Noises That Have Scared You

[Ulalume]

There doesn't seem to be a general purpose thread for scary noises and spooky sounds, so here's one.
Mods, if there's a better place for this, please feel free to move it.

Tonight, I needed to go down to the nearest shop. It was about 11 PM, just before closing time. It was cold, windy and dark, with no lghts out on the winding country road. Then I hear it - the eerie screech of a windmill. Sounding much like this:

Xylm0JH1TEI

Video Link Unrecoverable, best guess by context:

*shudder* That sound has always given me the spooks in a big way. At the store, the clerk mentioned that it was a haunting sound. This got me thinking about what makes a sound eerie or frightening.

This article from Time magazine suggests that it's related to cries of animals in distress.
http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/06/19/why-is-scary-music-scary-heres-the-science/

Which is interesting, though I wonder if it always applies. The wind in this video is making the most terrifying sound imaginable (IMO) and it doesn't sound much like a distress call. It sounds like a thousand vengeful ghosts closing in.

Which leads to another question, of why we think ghosts make this sound when as far as I know, no one has ever reported a ghost saying "ooooooooo!" in the night.

Anyway, share your thoughts and assorted scary noises here.

 

[Swifty]

One scary noise that springs to mind ? .. what I took to be an abandoned baby crying in a field at night .. my mate calmed me down and said it was just the sound of a chicken straining to lay an egg .. it didn't help that we'd also both dropped acid (about 25 years ago) ..

 

[Bigphoot2]

One scary noise that springs to mind ? .. what I took to be an abandoned baby crying in a field at night .. my mate calmed me down and said it was just the sound of a chicken straining to lay an egg .. it didn't help that we'd also both dropped acid (about 25 years ago) ..

More likely it was a fox - they make some really creepy sounds in the wee small hours. I have a friend who moved to the country for some peace and quiet. He lasted four months and then moved back to the big city after many sleepless nights. He said he didn't realise how noisy the countryside was and preferred traffic, sirens, car alarms and the occasional drunken brawl to the sounds of nature.

 

[Swifty]

More likely it was a fox - they make some really creepy sounds in the wee small hours. I have a friend who moved to the country for some peace and quiet. He lasted four months and then moved back to the big city after many sleepless nights. He said he didn't realise how noisy the countryside was and preferred traffic, sirens, car alarms and the occasional drunken brawl to the sounds of nature.

You could be right although we were walking past some chicken coups at the time .. with any luck, it wasn't a human baby ..

 

[Min Bannister]

It seems unlikely that a chicken would be laying an egg in the middle of the night. They tend to go to their beds at that time, like us!

I find any unexpectedly loud noise so frightening it almost makes me pass out. That doesn't seem like a very good thing evolutionarily to me! Unless there might be a good reason in nature to play dead under such circumstances?

 

[Ulalume]

I find any unexpectedly loud noise so frightening it almost makes me pass out. That doesn't seem like a very good thing evolutionarily to me! Unless there might be a good reason in nature to play dead under such circumstances?

Most of us are familiar with "fight or flight", but freeze is another. So it very well could be a protective biological response.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

An opportunity for me to bounce a message I originally posted on November 24th.
I still find it hard to accept the proffered explanation that the sound was mice.

That creepy "plastic bag" noise.

Flew back home last night from a short city break for me and my wife in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. It's allegedly one of the UK's most haunted cities, with ghost tours aplenty. I quite fancied doing one of the underground tours in which several people have reported an encounter with the "Mackenzie poltergeist". My lady wasn't keen though, so we stuck with the safer and tamer fare of museums, pubs, castles, art galleries, pubs, restaurants, shops, more pubs and Christmas markets.

Our hotel was an older style building at the heart of Edinburgh, not far from the castle. On our first night, my wife had gone to bed and I was sitting on the end of the bed, doing some research on Edinburgh on my iPad. I suddenly heard what sounded to me like what I can only describe as someone scrunching up plastic shopping bags. It sounded as if it were definitely inside our room, in the corner, just to the left of the bed. My wife sat up at that point and asked me what I was doing, as she though I had been making a deliberate noise with shopping bags. I reassured her I hadn't and, despite me checking out that corner of the room (the opposite wall from the window), could find no explanation for the noise.
The hotel did suffer from old and very tired plumbing, which groaned and clanked whenever we (or our neighbours) used the shower, but this sound seemed quite different, more deliberate and determined.
The next 3 nights were uneventful and, after some excellent late dinners in local restaurants, we slept really well.
On our last night though, by around 23:30, my wife was asleep and I was lying in bed using the iPad again to watch a wildlife programme on BBC iPlayer, with earphones on, so as not to wake her. She sat up suddenly and said "plastic bags"! She had heard that same noise, which she thought had come from right next to me and was sufficiently loud to wake her. I pulled my earphones off and switched on the bedside light but, by then, the noise had stopped. We were both slightly creeped out at that point, but so tired that we soon fell asleep.

Well I'm afraid that's the end of the story and hope you're not too disappointed if you've read this far and were hoping for something more lurid.
It's just that I can find no natural explanation for that peculiar "plastic bag" noise.

 

[Shady]

Leaves on the windows?, water leaking?, especially if its under high pressure, or just mice getting ready to go shopping?, rain also makes a similar noise on windows
Edit:
Sometimes there is a horrible screeching outside my window at night, its rare tho, i think it maybe a hunting bird, also when i came back late one night, i got in bed and there was a noise outside, it filled me with dread, it was like a mechanical noise, there was no way i was getting up to investigate, as it came nearer to my place, asked sister next morning if she heard it, as she lived next door, she said yea, there was no way she was getting up either LOL

 

[Coal]

When I was young, under four, I used to be creeped out by the squeak of the windscreen wipers on my dad's Wolsey.

 

[Bigphoot2]

An opportunity for me to bounce a message I originally posted on November 24th.
I still find it hard to accept the proffered explanation that the sound was mice.

That creepy "plastic bag" noise.

Flew back home last night from a short city break for me and my wife in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. It's allegedly one of the UK's most haunted cities, with ghost tours aplenty. I quite fancied doing one of the underground tours in which several people have reported an encounter with the "Mackenzie poltergeist". My lady wasn't keen though, so we stuck with the safer and tamer fare of museums, pubs, castles, art galleries, pubs, restaurants, shops, more pubs and Christmas markets.

Our hotel was an older style building at the heart of Edinburgh, not far from the castle. On our first night, my wife had gone to bed and I was sitting on the end of the bed, doing some research on Edinburgh on my iPad. I suddenly heard what sounded to me like what I can only describe as someone scrunching up plastic shopping bags. It sounded as if it were definitely inside our room, in the corner, just to the left of the bed. My wife sat up at that point and asked me what I was doing, as she though I had been making a deliberate noise with shopping bags. I reassured her I hadn't and, despite me checking out that corner of the room (the opposite wall from the window), could find no explanation for the noise.
The hotel did suffer from old and very tired plumbing, which groaned and clanked whenever we (or our neighbours) used the shower, but this sound seemed quite different, more deliberate and determined.
The next 3 nights were uneventful and, after some excellent late dinners in local restaurants, we slept really well.
On our last night though, by around 23:30, my wife was asleep and I was lying in bed using the iPad again to watch a wildlife programme on BBC iPlayer, with earphones on, so as not to wake her. She sat up suddenly and said "plastic bags"! She had heard that same noise, which she thought had come from right next to me and was sufficiently loud to wake her. I pulled my earphones off and switched on the bedside light but, by then, the noise had stopped. We were both slightly creeped out at that point, but so tired that we soon fell asleep.

Well I'm afraid that's the end of the story and hope you're not too disappointed if you've read this far and were hoping for something more lurid.
It's just that I can find no natural explanation for that peculiar "plastic bag" noise.

Did you have plastic bags in the room. I've had similar experiences a few times. I've woken up in the middle of the night to hear loud rustling noises in the room and been convinced something was moving about. After putting on the light, I found the sounds were coming from a pile of plastic bags. I checked the bags (very carefully as my imagination was working overtime) and found nothing inside them but other scrunched up bags.
I can only assume that during the night the bags were cooling and moving as they changed shape.
At least that's what I tell myself... I almost believe it sometimes.

 

[rynner2]

Did you have plastic bags in the room. I've had similar experiences a few times.
...
I can only assume that during the night the bags were cooling and moving as they changed shape.
At least that's what I tell myself... I almost believe it sometimes.

When I finish a (plastic) bottle of cider, I generally flatten it down before dropping it in my recycling bag.
Often I'm quite surprised a few minutes later by a loud cracking sound, which is the bottle trying to 'unflatten' itself. Many plastics and other materials have a 'memory' of what shape they ought to be.
eg:

A shape-memory alloy (SMA, smart metal, memory metal, memory alloy, muscle wire, smart alloy) is an alloy that "remembers" its original shape and that when deformed returns to its pre-deformed shape when heated. This material is a lightweight, solid-state alternative to conventional actuators such as hydraulic, pneumatic, and motor-based systems. Shape-memory alloys have applications in robotics and automotive, aerospace and biomedical industries.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shape-memory_alloy

and

Shape-memory polymers (SMPs) are polymeric smart materials that have the ability to return from a deformed state (temporary shape) to their original (permanent) shape induced by an external stimulus (trigger), such as temperature change.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shape-memory_polymer

 

[heisenbear]

When I was a kid, a local factory used to have an old Carter air-raid siren which used to sound as a knocking-off hooter at 5pm on workdays. It would sound for about 2 seconds and then stop. It was the winding-down howl as the siren 'coasted' to a stop that used to give me the cold shivers. I was too young to know what 'nuclear war' was, but I later learnt that that siren was part of the '3 minute warning' system. It's use as a factory hooter was an excuse to test the siren on a daily basis.

 

[Naughty_Felid]

An opportunity for me to bounce a message I originally posted on November 24th.
I still find it hard to accept the proffered explanation that the sound was mice.

That creepy "plastic bag" noise.

Flew back home last night from a short city break for me and my wife in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. It's allegedly one of the UK's most haunted cities, with ghost tours aplenty. I quite fancied doing one of the underground tours in which several people have reported an encounter with the "Mackenzie poltergeist". My lady wasn't keen though, so we stuck with the safer and tamer fare of museums, pubs, castles, art galleries, pubs, restaurants, shops, more pubs and Christmas markets.

Our hotel was an older style building at the heart of Edinburgh, not far from the castle. On our first night, my wife had gone to bed and I was sitting on the end of the bed, doing some research on Edinburgh on my iPad. I suddenly heard what sounded to me like what I can only describe as someone scrunching up plastic shopping bags. It sounded as if it were definitely inside our room, in the corner, just to the left of the bed. My wife sat up at that point and asked me what I was doing, as she though I had been making a deliberate noise with shopping bags. I reassured her I hadn't and, despite me checking out that corner of the room (the opposite wall from the window), could find no explanation for the noise.
The hotel did suffer from old and very tired plumbing, which groaned and clanked whenever we (or our neighbours) used the shower, but this sound seemed quite different, more deliberate and determined.
The next 3 nights were uneventful and, after some excellent late dinners in local restaurants, we slept really well.
On our last night though, by around 23:30, my wife was asleep and I was lying in bed using the iPad again to watch a wildlife programme on BBC iPlayer, with earphones on, so as not to wake her. She sat up suddenly and said "plastic bags"! She had heard that same noise, which she thought had come from right next to me and was sufficiently loud to wake her. I pulled my earphones off and switched on the bedside light but, by then, the noise had stopped. We were both slightly creeped out at that point, but so tired that we soon fell asleep.

Well I'm afraid that's the end of the story and hope you're not too disappointed if you've read this far and were hoping for something more lurid.
It's just that I can find no natural explanation for that peculiar "plastic bag" noise.

That was a good read. Funny though "wildlife programme" is the code me and my wife use for porn on her work phone.

 

[Bigphoot2]

When I was a kid, a local factory used to have an old Carter air-raid siren which used to sound as a knocking-off hooter at 5pm on workdays. It would sound for about 2 seconds and then stop. It was the winding-down howl as the siren 'coasted' to a stop that used to give me the cold shivers. I was too young to know what 'nuclear war' was, but I later learnt that that siren was part of the '3 minute warning' system. It's use as a factory hooter was an excuse to test the siren on a daily basis.

That reminds of the time when I was little and we'd sometimes visit a relative and a nearby factory had one of those sirens. The first time I heard it I asked what it was and was told "It's the monster."
I still associate that sound with some sort of giant monster.

 

[RaM]

There's a noise that has wakened me up 2 or 3 times in the 20 odd years I
have lived by the sea I dont know what it is but it is loud and it is the only
noise I have ever heard that terrifies me to the point of not wanting to
move, sounds a bit like whale music but what it really is I dont know,
though I do think it is a marine animal of some sort, not heard it for
2 or 3 years but if it ever comes back I am going to get up and go investigate.
You often get strange noises a dreger sucking something up it cant digest
sounds like the gates of hades have opened in the middle of the night,
a fox visits now and then and I have been out to shift cats and owls
the last one flew so close it's wing tip touched my neck but they don't
bother me at all, the wife was complaining last night about a strange noise
but it was a small dredger working in the channel.

 

[Belshazzar]

When I was a kid, a local factory used to have an old Carter air-raid siren which used to sound as a knocking-off hooter at 5pm on workdays. It would sound for about 2 seconds and then stop. It was the winding-down howl as the siren 'coasted' to a stop that used to give me the cold shivers. I was too young to know what 'nuclear war' was, but I later learnt that that siren was part of the '3 minute warning' system. It's use as a factory hooter was an excuse to test the siren on a daily basis.

This reminds me of the time I was exploring a large network of subterranean WWII air raid shelter tunnels which were built to accommodate hundreds of workers from a factory which used to reside above, and had obviously been involved in manufacturing for the war effort.
Anyway, I had just scrambled out when suddenly I heard the distinctive loud sound of an air raid siren! Now bear in mind this is only six years ago, or thereabouts.
It transpires it was actually coming from another nearby factory which still used it to denote clocking-off time. After just experiencing the old time-capsule shelters, it was a nice bit of serendipity I thought.

 

[skinny]

Had a koala sound off right outside our bedroom window in the wee small hours about 4 years ago. Thought I'd been visited by the devil himself. Not having ever heard the sound before, and assuming it was a bush pig being slaughtered by a maniac, I investigated outside and found the culprit being entertained by the cat. I don't know why I had never heard this sound before. We've been here in their zone for nearly 8 years. Maybe they moved in after that. I had one in our tree yesterday. He was lounging on lower limbs. Might pop out and see if he's still there. Bloody hot this week. They usually rock up when they get thirsty. Got a tub full of rain for them out the front.

Imagine sound 2 (the male grunter) right outside your bedroom window ripping you up from the synaptic depths of a sound sleep at 3am.

 

[Coastaljames]

More likely it was a fox - they make some really creepy sounds in the wee small hours.

Fuck they do :O

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

I found this video of a koala being nipped and then pushed out of a tree by a bully koala.
The victim cries quite pitifully. After around a minute, it stops and looks around to see if anyone's paying attention to it and then starts blubbing again. At 1:36 it's quite heartbreaking!

 

[JamesWhitehead]

Awww! :cry:

:cry:

 

[Coastaljames]

Little douchebag isn't he...

 

[OneWingedBird]

One scary noise that springs to mind ? .. what I took to be an abandoned baby crying in a field at night .. my mate calmed me down and said it was just the sound of a chicken straining to lay an egg .. it didn't help that we'd also both dropped acid (about 25 years ago) ..

The one time I had acid, I was staying over with some friends in Sheffield, we'd been out and I think someone stuck the last half tab in my drink.

Totally couldn't sleep afterwards, and kept hearing these weird noises on the landing outside, I think really just the heating kicking in and making the warming floorboards creak, just they creaked in such a way it sounded almost exactly like someone stood outside my door shuffling from foot to foot. Had me proper freaking out.

No idea how much being out of it was colouring my perception of that.

 

[Bigphoot2]

And the moral of the story is - if you use acid, wear ear-plugs

 

[Mythopoeika]

And the moral of the story is - if you use acid, wear ear-plugs

Or...don't use acid.

 

[Bigphoot2]

Or...don't use acid.

Good point - acid and ear-plugs might cause a giant worms are trying to get into my head scenario or worse

 

[Spookdaddy]

Did you have plastic bags in the room. I've had similar experiences a few times. I've woken up in the middle of the night to hear loud rustling noises in the room and been convinced something was moving about. After putting on the light, I found the sounds were coming from a pile of plastic bags. I checked the bags (very carefully as my imagination was working overtime) and found nothing inside them but other scrunched up bags.
I can only assume that during the night the bags were cooling and moving as they changed shape.
At least that's what I tell myself... I almost believe it sometimes.

I don't think it's even necessarily a change in temperature - a tightly scrunched up plastic bag will naturally relax over time into a much less scrunched up state (there's a phrase for it in the science of materials - but I can't recall what it is...not stress relaxation, I think that's a different concept). I've often wondered if freezing them (so that there's more of a delay before the rustling kicks in) and then dotting them around the place behind bits of furniture might be a good way of gaslighting someone. (No, I do not spend the small hours of the night working out ways in which to exact a terrible but untraceable revenge on the buttholes who own the place next to mine.)

More likely it was a fox - they make some really creepy sounds in the wee small hours...

Even the most innocuous of animals can put the wind up. Some years back a workmate described the ghastly 'thing' he'd heard breathing heavily in an overgrown back garden over a period of several nights .

'Hedgehog', I said. At night hedgehogs bumble around the garden bumping into things and making noises somewhat like a fat bloke who's had too much to drink climbing up a hill while eating a bacon sandwich - and at a much higher volume than their size would appear to indicate. He wouldn't have it, so I told him he was probably right: not a hedgehog, but the spirit of a serial killer trying to work out how to get in the back window...while making noises somewhat like a fat bloke who's had too much to drink climbing up a hill while eating a bacon sandwich.

 

[GerdaWordyer]

More likely it was a fox - they make some really creepy sounds in the wee small hours. I have a friend who moved to the country for some peace and quiet. He lasted four months and then moved back to the big city after many sleepless nights. He said he didn't realise how noisy the countryside was and preferred traffic, sirens, car alarms and the occasional drunken brawl to the sounds of nature.

City or country, the worst distressed baby noises are from Siamese cats.

 

[RaM]

Hedgehogs are noisy little beasts we have 2 or 3 that call, give then cat munch one
will take it from our hands, I did wake one night to what sounded like a navy in hob
nail boots dancing in the kitchen only to be met by the daughters gerbil having escaped
and having a walk round, surprising how loud things sound especially when like round
here it is very quiet in the dead of night.

 

[Spudrick68]

I can't watch it.

 

[Coastaljames]

...kept hearing these weird noises on the landing outside, I think really just the heating kicking in and making the warming floorboards creak, just they creaked in such a way it sounded almost exactly like someone stood outside my door shuffling from foot to foot...

I once took acid in a storm and the house I was in was creaking and the windows being buffeted. For about five hours I believed I was on an Elizabethean galleon with the wood creaking, the rigging straining and easing with the rain lashing the sails. With all that entails. Passed the time.

Or...don't use acid.

Mebbe.