I knew they went out to party—which was fine because they'd come home tipsy and pay me more than I expected. What I didn't know is how much they partied.

One evening, I went upstairs to get money for pizza. I found both moms in the bathroom snorting white stuff. The worst thing was when they offered me some despite the fact that A) I was about to spend the night watching their young children and B) I was only 14 or 15 at the time.

Stupidest Things to Impress Crush factsShutterstock

27. Only Love Will Set Him Free

I babysat a little boy who had severe emotional problems. One time, he ran away while I was upstairs playing with his sister. He ran away to the park down the block, climbed a tree, and refused to come down because "no one loved him". I was young and didn't think about calling 9-1-1 or anything. I just sat at the bottom of the tree and literally talked him down.

I convinced him that I loved him and wanted him to come home. His siblings also helped me by saying they loved him also. It was so scary.

Rudolph Valentino factsPixabay

28. In the Business of Empires

I babysat for a very prominent family in my town—wife was a CEO, husband a lawyer. It was the best job ever! Two easy-going kids, $15 an hour (this was 15 years ago, so that was a TON of money), access to their pool, and an open invitation for my friends to come swim while I was "working". In between my first and second summer working for them, things changed.

The parents divorced and the dad bought a giant house out in the country where I'd watch the kids sometimes. He made it very clear that his office and all the outbuildings were strictly off-limits. Okay, whatever, no problem. He had a "groundskeeper" who was always prowling around, hitting on me, and acting like a total creeper.

If the kids or I came within 20 feet of the (supposedly empty) stables, he'd shoo us away, saying he'd spotted a dangerous snake, just sprayed for bugs, or some other reason to keep us away. Came home from school a few months after my summer gig was over and saw the dad's mugshot on TV. He'd been busted as some kind of small-time drug lord.

It was a huge, embarrassing ordeal for his ex-wife and their kids, and they eventually moved away. My parents freaked that I was working so close to unlawful activity, and wouldn't let me babysit anymore after that. It was a bummer all around.

Russell Brand factsPixabay

29. A Chorus Line

I used to watch my brother's girlfriend's kids all the time, they had this weird habit. Whenever they would color or do something that required writing, they would slowly start to "sing". It was like they were whining incoherent words with a strange melody behind it. The weirdest part was when I would ask them about it, they acted as if they had no idea what I was talking about.

They had no idea they were doing it when they were doing it....They weren't autistic; they were perfectly normal girls for the most part, but darn that was creepy, especially when I didn't expect it.

Babysitting FactsMax Pixel

30. Doggone Anxiety Attack

I was babysitting two kids for the first time. They'd both gone to bed, and I was hanging out on the couch, reading a book. The house was pretty much silent, except for the buzz of the fridge and stuff like that. At the end of the couch is a door that, at this point, I didn't know where it led to, but I presumed it leads outside.

So, I'm sitting there, when all of a sudden, I hear footsteps and heavy breathing right at this door. I immediately freeze, staring at it, wondering if I was nodding off. Nope. Breathing continues. It sounds like a guy with a cold. I can't even move I'm so scared. I hear the footsteps move away, and I try to get up without making a noise.

Of course, the couch creaks and I hear the footsteps run straight back up to the door, the breathing louder and heavier this time. I go straight into the kids' room and call their parents. I'm shaking and nearly in tears. Needless to say, they think it's pretty funny that they forgot to tell me that the door leads to a small room, and their elderly dog was sleeping in there and must have woken up.

It didn't sound like dog steps because it had something wrong with its legs, and ran in these weird little leaps.

Babysitting FactsFlickr

31. Nightmare on Elm Street

I used to babysit for a family with 3 very young kids after school 3 days a week. On the parents’ anniversary, they asked me to babysit at night for the first time. When I got there at 7:00, the kids were already in bed and sound asleep. A few hours later, the oldest, a four-year-old girl, started screaming. Literally horror movie screams.

I grabbed my phone, dialed 9-1-1, and carried my phone upstairs, expecting her to be chopped in pieces or something, me being next. I walked upstairs barely able to hold the phone my hands were shaking so bad. I turned the corner, and she was sound asleep, no one was around. The parents failed to warn me of their daughter's horrible night terrors, and were laughing about it when I explained the situation when they got home.

NOT FUNNY.

Babysitting FactsShutterstock

32. This Is Not a Drive-By

So, I don't know that I would call it "babysitting," but it was me as a 19ish-year-old and my two younger siblings (who were about 13 and 9) at home alone one night. My bedroom was at the corner of the house, and was always warmer than the rest of the rooms, so I would open up my bedroom window all the way and sleep with just the screen. (Very quiet, no crime, suburban neighborhood).

That particular night, I was watching TV and I just sensed something was wrong. I don't even know what came over me, but I felt watched. I heard a bit of a rustling noise and I panicked, ran over to my window, and slammed it shut. I checked all of the doors to the house and just got over it after calming myself down for a while.

The next day I went outside, and both my car and my mom's conversion van had been broken into, trashed, and stuff was stolen out of it. To this day, I feel like the person was standing at my window, but I just reacted and slammed the window shut, so I don't know.

Babysitting FactsFlickr

33. Two for the Price of One

I babysat a 4-year-old once. I was 20 at the time. In the basement lived a teenage brother to the 4-year-old, a kid I wasn't told about until I walked in and the mom said, "By the way, my 17-year-old is in the basement" as she ran out the door. The little one went to sleep. The teen came up and asked me if I had any illicit substances.

Babysitting FactsShutterstock

34. Get High on The Responsibility

I accidentally ate a stash of weed cookies when I was 12. In retrospect, it makes more sense now that they kept the cookies in the back of the cupboard above the refrigerator. I had to get up on the counter to reach them. I initially only planned on stealing one cookie, but I just couldn't help going back for more again and again.

I was filling in for my cousin's usual gig. She was 16, and she flipped when she showed up and found me all stoned.

Babysitting FactsShutterstock

35. Love the Skin That You’re In

I once babysat a kid who had really bad eczema. They had a pool in their backyard, and after he would go swimming, his skin would get really dry and scaly. I think it was really itchy too, because he would scratch all the time, which lead to really gross and puss-filled blisters. His parents had a bunch of other kids, so his skin went kind of untreated.

He always had a weird smell about him. A smell I can only attribute to necrotic, decaying skin. Then one day, after swimming, I couldn't find him. I started crawling on the floor looking for him. Finally, I spotted him way underneath his bed, where I couldn't reach him. He was just chilling under there...eating his skin. It was repulsive!

He was staring me straight in the eyes, chomping on decaying pus-coated blisters. I couldn't even reach him to make him stop. It was gross. I watched these kids for an entire summer and made $8/day. Not worth it.

Skin factsShutterstock

36. Pray the Dysfunction Away

I was a nanny to two of the most emotionally disturbed kids I'd ever seen. Kids of divorce, lived with their Fundie-Christian mom. They were 7 and 9. The dad was only interested in speaking to the 7-year-old (girl). She would hide in her bedroom and talk to her dad on the phone for hours, always whispering. The dad wouldn't even bother talking to the boy.

He was desperate for attention from his dad, but this man would hang up the phone if the girl gave the phone to her brother. This resulted in a LOT of acting out violently from the boy. So obviously you know what I thought was going on. I shared my concerns with the mom, to no avail. She dismissed it time after time, no matter how hard I tried.

Anyways, I was informed to never let the dad in the house or let him take the kids (custody battle). The problem was, any time I said no to this little girl, she'd run to her room and call daddy on me. Then he'd show up, threatening to hurt me for not indulging his little girl's every whim. I didn't know what to do, and it got so much worse.

One incident ended up with me trying to call 9-1-1 on him, and the girl taking my phone and smashing it on a tile floor. She then grabbed the home phone and ran to the other room to call the authorities on ME for not allowing her daddy to take her away because I was hurting her. I had told her that her brother got to pick the movie today because she picked one yesterday.

Officers show up, and while they're interviewing the dad and daughter, the mom comes home. She defends me, and the officers end up telling the dad not to breach the court-mandated custody agreement. The girl locks herself in the room and the mom looks at me, sighs, and says, "You know what it is...I forgot to pray today". I quit.

Worst Thing Found in Hotel FactsShutterstock

37. Bottoms up to Extra Tips

New Year's Eve. Parents come home midway through the evening to drop off one of their super tipsy friends. He went to sleep in the three-year old's bed, and the kid kept going up to check on him like a little nurse. One of the kids reached for a glass of what I thought was water on the coffee table, but I gave it a quick sniff.

It was vodka that the parents left out when they went to the bars. Parents were so hammered, they each tipped me a ton of money and told me not to tell the other party. I made $90 that night, which was amazing money in 1993.

Memorable Stranger FactsShutterstock

38. Something Is Coming From Inside the House

I was babysitting a little boy, and he was taking a nap, so I turned the baby monitor on and went to the kitchen to get a snack. After a few minutes, I hear a man's voice coming from the baby monitor. I freak out and grab a knife, and go to the kid's room... No one's there, the kid's fast asleep. I go to the kitchen, telling myself to calm down...

...but then I hear the man's voice again. He's talking about drilling holes in floor joists to get the plumbing set up, and I can hear heavy machinery in the background. It's only then that I remember that the house a few doors down is under construction. The baby monitor was running on the same frequency as their radios, and it was picking up conversations from the construction site.

Creepiest Things Heard On Baby Monitors factsShutterstock

39. Sharp Criticism

I was babysitting a couple of siblings: a brother and sister, and the sister had a friend over to play with as well. The two girls were 5, the boy was probably 7 or 8—a little older. I was watching them during the day on a weekend because their single mom had to go into work. When I got to the house, the boy was zoned out watching tv, and the little girls were playing with dolls in another room.

The morning went fine, but in the afternoon, as I am making lunch, I hear screams in the backyard. I run back there, and the boy is wielding a seriously sharp kitchen knife—the two little girls have barricaded themselves into one of those plastic playhouses and are screaming in terror, and the boy is madly stabbing through the slits in the windows, laughing.

As I run over, I am shouting at him to stop, but he keeps stabbing, and I have to tackle him and wrestle the blade away. I ended up getting some cuts on my hands in the process, and the boy was kicking, punching, and biting, trying to get out of my grasp. I somehow manage to drag him away, throw him in his room, and call his mom at work.

She comes home a few hours early, clearly mad that I called her and grumbling about how he obviously wasn't going to hurt the girls. She gave him a good smack, but basically told me I was a bad babysitter. I was not that old myself, only 12.

Disturbing True Story FactsShutterstock

40. Turn Left at the Next Sign of Danger

The first time I babysat for my little brother and sister, I had to call my parents from a firehouse about an hour after they left. I was 20 at the time, my brother was 12 and my sister was 10. They wanted McDonald's for dinner, and since they're never allowed to have it, I brought them there. My house was two away from the corner, where I'd then turn left, drive about a half mile, and end at McDonald's.

We pulled out of the parking lot, with a few cars and a van behind us. As we were about to turn back onto my block, I got a glimpse of the moon before it was hidden behind some trees. One of those giant parchment-colored, harvest moon types. The kids missed it (thank God) so instead of just pulling up in front of the house, I circled the block.

By this time, all the cars behind me had turned off because I was essentially just going in a circle, but the van was still there. I pulled over at one point to do a k-turn, and I pulled to the curb. The van pulled up behind me and two older guys got out and started walking towards my car. I thought it must be their house, and for whatever reason I felt awkward turning around there, so I just pulled away.

They ran and jumped back into the van and started following. That's when I knew stuff was weird. I kept making erratic turns through our neighborhood, trying to let them know that I knew what they were doing without freaking the kids out. "Yeah guys let’s just cruise the neighborhood for a while," I told my brother and sister.

This went on for about ten minutes until at one point I put my blinker on like I was going to make a left, started doing so (so did they), and pulled out at the last second (so did they). That's when the kids figured it out and FREAKED. I obviously couldn't just go home and show them where I live, so I went up around the back of main street.

I consoled my sister, who was absolutely frantic, and just pulled into the (fortunately wide open) door of the fire house, holding down my horn. A guy ran out, I said "please help someone is following us," at which point the van peeled out and was gone. They were behind me with the light on, so I could never get a look at their license plate.

I wasn't the slightest bit freaked out at the time, I just completely calmly and rationally did exactly what I needed to do to get these guys to safety. They offered to bring us home with an escort from law enforcement, but I just didn't feel comfortable, seeing as the van had passed my house a couple times already during this whole thing, not knowing it was ours of course, but still.

It wasn't until I got back to my house later and was explaining it to my brother that I started violently shaking and couldn't even really speak for about an hour. I'm 5'1 and was about 100 lbs. at the time. It still frightens me to think what would have happened if the kids had seen the moon when I did, and we just went home.

These guys had gotten out of their car and were already approaching me when I stopped to make the turn. I don't know what the heck they were planning, but it definitely didn't seem friendly. I still get scared about going to my dad’s in my car, worried they'll see me and remember.

Babysitting FactsShutterstock

41. You Can’t Take Cuteness With You

My little cousin is a very lively 4-year-old. She's cute, but she can be a little much if you're not crazy about kids. The other day at a family birthday, I sat down after playing with her to relax a little, and she came over and sat down in front of me. All quiet and very serious, she looks me in the eyes and says, "Where are you going?"

And I answer "nowhere, I'm just sitting here". There is a small pause before she says, "That's right. You're not going anywhere. Not until you're going up to God". Then she poked my chest and ran off laughing. It's weird because she said it in that creepy kid way, but also because of the whole God thing. Religion isn't a very big thing where I'm from, and I have no idea where she got that understanding of an afterlife.

Babysitting FactsShutterstock

42. Cry "I Quit"

I started babysitting my neighbors a little before I should have. I was 9 years old, I think, and I had just put the two girls to bed. I went downstairs and turned on the TV. Almost immediately, I heard one of the girls cry, run to the bathroom, and slam the door. But this wasn't like them. I went back upstairs and tried to enter the bathroom, but the door was locked, and the little girl wouldn't respond, just cry.

I decided to check on the second sister. They share a room with a bunk bed. Both of them were sound asleep...But I could still hear the frantic crying. I ran back downstairs, still hearing the crying. Their parents returned half an hour later, and we all went to check the bathroom, still audible crying. But something was different.

This time the door wasn't locked, and the crying quietly faded as we approached. I retired my babysitting career that night.

Babysitting FactsShutterstock

Sources:  Reddit, ,


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