Things That Are Always Scarier At Night

1. The doll staring at you from the shelf

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Everyone has their old childhood toys somewhere. You don't play with them anymore so they probably just sit on a shelf gathering dust. Your old doll's face looks cute normally! Until the sun goes down and the shadows start playing tricks on you and your doll's eyes are following you across the room...

2. The tune from a music box

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A music box normally plays a sweet tune when you lift the lid. Maybe you keep your jewellery in there or some childhood memories. But that song at night can become haunting. It really does give you chills and I would recommend you only open it during the day.

3. Driving down a lonely road

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Driving down an unlit, country road at night with no other cars for miles is the first scene of most horror movies. So when it happens to you in real life it's hard not to let your mind wander. Is someone going to jump out at you? You've done the same drive plenty of times during the day, but it doesn't stop it from scaring you at night.

4. The sound of footsteps behind you

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The sound of footsteps behind you immediately makes you think you're being followed. This isn't the most comfortable feeling in the day light when there's other people around, but at night when the streets are quiet, it's enough to make you pick up the pace. Whether your thoughts are true or not.

5. Getting lost in the woods

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I don't think getting lost in the woods at any time of day is not ideal, but at night it's an absolute no. Especially if you are on your own! The woods at night can play tricks on you, with all the tall trees and their shadows. You might never find your way out again...

6. An open window when you're home alone

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An open window during the day is a great way to get some fresh air in and appreciate the sunny weather while you work hard at your desk. An open window at night, especially when you're home alone, immediately makes you think someone has broken in to the house to kill you.

7. Children laughing in the park in the distance

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Children playing and laughing in the park would normally be a cheery sound to hear. Kids being carefree and young! However, hearing that noise from a distance when it's pitch black outside is NOT cute. It's actually pretty spooky and not something you want to hear when walking home.

8. A flickering lamp

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The flickering of a lamp at night means there's an unwanted ghost in the room with you. It's a fact and everyone knows it. Absolutely nothing to do with faulty wiring... A flickering light in the daytime and you wouldn't even bat an eyelid! There's something about the darkness that makes it feel scary.

9. Hearing a noise upstairs

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You think you would get used to all the noises your house makes. But the creaking of floorboards upstairs when you're downstairs on your own at night is NOT a sound anyone needs to hear. Whether you know it's your house or not, it will never stop your mind from wandering.

10. Someone digging a hole in their backyard

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If you are looking out of your window at night and see your neighbour digging a hole in his backyard, what are you going to think? You've seen enough crime dramas by now that you're going to assume the worst. This scene during the day is just your neighbour doing some gardening.

11. The old abandoned house on your street

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Shadows can be your worst nightmare at night because everything looks different. The abandoned house at the end of your street has a much darker and scarier appearance when the sun goes down. You might find yourself picking up the pace as you walk past it in an evening...

12. When your dog starts barking at something you can't see

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Dogs have a sixth sense if you didn't know, meaning they can certainly sense when other entities are around, whether we can see them or not. If your dog starts randomly barking at something or someone that you can't see, I would start running for the hills.

13. A clown on the street corner holding a balloon

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You might not be afraid of clowns generally, but I challenge anyone to not run away screaming if they saw a clown on the corner of their street at night holding a balloon... In the day time, this is probably the entertainment at a kids party, but in the darkness it could be something much worse.

14. The jingle of an ice cream truck in the dark

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What would normally be the exciting sound of an ice cream truck approaching in the daytime, turns into an eerie soundtrack when it's dark at night. You don't have to be a horror movie fanatic to know that it's the start of a scene when someone gets murdered...

15. The midnight phone call

Image Source/ Hayley Kaplan

You might wonder why hearing your phone's ringtone would ever be scary, but you have obviously never been shocked awake in the middle of the night by it ringing. It's loud jingle when you're not expecting it is nothing short of terrifying. Reminder to always put your phone on silent at night.

16. A light switch that doesn't work

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Flicking on your light switch when it goes dark and it not working makes you feel immediately spooked. Combine this with being home alone, now in the dark, and it's a recipe for a budget horror movie. You never know who might be hiding there with you...

17. Basement stairs

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The basement is a scary place anyway. It's always dark and dusty anyway, but there's this unspoken rule where ghosts and monsters from your basement can't get you during the day. Only when you venture down there at night will they come out to get you...

18. Your own reflection in the mirror

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Your eyes can play some nasty tricks on you sometimes. Catching yourself in the mirror in daylight is not a big deal, however the dim lighting at night time might cause you to look twice. Was that a shadow you just saw lurking behind you or are you mistaken?

19. The clothes hanging on the back of your bedroom chair

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There's plenty of reasons why you should always tidy your clothes away and hang them up. Just one of them is because you will forget they are there and in the darkness your mind will trick you into thinking they're something else! A person lurking in the corner of your room!?

20. A van with blacked out windows parking next to yours

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When a van you don't recognise pulls up next to you in your dark car park, you will immediately try to see who it is. When all their windows are tinted and you can't see it, you start to wander what they're hiding. Do you stay in your car or do you run?

21. A kid flying a kite

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A kid flying a kite would normally be a wholesome scene. Picture this at the beach on a summer day. Seeing a child flying a kite in the dark is just eerie. Why are they there? Where are their parents? Isn't it funny how your mind starts to wander just because it's dark outside.

22. Public restrooms

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Dimly lit public restrooms are probably the last place you want to be at night. You are probably at your most vulnerable and anyone could creep up on you before you even have time to react. It's one place that you should avoid at night if you want to stay safe.

23. Taking out the trash

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Do you find yourself running from your house and back again when you need to take the trash out in an evening? You never know what could happen to you on that few second walk to the end of your drive. Anyone could be lurking in the shadows at night...

24. The shadows on your wall

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Light can play all sorts of tricks on you, especially at night. It creates shadows of all sorts of shapes and sizes on your walls and your imagination tends to run wild with the rest. No, it's not someone hiding round the corner, but it freaks you out all the same.

25. Graveyards

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Graveyards or cemeteries are pretty creepy places anyway, but it's definitely not somewhere you want to be visiting at night. You are quite literally surrounded by dead people, and depending on what you believe, we can't guarantee they won't start to stir underground...

26. Missed calls from an unknown number

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Checking your phone in the middle of the night and seeing several missed calls from an unknown number is a bit freaky. If it happened during the day, you would assume it's something normal and call them back. There's something about the odd hours of night that makes it feel wrong.

27. The mannequins in a store window

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You might walk past this clothes store every day on your lunch break and admire the dresses on the mannequins. If you walk past it at night, you won't be choosing to linger there for long. The faceless mannequins are so much scarier in the darkness...

28. The underground car park where your car is

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We've all seen those underground car parks. The ones you enter by yourself at night, when the bulb starts flickering overhead... We've all seen that movie. In the daytime you wouldn't bat an eyelid, but in the darkness of the night, you will be sprinting for your car and locking the doors.

29. Hospitals

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Everyone has different feelings about hospitals. They tend to make a lot of people uncomfortable for many different reasons. Hospitals at night are a different thing altogether. The corridors are quieter and darker, with no visitors around it becomes a scary place with lonely corners, great for hiding.

30. Leaves blowing in the wind

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Leaves blowing around your yard in the wind is just downright spooky. It creates a horror film atmosphere and makes your hair stand on end. The chill isn't just from the wind, it's from your imagination thinking of all the bad things that could happen to you in the dark.