Creepypasta refers to horror stories that are similar to online urban legends—stories that have been read on several websites over time and cannot be attributed to a single creator. Different individuals have taken these tales and added to them over time. Some even make up entirely new stories. Creepypasta is becoming a popular activity for both kids and adults all over the world—it’s essentially horror fan fiction. The stories are often (but not always) accompanied by photos that are very scary, which helps them go viral.
Creepypastas, or horrific stories or images that spread across message boards, creating internet mythology that creeps into both online and offline discussions, have given the old tradition of telling ghost stories around a campfire a digital boost.
People all around the world post their odd and terrible creepypastas in the hopes that they will become classics, referenced or cited by horror aficionados and horrified netizens. Like ghost stories, not all creepypastas are genuinely frightening or entertaining, even if they are widely circulated or popular. Reading a long story with a clever title or picture is no guarantee that the end will be scary, and writers often forget that just having someone die quickly and tragically is not enough to make a story interesting. See The Best Scary Movies Based on a Real Story 2022.
15 Scary Creepypasta For Halloween
When a true gem of a creepypasta is discovered, all the seeking and plundering is worthwhile (at least until it’s time to sleep). So grab a friend, turn out the lights, and get ready to be afraid to continue scrolling—here are 15 of the deadliest creepypastas to make your Halloween spooky. Good luck getting to sleep tonight.
#1. Robert the Doll
Robert the Doll is a real person, and he is not for the faint of heart. His tales vary, especially since he got so prominent on the internet. A servant working at artist Robert Eugene Otto’s family house gave him the doll in the late 1800s or early 1900s. The doll, which he named after himself, subsequently took on its own life and terrorised the family.
Otto is claimed to have maintained his doll into adulthood, and it later drove his late wife insane. When the doll was discovered by another family, the daughter who received it was afraid of it and refused to keep it in her bed.
The doll is presently on display at Key West’s Fort East Martello Museum. Visitors must ask Robert respectfully whether they can photograph him. If people make fun of him or snap his picture without his consent, Robert is believed to curse them.
#2. Anasi’s Goatman Story
This creepypasta, based on a Native American legend, was discovered on 4chan’s paranormal board /x/, where some of the finest creepypastas can be found. The plot revolves around an adolescent who travels to Alabama to visit his extended relatives. While he, his cousins, and their pals are camping in the woods, they notice a weird apparition — the Goatman — following them, jerking and uttering nonsense. They are scared for the rest of the night as the Goatman slowly works his way into the group, scaring the kids into a panic.
This combination of pre-existing mythology and a fresh narrative is not uncommon in creepypastas, but it’s the quality of the writing that makes this story worth sharing. There are different versions of this story, but most of them have the same basic plot: a group of people are being chased by the monster in the title, but the results are different each time.
#3. The Slender Man
Before he had his own movie and video game franchise, this pallid, faceless ghoul plagued online forums with his nicely pressed suit and unusually extended limbs. The story of the Slender Man is a made-up history of this monster’s interactions with people. It is related to several other creepypastas.
The Slender Man typically preys on youngsters and others who get infatuated with his existence, but no one knows what happens to the bodies because no one has ever escaped from an encounter with him. Videos portraying the Slender Man include The Tall Man and the Marble Hornets.
In the real world, this creepypasta character played an important role in an attack and following criminal prosecution involving three 12-year-old girls in 2014. Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser of Wisconsin enticed their friend, Payton Leutner, into the woods during a game of hide-and-seek. In an apparent attempt to please Slender Man, the pair stabbed Leutner 19 times before abandoning her at the site. Leutner was able to pull herself to a nearby road, where she was found by a cyclist. She was taken to the hospital right away, where she got better.
Soon after the incident, Weier and Geyser were arrested and tried for attempted second-degree murder. Weier was sentenced to 25 years in a mental institution in 2017, while her accomplice, Geyser, was sentenced to 40 years in 2018.
#4. Candle Cove
Everyone remembers a favourite television show from their childhood. Some adults, like those who fondly recall the adventures of Dora the Explorer, Mister Rogers, and Sesame Street, found their favourite 1970s show, Candle Cove, on a television forum in this creepypasta. Their recollections of the event gradually darken and become more unpleasant until one of the adult’s questions his mother about the actual nature of the play.
The narrative’s forum structure lends a creepy reality to the story while also making it easy to duplicate and spread on other boards. If you find this story particularly interesting, watch the first season of Channel Zero, a Syfy original series based on this creepypasta.
#5. Jeff the Killer
Consider yourself fortunate if you’ve never seen the notorious photograph of Jeff the Killer. The primary plot revolves around Jeff, a serial killer who hides in the closet and says “go to sleep” to his victims before slaying the entire family. His look is much more unsettling than his M.O.—his face is smooth and stark white, with a big grin and little lid-less eyes. With his unsettling look plastered over forums, he is one of the most instantly recognisable creepypastas.
His genesis story involves a battle that resulted in a chemical burn on his face and a mental breakdown. Soon after, he slaughtered his family and vanished into the night, only to reemerge in your nightmares.
#6. The Russian Sleep Experiment
The title of this story, which is a fixture of top creepypasta lists everywhere, brings a feeling of dread and terror with it. Five political prisoners are exposed to an experiment shortly after World War II in which they must remain awake for 30 days in a tank filled with experimental gas. As with most stories of research gone bad, the test participants begin to lose their wits, among other terrible symptoms. Horror does not cease when the experimenters attempt to save their subjects.
Just be aware that this story may not be suitable for those who are squeamish or despise gore, as the narrative delves into graphic detail regarding the patients’ physical conditions. If there were images, this would be the ultimate nightmare fuel.
#7. Persuaded
Zombies have a place in creepypastas, especially since they have taken over the bulk of pop culture. But to keep readers on their toes, these zombies don’t need to bite each other to multiply, which makes this story scarier than other creepypastas about zombies.
Following a large oil leak, all species exposed to the material begin to brutally attack other creatures, causing widespread terror across the country. The anonymous protagonist is holed up in his flat, waiting for the shouting, violent crowd to burst through the door and rip him limb from limb. If only that had happened instead of the two-day horror that really occurs.
#8. BEN Drowned
Hacked video games are common in creepypastas, but none is more well-known as BEN Drowned, the story of Matt, a college-age kid who buys a hacked cartridge of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask at a yard sale.
As the youngster plays, he catches weird incidents in the game and in real life, culminating in a full haunting. The fates of the narrator and Ben are left to the reader’s imagination, but the story hints that a happy conclusion is unlikely.
This creepypasta is one of the few that incorporates several forms of media into the plot. There’s the story’s text — both a formal post version that ran live on 4Chan’s /x/boards in real-time and a diary included in the final post — and recordings of the horrific gaming on Alex Hall’s YouTube channel (originally Jadusable). The twisted music, horrifying bugs, and a spooky statue that is meant to be Ben following the player around are all shown in the film. While the narrative is obviously fictitious, the degree of attention put into producing this spooky tale makes it worth reading.
#9. Annora Petrova
This story serves as a reminder that, no matter how tempting it may be, it is best not to Google oneself. Annora Petrova was one of America’s most promising figure skaters until she discovered a sentient Wikipedia article about her. Her life spirals out of control in the most unexpected ways after she tries to change her fate selfishly by rewriting the page, until she is a friendless orphan (which isn’t even the worst part).
While the Wikipedia article does not exist, it tells a terrifying story about tampering with the mysterious powers of the internet. If you do decide to read this article, be sure to click on the image at the bottom of the email for an added degree of creepiness.
#10. Smile Dog
Smile Dog is the story on our list that best illustrates the idea “be cautious about what you wish for.” The creepypasta is about a picture named smile.jpg that was submitted on an ancient bulletin board system in 1992. Those who witnessed the vision either vanished or perished, with the exception of Mary E., whom the narrator seeks to interrogate. He soon learns that it’s better to leave some things, even simple drawings, unsolved than to face the awful truth. In case you were wondering, the narrative does include an image, but you might not want to view it after reading the entire thing. However, you may not have a choice in the end.
#11. Psychosis
Can you believe what you see and feel? Is your entire existence a computer simulation? Do we inhabit the Matrix? Are we all simply characters in someone else’s unending dream? Is this real life, or is it a fantasy? Existentialism may not be the scariest of ideas, but psychosis demonstrates that establishing human existence beyond fundamental anxieties and paranoia is a never-ending internal war.
John quickly discovers that he has been cut off from the rest of the world and that his sole means of connecting with others is through technological equipment. He rapidly develops paranoia and believes that everyone around him is lying in order to persuade him to walk outside his door so that an unknown entity may take him. His rationality attempts to contradict his gut instinct, but he succumbs to the conviction that something has gone dreadfully wrong outside, and it’s coming for him next.
#12. NoEnd House
Many classic terrifying stories feature haunted houses, and surviving the night in one wins young people instant respect. Is the possible agony and death, though, worth the adoration of individuals you’ll almost certainly never see again after graduation? This creepypasta responds with a resounding “no.”
NoEnd House offers $500 to anyone who survives a walk through its nine torture rooms, a challenge that our narrator, David, eagerly undertakes. The chambers get progressively scarier and more terrible, testing David’s sanity and compassion. Is it really worth nine rooms for such a modest monetary reward that won’t even cover one therapy session? If you want to add some pictures to this creepypasta story, the Syfy series Channel Zero addresses it in its second season.
#13. Gateway of the Mind
Have you ever imagined what it would be like if you couldn’t see, hear, smell, taste, or touch? This creepypasta is here to put that idea to the test in the most horrifying scientific experiment ever.
The plot revolves around a group of scientists who want to communicate with God and believe that eliminating all five senses from their bodies will allow them to do so. After a complicated operation on a test subject’s senses, the poor person becomes very confused and starts to have hallucinations and “hear” people who have died. What happens at the end is very meta, but the details of the subject’s mental pain are enough to give anyone the creeps.
#14. Doors
This creepypasta is well-known for its Shyamalan-like quality. The story follows a family with a young male narrator who talks about their day-to-day existence. One night, our brave protagonist is accosted by an unknown person who tries to flee the house. Any more exposition of the storyline would destroy the surprise, but this story demonstrates that brevity can be a powerful weapon when utilised to appropriately horrify and astonish.
#15. The Rake
This monster may not be as well-known as his relative, Slender Man, but he is just as terrifying. The Rake is a humanoid monster that is totally pale and hairless, with a voracious appetite for human flesh.
This creature was formed on 4chan’s /b/board when someone started a “build your own monster” topic, according to Know Your Meme. The Rake’s description included “no apparent mouth; pale complexion; six feet tall when upright, but normally crouches and goes on all fours; no nose; no mouth,” among other alarming physical characteristics.
This monster eventually became a prominent character in a number of creepypastas. The majority of these stories revolve mostly around documented experiences with The Rake, and more often than not, the individual dealing with The Rake does not survive.
FAQS
What are creepypastas?
Creepypastas are horror-related folklore or pictures that have spread over the Internet. Most of these Internet articles are short paranormal stories written by users that are meant to shock, scare, or otherwise upset readers.
Why is it called a “creepypasta”?
The name is a combination of the phrases “creepy” and “copypasta.” The name originated about 2007 on the imageboard 4chan. Copypasta refers to viral, copied and pasted material; the word was created about 2006 on 4chan.
Who is the most well-known creepypasta?
The creepypastas with the most total combined shares to the fewest were as follows: The Sleep Experiment in Russia (64,030 total shares) Suicide of Squidward (37.298 total shares) The Rogue (13,223 total shares)