You can’t explain this
The other day, I was curious if there was any news on the search for the ‘true’ origins of the famous creepypastas images of yore. For instance, the hunt for the original Jeff the Killer image’s origin. (In case anyone is not aware, Creepypasta are internet horror stories/urban legends posted on a variety of sites, which were very popular in the 2010s, Slenderman being the most famous of them.) But while searching ‘creepypasta debunked’ I found this curious suggested question come up on Google.
Are creepypastas real or fake?
Well, it had never occurred to me to wonder if internet stories by users named SlimeBeast or OrangeSoda were actually true accounts, so I figured I should probably take a look. I was pleased to see all the top results informed me that indeed, no Creepypastas were real, and they were all fictional. However, someone in the comments disagreed.
Ok go to youtube and type in creepypasta caught on camera i had watched how do you explain that when you watch it and stop telling people on here that they are not real people can believe that they are real dang people have that right to think they are real and you don’t know every thing so stop you do not know if they are real how do you know they could be real i am so tired of you telling this mind your own bisness
Well, that’s a very postmodern view of it, I suppose. All this reminded me of this time I had found a translation of the famous surreal poem Tomino’s Hell, which had gotten wrapped up into a Creepypasta that claimed if you read it out loud you would die or something.
Author David Bowles has a great translation on his site of this beautiful poem, along with this hilarious comments section. I found an interesting attitude on some of these (hopefully underage) people.
Legend says that if you read it outloud you’ll die but I don’t believe that’s true
Voice of reason Bayley here doesn’t think it’s real.
This is a great poetry to read to my teacher but I watched a YouTube named jaystaystion read both out loud and a weird demon face and hands start comming and you can see the face and hands in the wall it’s really creepy so I tried reading it to my friends at school it it would coming through the walls of the school but great job with the English translation.
Bethany appreciates the translation, but was surprised to see that no demon face and hands emerged from a wall when she read it to her friends at school. Now, this is the interesting attitude I mentioned. Some of these kids are downright disappointed that they didn’t die or get cursed.
I just read the hole thing and yet still fails. Nothing shows up for the 2 time why is it not working?
Caleb says, what gives?
I already did. And I’m ready for my third go at reading this, I’m waiting for said curse already. I’ve already read it twice in Japanese and twice in English. . . WHEN IS THE DAMN CURSE?!?! TwT
Liz writes multiple comments, wondering why she hasn’t gotten cursed yet.
Bruh isn’t this supposed to kill you if you read this out loud Y’all are gonna die while I’m laughing at your funerals and you will be looking down at me, haunting me, While I don’t give a shit. Nothing scares me. || Same dude i read it multiple tumes in a row and nothing happened
Unknown tries to warn the others, while also making sure to note that they are not scared by anything. Tomino is similarly unscared.
Hi I read the curse out loud and now my sockets in the house don’t work is there a way to get rid of the curse? I tried everything, please help me if you can. Don’t know what will help but I need to get rid of it || Hrm. Maybe read it backward?
Tania would like to submit a ticket, and our translator attempts to help out.
I read it in japanese but it still dont work… IM STILL ALIVE AND IM VERY WELL!!! This Legend is fake, u can read it! ;3 || Did you read it correctly? || Yup, I know how to pronounce japanese stuff. ….cuz I watch a hella lot of anime…but it doesn’t work….
Sam has cleared it all up for everyone, likely having watched a hella lot of anime in preparation. So, be not afraid, reading cursed surrealist poetry.
we can pray
Moving creepypastas to Youtube was a mistake.
Let me clarify: making them more accessible isn’t a mistake, but it removes them from the way they were meant to be read: alone, to yourself, with the lights out, in your mind, in a very personal way that both makes it feel like you have secret knowledge and makes it feel like the author is writing something to you. That all gets lost when someone else is reading it out loud, especially with critical/humorous commentary. I suppose that scrolling down and reading the replies on a 4chan thread also broke kayfabe, but there’s something to be said for the powerful shared illusion a fanbase can hold when they’re all forced to read the material. Lots of absolute classics in the genre — plenty of duds, Sturgeon’s Law still applies, but they become trash when migrated over to “Youtube culture”, if they aren’t handled carefully.
@2 beholder: Different formats favor different stories. Youtube’s equivalent of the creepypasta is the found video bits. Things like the manufactures abandoned buildings, forest encounter, strange journey and backrooms videos. They are very different in format though, the creepypasta is often a written story or lore built around a single picture, the videos are mostly visual bits without an explained story or lore at all.
Along the same lines are the reader generated categorization websites, like SCP and the backrooms level exploration sites. Dozens, hundreds, possibly into the thousands with the most popular, written by different readers of the website and donated. These wander between stories set in a shared universe and books of lore written by different people.
It’s interesting how the backroom level sites and the backroom videos have developed in different directions. The level sites have long categorizations, with many levels, functional organizations, monster descriptions and understandable descriptions of what is happening. The backroom videos bank on liminal fear of of big empty locations, things that are not understood and fear of being chased. There is little or no explanation of what is going on and why.
You’re in the Pacific Northwest where I grew up. I grew up with the Green River Killer operating in my backyard; I overlapped with Ted Bundy when I went to the UW (and he followed me to the University of Utah).
Reality makes it easy to believe in creepypasta.
Why is the header a pic of Laura Loomer? But you’re right, I can’t explain that.
Thx for the comments, everyone. Sometimes I wish I could have experienced Creepypastas as a child, as I was already in my 20s when they became big. The closest I got when I was little were those Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, which made one wonder, if scarecrows really *could* come alive, or if a spider might lay eggs in your cheek. Though they were *stories* to tell in the dark, not very real accounts by reputable internet sources.
I remember sorta similar stuff in the 1970s, e.g. *Ripley’s Believe It or Not!*
cf. https://ripleys.fandom.com/wiki/Ripley%27s_Believe_It_or_Not!_2
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Also, I went on a jag at some point, saw a few hundred of them.
(And SCP, of course)