Even though we all use the internet every day, we're only skimming the surface.
We stick to the safe and familiar parts of the web—like watching videos of cats, feeling nostalgic, and streaming shows on Netflix. This part of the internet follows the same rules as our daily lives, like social norms and laws. But if you dig deeper, the internet has changed drastically.
At the bottom, in the deep web and the darker corners of the dark web, things are very different. You won’t find as many cute cat videos. Instead, there are illegal activities like drug deals. Instead of happy memories, you might come across meetings of extremists. And Netflix is replaced by disturbing types of adult content that most people, and the government, avoid for good reasons.
In these hidden parts of the web, frightening things can happen. If those of us who usually stick to the safe, visible parts of the internet ever decide to venture into these dark areas, we need to be prepared. In a place where people are anonymous and rules don’t exist, anything can happen.
Still, some people take the risk and dive into these deep, dark parts of the web. Fortunately, some of them have shared their stories on Reddit. Here are 10 deep web horror stories from Dark Web Updates.
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An excerpt from user MetalLava: "This lady posted videos of herself dancing with a corpse. The body was stiff and decaying, but she danced around with it like it was nothing. She played strange music in the background and danced and sang in her room."
The user had come across this woman’s channel on a video-sharing site, where she had posted several videos of herself dancing with a real human corpse. The body was clearly not recently deceased, as it was visibly decaying, but that didn’t stop her. Perhaps the creepiest part was her singing. She didn’t sing in a deliberately eerie way—no slowed-down, spooky tunes—just regular, cheerful songs, as if she were singing to a loved one, not a rotting corpse.
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The Neighbor’s Drug Delivery Mistake User TheKingofBananas shared a story about their friend, Eli, who was curious about the deep web as a teenager. Eli eventually found the Silk Road, a secret online marketplace, and decided to buy some drugs. He ordered them and had them shipped to his family’s cottage. But when he checked, the drugs never arrived. Frustrated, Eli contacted the seller, who sent another shipment. Still, nothing showed up. This happened a few more times until months later, Eli heard from the neighbors who owned the next cottage over. They mentioned the strange drug packages they kept receiving. Eli realized he had accidentally given the wrong address, sending illegal drugs to his neighbors. Imagine how horrifying it must have been for a teenager to learn that he’d been shipping drugs to the wrong house!
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Webcam Nightmare Another user, kick299, shared a short but terrifying experience on the deep web. They found a live webcam feed streaming online. But to their horror, the feed was coming from their own webcam. It’s terrifying to think about the people lurking on the dark web, looking for easy targets. And even scarier to know that you could be one. What’s worse is how common this seems to be, as many Reddit users responded with comments like, “Yeah, that’s pretty normal.” This kind of invasion of privacy shouldn’t be considered normal, but sadly, it is.
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Bed Bug Breeder User urbanhawk1 came across something disturbing on the dark web: a person trying to buy large quantities of bed bugs. The person wanted to breed them to be resistant to regular extermination methods while creating a weakness only they knew. Their plan was to release the bugs into people’s homes and then charge them to get rid of the infestation. It’s the same twisted idea as creating a disease just to sell the only cure, similar to the plot of certain movies. Let’s hope this bed bug breeder never succeeded.
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At-Home Surgery Kit Another strange find was shared by busty_crustacean, who stumbled upon a DIY vasectomy kit for sale on the Silk Road. For just $20, you could buy a kit that included strange-looking dental tools and tubes, meant for performing surgery on yourself at home. The idea of someone buying this and trying to do such a procedure without anesthesia is horrifying. It’s even more disturbing to think that there might have been people who actually bought and used the kit.
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Serial Killer’s Website User Sakkyoku-Sha once found the personal website of a serial killer, who was later arrested. The site was filled with the killer’s drawings, which depicted gruesome acts of murder and body mutilation. Some drawings were crude, while others were disturbingly lifelike. The user even stumbled upon photos showing the killer’s “trophies”—items taken from the victims, in various stages of decay, displayed on a shelf. While the website has since been taken down, it’s still archived online for those curious (or brave) enough to look.
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Enriched Uranium for Sale User caddet5 found a listing for enriched uranium on AlphaBay, another dark web marketplace that replaced the Silk Road after it was shut down. Enriched uranium is a key component in making nuclear weapons, so seeing it for sale online was terrifying. While it was probably a scam, the idea that such dangerous materials could be traded on the dark web is still chilling.
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The Hidden Portals ProgressiveCoder shared about something even deeper than the dark web. They called it “the portals,” referring to seemingly harmless websites with hidden clues in their code. One example was a PDF file of the original, unedited version of the Anarchist’s Cookbook, containing detailed instructions for making military-grade explosives. These hidden sites are designed to be found only by those who know how to look, revealing just how deep the internet’s dark side can go.
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We See You Finally, fake_fakington shared a story from the early days of the internet before the term “deep web” existed. While casually browsing, they stumbled upon a directory filled with what looked like medical and military records. As they explored, a new file suddenly appeared, titled something like “1-.HELLO-THERE.html.” When they opened it, a simple message appeared: “We see you.” Fifteen seconds later, the server crashed. Sometimes, just knowing someone is watching you in the dark corners of the internet is scary enough.
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User thijser2 used to visit parts of the deep web where hackers and cybersecurity experts gathered. He was there to learn, hopefully with good intentions and knew that the best place to do that was where real hackers hung out. He saw a lot of common things like "social engineering" (which is basically tricking people into stealing their information or identity). But then he came across a hacker who offered something truly disturbing.
This hacker was advertising a "service" where someone could pay to have a certain type of illegal and immoral video uploaded onto another person’s computer. The hacker would then report that person to the police, and when the police searched the computer, the person would likely be arrested. It was a terrifyingly effective way to frame someone.
What made it even scarier was when thijser2 realized that there were at least two people in the chatroom discussing this service. They had actually used it.
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