Thanksgiving is a time to gather with loved ones, share a meal, and appreciate the good things in life. Yet, let’s be honest—family holidays often come with their share of surprises. From weird surprises to chaotic mishaps, these true stories capture the unpredictable side of Thanksgiving that turns a simple dinner into a memorable yet disastrous spectacle.
#1. My grandparents got a new oven, and my grandmother had never cooked a turkey in it before. The turkey drippings somehow caught fire, and the kitchen filled with smoke. We called 911, but by the time the fire department arrived, my dad and grandfather had already put out the fire.
When the firemen arrived, there was no fire left. They were nice and understanding. My grandmother was mortified. My aunt tried hitting on all the firemen, even though she was a good 25–30 years older than them. My cousin and I just stood in the front yard in silence, watching it all unfold.
Fortunately, the turkey was fine, and dinner proceeded normally once everything settled down.
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#2. My dad had an allergic reaction to a shrimp cocktail before dinner, and his face swelled up. He refused to come out of the kitchen or sit at the table with us. He was just eating his food in the kitchen and trying to act like everything was normal, yelling out things like, “Hey, good mashed potatoes this year, huh?”
Meanwhile, my mom was anger-crying at the table, telling us to just eat the food she worked on all day. All of us kids were very scared and confused. My sister started crying because everything was so weird, and no one wanted to eat because of the tension. Eventually, my mom convinced my dad that she needed to take him to the ER. © Skr000 / Reddit
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#3. Our old oven somehow went into self-cleaning mode and locked itself while my mother’s turkey, which she had worked so hard on, was inside. The oven then turned itself up to about 500 degrees to begin the cleaning process and nearly burned the turkey to a crisp. After realizing what was happening, my mother began pounding on the glass and yelling. Fortunately, my father was able to jimmy the lock open with a screwdriver. The oven wouldn’t turn off, so we just left the door half open and let it finish cooking.
The turkey had a nice crunch on the outside that year, and needless to say, my mom was able to convince my dad to get her all new appliances for the following Christmas.
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#4. I was probably six or seven at the time. My mom’s candles set the kitchen curtains and some decorative greenery on fire. My sister, my cousins, and I were at the “kids’ table” in the kitchen while the adults were in the dining room, so no one significant noticed anything except me. My mom had warned us not to disturb the adults during dinner, so I quietly walked to the dining room and stood silently for a minute or two until someone noticed me. Only then did I politely say, “Sorry, but the kitchen’s on fire.” My mom still gives me grief about prioritizing politeness over common sense. © LOTR4eva1 / Reddit
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#5. Once, one of my aunts was supposed to bring some type of seafood (I’m pretty sure it was crab) but didn’t, claiming she couldn’t afford it. This upset my other aunties, especially when she started bragging later in the evening about her planned vacations and expensive trips, but they didn’t say anything at first. Things boiled over when they caught her trying to take all of the leftover seafood dishes, and it ended with her and my mom nearly fighting on the front lawn.
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#6. My uncle was dating this lady who was super fake and acted like she was family from the beginning. She kept asking to host a holiday, and my mom, wanting to be nice, said she could have Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was my mom’s holiday to host, but she wanted the girlfriend to feel included.
We all went to her house, and it was filthy. I’m talking big clumps of old dust bunnies right out in the open—all over the living room, kitchen, hallways, just everywhere. It smelled like a garbage can. I had to use the toilet, so I went upstairs where she said it was. There was laundry everywhere. When I got to the bathroom, it was caked with mold and had a mountain of garbage, makeup supplies, and random things piled on one of the two sinks.
She also ordered food and served it to us on Styrofoam plates. Not that I need fine porcelain, but come on, lady—you begged for a holiday and then didn’t do any hosting at all.
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#7. My family hosted an exchange student during Thanksgiving one year. Thanksgiving is a big deal in our family—35+ people at dinner, tons of food, appetizers galore, etc.—and this was going to be her first and only Thanksgiving, so we played up how exciting it was. We told her there would be a ton of food and said, “Don’t eat a big breakfast! Save room for the amazing Thanksgiving food!”
She ended up not eating anything at all on Wednesday or Thursday morning and fainted in my uncle’s living room on Thanksgiving Day. She hadn’t even eaten any appetizers—turned out she didn’t know what that word meant and didn’t realize she was allowed to eat the food spread out all over the coffee table and bar.
We almost had to take her to the emergency room because her English wasn’t quite good enough to explain why she fainted, and we thought something was seriously wrong. After all that, she ended up not even liking the food. © ostentia / Reddit
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#8. My mother decided she didn’t want a traditional Thanksgiving, so she made us what we each wanted: pizza, enchiladas, and buffalo wings. However, my father didn’t appreciate it. When he saw the other foods displayed on the table, he started shouting that it’s against the law not to eat turkey. © Unknown author / Reddit
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#9. It was after dinner, and everyone was taking a pre-dessert break to clean up and get ready (dessert is serious). My father was sitting at the head of the table, watching the game on TV at the far end, while I was dozing on the couch. My mother walked in from the kitchen, paused, and blankly said, “The table is on fire.”
I perked up, and sure enough, someone had knocked a candle over, and the tablecloth was on fire. My father, still watching the game through the flames, hadn’t even noticed. Thankfully, we put it out quickly, but we still tease him about his obliviousness. © antisocialpsych / Reddit
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#10. It was my 1st Thanksgiving with my ex-fiancée’s family. Everyone seemed obsessed with her mom’s “famous” pie. I took a bite, and it was amazing—almost too perfect.
Later that night, something shiny caught my eye in the trash. Curious, I picked it up, and my skin crawled. It was a packet of food labeled “Meat Flavor Concentrate—Grade D (For Animal Feed).” They didn’t have any pets.
My ex-fiancée saw me and her face turned pale. It turned out she knew her mom used this disgusting, questionable ingredient—and she loved eating it anyway.
The next morning, I brought up the pie with her mom and asked why it tasted so unusual. She just smiled and said, “Some family recipes are best kept secret.”
I didn’t finish breakfast, and I broke up with my fiancée a month later.
