List of Creepypastas
en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org
Bethesda Softworks is most famous for video games like Skyrim and Fallout 4, which are known for their vibrant modding communities. But the idea of shipping a level editor alongside an open-world game started with Skyrim's prequel's prequel: Morrowind.
Things were a bit rough around the edges back then, and strange things happened:
http://inuscreepystuff.blogspot.com/2010/09/jvk1166zesp.html...
Both "prequel of A" and "sequel of A" imply "published later than A but set in the same universe", with "pre" and "se(q)" referring to the timelines, we can factor out "quel" to mean just that. I guess "Back to the future III" would be neither a sequel not a prequel, but definitely a quel.
Here's my favorite video game related creepypasta, also about a mod: https://creepypasta.fandom.com/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Black
TBF the game engine was pretty rough (as most Bethesda games are), it has a pretty creepy vibe in the first place (dwemer spider bots <3) and some banger bugs e.g. sometimes you’d hit a house entrance just the wrong way and fall under the world.
It's a web comic. I don't think I can say anything more but those that know already know. It's a pretty long comic but man does it move quickly.
EDIT: I found it. Click and read at your own risk: https://www.webtoons.com/en/thriller/chiller/bongcheon-dong-...
Just changed that link too. This one works and it's just perfectly scary.
> Following an earthquake in an unnamed prefecture of Japan, a fault is discovered on Amigara Mountain, very close to the epicenter of the quake. On the slopes of the mountain, two hikers meet; a man named Owaki and a woman named Yoshida. The former assumes that they are both here to see the fault, which has captured the attention of the global press. Following the sound of voices to the fault, the two of them marvel at the strange sight before them: countless human-shaped holes in a rock face exposed by the earthquake.
I'm not sure why I'm so fascinated and horrified by that comic, but it really seems to pull some strings in my brain.
I love "Junji Ito's Cat Diary". It is a collection of slice-of-life stories about his cat, but drawn in his usual style. The cutest things, told in the most horrifying way.
Junji Ito reviewing some Internet popular horror: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNXitORBeB0
I have all of his works, but somehow I forgot about Cat Diary. Here we go spending more money...
curl <pasta url> | html2text | less
Just to be sure ;)
EDIT: I updated the link to one that I found that works. I love and hate that comic.
Be warned it's NSFL.
For further reading - this site has been up for over a decade and is fairly comprehensive: https://creepypasta.fandom.com/wiki/Creepypasta_Wiki
A personal favorite: https://creepypasta.fandom.com/wiki/The_Memetic_Symbol
You've clicked this link a thousand times, yet you'd swear you've never heard of it.
Ghosts don’t scare me, people do.
Does not mean there cannot be a good story involving supernatural things (far from it, magic can be fantastic--pun not intended--in stories), just that any semblance of "this could happen to me" or "this could be a real story" is gone.
> since it can't happen anyway
Yes but that's the point. Imagine experiencing something that you know isn't possible. And the more solid your grip on rationality, the harder it would hit you. The harder it would be to accept what your senses were telling you.
... or everything you thought about the world is wrong, including physics. Sure, that would make for a good story, and there are stories like that, but that's not what supernatural stories are usually about. The protagonists in those don't usually break down in an existential crisis consuming the rest of the narrative, they accept the supernatural and "deal with the problem at hand". The story is still about the ghost.
The descriptions of how to most effectively lie to the image in order to make it more cooperative is truly chilling.
I believe it all depends on whether one was raised with religion.
The original creeypasta is, of course, the New Testament (and I suppose we can be more specific: Mark 16, as the very original). There is nothing creepier than the Resurrection, thus the need for the internal instruction, "do not be alarmed." Any decent production of Godspell or Jesus Christ Superstar will exploit this creepiness in their respective Resurrection scenes.
Go on, tell me you would not totally freak out if you saw a dead body come back to life.
The real and first mass terror story is The Great Flood.
Sure, if I actually saw it. But I don’t think that I ever will, nor is there any evidence anyone else ever has. So not really something I’m scared about.
Not counting all those that were not entirely dead, just in some kind of state with reduced breathing and lowered heart rate, where others thought they were dead, but they ultimately revived... testimony, in fact, is a kind of evidence, and very often in a legal court and elsewhere, it is the only kind of evidence that is considered. Indeed, "gospel" itself derives from an Angelo-Saxon word meaning "good telling" or good testimony. Further, testimony is essential in science and cannot be reduced to other sources of justification. Testimony is a essential element of the scientific method, though we usually call it observation.
But I think we must count those that were in fact medically and clinically dead (not breathing with no heartbeat, no life signs), yet were subsequently revived by warming, CPR, defibrillator[1], or through the spontaneous return of normal cardiac rhythm[2], as truly having died and been brought back to life, because, indeed, that is what has occurred countless times.
Your assertion that there is not any evidence of reincarnation is not only unsupportable, it is clearly false on its face, regardless of whether anyone has ever been reincarnated or not. If it is one's belief that it is the case no one has ever been brought back from the dead, one must ignore a mountain of witness testimony and scientific evidence to the contrary.
The very fact that life itself exists in any form is undeniable evidence that, at least once, life was induced from lifelessness, but I suppose that could not be reincarnation, but instead, incarnation (from the Latin incarnare: to make flesh).
Well I guess this is a case of imprecise language. When you wrote “dead body” I was not imagining someone was believed to only have just died and being actively treated or resuscitated through modern medical treatments.
And of course, there is still debate in the medical world regarding what death actually is and when someone has “died” for the very reasons you stated.
So when I read “dead body” I’m picturing someone who’s beyond the realm of possible resuscitation. Of course, what’s that means exactly has changed as medical techniques advance, and our understanding of what death is will change with it. And I’m sure it will continue to change. It also poses the interesting question of what exactly would a useful definition of “death” be?
That said, I’m sure that window was much smaller 2,000 years ago when death was much more easily defined.
I think you are possibly attributing a much stronger definition to "dead," that is incorrect. Dead merely means lifeless, no longer alive, or deceased. It does not mean, "beyond the possibility of resuscitation," at least not in any definition I have seen. Many have in fact died and been resuscitated. Whether this is legitimately resurrection, being raised from the dead, is where I have probably been playing fast and loose, because I don't believe a body is required for resurrection, but a body is always required for resuscitation.
Not at all, in my experience.
He has a short story about a kid's first day at college, he goes up to his room with a sniper rifle and starts shooting people.
None of his works have been considered for anything like a Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, Man Booker Prize, PEN award or Nobel Prize for Literature. He has gotten some "lifetime achievement" recognitions, but that's more to use his celebrity to get attention for the organizations that gave them than vice versa.
the late Harold Bloom (died recently) is a notable literary scholar, here's what he had to say https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEPDLFSUPe0
(listening to Harold Bloom on many other serious topics is quite a treat, this for example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2HpDhTIIxs )
> Let me assure you that King's work most definitely is literature, because it was written to be published and is read with admiration. What Snyder really means is that it is not the literature preferred by the academic-literary elite.
Your post drips of some odd dislike for Stephen King. I can't speak to that, but just like many of us don't understand paying millions for a white canvas with 3 lines on it, we also don't understand calling someone who is as obviously talented as Stephen King a hack, or spending the time trying to denigrate him (his awards are purely political, but the awards he hasn't gotten somehow aren't?).
Either way I'm out. I think I'll go read The Long Walk again.
Anti-intellectualism makes some people miss out on what makes literature so compelling, and elitism prevents others from seeing the ideas about life that genre fiction can impart.
That's why I love authors who attempt to blend both, such as Kim Stanley Robinson or Ursula K. Le Guin.
There's just a lot they're missing out on.
On the other hand, if someone is actively trying to harm my friends and family, I’m sure as hell not going to support them by giving them money.
yes, just like the academic elite in computer science don't have high regard for BASIC or FORTRAN IV and many here don't have high regard for C. We shouldn't listen to them? We should cling to our FORTRAN pride and seethe with resentment at those who know more than we do?
there is substance at the foundation of elitism
Stephen King's writing is extremely popular, but definitely not "highly regarded." His novels are widely considered to be low quality pop fiction by literary critics.
This isn't meant dis, selling massive amounts of books makes more money then pleasing literary critics.
If creepypastas were “invented” today, would they have made as big of a cultural splash? Or would they get lost in a sea of other content, or be debunked and discarded too quickly?
Edit: I re-read the list and noticed some more recent creations on there, like The Backrooms. Maybe it’s less about believability and more about being a good story, which the Internet is still great at facilitating. So I guess my question is, did anyone else believe some of the earlier creepypastas, and was believability important to the popularity back then?
Because as someone that has first seen it just a couple years ago, it's my #1 favourite horror movie bar none. A true masterpiece of the underrated found footage genre.
Few horror movies can truly get under your skin you without ever showing the "monster", so they rely on cheap jumpscares and CGI.
If you've never seen it and want to be unnerved from start to finish, go watch it.
But it was still pretty creepy shutting down for the night after it played.
I was always skeptical (aka treated it as fantasy) of supernatural things these stories are about, but I think the mere fact of getting engaged into reading them and using your imagination (suspending the disbelief) was enough.
Be advised that the thumbnail of the video is creepy though.
I JUST saw The Backrooms (the one where she puts the tape measure down the portal) and... holy shit. This is the same level of odd feeling. I can only imagine what sort of VR stuff is out there... That Black Mirror episode has me wondering if I'll actually do something like that.
I think it's also the same sort of thing as the innocuous conspiracy theories I've seen like "Did you know that Spongebob characters are based on the seven deadly sins?" Could be true, you'll never be able to fully verify it unless you know the person who made the content, and ... sounds good and seems to hold up. Why would you want to dispel the theory even if it is untrue? It's kinda fun.
Reminded me of a micro meme towards the end of the previous previous decade: The Mandrill Maze. It surfaced during an inbetween stage in my life and was an unpleasant obsession for a while. Featured in many dreams.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=sMc4Lcxmmso
The footage itself is older still.
I don't think any inhabitants are necessary for settings like this.
An example: In the late 90s, back in the days of pervasive browser pop-ups, there was a Japanese creepypasta-equivalent called "The Red Room", about a browser pop-up that read "Do you like the red room?" Ignoring or closing the pop-up was said to seal your doom. The most popular form of this story took the form of a Flash animation which depicted a boy who saw the popup appear on his computer.
As a finale, after showing the boy meeting his grisly fate, the Flash site caused the popup to appear on your computer.
Not really believable when you think about it. But scary, because it gets you into a headspace of the fictional universe and then breaks the fourth wall, giving you a fleeting feeling that the Red Room curse is real.
I think if creepypasta didn't exist we would have to invent it. It's part of a horror tradition that encompasses Poe and Lovecraft, and even before. Creepypasta comes from the same place as primordial ghost stories told around a campfire, just with updated media and sensibilities.
http://www.sjgames.com/transhuman/toxicmemes/
~~~
An example:
Patterns in the Static
Have fun. ;-) – The only explanation added to the Patterns document
At precisely 01:18:00 hours on November 23rd, 2093, an anonymous poster to the CyberMysticism memenet uploaded a file with a size of 2,800,051,338 bytes titled “Patterns in the Static.”The file was heavily encrypted, and as none of the memenet regulars had a quantum computer with which it could be decoded, few paid this file any attention . . . at first. After some time, however, rumors began to spread about people who managed to decrypt it, and what they found. No member admitted to having read the unencrypted file himself, but there were numerous reports from a “friend of a friend” who gained the key from a “mysterious source” and was able to read it. Accounts varied wildly about its contents – top-secret CIA files, designs for a machine to extract energy from the vacuum, communications with aliens, or magic spells that bind and command infomorphs as the shamans of the past were said to command spirits. Soon, variants of the file started to turn up,both encrypted and unencrypted. Most of these were rap-idly identified as forgeries.
The general public became aware of the “Patterns in the Static” file in 2099, when Peter Budenhaus’ critically acclaimed slinky of the same name was released. Since then, several wealthy individuals have announced plans to buy time on a quantum computer to decrypt the file, and they hope to announce the results soon.
[... the rest of the urban legend, where Budenhaus reveals that he had created the hoax, and then someone else in the network accuses that claim of being a hoax]
~~~
Okay, perhaps that's less of a creepypasta than a prediction of Qanon and similar internet conspiracy subcultures. (The entry after "Patterns in the Static" is "Rigged Elections.") But they're all forms of modern occultism, after all.
What pisses me off, is someone else tried to write a "sequel" to where Mr. Bear actually carries out the kidnapping of Michael, or a similar real world case. Exploiting a real kidnapping to try to create an ARG out of a real disappearance is sick. Some people complained about the RPG Y2K's plot recreating the case of Elisa Lam shot for shot, but going all "this actually happened ooOOoo my spooky story could be reeeeeeal" is another order of magnitude. At best it'll gum up real tip lines and private investigations with posts by LARPers and kids.
The name reminds me of my 1st grade teacher, saying the year name emphatically every day, "Nineteen Ninety Nine" as she'd write it on the white board. And now here we are, "Twenty Twenty Two!"... I think it will be 1013 years before the year name is that fun to say again.
In nearby Esquimalt I used to hear kids say 'FIRST YOU GONNA GET VIRKED... THEN YOU GONNA GET DUNAHEED'
https://creepypasta.fandom.com/wiki/Anansi%27s_Goatman_Story
For example, a recent one that I've been watching videos about is called 10 Tapes.
It follows the story of a young guy who moves into a new apartment and begins to discover odd notes and messages around that seem tailor-made for him. What makes it so compelling though is the format. It all takes place on Tiktok, and the notes and tapes that he finds all have puzzles for him to solve. Because of the interactive nature of the medium, he crowdsources solutions for the puzzles which lead him down a rabbit hole of more tapes and puzzles to solve.
It's very reminiscent of a creepypasta, but the interactions with the audience make it more intimate and really draws you into the narrative. Whole communities popped up trying to find any tidbits of info in the videos he would post. There are other examples of ARG's that remind me of creepypastas, but I'd highly recommend checking out this [0] overview that discusses and analyses 10 Tapes if only to appreciate the level of effort that people are putting into art like this.
This was in Z80 assembly and based off of the (very awesome) pokered project.
https://github.com/pret/pokered
I also went as far as making a cart. I lifted black cases from black carts and used both a flashcart from tindie and a donor cart with an EEPROM mod (for the more authentic feel). I found someone online who made nice looking pokemon black stickers and they sent me some. The idea was to make these weird items and drop them in the world. Alas, I'm not the hacker I aspire to be. Much like the inspiring work: it's just a good story.
Anyone interested in Creepypastas might also enjoy SCP (no, not "secure copy", bu "Secure. Contain. Protect). They write up fictional anomolies. Two favourites of mine: a creature that will break your neck if you close your eyes in his presence, and a train system with rather peculiar properties. https://the-scp.foundation/
There was also another set of stories, something like "Keepers of Objects". I can't find any link, though, so I've forgotten what its proper name is.
The official site seems to be: https://the-scp.foundation/object/scp-173
It's very short though. I read a much longer version where they gave the inner monologue of the creature. I can't find it, though. I'm not sure what the deal is.
SCP-052 Time-Travelling Train https://the-scp.foundation/object/scp-052 seems more complete.
My favorite from the short series is "CONTINGENCY" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c66w6fVqOI
My house walk-through: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWXnt2Z2D1E
(Sorry, I just realised this is not creepypasta. I'll leave it up because it's still pretty good.)
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