When you visit someone else’s house, you probably expect everything to be more or less like at home. What you likely don’t anticipate is feeling utterly shocked and deeply unsettled after seeing all the strange and creepy things and behaviors.
We have curated stories about the most bizarre and even disturbing things that guests personally witnessed at someone else’s place. They almost instantly regretted stepping over the threshold and couldn’t wait to get the heck out of there.
#1
Someone keeping chips and snacks in the dishwasher because they never used it
Edit: They were white Americans, but they had lived in Korea for several years. Apparently the story for them is they’d used the wrong soap for the dishwasher once, and the resulting mess freaked them out so much they decided to never use it again.
Image source: Mikklesquid
#2
I once made the mistake in 2004 of accepting an invite to the weird kid at schools house because he said he had just bought GTA San Andreas. This kids parents would openly spit on the floor/carpet of their house. But that wasn’t the worst part, their toilet was broken, and when I told him I needed to go, he directed me to his backyard where his dad had dug a 4ft deep hole where him and his family defecated. Needless to say I chose to wait until I got home.
Image source: Eloquentdyslexic
#3
Open house.
Palace of a home. Marble countertops, breathtaking country view, 5000 sq feet of luxury
Master bedroom was about 30×30 feet with king sized bed on one side.
At the foot of the bed, aross the room was a raised section of floor about 6×6 feet in size, one step higher than the rest of the room.
In the center of that “podium” was just one thing.
A toilet.
No master bathroom, just a throne on a podium to perch upon while (i presume) your spouse offers words of encouragement and enthusiastic applause.
Edit: interesting to learn this has been seen in other cities. For those asking it was in the suburbs of Toronto Canada.
Image source: freshwatergreen
A bit of a mess is to be expected in many family homes with lots of kids—it’s difficult to keep your home gleaming and ‘perfectly’ tidy when you’ve got work, studies, parenting, and other responsibilities weighing on your shoulders. You tidy up one mess only for another to spring up and take its place in mere minutes.
However, there are lines that, when crossed, can (and should!) make you concerned. Huge messes, oddly behaving family members, and a pervasive lack of hygiene can be signs of deeper issues, like neglect. You can tell a lot about a family’s situation by simply spending some time in their home.
According to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, neglect has strong negative short-term and long-term effects on children, including:
- Problems with brain development
- Taking risks, such as running away from home, using substances, or breaking the law
- Getting into dangerous relationships
- Difficulty with relationships later in life, including with their own children
- A higher chance of having mental health problems, including depression
#4
Having absolute no soap whatsoever. They believed water could do the job, and soap was ‘society lies.’.
Image source: ScerehWurmple
#5
When I was a kid, I went over to a friend from church’s house. His mom was hella obese and didn’t get up out of her armchair the whole time. The place was pretty messy as you’d expect from an 8 year old and a single mom who could barely walk, but overall it wasn’t *that* bad.
The weirdness: She had two little dogs, like terriers of some kind. Little hyper yippie bastards. She kept a box of dog treats just on the ground, open, on it’s side, with the treats spilling out and within easy reach of the dogs.
Thing is, they wouldn’t actually go for the treats until she gave them permission as a reward! And they were super-excited to get them, like dogs normally are when they get one!
It was the weirdest thing. They weren’t trained in any other way (except basic housebreaking), but I would be shocked if those dogs went for the treats when everyone was sleeping and there was no one around to notice.
She trained them to only get treats on command so she wouldn’t have to get up to give them treats.
Image source: Astramancer_
#6
Carpet in the bathroom.
It just makes no sense.
Image source: jackador
Some of the main signs of neglect, according to the NSPCC, include living in an unsuitable home environment and being left alone for a long time. One housing issue that should set off your inner alarm bells is witnessing a lack of heating.
You should also be concerned if you’re invited over to someone’s home and see signs of poor hygiene, such as kids being dirty and smelly, hungry, and wearing unwashed clothes. It is also worrying if children have the wrong clothing, like no warm clothes for winter.
Other major causes for concern include medical or dental issues, poor language or social skills, regular illnesses or infections, repeated injuries, skin problems, chronic tiredness, untreated injuries, and weight or growth issues.
#7
I have this friend who has a lot of cats. And with a lot I mean she had at least 11 cats (and two dogs). I’m all about having pets but IMO you need to keep it to a minimum when you have a very small house, which was my friend’s case. Now why do I mention this? Well when we were about to have breakfast in her kitchen, she suddenly put two little cat bowls in the middle of the tiny table, filled with wet cat food (so you know it smells bad). Two cats jump up and start eating out their bowls, with their tiny pinkish brown anuses just staring at me, while I tried to ignore the smell and did my best working my breakfast (scrambled eggs) down. Appearently she did so because the whole house already was filled with cat bowls and if the cats got to close to each other while eating they would start fighting. So she deemed the kitchen table a good location. When I finally thought well it can’t get worse than this, a chicken jumps up on the chair in front of me. A FREAKIN CHICKEN. It just sat there, joining us at the table. And I swear to God my friend barely looked up. So needless to say I was quite confused and weirded out. My friend though didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong or unsanitary about this.
Image source: anon
#8
I’ve posted about this once before.
12 year old me was having dinner at a friend’s house. One of the cats was walking around in the dining room table. When it started eating off my plate I (gently) nudged it away. I really like cats and animals in general… I wasn’t angry but I didn’t want cat spit on my food.
My friend’s mom *completely lost it*. She was screaming at me for, and I quote, “interfering with the free choices of another sentient being”.
I apologized but she was still yelling…
It was surprising to me because they seemed like a normal suburban family; the house was clean and so on.
Image source: acorngirl
#9
I was sent to a new customer’s home by my boss to install some lights and ceiling fans. First thing I noticed was the house was kind of smelly, like old food. Nasty but no big deal. Then I walked into the living room and noticed the large bones on the floor. Apparently the family would sit around and gnaw on the bones while they watched TV. Downstairs I saw a bunch of hunting gear, bows and rifles. I guess that’s where the bones came from, hoping it was animals.
Image source: 2sticks6strings
Not all neglect is physical. It can be emotional, too.
For example, licensed psychologist Jonice Webb, Ph.D., notes that some of the most common signs of emotional neglect in families include:
- Superficial family conversations
- Unexplained anger or resentment toward parents
- Feelings of emptiness and disappointment when interacting with relatives
- Difficult or interpersonal problems usually ignored
- Siblings competing with each other
- Affection expressed through action and not through words or emotions
- Emotions are seen as taboo
- Feelings of loneliness and isolation
#10
A kiddie pool with a large snapping turtle was in the middle of the kitchen floor. The iguana was allowed to roam the house at will as if it didn’t defecate or pee. When their dog had a litter, they just newspapered the entire house. Dog feces was in child’s bed.
These were highly educated, urban people. I just don’t understand.
Image source: gensleuth
#11
Porcelain dolls. There were a lot of them and they were propped up almost anywhere. On the piano, by the couch, on the dinner table. I was in New Zealand and it my first time going to a white person’s house. I thought all white folks loved dolls like they did for a while.
Image source: cautioslyadventurous
#12
My friend from work had a male and a female mannequin standing over his living room couch. He changed their clothes to match the season.
Image source: geminian77
When you’ve scrolled through and read the rest of these stories, feel free to join the conversation in the comments.
What are the creepiest, most socially unacceptable, and weirdest things and behaviors that you’ve seen as a guest at someone’s home?
What visits and sleepovers genuinely shocked you so much that they completely changed your relationship with the person?
We want to hear from you.
#13
Picture above the mantle in the main living room of a family’s previous dog…with the dog’s tail in a display case underneath.
Image source: Lansman
#14
I went to a sleepover when i was about 10. The mom came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her waist. She stood there and talked to all the kids with her top out. Her sons seemed to be used to it. Everyone else was like :O.
Image source: 4×420
#15
They actually used their treadmill for exercise instead of as a clothes rack like the rest of humanity.
Image source: laterdude
#16
When I was ~10 I was at my best friend’s house and his mom told him to go do a chore or something and he said “no”. I was completely shocked and just blurted out “You’re allowed to say *no*??”. A couple days later he was mad at me because his mom wouldn’t take no for an answer anymore and would say “Well, Urist’s parents don’t let *him* say no”.
Image source: UristMasterRace
#17
My house:
Until I moved out of the house as a young man, I always thought grilled cheese sandwiches were made with a clothes iron heating the sandwich between sheets of aluminum foil.
Those were some flat AF grilled cheese sandwiches.
Image source: anon
#18
My buddy had a jacuzzi, right next to the pool. Jacuzzi and this portion of the pool were enclosed in the back porch, but you could swim under a wall to get to the rest of the pool. It was so cool.
Image source: anon
#19
Guy across the street from me had his eye removed, as well as a kidney, both in formaldehyde filled jars on his mantel.
Image source: fastball032
#20
I was at a friends house party the once while his family was away.
I got told I could sleep in his moms bed with my girlfriend.
In his moms room there was a chest freezer next to the bed.
Out of sheer curiosity I wondered why someone would need a freezer in their room.
Turns out it’s to store loads of loaves of bread. Like, 20 of them.
Image source: ALLSTARTRIPOD
#21
Old lady in assisted living had at least 100 “antique” toasters stacked and packed everywhere in her 500 sq ft. unit.
On my way out she gave my coworker and I a warm Ensure shake and practically implored that i go to Goodwill and check out their toasters.
Image source: acableperson
#22
I was on the opposite end of this.
I had a friend over once and he stuck is hand out and leaned on the wall, and I gently pushed his arm down and said “Don’t touch that”. He was like, ” … What? The wall?”
I said “Yeah, don’t touch the walls. You’ll leave fingerprints on it.”
I got a dumbstruck stare in return, and it was at that moment that I realized how strange it was that I grew up in a house where we were not allowed to touch the walls.
Image source: 3kindsofsalt
#23
My daughter’s friend lives in complete squalor. It’s shocking. I can’t imagine living like that. It’s really sad. I gave her a set of cream colored sheets a few years ago, and my daughter snapped a pic when she was out of the room to show me. The sheets are now dark brown. Seriously. She hasn’t washed her sheets in YEARS.
Image source: gingerjuice
#24
I was asked to do dishes at a place I was staying, no problem. Loaded up normal dishes in the washer and started it, then started cleaning the pots in the sink. The kitchen flooded and I got yelled at (as a grown adult, by another adult, I was pissed) because “everyone knows the kitchen floods if you run the sink and the dishwasher at the same time” and the other people in the house berated me for being so stupid. I have done dishes like this a ton of times before and never flooded anything, and I’ve done it at other houses since then and never flooded. Even in my apartment it wasn’t a problem.
Image source: anon
#25
I used to fix TV’s for Samsung, in peoples homes.
I’ve seen things.
One place was a big Victorian house, I’m led in and see no sheetrock or plaster on the walls. Just the insulation paper between the studs. The stud all had those little nails that used to hold the lathe, the ones that are very time consuming to remove and prevent actually nailing up some sheetrock.
On these nails were hung all sorts of decorations, christmas lights, doll heads, mardi gras beads, etc covering the walls & ceiling. Full size inflated santa in the corner. Huge 6′ long fish tank. And a full grown live pig under the kitchen table. The lady was reading the paper & rubbing the pigs belly. Little girl playing some computer game among the doll heads like it’s all cool.
Image source: ermockler
#26
I may have caused this in someone else. My family had a party, and we were dumping out the ice from our cooler after on our grass. The little neighbor girls, about 5 years old or so, came over and asked what were we doing. My dad and I look at each other, purposefully put on a confused face, then I turn to the girls and say “you two don’t ice your grass?” One sheepishly responds ” … No…” My dad finishes with “oh, that’s weird…” And that was the end of that conversation.
I wonder how long I messed up those girls’ perception of lawn care.
Image source: Nickel5
#27
Back in 8th grade, I was the only person to show up at my friend’s birthday party (other than his extended family, who all lived in the same mountain “neighborhood”).
His whole house had this nasty smell to it, like rotting plants. I’d never been there before and didn’t want to be rude, so I just ate party snacks in the kitchen while we waited for other people to arrive.
I finished some watermelon and asked where the trashcan was. My buddy and his mom directed me to the kitchen’s “backdoor”, which lead to a 6ft drop and a pile of decomposing fruits and vegetables.
They also had just setup a downhill zip line, which was pretty dope except that you had to drop off at just the right time to land on an old track high-jump mat instead of the rock/metal pile behind it. My buddy’s sister got injured when she did a full flip and missed the mat – my family (who had come to pick me up) and I just stared at each other like “Did you just see that?” while my friend’s mom just calmly said “Oh dear, let’s get you cleaned up…” and my buddy shouted at his screaming sister “I told you to let go Linda, but no – you just had to do it your own way and that’s why you got hurt!”
Weird family…
Image source: The_JayBird18
#28
My mom had a friend that lived up the road that was an ex pole dancer that gave pole dancing lessons. She lived in a nice double wide trailer with a really nice room with stage, two poles, lights, fogger, full bar. It was a nice set up. That’s not the part that was weird. You know those Christmas towns they sell at Halmark or whatever? She had a huge Halloween one set up. A dozen little haunted houses and a hundred little creepy figurines. In the middle of summer. And it was very well done. She was very proud of the tiny figure of Dracula bathing in blood. It was cool but odd. She was a like a grandma showing off her little collection.
Image source: WhabbityBam
#29
My grandpa’s house. It had 2 full equipped kitchens.. one next to the other.
It also has a confessional in a room He used as a library.
Image source: vegatripy
#30
It was first the first time I ever slept over at a friend’s house. Think I was in kindergarten or 1st grade. When it was bed time, his parents gave us empty cups with removable caps on them. I asked my friend what they were for, and he said for peeing. Apparently his parents didn’t like the idea of their kids wandering around the house at night to go to the bathroom, so we peed in cups and emptied them in the toilet in the morning.
Image source: anon
#31
When I was a kid, there was a boy named Jeremy in our apartment complex. I was 9 and he was a year older than I. One day he invites me over to his place to check out his comics. When I walked in the front door, his father was sitting in his recliner watching TV. I walked up to say hi to him and didn’t realize until it was too late that his father was completely undressed. I was pretty shocked and taken off guard by it. When we went upstairs I asked Jeremy, “Why is your dad undressed?” He said his dad was always undressed. I never went over to Jeremy’s place again.
Image source: GeoffreyLaw
#32
I posted this the last time it was asked, so I’ll share it again…
Definitely has to be my neighbors when I was younger.
I hung out and played with these 3 siblings. They were all pretty normal kids, but the mom seemed kind of clingy.
During the summer we would play outside a lot. Baseball. Hockey. Go carts. Swimming. The norm.
Every single day at about 12, the mom would call the kids back to the house, one at a time. They would have to go inside for about a half hour, then come out and the next kid would go in. Never thought too much about it, until one day I was actually in their house with them and found out why she called them.
She had mandatory cuddle time with each of the kids. They would lay on the couch, and she would spoon them, in the quiet, for about 30 minutes each. Weirdest thing I’ve ever encountered.
Image source: anon
#33
My friends being completely lazy and having their parents/grandparents basically serve them. They didn’t mow the lawn, they didn’t do the dishes, they didn’t wash their own clothes, etc.
Their caregivers realized all of this but still enabled them. One of the parents bought my friend an Audi for his first car. I could go on. Long story short, all my past friends are still living with their parents/grandparents to this day.
You have to WANT to be an adult. No one can force someone to grow up. If they don’t want to make any lead way, don’t enable them, because it will become a never ending cycle. Cheers.
Image source: Severinx
#34
Someone keeping chips in their fridge.
Image source: lauranja913
#35
Friend’s dad was a large and extremely hairy man.
They used bar soap in the shower, and it was thoroughly riddled with dad’s body hair. Very very gross.
Image source: anon
#36
Only one garbage in the kitchen and nowhere else. I don’t know if that is normal. Maybe I’m not normal but I have a garbage can in many rooms in my house and would never think of not having one in the bathroom. If you want to be accommodating to female guests you should have a garbage in your bathroom. I don’t want to carry feminine hygiene products down to the kitchen in front of everyone…
Image source: xjewleex
#37
Grew up in Newark NJ in a kinda hood part of town. Had puerto rican neighbors that had all types of exotic pets, im talkin gators in the basement, goats, chickens under the porch, a six foot iguana that just chills up in the tree, a mini horse runnin around… just all types of animals on a tiny property, it was madness. Anywhoo, my neighbor buddy offers me ice cream, naturally i say yes. he opens is freezer and there is a big bundle of aluminum foil with red feathers sticking out all over the place. I ask him what it is and he tells me nonchalantly its his parrot that passed recently and his granpa was gunna eat it.
Image source: jon_garbagio
#38
An exorcism.
Friend’s parents were nuts. I’d come over with friends and we’d normally go and hang out in the basement with her. But on the way walking to the basement, there was a preacher in the living room, the girl was on a table that they had moved in there, and they were all holding hands and speaking in tongues.
After the exorcism, the mom came downstairs and asked if we wanted to go out for ice cream.
Image source: anon
#39
Τhey had a room that was off limits tо touch. It was made up like a ӏiving room but you weren’t allowed іn there.
Image source: KeanusDracula
#40
A urinal in their living room. The guy’s wife had passed, so it was just him and his son. Pretty convenient I guess, but really weird. They tried to sell their house, but it wouldn’t sell until they converted the urinal into a drinking fountain. I wonder why?
Image source: TylerTimoj
#41
They shared the food with the cats on the same fork/spoon they were eating.
One for the cat. One for them. One for the cat. One for them.
Image source: hank_moo_d
#42
Their doorbell was rigged to make a Chinese gong strike by means of an electro-pneumatic hammer. You could hear it throughout the large house – even in the backyard during a summer BBQ.
Image source: anon
#43
A life-size Lazarus statue. Many houses in Miami have a Bathtub Madonna, Yard Mary, Wayside Shrine, whatever you want to call it. These folks had a 6 foot Lazarus taking up a good chunk of their living room.
Image source: Hraesvelg7
#44
I didn’t see this in person, but my apartment building and the two attached units were for sale and there was an open house, so all day I sat with my door open and chatted with strange wealthy people coming in and out. One of them stopped and told me I had the cleanest apartment of the three, which shocked me a little. I asked what the others were like, he said,” well…how do I say this… it seems they have about 8 cats that stink like hell, and something that looks like a cereal shrine. There is a table with about 20 cereal boxes in a circle, surrounding a glass pitcher of milk. It’s freaky.” I never got around to seeing this, but I loved that description.
Image source: tootmyfloot
#45
In my bathroom I keep a real dog skull which I picked up one day. Apparently a leopard prowled the area where I went jogging. My bathroom is arranged such that you can’t see the skull on entering, but as soon as you sit on the toilet and look to your right.
Image source: PremSinha
#46
My family and I decided to buy a horse advertised for sale on the internet. We drove to the woman’s house (she had some fields around he house where she kept the horses.) The place was badly run-down and the fields were full of weeds. I needed the toilet while we were there, and she said I could go into her house and use it. I have never seen a house in such an appalling state. As soon as you walk in, you see that there are huge (almost the size of a human) sacks of dry dog and cat food, which are open and have been tipped over, and the dog/cat biscuits have spread all over the entire floor, nobody has bothered to pick them up and they’ve obviously been like that for ages as they are all broken and trodden into the carpet, well you can barely see the carpet at all. There is so much other junk that there’s barely any light as the windows are blocked by junk and you can barely move in there. Then I went into the toilet, and it was obvious it had never been cleaned. The toilet/bathroom was also full of junk and everything, the sink, toilet, walls and floor were brown and crusty with filth. It was the filthiest place I’ve ever seen and the owner seemed to think it was totally normal.
Image source: anon
#47
Whiskey (for cough syrup purposes) on the back porch because it’s a sin to have liquor in the house. Saw this on more than one occasion growing up in an extremely Southern Baptist small town.
Image source: writtennred
#48
Probably the house I grew up in. My mother would NEVER keep soda in the fridge. A two liter of pop was ALWAYS on the counter.
I NEVER understood this at all. I am an adult now and my soda goes in the fridge.
Image source: dirtymoney
#49
Tarantulas in the Freezer.
Image source: Asthenic_
#50
As a social worker i go into a lot of homes. One of the first homes I went into I was with my supervisor at the time. It was a home out in the country and the concerns were basically that this kid came to school dirty a lot. We go into the home and yeah, it was a bit dirty, but nothing really alarming. Except for the HUGE STATUE OF THE GRIM REAPER IN THE LIVING ROOM. Like this thing was at least 4 feet tall. And it was surrounded by candles. My supervisor could not stop staring. It was weird.
Image source: slo125
#51
My friend’s family had a framed photo of their dog at the dinner table, with its own plate and chair.
Image source: fuzzy_feather40
#52
Pet seagull- they’d found him injuries on the beach as a baby. The seagull wore diapers and sometimes they’d walk him on a leash. He also liked to sip beer.
Image source: bridgitsbollocks
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