When the sun goes down, things can get a little creepy. Graveyard shift workers from around the globe have been sharing their spookiest supernatural encounters whilst on the job. From hospitals where death and the recently departed stalk the corridors to security guards who soon discover they are not alone in the empty buildings they guard. After reading these true-life ghost stories you’re about to gain a whole new appreciation for all the brave men and women who work the night shift.

During the long midnight hours, the things that go bump in the night are not always just figments of an overactive imagination, as the following people learned the hard way.

1. They Play at Night

“My mother used to work at a subacute center as a night shift nurse. She said one of the ladies kept calling her and told her to shut the kids up because they’re running around and being loud preventing her from falling asleep. Of course, there were no kids.

My mom just went along with it a few times and after working there for 10+ years, she says there’s one wing in the building where the patients all see children running around and making noise keeping them up in the middle of the night every once in a while.” —notyouravgjane

2. Midnight Calls

“I’m a nurse that worked at a psychiatric hospital for five years. That place was haunted as shit. Police would call us in the middle of the night saying some little girl who identified herself as Satana was calling 911 from a certain extension in the hospital.

That extension? The arts and crafts room. Nobody goes there at night. Nobody. I assure you. Yet there’s obviously something there. And it calls 911 a lot.

Lots of other stories from that place but that’s the craziest, creepiest one.” – sensicle

3. The Elevator

“A woman I work with tells this story of how she showed up to work early for her shift, around 4:30 a.m., things are pretty much dead quiet (no pun intended) She gets on the empty elevator, hits the button for the 9th floor, elevator goes up to the 11th floor, doors open, no one there, doors close, back down to the 9th floor, as she gets off sees an old woman standing behind her in the elevator.” – Tjah

4. The Sleep Experiment

“Like most very old hospitals, at one time our hospital was run by nuns. One particular unit had been converted into a sleep study lab area for outpatients tests. One shift in the middle of the night I was watching the video monitor and five patients simultaneously began removing their monitoring equipment. I went into the first room to ask what was going on and the patient said that old nurse with the cap on told her the study was over and that she could leave.

All the patients reported the same story.” – Dhubler91

5. Blue Mist

“Worked nightshift at a treatment center.

We had cameras around every corner, nothing was out of our vision.

Blue misty figure would walk the grounds every once in a while at night. I would go out there and there’d be nothing. But on camera, this motherfucker would just walk around all night. Nothing evil, bad, or anything, but this mother fucker would just walk around like he owned the god damn place.” – rastapasta9

6. The Little Girl in the Nightgown

“I used to work nights in a domestic violence shelter. The shelter was originally a school. One night I heard a little girl laughing outside of the office. I got up and the girl turned around and ran down the hall. I really thought that she was one of the resident’s; from the back she looked just like her. Except she was wearing a strange layered nightgown. She ran past the room I assumed she was going to, into a living room space. I went in right behind and there was nobody in there.” — chicknlil

7. The Praying Nun

“My dad worked at a mental hospital that used to be connected to an abandoned nun’s home by underground passage. He says that one night he was walking down there when he saw a praying nun. He walked by her and said hello. She did not acknowledge him.

My dad does not believe in ghosts, but he says there was a nun down there that night.” – gmen1080

8. A Friendly Voice

“I work in a restaurant and all the bakery people who stay late talk about the ghost of a little girl but I didn’t know this when I started. It was the middle of the day but we were slow so I was doing prep work by myself in the kitchen. I was at the prep table, kinda zoning out, listening to the distant music when I feel someone right next to me. Like a sudden presence. Then I swear to god I heard, in a little girl’s voice, the most innocent ‘Hi Josh! (My name) How are you?’ I even felt her breath. It was so so real and vivid but when I turned around there was no one there.

I started telling people about it and found out lots of coworkers heard the same voice. From everyone’s stories she (the ghost girl) seems really nice but it still sent chills down my spine.” — bnksy420

9. Nights on the Psych Ward

“I work night shift in psych. I have heard talking when everyone is asleep, footsteps, knocks on doors where nobody should even be, bathroom lights going off as I walk by (both patients were asleep), as well as seeing shadows every now and again. We had a nurse who was doing checks and felt something tug on her shirt.” — Umbra12

10. The Elevator Doors

“I did night security in a very old grain exchange building that had been converted to mainly lawyers offices. A lot of the building was remodeled but the grain exchange floor and vaults had been preserved and at the end of one hallway behind the main lobby I was stationed in there was an elevator that was original to the building that nobody ever used.

I was sitting at the desk one night around 3am when I heard the ding from down the hall that meant someone had called the elevator. There wasn’t suppose to be anyone in the building except me so I switched to that camera feed and the elevator doors were wide open which is only suppose to happen if the call button has been pushed. I wait a few minutes being pretty freaked out but the doors stay open and I never see anybody. The doors are suppose to close on their own shortly and these ones are stuck open. I start to think that someone is in the building and holding the door open button from within where I can’t see on the feed so I have to walk down there to check it out.

As soon as I get near the end of the hallway where I have a clear view of the elevator the doors close. I just kind of stand there feeling really uneasy and decide to head back to the desk and leave a note for the maintenance crew. About 10 minutes after I get back to the desk it happens again. Ding and then the doors roll open. Except I had the feed up so I know that nobody was there to press the call button. I wait and again the doors stay open. So I walk back down there and as soon as I walk into view they close.

There’s still a chance someone is hiding inside pressing the buttons so I go and press the call button myself. And nothing happens. The elevator doesn’t move and the doors don’t open. I press it again and still nothing so not really wanting to deal with that I start walking back to the desk. Get to the end of the hallway and Ding the doors open. I just stood there not really knowing what to do but then I figure since I’m closer maybe I will make it this time so I take off running for the doors before they close and as soon as I get close they close. I don’t think it would be in anyway possible for someone pressing a button inside to be able to time that without me seeing them peeking out so I decide I am done and go back to the desk. Again the ding and the doors open and stay that way but I just ignore it and switch to a different feed.

All is well for about an hour when suddenly there is a loud crash and a rattle and another crash and a rattle again and again. I am absolutely terrified and have no idea what is happening. I start flipping through feeds and get to the one outside the elevator, the doors are slamming shut and opening and slamming shut again and again. It’s like it knows it has my attention again and then the doors slowly reopen and stay there again like it’s tempting me to try and get there before they close again. I do not do that and instead call our patrol officer who is out driving between locations so I have proof of this with someone else. He gets there within 5 min and the doors are still open so once I fill him in we head down together and sure enough as soon as we get close the doors close. He goes and presses the call button and nothing. He’s pretty freaked out too now but we decide to just stay there outside the doors because if it’s just a perfectly timed malfunction it will open again. We stand there for almost a half hour and they never open but he gets a call come in so has to take off. We get halfway back to the desk and hear the doors open behind us. He tells me to go to the desk and watch the feed while he walks down there. Once I’m in place I tell him to go and same thing as soon as he enters the frame the doors close. He starts kicking the doors and pressing the buttons but it doesn’t do any good. He has to leave so he wishes me luck and tells me to just stay away from it. I have about an hour left in my shift when the doors start doing the slamming and opening again. I just stood at the far end of the hallway listening but it didn’t stop.

Took off as soon as the shift ended and left a report for maintenance about the issue. Next shift I worked I showed up early before they had taken off but they said when they got there it was working fine and they didn’t notice anything wrong. That night was quiet and in the rest of the time I worked there only 1 more night did those doors open but I just ignored it and after awhile they closed again and that was that.” – GrowTallInTheTrees

Read more from Strange Tales

You may also enjoy these stories: