If you are unfamiliar with the term Creepypasta, don’t be alarmed. It’s much like an urban legend, except these stories are born on the internet, unimaginable tales of creatures birthed by other horror-enthused lovers. However, some of these Creepypastas claim to be true stories. It’s up to you if you believe these tellings. Let’s start with…
1. The Skin Walker/ The Rake
Skinwalkers have been legends for centuries, primarily stemming from Native American culture. A skinwalker is a dangerous witch who can disguise themselves into different animals. The Rake stands out from the rest because of the numerous sightings of this creature.
The Rake is a humanoid monster that walks like an ape. You could find him in the woods, tearing at animals for sport late at night. Its purpose of existence is unclear, but in The Skinwalker story, we get a taste of what it’s like to come face to face with the Rake.
A son and his father decide to go hunting. While finishing their activities, they came across an utterly massacred deer. But the way killed didn’t look like any ordinary animal would do such an act. They followed the tracks from the dear and saw many foxes, wolves, and other animals. Presumably, they should be trying to kill each other or the father and son. Instead, they ran away.
The two were puzzled by the animals’ strange behavior but decided to venture further into the wilderness, following one set of imprints. It wasn’t until they came face to face with a humanoid monster eating and ripping apart what they assumed was another deer. It was, in fact, the Rake.
After a moment of silence, the beast attacked the father and tore him apart, ripping his nose, hands, scalp, and anything the Rake could get its claws on. The most startling part was when the son ran off to get help; the police appeared to be trying to cover the incident, even when there was clear evidence involving the Rake. Judge for yourself here if you believe a Skinwalker could be among us.
Check out the story here or watch the adapted film entitled The Rake.
2. Ted, the Caver
In 2001, Ted the Caver was the first unintentional Creepypasta. The story surfaced on a self-made website by Ted. Out of all that is listed, this one feels the most real. Now is this a true story? Many sources say differently, but one thing is for sure, this story is absolutely horrifying. We meet Ted and his friend, B. They are active cave explorers, so when the two stumble upon ‘Mystery Cave,’ they decide to take a peek inside.
Ted and B discover a three-inch hole in which they believe no person has fully explored the cave. The two men were curious about what was on the other side, so they began to hack away at the hole to see what could be there. Perhaps there could be gold or simply obtaining bragging rights because they would be the first to explore the cave fully.
This is where things take a turn. Strange things begin to happen as they work. At first, it’s just little noises here and there, but eventually, they hear a scream coming from the hole. They ignore all the red flags, and Ted ultimately crawls inside the hole and sees there’s more to explore.
However, this only increases the danger meter. The few times Ted goes into that hole, he hears little rocks moving as if someone is walking, but the terrifying part is the drawings he saw on the wall. It was a strange symbol, and it appeared to him that people were standing around as if partaking in a ritual. Do you want to know what happens next? I highly suggest checking out this video to take in this horrifying tale, and you can decide if you believe Ted, the Caver.
3. Have you seen this man?
No, seriously, have you? Supposedly this man appears in your dreams. The first account came from a psychiatrist’s encounter with their patients. The first patient claimed he would appear in her dreams and provide advice to her personal life. A picture was drawn of his face. The next day, the same psychiatrist had a different patient, and this patient also recognized the picture as a man in his dreams. Neither of the two subjects has ever seen this person in real life. This made the psychiatrist curious, so he shared the picture with his colleagues. Come to find out, many people have spotted this figure lurking in their dreams. He’s spotted all over the world!
It’s less a creepypasta and more of a creepy coincidence. There are numerous theories– some say he is the image of God. Others believe there is a man who has psychic abilities and purposely enters people’s unconscious. Those two are a little far-fetched. More practical ideas include when the face is exposed to you, your mind adopts this face, and if you’re thinking about him, he is more likely to appear in your dreams. Read more about this man here!
4. The Russian Sleep Experiment
What happens when one does not get sleep for a certain amount of hours? How about days, weeks even? Absolute chaos will ensue. In 1947, Russian researchers tested five prison subjects to see how the body reacts when it does not get enough sleep. To prepare for this articulated experiment, they had the test subjects in a chamber with an experimental gas that did not allow them to sleep for 30 consecutive days.
It started out just fine, but the subjects began to act strange as the days grew. One man began to scream uncontrollably for hours, and after he was done, he could no longer speak. When another man began to bellow his lungs, the rest of the test subjects inside the experiment started to cover the mirrors with book pages and fecal matter to conceal them from the scientists. It wasn’t until the fifteenth day that the researchers decided to pull the plug on the study and decided to open the chamber.
What they saw was a nightmare. Shall I tell you what was inside this grotesque room? Only four had survived the experiment, but they had self-mutilated themselves– which included tearing off sections of skin, muscles and removing internal organs. This is some heavy stuff, so if you want to read the whole story, here you go! This story will make you want to puke and cry at the same time. That’s a fact.
5. Jeff the Killer
I think anyone with the internet has come across Jeff’s picture. His story can differ depending on where you get it from, but it ends with one conclusion– a sickened teenager out of his mind. Now his story may not be that well written… but it was technically the first Creepypasta to go viral. His killer origin story is something that teenage readers would resonate with.
Jeff was a victim of bullying after he and his family moved to a new town. What he endured is nothing for the faint of heart. Jeff was set on fire while being doused with bleach and vodka by the neighborhood bullies. When he saw his face in the mirror, his face was so messed up that he went mad and claimed his face was actually beautiful. Jeff wanted to look at his face all the time. This prompted his rampage of murder and destruction.
Before his burning, Jeff was getting this weird sensation of hurting people, so it was a matter of time before he was going to snap. After witnessing his face, he fed off this feeling. The doctors brushed it off, claiming most patients’ personalities are altered for a short while after taking so many painkillers. Of course, they were wrong.
Instead, later that night, Jeff cut lines across his mouth because he was too tired of smiling all the time, and he cut his eyelids because he was too tired of keeping his eyes open. He just loved his face so much! After that, he killed his parents and his brother Lui. The last words Lui heard from his brother was, “Go to Sleep.”
Read his debut here!
6. Slenderman
Slenderman is arguably one of the most famous creepypastas out there. It all started with a photoshop contest on Something Awful Forums. The contest rules were that you had to turn an ordinary photograph into a creepy image through Photoshop, try to pass it as a real photo, and publish it on different paranormal forums. One stood out from the rest. Victor Surge, aka Eric Knudsen, created Slenderman. He put him in two black and white photos amongst children and wrote creepy mock descriptions for this new monster that preyed and stalked children.
Slenderman is a tall, lanky entity that wears a black suit. He has no facial features and can grow as tall as 7 feet. You might not make it out alive if you look directly at him. He mostly stalks children and takes a friendly approach, where it can soon turn deadly. However, for adults, he haunts those who have gone through a traumatic experience (he’s usually the one that inflicts this traumatic incident in the person’s life) and enters their nightmares to take over their entire life.
There are so many elements to the Slenderman mythos; you could essentially talk about him for days. Many people initially believed that Slenderman was real because the photoshopped images looked so authentic, along with the niche description created by Knudsen. Soon enough, Knudsen began to add to the anthology of Slenderman, and people began to make up their own tales with the lanky proxy.
The two original captions:
“We didn’t want to go, we didn’t want to kill them, but its persistent silence and outstretched arms horrified and comforted us at the same time…” – 1983, photographer unknown, presumed dead.
One of two recovered photographs from the Stirling City Library blaze. Notable for being taken the day which fourteen children vanished and for what is referred to as “The Slender Man”. Deformities cited as film defects by officials. Fire at library occurred one week later. Actual photograph confiscated as evidence. – 1986, photographer: Mary Thomas, missing since June 13th, 1986.
Eric Knudsen
Slenderman grew mainstream fame in June 2012 when a video game entitled Slender: The Eight Pages was created. In this game, you must collect eight notes before the Slenderman gets you. As you progress in the game, it is harder to complete the task. Subsequently, this grew into more game interactions, such as Slender: The Arrival and Slenderman Must Die. In 2018, Slenderman was adapted into a horror film!
You know that saying truth is stranger than fiction? Well, in 2014, two adolescent girls lured a friend into the woods and brutally attacked her. Luckily she was able to survive. The perpetrators claimed it was a sacrifice to the Slenderman.
These Creepypastas are the next level of horror! Want to read about more horror stories? Click here!