I’ve never stayed in a hostel and I plan on keeping it that way. I’m sure young people who take gap years to travel find them super convenient. They’re cheap, give you a place to rest your head, and they often provide the opportunity to meet likeminded travellers. I just don’t see the appeal of it for a regular vacation. I’d rather travel less and stay in nice hotels. I’m too much of a germaphobe to deal with some of the real experiences described in the posts below. Hopefully you aren’t travelling this summer and staying in hostels. This article might just turn you off of the idea. Of course, plenty of people have had nice experiences but the horror stories are pretty common, too. Below, you’ll find 15 stories from Redditors about their creepiest hostel stays.

15. Crazy Woman Who Believed People Were Living In The Vent

This particular story from Reddit tells the story about a strange woman who rifled through other people’s things, talked to herself, and then started talking about people living inside the hostel’s vents. Listen, if there’s some random woman trying to convince me that there’s a person in the vents, I’m not going to dismiss her right off the bat. She might seem a little kooky but I’ve seen enough horror movies to know that this isn’t that crazy of a situation. Recently, I listened to a podcast where a woman described the time when she realized some random person was living in her attic. HARD NOPE. Do not want. There’s something even creepier about a person living in a hostel vent system. I’d pack up my things and peace out of there immediately.

14. Surprise Urinal Shower

Another traveller shares the story of the time they bunked in a room where some poor soul got peed on. The drunk man, who was occupying the top bunk, could not keep it in and began to pee on everyone below him and on their luggage. Are you even shocked that this has made it on the list? You’d actually be surprised by how many urination horror stories people have to share about their hostel stays. Drunk people just can’t handle themselves. They pee wherever they want. Imagine getting covered in piss during the night. That’s just an awful way to wake up. When my dogs have accidents in the house I think it’s awful. But they aren’t peeing ON me. It’s just gross, especially considering it’s a stranger’s bodily fluids. Ugh. I feel like it would be tough to shower enough to feel clean afterward.

13. Barforama

One Redditor tells of a hostel stay when they woke up to the very pungent stench of vomit thinking it was their own. They quickly found out it was actually their top bunk mate’s barf. It had trickled its way down overnight. I’m one of those people who cannot see or smell vomit. I will immediately start to gag. I’m sure a lot of people out there are the same. I sometimes find myself judging those people who can’t get to a bathroom or garbage can quickly enough. I’ll admit, I sometimes feel like they’re less than me. But I can remember a few times where I’ve had close calls. One time, I had a really terrible migraine. It was so bad that I could barely stand. My mother in law had to drive me home and just as we were pulling up, I barged in a bag in the car. Mortifying.

12. The Pedophile In Silk Pyjamas

This very crazy hostel tale from Reddit tells of a strange encounter with a man in silk pyjamas who quickly left in a hurry one morning. Three roommates sharing a four bed room returned late one night to find an older gentleman occupying the fourth bed. In the morning the out-of-place man quickly changed from his silk pyjamas to a rather dapper tweed suit and explained to them that he was taking some time to travel now since he had retired from psychiatry. Three weeks later, the Reddit user explains that they found out the man was actually a wanted pedophile. I don’t know what’s worse. Finding out later that the weird old guy in silk pyjamas that was in your room is a wanted pedophile or finding out at that instant. I’d say it’s a bit less scary to find out later, but I’m not so sure. That’s definitely a creepy story. To be fair, he wasn’t some kind of axe murderer who was going to chop them all up in their sleep. But it’s still unsettling to think that you slept in the same room as a wanted creeper. Yikes. I love the descriptions of what he was wearing, though. Definitely my favorite part of this tale.

11. Naked & Confused Russian Guy

One hostel user woke up to find a “naked, fat, drunk Russian” trying to jump into the upper bunk. During his endless attempts the drunk man kept swinging his junk at the poor soul occupying the lower bunk. Ew. Just gross. Imagine being woken up by a large naked man whose privates are flapping around. It’s probably one of those things where you can’t look away. You really want to close your eyes and pretend everything is peachy, but you just can’t stop looking at what’s in front of you. Honestly, at least he didn’t try to jump in bed with this person. I think that would have been the worst thing that could have happened. At least he tried to jump into his own part of the bunk. There are plenty of stories where people are too lazy to even do that.

10. Drunken Sexual Threats

In this nightmare story, a Reddit user shares their shocking encounter with another guest who threatened them with sexual assault in the middle of the night if they didn’t perform the demanded sex acts. This gave me chills. There’s not even a part of this that described the guy as drunk. Not that that would have been better but the fact that he did this while totally sober is really unsettling. He threatened to sexually assault his bunkmate. To tell someone you’re going to do something like that while they sleep is seriously scary and not okay. This story is a good reminder to never trust anyone. At least, that’s how I see it. They chatted earlier in the day and the guy seemed normal but that clearly turned out to not be true.

9. Weird Stains & Spiders On The Wall

One Redditor tells of a hostel in Dublin that was adorned with some pretty disgusting dirt and grime. Unable to find any available rooms, they were eventually able to book one hostel room with a disgusting bathroom and walls adorned with what they believe was blood, crushed spiders and weird white stains. Yikes. I can deal with spiders. As long as they’re not ginormous. But weird stains? NOPE and NOPE. I don’t like mysterious glob of stuff in the room where I’m about to sleep. I always imagine these probable remnants of bodily fluid are seeping their way into my skin. The thing is, I’m well aware that this isn’t a problem that only happens in hostels. Hotels are guilty of this sort of thing, too. I’ve heard stuff about the limited cleaning of sheets and how dirty everything really is. Oh well, if the hotel is nicely decorated and has room service, I’m okay to say YOLO.

8. Dead Guy In The Bathroom

I’d say this Redditor probably wins for one of the scariest experiences. Sure, being barfed on is gross but what about touching someone and then realizing their dead? This backpacker found a dead body locked inside the bathroom – the man probably died due to a heroine overdose. The person goes on to explain that they even had to leave for the day so the police could do their job.

A DEAD PERSON. I feel like this would have scarred most people. I would have lost it. The thought of thinking someone is just sleeping and then touching them and feeling their cold clammy skin makes my skin crawl. Having a fellow hostel stayer die from an overdose, that can’t be something you forget very easily. I’m not sure how this person managed to go and film a Coca Cola commercial while the police investigated. *shudder* Hopefully they got paid a pretty penny for their appearance since their iPod got stolen. Sounds like kind of a bad day to me.

7. Death Ray Gun Maniac

Another traveller visiting Berlin told of an encounter in a hostel with a middle aged woman who was convinced that she was being followed. She also went on to describe some kind of death ray gun capable of incinerating a human being. *backs away slowly*

This story makes me think of the Elisa Lam case. That poor woman was probably mentally ill. So sad. She probably lives her life being paranoid that someone is after her. But yeah, I would have moved out of that room, too. Mostly because of the death ray thing. That’s terrifying. In my mind, I know that’s bullshit, but I’m not about to take any chances and get incinerated in the night. Stranger things have happened and I wouldn’t want to disappear into thin air after being shot by some weird ray gun. No thank you. Especially not in a hostel.

6. Cockroaches everywhere

Don’t like bugs? Maybe skip this one. One Redditor tells of a stay during their time abroad in a place where bugs were everywhere. Cockroaches and bed bugs. EVERYWHERE. Look, anything with cockroaches is a big no go for me. I don’t like them. I don’t want them anywhere near me and I’m just not into it. If a place has cockroaches, I’m out. Immediately. One time, though, I did encounter one of those nasty things in a nice hotel in Arizona. I saw it scurry around the front door and I think I jumped several feet in the air. I then ran to hide behind a couch and rummaged through the cabinets to find a pot. From my hiding spot, I threw the pot over the bug and just left it there, stepping around every time I had to leave.

5. Adult Man Walking Around In An Adult Diaper

One unfortunate traveller walked in on a drunk man passed out over the toilet with the door facing out into the common room open. He was also wearing nothing but a diaper. I think I would call this being prepared. This person should be thankful the guy was even wearing a diaper at all. Otherwise, they’d have a pretty gross scene on their hands. Then again, maybe the diaper didn’t have anything to do with pooping. Maybe he was wearing it because he was into that sort of thing. That’s entirely different and kind of creepy. No judgement. Do what you want to do in your own home, but in a hostel, maybe keep that stuff on the down low. Unless it was to keep things clean and avoid pooping on the floor. Then, I guess that’s kind of smart.

4. Roommate who likes to rub vaseline all over his body

Probably the strangest of all the stories on this list. One Reddit post describes a scene in a hostel where a man stood in the room (filled with other people) rubbed Vaseline all over himself then went to sleep. The person then goes on to explain that their top bunk mate began masturbating.

BYE. I don’t need some weird guy rubbing vaseline all over himself. I never needed to hear this, get that image in my head, or ever think about it. I don’t understand why someone would do something like that. I doubly don’t understand why a woman would find that attractive. There’s a whole lotta crazy in this story. It’s kind of strange how some of these stories have such weird characters. I’m sure in hotels there are plenty of weirdos, you just don’t have to sleep in the same room with them. Yeah, I’ll stick to a private room and no rubbing of vaseline.

3. Mafia Ties In Japan

One Redditor tells of their stay in a really decrepit hostel above a restaurant in Japan. While travelling in Japan this poor soul was asked to show their personal ID by the proprietor. After hesitantly handing it over the owner of the hostel took a picture of it – with his personal phone. After the whole ordeal, the traveller is concerned that the owner had mafia ties and that they are still keeping tabs on them.

This person’s story tells the tale of a sketchy hostel that was right above an eatery in Japan. That sounds good to me. It’s always nice to be close to food! Except, in this case, the guy who manned the hostel took the person’s ID and snapped a picture of it with their personal phone. Weird right? Yeah, that seems a bit less than professional. The person who shared the story on Reddit was a bit paranoid about the fact that the hostel owner had their ID. They even worried about potential mafia ties. Look, you’re probably fine, but you also might want to change your name and get a new place.

2. A “Crappy Murder Scene”

Even just the words ‘shit murder scene’ create such a dazzling visual that it’s hard not to gag a little. So what happened exactly? This Redditer describes a drunk guy stumbling in after some partying and suddenly smelling the worst thing ever. So much crap. He had pulled down his pants as he was trying to get into bed and got poop everywhere. The liquid got on the side of the bed, the sheets, etc. If you’re not grossed out enough, imagine the smell. Imagine being in a room that smelled so bad and was so disgusting everyone had to mill out and find another place to sleep. Ugh. Hopefully you’ve already eaten.

1. Bed Bugs Galore

Finally, you knew it was coming. Bed bugs. One Redditor tells of a hostel in Calcutta where they got attacked by tons of bed bugs. I don’t like bugs. I don’t like big insects like cockroaches and I certainly don’t like sneaky little biters like bed bugs. One summer, when I lived with my parents I became convinced that I was being attacked by bed bugs. I had seen something on TV and was sure that my room was infested. I ended up sleeping in the basement for a week. No one else was getting bitten and there really wasn’t anything in my room, but I was definitely so afraid of them that I was waking up thinking they were crawling on me. Now that I think of it, it was probably just bad mosquito bites.