Creepypastas: Which are your favourites?

[JuicyJay]

Ted the caver is really good https://www.angelfire.com/trek/caver/

 

[McGovern '72!]

Ted the caver is really good https://www.angelfire.com/trek/caver/

Ah, the classics...

 

[Haus444]

The Devils Jaws is my personal favorite. It's about an old Japanese folk demon finding a way to terrorize people through the internet.

Confession of a Deep Sea Diver and Search and Rescue are fun. I always like creepypastas where it's just some guys normal job, but the job secretely has a paranormal element unbeknownst to the public.

 

[spronket]

I always loved Ben Drowned. Creepypastas were very influential on me when I was younger. The multi-media approach of Ben Drowned was effective and I've enjoyed similarly styled works like Petscop.

 

[AllNightNippon]

Haven't read a ton of creepypastas but I'm quite fond of Normal Porn for Normal People. It does a good job of capturing the feeling of stumbling into a weird rabbit hole online, especially with how it starts off as "generally harmless but kind of weird" and gets more and more depraved. I also like how it gives just enough information to create a sense of a world, but not enough to spoil the mystery.

 

[gardenAgnostic]

im not sure if it counts, but i LOVE kisaragi station, the format of it is so cool haha

a close second is the linda watson creepypasta in the yuri chr file in ddlc

 

[Herostratus]

This reply started out referencing specific tales then quickly went into a different direction. I'll keep it in its original form, because why not?

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Pale Luna is the one I usually mention to other people. I appreciate The Hidden Webpage as well, though certain parts of the story seem too overwrought. There have been a few others mentioned that I kind of like but wouldn't consider personal favorites, and a few others worth gesturing towards as "classics" (Ted the Caver). There was a recent one that's more of a /lit/ experiment, The Only Computer Crime For Which Theologians Are Consulted. Image uploading didn't work so here's the link: https://warosu.org/lit/thread/22822487#p22826497.

I have a difficult time locating certain ones I really prefer, given that most creepypastas/greentexts concentrate on a few given themes and follow set-but-unspoken formulae. It is easier to discuss creepypastas on terms of its given object. /x/ greentexts to this day are still deeply invested in the Anansi Goatman story, and appear content to recreate it forever: woodsmen doppelgangers, humanoid terrors, etc. I am more partial to those stories that are focused on broadcast intrusions, found footage, lost episodes (though these ones are almost universally bad), the Internet, shovelware video games, and modded or glitched versions of more memorable games. Is it because I'm a Zoomer? Probably.

"liminal spaces" as a term can be useful to describe certain Zoomer fixations, but I liked the idea of "Michigan Blue Hell" more, and I think it evokes some of the unease felt in certain video game creepypastas. It reminds me of something else...

Swallowed up by the world.

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Goatman, Slenderman, etc. feel like carryovers from urban legends, cryptozoology, and yes, partly to an older tradition of weird tales — though one could say the way we concern ourselves with something like "Slenderman" is so distinct and radically different from the early 20th century that it may be best to fully separate the two. As we remember, Slenderman started out as an image editing contest. Goatman stories have an almost unrepresentable element since it is reliant upon the detail of gut instinct and subtle perception: you "know" someone isn't who they say you are, or you *know* that isn't how a human being is supposed to speak. Visual references of "Uncanny valley" can only go so far to instill the exact feeling in the moment. To an extent, most stories relating to some vague inhuman monster requires this feeling. Here's an example: https://warosu.org/lit/thread/20576927#p20579336.

This is all well and fine, but the idea of irregular 3D environments or strange broadcasts seems like the stuff of dreams to me. Until the idea of a Backrooms was ruined by intense lorefagging, there wasn't any concentration on a particular being situated in the area, it was instead fascinated by abandoned environments separated from the world. The ability to no-clip from reality. This all seems rife for artistic experimentation.

 

[赤い男]

I'm happy recently gta 3 has been having more attention lately, it was my first videogame ever, i was 4 years old and idk, even to this day, gta 3 still gives me a unique vibe, is neither good or bad, just familiar, like this is my home smh.

 

[dargon]

there is difference between early (97-02), middle (03-08?), late gen-z (09-12 or so)...

def
it's like myspace > club penguin > skibiddi toilet

97 - 02 get those creepypasta that inspired flowey (undertale), SCP's
ppl born in 03 - 08 got more into slender man, slender tubbies, that jeff the killer, smilling dog
09 - 12 i think it was that momo mask, backrooms

hope my examples arent much regionalized

 

[Some_porcupine]

def
it's like myspace > club penguin > skibiddi toilet

97 - 02 get those creepypasta that inspired flowey (undertale), SCP's
ppl born in 03 - 08 got more into slender man, slender tubbies, that jeff the killer, smilling dog
09 - 12 i think it was that momo mask, backrooms

hope my examples arent much regionalized

dw i do
but i have goulash in it so idk what era or what "gen" produced what, old-web is connected all for me

 

[McGovern '72!]

def
it's like myspace > club penguin > skibiddi toilet

97 - 02 get those creepypasta that inspired flowey (undertale), SCP's
ppl born in 03 - 08 got more into slender man, slender tubbies, that jeff the killer, smilling dog
09 - 12 i think it was that momo mask, backrooms

hope my examples arent much regionalized

'06 zoomer fag here. When I was a kid we didn't talk about slenderman at all; we knew he was kind of a thing, but he was kind of yesterday's creepypasta. I do remember hearing about Smiledog though, but again, he wasn't really a craze for us, just some scary story that someone would tell. The real "scary thing" craze we had was FNAF, and the spew of indie slop that resulted in, which now gen alpha is suckling on like some bastard child of our soylarp.

 

[stonehead]

Am I crazy? 3 pages and no one's mentioned Candle Cove? It's the best by far. I love how the creepy imagery builds up slowly and gradually, and the twists were way more satisfying than the standard "And then there was blood and guts everywhere"

All this time, I considered it one of the greats, was it actually just my personal favorite?

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I'm a zoomer so wasn't online when Jeff the Killer was a big thing. Did anyone actually find the story scary or was it solely carried by the image? Because reading the story, it's Wattpad fanfiction tier crap, so I find it hard to believe that many people actually considered it scary.

100% just the image. IMO the search for the original pre-photoshop image is more interesting than anything related to the actual creepypasta.
There are several videos detailing the search, but in my opinion, this one is the best:
View: https://youtu.be/aVAie3i18SA?si=5FHbmRoyXD0kU_Rw&t=70

NES Godzilla Creepypasta. it has some neat spritework and reads nice enough with a cool concept but i have to be honest, it doesn't really deliver in the ending and a lot of the writing has some pretty weird choices. i'd say check it out anyway if you're curious.


yeah that was an indie short horror game iirc, not a creepypasta

NES Godzilla is amazing, and probably the highest effort thing in the thread. It would be my favorite, except for the fact that it's more cool than it is creepy. There's a really good build up on the mystery, but the only thing creepy is some unsettling pixel art. Still though, despite the kinda lame reveal and the lack of horror, the worldbuilding is so fun that I still love it.

 

[McGovern '72!]

Am I crazy? 3 pages and no one's mentioned Candle Cove? It's the best by far. I love how the creepy imagery builds up slowly and gradually, and the twists were way more satisfying than the standard "And then there was blood and guts everywhere"

Someone already brought it up, but only in passing. I totally agree with you though; I'm not sure if it's the best, but it's goddamn good.

Candle Cove (probably my second favourite) I feel overplays its hands before the final twist

 

[Jade]

Psychosis was probably the one I was most impressed by back in the day, but there was one story that actually did scare me. I can't remember the title but it was about some kid whose bedroom got moved to the attic and there was a shadowy figure that would appear on the top bunk during the night. The kid could never see him but he could still sense his presence. Every time he would scream for his parents and the figure would disappear as soon as they came running. One day something happened (I can't remember) and the parents left him in the house overnight, so he piled a bunch of furniture or something on the top bunk so the figure couldn't manifest, only for him to manifest on the lower bunk this time and attempt to drag him into the wall of the house through some kind of portal. It was really, really well written and it ends with the parents swapping rooms with the kid, and moving house after spending only a few nights there.

If anyone knows which story I'm thinking of I'd be really grateful, it was one of my favorites from that era.

 

[The Chibi One]

If anyone knows which story I'm thinking of I'd be really grateful, it was one of my favorites from that era.

Bump to say here you go.

Also adding The Dionaea House. I recall when it first came out, I think it preceded most well-known creepypasta. When they first came up, they were cool urban legends for the inaugural Internet era. Now places like nosleep have ruined them with every "I Am A Gas Station Attendant & Sold My Soul To The Devil (Part 42)" series they keep churning out and enabling.

 

[turntableToothache]

100% just the image. IMO the search for the original pre-photoshop image is more interesting than anything related to the actual creepypasta.

Hey don't be so harsh on the og creepypasta. I've had a hell of a fun time watching videos of people ripping it and its sequels/spin offs apart for years.

 

[Some_porcupine]

my fav one, - the dumbest one -
dubbed "I...am....God...." ... -

The Expressionless - By Expressionless - Nightscribe

In June 1972, a woman appeared in Cedar Senai hospital in Los Angeles, California in nothing but a white, blood-covered gown. Now this, in itself, should not be too surprising as people often have accidents nearby and come to the nearest hospital for medical attention, but there were two things...

nightscribe.co

 

[Some_porcupine]

Am I crazy? 3 pages and no one's mentioned Candle Cove? It's the best by far. I love how the creepy imagery builds up slowly and gradually, and the twists were way more satisfying than the standard "And then there was blood and guts everywhere"

also 1999/Mr Bear's cellar (but i think that was mentioned by me, before)