True story: I started learning English at the tender age of two-and-a-half. When I was around five, I dreamed that Irene, my English tutor, came through the ceiling, picked up our books from my desk and vanished back into the ceiling. Strangely enough, she had no legs; her lower body being djinn-like.
Startled, I woke up my parents to tell them about this. They spent much of that night explaining to me what dreams were. Only, the next morning, they discovered that Irene had died in a car accident around that time.
Creepy, right? According to Tickl’d, this is hardly the only creepy thing kids say or do. To kick off the Halloween season, here are some more creepy things that kids told their parents. Whether they’re as true as my story, matters little: I’m sharing not just for fun, but because these would make any writer worth their salt dash off to the computer, head filled with ideas! Best writing prompts ever, right?
Cross her
When she was about 3, we had a cat that had still born kittens. She asked if we could make crosses for them, which I did. As I was making them she asked:
“Aren’t those too small?”
Me: “What do you mean?”
Her: “aren’t we going to nail them to them?”
Me: (after several moments silence) “we’re not going to do that”
Her: “oh”
Goodbye, dad
I was tucking in my two year old.
“Good bye dad,” he said.
I said, “No, we say good night.”
“I know. But this time it’s good bye.”
Nothing under the bed
“Go back to sleep, there isn’t anything under your bed”.
“I know. He’s behind you now.”
Just bury it
My 3 year old daughter stood next to her new born brother and looked at him for a while, then looked at me and said, “Daddy it’s a monster… we should bury it.”
Skin
I was sound asleep. At around 6am, I was woken up by my 4 year old daughter’s face inches from mine.
She looked right into my eyes and whispered, “I want to peel all your skin off.”
Hi
My toddler went through a phase where she would just constantly say ‘hi’ to things. “Hi hi hi hi hi hi.”
One day, it came out sounding more like “Die die die die die.”
So I say to her ,”What’s that you’re saying?”
And she faces me and just whispers, “Diiiieeeeeee…”
Just throw it up
My kid’s catholic school is over 100 years old. There is a basement under the gym that’s used for storage.
I was subbing once, and during recess one of the kick balls went down the stairs. A little girl was standing at the top of the stairs yelling “just throw it up to me”. I went over and asked who she was talking to.
“That big man down the stairs,” she replied.
I went down. There was nobody down there, and it was the only way in. I asked some of the other kids if they have seen the man before and they said “yes, but sister told us not to talk to him.”
I asked them to describe “sister,” and they described a nun. There haven’t been nuns at the school in 40 years.
Good night kiss
“Mommy look what I learned!”
inserts tongue into mom’s mouth during good night kiss
“I learned it from a movie! It means you love someone!”
Mom calmly gets up without saying a word and walks to her room.
About Death
I was on a bus recently and we were stopped outside a walk-in clinic. A little girl in the seat in front of me turned to her dad and said, “Death is the poor man’s doctor.” And that was that.
Bad man
Our daughter wouldn’t stop crying. “Why are you crying?”
“Bad man,” she sniffles.
“What bad man?”
“There.” Points behind me at a dark corner of the room
Lamp on bookshelf next to said darkened corner falls off as soon as I turn to look.
She slept in our bed that night.
Burn, baby, burn
3 year old daughter holding her baby brother for the first time.
“So, I shouldn’t throw him in the fire?”
Labor
Yesterday morning, my 3 year old son told me “today’s [sister’s] birthday!”
I went into labor last night.
Waves of blood
My niece was sitting on the couch with a weird look on her face. Her mom asked her what she was thinking about.
“I’m imagining the waves of blood rushing over me,” she said.
Turns out they had been at a local science museum with an exhibit on the circulatory system. One of the features was a walk among some giant fake blood vessels, and she was remembering that.
Tick tock
Not to me, but to his grandmother.
He was cuddling with her, being very sweet (he was about 3 at the time). He takes her face in his hands, and brings his face close to hers, then tells her that she’s very old, and will die soon.
Then he makes a point of looking at the clock.
He’s coming
My youngest (around 5 at the time) once drew a picture of a black monster, looked up at me, and said, “He told me to draw this. He’s coming for you. You better hide.”
Not enough? Read some even creepier ones on Dose!
Musiville, my second children’s book, will be published shortly. When it does, I will only leave a sample of award-winning Runaway Smile online. If you wanted to read it in its entirety for free, you only have a few days to do so!
Reblogged this on Books and More.
If only I was a horror writer, so many excellent, yet creepy prompts.
They do see things that we don’t.
Almost makes you want to change genres! 😀
They sure do see a lot.
A few of them reminded me of Damien from the “Omen” – scary kids!
Ha ha – I had the same reaction when I first read them 😀
Creepy and cute! Out of the mouths of babes. 🙂
Lol – well said 😀
Wow, some seriously creepy stuff there. A friend of mine grew up in a house which was haunted by the ghost of a little girl who’d been run down by a carriage and killed on the road outside. They got on with her like a house on fire. She would throw the duvet on their bed into the air and they thought it was hilarious. She did other things too, to make them jump, and they used to try and surprise her.
Eventually the family moved out of the house. My friend said she and her siblings were all really sad. They tried to explain to the little girl ghost that they were going and that they wouldn’t see her again. The night they left there was complete commotion in the house, the neighbours told them, later that there was crashing, doors opening and slamming shut and every single window was smashed. The ghost was really unhappy and my friend said she felt really sad for her.
So there you go. My friend and her family had clearly got along with the ghost just fine but I wouldn’t have wanted to be the people moving in.
Cheers
MTM
What an amazing story! Now *I* feel sad for the little girl 🙁
How old was your friend? Did they ever see the girl?
Nothing under the bed was my favorite. It reminded me one Halloween my husband hid under our oldest son’s (8th grade) bed. When he and his younger brother came in to bed, my husband waited until they were in bed and the lights out, and then he reached over the side and grabbed our son’s arm. They laugh about it now, but that night they didn’t see any humor in it.
Oh, the poor souls!!!
That’s how therapists buy their BMWs, mind you 😀
Especially something *that* creepy 😀
Very creepy! I’ve often had the impression that my kids could see things/ people that I couldnt. Babies in particular seem able to look right through you, which is quite unnerving.
Ooh, I know the look you’re referring to. Very spooky!
BTW, what happened to you? Did all my emails end up in your spam folder?
Dont talk to me about spam! Grrrrr! What emails? I checked my spam for emails but didnt see any from you?
Oh, I only sent about half a dozen of them before my trip asking for your phone number, in order to meet up!
Fraid so! There and back again. Met up with Tara. We missed you 🙂
I am gutted! I really am. When and where did you meet? The chance to meet both of you and I blew it. Last weekend I had 468 spams in just the two days. When I increased the level of my spam filter by just 1 point I got NO emails at all. Its driving me crazy. I guess I missed your mails. Im so sorry. I hope you had a successful meeting.
Ah, spam filters and their crazy nonsense…
Well, I did have 4 (!) successive (and grueling) interviews, met some lovely people, saw Tara and went to my first genuinely Irish pub, so I’d say it was great 🙂
I won’t know until this week if it was successful, though.
If I do get the job, I’m sure I’ll be seeing more of Dublin. If not, well, you do pass through Athens on occasion, right? 🙂
Four interviews??? In one day! Wow, dont envy you that… you must have been exhausted. Good luck with it, Nick… its a long way to come for a job interview (must be a damn good one!) And they were obviously keen to have interviewed you so many times; they wouldnt have wasted their time, otherwise. So the signs are good, I’d say. I am so gutted I didnt get the chance to meet you and say hi.
Me too. Darned spam! >:(
I can see where the little girl burying the stillborn kittens would think the kittens were to be nailed to the crosses. Religion and its symbols can be confusing at the best of times.
Oh, absolutely. Perhaps she hoped they would be resurrected after three days 🙂
Not sure that I want to write about creepy happenings. I’d just freak myself out.
Ha ha – if the author creeps himself out, then it must be one hell of a read 😀
Creepy and scary.
Aren’t they just?
Yes totally.
You did give me the creeps! Stay tuned – in a few years, it will be your turn!
Eek! 😀
Oh, Nicholas, look at all the fun you have to look forward to! Some of those accounts are hysterical and some very creepy indeed. I do think children experience things that adults have long since shut down as our cultures teach us what is real and isn’t real. I know several kids who say they have seen angels, including one who was saved from a two story fall. Of course, I believe anything is possible…
That makes two of us. Scratch that. Judging by the responses to this post, maybe a few more 🙂
Whoa! When I was 5, I asked my mother if I could marry my cousin, who was 6 years older and very pretty as I recall. My mother said, “No, that’s not allowed.” I’m glad, because she grew up to be fat and dumpy looking. Dodged a bullet there.
Oh my. My teeth cracked. Creepy. o_O
I know, right??
o_O
Way too creepy for me – I’ll have nightmares tonight.
Oh, no! Sorry 😀
Some of these kids sound like budding serial killers. If my child ever made the comment about peeling off my skin, you can best I’d install a deadbolt to my bedroom door. LOL Excellent prompts!
Lol – you and me both 😀
I find the wanting to peel off the parent’s skin the most disturbing! As you say, great writing prompts. Thanks for sharing, Nicholas.
Glad you enjoyed them :Dd
My son has pulled off a few of those. Although the kissing thing I’ve heard of before and it sounds like many kids go through that ‘kiss on lips’ stage. My son has tried it on all of us because he says it’s how adults kiss.
For a few weeks, my son interacted with a ghost in the corner. It creeped me out at first only because it showed up when it was only me and him in the house. I had just watched this movie where only the little blonde-haired boy could see the ghosts at first and would follow them as they walked along the ceiling. (The Messengers for anyone curious.) Well, my little, blonde-haired son would just follow something along the ceiling while giggling and then said it was a ghost. I decided to play nice even though I’ve lived in this house all of my life and never ran into it before. My son was too young to give a description. Could have been a relative, I guess.
It’s odd, but I hear a lot of those ‘siblings wanting to kill new baby’ stories. I know somebody who tried to suffocate their new sister with a pillow. The intent was to help mommy and stop the baby from crying.
Wow! That’s amazing.
I sold my first UK company to a Scottish chap. He had just bought a castle. I joked about it, asking him if it came complete with ghosts. “Two,” he replied casually. “The woman in white and the Colonel. Thank goodness, they’re both guardian spirits, not angry ones.”
He then proceeded to say that the only trouble with them was how they hated his TV antenna, which he had to install inside the attic, as the building was listed (which means you can’t make any changes to its exterior – not even by installing a TV antenna). Apparently the ghosts kept pushing the antenna to the other end of the room every night, so he hadn’t been able to watch any TV since moving in.
A couple of years later, he sold the castle. Wonder if he just wanted to watch some telly…
Probably be easier to watch stuff now with Wifi and streaming. Unless the ghosts had issues with routers.
Lol – I have to ask him. Although he’s moved by now, so…
Wow, very creepy, and just in time for the Halloween season. There are some great ideas for short stories amongst them all.
My feelings exactly 😀
I’m so pleased you wrote them down and shared them with us. Creepy indeed! 🙂
I know, right?
A great selection, Nicholas. For me, the most chilling was the Catholic School one, as I found it a very creditable tale!
The story of your English teacher brought to mind my own similar (and 100% true ) experience.
https://beetleypete.wordpress.com/2014/11/01/a-very-personal-ghost-story/
Best wishes, Pete.
Heading over to check it out. Thanks for sharing!
Those were really creepy. Glad my children never did anything like that . . . though I did personally cast an evil spirit out of my middle son. Hey, I know it sounded crazy, but he always had temper tantrums as a small child, and I had just watched a National Geographic show about Catholic priests conducting an exorcism, so Ione day I decided it was worth a try. He never had another one.
Damn, that’s so weird! Nicely done, though.
Just throw it up is the creepiest one for me. All those hidden elements wandering about that only kids can see. Reminds me of the episode in the Amityville Horror when the kid’s describing her imaginary friend: ‘Jodie says he’s an angel.’
Eek!
Indeed, very creepy. I know from my own experiences when my kids acting weird or saying the impossible.
My son Marky, when he was 2, sitting on my lap while daddy was watching tv. That one corner to the left not far from our couch, there is a cabinet, height same as waist level, always creaking inside. My son would stare at it but he never was afraid. But I do. One time when he was sitting on the couch and I was preparing lunch (our kitchen in the same room, opposite the couch) he talked to that THING, whatever it is and he saying like, “Aek me wit do.” Do which I really do understand as a Mommy, meaning, “Take me with you.” I told my husband that but we prefered to dismissed that matter because it is simply frightening.
A couple of years later, we moved to a different place and my son is now 11. But still, he seeing things from time to time. That creep me out. One time, his brother and sisters were playing in the corridor. He was sleeping because he was not feeling well. That was this year summer. Suddenly he was screaming and crying, sitting in a rigid position, telling me there were black shadows people in his room. This is one of the thing that did inspired me to write the stories on “The Shadow People”.
The truth is, one time that was like almost three years ago, when my 2 1/2 years old died of extreme lung infection, I saw that one dark shadow in the room, holding hand of a child that look like her and she came to me in my bed, curled herself near by stomach. I felt as if she was my dead daughter and I hugged her while I looked up to that dark corner where that shadow stood. I was not asleep, yet. It was like between half sleeping and half awake, and it was most uncomfortable experience for a mother who’s daughter just died a few days …
The next night, my four years old daughter came to me on the sofa, was frightened from a blue clown she saw just above the book shelves opposite, to the right side of our television cabinet.
That was creepy when she said, “The clown is coming after me, Mommie! He has sharp teeth!” But then she said the red clown is there too, but a good clown.
Years later … now, we have never heard or see things, anymore … I really do hope NOT – ANYMORE ….
*my hair standing on end writing this … *
I have two friends who began to see dead people when they were young. This is a much more common thing than we realize. But when they get older they turn off the ability because it doesn’t make sense or makes them different from the other kids. Some of those who realize what is going on later use this unusual gift to help spirits pass on over to the other side.
Fascinating and scary stories you have here!!!!
It is really scary, Joy! I won’t want to experience anything like this ever again.
But I know that when we were kids, we tend to see certain things that we never want to mention even to our own parents because they would not want to hear of such thing that also might scares them.
But the thing is, if my children were to tell me this, I would listen to them and make sure nothing harm them. I know I hide my fear when I was little and I do not want the same thing for kids.
Yes, things can be so scary with the kids, sometimes …
That is so cool! Thanks :
Jesus! I’m so sorry to hear of your experience. It’s the worst thing I can imagine happening to anyone. And your stories – they’re just amazing.
The lucid state between being asleep and awake is such a weird one. I always have the strangest thoughts and experiences.
Thank you for sharing!
It was scary and it still scares me until today … There were creepy noises upstairs in the washing room that night. We all slept in the living room because the kids would not want to sleep on their own. For nearly three months we slept together in the living room and my husband from time to time joined us because he felt lonely in the bedroom.
Yes, you are so right about the weird experience between the sleep and being awake. It is almost as if you are in such a trance and cannot move. Now, that, is really scary. 😛
At least that has a medical explanation. Your experiences, however, defy logic…
I’m sorry for your poor husband, having to sleep on his own 🙂
Now you need to offset them with funny things children have said, or witty? Quite a collection. How do you find such thematic material Nicholas?
Ah, the magic of the Internet. This batch originated on reddit, I believe 🙂
Great post! But creepy!
You have kids, right? Is that what I have to look forward to?? 😀
Yes – good luck with that 🙂
Oh my goodness, CREEPY! I am gobsmacked. The only problem with this post is its timing. Should have kept it for Halloween! Now you set the bar so high, I wonder what’s in store for then, my friend 😛
Darn, didn’t think of that 😀
Well, my friend, you’d better get to work on it.
Yup – that’s some very creepy kids and I guess this proves how delightfully honest and unfiltered they really are 🙂
Yep. Not to mention freaky 😀
Very creepy, Nicholas! Glad I Never heard any kids say those things! Chryssa
Our niece was around 4 when she started whispering Electra’s name in a very creepy way, right next to her ear. Freaked us all out 😀
Yup, those are creepy.
Lovely ideas for short stories, though, right? 😉
Yes they are. A lovely selection.