Top 20 Craziest Hoarding Buried Alive Episodes

Phyllis and Patty are identical twins who have lived together all their lives. Forty years ago, their older brother was tragically killed in Vietnam, and since then, they’ve used compulsive shopping to cope with the trauma. Their hoarding has caused them to lose their jobs and the house that they grew up in. They moved into their current house just five years ago, and in that short time, they’ve nearly destroyed it. The city has given them 30 days to clean up, but parting with their possessions proves to be difficult for the two women. By the end of the episode, they’re able to buy a new house, but viewers can’t help but wonder if it will end up exactly like the last one.

Like Phyllis and Patty, Chip is a compulsive shopper and collector, and it’s had a serious impact on his wife and four children. Chip’s wife Dale has health problems that make it difficult for her to navigate their over-stuffed house. Chip built a 3600-square-foot addition to the house specifically to accommodate Dale’s needs – but before it was even finished, he began filling it with his stuff. Meanwhile, Debbie’s house began filling with garbage after she got divorced and her adult children moved out. It got so disgusting, that her youngest daughter chose to leave and live with her dad. Fortunately, both Chip and Debbie are able to make major progress with the help of professional organizers.

Most of the people featured on “Hoarding: Buried Alive” at least recognize that they have a problem, but that’s not the case for Jaime. Her collecting has made her house almost unlivable, and it’s tearing her family apart. When her daughter’s fiancé arrives for a visit, he’s shocked by what he sees. Kathleen, on the other hand, knows she has an issue, but she doesn’t understand how bad it’s gotten. Her house has been overrun by hundreds of mice. Even the exterminator is amazed by the amount of droppings he finds. Both houses are a health hazard, and yet their owners still struggle to let a single item go out the door.

If you’re a fan of this series, you know that many hoarders have some kind of trauma in their past that triggers their compulsion. 16-year-old Haley’s story is especially tragic. Her brother died unexpectedly when she was just four years old. Now, she compulsively collects anything she can get her hands on and piles it up in her room. Her family has resorted to locking rooms and cabinets to prevent her from stealing from them. Even after visiting with an older hoarder, Haley still has trouble admitting that she has a problem. She eventually agrees to let her family help her clean, but only time will tell whether she can stick to it.

Louise was a fashion model in the 1970s, and she used to hobnob with some of Hollywood’s hottest stars. But if we gave you a hundred chances, we bet you still couldn’t guess which celebrity makes a cameo in this episode. Ron is the first person Louise has allowed into her apartment in years. Although he tries to be understanding, even he is taken aback by what he sees inside – and Ron Jeremy has seen a lot in his day. Louise received a substantial inheritance from her wealthy parents, but due to her collecting, she’s running out of money and about to be evicted. Yet like so many hoarders, she has a very hard time letting anything go.

Usually, a hoarder’s problems are confined to their own house. But Denise’s hoard is so bad, her downstairs tenants are also suffering. The mice, bugs, and mold that fill her apartment have made their way into Lalie’s apartment too, and Lalie is fed up. The apartment is also hazardous to Denise herself, who’s battled cancer and other health issues for years. Because her bathroom plumbing doesn’t work, Denise has been using disposable wipes to bathe – and not bothering to throw them away. The amount of filth is shocking. Denise actually handles the cleanup process pretty well, and the crew is able to help her get a new lease on life.

Jeff is ready to walk away from his marriage because of his wife’s hoarding problem. And he doesn’t even know how bad it’s gotten. His wife Vickie is keeping a shocking secret. Vickie has one storage unit that Jeff is aware of. But she also has a second storage unit and a massive, empty storefront full of stuff. Jeff has struggled with high blood pressure, and Vickie is legitimately worried that the reveal will give him a heart attack. When he learns the truth – including the fact that his kids knew all along and hadn’t told him – he’s understandably angry. To save her marriage, Vickie has to buckle down and get rid of her many possessions.

This might be the creepiest “Hoarding” episode yet. Donna is a retired ventriloquist and obsessed with collecting puppets. She estimates she has more than 200 of them in her house – and they only make up a small portion of her hoard. And she’s not just buried in garbage; she also has a mountain of debt. Luckily, some of her collection is actually worth money, and agreeing to sell a few puppets is the first step toward recovery. The second story of the episode concerns Harold, a divorced dad who wants to spend more time with his daughter. But that’s difficult, since his house is so dangerous she’s not even allowed inside. Yet it’s still incredibly difficult for him to part with his things.

Some hoarders are compulsive shoppers, and that’s true for Sharon – but she’s also obtained a lot of her collection by stealing it. Now, her 4,000-square-foot house is packed with items. When her neighbor and best friend comes by unannounced, she’s shocked to find so much of her own stuff in Sharon’s house. Both Sharon and the episode’s other subject, Len, started spiraling out of control after their divorces. Len’s small house is so crowded he can’t cook indoors, and he hasn’t slept in his bed in over a decade. His daughter is disgusted by how he’s living, and she hasn’t visited in years. Both of these people have a lot of work ahead repairing their relationships.

Janet and Herv’s house is covered in filth from top to bottom. The problem has gone on so long, their 22-year-old son can barely remember ever seeing the house clean. They’ve been forced to move in with a friend, Wendy, because their own home is unlivable. Even worse, their son has to live in a tent in the backyard. But that’s just where the drama begins. Janet reveals that Herv started an affair with Wendy three years earlier. He even asked Janet to join the two of them in the bedroom, but she was super uncomfortable with the idea. You know an episode is crazy when the house isn’t even the wildest thing in it.

The show is no stranger to emotional situations, but one of the most upsetting was in this season four episode. When the 65-year-old mother of three children passes away, it’s down to the adult kids Aimee, Cheryl and Jimmy to clear out the clutter and prove that mom owned her house in the aftermath of her death. While Jimmy lived with their mother and knew the true extent of her hoarding problem, the two sisters had no idea. It’s difficult to watch them come to terms with the way their mother lived and died, and even more so when the biohazard team begin to throw out the deceased Cynthia’s many possessions.

In a first for “Hoarding,” this episode featured three hoarders all living in separate apartments in the same apartment building. Even more bizarre, the three of them were all completely unaware that they were living so close to people who suffered from the same problem. There are more light-hearted moments this time around as one struggles to part with her collection of lesbian erotica and many of the workers resort to throwing items out of the windows to get them out of the building. Throughout the episode, tension remains high between the hoarding trio and the owner of the community complex, who desperately wants things cleaned up.

Audiences frequently find themselves wondering how the residents of these hellish homes manage to live in them without getting sick – and this became especially evident in season four, when two people working on TLC’s clean-up crew contracted Hantavirus while filming this episode. While not contagious from human to human, it’s spread through breathing in air contaminated by the virus – which comes from the fecal matter and urine of some rodents. Kay’s home was absolutely riddled with pests, including snakes and possums, and the worst part of all? She would still barely admit that she had a problem, even when her own home had to be completely quarantined.

Kay may have been playing host to an array of furry friends, but hoarder Michelle took that to a whole new level in her aptly-titled episode. Property investors want to buy her home, but soon discover that Michelle’s problem has damaged the house to its core as it is absolutely teeming with rats. She’s also technically homeless but seems unable to accept it as the team tries to help her. But perhaps the episode’s worst moment comes at the beginning as Michelle gives a tour of her kitchen, showing the filthy pots and pans she still uses to cook with to the cameras.

Karen isn’t the only victim of her hoarding; her two young sons are quoted as saying they feel “trapped” in her nightmarish home. The episode begins with the kids being taken away by Child Protective Services because of concern for their wellbeing, with Karen offered the ultimatum that if she doesn’t clean up her act within 48 hours she will not regain custody of her boys. But the situation is also notable for reducing psychologist Dr. Becky Beaton to tears when she sees the sick and neglected family dog, soon rehomed by the SPCA.

Caryn’s world was thrown into crisis when local officials told her they would tear down her property for not being up to code. While investigating, they found it severely damaged without running water and full of cat feces; one code enforcer couldn’t even stand to be in the building without throwing up. Caryn’s realization that the home her parents built could be condemned is heartbreaking. Meanwhile in the same episode, Theresa struggles to balance her shopping compulsion with her chronic fatigue syndrome, meaning her house is completely overrun with junk and her illness renders her unable to clean.

Another mother at risk of losing custody of her child was Larina, whose own sister was attempting to have 10-year-old Alexiah put into her care out of concern for the child’s well-being. Larina’s hoarding has tragic beginnings, all stemming from when her ex-boyfriend brutally assaulted her five years earlier in her own front garden. However, this is one unfortunate story that actually has a happy ending; Larina managed to completely turn her life around, separating from her hoard and keeping it under control, prioritizing her young daughter’s safety and quality of life above all else.

A show with no shortage of horrors reaches extremes with Joyce and her collection of antique dolls. When her marriage fell apart, she turned to the dolls for comfort, and despite running out of money and losing her job, she continues to buy as many of these dolls as she can get her hands on. The episode’s other hoarder is Donny, a retired Marine who doesn't just have his own personal junkyard, but also a lively herd of goats. But Donny feels under siege from the county, from which he has amassed thousands in fines and two jail sentences.

Karen's neglected dog may have ultimately been adopted by a vet after being removed from her home and given to animal control, but the outcome wasn't nearly so pleasant for Doug and Darlene's missing cat. Sickeningly, in this episode the cat's mummified remains are found trapped underneath a heavy dresser where it had perished two years earlier. And that's not the worst of it. They also have a broken septic tank, which means the house is steadily overflowing with raw sewage and human waste, to the point where demolition seems like a better option than attempting to clean.

In arguably the craziest episode of all, stubborn hoarders and deadly clutter weren't the only dangers people had to worry about. Laura is attempting to clean her home with the help of her sons and the show's crew, but their lives are threatened when a fire breaks out in her garbage-filled kitchen. Somebody mistakenly turns on the stove, which is covered in newspapers and other flammable materials, leaving them struggling to extinguish the fire or else the entire house will go up in flames. They eventually manage to stop the blaze, but it makes for one of the most intense moments in the show's whole run.

Which hoarder’s house freaked you out the most? Let us know in the comments below.