Danger alerts don’t always come in the form of big red flags, warning signs, or loud announcements. Sometimes it’s a silent voice, an invisible friend, that serves as the messenger telling you to “Leave right now!“

Whether or not you listen, can be the difference between life and death, as many people have learned. They’ve been sharing the scariest times they trusted their gut and lived to tell the tale…

Bored Panda has put together a list of the most harrowing stories. From one person who narrowly escaped being hit by an 18-wheeler truck, to another who could have died at the hands of a crazed gunman, each of these netizens is bound by a common thread: Something they couldn’t see saved them. And because they didn’t question it, they miraculously got a second chance at life.

#1

It was a “we need to stop right now” feeling. We stayed at my in laws the night before and decided to leave early am. I famously do not really eat breakfast but this particular morning I was damn near begging my husband to stop for breakfast. I didn’t care where literally any place that sold food. Pulled into a bojangles about 5 miles from our apartment. Sat in the drive thru about ten minutes and headed home. We pulled into our complex a few minutes after 8 am to see police cars.
Because my neighbors argued with a man the night before and the man came back and shot up the quadplex 17 times. In broad daylight. At 8 am where I would’ve been sitting if we didn’t stop for food

#2

We were in a bus accident, I was thrown out of the bus and hit my head. Everything went black and I was dizzy, and someone I was with grabbed me a pillow and helped me to lay down, which I did for a few minutes. Then I suddenly got really cold and something told me “go find your hoodie”. I had it with me when I was on the bus. I slowy stood up and could see a tiny bit again.

I stumbled over to the bus wreck looking for my hoodie and while stumbling over I heard a huge screech of brakes and people screaming. An 18 wheeler hadn’t seen our accident and Jack-knifed into our accident. Found the pillow I was laying on stuck under one of the 18 wheelers wheels. I fully believe I escaped death twice that day.

#3

I was maybe 11 or 12 years old at an adoption fair. Prospective adoptive parents would come to meet and greet with potential kids. I was paired with a single man in his 50’s. He was my only taker. He was interested in adopting me. I immediately had a terrible feeling about him. My case manager was like “no, he’s cleared, we’ve done our research, he’s nothing to worry about. you should do a trial stay at his home. You’re getting older, it’s harder for older kids to get adopted be grateful”

I had zero autonomy over this and sure enough, tears and all they made me do a trial at his home over a weekend. I went to take a shower and he “mistakenly” walked in the room while I was naked, but he stood there for like 5 minutes just staring. He said nothing then left. I climbed right the fuck out the window and ran away. You can’t convince me he wasn’t going to assault me.

#4

Booked an airbnb in Oregon last minute because we needed to wash our clothes after travelling for a month straight. Got to the area suddenly, I felt nauseous and my sister noticed how shady the area was, went inside, met the host (who lived upstairs with no separation) saw tons of saws, large barrells, and SUPER clean workspace in the garage. We RAN out of there. Always trust the gut – reported to airbnb and kept checking up, they removed him after some sketch reviews!!!

#5

I was at a football game in highschool it was my school vs my cousins school. The game was at her schools stadium which was a few streets over from her house. As we were getting ready to leave I felt butterflies in my stomach but ignored it and we continued walking once we got there one of my cousins and I went to my schools side while she and another of my cousins went to her schools side. At halftime I called her so I could switch sides and meet up with her but that butterfly feeling became Even more intense. Thats when I looked up and seen a large crowd that sat at the top of the stadium run from one side to another unbeknownst to me that was the first shooting.
I was still on the phone with my cousin as I walked into the concession part (I forgot what it’s called) when I started seeing it get overly crowded. Again that gut feeling hit me and this time I felt like my head was spinning and if I didn’t leave at that moment something bad was going to happen possibly to me. So I left And by the time I made it it to ihop I was getting back to back calls saying it had been a shooting and they had the football players including my boyfriend at the time laid out on the field.
4 people ended up being shot along with one of my cousins who had came at a later time than us and all I could think about was what if I’d ignored that feeling one more time

#6

Driving through a tiny Texas town with my (now) ex — I’m white passing, he is not. Stopped at a diner around 8:30/9pm and one (of 2) servers made some racist comments but we ignore it while the other takes care of us. When we left, he told us FOUR times to be careful. It was raining, but not 4 warnings type of raining. We made the fastest stop for gas and got the hell out.

PS the town to avoid is Aspermont. It’s in the middle of nowhere but is part of the drive from Denver to Austin, so just a warning for any POC, specifically black people, on that route

#7

In the subway, late night, at the terminus waiting for the subway to start, and there’s absolutely no one in the train or outside. I get inside a wagon and sit next to the door, just in case. A few minutes later, a man walks in through the last door in the opposite direction and sits, far, but facing me. I do a quick safety glance and notice he’s staring at me. I don’t want to make eye contact but I check again and he’s very calm, hands together on his knees, eyes locked on me I pretend to go look outside for directions, walk towards the head of the train, wait a bit, then enter another wagon. Still no one anywhere. After a few minutes, the same man enters the wagon and sits, a few meters away, staring at me. There’s something cold and methodical in his behavior. This time I stared back showing I clearly saw him, stood up and stomped my foot on the ground, turned to leave and he said “No, you don’t leave, I’m the one who leaves”. And he left.

#8

Last Halloween, I went to a house party with a friend. It was all fun until around 3 AM, when some guys showed up. The vibe was immediately off but no one seemed to notice. After a couple of minutes, I told my friend we should leave. She didn’t want to go at first, but I convinced her. The next day, we found out there was a shooting at the party right after we left.

#9

I was 10. Seeing a movie with a friend and in the middle of the movie a man sat next to me. He starts touching me. I didn’t know what was happening. I jumped up from the chair told my friend I needed to use the bathroom, and ran to the back of the movie theater, but I didn’t go to the bathroom. Hid in the empty back row of the theater. The guy walks out a minute or so later. The doors to the theater had pothole type windows and I looked out and the guy was standing outside the womens bathroom.

#10

Literally saved my life. Spent the night at my boyfriend’s apartment while in college. Got up in the morning to drive back to campus to attend class. He begged me to stay a little longer. My gut feeling was literally screaming for me to leave. Voices telling me to leave. I listened and left despite my boyfriend asking me to please stay longer or skip class. Not even an hour later, he was robbed. He was shot. While I was in class, he called me from the hospital. I know that was divine protection.

#11

My husband & I once stayed at a cabin in the woods. Came back from dinner & someone been in the cabin. The front door that was *locked* was now open, another door that was closed was open, things had been moved but not stolen — and only a few so it was like they’d tried to retrace steps but forgotten to reset small things, not like a thief had ransacked it. The vibes were MAJORLY off. We both just looked at each other & knew, so we packed & left immediately, driving through the night to get home.

It was the creepiest feeling. Really felt like we were being watched and they were going to come back when we were sleeping. The relief we felt when we were safely locked in the car and driving away was palpable.

#12

I was walking downtown late one night after work when a car going the opposite direction passes and a man shouts at me from the window of the car. There was a street light behind me, and he gets in the turn lane. I get the feeling like I need to find a place to hide but the sidewalk just goes under a bridge that’s still pretty visible to the street. I start walking faster, he passes me and pulls over in a parking lot right on the corner of the intersection in front of me. I turn before I hit that corner and he’s out on the street again. I feel pretty certain at this point he’s following me, so I call a friend of mine and start cutting through streets tryna lose him. Lotta streets are one way so he can’t directly follow but he keeps passing me. I try to stay on streets with large groups of people and am running at one point tryna get to a bar I know with a back I can leave out of. He passes one more time before I’m in, waited him out for an hour just to be safe

#13

A friend and I were heading to find a geocache, which wasn’t far from my grandma’s. On the very street of my grandma’s house, some old white dude in a white van, no windows into the back of it, slowed down, rolled his window down, and began talking to us. What made it worse is that he was asking us about chr*stian beliefs. He asked us if we were involved with chruch and what not, but what REALLY creeped me out, was that he specifically asked “are you sure you’re going to heaven”. My friend had his bike, one of us on each side, and I kept pressing back on the handlebars to make him step back, and this fucker had turned off his engine to keep speaking with us.

I’m not religious, for reasons like this and much more reasons. So as soon as this guy, in a white van with NO WINDOWS, began asking about ch*stian shit, I knew I had to diffuse the situation and gtfo of there. Definitely should have reported to the police, or caught his license plate, but I (unfortunately) didn’t.

#14

Two off the top of my head. My husband and I had taken the skytrain into downtown Vancouver in 2011 to watch game 7 and when he said we NEEDED to leave before the 3rd period, we left. People started texting me to see where we were and I had no idea what was going on. By the time we got home, the rioting was in full swing and the skytrain was shut down. When I asked my husband why he knew we needed to leave, he basically said there was bad vibes

The other time was in Nov 2020. My husband basically begged me to take the earliest ferry back from Van Island so we could leave the lower mainland asap and drive home. I listened, and we got home safely, with a couple detours due to rising water. If I hadn’t listened, we would have been stuck there for another 2 weeks, as it rained so hard that day, it flooded highways and washed out bridges. Again, I asked my husband how he knew we need to go NOW and he said he just wanted to go home

#15

One year I had not planned a Halloween costume, but a girl in one of my classes invited me to a party so I was trying to think of something last minute.
I was a student at a cowboy college that had a strong athletics program – we had a big rodeo team and our baseball, soccer, and football programs were also very successful.
I also worked part time as an assistant to the local mixed-practice vet, a stern and quiet man in his early 70s.

I was in the truck with the Doc heading out to a ranch call on Halloween, and he asked me what I was going to dress up as. I hadn’t actually figured anything out, but said, “I’m going as the scariest thing I can think of… you!” He roared with uncharacteristic laughter and I realized it was actually brilliant – easy to assemble, and I was going to a rodeo team party so most of the students knew our local small-town vet (and his reputation for being, uh, terse).

When we got back to the clinic the Doc gave me an old surgical gown, cap, mask, booties, and a handful of 60cc syringes with 16g needles.
After work I hit the dollar tree for a pair of glasses similar to his, went home and filled the syringes with vodka, snipped the tips off the needles so they wouldn’t be too sharp, and headed over to the party.
The girl who invited me didn’t show up, and I didn’t know a single person there – it was all rodeo and football guys.

I am INCREDIBLY shy, but I was all dressed up and had nothing else to do, and I realized that with my costume on I was unrecognizable. The feeling of complete anonymity gave me confidence, so I slid one of the needles through my lip piercing, attached one of my vodka syringes, and walked quietly around the party slowly injecting sips of vodka through my lip.

Several guys asked who I was. I said, “I’m Doc R!” They’d reply, “I see that, but who are you when you aren’t Doc R?” I refused to answer – they wouldn’t have known who I was anyway; I literally did not know a soul there – and eventually they decided it was hilarious and stopped asking.

I walked around telling people to “open wide, it’s time for your shot!” and squirting vodka into their mouths from a different, needleless syringe. Overall I noticed the cowboys found it funny and were down to “take shots” from a stranger, while the football players found it creepy and avoided me with suspicion.

At some point one of the guys produced a Hot Shot (a small cattle prod), and the cowboys stood around shocking each other and laughing.
Then one of them shocked a football guy with no warning, which earned him a punch in the face. That started a scuffle, until one of the cowboys ran to his truck and came back with the oldest, jankiest rifle in the world and started waving it around, at which point I slipped out the door and walked home.

he party was the subject of a ton of gossip the next day – no one was seriously injured, but it was quite the drama. Several times I heard people asking, “Who was that guy dressed as the vet?” (I’m a lady person, but my costume was baggy and there were no other girls at the party so it was a fair assumption). I didn’t say a word.
The girl who’d invited me apologized and I said no problem, when I didn’t hear from her I went to a different party instead.
Never told anyone.

When that rifle came out. No one was hurt but I wasn’t sticking around to find out.

#16

OK, my friend and I were in this cul-de-sac in the middle of nowhere surrounded by fields and it was like our little smoke spot,we were just chilling and it was like the dead of night. We’re laying back high as fuck livin life having a deep ass conversation bawling our eyes out and out of nowhere this truck comes come down the road and they park right behind me and get out of their car and right before he comes up to my car. I lock it cause I’m like oh I should probably have my car locked

he pulls on the passengar side door to open it, and im like wtf and then he comes to MY side (the drivers side) and tries to open my door too, bitch when i tell you i zoomed tf outta there

OH and mind you, another time we were at this spot we decided to leave and took the wrong way out, and crossed over this old abandoned military gaurd post in the middle of feilds & no where, and as we cross over my friend and i both get this eerie feeling like we’re being watched, we genuinely felt like we were in danger the moment we crossed that post, i told her whip that thang around and get outta here

#17

There was a meteor shower that was going to be viewable if we got just outside the city (Fresno, CA). I was with my gf and her two kids, and we drove.out to the foothills to see the shower. We found a spot, set up chairs and settled in to watch the show. I had closed my eyes and was listening to the white noise of bugs/wind/etc.Suddenly, something seemed off. The kids were still playing, my gf was texting on her phone. But the hair on my neck was up.

That’s when I noticed – there was no more sound. Dead, empty silence. No wind, no crickets, no birds, no bugs. I calmly stood up, asked her to gather the kids, and slowly packed up the car. It took a couple of minutes for her to notice, but when she did, we bugged the fuck out. To this day it feels like we closed the door just moments before something could grab my leg.

#18

I was bike riding through a trail with a friend. It was almost sunset and we wanted to see it from a hill nearby. My bike got a flat tire so while we were going back to our car, I started hearing laughter and obscene language approaching us. We couldn’t see from where but could clearly tell they were coming to us. I told my friend to drop her bike and just run uphill. When I turned around a group of 10 black American teenagers started circling my friend in her bike. Taunting her and saying Disgusting things. I got my phone and started to call 911 and we just started to run uphill while dragging our bikes. They were chasin us and yelling horrible things they were going to do to us once they catch us. Thankfully we made it to the top of the hill and there was a guy in his garage fixing his car. We dropped to the floor gasping for air and crying that they were chasing us. The guy got a gun out and started yelling at the top of his lungs “if you come up here I’ll shoot ya”! Eventually the guys came out of the trees walking slowly and laughing. They all got into a van and left. We called the police and since that day I have never been to a trail

#19

My band was hired by a very wealthy couple to play a 4th of July party at their personal residence (large main house, pool, guest house, golf course on site etc, it was a whole ordeal). Upon arrival at the house, the husband offered to give me and our sound tech’s girlfriend a tour of the house (some of the guys had been there before, so the fact that he only asked us two didn’t immediately alarm me). We eventually ended up in the basement walking through his wine cellar, when he started making comments about how the cellar is a great place to bring girls with no bra on because it stays so cool down there.
We had driven for 15 hours to play this gig, and for the sake of comfort, I was wearing an XXL tshirt and no bra. When he made that comment, a lightbulb went off in my head and I looked around the room to realize he was standing in front of the only door. The other girl in the room made eye contact with me and we kept as much distance between us and that man as we could My boyfriend at the time was the band’s frontman, and thankfully, he came downstairs looking for us, and we all went upstairs.
That man proceeded to sexually harass me for the remainder of our time there, making comments about how he noticed I was braless when I arrived, and how nice my breasts are etc in front of his wife, my boyfriend, the band, everyone. No one knew what to do because we knew he had guns and plenty of friends around if we decided to pick a fight.
We played our show and then left as soon we could. I spent the entire time hyper-aware of my own body and feeling unsafe in my own skin, because if he noticed my breasts in that large tshirt, it was clear there was nothing I could wear that would “hide” my body from him. I think about that moment in the cellar all the time, and how lucky we were that my former partner came downstairs when he did.

#20

A few years ago my friends and I were driving in Cherokee Park in Louisville KY, and pulled over in one of the parking lots to smoke. It was around midnight. An old man pulled up in the car next to us, we already thought he was a bit creepy.. then he picked up a curly haired almost clown like wig from his passenger seat and started to put it on… we had the car on and backing up before he even finished getting on his head.. we drove away so fast

#21

I came home from work on a random Monday & my husband was off work & he suggested we take our 7 month old & our dog to the creek for the first time. We didn’t make it the ten minute call before I had someone calling me saying our house was on fire.

#22

I was parked in a car with 3 friends in one friend’s driveway in front of their apartment building. I locked the car doors because we were sitting a little longer than planned. Moments later a guy walked up to the car and tried to open the door. He’s like “what y’all doing out here?” I calmly turned the car on and shifted into reverse while he was standing there. Drove around a few blocks and then dropped that friend off so we could leave.

#23

My date and I went to the movies in Atlanta/Atlantic Station in the middle of the afternoon on a week day. We go into the screen room and sit down. No one else is there. My date goes to the concession stand to get snacks. As soon as he leaves a young man comes in and sits right behind me. I immediately get up and leave the room. I’m speed walking to the concession stand to meet my date. He ask what’s wrong, I tell him what happen. When I turn around towards the screen room I see the kid walking out of the room and he exits out of the side entrance of the theater.

#24

I pulled into a drive thru at an ATM and I tried to withdrawal money, twice. The first time it said “please try again”. The second time, the message on the screen said “Come back tomorrow”. I got that feeling and just drove home. Found out the next day there was a robbery at the convenience store that was beside the bank – right around the time I was there.

#25

4am. The dog had a bad tummy and we went in the front yard so he could poop. I suddenly feel very uneasy. I look up and a man in a black hat was standing centered in a streetlight looking at me. Just as I looked up a large black shepherd walked out from behind the dumpster and stood next to him. The unease I felt was nearly paranormal, and in my mind I was like “oh shit, that’s the fucking devil” and I picked up my dog and bolted inside. Never seen that guy or the dog ever again

#26

In a bar in Islington. Sensed something was going to kick off and started to leave. Huge gang fight started, I almost got accidentally bottled as riot police stormed in. Ended up being a witness as people died. I just *felt* uneasy all of a sudden.

#27

When my son was about 3 years old I drove him one night to see the Christmas tree outside a little church nearby. I’d never taken him there before but knew they’d do an amazing job with the lights each year. We pulled into the parking lot near an adjacent house and my son said “Ok mom but we need to leave right now because a very bad man is going to come out of that house in a minute.” I have no idea what vibe his little mind picked up on, but I didn’t question it for a second! Got the heck out!

#28

I was waiting for someone outside the bathroom at the back of a Lowe’s when everyone (all the customers and employees) started running past me quietly to the back of the store past the restrooms looking very, very scared.

Someone pulled a gun near the registers, no one was hurt, but running from what you think is an active shooter situation is surreal.

#29

My husband and our friends were hanging out at a lake in Vermont late at night. When a random man parked about 100 yards away from us. Slowly and quietly walked up behind us and then just stood directly behind us before he started talking. I’m pretty sure if we didn’t get out of there when we did, we were all going to be unalived.

#30

Me and a friend went to get a TV from some guys house that we found on Craigslist. We got there and he had us come inside saying he had several options of the model we were looking for. Inside it was packed with kids toys. This guy was 40 or older. Had a miniature train track going along the perimeter of his home. He told us the TVs were in his basement. At this point, the movie “Zodiac” came to mind.
I was mad when my friend agreed to go down to his basement. I just kept my eyes on this guy the whole time. Obviously, I’m not dead. But the 90 seconds it took to go down to his basement, pick the TV, and get out was awful.

#31

Funny that you asked, last Friday a neighbour and friend of mine were invited for some drinks by our neighbour and his girlfriend. It was polite, nice talk and music too. Getting to know one another. 2 men showered up, came said hi think they were scouting then came back 2 hours later. One of them lives 2 floors above us. They acted like it was their place, drinking our wine and making all sorts of complaints and remarks about everything even changing the music. I noticed my mood shift and texted my neighbour I’d she needed to, we can leave. An hour later abruptly she said we need to go, something wasn’t right. So I did. These guys followed us home. So now they knew where we lived but refused to step away so we hurrisly said our goodbyes and each got indoors until I heard someone try to opén our doors. Well our Landlady did nothing about it, didn’t take my complaints seriously. I’m currently house hunting.

#32

At a hotdog place in Chicago I felt something was off and left, my friend (who I tried to get to come leave with me) got stabbed not more than 5 minutes later.

#33

Oooo i got a good one, it wasnt me but an ex partner, I was visiting her and her family for the holidays and we decided one night to go out dancing. We got all dressed up and I was real excited to go to the club with her. We get to the parking garage and maybe 10 steps out of the car she stops me and says “i have a bad feeling about going to the club, would you hate me or be mad if we just went back home?” I said “absolutely not, id rather us be home and you be wrong than be out and you be right. The next day we found out there was a shooting at the club and a couple was killed. I hugged her and thanked her for saving our lives… trust your gut!

#34

Sooo… this isn’t my story it belongs to one of my exs but.. he was shopping at one of our local grocery spots with a couple of friends back in my old hometown and saw this man pacing back and forth. He described him “in glasses dressed in all black attire” looking worried. He said he got this hair raising feeling that something was off so he told his friends it was time to go and they agreed. They where making the decision to head up to a mall we had out there and when they finally finished loading the groceries in completely they headed to the mall and got stopped at the entrance by police because the Walmart in the same parking area was being shot up…. As all of you may know or if you haven’t.. this was the Walmart shooting that ended fatally in El Paso tx… when my ex had turned on the tv low and behold it was the guy he had seen earlier.. what’s even crazier was my ex ended up getting arrested to serve out his warrant and was in the same unit as him all within the same month

#35

When we were on a class trip in around 7th grade our accommodation was located on top of a hill. Down the hill was a little spot with 2 benches at a small non-paved pathway that led into a forest. We were 4 girls hanging around there, just talking while we had free time. For some reason I started feeling watched out of the forest, I was so uncomfortable. I got hyperaware of my surroundings and the feeling got worse and worse. I urged the other girls to go back and after some convincing, we did. Nothing happened, but this feeling was very scary. Everything inside me literally screamed at me to leave right away. Maybe it was just a feeling without any reason. But I’d rather listen to it once too many times than end up hurt.
There was no other single soul around us who could have helped.

#36

My sister went to a school that was an hour away and had to be up at 5 every morning. This happened around 2009. We were 12 & 16 years old, woke up one morning, getting dressed and heard a baby crying outside. This is Minnesota so it’s VERY dark and VERY cold in the winter at 5 am. We knew it was some bs – cops came – found tracks in the snow to our door. Someone had been playing a tape trying to lure us outside and I never slept well in that house again knowing someone tried that

#37

In 2023 me and my husband stayed in a hotel in front of the shore at Hollywood beach. We spent the whole morning/afternoon cycling the city and when we came Back to the hotel we should decide going to the beach or hotel’s swimming pool. I felt to my gut that we should definitly go to the pool and some minutes later we heard the shooting coming from the beach. The News reported later that 9 people were injured and the police were looking for the 3 gunmen.

I just can’t help myself by thinking about our famílias in Brazil receiving the terrible news if we decided to stay.

#38

My new bride and I were moving to our first apartment in ATL. We stopped at a rest stop in SC and there were people running around, people acting real creepy, and I looked at her and said, “Let’s get the the hell out of here!” We drove through the night to our new apartment, laid out blankets on the floor, and slept. Bad vibes!!!

#39

Went out with my bother and mom to a tavern for some burgers. As soon as I walked in the door I was like, ‘nah guys this is where trouble starts’ I got the same feeling from that place as I did right before shit went down when I was deployed overseas. Blood pumping in my ears, neck hair standing straight up, cold sweat. We left immediately and went somewhere else. A week later somebody got kicked out for being drunk so they got their AR and shot the place up.

#40

I was meeting an acquaintance of my new partner, this very small ex military man. I have a lot of tattoos and people often try to touch them without asking me first. When he reached out to touch me my entire stomach flipped over and I could feel such a dark presence from him. It was so terrifying. Even through he was half my size I instinctively stepped back away from him and told my partner later he scared the fuck out of me. I could tell he didn’t see women as human

#41

Drove up to a gas station at 1 AM and saw two guys walking up to the door wearing ski masks. Left and went somewhere else. Ended up hearing about an armed robbery at that location around 1 AM the next day

#42

2022 Brisbane Floods. 2nd story house. All was fine until it was almost at the top of the first floor. That panic to leave hit like a gut punch.

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