The Most Disturbing Internet Rabbit Holes

The Most Disturbing Internet Rabbit Holes

Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’re looking at some of the strangest and unsettling Internet phenomena that will keep you scrolling for hours…if you dare.

Bizarre Websites

There’s no shortage of content on the World Wide Web. While many users are accustomed to pages dedicated to brands or social media, they may not be aware of those made by individuals for no profit. These personal web pages began popping up in the 1990s, and hosts like GeoCities and Angelfire allowed anyone to make them, sometimes at no cost. It’s on these sites that you’ll be likely to find some of the strangest and most unsettling content on the Internet. There are some that serve as online diaries, such as Ted’s Caving Page. Each entry on his discovery of a mysterious passage in a cave will pull you further and further in as you try to find out what happens next or if what he claims is true. Others, like Erowid, are full of unflinchingly honest accounts of users' experiences with various illicit substances, including those that resulted in their lives being changed for the worse. There are some that are even darker, such as the unintelligible yet fascinating 973-eht-namuh-973. Each click will send you into a spiral as you try to decipher the codes, creating a mystery that you may not be able to solve. While some may just be fictional, there are others that are terrifyingly real. The website created by members of Heaven’s Gate cult may look like a time capsule of the 1990s– complete with neon text and bold graphics– but knowing that it led to the deaths of 39 people makes looking through each link on their beliefs far more somber. All of these and more are lurking just beneath the surface of the mainstream Internet we know today. Should you happen to stumble upon one, then we recommend diving head first into the rabbit hole yourself…if you dare.

Interactive/Story-Driven Rabbit Holes

Odd websites may have plenty of content to scroll through, but some don’t offer users the chance to interact with them. However, there are others that allow netizens to offer their input, usually in the form of a comments section. Some are based in dark reality, such as r/TraceAnObject, where Redditors attempt to identify “objects” that assist law enforcement agencies in solving potential trafficking and exploitation crimes. It’s hard not to look through each post without feeling a creeping sense of dread at what may be happening in the uncropped image. Others are fictional, but that doesn’t make them any less frightening. Story-based content is just as interactive, and often provides hours of eerie entertainment. YouTube has plenty to offer, such as Poppy’s earliest uncanny android videos. Even more disturbing is the series created by Daisy Brown. Each video showcases Daisy and a puppet, Alan, with the latter becoming more violent and unhinged with every subsequent upload. Reddit also has plenty of posts that draw users in with creepy posts, some of which are so bizarre that they’ll leave you scrolling through users’ whole profiles and comment histories just to learn more. Some leave you wondering if a crime has been – or is about to be – committed, such as the post about a user inexplicably finding a coffin in their driveway, or the one about a group of friends coming across a not-so-abandoned bridge. Others leave you worrying for the person creating the posts, such as u/worthless319’s descent into paranoia and self-harm. It goes to show that even mainstream websites can still host some truly unsettling works, even if you have to dig for it. Even if some are fake, being able to become part of the story yourself makes it even more immersive.

Obscure Forums & ARGs

While some online stories make it easy to discern between fact and fiction, others make it intentionally more murky. All throughout the web, users create and interact with posts doubling as alternate reality games, or ARGs. They use the world we live in as the base, and create a seemingly endless amount of options depending on the path each individual player takes. The phenomenon has broken into the mainstream, with various corporations creating them in order to promote a product. Some lean into the true spirit of the artform, such as Adult Swim’s analog horror short “This House Has People In It”. However, there are plenty of others that don’t come with financial backing or teams of writers– and often, they are much more unsettling than their professionally-made counterparts. Many can be found on Reddit, often with whole subreddits being dedicated to unraveling them. One of the most infamous is r/LakeCityQuietPills. What started as a single post lamenting the passing of a friend soon led to a sprawling mystery, complete with coded messages and real-life assassinations. Another example is the Box of Crazy. While this hasn’t been confirmed to be an ARG, the various drawings, maps, and texts led to a community-wide mystery that still hasn’t been entirely decoded. YouTube is also home to plenty of alternate reality games. One of the most compelling comes from the channel, meatsleep, which was owned by 11 users from around the globe. Each video shows them trying to identify Meat, often in disturbing ways. The viewers have been pulled into the mystery, and over a decade later, they still have not been able to solve it. No matter which platform you find it on, we guarantee that once you start one of these eerie interactive experiences, you won’t be able to stop.

Unusual Case Studies

Without a doubt, one of the most interesting aspects of the Internet are the people who use it. Not just those who post their own content, but also those who interact with those creators. Not even real-life people are safe from being turned into rabbit holes, with viewers debating the lore of their lives. These subjects – also known as lolcows – are usually chosen based on their propensity to fall for lies online or their eccentric personalities. One of the more unsettling cases is Chip-Chan, a Korean streamer who was filmed inside her apartment. The cameras seemed to be in the corners of her home, making it seem more like CCTV footage than a traditional stream. She claims she’s being held hostage and being subjected to mind-control techniques, which has led to countless people tuning in over the years. Until her sudden disappearance in 2020, people would watch and analyze every second of her multi-hour streams. However, what set her apart from other case studies was the healthy distance between her and her audience. Others, such as Chris Chan aren’t so lucky. Since 2007, every aspect of her and her family’s lives has been picked apart. Other trolls have been far more insidious, and have created harassment campaigns seemingly with the goal of pushing her over the edge. From impersonation to manipulating her into believing she lives in a fantasy world, each act is deplorable yet impossible to look away from. She even has a whole Wikipedia-like website dedicated to her, with over 34,000 pages and counting. Her life has become a bottomless rabbit hole, and it doesn’t seem like it will end any time soon. Her case puts a spotlight on the obsessive behavior of some users, and how far they’ll go to impress others like themselves.

Which of these rabbit holes do you want to dive down first? Let us know in the comments!