The Dark Web isn’t your traditional Internet. You won’t just stumble upon it when using Google. Even if you’re searching for weird stuff. You’ve no doubt encountered certain parts of the Internet that have weirded you out. Maybe you went too deep on YouTube. There are some strange videos out there. Or maybe, you were researching something and for whatever reason came across an alarming website. We’ve all been there. The Dark Web is different. Websites on the Dark Web are encrypted and you can’t just visit them using your regular Chrome or Safari browser. This part of the Internet has many nicknames: The Deep Web, Black Internet, Deepnet. All ominous sounding in their own right. These days, more and more people know about this dungeon of the Web. And, more of us are accessing it. Even though it’s not entirely mysterious anymore, there are still stories about it that will creep you out. A lot of the following are just that: stories. Even if they aren’t all true, they’re still creepy AF.

15. A Sinister Drug Den Exists on the Interwebs

Our first item on the list concern drugs. There’s no denying that the Dark Web is used to illegally trade and sell goods of all kinds. Some of the stories you’ll hear are unverifiable. But it’s pretty clear that illegal drugs can be bought, traded and sold on the deep dark World Wide Web. Buying illicit substances online provides a certain amount of anonymity that you can’t get in person. That makes buying these substances accessible for a lot more people. The levels of encryption involved also make it very difficult to find the online sellers. Shutting down these kinds of operations is much more difficult than doing so with a run of the mill in person op.

14. Cooking Some Delicious Human Meat

Reddit user baconboyloiter posted a reply to the question “What’s your deep web story?” His response was more than a little chilling. He explained that when browsing the dark parts of the Internet, he came upon a website that contained instructions on how to prepare and cook meat. Meat from women…living women. This anecdote pops up from time to time in other online articles and blogs about the Dark Net. Are there people out there who are actually utilizing the advice? Maybe. Cannibalism isn’t some kind of myth. Either way, whether the site is real or just a hoax, it doesn’t make it any less macabre.

13. The Student Hacker Who Can Ruin Your Life

Imagine if you were a teacher and one of your students was attempting to hack you. That’s what one Canadian teen was trying to do. It’s also believed that the teenager might have been running an infamous Dark Web forum called ‘Hell forum’. The forum is a haven for hackers and other online criminals. It’s a place where data and personal information is posted by hackers. Can you imagine having your personal data posted on the Dark Web for all to see? In a world where we’re comfortable posting nearly everything online, this is still shocking and makes us really uncomfortable. Especially when we think of a teenager running this kind of thing!

12. New Websites for Pedophiles Pop Up Every Minute

The amount of stories we’ve heard about underage material on the Dark Web is just horrifying. It seems that when one website gets shut down, another one appears. Dark Web user ‘ricenbeans’ was arrested earlier this year on child porn charges. He was an active member of the website ‘Website 19’. In order to access the website’s highly illegal (and disgusting) content, members were required to contribute actively and submit content. How was he caught? An unidentified law enforcement agency posted a video advertisement. When users clicked on the advert they would be opening a link outside of the encrypted browser. Law enforcement would then be able to find out user IP addresses. And get this, when ‘ricenbeans’ was caught he willingly admitted to being an active user on the website. He concocted an excuse about not knowing that having child porn was illegal. Yeah. Right.

11. Collector’s Item from a Deceased Murderer

Look, we’re the first ones to admit that we love true crime. But sometimes, that obsession can go a little too far. For instance, we’re fascinated by Ted Bundy, but we’d never want to visit the Dark Web just so we could purchase his diary or an old t-shirt of his. That’s epically weird. Earlier this year, infamous child killer Ian Brady died. You won’t be surprised to learn that some of his belongings are now being hocked on the Dark Web. Apparently, people are even coughing up cash to buy Brady’s toothbrushes. Ew. To us, this seems like a huge waste of money. Unless, you’re filthy rich.

10. A Very Active and Inexpensive Ransomware Market

Ah yes, the latest horrifying thing to exit the Dark Web and find its way into the light of day: ransomware. At its crux, it’s a genius idea. But when you’re the target, it becomes less fascinating and a lot more panic inducing. Ransomware viruses are sold on the Dark Web and they come pretty cheap. It’s a horrifying realization that anyone with a bit of know-how can manage to browse the Dark Web and purchase something like this to target anyone they want. These kinds of viruses hijack your device and demand that money be paid so that you can have control again.

9. Free to Engage in Human Experimentation

We’ll be up front right away, this Dark Web page is likely a hoax. Regardless, it’s still a terrifying story. People love to freak other people out and what better way than to do it with a story about human experimentation on the deep end of the Internet. The website owner(s) claims to believe in the idea that not everyone is equal. It’s alleged that the website owner(s) finds unsuspected human beings, usually homeless, to perform experiments on. It’s like a real-life version of Hostel. Except, there’s no proof that it’s actually legit. Sure, there are horrifying people out there but we’re pretty sure this is just an Internet troll.

8. Growing Membership in Popular AIDS Fanclubs

This is probably one of the strangest things we’ve seen related to the Dark Web. When asked ‘what was the sickest thing you saw?’ referring to the Dark Web, one Reddit user replied with a screenshot from an AIDS forum. The screen capped messages contain explicit descriptions of sexual encounters and it seems that the users involved in the conversations get off on passing around the AIDS virus. It’s a seriously strange hobby of sorts. Reading through it really makes you question the sanity of those involved. The Internet sure is a strange place, especially when people feel like they are completely anonymous.

7. Paradise Village It is Not For Victims of Pedophilia

We’re so sorry, but yeah, this is another pedophile related story. Earlier this year, the website ‘Paradise Village’ was shut down by hackers. Go hackers! The website was a haven for the sick and twisted who swapped child pornography and gabbed online about their horrible crimes. Remember when we mentioned ‘Play Pen’? It’s likely that when it was taken down users moved onto this website instead. That brings us to the realization that the same will likely happen in this case. It seems like a never-ending game of whack-a-mole. Whack one and another one just pops up. Are you feeling hopeless about humanity yet?

6. Red Rooms Where People Go To Die

What’s a red room? It’s basically a live stream of torture, murder, abuse, you name it. People pay to enter and watch the highly illegal content. Except, they likely aren’t real. At least, they’re not as prevalent as some people seem to make them out to be. Some so-called Red Rooms are actually faked. They’re made to look pretty real but they’re not. Either way, why in the world people want to watch this kind of stuff is beyond us. The idea that the veracity of this kind of Dark Web website is unverifiable makes it even creepier. There’s always a possibility and that is the scariest thing of all.

5. Easily Hire A Hitman With Just One Click

We actually asked some of our pals what they thought of when we said the words ‘Dark Web’ to them. Most of them immediately came up with drugs and hitmen. It seems that many people equate the Dark Web with murder for hire. In late 2016, a man from Minnesota attempted to hire a hitman on the Dark Web to kill his wife. He didn’t manage to find anyone so he did it himself and now he’s facing charges for his wife’s murder. There are definitely advertisements for these kinds of services on the Dark Web. But are they legit? Most of them probably aren’t. But maybe you’d be better off just getting a divorce.

4. Teen Killer Uploaded His Brutal Murder For All to See

In March of this year, a young teen was arrested on suspicion of murder in Germany. The teen, known to the press as Marcel H., was suspected of murdering a young boy of only nine years old. It’s thought that Marcel killed the boy and posted the images of his vicious crime on the Dark Web. It’s a horrible story where not just one, but two young lives have been taken away. There’s limited information online about the alleged teen perpetrator because the German press rules prohibit publishing full names of criminals and victims. We wonder if he was suffering from some kind of mental illness because it’s so hard to fathom why someone so young would commit such a horrible act.

3. Graphic Abuse and Torture of Young Girl

This story made us sick to our stomach. The man pictured above is Peter Scully. He committed one of the most incredibly horrendous crimes that we’ve ever heard of, and we read a lot of true crime material. He created and posted the video named ‘Daisy’s Destruction’ to the Dark Web where users were encouraged to pay to watch the material. The video apparently depicts extremely graphic abuse and torture of a young girl. Scully appears in the video along with his equally sick and twisted girlfriend. Thankfully, the young child was saved from further abuse and Scully is incarcerated in the Philippines.

2. Your Data is For Sale. Nothing is Safe.

Nobody wants to imagine their personal data being sold on the Dark Web. A story that surfaced earlier this year revealed that children’s private medical data had appeared for sale on the dark recesses of the Internet. The private information of kids and their parents were being sold for a shockingly low price. We’re very protective of the data we have control over, but it is hard not to feel powerless when you find out your data is vulnerable even in the hands of large corporations. When Yahoo was hacked, passwords, usernames, and other data appeared for sale on the Dark Web as well. Is nobody safe?

1. The Most Terrifying Story of Them All

But here’s the thing, and it’s probably the most horrifying story of all, the Dark Web can be accessed by anyone. It’s not really the underbelly of the Internet. Anyone is able to find their way there. It’s becoming less and less of a mystery. And the truth is that a lot of the stuff that can be found on the so-called Dark Net can also be found on the regular Internet. Pedophiles enjoy the anonymous nature of the encrypted Dark Web, but sadly, underage material isn’t relegated to the dark spaces of the online world. While the privacy of the Dark Web entices shady people, the real world isn’t immune to this sort of thing. Shut down these parts of the Internet and it’s likely they’ll surface somewhere else, whether online or offline.

Sources: Belfast Telegraph, CNN, Daily Mail, Fox News, The Independent