A Facebook page dedicated to strange true stories is growing fast, and its creator says the appeal is simple: people love the weird, the bizarre, and the things they have never heard before. “The Odd, Mysterious & Fascinating” page has gained tens of thousands of followers in under a month, sharing everything from animal rescue stories to tragic celebrity histories. Ryan, the page’s creator, spoke about its rapid rise, his approach to content, and the difficult road he traveled to rebuild his following after a major setback.
Ryan’s Page and Its Rapid Growth
Ryan says the page was born out of a simple interest in internet oddities. “I created this particular page to share some of the odd and strange things you see circulating around the internet,” Ryan told us. The growth has been explosive. “This page has grown to 35k likes/75k follows in just under a month,” Ryan said. “It is extremely exciting watching something grow so fast. This was also done organically and without ads.”
When asked how he picks what to post, Ryan said he focuses on what will draw people in. “I share things that I believe others want to see and that will bring new followers to my page,” he says. “The odd, bizarre and strange things are what I’m usually drawn to.” He also believes this content fills a specific gap. “I believe sharing these interesting stories keeps social media fresh and engaging,” Ryan said. “It also helps the younger audience engage as we do not post monotonous political posts or paid ads.”
Keanu Reeves and a Life of Loss
One of the most shared posts details the difficult life of actor Keanu Reeves. According to the post, Reeves was abandoned by his father at age three and grew up with three different stepfathers. His dream of becoming a hockey player ended after a serious accident. He has faced profound personal tragedies, including the death of his daughter at birth, his wife in a car accident, and his best friend, River Phoenix, from an overdose.
Despite his fame, the post paints a picture of a man who lives modestly. Reeves reportedly lives in an ordinary apartment, rides the subway in NYC, and does not employ bodyguards. The post also claims that during the filming of “The Lake House,” he overheard two costume assistants discussing a financial crisis, one of whom was crying about losing his house over a $20,000 debt. On the same day, Reeves supposedly deposited the needed amount into the man’s account.
The post also claims Reeves donated a substantial portion of his earnings from “The Matrix” to charity. In 2010, on his birthday, he reportedly bought a single brioche with a candle, ate it outside a bakery, and offered coffee to strangers who stopped to talk. The post concludes: “In life, sometimes the ones most broken from inside are the ones most willing to help others. This man could buy everything, but instead he wakes up and chooses one thing that cannot be bought, to be a caring person.”
Greece’s New Law on Donkey Rides
The page also shares news stories, including a recent legal change in Greece. The Greek government has decided to legally ban overweight tourists from riding donkeys. The ruling came after animal rights groups raised concerns about the treatment of the animals, highlighting spinal injuries and open wounds suffered by the donkeys from carrying heavier tourists.
A separate post features a giant wolf-dog that was surrendered to a shelter after growing too large for its owner. A sanctuary stepped in to save the animal’s life. According to the post, DNA testing revealed the dog’s unique mix:
- 87.5% Gray Wolf
- 8.6% Siberian Husky
- 3.9% German Shepherd
Survival Stories From the Page
The page also features harrowing tales of survival. One post tells the story of Juliane Koepcke, who at age 17 was sucked out of an airplane after it was struck by lightning. She fell over two miles to the ground while still strapped to her plane seat and survived. She then endured a nine-day walk through the Amazon jungle before being rescued by loggers. She was the sole survivor of LANSA Flight 508, a crash that killed 93 people in December 1971.
Another post recounts the final moments of Todd Beamer, a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93 on 9/11. Beamer, who was 32 years old, tried to call AT&T but his calls were terminated. He then attempted to reach his wife, but that call also failed. He finally connected with an Airfone supervisor named Lisa Jefferson. During that call, he asked her to tell his pregnant wife and two sons that he loved them, and he outlined a plan to fight back against the hijackers.
Rebuilding After a Major Setback
While the current page is thriving, Ryan’s journey has not been without challenges. He told us his total audience currently stands at “3 million followers spread out across several pages,” but that number was once much higher. “In 2019, I had a singular page with approximately 6.5 million followers that was disabled due to wrongly assigned community standards violations,” Ryan explained. “It has been an extremely difficult battle rebuilding my audience after that happened.”
The loss of that page forced Ryan to start over from scratch.
Despite the setback, his new page is already gaining significant traction, proving that his knack for finding engaging content remains intact. For those interested in the strange and unusual, the page offers a steady stream of stories that are hard to look away from.
Source: boredpanda.com
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