People Describe Terrifying Times Google Maps Led Them Into Horror Country

Redditor /u/girlingboyer

Balmorhea, Texas.

Driving across the country with my girlfriend from NYC, Google Maps took us off the main road. I zoomed out to check; it looked like a good shortcut to our destination. The trail got dustier, then we hit an open gate. The road kept going through it. I checked the map again; it looked fine, so we went in. I figured, if the gate was wide open, we were probably safe.

A large barn passed. Suddenly, about fifteen huge dogs ran after them. These were big, angry, barking dogs. They kept driving per Google’s instructions. Then, the road stopped. A creek appeared; they could not cross. They turned around with the huge dogs surrounding them, driving back the other way. When they reached the gate this time, it was closed.

In the rearview mirror, we saw a golf cart sputtering toward us. It belonged to an old lady. We rolled down the window. Before long, we heard, “Y’all better get the hell out of here NOW!” We tried to apologize and explain. She did not hear us. She said, “If y’all hurt one of my dogs, I’m gon SHOOT YOU!”

My girlfriend panicked. The gate was closed. The old lady hilariously explained that it would open automatically if we got closer. “It’ll OPEN automatically if you just PULL UP!” We drove up, and it began to open. We were too close, so we awkwardly backed up to let it open fully before speeding out. We never took that shortcut in the middle of nowhere again.

I submitted a report to Google about this. I never heard back from them.

Redditor /u/jrhooo

The NSA.

The goal was not visiting; it was reaching somewhere else entirely. The GPS refused to recognize the facility existed, so it would not reroute around it.

The road it wanted us to take stuck on the lane leading to their gate. There was no real way to turn off.

You arrive, and the security guard asks, “Badge?”

“Oh, sorry, I don't work here. I got turned around. I am not supposed to be here.”

“Ok, then. You will just have to turn around and go that way.”

“Yeah, can I just turn around here and drive back out the gate?”

“You can pull over here. That security car will escort you back to the gate.”

Black flashing lights and an SUV full of cop-type guys appeared.

Redditor /u/murraythedog

Cementland in St. Louis.

An artist made the town’s City Museum. This museum is an adult jungle gym inside an old downtown office building. He tried to beat himself by turning an abandoned cement factory into the same thing. He did much of the work himself. His bulldozer flipped over, and he died.

The site now features creepy, carnival-style painted concrete domes along the street and giant abandoned machinery behind them.

Redditor /u/roseblack18

I applied for a job at a tanning salon in the next town. The online ad seemed relaxed and suited my school schedule. They wanted high school or college girls, which fit. Free tanning was another plus. I sent my resume; they emailed asking me to interview.

I followed Google Maps to the address. Street Views did not exist. I found a dilapidated old house. A scraggly man opened the door and waved me in. I left there fast.

From Redditor /u/iholierthanthou

This happened during our trip to Goa, India.

It was our second day. We headed to our booked hotel, located on the other side of Goa. Google Maps estimated the two-hour trip mostly on the highway. About twenty minutes out, Google told us to take a diversion for a "shorter path."

The road narrowed significantly. We passed a huge gate. We could not read the writing; it was too dark, and honestly, we did not care. The road worsened quickly, turning into safari-style tracks.

At this point, network coverage ended. Anxiety grew. Then, we saw a sign: "Please refrain from feeding the wild animals." We stopped our scooters to check our location. Google took us on a shortcut through a wildlife reserve. We panicked. The map showed ten minutes left before exiting the reserve, so we continued. Our scooters moved very slowly on that road. Then, we saw another sign: "beware of leopards." We panicked then. We stuck together, scared by every sound. After thirty minutes, we finally exited. We felt immense relief. We learned never to trust Google Maps blindly again.

From Redditor /u/GReeeNIsSystem

I was on holiday in Singapore with my mother. One day, we decided to check out a nearby movie park. We had little information about it. Usually, my mother plans everything carefully using maps and info from guides and hotel staff.

We enjoyed nature. We saw a small side road leading to a "cave." My mother took pictures, and we kept going. We eventually lost our way. I used the hotel phone with internet and Google Maps. I guided us, but we did not reach our destination.

We saw a man in a construction uniform. He looked like he knew what he was doing, so we followed. We trailed him about ten meters behind until we reached a dark area, surrounded by trees that looked like a dead end. The man stopped at the wall, took out his penis, and urinated against it. My mom and I then saw we had followed this man to his pee spot instead of a bus stop or anything.

Redditor /u/830_L

I live near a nuclear missile wing. Sometimes I find nuclear missile silos on Google Maps when I'm bored.

I found the closest one forty-five miles from my house. Nuclear missiles creep me out. How many people can each one kill? What happens to me if they fire them? Sometimes, driving in the country, you see a bare, fenced rectangle in a farmer's field; that is a silo. You might also see a control bunker, which looks like a ranch house surrounded by a big fence with barbed wire on top.

Redditor /u/Pichikuin

I cruised Arizona or California on Google Maps (satellite mode) far off the beaten path. It was desert for miles. The only road I saw was a dried-up stream bed.

Suddenly, I found a huge carving in the ground. It was a circle with smaller circles inside. A small metal building sat next to it. There were no roads, houses, or cars, just a circle. It looked like a farm, but it was nonsensical. All that space formed a perfect circle in the desert, miles from any road or water. Explain this if you can.

Redditor /u/pmmeyourproblemsolva

I have never had a panic attack before or since.

Leaving Cuba, NM for Pagosa Springs, Google Maps told my wife to take one road. The road became an unpaved park service road. This is New Mexico; forest service roads cut hundreds of miles off a trip if you use them right. I cannot get cell service to confirm this path is real or good.

The road looked fine; Google Maps directed us to use it. Twenty-two miles of park service road, then NM route 4. Initially, the road was good. Then it got okay. Near the end, the road became terrible. My truck only has 2WD. Getting stuck on this powder road would ruin me. We had no cell phone. Civilization was forty miles away. We reached the top of a large hill. It was powder all the way up. We slid around tight corners. The road narrowed to one lane there. Everyone in the truck had a panic attack. I pulled over at the only pull-out. My hands shook so hard I could barely open the door. In less than three seconds, a GMC SUV sped down the road opposite me at sixty mph.

If I had not pulled over right then, he would have hit us head-on. He was flying through those blind turns with no hope of stopping. That is how close we came to dying that day.

I turned back and went to Cuba. I confirmed this route would not lead me to Pagosa Springs but would take me to the back entrance of Las Alamos National Labs.

Weirdly, all our watches lagged thirty minutes behind our cell phones. This happened after we got back into cell coverage and synced them.

TLDR: A panic attack saved my life, or more accurately, all our panic attacks saved all our lives. Somehow, the time on our watches does not match the time on our phones when we rejoined civilization.

From Redditor /u/StrangeLob

This story fits the prompt. So, in the traditional AskReddit style, I will tell you the story of The Fog.

One day in college, I wanted to smoke weed. I told my roommate I wanted an adventure instead of our usual spot. We looked on Google Maps for a secluded place and found a spot off a road in the country.

That road turned out to be busy. Because I was paranoid, I decided we needed a less crowded place. We had phones with GPS, so we drove randomly until we found a spot that looked good, had lights, and GPS led us back.

We found a closed gas station around 1 AM in the country. We drove behind it and lit up. We waited a little before driving back. Then we heard a noise in the distance. It sounded like a small motorbike or a chainsaw. It got closer, then sped up. It sounded like it was within fifty yards. Then it cut out.

I ignored whatever that was and drove off. About three minutes later, my roommate felt too high to drive. We pulled off the road. Then we saw part of the problem: we drove into fog so thick we could barely see ten feet ahead. We avoided the danger. We decided to wait out the fog in our minds, or the fog on the earth, whichever came first.

The fog felt eerie. Faint lights appeared on the horizon, growing stronger over minutes until a car passed. Being high and paranoid made this feeling worse. We sat there for maybe half an hour. Then we started hearing the noise again, far away. It got closer and closer until it sounded like it was right outside our car. Then, it stopped.

A serial killer followed us, and we accepted our end. But the killer never came; we saw nothing. After fifteen minutes, we felt ready to leave, so we went home safe. We never learned what the noise was.

Redditor /u/Ibce

My partner and I visited Kyiv in the autumn of 2015. We picked up a cat from the street. We moved to a different room that allowed cats. The owner had a dog. I asked him if he knew any good vet clinics, and he recommended one nearby.

We visited semi-regularly with the cat using public transport. We walked to get supplies because it was cheaper. Also, it was in a central part of Kyiv, not the outskirts.

The first time we returned from the clinic, I took out my phone and lazily followed the blue line.

The area looked like blocks in NYC and many other places on Earth. It featured straight streets with intersections spaced somewhat evenly. I was surprised when I turned into an intersection, guided by Mr. Google Maps, and saw a huge sign warning about increased radiation. We were about to enter a nuclear reactor area.

Redditor /u/Gromann

My creepiest detour involved stumbling upon a strange mansion. It had spiked fences all around, with trees surrounding the whole structure.

It gave me the feeling of a concentration camp. It consisted of just a few large buildings and one house in a less popular area of southern California.

Two years later, I learned the Church of Scientology has a private prison in southern California. I skimmed its entrance.

Redditor /u/arnivold

I planned to hike at a nature preserve. I entered the address, but instead of the preserve, I reached a worn-down shack a few blocks away. I parked there, confused. This thing looked like it was barely standing. There were no animals, farmland, or cars, only a creepy-looking shack at the end of a dirt path. Suddenly, a man in his early to mid-fifties walked out of the shack with a shotgun aimed at me while I was still in the car, yelling for me to leave his property. He did not finish shouting before I hit reverse and sped away.

I found the preserve. I went hiking. That was the closest I got to being shot.