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.

• Read More: 45 Things Folks Online Thought Were Just Rumors Only To Find Out They Were Real All Along

#1

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

#2

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

#3

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

#4

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.

Image credits: oldjudge86

#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

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

#7

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

#8

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

#9

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

#10

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

#11

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

#12

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

#13

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

#14

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

#15

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

#16

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

#17

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

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