"One of the first times my brothers and I were allowed to stay home by ourselves while our parents were out and about, we were playing some video games innocently when my older brother says he hears something coming from the bedrooms. My younger brothers and I didn't hear anything, so we just kept playing. My older brothers persisted however, saying he heard something again. After a few more claims, he starts acting genuinely scared and tries to call my mom, but she doesn't pick up (probably because he didn't really call her).

"We were pretty young, so at this point he basically had us convinced there was a murderer or something in the house. He then proceeded to tell us he was going to check it out, and went off through the hallway into the dark. My other brothers and I waited for him on the couch for like 2 minutes until we decided to go make sure he was still alive.

"We cautiously searched all the rooms in the house, but we couldn't find him anywhere. My youngest brother is nearly crying with fear at this point, so we chicken out and head back to the living room where it's safe. As we were walking through the dark hallway though, my brother literally drops from the ceiling and lands in front of us, wearing a mask and wielding a butter knife. He has been perched up at the ceiling using both hallway walls like some sort of monkey child, waiting for the opportune moment to strike, and boy did he scare us good. My youngest brother called my mom for real just to tell on him, but I'm not sure she understood anything through my brother's sobbing.

"Looking back, I can't help but recognize my older brother's genius, but at the same time it meant we weren't allowed to stay home by ourselves for another year or so. Good times."

- saberdude21