Lists of true accounts of real people who survived unfathomable situations and depictions of fights for survival in film, TV, video games, and other media.

Stayin' Alive

True Stories

Most people only die once. If you're lucky, you'll make through your life without anybody trying to take it away. But, not everybody is so fortunate. Every year, people across the world are brought within an inch of their lives by another human being. What happens to those unlucky people? Who hurts them, why, and what does it feel like to be left for dead?Some <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/4ahxt1/survivors_of_attempted_murder_whats_your_story/ " target="_blank">brave souls at Reddit</a> have shared their horrifying real life stories of surviving an attempted murder. The stories will definitely upset you... almost as much as the lack the number of people who got away with it.

Survivors Of Attempted Murder Tell Their Grisly Stories

General

Survivors of Attempted Murder Tell Their Grisly Stories

Rosa Pasquarella

Unspeakable Times

Many look back on their high school years fondly, remembering them as the best time of their life. For others, the thought of&nbsp;high school brings back <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/elementary-school-teachers-discuss-gross-students/alexfurlin" target="_blank">painful memories</a>&nbsp;of being bullied. No matter what type of school someone attended, they likely know all about bullies - whether through personal experience or stories.Some students <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/kids-standing-up-to-bullying/anabel-conner" target="_blank">stand up to bullies</a> and put a stop to the mistreatment. Others, meanwhile,&nbsp;suffer from the life-long effects of being beaten up, called names, or having their school days made a living hell. For&nbsp;those who dealt with bullying in high school, however, sharing stories of their harassment on Reddit&nbsp;can prove cathartic.

People Share Their Stories Of Sadistic High School Bullying

Real People Share Their Heartbreaking High School Bully Stories

Jessika M. Thomas 

Organized Crime

Whether you love&nbsp;Mob Wives&nbsp;or&nbsp;The Godfather (and you no doubt enjoy at least one), the organization holds an allure for many on the outside. <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/mafia-nicknames/amylindorff" target="_blank">Mafia lore</a> and <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/how-lemons-led-to-criminal-organizations/beth-elias" target="_blank">mob history</a>&nbsp;have long inspired everything from entertainment to the creation of unions to legal policy framework.&nbsp;Though Rudy Giuliani allegedly took out the American mafia, the Five Families, and the Commission in the 1980s, many say <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/things-the-mafia-controls/philgibbons" target="_blank">the mob is still active</a> throughout the world. Certainly, different countries possess their own iterations of the mob, but even in the US the institution still holds power.&nbsp;These Redditors claim to have encountered it&nbsp;-&nbsp;and lived to tell their tales on the internet.&nbsp;

Disturbing Stories From People Who Have Actually Encountered The Mafia

13 Normal People Share Their True Stories About Mafia Encounters

Beth Elias

Lists about punishments, penalties, systemic harm, and execution methods used then, now, here, and all around the world.

Crime & Punishment

Torture

Capital punishment: the age-old way for humans to&nbsp;dispose of one another for crimes perceived to be the most egregious in a particular moment and place. As an ancient practice carried out countless times <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/state-sanctioned-execution-methods/shonna-wright" target="_blank">throughout history</a>,&nbsp;there have predictably been some horrifically failed&nbsp;attempts. These failed executions have resulted in sheer agony for the condemned, adding insult, injury, and intense suffering to their final moments.

This list serves as a lowlight reel for history&#39;s most brutally botched executions - some from as recent as 2015. What follows goes to show that the process of capital punishment still seems to be working out a few bugs, even after hundreds of years of testing. In fact, some of <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/horrible-executions-still-used/harrison-tenpas" target="_blank">these methods are still used</a>&nbsp;around the world.

Botched Execution Attempts That Went Horribly Wrong

Harrison Tenpas

Lists of unsettling and grisly details about what happened to kidnapping victims who were held against their will. 

While They Were Held Hostage

On November 4, 1970, Los Angeles child services discovered an unprecedented case of child neglect. At 13, Susan Wiley had the demeanor and appearance of a 6 or 7-year-old girl. When the authorities began investigating parents Irene and Clark Wiley, they found that two of the four Wiley children passed within months of their births. A third child lived with Clark&rsquo;s mother until her unexpected passing, and the fourth was Susan, also known as &ldquo;Genie.&rdquo; Genie, despite her age, was unable to speak, feed herself, or use the toilet. At less than 60 pounds, the girl walked with an unusual gait, the result of years of confinement.&nbsp;

After child services rescued Genie, child psychologists devoted themselves to the girl&rsquo;s recovery. Known as a &ldquo;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/famous-feral-children/justin-andress" target="_blank">feral child</a>,&rdquo; Genie&rsquo;s isolation from society in her formative years caused her to have stunted cognitive and behavioral abilities. She never developed the ability to communicate with language, although her behavioral and social skills improved with years of positive reinforcement and therapy. Since Genie, other cases of feral children have come to light, such as <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/dani-girl-in-the-window-florida-feral-child/nathan-gibson" target="_blank">Danielle Crockett</a>, known as &ldquo;The Girl in the Window,&rdquo; and Ukraine&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/oxana-malaya-feral-child-facts/erin-wisti" target="_blank">Oxana Malaya</a>.

The courts arrested Genie&rsquo;s parents, but Clark took his own life&nbsp;before the trial. The judge subsequently dismissed the charges against Irene. In 1994, Nova - a PBS series - released an Emmy-winning documentary about Genie called Secret of the Wild Child. As of 2016, Genie lives in a Los Angeles facility as a permanent ward of the state.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

A Little Girl Was Locked In A Basement By Her Own Parents For More Than A Decade

Laura Allan

In the middle of the ocean, no one can hear you scream. 

Out to Sea

Travel

Sun, fun, adventure, booze, and all the food&nbsp;you desire. No one can dispute the fact that some time on a cruise ship can lead to some relaxing getaways and many fond memories. However, <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/cruise-ship-secrets/michelle-nati" target="_blank">cruise ships have secrets</a> that&nbsp;can be dangerous and even downright deadly. From the early 1900s to the 21st century, there have been a plethora of ominous <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/cruise-ship-disappearances/juliet-bennett-rylah">disappearances on&nbsp;cruise ships,</a>&nbsp;as well as scary crimes and suicides in the midst of the opulent splendor of seafaring adventures.&nbsp;Compiled here is a list of true stories of terrible things that happened while people were at sea. In the middle of what should have been a relaxing vacation awaited tragedy and horror.&nbsp;From liaisons gone bad to assaults, read on for information on the most frightening crimes committed on cruise ships.

13 Horrifying Crimes That Happened On Cruise Ships

The Scariest Cruise Ship Crimes

L Zane Pinnock

Lists of confessions from real people who should probably find a good therapist and talk this out.

That's Messed Up

As people grew more and more comfortable with sharing their <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/creepy-secret-stories/lea-rose-emery" target="_blank">deepest darkest secrets</a> online, it opens the door for more and more instances of blackmail. Awful blackmail stories, especially today, often happen over a person's computer, where email chains, private photographs, and personal information all become ammunition for a persistent blackmailer. <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/people-share-marriage-ending-secrets/nathan-gibson" target="_blank">Marriage-destroying secrets</a> and sex-shaming photographs emerge as a common thread among the worst blackmail stories. Thankfully, not all of these outrageous blackmail stories take such a negative turn. For all the awful blackmail stories out there, there are also&nbsp;funny blackmail stories between siblings and friends that just show tough love takes on many different forms.On Reddit&nbsp;where people recall times they got blackmailed, each of these stories usually involves a similar theme such as a scorned lover, but they all turn out mighty different from case to case. These outrageous blackmail stories, in addition to be wildly engrossing, remind you why it's always good to keep your receipts in order.

People Share The Craziest Blackmail Story They've Ever Heard (Or Experienced)

Mick Jacobs

True Crime

There has been a recent&nbsp;increasing fascination with true crime in media and entertainment. Recounting unspeakable&nbsp;stories usually feels more like a work of fiction than something that actually happened. Few people have literally been on the wrong side of a gun, a knife, or a deranged person and lived to tell the tale. There are some, though, who have been attacked by someone with an intent to kill and are still here to share their story.

There are plenty of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/crazy-survival-stories/lea-rose-emery" target="_blank">survival stories</a>&nbsp;that have been sensationalized by popular culture, and rightfully so, but these <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/bojhpr/serious_people_who_have_survived_a_murder_attempt/" target="_blank">Redditors</a>&nbsp;aren&#39;t likely to show up on any screen, big or small.

People Who Survived An Attempted Murder Tell Their Stories

Samantha Dillinger

First-hand accounts from real people who have met very creepy people and done very unsettling things.

People Who Give You the Creeps

Living

MTV struck gold when they picked up Nev Schulman and Max Joseph&#39;s&nbsp;show&nbsp;Catfish: The&nbsp;TV&nbsp;Show&nbsp;in 2012; the network televised many of the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/how-catfish-changed-peoples-lives/jessica-bedewi" target="_blank">craziest catfish stories</a>. However, there are tons of other <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/online-flirting-that-ended-in-murder/jacob-shelton" target="_blank">tales of failed romance</a> that never get told. Reddit is the place where many lied-to-lovers flock&nbsp;to air their grievances about fake dates and liars.

Occasionally, these people even find themselves in dangerous situations. Maybe it&#39;s about time for people to stop&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/people-describe-their-tinder-horror-stories/katia-kleyman" target="_blank">the disastrous Tinder dates</a> and meet each other in random bars, like the good old&nbsp;days.

People Share Their Craziest, Borderline-Dangerous Catfish Stories

Craziest Catfish Stories That Are Borderline Dangerous

Lowe Saddler

Lists about some of the most shocking and upsetting documentary films & series that you should totally watch anyway.

Disturbing Documentaries

Documentaries

The&nbsp;Amazon series Lorena investigates&nbsp;a fascinating &#39;90s story that became&nbsp;one of the biggest punchlines of the decade. The story of Lorena Bobbitt (now Gallo) characterizes&nbsp;one of abuse, mental torment, and basic human rights. <a href="http://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?TSID=5036&amp;GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FSeason-1-Official-Trailer%2Fdp%2FB07MH68NSN%2Fref%3Dsr_1_1%3Fkeywords%3Dlorena%26qid%3D1553876532%26s%3Dinstant-video%26sr%3D1-1&amp;amazon-ids-by-cc=US%3Drankercom2773157-20" target="_blank">Lorena</a>&nbsp;delves into issues far beyond the night of June 23, 1993, in which Lorena <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/real-castration-stories/amber-fua" target="_blank">castrated</a> her husband, John Wayne Bobbitt. Rather,&nbsp;the documentary investigates&nbsp;the lives of&nbsp;those involved stuck in a media frenzy.&nbsp;

In just four episodes, the&nbsp;Lorena&nbsp;docuseries contains many truly upsetting and graphic stories. Many of them relate to John&#39;s reported treatment of his then-wife, though it&rsquo;s clear there are those that felt Lorena was unhinged. From any perspective, this is both a chilling and fascinating story.

Why Amazon's 'Lorena' Is One Of The Most Eye-Opening Docuseries You'll Ever See

Why Amazon's Lorena Is One Of The Most Eye-Opening Docuseries You'll Ever See

Jacob Shelton

Mysteries

Nicknamed &quot;Shelby&#39;s Sweetheart&quot;&nbsp;by her community, Asha Jaquilla Degree was last seen walking down a foggy highway in the early hours of Valentine&#39;s Day&nbsp;2000. She was only 9 years old. Over the past two decades, there have been multiple theories explaining why Asha left her Shelby, NC, home in the middle of the night, and as of 2016,&nbsp;there were&nbsp;350 leads on the case.

Despite these leads, one fact remains clear: No one has seen, heard from, or been able to find Asha Degree in over 20 years. Even after two decades of searching, Asha&#39;s family still believes she is alive; while this may strike some as wishful thinking, there are numerous <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/missing-people-who-were-found-alive/rydavis" target="_blank">missing persons</a> who have been found, sometimes years after they disappeared.

The Asha Degree case is still considered an open investigation; here&#39;s everything we know.

Everything We Know About The Mysterious Disappearance Of Asha Degree

Patrick Thornton

Lists of fascinating and bizarre real cases that continue to stump detectives and amateur sleuths.

Unsolved Mysteries

Unsolved Mysteries Test

When you plan your next dream trip, make sure you take warning from the many tales of <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/people-who-disappeared-to-another-dimension/katherine-ripley?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">people who vanished</a> on vacation. Instead of removing themselves from work and stress, people who disappeared on trips removed themselves from the world entirely, vanishing in the midst of what should be paradise. These <a href="/list/people-who-disappeared-mysteriously/alby-thompson" target="_blank">mysterious disappearances</a>&nbsp;baffle many an investigator, who often comes up short with substantial evidence or compelling motives. For example, when a person <a href="/list/people-who-disappeared-from-cruise-ships/aaron-edwards" target="_blank">disappears from a cruise ship</a>, a number of possibilities arises: did they fall, were they pushed, or did they jump of their own accord?&nbsp;And since many vacation spots lie within or near remote and wild locations, authorities tasked with finding a body are at the mercy of nature's whim. A deep forest or ocean current can hide all sorts of evidence, including any traces of a &quot;dream vacation.&quot;Rather than avoiding travel altogether, let these unsolved disappearances on vacation serve as a warning. Know to put safety first, stay aware, and use the buddy system, all precautions that may have saved&nbsp;many&nbsp;of the missing tourists below.

People Who Mysteriously Vanished While On Dream Vacations

Person

People Who Mysteriously Vanished While On Vacation

Cheryl Adams Richkoff

Prison

When a criminal is deemed to be the &quot;worst of the worst,&quot;&nbsp;they&#39;re sent to the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, Colorado, otherwise known as ADX. This high-security prison in the middle of nowhere is meant to keep hardened offenders&nbsp;as far away from the general population&nbsp;as possible. It&#39;s unlikely anyone could escape, and for many of its residents, ADX will be the last place they ever see.&nbsp;

ADX has been operating since 1994 and it&#39;s the only prison in America that offers no real means of rehabilitation. Most of the people who end up there have either committed enough terrible acts that the system doesn&#39;t know what to do with them, or they&#39;ve committed crimes against&nbsp;the American Government.&nbsp;

The institution has come under fire for its lack of medical facilities and treatment of its patients, and in the mid-2010s, after a significant amount of legal pressure, ADX reevaluated its practices. Still, the day-to-day life for an inmate at&nbsp;ADX isn&rsquo;t a cakewalk, and most of them spend their time in solitary confinement.

Realities Of Daily Life In Florence ADX Supermax Prison

What Is Life In Florence ADX Supermax Prison Like?

Weird

While it&#39;s now considered history to younger students, the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, are moments permanently etched in Americans&#39; minds. Most everyone can tell you exactly what they were doing when they heard about the events, and many&nbsp;who lost loved ones can recall the day in excruciating detail. 2,753 people lost their lives at the World Trade Center alone, and tens of thousands&nbsp;of survivors still live with physical and psychological health problems. The idea that someone would pretend to be involved in such a horrifying event is both shocking and distasteful - but one woman did exactly that.

Alicia Esteve Head - known primarily by her alias, Tania Head - was a graduate student in Barcelona during the events of 9/11. Despite not even being in New York City at the time, she joined the World Trade Center Survivors&#39; Network and told a dramatic story of being severely injured and losing her fianc&eacute;. Although this tale won her sympathy and friendship, those close to her - and reporters - started to sense something wasn&#39;t right. Her narrative wasn&#39;t always consistent, and after&nbsp;The New York Times&nbsp;opened up an investigation, people learned Tania Head&#39;s story was completely fabricated.

Her ruse was conveyed&nbsp;in the&nbsp;documentary&nbsp;<a href="http://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?TSID=5036&amp;GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FWoman-Who-Wasnt-There%2Fdp%2FB00AHGXIE2%2F&amp;amazon-ids-by-cc=US%3Drankercom2758741-20" target="_blank">The Woman Who Wasn&#39;t There</a>. Head&#39;s then-friend Angelo J. Guglielmo&nbsp;Jr.&nbsp;directed and produced the movie, and he originally intended to showcase the lives of survivors. He had to change tactics when Head&#39;s true story came out.

Like the documentary&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/worst-moments-from-mommy-dead-and-dearest-documentary/stefanie-hammond" target="_blank">Mommy Dead And Dearest</a>,&nbsp;the movie delves into a web of intricate lies and speculates about the motivation behind such harmful deceit. Trauma - especially collective grief - can make people act out in a strange manner, and Tania Head appears to be no exception.

'The Woman Who Wasn't There' Tells The Shocking Story Of A 9/11 Survivor Who Wasn't All She Seemed

The True Story Behind 'The Woman Who Wasn't There'

Anna Lindwasser

A look behind the beautiful velvet robes, gold threads, marble statues, intoxicating incense, tasty body of Christ, and sinfully unforgiving dogma of the Catholic church.

The Dark Side of the Church

When Peter Mullan's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318411/">The Magdalene Sisters</a> came out in 2002, it exposed the public to a diabolical&nbsp;truth the Roman Catholic Church had long tried to keep under wraps: the&nbsp;rotten reality of&nbsp;Irish &quot;Magdalene&quot;&nbsp;laundries.&nbsp;Though advertised&nbsp;as charitable safehouses where&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/times-sex-changed-history/danielle-ownbey&nbsp;">&quot;fallen women&quot;</a> could find guidance and good cheer (along with employment as laundresses), these institutions were actually&nbsp;rife with <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/torture-used-on-women-in-history/katia-kleyman">cruelty, deprivation, and human rights abuses</a>. As the Oscar-nominated&nbsp;2013 film <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philomena_(film)">Philomena</a> portrays,&nbsp;their destructive legacy&nbsp;went on well into&nbsp;20th century, long after the western world had supposedly emerged from the fog&nbsp;of religious superstition and ignorance.Below are just a handful of details from this extraordinarily harrowing time in Irish (and religious) history.

Irish Laundries Tortured Women And Separated Families, But The Church Denies It

Tragic and Horrifying Details About "Irish Laundries"

Lisa A. Flowers

When the documentary <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/netflix-jan-broberg-documentary/jacob-shelton" target="_blank">Abducted in Plain Sight</a>&nbsp;hit Netflix&nbsp;in January 2019, it quickly became a hot topic of conversation on the internet, news programs, and anywhere people congregated. The fact that Jan Broberg was taken twice as a child by the same man, Robert Berchtold, in the 1970s, and that her parents, Bob and Mary Ann, also had extramarital relationships with her abductor, was only the beginning of the twists and turns this story would take.&nbsp;&nbsp;

While some may think&nbsp;there is nothing else left to tell about&nbsp;the Broberg or Berchtold families, a&nbsp;four-episode podcast deep dive called&nbsp;<a href="https://www.obsessedwithpod.com/" target="_blank">Obsessed With: Abducted in Plain Sight</a>&nbsp;hosted by director Skye Borgman and True Crime Obsessed&#39;s Patrick Hinds was&nbsp;released on March 2, 2020, and proved that assumption wrong. Borgman reinterviews Jan a year after the documentary premiered, and Hinds questions the director about scenes she left out of the film. The pair introduces and discusses never-before-told facts about Abducted in Plain Sight.&nbsp;

Everything We Learned From ‘Obsessed With: Abducted In Plain Sight’

Everything We Learned From ‘Obsessed With Abducted In Plain Sight’ 

Jodi Smith

Unspeakable Times lists at Ranker - the ultimate source for lists and rankings in all categories