168. SCARY AIRBNB STORIES - The Most Terrifying Airbnb Stories on the Internet

0:02Natalie Palmer:Hello, welcome, and thanks for checking in today to No Vacancy, the podcast. I'm your host, Natalie Palmer. I'm an Airbnb ambassador and 17-time superhost, and I've hosted over 1 ,000 reservations. I'm a stay-at-home mom of two and manage my eight listings remotely. My mission is to help new and experienced vacation rental hosts turn their listings into fully booked, profitable properties that can be managed from anywhere so you too can have no vacancies. If that sounds good to you, let's get right into the show.

0:50Natalie Palmer:Hello, everybody, and welcome back to another episode of No Vacancy, the podcast. I'm your host, Natalie Palmer, and we are back for the fourth annual year of our haunted, spooky, scary Airbnb stories. This is hands down my favorite podcast episode that I record every single year. I love doing this one. The download numbers on this episode are always so good, and I'm so glad that you guys enjoy listening to this episode as much as I love putting it out. this year. I gathered three stories. Once again, we have scoured the internet, scoured blogs and blogs and Reddit and forums. And I think that I found the best three that I could find.

1:33Natalie Palmer:I will say, I think my previous years have had more paranormal elements to them. This year's are more like true crime vibes. So if you don't like as much of the ghost story stuff and you like more like realistic, I think you will love this year's episode. If you do love more of the haunted, paranormal, spooky, supernatural stuff, last year's was probably my favorite, but years one and two are good too. I'm going to link all of them in the show notes so you can go back and binge all the scary stories if you want. But yeah, like I said, this year, I'm going to share three stories with you guys. Only one of them has anything like supernatural paranormal to it.

2:18Natalie Palmer:The other two are just plain creepy. Just very creepy host behavior, which I would argue is often so much scarier than the paranormal ones. People can be so much scarier than ghosts. So So brace yourself. This episode is terrifying, but I hope you guys love it. All right, let's kick it off with our very first story. The first story I'm going to read for you guys, I found on Reddit and it was posted November 1st of 2024. So one day after last Halloween. Here we go. Just had the creepiest Airbnb experience and probably the creepiest Halloween experience of my life. I need to get this written down before I forget any details.

3:06Natalie Palmer:Here goes. My husband and I booked an Airbnb in San Diego for Halloween last night because some friends were throwing a big costume party, one of those themed chaotic nights that goes until two in the morning. It sounded like a fun excuse to get out of town for a night, so we drove down from Orange County and checked in around 4 p.m. yesterday. The listing was a small bungalow-style home, quiet neighborhood end of the cul-de-sac the reviews were great peaceful private well cared for the host name was tom he was friendly over messages a little over friendly actually he sent long responses full of unnecessary details like how this was the house him and his ex-wife raised their son in but quote it's too big now that they are gone i didn't ask what he meant by gone the day of our check-in i asked him if the neighborhood got a lot of trick-or-treaters I said we would be out that night, but we'd be happy to buy some candy and leave a bowl out.

4:01Natalie Palmer:He replied within minutes. No need for candy. The kids don't walk down there anymore. You'll have peace and quiet. Once we arrived, we gave ourselves a quick tour of the house. It was without a doubt the cleanest Airbnb I'd ever stayed in. It was almost too clean. I don't know how to explain it. My husband made a joke about it being serial killer tidy. I laughed, but it did have that kind of sterile, unlived energy, which was weird since it had plenty of recent reviews from other guests. Anyway, we started getting ready, had a few drinks to pregame, and then my husband was watching TV while I did my hair and makeup.

4:37Natalie Palmer:Just as I was finishing getting my costume together, we heard a knock on the door. I'll get it, my husband shouted. I ran out of the bathroom and whisper screamed to him to stop. We didn't get candy, remember? Don't answer it. It'll be so awkward telling the trick-or-treaters we don't have anything. He silently stepped back from the door and nodded in agreement. I told him I only needed another 15 minutes and then we'd be out of there with the lights off so no one would wander down to the house again. But a second later, we heard knocking again. My husband turned the volume all the way down on the TV and we just decided it would be easier pretending no one was home than having to explain that we were the jerks renting the place for one night only who didn't have candy.

5:17Natalie Palmer:I silently cursed our host Tom for telling me not to get any. A minute later, knocking again, and this time it was getting aggressive. My husband said, look, whoever this group of kids is, they clearly know we're here. All the lights are on. They're not going to give up, so I'm just going to answer. I tried to protest, but he was already opening the door. To our surprise, it was an elderly woman who was standing there, not a group of trick-or-treaters. She immediately introduced herself as Martha, Tom's ex-wife. Did you two book this home on Airbnb for tonight, she asked. When we told her yes, she looked furious.

5:53Natalie Palmer:I told Tom to block tonight. My husband jumped in. Look, ma 'am, we're not sure what the arrangement is with this home, but we do have an active reservation to be here tonight. We don't want to cause any trouble, so if there's an issue, maybe you should just call Tom. We check out at 11 a.m. tomorrow. It's just a quick one-night getaway, and we'll be out of your her soon. Tom knows that I always blocked the Airbnb calendar on Halloween. He would have never rented it out tonight. My husband pulled up the reservation details to show her and again insisted she just call Tom and talk to him about it.

6:26Natalie Palmer:She could not be more irritated and even though I still wanted to add some final details to my costume, I told my husband I was ready to leave for the party. I was so uncomfortable and just wanted to get out of there. Listen, we'll be leaving right now to go, but I hope this is all sorted out by the time we're back tonight. We're here just one night and really don't want to cause any trouble. Martha finally backed away from the door so we could get past her to leave and lock up, and luckily our Uber was pulling up at that exact moment, so we didn't have to continue any small talk with her. She apologized for the mix-up and told us to have a good night.

6:59Natalie Palmer:I was still unsettled by the encounter with Martha, but after getting to the party, we quickly forgot all about it. We had a great time and finally got back to the Airbnb around 1.30 in the morning. The neighborhood was dead quiet. No cars, no lights, no kids in sight. As the Uber pulled into the driveway, my husband and I both noticed it immediately. A chair on the front porch with an orange candy bowl with a pumpkin on it, and a handwritten sign that said, please take one. The bowl was only filled with red Twizzlers and looked to be completely full. We both shuddered, knowing that it had to be Martha that came back after we left.

7:36Natalie Palmer:We nervously went into the house, which had all the lights off and no sign of entry, so we didn't think she had entered the house at all and probably just sat on the porch or just set up the candy bowl and left. We didn't sleep much that night. Every little creak in the house felt magnified. Around three, I thought I heard something outside. Footsteps, slow, deliberate, but when I looked through the blinds, there was nothing there, just the driveway empty under the porch light. By 6 a.m the sun was rising and we agreed to just drive back home now instead of waiting till checkout time. On the drive home I messaged Tom to let him know we had already checked out and after going back and forth for a bit I decided to tell him about Martha's appearance.

8:18Natalie Palmer:I didn't want to get in the middle of whatever feud they had but she had clearly overstepped a boundary and I thought that if I was the host I would want to know what was happening at my property. To my surprise, instead of sending a tight message back, he called us right away. He started apologizing and said he was so embarrassed to hear Martha had come by and that he would talk to her. He then proceeded to tell us the most heartbreaking story I've ever heard. 20 years ago, on Halloween night, their eight-year-old son had been passing out candy with Martha, all Red Twizzlers. Those were his favorite, and he insisted on that being the only candy they gave out.

8:54Natalie Palmer:He was a sweet kid, but had a really hard time making friends, which is why he wasn't trick-or-treating himself and stayed home with Martha to pass out candy. Later that night, a group of older kids, the kind who had a reputation for misbehaving and were always responsible for egging houses after all the trick-or-treating had ended, had come by and told their son to come out with them for a bit. Martha was hesitant, but their son begged and begged her to go. He wanted to make friends more than anything and when she saw how much it meant to him she couldn't say no. She left with the kids and they said they'd have him back home within an hour.

9:29Natalie Palmer:That was the last time Tom or Martha had ever seen him. They reported him missing. Police questioned all the kids he was with but no one ever found out what happened. It destroyed them and their marriage but every single Halloween Martha would sit out on the porch with a bowl of red Twizzlers, insisting their son would one day come back for his favorite candy. And that was it. My husband and I sat the rest of the drive in silence, and I jumped on here to type this all out before I forget any of the details. If you asked me last night, I would have said we'd be leaving a one-star review for how uncomfortable Martha made us.

10:06Natalie Palmer:But suddenly, deciding what kind of review to leave our host just doesn't seem important. are you ready to take your short-term rental from side hustle to serious business with Logify you can stop managing chaos and start scaling smart from automated guest messaging to syncing all your bookings in one calendar Logify gives you the power to grow without burning out take control of your future as a host use my code no vacancy 20 for 20 % off any yearly Logify plan the link is waiting for you in the show notes all right our second story this one comes from the r slash scary stories reddit forum if you've never been on here a lot of people post fictional scary short stories that they've written but one person made a post saying does anyone here have a true story to share i'm tired of all the fiction on this thread the story i'm going to read you was shared as a comment in response to that post.

11:04Natalie Palmer:Here it is. Long post, but you asked for it. Last January, my husband, Jake, male 32, and me, female 29, booked five nights at a cozy ski-in, ski-out cabin on Airbnb. The cabin looked perfect. Pine logs, a stone fireplace, snow-covered trees right outside the window. The host's name was Dan. His profile said he'd lived in the area his whole life and took pride in maintaining the property personally. He messaged me right after booking, sending a long list of restaurant recommendations and a warning about the poor cell service and spotty Wi-Fi. Honestly, that was the part we were looking forward to the most.

11:49Natalie Palmer:day one we arrived just before sunset the last few miles of the drive were through a winding tree-lined road where sure enough cell service cut out completely by the time we pulled up to the cabin snow had started falling big soft lakes drifting through the headlights it was so picturesque inside it was perfect warm quiet spotless there was even a handwritten note on the counter. Welcome to White Pine Ridge. Feel free to use anything in the pantry. Just please don't open the supply closet at the end of the hall. Thanks, Dan. We unpacked, made pasta, and fell asleep to the crackle of the fire. Day two.

12:32Natalie Palmer:When we came back from skiing that afternoon, I noticed my gloves weren't where I'd left them. I was sure I'd put them on the entry table, but now they were hanging neatly on a coat rack by the door. I asked Jake if he'd moved them. He said no. Maybe I'd forgotten where I put them. It wasn't a big deal, so I shrugged it off. That night, we opened a bottle of wine, played cards, and laughed about how paranoid I was being. Still, before going to bed, I remember triple-checking the locks, just in case. Day three. The next morning, I woke up to the faint sound of humming. not music not a heater a person humming it stopped when I sat up Jake was still asleep so I convinced myself it was the wind maybe one of the pipes we spent the day skiing again and came back around desk the moment we walked in I felt it again that gut feeling that something was different from how we left it the throw blanket that I swore I folded on the couch was now draped over the armchair.

13:35Natalie Palmer:The TV remote was on the counter instead of the coffee table, and things in the fridge seemed shifted around. Jake said I was imagining it, and maybe I was. We were up in the mountains, no cell service, weird lighting, high altitude. It was easy to start seeing things that weren't there, but still I couldn't shake it. That night, I kept hearing faint creaks from above us, like something shifting in the attic. When I mentioned it, Jake insisted the cold temperatures and wind were going to make the house creak. He said it would be weirder if we didn't hear anything. I still insisted we sleep with the light on.

14:13Natalie Palmer:Day four. We spent the morning in town, got breakfast, did some shopping. When we got back, the cabin smelled different, faintly sweet, like maple syrup or pancakes. The stove was cold though, but I noticed a thin layer of grease on the stovetop, like the residue bacon leaves after sizzling out of the pan. I asked Jake if he'd cooked that day, and he said no, that the grease must have been left from the last guest. I knew it wasn't. The kitchen was spotless when we checked in. Then I noticed something else. A used coffee mug sitting on the windowsill. Finally, Jake agreed with me that that was weird.

14:51Natalie Palmer:We checked the coffee maker next, and there were damp grounds in it, clearly from that same day, but neither of us had made coffee. we decided to call the host Dan and ask if he had sent the cleaner today or stopped by for any reason but of course no service the call wouldn't go through so I sent a message instead the wi-fi was strong enough to send the message and it said it delivered but I never got a response I figured maybe if Dan lived around the area his wi-fi was just as spotty and he couldn't reply even if he had received our message while we were definitely disturbed we didn't notice anything missing or stolen and no signs of forced entry.

15:31Natalie Palmer:So we figured that Dan or the cleaner must have just briefly stopped by and made a pot of coffee for themselves. We didn't love that idea, but it didn't seem like an intruder there to harm us. We deadbolted the door and went to bed. Once again though, I couldn't sleep. I kept staring at the ceiling, waiting for another creak, another shift. it came around midnight a single thump heavy slow directly above our bed jake muttered that it was snow falling off the roof he rolled over and went back to sleep but i lay there staring at the ceiling my heart pounding because i could have sworn it wasn't on the roof it felt like it was coming from inside the cabin day five our last full day I woke up before Jake and went to make coffee.

16:18Natalie Palmer:The orange juice in the fridge seemed like it was more empty. Or was it? I couldn't remember seeing Jake drink any during our trip, but maybe he did? My mind was playing tricks on me at this point. That day we opted out of skiing, deciding to just enjoy the hot tub and fireplace at the cabin on our last day. I was relieved, thinking that finally we wouldn't come back to the house feeling different if we never left it. Jake had been outside working to shovel a pathway to the hot tub and came in saying he couldn't get the jets to turn on. He asked if I could call Dan and have him explain it to us.

16:52Natalie Palmer:I told him I'd try, but the call probably wouldn't go through. But to my surprise, it actually started ringing right away. In that moment, though, the color drained from both our faces as we realized we weren't just hearing the ringing from my end of the phone. We heard a cell phone ringing above us from the ceiling. Jake grabbed my arm. Stay here. He bolted to the supply closet at the end of the hall, the one that Dan's welcome note specifically said to stay out of. Jake opened it, and we both noticed the ladder going up to the attic. And with that closet door opened, the ringing was even louder.

17:31Natalie Palmer:No doubt about it, Dan's phone was in the attic. Jake started climbing up the ladder just as the ringing stopped. I grabbed at his pant leg and told him we are absolutely not going up there. I could tell he wanted to see it for himself more than anything, but he also knew I was 100 % right. We packed our stuff within three minutes, just shoving it in our bags and ran out of the house into the car. Once we were in the car with the doors locked, we called the cops. But once again, no signal. We drove down a few miles till we finally got cell service again and called the cops to report an intruder in our Airbnb.

18:09Natalie Palmer:Except was it even an intruder if it was our Airbnb host? The cops said that since we had an active reservation that anyone, including the owner who may have been there at the property, was trespassing and they told us that they'd go check it out right away. We just started driving home and figured we'd get an update later. No way were we going back to that cabin. And sure enough, about an hour later, we did get an update. The police officer called us to tell us that there was no one in the property when they arrived, and they also couldn't find a cell phone. Their theory is that Dan must have left the place right after we did and taken his phone with him.

18:49Natalie Palmer:While they didn't find Dan, they did find a sleeping bag, water jugs, protein bars and a flashlight all in the attic. The sleeping bag was positioned directly above the vent to the primary bedroom where we had slept every night. So all those nights when I was staring up at the ceiling with that feeling of being watched, I was probably staring directly at Dan through the slots in the vent. We called Airbnb and reported the listing and it, along with any trace of Dan's hosting profile, has been erased. I still check back about once a month, even on Vrbo and other booking websites just to make sure this guy doesn't find a way to get his property back online.

19:34Natalie Palmer:And now for our third and final story, and this one is from the host's point of view. When people hear that my Airbnb backs up to a cemetery, they always react the same way. A nervous laugh, a half joke about ghosts, and then I could never sleep there. but the truth is it's never felt scary to me. I grew up here. That cemetery used to belong to my family for generations but my grandparents sold it when I was little. I used to ride my bike down the paths between the headstones, pick blackberries along the fence, even do my homework there. It's not uncommon to see families having picnics here. For privacy I don't want to reveal too much about where I live but this is one of the oldest cemeteries in the U.S.

20:20Natalie Palmer:and a lot of the family plots here have a couple hundred years of generations buried here. It's quiet, peaceful, and full of history. I own the farm that backs up directly to the cemetery boundary, and I live in the carriage house and list the main house on Airbnb. I thought this cemetery would hurt business, but oddly, it did the opposite. A lot of my guests come here because of it. They're in town for funerals or memorials, family reunions. Sometimes they're genealogists or history buffs looking up old family plots. They all tell me how comforting it feels, like the dead here are truly at rest.

20:59Natalie Palmer:And until recently, I would have agreed. Until Clara. About six months ago, I get a booking inquiry from Clara, who said she'd be in town for her older brother's funeral. I expressed my condolences and said it would be my pleasure to host her and make her stay as comfortable as possible. The only thing I found off at the time was that she only marked one person in the reservation. The house has five bedrooms, so I always get larger groups, but I figured maybe the rest of her family lived locally and it was just her coming from out of town. If so, why did she even need to rent a place though? She had no family members she could stay with?

21:40Natalie Palmer:I decided a booking is a booking, it was none of my business, and her past reviews were all five stars, so I let the feeling go. But from the minute she checked in, something about her was off. She wasn't rude or anything, just strange. When I gave her the tour, she didn't ask about the Wi-Fi or the TV or how to work the fireplace like most guests do. She just asked, does the cemetery go all the way to the back fence? I said, yeah, pretty much. And she goes, do you ever see anyone walking back there after dark. I told her no, it's usually locked up by sunset. She smiled and said, that's good. I wouldn't want to disturb anyone.

22:21Natalie Palmer:I remember thinking that was such a weird way to phrase that. That night I was doing dishes in my kitchen when I saw this little flicker of light through the trees. It looked like someone walking with a flashlight behind the house. I thought maybe it was a security guard doing rounds or something. then I realized it was coming from my side of the yard right along the fence that separates my property from the graves I turn off the lights so I could see better and sure enough it was her my guest Clara standing by the fence line just staring out into the cemetery with a candle or lantern flickering in her hand she wasn't moving she wasn't saying anything just standing there I almost went out to see what she was doing, but then she turned her head.

23:08Natalie Palmer:Like she somehow knew I was watching. And then the light went out completely. I went to bed shortly after, but it was hard to sleep. The house's motion lights kept tripping in the night. Every one to two hours, the cameras would ping my phone, movement by the fence, then nothing. When I checked the ring camera footage the next morning to see what had been setting off the motion sensor, it didn't show Clara or an animal like I suspected. It just showed fog rolling in thick, followed by a few frames of something like a shadow crossing the yard. It was too solid to just be fog, but too shapeless to be a person.

23:50Natalie Palmer:I've lived here for years and I've never seen any fog like that. But the fact I didn't actually see a person or animal made me convince myself I was just letting Clara's presence play tricks on me. The next day was normal until Clara knocked on the carriage house door. She looked totally normal just holding a mug of coffee and said, do you know who used to live here before you? I told her it had been in my family for generations that my grandfather was the last to live in the main house before it became a rental. She smiled faintly. Then maybe that's who I've been hearing. I laughed trying to keep it light.

24:27Natalie Palmer:Old houses make noises sometimes. She tilted her head. Nope, he was saying something. I asked what she meant. She just said, it's not important. He'll tell me when he's ready. Just so you know, my grandpa didn't die on this property though, I felt the need to add. Hmm, she said. Well, someone did. That night, at the exact same time as the night before, I saw her light back there at the fence line again flickering in the same spot but this time instead of her just standing there she was talking from how far I was and being inside the house I couldn't hear a word but I know what my eyes saw and she was absolutely talking to no one there was literally no one else there but she was having a full-blown conversation I could not take my eyes off her and I don't know how much time passed but eventually she blew out the candle or lantern and walked back to the farmhouse.

25:25Natalie Palmer:That night, there was no fog and nothing setting off the motion sensor lights, which I appreciated at the time. In hindsight, though, I wish there had been something, because what I saw the next day I now have no explanation for and nothing to go back on my ring camera footage for. That next morning, when I went to take out the trash, I deliberately took the long route to walk past the spot by the fence. there was a small circle of blackened grass like something had been burned there and in the middle was a melted candle a few stones and what looked like strands of hair tied up with red thread i didn't touch it i just had this awful feeling like whatever it was i was not meant to see it that night i saw her light again but this time there were two candles one on either side of her and she was on her knees talking to something across from her.

26:20Natalie Palmer:The next day, I dropped by to check on her, partly out of curiosity, partly because I wanted to make sure she wasn't starting fires near the property line. I used the excuse that I was dropping off fresh towels and when she opened the door for me, I was instantly hit with this smell, mostly burning sage but mixed with something metallic. The curtains were drawn and in the middle of the living room floor were these little jars, maybe half a dozen of them. Each had something different inside. Herbs, ashes, small bones, like maybe that of a bird. I swear one was filled with dead insects, and one had a photograph that looked burned around the edges.

27:01Natalie Palmer:When she saw me staring, she said, don't worry, it's for protection. I asked, protection from what? And she said, from him. I think he's angry. Clara, who are you talking about? My brother. She replied casually. Every part of me told me not to ask any more questions and just walk away, but I blurted it out before I could stop myself. Oh, so do you have another brother? Nope, just the one we buried yesterday, and I think he's still mad at me. That was it for me. I told her I didn't care what she was doing in there, but if it involved fire or some sort of ritual, it had to stop. She apologized and said she'd clean everything up, and that was the last time I saw her.

27:44She checked out the next morning, early, didn't say goodbye, didn't leave a review.