One of the most important things we all need in our lives is privacy. Whether that means limiting followers on your social media accounts or constantly closing your curtains so people passing by cannot see what you’re making for dinner, nobody wants to feel like they are being watched. But sometimes, especially when you live in a tight apartment building, even when no one else can see you, they might be able to hear you.
One curious individual reached out to the Ask Reddit community and posed the question, “Redditors with thin walls, what have you heard in your apartment?” The post received thousands of comments featuring overheard conversations that were never meant to be shared, but sometimes, the urge to eavesdrop is far too strong. We’ve gathered some of the juiciest, cringiest and most hilarious stories of things neighbors never asked to overhear but were subjected to, and gathered them below for you all to read. Enjoy going through these responses that might make you want to install soundproof walls as soon as possible, and then if you’re interested in reading another Bored Panda piece featuring conversations bystanders have caught at just the right moment, check out this story next.
#1
My parents told me stories about the apartment they lived in when i was a baby. The lady above us was a classically trained pianist and her music room was above my room. Apparently when i would start crying in my crib she would start playing and i would go right to sleep. After my parents divorced my dad stayed in the same apartment. A few years later when i went to visit him (i was about 10 or 11) i got to finally meet her for the first time. The woman who used to play me to sleep as a baby taught me how to play the piano ten years later.
Image source: Craven_Hellsing, Jordan Whitfield
#2
When I was an older teenager I had my own tiny apartment in the hood and a raging a*****e gang member for a boyfriend. We would get in raucous fights and my downstairs neighbor would call the police. One time, I was crying quietly after a particularly bad fight that had gotten physical and I heard my neighbor arguing with her husband “No, I’m not going to mind my own business and ignore it. I don’t care that he always comes back the next day & she forgives him. One day he’s going to really hurt her or kill her and I’m not going to live with knowing that I sat there and did nothing when I KNEW a girl was being abused”. I was naive and in love, I thought and ignorant and young and I had never considered it ABUSE. That felt so melodramatic but I realized that my neighbor was right. Finally left him for good after that fight. So, good looking out random lady in east LA in 1999. I’m sorry for being the worst neighbor imaginable
Image source: KayaXiali, Alex Green
#3
My downstairs neighbors are a couple with a one year old boy. The babies room is right under mine. They speak so sweetly to him I’m not even mad that I can hear them so clearly.
One morning the dad went in to get the baby out of bed and I hear him go “can you say daddy? Can you say daddy?” And in the tiniest little voice I heard “daddy”. My heart melted.
Image source: Kaaitlynnx, Omar Lopez
#4
“Help me please. He won’t let me go.” – I went and knocked on the door, guy opened the door with his pants half way down while a woman behind him kept screaming that he wouldn’t let her go. He told me to f**k off and closed the door. I called the cops and apparently I stopped the guy from r*ping the girl. Felt good.
Image source: Edgardhb, Max Fleischmann
#5
I’ve heard my neighbor giving his granddaughter a xylophone, for birthday I guess. She could play it well and kept playing for a while. Immediately after she left I could hear him trying to play something his granddaughter played. He practiced for a solid hour until he managed to play this song correctly and stopped with a joyful“Yes!“. It was one of the purest things I’ve ever experienced.
#6
Someone sneezed.
We said bless you.
They laughed.
Image source: KiltedLady, Edward Jenner
#7
Years ago I had an upstairs neighbor. At 2am, every night, I would hear something sprint across the entire apartment. I realized three things, it was very fast, it took small strides, and it never deviated from its path. One day, I saw my neighbor outside and I said, “I dont know how you have energy at 2am?” He responded with, “Dude, I’ve been working the midnight to 8am shift for 15 years. Doesnt bother me at all”.
That night, I watched him leave his house, drive off, and waited two hours. At exactly 2am, I heard what sounded like two feet hit the floor in his bedroom, and the marathon started.
A few weeks later, I see him outside. I tell him what I hear at night and he says, “That’s strange, no one has my keys, it’s just me and my rabbit up there.”
Image source: MancetheLance, Matt Pike
#8
One day my neighbor was spontaneously singing the national anthem (America) and stopped mid-line and cussed because they messed up the words.
So I sang the correct next line and they burst out laughing before coming back in and finishing the song with me.
I’ve still never met that neighbor.
10/10 Voice
Image source: SuddenTerrible_Haiku, Raúl Nájera
#9
Our neighbors were once talking loud and I was nosey so I put my ear up to the wall and realized she was reading him Harry Potter pretty enthusiastically and it made my heart melt.
Image source: dumbolddoor, Madalyn Cox
#10
When I was in grad school I lived below a family with several young kids. The mother was great and we got along well. She was always apologetic about kid noise, but I didn’t really mind. The compromise that worked for us was that it was ok for me to play an amplified guitar, as long as it wasn’t late, because her kids liked it and would dance to it when they could hear it.
Image source: toodlesandpoodles, Simon Weisser
#11
My upstairs neighbors taking turns zapping each other with a stun gun, hitting the floor, groaning in pain, and then laughing like Beavis and Butthead.
Image source: yesnogoodbye, Madison Scott-Clary
#12
Late to this thread – but for a while I lived next to some Mormon missionaries. Super nice girls. I once apologized to them because my bird was a bit of a squeaker, they told me they didn’t mind.
I was home sick from work one day, and they were singing to my bird through the wall. It was so cute I almost died.
Image source: Shiny_Rattata, Dids
#13
I once heard an argument that went a little like this:
“Stop treating me like I’m stupid!”
“You asked if Seahorses were mammals, Jessica!”
“THEY GIVE LIVE BIRTH.”
Image source: ApplepieButterfly, Rachel Claire
#14
A child yelling “Stop hitting me”. I called the cops on them several times and never regretted it once.
New upstairs neighbors are a thousand times better.
Now I listen to their kitty get the zoomies and run up and down the hall!
Image source: the_lovely_boners, Pixabay
#15
Girlfriend and I were laying in bed at night, was probably around 11:30pm when we hear our neighbor scream; “I f*****g love tomatoes!” and that was all that we heard.
#16
I woke up one morning in a daze, started walking down my stairs (I live in a townhouse/condo) and paused and farted, way louder than I expected. My neighbor next door started laughing so hard from her living room.
Image source: catdemarco666, SevenStorm JUHASZIMRUS
#17
I actually manage an apartment complex where my office is surrounded by a one bedroom unit. The building is old and the walls are thin. The tenant that used to live in the unit was a quiet man but would frequently sing beautiful opera music. His voice was amazing and I loved it every time I heard him sing!
Then one time I saw him in the halls and made the mistake of asking if he was the one who sang these beautiful opera songs. His face turned red but he confirmed that it was him. I told him that I always enjoyed it when I heard him sing and that it would always brighten my day.
Never should have said anything because I never heard him sing again.
Image source: anon, RODNAE Productions
#18
My male neighbor from India belting out hello by Adele at the top of his lungs. It was magical.
Image source: kittenkin
#19
The way my old apartments were laid out, the neighbors bedroom was right next to my kitchen / dining room. One night, I hear them banging (thin walls are thinner when the bed is hitting the wall) while I was fixing dinner. I just turned up the music and continued on with my life. Two hours later, I was cleaning up , doing dishes, and generally tidying up when I heard the familiar thump thump thump of banging. I think, good for them and bag up the trash to take out. Thump thump thump. I open the door and take my bag of trash outside. As I’m walking out, I see the male half of my thumping neighbors….walking in from his car.
Walking back from the dumpster, I see a half naked dude running out of the neighbors apartment. They moved shortly after that.
Image source: Cypher_Shadow
#20
My dad snoring like a bear, and my mum snoring like a walrus.
If they argue, they snore out of sync, and if they have a nice day they snore in sync.
It’s really quite sweet.
Image source: anon, Daria Shevtsova
#21
I once heard a former roommate laughing with his then girlfriend about how they’re f*****g me over on money. Turned out they were taking my utility portion and buying various games and alcohol.
Instead of confronting them, I confirmed what they said with the utilities company (they hadn’t paid the bill is 2 months) and I moved all my stuff out that day while they were at work. For good measure, I took myself off the lease and told them about the GF that had been there 6 months.
Image source: Azurko, Emil Kalibradov
#22
My next door neighbor in college would snooze his alarm, head to the gym, and then his alarm would go off until he got home. I finally left an angry postit on his door that said, ‘Turn off your f*****g alarm.’
Anyway we met years later and now we’re married with kids so w/e ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Image source: Joffrey_banana
#23
Pre-dawn hours, blizzard outside, everything still and quiet, my roommate and I heard our neighbor on the other side of the firewall fart, wet and deep like a stifled baritone sax, and exclaim to himself in a twisted combination of awe and disgust, “OH my GOD!” We burst out laughing, and hear him chime in with pride, “Did you guys *hear* that?!” vindicated that his fart was heard and forever lives in our memories.
Image source: eaglewatch1945, Brandi Redd
#24
I lived under some Cubans who played Air Supply when they had sex at the absolute loudest volume they could. They also really enjoyed soccer/football, and the woman would make sounds like a siren, just long extended “wwwoooooooooooooo!” for minutes on end whenever something exciting happened.
They were pretty terrible neighbors. Really obnoxious and loud all the time. They would mop their patio, and the dirty water ran all over our porch. They also poured out used mop water off the patio too. The parking was terrible in that complex and they would occupy two spaces with one vehicle.
They pretended not to speak English whenever we tried to talk to them (even before all the problems; I try to be friendly with my neighbors), but they would also speak loud English right outside our apartment as if we couldn’t hear them. So one day I tried to say hello to them and got a terse, rude reply in Spanish followed by “No comprendo” so I casually asked my sister if she thought the guy knew his wife was sleeping with that blonde they always had over (not made up, they were having an affair).
There was lots of screaming from their apartment later on. No regrets.
EDIT: Silver. Noice. You guys are the s**t. And these comments are great.
Image source: anon
#25
I heard my roommates having sex very loudly. I didn’t say anything at the moment but sat them down the next day and talked about it…turns out the boyfriend was at work during the time it happened
Image source: anon, Jayden Sim
#26
Not in my house, but I travel a lot for work and stay in a lot of hotels.
So far my favorite was hearing someone banging around in the shower for a while then this exchange:
(Loudly) “Hey! Wash my balls.”
(Louder)”Wash your own goddamned balls!”
(Yelling)”F**k you, your pussy stinks!”
They got quiet after that, probably because they heard me howling with laughter and realized people could hear them.
Image source: Seldarin, Pixabay
#27
I shared a wall with a Buddhist temple, so a lot of chanting and gonging. It was an awesome five years.
Image source: anon, Nick Fewings
#28
“Gina, I love you! Gina no! Gina, dammit put the knife down!!” At this point, both the apartments adjoining to Gina’s called the police. Gina’s husband decided to spend the night elsewhere.
Image source: oldmuttsysadmin, Nathan Dumlao
#29
In college, I lived in a crappy apartment nearby the school, that was mostly populated by students. Halfway to class one day, I realized I forgot a book and had to rush back to my apartment to get it. As I was running up the stairs (which shared a wall with the stairs in the next door apartment, which mirrored my own) I could have sworn I heard someone yelling. I ignored it and ran to my room to grab my book. As I clambered downstairs, again I heard yelling, and I paused to listen. I heard some unintelligible moaning, and eventually heard the words “help me,” weakly groaned from the stairs next door. I rushed out and tried their door, but it was locked. I totally forgot about my class and ran to the apartment management office, hoping that someone was there. A manager was, thank goodness, and after I explained the situation, she grabbed her master keys and we booked it back to my neighbor’s place. She opened the door and the poor guy was laying in the stairwell (it was one of the ones that goes up halfway to the second floor, then turns 90 degrees for the rest of the way), clearly having fallen. I called 911 while the manager ran over to the guy. Ambulance came and picked him up, and I later learned that he had fallen down the stairs after passing into a brief diabetic coma. I guess he hadn’t eaten in some time; I don’t know too much about how diabetes works. Anyhow, to this day, I feel grateful that I forgot that book. That poor guy could have died, slumped halfway down the stairs with his face in the carpet.
Edited to add: also, relevant to the thread, I was grateful for the thin walls. Just for that though. Thin walls suck.
Edited again to add: Thanks stranger – baby’s first Reddit gold!
Image source: thatdanglion
#30
Neighbor worked alot and hired a new sitter. New sitter invited 2 guys over. Kids were only 3 and 1
Heard her say “if we leave to go to the corner store now, the kids will be fine alone for 20 minutes.” and heard them talking about popping some of moms xanax and selling them. Then they promptly left. I walked out knocked on the door and the 3 year old boy came out. I called the police, went into the apartment found moms work number next to the sink and she was furious. Left work and came back home and as she was walking up to thank me and the officers, the babysitter and guys came into the complex. (Mind you this was all within an hour, not 20 minutes lol). Mom whooped babysitter, then called babysitters mom and she got another whoopin. Got offered a sitting job after that and took it. LOL. Also have heard one of my neighbors talking in tongues and yodeling. Glad I dont live in apartment anymore.
Image source: turbochargedgoldfish
#31
“F**k you, man! If you don’t like spaghetti, then you don’t like me!”
Image source: xaanthar, Homescreenify
#32
What can only be described as my flat mate having phone sex while using Christian bales batman voice
Image source: funkmasterslap, Warner Bros. Pictures
#33
Every night I would hear my hardcore alcoholic neighbour puke in the sink, jam to her “party music” (usually Concrete Blonde on full blast), puke again, drag her foldout bed out of the closet, then turn on all her fans to go to bed. Her routine. I stopped hearing it. All I heard were the fans. Knew in my gut something was wrong, but kept pushing it away. (I was avoiding her in order to build up some boundaries between us). Silence for five days straight. She had been dead in there for five days, autopsy said heart and liver issue due to chronic alcoholism..
After the body was removed, I let her son into her apartment as I had a spare key. Some decomposition on her rollout bed, but no smell other than her usual smell. He thanked me for being the only regular person in her life, and I felt so guilty.
Keep an ear out for silence, friends.
Image source: mookie8
#34
My downstairs neighbor (a 40 something Moroccan gentleman) playing various videogame songs on his piano for his son who came to visit. It was very cute and wholesome
Edit: a word
Image source: OpheliasBouquet
#35
Father used to live in a trailer park. I have nothing against trailer parks, but this one was pretty bad.
We heard a loud bang, sounded like a .22, it wasn’t overly loud.
Then, “Did you get him?”
Voice 2: “Yeah, he’s dead alright.”
First voice: “That’ll teach him not to go near your drugs!”
Cops were called, turns out these guys shot a cockroach with a handgun. Both arrested for drug charges, one with discharging a firearm improperly.
Image source: embodiedblank
#36
I moved from far away, so I have a different state license plate than everyone else at the apartment complex. A couple of days ago I head my upstairs neighbor drunkenly ranting to his wife about what he thinks I’m up to. He’s convinced that I’m on the run from something. I’m just in grad school lmao.
Image source: greatergood2019, NICHOLAS BYRNE
#37
an argument about money while I was doing the dishes. It ended with a slammed door and one of them on a piano, hitting the keys like a maniac. Some people read, some people go get something to eat, some people exercise.. this m**********r relieves stress by going crazy on a piano. lol
Image source: FultonHomes, Jordan Whitfield
#38
Recently downstairs girl has acquired a dog that:
1. she doesn’t take on walks
2. she leaves at home, out of a crate.
I hear her come home and yell/scream/throw s**t at this poor dog… it’s heartbreaking – and since no one else in the 4-plex is home I am kinda scared to call animal control in case this crazy b***h decides to make my life hell for reporting her.
Suggestions welcome, this has been tearing at my conscience for the last 2 weeks.
Edit: it’s been reported
Image source: torilikefood
#39
“William! We do *not* hit!”
His mom was visiting. He was 30.
Image source: HungryLikeTheWolf99, Dan Burton
#40
Upstairs neighbors were a single mom and teenage daughter. They were very loud. The mom’s room was above my room. One day I had off and was woken up by sex upstairs. It was pretty common in the previous couple weeks. This time, though, someone came in and started screaming.
“YOU’RE HAVING SEX IN MYYYYY BED?!”
Turns out the daughter had been skipping school and coming back to the apartment with her boyfriend. They were the ones having sex in the mom’s bed. The fight that ensued should’ve earned both women awards.
Image source: BluestLantern85, Priscilla Du Preez
#41
My downstairs neighbour has a geniunely beautiful singing voice. She thinks she’s just singing to herself but sometimes I stop what I’m doing to listen because it’s so beautiful. Am I invading her personal space by eavesdropping without telling her?
Image source: anon
#42
My last apartment had particularly weak walls between apartments. One night I was reading in bed and I was unknowingly the third party to a particularly nasty fight between the couple living next door. The fight last for almost an hour and was apparently the end of their said relationship as she was going to leave him and the apartment the next day. The longer the fight went on the more interested I became as I pieced snippets of the reason for the fight together.
I did not know them personally, only enough to wave and say hi, help them with carrying up groceries etc…good neighbor stuff.
It seemed Couple A (both early thirties) were becoming bored with their sex life. For whatever reason they decided that they would fulfill a fantasy of theirs and invite a third individual to join them sexually.
Male A and Female A found through some online means Male B to join them. I guess things worked out for awhile, from the snippets of the fight I caught Male B had joined them on multiple occasions for various sexual escapades.
The kicker was Female A came home early from a work trip and found Male A and Male B deeply engrossed in their sexual acrobatics
without her. Female A flipped out and I guess after that point they tried to patch things up but she caught both of them on two other occasions (the latest being the night before fight night that I was unashamedly listening to)
Neither neighbor would hold my gaze for long the next morning. I think they were to embarrassed or ashamed to ask if I had heard anything and presumed I heard it all. I even offered to carry a box of stuff she was lugging out of the apartment (remember..good neighbor). She mumbled something and said no. He was packed, moved out and gone a week later.
Needless to say it was the most interesting thin walled apartment experience I have had the vicarious pleasure to be part of.
Image source: lordtarantula, Alex Green
#43
More what my neighbour heard…I’m a deep sleeper and was an even deeper sleeper as a teenager. My phone alarm was going off for 30 minutes and my neighbours could hear it through the walls, assumed it was a burglar alarm and called the police. Waking up to the police banging on my door was confusing.
Image source: iMac_Hunt, Scott Rodgerson
#44
Neighbor to her son: “If you want her to ________, you need to manscape down there. It’s only fair.”
Me, in my living room: 😳
Image source: SpecificEnough
#45
Couple upstairs would argue frequently. One particular evening, they had an epic battle. It was hours long.
About 2 hours into the argument (11 pm on a weeknight) we heard the woman shout “first of all”.
That was the moment we knew sleeping wouldn’t be restful that night.
Image source: EE327, Keira Burton
#46
I lived next to a couple some years ago and they came home after a night out and started fighting about who was better at darts. I thought they were joking but it got pretty heated. Doors were slammed.
Image source: Aromatic_Bird, Afif Kusuma
#47
I’ve been hearing Don’t Stop Believing by Journey every morning at least twice for about a month now
Image source: TimDuncanCanDunk, wikimedia.commons
#48
“They warned me about you! I never should’ve married you!” – my 60yo neighbours.
And recently a heated argument between different neighbours adult kids. The son had caught his son (5yo) playing doctor with his sister’s daughter 4yo). They argued very loudly about it in their back garden… which is completely surrounded by other houses and apartments. I think at least 30 households could hear it.
Edit: “playing doctor” means getting naked and comparing bits.
Image source: AffectionatePanic
#49
My ex-neighbors never let their kids leave the house, and preferred to raise bubble children. The older son (12 or 13) was pitifully fragile. One day I heard him crying because he s**t on his own hands
Image source: anon
#50
My neighbors had a party at 4am..
They were playing Gangnam Style and some very bad Country Music.
Image source: Purpe_lOwO
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