Waking up to a bloody writing on your bedroom wall may constitute nightmare material for most, but one Redditor found a 'more unsettling' explanation than ghosts for an overnight weird occurrence.
Someone who goes by the username of Distinct-Sir-69 put his puzzling query to Reddit when their wife spotted a disturbing writing on the walls of their bedroom.
While some people would have probably start looking to move out immediately or at the very least contact a paranormal expert, the Redditor in question thought it'd be more helpful to put the question to the Internet to work its magic.
"The first thing my wife said to me this morning was 'Why is there a backwards C above our closet written in blood?'" the Reddit post begins.
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The Reddit user included a picture of the incriminated letter, a backwards C that seems to have been written in blood.
They provided more details into the bizarre incident, explaining the writing wasn't there when the couple went to bed and that their house was built in the late 19th century, therefore it came with a fair share of structural problems.
"This was not there when we went to bed, but it was there in the morning. We went to bed at 11pm and were up by 5 am. Neither of us have a history of sleep walking," the Redditor wrote.
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"The house is very old (built in 1885) and we've had plumbing, electrical, structural and insect problems so we do not count anything out," he continued, keeping an open mind as to what could have happened before jumping to conclusions.
"We do not have attic access unless I make one. I'd love to hear logical, earth-based theories before I throw this into a paranormal sub, as my first guess was a poltergeist named Carrie."
As it turns out, turning to Reddit before calling an exorcist to cast a demon out was the right decision. The Reddit thread proved that the bloody C was had nothing to do with a spirit called Carrie, or any other names starting with a C for that matter.
Redditors came together to prove that the backwards C is actually a ladybug's pheromone trail.
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"Honestly it looks like ladybug pheromones," one person commented.
"Same thing happened to me. I wouldn't worry about it. Especially if there's an influx in ladybugs where you live.
"They releasee these pheromones in that exact color to find a mate. Same thing happened to us except we saw the lady beetle release it."
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After finding similar responses, the Redditor was asked whether his house was yellow as that seems to attract ladybugs.
"Oddly enough, it is a fainted yellow house. Holy sh*t," they answered.
However, pheromone trails aren't visible to the human eye. The chemical signals are sent out to attract mates and, while they may have an odour, they're normally not visible.
The thread was then marked as solved, though the OP found the idea of being stared at by a bug at night 'more unsettling' than having a friendly ghost.
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This means that it's likely another type of bug that has released the trail and that it is, in fact, not a pheromone trail at all.
"My best educated guess is stink bug poo," another used offered.
"How it got into that shape however, I have no idea. At first I thought moth (they leave weird drippy stuff when they come out of their chrysalis and their poo can look similar to stink bugs, but I've never seen moth poo drip, and i don't see a chrysalis lol) but I think stink bug is more likely."
The OP seemed somewhat relieved to know an insect had relieved themselves on their bedroom wall.
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"I think we've got enough to label this as solved! For the most part," he wrote. "Some sort of bug is watching me sleep. Slightly more unsettling than ghosts, but I'll take it."
Stefania Sarrubba