Keeping a secret is hard. But revealing it might also not be easy, especially if it’s related to the people you love. That might be one of the reasons why many people keep certain things to themselves for years or only share themanonymouslyif they need the load lifted off their shoulders.A bunch of ‘Ask Reddit’ community members have recently lifted such a load, after one userasked themto share the darkest family secrets they could never tell anyone. Their stories ranged from upsetting to absolutely shocking and everything in between, with many being worthy of a horror movie scenario, but if you’re brave enough to see what they entailed, you can find them on the list below. Just bear in mind that some of them are seriously disturbing and browse them at your own risk.Below, you will find not only the secrets but alsoBored Panda’sinterviews with the OP themselves, as well as withJennifer Guttman, PsyD, a psychologist and author ofBeyond Happiness, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions.This post may includeaffiliate links.
Keeping a secret is hard. But revealing it might also not be easy, especially if it’s related to the people you love. That might be one of the reasons why many people keep certain things to themselves for years or only share themanonymouslyif they need the load lifted off their shoulders.
A bunch of ‘Ask Reddit’ community members have recently lifted such a load, after one userasked themto share the darkest family secrets they could never tell anyone. Their stories ranged from upsetting to absolutely shocking and everything in between, with many being worthy of a horror movie scenario, but if you’re brave enough to see what they entailed, you can find them on the list below. Just bear in mind that some of them are seriously disturbing and browse them at your own risk.
Below, you will find not only the secrets but alsoBored Panda’sinterviews with the OP themselves, as well as withJennifer Guttman, PsyD, a psychologist and author ofBeyond Happiness, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions.
This post may includeaffiliate links.
My last name shouldn’t be my last name. My great grandfather got it off a tombstone while on the run from the law. My great grandma found out she wasn’t legally married after 30 yrs and 5 sons. She ended up in some mental institution in New Orleans and got a lobotomy over it.She raised me till her death and she was an amazing woman that didn’t deserve any of it. She was from the south but studied medicine and wasn’t allowed to practice so she ended up teaching black kids to read to p**s off her father. She was one of the first women to vote and have a drivers license in Georgia.An all around amazing woman that I’m lucky to have been around. She was born in 1899, RIP Irene.
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The darkest family secret used to be that grandma [ended] two husbands. But since she’s died and out of reach of the law, I’m telling everyone lmao. My grandma was a bad a*s and was willing to do whatever it took to protect her children. Those guys chose the wrong woman when hunting for children to harm.
Talking toBored Pandaabout the thread, the OP shared that they wanted to ask a question that they wouldn’t necessarily expect many responses to. But quite a few people shared their stories, in many cases, opening a can of worms that few people could have seen coming.“I had not expected to see some responses that were a bit more dark, to say the least,” the redditor said. They added that their family, too, is not immune tosecrets, but they’d rather keep them to themselves. Wondering why many people didn’t refrain from sharing the darkest secrets of their kin, the OP speculated that it was likely the anonymity that Reddit provides that made it easier for netizens to open up.
Talking toBored Pandaabout the thread, the OP shared that they wanted to ask a question that they wouldn’t necessarily expect many responses to. But quite a few people shared their stories, in many cases, opening a can of worms that few people could have seen coming.
“I had not expected to see some responses that were a bit more dark, to say the least,” the redditor said. They added that their family, too, is not immune tosecrets, but they’d rather keep them to themselves. Wondering why many people didn’t refrain from sharing the darkest secrets of their kin, the OP speculated that it was likely the anonymity that Reddit provides that made it easier for netizens to open up.
My great grandfather was well known in town 80 years ago for trying to publicly [end] himself a bunch of times before finally succeeding, I didn’t know until I was 20 and found his obituary. I’m named after him and as a kid my pediatrician, who was really old, always asked about my mental health and encouraged me to talk to a therapist about any dark thoughts I may have. I think the doctor remembered my great grandfathers story and wanted to make sure I didn’t go that way.
The IRA gave my granddad a full military funeral. Nobody alive has any idea why.
Jennifer Guttman, PsyD, seconded the idea that anonymity makes it easier for some people to open up or reveal secrets. “It allows them to distance themselves from the information they’ve been keeping secret. It’s the first step in opening up. It allows them to say or write it even if they aren’t taking responsibility. That’s a big step for some people. Whether it’s sharing the information openly or anonymously, getting the secret out is better for a person’s overall wellbeing.”
My great grandfather would smuggle in alcohol from Canada during prohibition. It was also illegal for native Americans to drink in local bars. But he would invite them in and claim they weren’t native Americans but they were from Mexico so they could drink with him. He also had a brother who ran away and joined the circus and eventually became a Hollywood prop man.I also had a great Uncle that [hurt] his wife so badly she [ended] him. She was one of the first women to win the court case using the battered spouse defense.A few generations back part of my family were LDS polygamists . Fortunately I’m not directly descended from them.It’s nuts all the dirt you find when doing genealogy!
Discussing the effect keeping secrets from family members can have on a person and their relationships, the expert noted that such secrecy can makefamily relationshipsfeel less genuine and more guarded.“This can lead to increasing feelings of tension or awkwardness and eventually reduce communication,” she told Bored Panda.As for keeping secretsaboutthe family and notfromit, Guttman noted that it can make the secret keeper feel isolated, depressed, and anxious.
Discussing the effect keeping secrets from family members can have on a person and their relationships, the expert noted that such secrecy can makefamily relationshipsfeel less genuine and more guarded.
“This can lead to increasing feelings of tension or awkwardness and eventually reduce communication,” she told Bored Panda.
As for keeping secretsaboutthe family and notfromit, Guttman noted that it can make the secret keeper feel isolated, depressed, and anxious.
I had to put my dog to sleep in 2023 because she was lethargic and dehydrated, with vomiting and diarrhea, and lost the use of her back legs. I assumed - paired with her CCD - that it was time for her to go.Three months later, I received a recall notice informing me that a batch of her prescription dog food was formulated incorrectly, causing the exact symptoms (minus the CCD) she experienced the night before I had her euthanized. I threw the notice away and never told anyone about it.
I’ve told this story but it’s still pretty f*g dark. My great grandmother’s father was a family annihilator and [ended] her mom and all 4 of her siblings when she was very young (5 or 6). While he was [attacking] everyone else she hid under the porch. Apparently he called her name looking for her for hours before finally giving up and committing [self-harm]. She was the only survivor. I didn’t find this out until after she had passed away when I was in my teens.Edit: I know it’s technically my great great grandfather but fk that and fk him.
My Great Grandfather was a member of the Klan Wrecking Crew in Mississippi in the teens and twenties. He later became something called the Grand Kleagle I think.So yeah, he was a racist a*****e.
My great grandpa robbed a bank and did serious time for it. This was a big secret, but it all came to light when my great uncle tried to join the FBI as a forensic accountant. Needless to say, he wasn’t hired.
My brother committed [self-harm]. I helped my mother and sister pick up the pieces. They both viewed me as somebody very safe and responsible and comforting, and nobody in the family has ever found out that I failed to complete my own attempt years before he did, spending four days in hospital and two months off sick.He was always better at things than me.
My two older brothers are adopted, their bio mom was my dad’s sister. It was common knowledge that their mom was [ended] while being a high paid escort. I had no idea they never knew this their entire life. Onetime my brother said something about wondering where his mom was because she left when he was a kid, and I was like holy moly that’s not what happened. My brothers were in their 40s when they finally found out.
After my mother found out that her husband was infertile, she decided to have 6 children with her father in law. On top of that she brainwashed her husband (my legal dad) for years into believing the diagnosis of infertility was wrong and had him raise us as his children.
The person my uncle thinks is his older sister is actually his mother but my family has kept it a secret this whole time. Most of us know except for him… She got pregnant in high school and they’ve pretended his grandmother was his mother because it’s taboo
I have an uncle literally nobody talks about… I have no idea if he’s even still alive.He [made love] with a woman. She told him she had AIDS. He [ended] her.Now, that’s what he claims. The woman didn’t have AIDS and he didn’t contract itI didn’t even know about him until I was doing a family tree thing online. Asked my grandparents about it and they told to me to never ever speak of him again.Brought it up with my dad a few years later. “He said he’s not your real uncle, don’t ask about it again” in the most chilling way I’ve ever heard.
My mom runs an illegal ferret-breeding/rescue operation in California where they’re bannedShe has about 200-300 ferrets living in her home at any given point in time
My grandfather had two families, in the same town, at the same time. The 1930 and 1940 census were very interesting. Of course everyone in my mother’s side (her father) denied it was the same person, but it was.
My uncle [ended] my grandfather (his father in law) in the 60s. He had a heart attack after my uncle pushed him down the stairs. My mom was 6 and witnessed it. Everyone covered it up and said it was a fall so that my uncle didn’t keep my aunt, who was being abused, from being able to see her family. I didn’t find out until I was 19. I hugged that man more times than I can count. This has really f****d my family up.
My father was always very distant when I was a child and eventually my parents ended up getting divorced. I never really saw my dad again after that but it was always odd to me. My parents never fought, argued, yelled or anything. The house was always quiet, clean and we were always well off.We eventually found out he died from word of mouth in 2020. My mom for the first time started sharing stories. Turns out he’d go completely silent sometimes, just absolutely mute. He would go to work, come home and not speak or interact with anyone in the house, I was young so I don’t really remember.I was always curious as to why he would do that because from my mom’s stories it seemed to happen regularly. A few weeks ago my mom told me a story of my dad and her being at dinner with my dad’s parents and how his father (my grandpa) smacked my grandmother at the dinner table and everyone just continued like it was normal. Ever since I’ve heard this story I’ve been trying to delve into my family’s history but it’s been very hard to find anything. My theory is that there was some very heavy [mistreatment] going on and my father probably suffered from some intense mental issues because of that.
My uncle bought a yacht. The previous owner had had a heart attack in the yacht. They kept his body in the freezer.
It’s me. My dad never told his family I existed. I was shameful, maybe he was more ashamed. After he died they found out about me and kindly asked me not to come to the funeral. I get why he never told them.
After grandma and grandpa were long dead, my dumb cousin does an Ancestry DNA or 23 and me, figures out that his DNA doesn’t match with the other cousins who have done this (my two aunts’ kids). Someone went through the details and figured out his mom is not the child of grandpa. My aunt (who is a horrible person) proceeds to have a meltdown.
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My dad stepped up to help with my uncle’s kids after his passing. Uncle’s oldest son needed rehab, and Dad told him he was taking him. Cousin didn’t take that news very well, ran into the house, and came back out a moment later, running toward Dad. My mom - a sweet, mild, preacher’s wife - realized the cousin had a knife behind his back. She ran and tackled him and got the knife away from him.The cousin did go to rehab and has been clean for over 20 years. He’s done very well for himself.
Not a secret but still dark. In the second world war my grandfather stole an ID-tag from a deceased Russian soldier. By doing that he condemned him to anonymity and made his family not ever know what happened to him. I do not know why he did that but it bothers me.
My step grandfather was sleeping with my mother for years, she was an addict and he supplied her with pills that he stole from my great grandmother, my mother had many affairs in my lifetime, this was not an affair, to this day I cannot imagine what my mother was living with as this continued for years, it does say a lot about the power of addiction. It is believed that my grandmother knew about this situation but sweeping it under the rug was the way they dealt with everything.I am 62 and still struggle with what I grew up in, my stepfather was [violent] also,As a 62 year old woman I have struggled with relationships especially with men, although I’ve been married for over 40years I still struggle with all things related to [intimacy], never put your child in a position of your soundboard, All if this gave me a very warped view of relationships….
My grandfather—— whom I always knew as laid back, funny, loving, and doting—— used to get drunk and beat my grandmother. I overheard my mom say it during an argument she had with my grandmother.He was also 17 when he started dating her (when she was 13).I was massively angry and disappointed in him when I found out, but they seem to have had a thriving marriage anyways. I haven’t said anything cuz it’s not my place nor business, but it still taught me that people and things are not always what they seem.
My grandparents were first cousins. Born rural in the 20s. Even more, my grandmother was an identical twin and the twins married brothers (their cousins). I often wonder if my mom and her cousins aren’t genetically more like siblings.I tell lots of people this though. It’s got nothing to do with me so I don’t have a sense of shame about it. It’s an interesting shock of a conversation starter lol
My grandmother had a sister, who had a son. The father of this son was never known, but she always claimed it was from a Canadian soldier during the Liberation of the Netherlands. Her not being married and having a child without a father was of course really frowned upon.She kept up this story of this Canadian untill on her death bed, there she explained it was not a Canadian but a German. (And one pretty f*****g high up the order with the SS too, not some regular soldier.)
My great grandma was one of the biggest madams of the south. She did prison time, got out and changed her name.
My grandmother was kicked out of Ireland with her father when she was a little girl. The way she explained it, her father was labeled “too extreme for the IRA”. I laughed it off until my father and I visited Ireland during a golf vacation and approached a local historical expert to research a bit of our family history. They got wide eyes when we mentioned great-grandfather’s name and said we shouldn’t tell another soul about our relatives.
My 3x great grandfather [ended] a man in a duel in the south of France shortly after the American civil war. He left France after that and that’s why I’m American and not French I guess 😆
My siblings and I never knew our maternal grandparents. I got curious and started doing some research on my grandfather. Found out he originally came from some money. His family came from Georgia where they made a lot of money in textiles … specifically cotton … in the 19th century. I have kept it to myself and not told any of my siblings.
My mom was [disturbed] during her bouts of manic depression. During one of her flip outs she threw a hammer presumably at my Dad, but my 3 year old face got in the way.
My mom lied to everyone about being in the Marine Corps. The only people who know are me and my dad. I’ve tried to tell my sisters but they honestly don’t care to listen. For years, she participated in Veterans Day celebrations and played the sympathy card for years. She still talks to aspiring marines about her “struggles”She was even my friend’s honorary first salute and I don’t have the heart to tell her that it was all fake.
I told my wife because it surfaced after my father [ended] himself but he was a recovering dg addict and alcoholic who was decently good at hiding his pill addiction during his last relapse. He eventually got ahold of some bad mix of something that fried his brain. He had no idea who anyone was, didnt recognize his grandaughter, and decided to [end] himself 3 days after my wedding.We only learned about his relapse because his closest friend was his supplier until he ran out while in mexico and got ahold of who knows what.D*s are bad, mmk.
I am 99% positive my great parents were in the mafia OR went into the witness protection program. There is no trace of them past my grandmother and her brother. Their names didn’t even appear in their obituaries. I can’t find anything for them OR their parents, though they were immigrants here from Italy. But there should be atleast a single trace of them. I do know that side had mafia ties, so that’s the only logical conclusion I have. My grandmother didn’t speak about them, but she was close to her brother. I just haven’t seen anything like it before. Literally not a single trace online or in any data bases.
To me it’s not really a big deal since it’s sort of far removed but on my moms side of the family there was a lot of cousin marrying going on with her parents and grandparents generations (and I assume it goes further back). While I’m not totally sure whether or not my grandma and grandpa on that side of the family were related I’m pretty sure they were. I also assume this is why half my aunts and uncles were seriously weirdos and why I have a weird genetic blood disorder that’s sort of the opposite of hemophilia.
My bio grandmother had I’m not sure how many kids but she was with an abusive man. She took my mom and her twin sister and abandoned the other kids with the abusive husband. Decades later one of the kids she abandoned tracked her down but my grandmother wouldn’t speak to her. So she found my mother. Her and my mom went out to my grandmothers house drunk one night beating the door down trying to talk to my grandmother. Well, this got nowhere and actually got my mother shunned from the family forever. When I found my biological family 10 years ago they couldn’t even tell my grandfather who I was because I was my mother’s child. We literally lied to my grandfather for years saying I was just a friend of the family while I was hanging out in my their house…weird s**t lol. I guess I was just grateful to be around my family whether they knew it or not lol?
My mum earns 6 figures yet is a mistress for a millionaire. I’ve known for 10+ years. He regularly pays money into her account, drips of a few thousand a month.He has bought my grandparents things, bought me things. I pretend he’s just a great and generous family friend but I know she’s f*****g for cash. It’s not even like she needs it. It’s wild.
My sister attempted [self-harm] at least 5 times but was always rescued. She is assisted living now but doesn’t understand why she can’t be free to have an apartment.She was valedictorian of her high school class.
Not a dark but it’s still pretty sus: My great-grandmother might have had an affair with her brother-in-law, who might be the real father of my grandfather
My mom f****d strangers while me dad was at work. My sister and me where in the next room hearing it all. We where young, so hadn’t had a clue what was going on.
My grandparents used to have this painting of a little blonde girl standing in a field that hung above their couch, so me being an a*****e, decided to tell my little sister that she was the girl in the painting because we found her on the side of the road. She believed me for literal yeeears! 😅😂We had a good laugh after. 🤌🏼
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