We recently covered a Reddit thread by u/Cosplay6718 that asked people to share the things they saw in other people's homes that made them never want to visit again. The post resonated with some BuzzFeed Community members, who shared their own house guest horror stories. Here's what they revealed:
1. "I went to a friend's basement apartment where he lived with a couple of mates. The place was filthy, and everything was encrusted with dirt. The sofa looked unexpectedly clean. I sat somewhat gingerly to enjoy a beer. Two or three beers later, I asked to use the bathroom. Upon standing up, I made a sound like pulling Velcro apart as my jeans left the sofa's fabric. I hastily made excuses and left."
—Anonymous
2. "I was invited to Thanksgiving dinner at my hair stylist's house. They were serving both turkey and ham. I don't particularly like ham, but I do like turkey. While pulling the turkey out of the oven, she dropped it on the CARPETED kitchen floor, used hand towels from the sink to pick it up, and put it on the serving platter without washing it off. I had ham."
—Anonymous
3. "I had a high school soccer teammate who shared many of my classes. He and I became great friends, but we always hung out at my house since I lived near the school and he was almost out of the district. When I finally got my license, I was invited to have dinner and spend the night one Friday after school. When we finally got to his house, my friend informed me that it was a 'no shoes inside' home and to leave my sneakers on the porch. When we entered the house, my friend sat on a bench and motioned for me to do the same as he called for his dad. The father brought a steaming bowl of warm, soapy water and a towel. He knelt before us, removed our socks, and washed our bare feet. I never went back."
—Anonymous
4. "My friend has cameras all over her house, inside and outside. I have never felt so spied on. I know she watches me and others who visit because she shows me the videos. During my last visit, I think she thought I stole something. I heard her going through my stuff and looking for a pair of shoes I had borrowed one day. She thinks everyone is stealing from her. She constantly says how rich she is. She is in her mid-50s now."
5. "I was invited to lunch at a friend's house. I took an extra hour off from work and brought chips and drinks, which cost me money. They lived about 20 minutes away, so I also burned gas to get there and back. I arrived and handed them the chips and drinks, which I never saw again. There was no sign of food on the table. At one point, they vaguely said I should make myself home and get whatever I wanted out of their fridge. What? We talked for a bit while I was starving. I left and booked it to McDonald's for a burger, which I had to eat at my desk after returning to work. Don't invite me to lunch if you don't plan to serve me lunch!"
—Anonymous
6. "We were invited to dinner at a friend's house. We thought we knew her well until she put the toilet brush in the dishwasher."
—Anonymous
7. "I had a girlfriend who I met in college, and she invited me to spend the night. She had an older brother who was her mother's favorite. They were in a two-bedroom apartment. Her brother had his own room, so I figured we would sleep on a sofa bed or something. At bedtime, she led us into the other bedroom. There were two beds. We slept in the room with her parents. Our bed was positioned at the foot of her parent's bed. I was trapped, lived on the other side of the city, and couldn't leave. Never again."
—Anonymous
8. "My friend and I went to a coworker's house for dinner. The coworker had a parrot, which lived in a large cage in the dining area adjacent to the kitchen. During dinner, our host's husband got up from the table and coaxed the parrot out of the cage and onto his finger. He then took the bird into the kitchen, held it over the sink, and encouraged it to poop. The bird complied. The husband then ran the water and the garbage disposal before putting the bird back in the cage and sitting back at the table. Our host laughed at the parrot's 'trick.' My friend and I left soon after."
—Anonymous
9. "When I got my first job out of college, my boss invited me over one day to pick something up. I worked for a church; he and his wife lived in the parsonage. It was rare for me to walk into a house that smelled so strongly of trash. I didn't know that was what it was at the time, but I just remember thinking it smelled unclean. To make matters worse, roaches were crawling across the floor and walls everywhere. They acted like it was perfectly normal and claimed that their dog would bring bugs in from outside...as if I'd never seen a roach. It was so horrifying to think people found this an acceptable living situation. The church would've paid for an exterminator, after all. I still remember those roaches everywhere while my boss ate dinner in his easy chair. I'm not a clean freak by any means, but that was revolting."
—Anonymous
10. "When I was a little girl, about 10 or 11 years old, my mother took me to visit another woman's house. I don't know why we were there or who the woman was. I think it was just a friendly visit to some woman she had made friends with at work. The yard was full of random stuff, but it was a nice home in a nice neighborhood. Then, when we went inside her home, it became overwhelming for me. Every inch of space (floors, stairs, shelves on walls, furniture, etc.) was covered with dolls and stuffed animals. It wasn't dirty or random. All dolls and stuffed animals were dressed very intricately and fancily with jewelry, clothes, and shoes, and they were placed just so. Thousands of them. Some small, some large, all different kinds."
"You couldn't walk unless you gently moved some of them with your shoe, or you would step on them. I stood as close to the door and wall as possible while my mother chatted with this woman like they were best friends. She seemed to be ignoring all the stuff around us. We went to the living room, and I stood there while they talked forever. I couldn't breathe and was experiencing absolute fear. The lady finally told me that I needed to walk around the house and go upstairs and look at all of her doll collection. I thanked her and said, 'No, I am okay here.' I didn't want the dolls to come to life and attack me. I stood by the door in total fear of these dolls! I could not believe my mother was seemingly okay with being there and didn't seem to mind.
When we finally left, I asked my mother why we went there and what the deal was with the dolls. She just acted like it was a normal thing and was surprised it had bothered me. She thought it was cute that the old lady with no children had a house full of dolls and stuffed animals dressed up. It was something that gave me nightmares for years."
—Anonymous
11. "I was visiting a friend in another state for a long weekend, and I vowed never to visit her again. I still love her dearly; we just meet up at a vacation destination when we want to see each other now. She was (maybe still is?) on medication that made her seldom hungry. So, she ate like a bird and never offered me a meal the entire time I stayed at her house. On the last full day there, she asked if I wanted to get Panera, and I almost cried from excitement. It was also the weekend she and her family would pick out their Christmas tree and put it up at her parent's house with all the siblings, nieces, and nephews. She has the nicest family (her mom even came to my wedding), but needless to say, that was awkward and uncomfortable, and I spent about an hour outside crying on the phone with my mom, telling her I wanted to come home (we were still in college)."
12. "I rode bikes with a guy who was known for being odd. He invited me over for dinner one night. I got to his house, and he locked the deadbolt with a key and put it in his pocket. He fed me an old McDonald's salad that he had gotten a few days before and put it in the microwave to 'zap any germs.' He served me that with a reheated hamburger and cold baked beans. He didn't eat and claimed he wasn't hungry. He had three identical tandem bikes in his house, all with the rear seat removed so nobody could ride with him. There were two very pricey identical cars in the garage. I was as polite as possible and feigned a headache. I took off when he unlocked the deadbolt and never looked back."
—Anonymous
13. "I went to a co-worker's home for Thanksgiving, and she calmly stated her husband thawed the turkey in the bathtub. I wasn't a vegetarian, but I told her I was."
—Anonymous
14. "I had this friend in college whose family home was so messy and smelly. The bathroom was like a Petri dish...disgusting. There were six adults in the house, and no one cleaned anything. The worst part was their dining room table. They left bottles of ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, and half a dozen different kinds of salad dressing on the table at all times. They were never refrigerated. And, if your arm accidentally touched the table, you'd have to peel it off because it was so sticky. I only ate fast food, which I brought when I was there."
—Anonymous
15. "Many years ago, my boyfriend and I lived in L.A. I was 22 and very naive. My boyfriend's coworker invited us over to meet him and his wife. We weren't there very long when he put up a movie screen and started showing pictures of him and his wife in extremely intimate poses. There were also several pictures of another male enjoying all kinds of sex. Needless to say, the two of us were in shock and never spoke to them again."
—Anonymous
16. "A friend of mine was renting a room for a short time from a guy we knew from the old neighborhood. One afternoon, we stopped by the place to pick up something. When we walked into the house, our eyes immediately started burning, and we began to gag. My friend's roommate couldn't afford to buy cat litter, so he dried the old litter in the oven. My friend and I canceled our afternoon plans and went to find him an apartment."
—Anonymous
17. "My sister had moved back to our home state after living outside the country for a few years. The times I would visit her house were essentially just me popping by, so I never really paid attention to things too much. One weekend, she asked me if I wanted to come play cards with her, my other sister, and my mom. Everything was going well until I looked in the refrigerator to get a soda, and there sat a platter with a rotted turkey carcass and trimmings. The turkey was from Christmas. It was July. I haven't been back. She comes to my house now."
—Anonymous
18. And: "I met this guy through an online dating site. At that time, it seemed like all the men I met were, um, strange, so another one was just par for the course. We went out a few times, and it was okay. After a few meetings, he asked if I wanted to maybe do the next 'date' at his house. He said he had this large home that he barely used, and it would be nice to have someone come by. I said sure. I arrived and noticed a large RV in the driveway, which didn't run and wasn't basically unusable. He asked if I was okay with dogs, and I said yes. He opened the door to two huge dogs who greeted me as if they had never seen people. Since I'm only 5'2, I was basically a chew toy for them that they wanted to toss around, and I ended up with bleeding scratch marks all over my legs."
"He then explained that he didn't have much time to train the dogs, so they had the full run of the house. The dogs had a doggie door to what would've been a beautiful backyard if you could see it. It was overgrown and messy, so the dogs peed in the house.
He asked me if I wanted something to drink, but after seeing the condition of the house and kitchen, I politely said no thanks. He said he had a 'chef's kitchen.' It was all open, with stainless steel appliances, pans, and gadgets all over, but it was painted with what looked like four inches of matted, greasy, dusty dog hair on every surface. Between the dogs, the urine, the greasy dust, and the dog hair, I excused myself quickly and politely and then got out of there. He called to make future plans, but needless to say, I was always busy."
—Anonymous
Yikes. Have you ever visited someone's house and quickly decided you'd probably never come back? What made you feel that way? Tell us in the comments or share your story anonymously using this form.
Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
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