10 Terrifying Things People Found in Their Basements
Some use the basement for yoga, a home gym or something productive like an office away from the kids. Others bring a dart board and a few lounge chairs and turn it into a man cave. Most store piles of junk that they will never use (which may include exercise equipment or dartboard). Be that as it may, the basement is a room in the inside of a building that is not often visited. Therefore, it is not surprising that it has become synonymous with Hollywood horror stories, in which monsters are often depicted as lurking in the shadows, waiting before they strike.
In reality, the basement is a boring spider’s nest. However, it can sometimes hold a few secrets from previous tenants or even from a bygone era. Here are ten crazy things people discovered in their basements.
Related: Valuable comic books were found in homes 10 times
10 Nineteenth century well
A well in itself does not seem that frightening. There in the field you can distance yourself from it and be careful when lifting water with the bucket. But if you imagine yourself falling for it, that’s a whole different story. Now imagine that pit is in your basement and you fall through the floorboards to the cold depths below.
Christopher Town, 67, was helping his friend move furniture into his home when he heard a bang. The floor gave way and Christopher plunged twenty feet lower into the darkness. Unable to touch the bottom of the pit, Christopher was forced to cling to the rock walls of the pit to avoid drowning until the rescue team arrived to save him.
The well was located outside until the house was extended in the 1980s, after which the nightmarish hole was left uncapped and covered only with wood.[1]
9 The bones of a father
Michael Carroll has spent years trying to unravel the mystery of what happened to his father George, who disappeared in 1961 and was never seen again. Until he bought his parents’ house, that is.
His mother told him he disappeared while buying cigarettes or ended up with a Korean lover. Others suggested that George might not have been too far away. When Micahel moved into the house, he called in psychics and a ground-penetrating radar company to find whatever he could, until police dug up the remains.
What makes this case even more interesting is that George’s skull showed signs of blunt force trauma. Michael’s mother died in 1998, meaning we may never truly know the story of how George Carroll ended up living under the house.[2]
8 Alligator
When a repairman was called to a home in Lansing, Illinois to fix some faulty appliances, a creature in the basement was the last thing on his mind… until he saw movement.
Poking around in the basement, you might expect to see a spider or the odd mouse, but what he encountered was a nightmarish 6-foot-long, 200-pound alligator in a large cage. Before the discovery, the animal was held captive for 26 years and fed a diet of raw chicken.
Charles Price, the homeowner responsible for the captivity of the ancient beast, was immediately charged with unlawful possession of an endangered species. However, he emphasizes that he has taken very good care of it.[3]
7 Secret roommate
When the roommates from 13th Avenue, an off-campus house in Ohio, moved in, they thought the house was shared by 10 people on the first floor (2 of which were girls). But it wasn’t until they noticed a few things were out of place – open drawers, recently used microwave, strange noises – that they suspected all was not as it seemed.
One day, a roommate named Brett went to the basement to turn off a broken circuit breaker when he met a man calling himself Jeremy. The man refused to answer Brett’s questions. Their roommates started a thorough search of the house, but were unable to open the lock on the cellar door.
The landlord and police broke down the door and inside they found numerous personal items (photos, TV, clothing) that belonged to no one in particular. It was not clear how long the so-called Jeremy had lived with them.[4]
6 Revolutionary War soldiers
When homeowners from Ridgefield, Connecticut, began renovating their 18th-century home, plans came to a halt because what they discovered beneath the basement was nothing short of terrifying. Human remains.
Archaeologists and forensic experts were called in before further excavations unearthed two more skeletons. All three skeletons were men between the ages of 21 and 50, and it was determined that the bones were not from this life.
The current house was built in 1970 on the site of the Battle of Ridgefield that took place in 1777, and it is believed that the men met their unfortunate end around the same time, making it the first discovery of Revolutionary War era soldiers who fought in 1777 were recovered. Connecticut.[5]
5 Snake infestation
When Royce Robins and Shaynon McFadden moved into their Colorado abode, they never thought there was anything lurking beneath them until the problem started poking their heads through the floorboards.
As the weather warmed and the seasons changed from spring to summer, their problem only got worse. Snakes. Hundreds of them slithered and hissed under their feet, popping up all over the grounds until they found themselves peeking out from under their patio.
What they found was a nest of horrors. More than 150 snakes were removed from under their home by pest control and a new deck of cards was needed at a cost of $8,000. The snake ordeal is over, but the memory of the creatures will surely haunt their dreams for a long time to come.[6]
4 Nazi tank
Possession of Nazi memorabilia is frowned upon, and rightly so. Some have a fascination with the macabre, the controversial: Hiding a flag, a hip flask, or even a military-issue Luger pistol is as easy as covering it in a pillowcase and tossing it among the rest of your junk. But what about a tank?
An investigation into a senior citizen in Heikendorf, northern Germany, uncovered a World War II Panther tank hidden in his basement, along with caches of ammunition. A collector through and through, he broke almost every rule there is when it comes to stockpiling weapons. He was called to account and received a fine of €250,000 and a suspended sentence.
According to the man’s lawyers, a museum in the US had expressed interest in purchasing the tank, arguing that it might be the most efficient use for such a vehicle.[7]
3 Chapel
Most secret religious sects have some degree of mystery and are therefore a fear factor for anyone on the outside. Their places of worship can have the same effect, but when those places are abandoned they become terrifying.
Such a terrifying place was exactly what Pat and Diane Farla discovered when they explored some nooks and crannies in their home. The house, which was built more than 170 years ago, is rich in history. Yet nothing could have prepared them for the discovery of an abandoned chapel in their basement, hidden beneath a metal grille.
There was a cross on the floor in the center of the room and hooks hanging from the ceiling. After further investigation, they found a staircase leading behind a cupboard in the dining room, into what could have been a secret passageway used by Catholics or other non-conformist religious groups to conceal their religious activities.[8]
2 Bear
Every year, some forest critters seek out safe and warm places to survive the winter months while they are in deep hibernation. Bears are known to find caves and holes, and a basement or an opening under a house is exactly the kind of place that could be perfectly suitable.
When a California family heard loud noises coming from beneath their home, their suspicions reached a fever pitch and they began their investigation. What they encountered was an adult bear napping in a hole on the side of the house.
Much to their luck, the BEAR League, a volunteer, community organization, came to the rescue, waking the beast from its slumber and saving the day for everyone involved.[9]
1 Poop covered man
One day, the police received a disturbing call from someone saying that their grandson was breaking things in the basement and that drugs were probably involved. The man had also threatened to commit suicide.
After investigating, police discovered a 23-year-old man in the basement who jumped on chairs and hit his head on the low-hanging ceiling, injuring himself. To turn a bad situation into a nightmare, the man was also naked and covered in feces.
Since the man was unwilling to cooperate, police decided to subdue him for his own safety by tasering him and undoubtedly taking him for a mental evaluation and a thorough cleaning.[10]