This is not the stuff you see in horror movies, this is the stuff horror movies are based off of. And the real thing is so, so much worse. In reference to an article published by Metro UK,  we've complied a list of real-life cannibalism stories.

Warning: These stories are true, gruesome, and may* make you want to give up meat.  MAY*

1. The man who should've stuck to online dating

According to Metro UK, In 2001, Armin Meiwes put out an online advertisement looking for a 'well-built 18- to 30-year-old to be slaughtered and then consumed'. As far-fetched as the ad was, Bernd Jürgen Arnando Brande actually responded. 

Meiwes cut off Brande's... male parts... which he full on seasoned, cooked and ate. But Meiwes didn't forget about his dinner guest. He actually attempted to share Brande's own cooked body part with Brande before fully killing him and butchering up the rest of his body. As if just hearing this event doesn't make your stomach turn, Meiwes actually filmed the whole thing and continued to eat Brande's body for the next 10 months.

The reason you can sleep tonight: Meiwes is currently serving life in prison in Germany.

2. The people who had quite a ball at a dinner party

Literally, though. In 2012, a Japanese chef named Mao Sugiyama had surgery to get his dangly duo removed, took them home, got on Twitter, and offered to cook and serve them up for a price. We can't decide which part of that sentence is the worst. That he had his manly bits removed, that he took them home to cook them, or that people were actually going to pay to eat them.  

70 guests attended the dinner party in which his goods were cooked and served. However, most of the guests were actually served crocodile or beef. Only a handful of lucky ones were able to taste his great balls of fire.

The reason you can sleep tonight: This was all completely voluntary. You don't have to eat humans if you don't want to. 

3. The brothers who liked to keep it in the family

freezer

pumpkinmook on Flickr

These two Russian brothers probably misunderstood their mom when she said, "include your brother". In 2009, brothers Timur and Marat murdered and ate their oldest brother, Rafis. After becoming suspicious of the brothers, police eventually discovered Rafis' remains in one of Timur and Marat's gardens.

How did police determine the brothers had eating their oldest bro? Rafis' remains were completely stripped of meat. Not to mention the two admitted to cutting up the body, freezing it, and eating it for about half a year after. In their defense, they claimed they were only trying to hide the evidence of the murder. Probs other hiding spots they could've explored other than their stomachs (not that we condone any of this).

The reason you can sleep tonight: These are not your brothers.

4. The restaurant who decided to get ahead of their competition

Head d'oeuvre !

CJS*64 "Man with a camera" on Flickr

Talk about offering a "new dining experience". In 2014 it was discovered that a restaurant in Nigeria was serving up some unusual dishes: Human heads. Sorry, did we say unusual? We meant to say 'luxury' considering the price this place was charging for it. Apparently human flesh is a rare ingredient. Probably because it should NEVER be an ingredient. 

The reason you can sleep tonight: They are no longer taking reservations.

5. The guy who lived to tell the tale.

Busy deserted street

Stephen Jefferson on Flickr

If you regularly keep up with cannibal news stories, then this last story is probably one you’ve heard before. In 2012, a 65-year-old homeless man was attacked on the street by former high school football player, Rudy Eugene. And when we say, “attacked”, we mean Rudy stripped naked, assaulted the homeless man and literally ate off most of his face.

Rudy only stopped his 18 minute attack, which was all caught on film, when police fatally shot him to save the homeless man's life. The man lost an eye, his nose, and had to go through a series of reconstruction surgeries. What caused Rudy to go on this rampage is still unknown.

The reason you can sleep tonight: Honestly, not sure. But you probably weren't going to sleep after reading this article anyways.

The last bit of advice we can give you after reading all of this is that the next time someone says, "I could just eat you right up!". RUN.