Two women were left fearful for their lives thanks to the “quirks and charms” of their Airbnb.
The pair, named Tierra Burris and Scarlet Wolf, booked a two-week stay at a house in Portland, Oregon, which initially seemed “gorgeous”, with its hardwood floors and airconditioning in every room.
However, they soon noticed that it had some far less desirable features, and some that were downright alarming.
The friends gave TikTok users a whistlestop tour of the unusual old property, explaining that alarm bells first rang when they found a secret key.
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Tierra explained that they’d been told they couldn’t use the front door to access the home and, instead, needed to use a back door that led into a bedroom.
This seemed a little odd but fine to them – until they discovered “a tiny little hole” which contained another key to their door. Who it was for, they didn’t know.
She then told viewers that they’d discovered a number of “strange tunnels [...] and ways through this home,” as well as an apparent “peephole”.
“This one specifically has a big open space large enough for a human,” she explained. “Besides the cabinet that goes into the bedroom, wherein [...] there’s a peephole.”
After noting that several doors upstairs “don’t properly close”, while some of the bedroom doors clearly “used [to have| locks”, but only on the outside, she showed that there were numerous other “warm dark holes that lead to other rooms”.
They then went down to the basement which, strangely, only had two working lights.
“This door leads to God knows where,” Tierra said before pointing out a “man-sized tunnel.”
“Mind you, we are in Portland, Oregon right now where there's an active serial killer on the loose,” she then laughed. "Wow, isn't that crazy?”
The TikToker then explained that she and Scarlet had confronted the landlady about the “sus” features, and she had told them: “It’s a recently renovated old Portland home – we wanted to keep its charm and quirks.”
Tierra ended the video by stressing that they had paid $3,500 (around £2,750) for their stay. Addressing Airbnb she pleaded: “Give us our money back please.”
@tierrasaurusrexQuirks and Charm @C @airbnb #scaryairbnb
The video racked up more than 4.8 million views and 700,000 likes in just over a month, as viewers shared their horror at the situation and requested updates.
Tierra duly obliged, and in the first follow-up she confirmed that they were still in the property but were now armed with knives as a “safety measure”.
She then confirmed that she’d been “talking with Airbnb” who had “asked for evidence of everything”.
Tierra said she’d told a rep for the homestay company “in the nicest way possible” that she wanted to leave and wanted a refund.
“We feel very unsafe, especially with the key,” she explained. “We don't know who has access to this house, and we don't know anything about the rooms that we're not going to go into for our safety.
“We're simply just two women travelling alone and we want to feel safe.”
@tierrasaurusrexReplying to @Scarlet Wolf #greenscreen
In a second follow-up, she addressed users’ suggestions that the “crawl spaces in the walls” of the house were a normal feature of old homes.
“I've gotten a lot of comments[...] about storage spaces and old homes, and I really appreciate it. Honestly, that's really reassuring to hear,” she said.
However, she added: “I just personally would feel a little more comfortable in a home without little tunnels and spaces that led everywhere in a home that I don't own or know about.”
She continued: “On top of that, there's just a few too many things that seem a little off. And I guess you could try to explain all of them away in one way or another, but there are quite a few things that are wrong.
“At the same time, I'm getting a little red flag in my head that might be called anxiety, maybe, but at the same time, I don't own this home, I don't know this home, I don't know the people who own this home, I don't know who could have had access to that key.
“I'm not going to check what's in those little tunnels and I'd rather not know, and honestly, we're not going to be staying here another night.”
@tierrasaurusrexReplying to @Erin? we slept with knives
Fellow TikTokers were quick to defend Tierra over her response, with one writing: “Validate women when we say we are uncomfortable!”
Fortunately, the story doesn’t have a horror movie ending.
Instead, Tierra and Scarlet made it out of the house alive and with a full refund.
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