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A real-life nocturnal scare inspired the low-budget haunted-house phenomenon Paranormal Activity, and it's even re-created in the film.
It's just not a scene fans might expect – or hope for.

"Honestly, this is probably the root of the whole movie," says director Oren Peli. "The scariest place for me is just being home when you hear a sound."

MORE: Readers share their scary stories
Though it becomes increasingly clear throughout the movie that a demonic force is terrorizing the young couple, an early scene makes them think it might all be in their imagination – when they hear a low growling and scraping coming from the kitchen and it turns out to be the icemaker.

That really happened to Peli when he was new to his home (the same one used in the film). "My girlfriend grabbed me and was like, 'Someone is in the house!' " he says. "This is when you get into defend-your-life mode. It's not a movie. It's not a spooky place. This is for real. Then we realized it was just the ice maker and we calmed down."

When he talks to people who've seen his movie, they're eager to share their own supernatural experiences. "Everyone tells me their own ghost story, even a lot of people I've known for many years, and never heard that from them before," he says.

Even the stars of the movie, Micah Sloat and Katie Featherston (who use their real names in the movie), have their own favorite stories.

Featherston's took place when she was a teenager, living outside Dallas, when her mother and stepfather were away on a trip. "I was home alone with my dog Belle and slept downstairs in my mom's room because she had a big TV," she says. "I was vegging out, and having fun, but then the night was over, and I turned the TV off and shut the bedroom door to go to sleep. Belle's down on the floor, and I hear a crashing sound, like someone pushed the coffeemaker off the counter or something. Belle went to the door and started sniffing. I was freaking out. I thought, 'Did I lock the door? Is somebody in the house?' So I ran up to the bedroom door and locked it. I pushed my ear up against the door and I swear to you I heard footsteps.

"One part of your brain comes in and says, 'No, you're just being stupid. Don't make a big deal about this and go back to bed.' The other side of your brains says, 'Oh my God, what if there is someone on the other side of this fake wooden door?'

"I went back and got the phone and dragged it into the bathroom to call 911. I was feeling half stupid and half terrified."

The emergency operator sent the police to investigate a possible break-in. "Sure enough, there was no one there. Also, no evidence of what crashed to the ground either. But I swear I heard it," she laughs – now.

Sloat's experience came when he was a recent college graduate. He was backpacking through the English countryside and stayed in a Victorian manor home with relatives of his cousin.

"There were tons of creaky, scary sounds all over the place," he says. "In the middle of the night I get out of bed to go to the bathroom. All of the sudden this old woman walks out of the hall right in front of me. She's got this crazy hair and just stares at me. She's wearing this white gown and had this toothless smile.

"But she's not saying anything. I freaked out and ran back into the room and woke up my cousin, and then we were both freaking out. We woke up the rest of the family. Turned out it was their great-aunt, whom they take care of, and she doesn't sleep a lot and wanders around.