Every good story starts with an “it’s true what they say.”

Every good story can be even better when it is a long-considered local rumor that everyone wrote off as being just that—a rumor and nothing more—but many, many, years later it turns out that it was actually true. With mixed results.

Folks on Reddit are sharing stories of local rumors that may or may not have sent chills down their spines, but ones that definitely maybe sent some chills after finding out that the rumor was definitely a thing.

#1

Rumour about a local businessman who tried to end it all and was rescued. Some weeks later he ran into a burning building and rescued two young children, sustaining severe burns in the process.

A few months ago I saw him in the pub on the green, all of the skin in his face and hands had melted and he had skin grafted everywhere.

Happiest man in the pub. What a hero.

Image credits: wailingghost

#2

US Midwest. Rumor has it that way up the old road out of town, somewhere in the woods, was a satanic cult that held seances and other mystical rituals by firelight. Scared the w*****s out of us kids, and our parents wouldn't let us ride our bikes anywhere on that road. Decades later I was working on a commissioned history project for the town and talked to the old man who owned the oldest homestead in the county--way back in the woods along that road. While photographing the creek that ran through the stone foundation basement of the home, which the settlers used for water generations ago, I noted the burned out tea candles everywhere. Guy lit up and said yeah, back in his younger days he and his wife used to host elaborate costume parties at the property, often by candlelight for the fun of it. He'd heard the rumors of the satanic cult and thought it was hilarious, so he and his friends ran with it and held parties in monks robes and had bonfires and lived it up. He still laughs about it, and now, so can I!

Image credits: shiggyhardlust

#3

Grew up in a rural area of the southwest in the 80’s. There was an older woman with a thick European accent, she lived alone in a small house and was always nice to us kids. She was the only person who gave out full size candy bars during Halloween (that was a big deal back in the 80’s). But she also drank…heavily, like crashed her car a few times around town but not at fast speed (an old huge Ford LTD and not at fast speeds), and the sheriff’s always just took her home.

Rumors spread amongst us kids that it was strange the way our parents/ adults acted around her. One day in the small local store I was standing in line with my dad and she was standing behind us, I was about 8, I looked back and said to my Dad “that’s the lady that gives out full size Hersey candy bars on Halloween!” She smiled, my father turned and thanked her and looked at her arm, he looked spooked, then he quickly offered her to go ahead of us in line thanking her again. Side note my family’s Catholic.

When we got in the car I asked him about the woman, he then explained “those numbers tattooed on her arm,” he paused “what have you learned about WWII?” He then tried the entire ride home and later at home to explain the horrors of the holocaust to a 8 year old kid. It made sense why all the adults always treated her with a different type of respect. Even the Sheriffs, I always thought it was cool. Later I remembered people would volunteer to help her with her yard work, drop off groceries, get her packages, etc. me and my friend would mow her yard for free.

Image credits: VincentMac1984

A netizen who identifies as the only carpenter recently asked AskReddit about local rumors that Redditors have heard as kids, but it turned out to be real.

The post garnered nearly 13,000 upvotes with another (also nearly) 5,000 comments in engagement.

#4

I grew up where there were some signs of Native Americans. I started believing that this one particularly beautiful spot had to be sacred, and probably was a burial ground. I’d convince my friends to hold hands in a circle and try to commune with the dead. After I got a bit older I was super embarrassed that I’d ever done such things.

A few years later a Native American came but and told us how sacred the land was that we owned, and asked permission to hold peyote rituals with his tribe and others on our land. To this day they still come out and set up a teepee and drum all night, absolutely flying on hallucinogenics.

Turns out I was right

Image credits: ReasonablyConfused

#5

This is a little more lighthearted. But when I was in elementary school. Probably like 3rd grade? All the kids in my class would joke about how our primary teacher and our Spanish teacher “liked” each other. We were all little kids, so of course it was just dumb little kids joking about around.

That is, until a few years later when I was in middle school and I found out my old teacher and Spanish teacher recently got married.

Image credits: CountChoculasGhost

#6

I have two. Both about elderly men.

First, there was an elderly man that could be seen walking all over town. Long gray beard. Usually seen in tattered clothes. "Walking Man" or the "Silver Bullet" were nicknames for him. The rumor was he was actually really wealthy but lots of people just assumed he was homeless because he was always walking, carrying groceries or whatever. Well, about a year before he passed, it came out that he was actually one of the wealthiest residents in our town when he donated millions to local youth programs and schools. Turns out, he just liked walking a lot and placed no value on material things like clothes and cars.

Second, there was an elderly man who was actually homeless . The rumor was that he drank himself crazy some years back and just never got help. He was in and out of jail a bunch but always seem to be given some slack by law enforcement. This truth is tragic. He did drink himself crazy out of necessity. He was a paramedic. One night he responded to a wreck that turned out to be his wife and daughter had been hit by a distracted driver speeding on a narrow road. Neither survived. Understandably, he was never ok after that. He would sometimes check the pizza shop I used to manage for spare slices. Broke my heart that all I could do was offer him some free pizza. Hope you can rest in peace now, Red.

Image credits: Spo_Ofzor

The amount of storytelling in this thread could be enough to write several mystery books with all of its talks of cults in the woods, football fields built on cemeteries, heroic business people with a dark past, being struck by lightning, dating teachers, you name it, it’s probably here.

#7

Always heard rumours that this kid who I rode bmx with, his dad was a high ranking member of the Hells. One day we’re over there, years later, chatting s**t around the fire in his backyard and about 70 patched members arrived at the house for a meeting. They bought us a s**tload of beer and told us to find a park to drink it in for a few hours while they had their meeting.

Image credits: mygolgoygol

#8

The community I grew up in had an abandoned hospital in it. The place was spooky as hell. The story was that the hospital had a maternity ward where they would steal babies from Indigenous women and then make the mothers disappear. They also said they would experiment on people and perform surgeries with no anesthetic.

Turned out it was true!

They say that place is crawling with ghosts and you could see the ghosts of the women walking around the hallways looking for their babies. I can not confirm that one. I always stayed away from that place it was too creepy.

They ended up trying to redevelop the building into condos and holy s**t you could not pay me enough to ever live in there.

Image credits: russelljonesya

#9

When I was a little kid like 7 and roaming around the neighborhood with my gang of little rascals (this was in the 50’s when kids could safely play outside all day with their pals without parental worry) there was a rumor that in the house two doors over from mine that the parents had locked their mentally handicapped kid in the attic and that he was one of my gang friend’s older brothers. We played with him, but he always denied that he had any siblings. We were never allowed to enter his house which was strange because we were always stopping at our other pals homes during our days roaming to drink water or use the bathroom. About 2 years later the boy and his family moved away never to be seen again, but when they moved it was discovered that, yes, an older brother did exist and that he was kept locked away in the attic. It was a very creepy discovery! Mental health awareness and acceptance was in the dark ages in the 1950’s.

Image credits: BoS_Vlad

Because chaos is a natural part of life, it’s only appropriate to learn something out of the ordinary about rumors, and that is how to start one.

First up is crafting a compelling rumor. Figure out what you want to achieve with this rumor. Classics include humiliating someone to deflate their ego or exact karma for being a jerk, but it can be more elaborate, like breaking up a couple.

#10

This older kid had this lightning streak scar all over one side of his neck and down his body. The rumor was he was throwing stuff at the power lines behind our neighborhood.

Turns out he was. He was throwing copper wire at it, and it arced. He's lucky to be alive.

Image credits: WhyEvenTryEver

#11

The local homeless guy who was always friendly and happy was actually a super successful lawyer. The truth was that he *was* a successful lawyer but one day cracked under the pressure, sold all his things and just started living the vagabond life. He said he was happier looking for where his next meal was coming from than money ever made him. I think it was the first seed planted in my brain of "don't k**l yourself for a company". I don't remember his name, but I hope he's still happy.

Image credits: ProfessorGluttony

#12

The park we used to play football at used to be a cemetery, they exhumed all the coffins and moved them years before I was born. We’d freak each other out especially at night saying there were still bodies buried there. One day we were playing and they were doing some grounds keeping work and they found a coffin, the state came out and found 30 more. We were actually playing on top of hallowed ground.

Image credits: Telrom_1

It helps to also identify some emotional triggers that you can use to your advantage. You know, stir some panic and anxiety in the individual. Or individuals.

So, focus on a topic that would be relatable and would hit close to home. Topics like money help a lot, like winning the lottery, and it helps to include details that would please a crowd, like maybe choosing a controversial decision.

#13

One grade school teacher (m) had married another (f). Did not last, think weeks not months or years. Rumours were 1) he was gay. 2) he threw up on the wedding night in the middle of the attempted consummation.

Both turned out true.

Image credits: PlayNicePlayCrazy

#14

There was a taco truck in town that sold w**d if you asked for a side of lettuce.

Image credits: _metamax_

#15

There was a rumor at my high school that that the building down the way was a cult. It wasn’t unheard of to dare people to go over there and then you’d end up being followed or sometimes invited to dinner.

Turns out, it was the HQ of the cult the Duggars were in, IBLP. I was watching that documentary and my mind was blown, because all the high school rumors had been true!!

Image credits: _curiouschloe_

Needless to say, the rumors have to be simple and believable, so making all the details overly complicated and the multitude to which the rumor extends beyond the immediate reality is not a good idea. Keep it grounded.

Once all that is sorted out, start spreading. And it’s not just talking about—it’s convincing others to spread it too. Hire all the bigmouths to do the job.

#16

When I was a child *shakes cane* we had the legend of The Baroness. Supposedly, she lived in a haunted house and drove around a pink hearse! When I was old enough to drive and explore on my own, I finally saw her! In her pink hearse! She also did live in a house that would have coded as spooky or haunted to a small child. It was just an old house with neat architecture.

Image credits: NonStopKnits

#17

When I was a kid (in the late 70's) there was a rumor that an old weird family were retired circus folk and kept an elephant in their barn, we all thought it was just an urban legend, until one day there was news reporters and all kinds of police activity at the residence and the elephant was taken away in a truck lol

Image credits: No_Variety9420

#18

A vagrant looking man used to collect cans from local parks and whatnot (imagine someone pushing a shopping cart in tattered clothing). Rumor was he was generationally wealthy and when he passed away he left a fortune to the park and rec department to update facilities. Apparently this happens in a lot of places which is awesome to hear. His name was Nick and this was in Wisconsin back in the late 1980’s/early 1990’s.

Image credits: blow_montana

Social media and the internet in general might prove to be very helpful with the level of anonymity that it provides. Fake accounts will be your best friend, both as a means of spreading and as a means of leaving deliberate evidence around. You know, breadcrumbs that make the whole thing sound legit. But don’t go overboard as it should also keep your tracks hidden.

#19

Doctor in town (who was a huge football booster) gave prescription painkillers to high school kids.

He passed away before it all came to light so he never saw justice.

Lots and lots of kids through the years unsurprisingly became addicted.

Image credits: NotOnHerb5

#20

One of the teachers in my school got pregnant by a student but they didn't know which one (she had slept with 7).

Image credits: Jay-x9x

#21

Girl in my high school was rumored to have been dating one of the teachers who was married.

This was probably true because after graduation, the teacher had retired, divorced his wife and married the girl.

Image credits: SteamDecked

Speaking of which, covering your tracks is a huge part of spreading rumors.

So, make the rumor hard to disprove. Include details that are impossible to track down, like someone making a mistake and it affecting someone who nobody knows about and can’t find to confirm it.

#22

Okay so this wasn't one that I heard as a kid but there was rumor around the college my wife works at that the chemistry professor was actually the father of the literature professor's baby.
A couple of the students asked her about it and she admitted that yes, the father was the chemistry professor.

The students were scandalized. Until she explained to them that said chemistry professor was her husband and this would be their second kid. Apparently, it never occurred to the kids at this small Midwestern college that couples didn't always share a last name.

#23

There was a teacher at my school that kids would claim was insanely rich. Like he lived in a giant mansion near the oceanfront and he only taught because he just genuinely loves being a teacher. He was pretty private so he would always say you shouldn't ask people about their finances when kids would just ask him. So senior year he has the seniors over for a year-end awards ceremony and superlatives type dinner deal

Yup, super rich and lived in a huge mansion by the ocean. Said he inherited all his money from his parents and I think he said a sibling or two got written out of the will for being s****y so he didn't have to share it. Became a teacher out of college, then when his parents died and he inherited everything he just kept teaching because he liked it.

#24

kid in my third grade class was ALWAYS late to school. i’m talking he once showed up to school 5 minutes before classes were released to go home. the rumor among parents & teachers was that his mom was an alcoholic & the dad lived a couple towns over so he often had to wait for his dad to take him or take care of his mom until she was well enough to drive (this was a private school with no bus). she died of liver failure a few months ago according to facebook. makes it so much more f****d up that everyone knew, including the teacher, and didn’t have any sympathy for him. i distinctly remember the teacher telling him on multiple occasions that it was “his responsibility to show up on time.” he was 8, was he supposed to drive himself??? makes me so sad & i hope he’s doing okay now.

It also goes without saying that keeping the list of accomplices to a minimum is an advantage because that would also minimize the chances of the rumor leading back to you. It also helps to make sure that whatever that you’re spreading a rumor about doesn’t automatically leave you as the only suspect, i.e. if you’ve been entrusted with a secret and you’re the only one who knows about it.

#25

It was a local urban legend that this huge, old, and abandoned house was haunted because like a century ago there was a m****r there. Kids would freak each other out over it, tell ghost stories, sneak onto the property, whatever. I thought it was just that, an urban legend about an abandoned house. Nope - in the early 1900s the husband and wife were found dead in the house, it was never solved, but the son was suspected because he was missing and never found. No one moved into it after that and it’s sat empty since. I only found out because they planned to tear it down to build apartments on the property 2 years ago but the local community rallied to preserve it.

Image credits: Mat_Cauthons_Hat_

#26

I’ve heard about two different teachers at my highschool being creepy and they both have been fired for inappropriate contact with students

Image credits: offbrandbarbie

#27

In middle school there was an urban legend one of the teachers was in playboy. She was very attractive and every 12 yr old hetero boys fantasy.

One day a friend down the street found a huge stash of his dad’s old playboys from the 60 and 70s. He started going through them all until he hit one issue from the 70s. It was a compilation piece on college women. To his surprise, and the rest of us when he confirmed with our little group, it was our teacher. No one believed it but it was her name, college and face.

The good thing was we agreed to never show, nor tell, anyone else in our class. Though it was very tempting to tell her a*****e son who was in our grade that we knew the truth.

Obligatory PSA: keep in mind that spreading rumors is frowned upon and in some cases can be very, very illegal, so proceed at your own risk, i.e. keep it harmless and fun. Or, if anything, to teach someone a lesson about spreading rumors and ruining people’s lives because humans can be cruel sometimes.

#28

One persistent rumor that went around during highschool was that one of our biology teachers was having sex with students. We all thought it was a joke because the guy was rather ugly looking and we all knew his wife (a fellow teacher) was always around.

Years pass and I find out that the male teacher was found having several relationships with underaged students. He got arrested, divorced, put on the SO registration, and lost custody of his kids.

Image credits: MTGBro_Josh

#29

When I was in jr high in the early 2000s there was a rumour about one of my female classmates and the male gym teacher. Of course we all thought it was a rumour but a few years later it came out that he was sleeping with multiple students. Watching everyone’s face as they realized the rumours we heard were true was pretty wild. That girl also ended up just disappearing after it all came out, probably dropped out or moved schools, I feel bad for her, she was a victim but no one talked about her like she was.

Image credits: SgtGo

#30

Everyone at my school knew someone who knew someone who told them that this one house just down the road from the school was owned by a locally known drug dealer and it was his emergency hide out house. Years later I was driving past and laughed at how ridiculous the story was. 2 weeks after that the house was on the news with armed police surrounding it. Turns out it really was this drug hideout and the guy was involved in way more stuff than just that. They found drugs, weapons and evidence of a human trafficking ring in there. The house got mysteriously burned down while his court case was going on and has been a burned out empty lot ever since.

So, heard any juicy rumors lately that you wish becomes true? Why not share them in the comment section below!

But if that's not something you'd be into, then mayhaps take your virtual self to check out some conspiracy theories people actually believe in, despite them being over the top ridiculous!

#31

That our neighbor was a p**o. Married with kids. One day, he drops dead of a heart attack. When the family started going through his stuff, they were so disgusted apparently just sold the house as-is with the furniture and everything.

Image credits: archfapper

#32

A kid at my school who’s mom disappeared when he was a baby was rumored that she was k***ed by Ted Bundy. Decades later researchers think it’s true.

#33

Our local China Buffet was using illegal immigrants as wait staff and then trafficking them across town to a massage parlor they owned that gave the ol rub n tug. Huge scandel when it happened but it was hushed up pretty quickly. The restaurant reopened some months after under new management.

#34

That there was an unmarked graveyard in a field across the road (rural Canada). The oldest guy in the area talked about there being one somewhere in the area, but he wasn’t sure where.

Maybe 10 years ago, an older gentleman, maybe 70’s came over to our house when I was home from college and asked who owned the property across the road. He said his family lived in the area over 100 years ago and he was looking for the family burial plot. He asked for permission to search and spent some time with dousing rods in the field (maybe 75 acres total, but he was focused closer to the road).

He marked over 15 spots that he said were places where bodies were buried underground. That he could tell by the way the rods moved if it was male, female or a child. He even showed us how the rods would be still, but when you walked over the spots he marked, they would cross, or move away from each other.

He came back the next year and spent some money getting a big stone and a nice custom plaque made to mark this spot. He probably spent $1000 or a bit more on that, including renting a backho and operator.

Then, we never saw him again.

We used to play hide and go seek at night but we’d never go to that area where he placed the markings, because it felt eerie and sometimes would be foggier.

After he showed us the dousing that one day, I told my younger cousin to lay on the ground so I could try it on him. Walked over him with the dousing rods and nothing happened, so I said, “well, I guess you ain’t got no soul,” and walked back to the house.

Image credits: jamiezero

#35

As a kid, I heard rumors about a hidden treasure in the nearby woods. Years later, during a construction project, they unearthed a time capsule, proving the rumor had some truth to it!

#36

There were rumors that there were bodies that were dumped into a pond at a park. Turns out it was true. They drained the pond to clean it and found over 30 bodies. I used to run right next to there for Cross Country.

#37

Back in the late 80's, a local Principal and his wife went out fishing. There was a storm and she fell out of the boat and sank before he could grab her. The story always seemed odd. 20 years later on his deathbed, he finally confessed that he did m****r her and dumped the body out of the boat

#38

The two women (in their late 40's) were actually homosexual, everybody on our street believed them when they told everybody that they were sisters. I used to run errands for them maybe 3 times a week and they always gave me a shilling every time.

#39

Wasn’t a kid and nobody will believe this, but I have friends in production that told me about Kevin Spacey at least 6 months before the allegations went public.

#40

A priest was rumored to be way too friendly with some of the girls in our grade school. It came out years later in an investigation that he had in fact gotten a teenager pregnant.

Image credits: BlueStarrSilver

#41

There was a teacher who was rumored to walk a great distance to and from work each day due to prior cardiac issues that stemmed from weight.

Years later, while at work, I saw that teacher walking home each day, and the time I saw that teacher coincided with the time they would've left school and started walking.

Blew my mind!

#42

We had a rumor about there being a white horse in the woods behind the movie theater in our town. There were a couple homeless people living there though, so no one went and checked it out. Well, before seeing a movie one day, me and a couple of friends decided to make the trek. We stumbled passed the makeshift camp, and found a small path that led to a fence. We stood there for a couple seconds, and then, seemingly out of nowhere, a majestic white steed came trotting towards us. We snapped a quick pic on an early 2000's cell phone of our friend and the horse, and got the hell outta there. The pic looked absolutely fake, and no one believes us about it to this day.

#43

That if you rode bikes or four-wheelers down this certain trail an old man would come after you and attack you. A few years later, some kids were riding four-wheelers down that trail and an old guy shot and k***ed them both. Damnedest thing, they had already left his property before he caught up to them, and he k***ed them on public land. I'm pretty sure he died in prison a few years ago.

Image credits: JudgementalChair

#44

That tight biking turn at the bottom of the hill everyone called, 'dead mans curve' because someone died there?

Someone did, indeed, die there.

#45

There was this a*****e in my junior high gym class, real bully type. And when he would act out everyone would ridicule him for his mother being a c***k w***e and we would laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh. Well, it turned out it was true - there was a public confirmation in the paper, and his bullying made a lot more sense bc it turned out his home life was what you would expect from someone having a c***k w***e mother, and no one talked about it anymore, and we did not laugh so much anymore. Ironically, I think he felt so ashamed when everyone found out, that he actually stopped being such a d**k head.

Image credits: Hola_y_Ayudame