Every family has its secrets, some far darker than others. For instance, you might find out that Grandma was selling pot in the 60s, crazy but not that bad. On the other hand, you could discover that your second cousin was a deranged serial killer featured on FBI’s Most Wanted List—hello, nightmares.
Whatever skeletons your family has in its closet, we doubt they’re quite as shocking as what these Redditors uncovered in their past.
1.
My grandpa’s brother went and tried killing my grandma and her kids, but someone told my grandpa about it so he didn’t go to work that day and waited at home with his shot gun behind the door. His brother bursted in carrying a pistol so that’s when my grandpa pointed it to his head and told him to get the fuck out or he’d kill him. The next day his brother had told their dad that my grandpa wanted to kill him so my great grandfather took my grandpa out of his will so my grandpa remained poor.
2.
My grandfather murdered my grandmother then committed suicide. Happened before any of my siblings or I were born and was always told they passed in a car accident. I think I was 25 when my mother told me. it kinda broke my heart all over again. I did some research into it through my college’s ability to research old newspaper articles.
They were both holocaust survivors and my grandfather was severely traumatized.
3.
The mum remarried when her kids were quite young to a new “perfect stepdad”. Roll on ten years and the 15 year old daughter notices something in the bathroom while she’s showering. Webcam, via the stepdad. That’s not the darkest part though. The darkest part IMHO is that her mum forgave him for filming her 15 year old daughter in the bath and on the toilet, told the daughter she would always put her husband first and arranged for her daughter to go and live with her nan.
4.
I had an ancestor who was both a Klan member and a gay man. Lived out his days in Florida with his “sidekick”
5.
We found a picture of two great aunts arm in arm with Hitler. We also have a signed photograph of Mussolini.
6.
Dad committed suicide.. I was 12 and they told me it was a heart attack.
7.
My grandfather murdered a man for an unknown reason and killed another when he found the man raping my great aunt.
8.
My dad was sexually abused growing up by my uncle (his older brother). His family knows but blamed him for seducing said uncle.
I refuse to speak to anyone on that side of my family besides my dad now.
9.
My cousin is Catherine Greig, the one who was on the run and arrested with Whitey Bulger. Found out that during my entire childhood my grandmas phone lines were being tapped by the FBI even though everyone in the family assumed she was dead.
10.
Apparently my uncle who we previously thought was doing real estate development in Hong Kong was in fact locked up in prison for felonious assault.
11.
Not sure if this is dark but my mom cheated on my “dad” before I was born and here I am 20 years old just finding out the man I thought was my biological dad for 20 years isn’t my real dad. They both knew this (my dad didn’t know I wasn’t his until I was about 14) and thought it would be a good idea to never tell me about it. I actually ended up finding this out from my brother a month ago. Never brought it up to my mom or “dad” though.
12.
My pro-life, racist conservative aunt had an abortion after sleeping with a married man who already had kids. He was only one of many married men she slept with back in the day. I also learned she was caught stealing money from a safe by the second mistress of one of the men she was seeing at the time. She also had a first husband that the whole family kept secret. And she cheated on her second (current) husband the week before and after their marriage with the same man she had her abortion for. She’s the first person to judge someone else and used to constantly accuse her daughter (the nicest “good” girl I know) of stealing her “husband” (my cousins DAD). My aunt makes Christmas fun.
