I May Get a Lot of Crap for This, But Who Here Reads Creepypasta

[TheUltimateDreamWarrior]

There's some outstanding Creepypasta and there is definitely a lot of dreadful Creepypasta (I'm looking at you, half of the lost episode subgenre). The best Creepypastas have to be the ones that have you looking under your bed at night or noticing every creak in your house. I've been exposed to the horror genre, for so long, that it's hard to really get scared by horror fiction, anymore.

Some Creepypastas are atmospheric, some are straight up gory, and some are both (which are personally my favorites). With Mister Widemouth, I knew the genre well enough to know what was probably going to be revealed at the end but it still gave me the creeps. Tulpa, The Russian Sleep Experiment, 1999, Candle Cove, Hands, 12 Minutes, Pale Luna, and Where Bad Kids Go made me shiver. To a seasoned horror fan, like myself, that's the ultimate high, equivalent to a roller coaster or a haunted house.

Non-horror fans don't understand that, though. They think anyone who likes the horror genre is weird and can't see it as a coping mechanism. I think reading horror and watching horror can be immensely therapeutic, just don't take it too far. I went to see It Follows (2014) with my spouse when it first came out and we left the theater feeling bubbly and discussing the movie. The same thing happened when I rewatched Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) with my spouse, in the theater, the Halloween before this last one. It's like Wes Craven said that the horror genre deals with aspects of our lives that are uncomfortable for our rational (ha!) society to cope with.

"It's like boot camp for the psyche. In real life, human beings are packaged in the flimsiest of packages, threatened by real and sometimes horrifying dangers, events like Columbine. But the narrative form puts these fears into a manageable series of events. It gives us a way of thinking rationally about our fears." ~ Wes Craven

I'm honestly terrified and sickened by real-life and the real horrible things people do to one another in this world, but I use that fear to fuel my own writing. I feel like the best Creepypasta (or let's just say it like it is horror) authors of today's age and yesterday's age knew that so well.

"I'm not afraid of werewolves or vampires or haunted hotels, I'm afraid of what real human beings do to other real human beings." ~ Walter Jon Williams

I love horror that is atmospheric and call me cliche, but I love those aha moments at the end of certain stories where the order is restored, but wait, some unchecked realization is mentioned by a character, leading to a twist ending or a pause from the characters. I love the creepy old house, the swaying nocturnal trees, the shadowy monster that is later revealed and is absolutely terrifying, or the lingering danger in the horror genre. Don't get me wrong, gory scenes can be shocking, but my love of the genre started with movies like An American Werewolf in London (1981), The Howling (1980), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), and others from the 1980's that had a quality to them that was so visceral and terrifying.

Has anyone read Creepypasta? What are your thoughts on these internet campfire stories? Are they good or are they bad? What is your favorite type of horror? Do you like atmospheric horror, psychological horror, gory horror, or all of the above mixed into one terrifying confection?

[The Villain]

I love Creepypastas. They're a lot of fun. Why would you get hate for liking them?

I love atmospheric horror. The kind that can scare you just by drawing you into the movie or story. Those aha moments are some of my favorite. Especially if its really clever and can actually fool me.

Cant think of a favorite Creepypasta. Ill have to read more.

I agree with you on how non horror fans look at the genre, they dont understand it mostly and think people who like it violent or something. I get the same reactions when i tell people i write horror

[NightOfTheLiving_Sam]

Originally Posted by The Villain

I love Creepypastas. They're a lot of fun. Why would you get hate for liking them?

I love atmospheric horror. The kind that can scare you just by drawing you into the movie or story. Those aha moments are some of my favorite. Especially if its really clever and can actually fool me.

Cant think of a favorite Creepypasta. Ill have to read more.

I agree with you on how non horror fans look at the genre, they dont understand it mostly and think people who like it violent or something. I get the same reactions when i tell people i write horror

Yeah I agree. Lots of people give me weird looks when I tell them I love horror or love reading horror novels or stories. Writer myself and I'm still trying to come up with interesting things on what to write about.

I listen to CreepyPasta's. Especially listen to them at night and I really get into. I burn a candle, sometimes I put on some creepy ambient music on. Tend to listen to them on Youtube too. I've also been listening to Be Busta a lot on Youtube. People basically e-mail him and tell him experiences that they've been through. The stories claim that their true and that they really happened.

I don't really question it and just listen to it simply because I find it entertaining. I've loved horror since I was 8 years old. Just look up "Be Busta" on Youtube if anyone is interested. CreepyPasta is pretty awesome in my opinion. So don't worry. You're not getting any hate from me. =)

[TheUltimateDreamWarrior]

Originally Posted by The Villain

I love Creepypastas. They're a lot of fun. Why would you get hate for liking them?

I love atmospheric horror. The kind that can scare you just by drawing you into the movie or story. Those aha moments are some of my favorite. Especially if its really clever and can actually fool me.

Cant think of a favorite Creepypasta. Ill have to read more.

I agree with you on how non horror fans look at the genre, they dont understand it mostly and think people who like it violent or something. I get the same reactions when i tell people i write horror

Originally Posted by NightOfTheLiving_Sam

Yeah I agree. Lots of people give me weird looks when I tell them I love horror or love reading horror novels or stories. Writer myself and I'm still trying to come up with interesting things on what to write about.

I listen to CreepyPasta's. Especially listen to them at night and I really get into. I burn a candle, sometimes I put on some creepy ambient music on. Tend to listen to them on Youtube too. I've also been listening to Be Busta a lot on Youtube. People basically e-mail him and tell him experiences that they've been through. The stories claim that their true and that they really happened.

I don't really question it and just listen to it simply because I find it entertaining. I've loved horror since I was 8 years old. Just look up "Be Busta" on Youtube if anyone is interested. CreepyPasta is pretty awesome in my opinion. So don't worry. You're not getting any hate from me. =)

I will admit I was gauging myself when writing the initial post. I haven't been active within the horror community, very much, for the past few years, so I wasn't sure if the horror community would find something like Creepypasta an affront or not; the same way certain horror fans pooh-pooh CGI over practical effects or think 70's and 80's horror films are the only good horror films. I don't think they're wrong. Art is subjective. I don't want to cause any friction in a group that seems lighthearted.

There is good Creepypasta and there is bad Creepypasta, just like there are good horror movies and bad horror movies.

When I think of aha moments the cliche always comes to mind. X tells Y, "I know the order is restored, but who was that masked man who saved us?" Cue disturbed look from X and Y towards the camera. I know the aha moments in horror can be cliche, but some writers and directors do it right. Shirley Jackson is a prime example, at least for me. In one of her short stories, you don't doubt the sanity of one of her characters until the very end of the story. You just hope this character finds what they are looking for and in the end when you realize that, "Holy crap, this character is delusional," it leaves you with chills running down your spine.

I remember I was in a chat room years ago, trying to make new friends. It was one of those chat rooms with the sims-like avatars walking around a virtual space. I mentioned to another group member that I liked horror movies and she replied, "Ew," and proceeded to ignore me, thereafter. I have a friend who said she talked about her love of zombies online and one of her friends, who was a fundamentalist, replied admonishing her and calling her sick for liking zombie movies. She said it was so bad and the friend was so blatantly hurtful that she decided to unfriend them.