Real-life spooky stories from KSL.com readers 👻

Real-life spooky stories from KSL.com readers 👻

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Estimated read time: 6-7 minutes

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SPOOKY TOWN — While all the kids are out trick-or-treating, you might be in the mood to hear some real-life scary stories.

We've compiled stories sent in by KSL.com readers that are sure to give you chills. Grab a glass of apple cider, turn down the lights, light a candle or two and enjoy the scares. And if you have a real-life spooky story of your own, add to the Halloween spirit by submitting your story in the comments below.

Disclaimer: These stories were not vetted by KSL.com and KSL.com cannot verify the existence of ghosts, ghouls, witches or wizards.

Mysterious spook slams door in night

Liesl N.

"One evening in a remote part of Chile, I was helping a drunk woman with a broken leg get back to her house. When we arrived at what she said was her home, I helped her inside, put her on a single chair in the middle of a dark, empty room and turned to leave. Suddenly, the door slammed shut, plunging us into complete darkness, and I felt something brush up against my leg. I ran for the door and sprinted out of there. Still not sure what it was."

Haunted Hawaiian church

Connie A.

"My dad and I were just discussing a spooky thing that happened to us while on vacation in Hawaii when I was in high school. We were riding along a dirt road when we spotted a small old church-looking building in the middle of nowhere in a field of low grass. We decided to take the long walk over and look inside. As we walked closer, we could hear people talking and music playing. We both said to each other that it sounded like a party inside. There was no sign of people in this remote area so we were surprised to hear anything. We continued to hear the sounds as we approached the building. My dad grabbed the doorknob and opened the door. The sounds immediately stopped and we saw the building was completely bare inside. We both turned and ran as fast as we could back to our Jeep."

Flame lights fireplace as family member passes away

Stevie S.

"This isn’t so much spooky, as it is amazing. In 1997, we used the fireplace inside our home the night before and always made sure it was completely out. My mom was having coffee at 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. (the next morning) and a huge flame shot up and then quickly went out. The phone immediately rang after and it was my dad calling to let my mom know that my grandpa just passed away."

Chanting in abandoned church

Jim D.

"One night in a remote/rural part of Brazil I was walking by an abandoned church. There was strange chanting coming from inside, but when we looked in, there was no one there."

Dog’s spooky warning

Melissa C.

“One night my dog started growling, hackles raised, right next to the recliner I was sitting in. I got up and looked all around and couldn’t find anything that would have set her off. Later, my husband got home from work and sat in the recliner to unwind. My dog looked at him, whined and tucked her tail between her legs. My husband called the dog over to him. As soon as he moved, the bowl-like light fixture crashed down from the ceiling. We blessed the house shortly after and never had another issue with the dog or the house.”

Haunted hotel

Brynne M.

“Just last week, I was exploring an old hotel in a small town in Idaho. I was on the third floor and was there with young children. We had been given permission to explore this lovely, historic hotel. As we were upstairs, we heard a man talking in his room, walking around and moaning. I shushed the children and told them ‘Be quiet — people are staying here.’ As that went on upstairs, the clerk told our family member that the hotel was totally vacant, and no one was staying there currently. It wasn’t a strange occurrence until we heard that we were the only people on the third floor.”

Mysterious light show

Jeremy D.

“During an intense thunderstorm one summer night, I looked out the window to see the lightning. Upon looking more closely, I observed large, glowing spheres that would fly in a set pattern. When the objects would get closer to the horizon, they would break into smaller spheres only to join into one in a continuous cycle. The spheres moved at a speed and at angles that no known aircraft is capable of. My wife and I got goosebumps watching the light/air show from our back porch.”

Spooky shadow in the night

Tanner C.

“When I was in high school, I would always go to sleep with the stereo on. It cast a glow across the room. One night, I was up reading until 3 in the morning. I put the book away, turned off the light and lay in bed. The bed was on the opposite side of the room as the stereo. Between the stereo and the door was my drum set. As soon as I laid down, the bass on the drum slammed as though somebody jumped on the pedal. I sat up and the pedal was rocking back and forth. Suddenly, a large human-like shadow passed in front of my drum set, between me and the radio, blocking the light from the radio, and faded into the wall. That's just one of many things I've experienced.”

Spirit moves throughout house

Jeremy S.

“Our home was built in 1911 and had a large unfinished basement when we moved in. A few years later, my parents moved in, so we finished the basement and moved downstairs with our two little girls, and my parents stayed on the ground level upstairs. Late at night while doing laundry, my 4-year-old daughter ran up behind me and didn't say anything. Without looking at her as I moved the laundry from the washer to the dryer, I said, ‘It's past your bedtime, go back to bed!’

“She ran off and up the stairs, slamming the upper stair door behind her. I walked out wondering why she ran up the stairs instead of back into her bedroom the other direction. My wife was in the bathroom, near the laundry room, bathing. She heard me yell up the stairs for my daughter to go to bed and said that the girls were long asleep. I walked over to their room and sure enough, they were both asleep.

“I couldn't believe it, as I don't really believe in such prominent manifestations of spirits. Our only answer was that it was the spirit of a child about our daughter’s age. The footsteps and everything sounded like a child. A few weeks later, about 2 or 3 in the morning, what I thought was my daughter again ran to my bed next to me to wake me up. I sat up and opened my eyes to help her, but there was nobody there. We heard this child running around a few more times throughout the following weeks, but haven't heard it since. That was about 15 years ago.”

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