15 People Who’ve Lived in Apartments Share the Strangest Things They’ve Heard Through the Walls

If you’ve ever lived in an apartment, you probably know that the walls are sometimes so thin between units that you can hear pretty much everything that goes on in the apartment next to you. This isn’t always the case, but especially in older buildings, you can sometimes hear entire conversations without trying.

Hearing into someone else’s apartment can be annoying if they’re loud when you’re trying to sleep. Otherwise, it can be pretty interesting. Depending on your neighbors, you might hear sweet things, inappropriate things, or things that they would definitely not say if they knew they could hear you.

Reddit user EskildDood asked, “Redditors with thin walls, what have you heard in your apartment?” The answers are surprising, amusing and sometimes shocking. Here are 15 of our favorite responses.

  1. “Daddy”

    Reddit user Kaaitlynnx starts us off with a very sweet story:

    My downstairs neighbors are a couple with a one year old boy. The babies room is right under mine. They speak so sweetly to him I’m not even mad that I can hear them so clearly.One morning the dad went in to get the baby out of bed and I hear him go “can you say daddy? Can you say daddy?” And in the tiniest little voice I heard “daddy”. My heart melted.

  2. “Just Me and the Rabbit”

    Written by MancetheLance:

    Years ago I had an upstairs neighbor. At 2am, every night, I would hear something sprint across the entire apartment. I realized three things, it was very fast, it took small strides, and it never deviated from its path. One day, I saw my neighbor outside and I said, “I dont know how you have energy at 2am?” He responded with, “Dude, I’ve been working the midnight to 8am shift for 15 years. Doesnt bother me at all”.That night, I watched him leave his house, drive off, and waited two hours. At exactly 2am, I heard what sounded like two feet hit the floor in his bedroom, and the marathon started. A few weeks later, I see him outside. I tell him what I hear at night and he says, “That’s strange, no one has my keys, it’s just me and my rabbit up there.”

  3. Seahorses

    ApplepieButterfly shared an interesting conversation:

    I once heard an argument that went a little like this:”Stop treating me like I’m stupid!” “You asked if Seahorses were mammals, Jessica!” “THEY GIVE LIVE BIRTH.”

  4. Stun Gun

    yesnogoodbye added:

    My upstairs neighbors taking turns zapping each other with a stun gun, hitting the floor, groaning in pain, and then laughing like Beavis and Butthead.

  5. Opera Singer

    Another Reddit user wrote:

    I actually manage an apartment complex where my office is surrounded by a one bedroom unit. The building is old and the walls are thin. The tenant that used to live in the unit was a quiet man but would frequently sing beautiful opera music. His voice was amazing and I loved it every time I heard him sing!Then one time I saw him in the halls and made the mistake of asking if he was the one who sang these beautiful opera songs. His face turned red but he confirmed that it was him. I told him that I always enjoyed it when I heard him sing and that it would always brighten my day. Never should have said anything because I never heard him sing again.

  6. “He was 30”

    Shared by HungryLikeTheWolf99:

    “William! We do not hit!”His mom was visiting. He was 30.

  7. Cheater

    Written by thedesertnomad:

    Heard the couple next door arguing. The wife was furious because she realized he had been cheating on her after she found out she had chlamydia. He tried to convince her that she must have been the unfaithful one. She still lives there. He doesn’t.

  8. “On the Run”

    greatergood2019 wrote:

    I moved from far away, so I have a different state license plate than everyone else at the apartment complex. A couple of days ago I head my upstairs neighbor drunkenly ranting to his wife about what he thinks I’m up to. He’s convinced that I’m on the run from something. I’m just in grad school lmao.

  9. A Fight

    FultonHomes added:

    an argument about money while I was doing the dishes. It ended with a slammed door and one of them on a piano, hitting the keys like a maniac.

  10. “Put the Knife Down!”

    Written by oldmuttsysadmin:

    “Gina, I love you! Gina no! Gina, dammit put the knife down!!” At this point, both the apartments adjoining to Gina’s called the police. Gina’s husband decided to spend the night elsewhere.

  11. A Heated Argument About Darts

    Aromatic_Bird shared:

    I lived next to a couple some years ago and they came home after a night out and started fighting about who was better at darts. I thought they were joking but it got pretty heated. Doors were slammed.

  12. Divorce Was No Surprise

    Shared by Anorcrakna:

    I heard the couple that used to live next door go through divorce. Their yelling got progressively worse until I realized that their relationship really wasn´t healty. Once she mentioned that they had split up and that she was moving I was like “Yeah I know”

  13. Woke up to the Police

    iMac_Hunt wrote:

    More what my neighbour heard…I’m a deep sleeper and was an even deeper sleeper as a teenager. My phone alarm was going off for 30 minutes and my neighbours could hear it through the walls, assumed it was a burglar alarm and called the police. Waking up to the police banging on my door was confusing.

  14. “Hello”

    kittenkin shared:

    My male neighbor from India belting out hello by Adele at the top of his lungs. It was magical.

  15. “Bless You”

    Written by KiltedLady:

    Someone sneezed.We said bless you. They laughed.