The basement can be a scary place for kids and adults. It’s always the place in horror movies where the first “false” jump scare occurs. Basements are usually dark, dingy, and overall give off bad vibes. They’re usually home to loud machines, like the washer/dryer, and if your house is old enough a furnace! It makes for a great storage area, but anytime you go down there you feel a weird feeling of being watched, and try to get out of there as fast as you can.

However, sometimes it’s not just a loud noisy furnace that makes a basement terrifying. These people found strange things in their basements whether it be living or strange objects. Next time you go to your basement think of these people, and you’ll feel better about doing your laundry there.

The basement should be the first place anybody checks when deciding to live somewhere, however it’s often the last place people look. A lot of cases of people finding strange things in their basement happen after they first move in, because they never checked the basement. This can result in pests, or even someone squatting in the basement. This can be dangerous, and it’s always recommended to inspect every part of the basement before buying.

15. Pet Gator

A man in Michigan owned an illegal pet alligator, and he kept it in the basement of his home. The man was keeping the six foot gator in his basement for 20 years, which is almost all of the gator’s 26 year lifespan. The gator was kept in the cage, away from the outside world, and even away from light. The man said he lets the alligator into his backyard, but there are no witnesses to that.

The man was caught when a mechanic was fixing something in his basement. The mechanic took pictures of the illegal pet, and phoned animal control. The gator was released back into the wild, and it hopefully found it’s way to a more suitable environment. The man was charged for owning an illegal pet.

14. Burial Ground

A new resident in her home was remodeling the floor in her basement when she found a gruesome discovery. Underneath her basement were the remains of a deceased child. The body was a total shock to her but then other bodies began to pop up as she continued to remodel, and it turns out her house was built on an ancient burial ground.

The cemetery was said to be centuries old, and it was discovered to be one of the oldest burial sites in the area. This makes the people buried beneath her basement to be from the 1800s. It’s said that once someone disturbs a burial ground that the spirits of those who are buried there will begin to haunt the place. This is often the case when someone does renovations on a place that is built on a burial ground. There hasn’t been any information whether or not she has experienced paranormal activity, but it’s still an interesting find.

13. Meat Hooks

A Reddit user shared a story about his scary basement in a house his parents recently bought. He described it as one of those basements that as soon as you turn out the lights, you’d want to run as fast as you can to get out of there quickly. However, the creepiness of the basement doesn’t end there. Around the corner in a newly built section of the house was a meat freezer.

The freezer contained huge meat hooks, and had a huge door that led to the freezer. However the inside of the freezer was missing a handle, which would make it impossible to get out if someone were stuck in there. Needless to say, the meat hooks add an extra creepy aesthetic to the basement, and it’s doubtful that the OP will go around that part of the basement.

12. Hole in the Ground

There is a well that was dug into this man’s basement. The hole is covered by a latch door, the man described that he has The Ring in his basement. He of course is referencing the movie in which a demon girl can be seen climbing out of a well. The well stretches so deep that the light doesn’t hit the bottom, and it’s hard to see where it ends.

Anyone with a well this size in their basement surely has something to worry about. While it’s obvious nothing lives inside the well, it can fill anyone with paranoia knowing the well is there. Many people on Reddit suggest the OP fill the hole with cement, since it could be seen as a gate to hell…

11. Creepy Doll

This old lady doll was discovered in the basement of an estate sale. The doll is very creepy and has the face and body of an old woman, which is something you typically don’t see on a doll. The expression on the doll’s face is one of anguish, and that is likely the face of anyone who looks at this for longer than a couple of seconds.

The OP said there was a name carved into the back of the doll’s neck, suggesting it was the previous owner. Reddit users began to challenge the OP into saying the name on the back of the doll into a mirror three times to see what happens. The doll was originally found in a black box, tightly secured, suggesting someone didn’t want it to be opened.

10. Stranger Danger

College students who had been living in a house for some time discovered something suspicious one day. The group of boys discovered a secret room that was obviously being lived in. The whole house was shared by 15 boys so it was difficult to keep up with everyone in the house. However, there was actually 16 people living there.

The kids just assumed the locked room was a maintenance closet the landlord wanted to keep locked, but they were terribly wrong. When maintenance was hired to knock down the door, it revealed a room that had been lived in with framed photos and textbooks in the room. One of the roommates crossed paths with the boy living in the room, and asked him if he was living in one of the rooms upstairs. He avoided questions, so the boys decided to change their locks, and left a note for the boy to call a number. Once he did, the boy left without complaints, and the roommates continued living in peace.

9. Warhead

A lady was going through her basement cleaning stuff out when she came across a long green object. This object was an artillery round. She immediately called a friend to come check out the potentially live artillery round. He came over, and began to man handle the item without calling police officials. This was an extremely dangerous move, and could’ve ended badly for them.

Instead of going to authorities, they called a military friend of theirs, and had him check it out as well. He said it could be an anti-tank round, or a part of a mortar. He also explained that the artillery round didn’t look disarmed, and that it was best not to touch it. It was then that the two decide to call the authorities, who finally took it out of their lives. It’s strange to think how this artillery round got in her basement in the first place.

8. Torpedo

Police were tipped off that a wealthy man in the area had been storing illegal items in his basement, so they decided to go check it out. When they got there they found an arsenal of weaponry, including a torpedo! It doesn’t stop there, there was also a tank that was found supposedly from World War II.

The tank was obviously hard to remove from the man’s basement given its size. It makes you wonder how it got down there in the first place. The police ordered to have the tank removed by another vehicle that is capable of removing disabled tanks from a battlefield. The man was charged, but it’s unknown what his punishment was. His lawyer argued that the tank wasn’t breaking any laws since it was disabled.

7. Demon Statue

A Reddit user discovered this demon statue in the basement of a relative, and decided to share it with people due to it’s bizarre appearance. The demon statue is holding a wire that leads back to the demon’s head. Commenters joked that it was a switch to turn on the demon’s mind so it could move around freely.

Many people in the Reddit thread were trying to discover what it was, and where it came from. Many suggested it was a foreign doll, and others said it was some sort of Halloween decoration. Other people even suggested that it was used as some sort of morbid furniture, like a lamp. People were trying to get the OP to plug the demon statue in, but the OP never posted about it again.

6. Doll Family

Dolls are most likely the creepiest thing you can find in a basement, especially when they’re set up like they were in this basement. A restaurant in Phoenix was home to this horrific scene in its basement. The person who discovered these dolls saw a spiral staircase that led into the basement, and of course curiosity got the better of him. He would soon regret being nosy.

The images show dolls sitting along a wall at a table, as if they were going to eat dinner. However, this is more than just a dinner: it’s the last supper. It’s not enough that the dolls are there, but the fact that they have meaning behind them makes them much creepier. There were coins spread out across the table, and the scene still haunts the man to this day. I wouldn’t go to that restaurant!

5. Prosthetic Leg

Surprisingly, finding a part of a person in your basement is much scarier than finding a whole person. A lady was cleaning her basement to prepare for an exterminator. She came across a gruesome discovery. She found what appeared to be a leg, only after a few minutes realizing it was only a prosthetic leg. The leg was vintage, and was still wearing a sock and shoe.

The main question on everyone’s mind is how it got there, and why it still has its shoe on. What’s even creepier is to imagine the person who is missing their leg right now. Many of the commenters on this story told her to donate the prosthetic leg to help out someone in need. The OP said the leg freaked her out, and wanted to get rid of it anyway.

4. Spine

A Reddit user was telling a story of a girl he once knew who discovered something strange in the basement of her rental home.  She found what appeared to be a spine. She immediately contacted her landlord who explained it most likely belonged to a dog. He confiscated the spine, and apologized to the girl. Commenters on the post suggested she should’ve called the police as the landlord could’ve been trying to hide something.

Another occurrence in the same house happened a few weeks after the spine incident. The OP’s friend heard a noise from upstairs, and went to investigate. There she found a bunch of crayons all over the floor. This weird incident, plus the spine make for a creepy household. Maybe the two are related somehow. The house, and landlord give off bad vibes, and she should probably start looking for a new place to live.

3. Strange Creature

A xeno-archeologist who was born in 1782 in England owned a bunch of specimens that the man studied in his free time. After he passed, he left his possessions behind, including these morbid specimens. He locked them in the basement of an old orphanage, only to be discovered centuries later in 2006. When his things were dug up, they contained a bunch of morbid documents.

Many diaries showcasing the man’s weird hobby, and even some of his specimens were discovered there. The creatures were unworldly, either made of other animal parts combined, or completely made from scratch. People don’t know what to do with this collection of diaries and creatures, as it’s not clear if these specimens are real or not. However, just taking a look at the collection will creep anyone out.

2. Chemical Reaction

A Reddit user’s mother was part of a creepy basement story. She had to leave her home when toxic material was discovered in the basement of  a house in her neighborhood. She as well as other residents were ushered out of there homes, and loaded on to buses to be evacuated. A chemist who had been living in the neighborhood stored many deadly chemicals in his basement. When the chemist passed away, the chemicals were left in police hands.

Since the chemicals had the danger of leaking, and/or exploding, police needed to act fast. They quickly decided to evacuate all surrounding residents for their safety. The police loaded the dangerous chemicals into a truck, and had them hauled off to a safer place to be disposed of. While the evacuation was just a safety precaution, it would’ve been bad if one of the chemicals reacted badly, causing an explosion.

1. Duffel Bag

A Reddit user was sharing a house with some friends, and one night they decided to explore the basement, since they hadn’t had a chance to since they’d moved in. There is a small dirt crawlspace in the basement, and one of the men decided to grab a flashlight, and check it out. Soon later the man screamed that he’d found something.

The man emerged from the hole, and was carrying a duffel bag. The bag contained items that would send chills down anyone’s spine. It contained a hunting knife, two black ski masks, and one single black leather glove. The group immediately called police, but they couldn’t do anything with the evidence, so the boys decided to burn everything except for the hunting knife, which the OP still has.