Link: https://old.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/1ve6koo/i_found_a_tunnel_under_my_back_yard_and_now_im/

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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/DarkJackWolf on 2026-08-03 07:32:42+00:00.

I used to be fun. I had a reputation for being the life of the party. In my early to mid twenties, I spent 30% of my waking life fully intoxicated. I hit every bar in town at least once, I crashed countless house parties, and I threw quite a few parties of my own. That was the life man. Live fast and die young as they say. The problem with that is, I haven't died yet. I'm not saying I'm not young any more, but I'm not young enough to party like I use to. Not only do I not party any more, but I've also become quite the homebody.

Most people stop partying as they get older because they realize that it's time to become responsible members of society. Not me, I stopped because everyone else my age stopped. Don't get me wrong, I tried to keep it going for as long as I can. The thing is, you start feeling weird about hanging out with kids fifteen years younger than you. Most of my friends left me behind when I decided to stay in my twenties as I was pushing 40.

At some point I came to the realization that I needed to move forward. However, this ended up sending me down a well of depression. I stopped drinking for a while, and really concentrated on my career. Over time things got better, but I never stopped missing my party days.

After I hadn't drank for quite some time, my mood started coming back to me, and I finally started mingling with my coworkers. They were seeing my personality for the first time, and they really liked me. I got invited to a get together with a few coworkers a couple weeks ago, and ended up having a great time. I wasn't expecting alcohol to be involved, but there were a few bottles of wine, and a couple cases of beer. It was the first alcohol I drank in almost six months. I realized very quickly that if I kept drinking at the pace I was, I would finish all of it before anybody else got a chance to even get a buzz, so I slowed down. I hardly felt tipsy at all, but still had a good time.

I immediately started planning a get together of my own. I asked my coworkers if they would be interested in coming to my place the next weekend, and they all thought it was a great idea. I was so excited to get back into the swing of things. I felt like I was falling back into my old role of being the king of parties.

First thing I did was pull out the old refrigerator from the garage that I hadn't used in years. I dragged it out into the backyard, scrubbed every surface on the inside, and sprayed it all out with the garden hose. Next I cleaned off all the patio furniture and swept the porch. On Friday, I stopped by the liquor store and bought enough beer, seltzers, and wine coolers to fill up the fridge. I was ready.

Turns out that I had over done it. The guests arrived expecting a chill evening and a few beverages. Out of what they considered kindness, they didn't bring it up. Instead they slowly sipped their drinks and watched me get belligerently drunk. They still had fun though. They had me as the show. That next Monday I profusely apologized, and asked if they would forget the whole thing. I was forgiven, and told that it was still a fun night. I would be fine as long as I didn't behave that way at one of their places.

So, I needed to find that fine line between partying and being respectable. I had no idea how to do that, up until I was doom scrolling through Instagram one day. I came across a home project ‘how to’ video on installing a beer cooler by putting it into the ground. It looked super sleek, cool, and elegant. It was the perfect way to have fun while still not looking low class.

I collected all the supplies I needed and started digging immediately. However, I didn't dig too far before hitting something solid. I was surprised to find that my lawn wasn't even sitting on a whole foot of dirt. It was concrete, why would they lay dirt onto concrete. There was something odd however, when my shovel hit the concrete, it sounded hollow. Out of pure curiosity, I dug the hole wider, and found an edge to the concrete. I continued digging even wider, with complete disregard for the fact that I was tearing up my lawn. I followed the edges of the concrete until I created a complete square. After clearing off all the rest of the dirt, I found a handle. It was a door.

The concrete slab was pretty thin, so it wasn't very heavy. I lifted it open to find a ladder leading down a shaft. Now, the concrete slab wasn't on hinges or anything, so I just ended up lifting the whole thing and placing it to the side. My curiosity overcame me and I immediately began climbing down. Common sense then hit me over the head with the knowledge that I was climbing down into complete darkness. I quickly ran inside and grabbed a flash light, only to immediately run back and start climbing down into the tunnel. That was the extent of my common sense that day.

It wasn't too far to the bottom, probably about fifteen feet. Once I got down there I looked around my surroundings with the flash light. I was in a tunnel with two directions I could choose. I figured since this was all under my house, it was considered my property, and just didn't think that much past that. It was time to explore.

After a quick game of ‘eenie meenie miney mo’, I had a direction chosen. After walking about ten feet I came to a turn to my left, and then another turn to the left. I was now going back in the direction I came, but on the other side of a wall, how odd. After about five feet was a turn to the right, and another five feet was another choice, right or left. Another quick game of ‘eenie meenie miney mo’, and I was off.

I followed this for quite some time, every now and then picking a direction. In hindsight I should have been making notes of my choices, but at the time I just saw it as a fun little maze. I was just under my own house. There wasn't anything to be worried about. I had a general idea of where I came from, and I was fairly positive that I could get back. That was until the flash light started dying. I never thought to check the batteries. It was time to go back. I could come back and explore later.

I was getting tired, and my mind started struggling to remember the way back. I was starting to worry, but not too much. I'm sure this maze isn't too complicated. The flash light gave out fully. That was fast. Not to worry, the tunnels were only like four feet wide, I could feel my way back across the walls.

After some time, I was sure I was where the ladder should be, but I didn't feel it. Not only that, but there was no opening above me. It was still midday, I should have seen sunlight by now. No matter, I'll just retrace my steps just a little bit, I'm sure the ladder was just around the corner. It wasn't. That's when I started to freak out. I wasn't making good decisions anymore. I just tried any path I could take. I was running around like a lost rat.

I was getting tired, and had to take a break. I leaned my hand against the wall and felt a rung. What luck! Relief overcame me, and I began to climb. It was about half way up when something started bothering me. It felt like there was something wrong, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Wait a minute, where's the sunlight, it's still not even the evening yet, there should be light pouring in from above me.

I stayed still on the ladder for a moment, did someone replace the cover? Why would someone do that? Who would be in my back yard? Maybe I'm below someone else's back yard. That could be possible. I decided to keep climbing. Once I got to the top, I tried to push up on the concrete cover. It was much heavier than I remembered. I tried harder, and it still didn't budge. Shit, if I'm under someone else's yard, that means there's still a layer of dirt on top. I really didn't want to go back down, so I tried to push up anyway. How heavy can a foot of dirt be? I stepped up a few rungs, and put my whole back into it. I felt it give way, even just a little bit. This was possible, I should be able to do it. I kept pushing until I finally felt it lift until I could shimmy it over. I heard it sliding on top of concrete as I slid it over. There was no light. It was pitch black, I was still in the tunnels.

How was that possible, I must have gone down a slope that was so subtle, I didn't realize it. What do I do now? Try and find my way back? Or move on from here. I'm now higher than I was before, thus closer to getting out. I decided not to climb back down. I finished climbing up and out of the hole. Where to now? I just stood up, touched the wall, and started moving in the closest direction I could find.

The tunnels seemed different than they were before. I think they're wider. I could barely touch both sides with the tips of my fingers. I would continue following the path as it twisted and turned. I would make a choice at random when coming to a fork. As I was walking in the complete darkness, I kicked something heavy that was on the ground and yelled out in pain. What I heard next chilled me to the bone. I'll tell you right now, I don't even remember what I heard exactly. All I know is that I caught the attention of something, and that something wasn't human.

I was frozen in fear for a moment. Maybe I imagined it, but then I heard the sound of feet running across the concrete floor from in front of me. I couldn't tell just how many feet it was, I just knew it was more than two. I turned around and started moving as fast as I could without ...

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