Despite the fact that this weekend is all about FREEDOM and FIREWORKS and ASKING PEOPLE TO HOLD YOUR BEER WHILE YOU DO SOMETHING STUPID, a story that's been blowing up all over Reddit will make you think that what we're really heading into is halloween. Because it's so creepy, it will make you lose sleep.


It's fitting that the story comes from the Reddit community No Sleep which is meant to provide redditors a forum to share ghost and horror stories that are purported to have happened to them. Some, of course, can be attributed to hallucinations and delusions and some are so badly written that they howl FAKE like a banshee in heat (which is a thing, I am sure), but the following story has been catching the attention of thousands of people, and even if it's a hoax (saying it right now) it's a very engaging albeit creepy read.

Nathan, the poster of the story, says that his girlfriend Emily died in a horrific car crash in 2012. A year later, unhappy with whatever afterlife had been provided her, Emily returned to the mortal plane to communicate with Nathan. Through Facebook. Because that is the least creepy way to communicate with your dead partner. (Note: It is the most creepy. If my partner dies, I would prefer he send me like a fax because I don't like people playing on my social media.)


If Nathan is lying, he's spent a great deal of time putting together some haunted screenshots. According to him, only he and Emily's mom (::ominous music plays::) have access to the Facebook, and the messages are all recycled, suggesting that whoever is doing the haunting is either being very careful to stay in Emily's voice or that the ghost of Emily can't create new messages, only manipulate old ones.

So far, so good, except for one thing: Sometime during their exchange, whoever was contacting Nathan began using a new word: Freezing.


This terrified Nathan (and me), especially because he began imagining Emily freezing, possibly in the same car she had died in.

And then Emily started tagging herself in photos:


And then, Emily took a photo of Nathan and sent it to him:


That's where the story takes an even stranger twist. The OP could absolutely be perpetrating a hoax (these things have happened on the internet once or twice before) or he could be mentally ill (many posters have suggested PTSD or a dissociative disorder). It is possible that Nathan is sending himself these messages to himself while dissociating. Others are assuming that Emily's mother, stricken with grief, has been sending the messages or that a hacker is just toying with Nathan's emotions. Either way, once you read the full story, it's unlikely that you'll be able to ignore the sounds of your house settling and you may have a hard time turning the light off. Especially after you read Nathan's last post, a garbled mess of nonsense that just might make your heart race.


The thing that's most remarkable about this story is how commenters have come together to try and help Nathan. Perhaps it is because of the pain that Nathan's posts are tinged with or perhaps Nathan's experience is activating all of our secret desire to communicate with a loved one that's passed on, but the way that users are communicating with him, trying to share their experiences or wishing him the best almost makes this whole thing more touching than chilling. Almost.

H/T: Tracy "I am a horrible human being" Moore