Top 10 Craziest Craigslist Horror Stories Ever

Script written by Alex Crilly-Mckean.

Top 10 Craziest Craigslist Horror Stories Ever

Well, that’s enough Internet for today. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top 10 craziest Craigslist stories.

For this list, we’re looking at horrific stories linked to the American classified ad website Craigslist. Keep in mind that while some stories are indeed factual, others may or may not be true. Also be aware that we’ll be covering some very mature content. You’ve been warned.

#10: Lenny Dykstra

For those actively seeking a job on Craigslist, watch out: you never know what kinda person your employer could be – even if he’s a baseball legend. Over the course of three years, various reports surfaced, saying that Lenny Dykstra was searching for house-workers online, only to expose himself to applicants once they met up. Sometimes, this even happened at knifepoint if the victims didn’t do as they were told. Given his catalogue of other alleged charges, which include grand theft auto and bankruptcy fraud, it’s not surprising that he’s less than pleasant. However, for the case in question, the lewd conduct and assault with a deadly weapon charges resulted in 270 days of jail time.

#9: Apple Watch

Anyone remember the craze surrounding the release of this smartwatch? People were so desperate to get their hands on one that they were willing to give up almost anything – even their own children? Well, the fake news site Huzlers claimed just that. They posted a story that a 22-year-old father named Jason Arenas allegedly sold his 4-year-old son via Craigslist so he could pre-order an Apple Watch. The authorities arrested Arenas and retrieved his son. An unbelievable story – quite literally, as none of it was true. But it spread rapidly across the internets.

#8: The Lure

As with any site where folks communicate in a fairly anonymous fashion, there’s always the chance that some people will deceive others for their own twisted ends. Enter one Sherwin Ngo, who apparently posed as a woman online to attract the attention of young boys. After finding explicit messages in her son’s email, the mother of one of those boys notified police, leading to Ngo’s arrest. He’s believed to have contacted multiple targets, so even more victims may’ve been taken to his home.

#7: Flaccid

A Reddit user managed to procure a bicycle off of Craigslist and met with the intended seller in a grocery store parking lot. We gather that it went off without a hitch since there’s no mention that he or she didn’t end up with the bike in the end. However, there was one little snag during the transaction: the seller had his flaccid penis hanging out the entire time. Well…we’re happy the buyer got what they wanted, but we also hope they scrubbed down that bike – thoroughly.

#6: The Graphing Calculator

We know you can do some handy things with a graphing calculator, but this takes the cake. Another Reddit user explains how a friend went to sell their graphing calculator to a buyer. After meeting up inside his car, the buyer insisted on trying it out. Seemingly satisfied, he handed it back to the seller, except he had spelled out the words “you are kidnapped” on the screen. Then he locked the doors. Luckily, it was all a sick joke; he just let the seller go with the warning to be more careful in the future.

#5: The Trade

There are some awful people out there, and unfortunately some of those people end up having children. Obviously on a downward spiral, a user who was six months pregnant reportedly made a post offering to sell her unborn child. Payment could be made either in the form of drugs or cash. Oh, and just to add a whole other layer to the whole thing, she promised that the child would be white, so she would only be accepting ‘serious offers.’ That listing may or may not have been a prank, but what wasn’t a prank was when New Yorker Paul Marquez’s attempted to sell the 2-month old belonging to a woman he was dating on Craigslist… for $100.

#4: Sex Fantasy

This one is all kinds of messed up, but could’ve ended even worse. Reports indicate that a husband made a post on Craigslist asking if anyone was willing to sexually assault his wife, allegedly so she could live out a rape fantasy. He found a willing party, who soon discovered the wife knew nothing about this. When she pulled a gun, he fled. Amazingly, the husband persisted and enlisted yet another assailant. The wife pulled her gun again, keeping the would-be rapist at bay until police arrived. Soon, both the perpetrator and the husband were under arrest. We’re guessing this one ended in divorce.

#3: The Sting

Tragically, a number of Craigslist users seem to have a fascination with the intended abuse of children. Take, for example, the exceedingly sick case of Anthony Brinkman. This Missouri father posted an ad seeking someone to beat and rape his 11-year-old daughter while he watched. He ended up finding someone willing to do the deed and even arranged a rendezvous point. Fortunately, it turned out he’d been caught and the person he was meeting with was an undercover police officer. Brinkman was arrested, convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

#2: The Craigslist Killer

One of the most disturbing Craigslist stories focuses on 19-year-old Miranda Barbour, who lured a 42-year-old man to his doom. Her Craigslist ad promised sex for cash, but it was a set-up. Once the victim was procured, Miranda repeatedly stabbed the man to death while her husband strangled him. But it doesn’t stop there: after her arrest, Barbour confessed that it hadn’t been her first killing. She claimed that she’d murdered at least 22 people, all in the name of a satanic cult. The police have found no evidence to back up her claims…at least not yet.

Before we reveal our number one pick, here is an honorable mention.
- My Roommate, the Diamond Thief

#1: “I Love You”

A mother-to-be named Michele Wilkins answered an ad on Craigslist, thinking she’d just be buying cheap maternity clothes. Upon meeting the seller, Dynel Lane, and chatting with her at Lane’s house, Ms. Wilkins was brutally attacked. During the struggle, she allegedly called out “I love you” in a desperate plea to make her assailant stop. However, her attacker ended up cutting her unborn child from her womb. After she called 911, Ms. Wilkins was rushed to hospital and survived. The psychopath who stole her child was at the same hospital, carrying the baby in her arms and claiming to have had a miscarriage. That person was later found guilty and sentenced to 100 years in prison.