Acreepypasta is ahorror-relatedlegend which has been shared around theInternet.[1][2][3] The termcreepypasta has since become a catch-all term for any horror content posted onto the Internet.[4] These entries are often brief,user-generated,paranormal stories that are intended to frighten readers. The subjects of creepypasta vary widely and can include topics such asghosts,cryptids,murder,suicide,zombies,aliens, rituals to summon supernatural entities, and hauntedtelevision shows andvideo games.[1] Creepypastas range in length from a single paragraph to extended multi-part series that can span multiple media types, some lasting for years.[4]
In the mainstream media, creepypastas relating to the fictitiousSlender Man character came to public attention after the 2014 "Slender Man stabbing", in which a 12-year-old girl was stabbed by two of her friends; the perpetrators claimed they "wanted to prove the Slender Man skeptics wrong".[1][5] After the murder attempt, some creepypasta website administrators made statements reminding readers of the "line between fiction and reality".[1] This case is part of a pattern of people, especially children, developing misconceptions around the reality of creepypastas.[4]
Other notable creepypasta stories includeJeff the Killer,Ted the Caver,Ben Drowned,Sonic.exe, andSmile Dog.[1][6][7]
The wordcreepypasta first appeared on4chan, an onlineimageboard, around 2007. It is a variant of the slangcopypasta (from "copy and paste"), another 4chan term which refers to blocks of text which becomeviral by being copied widely around theinternet.[8][9] Creepypastas are a form of modern dayfolklore following many of the same narrative techniques such as first-person narrators and integrating true information.[10][11] The integration of true pieces of information within the stories of creepypastas is part of what makes them appealing and somewhat believable, as it does with folklore. Where people spread folklores by word of mouth, creepypasta stories are spread through digital channels, making them easily accessible and creating a sense of community amongst those who participate in them.[10] Unlike copypastas, all creepypastas arehorror fiction, and the term also encompassesmultimedia stories that may includevideos,images,hyperlinks andGIFs along with text.[9]
What counts as the first creepypasta is debatable.[9] Scholars and writers such asTime's Jessica Roy have seen similarities in thechain emails of the 1990s, which disseminatedhoaxes andurban legends, for example, by promising a terrible fate for users who did not pass them along.[1][9] Horror stories such as the Rake, a fictional monster created by 4chan users in 2005, have been retroactively considered creepypastas.[12] Some consider the 2001 story "Ted the Caver" the first.[4][13]
The first major source of creepypastas was 4chan, and thatwebsite's culture was influential in shaping the characteristics of the genre.[9] Major dedicated creepypasta websites started to appear from the late 2000s: Creepypasta.com was created in 2008, while the Creepypasta Wiki andReddit's r/nosleep were both created in 2010.[14][15] According toTime magazine, the genre had its peak audience in 2010 when it was covered byThe New York Times.[1]
The definition of creepypasta has expanded over time to include most short horror fiction whose first publication is online.[16] Over time, authorship has become increasingly important: many creepypastas are written by named authors rather than by anonymous individuals.[16]
Creepypasta entered the news cycle most prominently in 2014 with the "Slender Man stabbing", where two 12-year-old girls tried to kill another girl under the belief that theSlender Man character was real.[17]
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Numerous short films, games, feature-length films and merchandise have been produced based on creepypastas, such asAlways Watching: A Marble Hornets Story,Slender Man andBeware the Slenderman. In 2023, a new film from production companyA24 was announced based on "the backrooms", a source of lore in creepypasta based on a series of pictures. The filmmakers will directly base the film on a YouTube series doing an in-depth exploration of the backrooms.[18]
In addition to merchandise and film adaptations, numerous amounts of fan content and independent settings/mythos have been established from creepypastas, such as with theSCP Foundation, the Backrooms andThe Mandela Catalogue, with the latter serving as an example of the creepypasta descendant subgenre,analog horror.
Due to its online prevalence, a portion of creepypastas has been archived byAmerican Folklife Center and added to their digital culture web archive under their initiative to document the development of web culture.[19][20] Some folklorist view creepypastas as the digital age manifestation of legend,[20][21] while others view the majority of creepypastas as anti-legends.[22] Anti-legends are similar to legends except that they seek to purposely subvert the legends of the era by challenging the audience's expectations of what constitutes a contemporary legend.[23][24]
In May 2015,Machinima, Inc. announced plans for a live-action web series curated byClive Barker, titledClive Barker's Creepy Pasta, focusing on Slender Man andBen Drowned;[25] although following the shutdown of Machinima, the series was never produced. Each season of the American television seriesChannel Zero from Syfy is based on a different creepypasta, taking inspiration from the stories themselves as well as the associated subreddit.[26] FilmmakerJohn Farrelly was set to release a film titledThe Sleep Experiment, based on theRussian Sleep Experiment, in 2020,[27] but the project never materialized.
Some creepypastas exploit childhoodnostalgia and distort it into something more horrific or unfamiliar. Creepypasta.com describes purportedlost episodes of television shows as one of the most populartropes.[28][29] These episodes often focus on suicide or imply the viewer will suffer great harm. Some lost episode creepypastas focus on local public access shows rather than nationally syndicated shows. Notable examples of these includeSquidward's Suicide,Suicidemouse.avi, andDead Bart.[30] ASpongeBob SquarePants episode, titled "SpongeBob in RandomLand", had to re-edit a scene that referred to theSquidward's Suicide creepypasta.[21][31][32]
Video game creepypasta focuses on video games containing grotesque or violent content; this content may spill over into the real world and cause the player to harm themselves or others. Many video game creepypastas reveal the conflict to be caused by malevolent entities such as ghosts or artificial intelligence.[33] Notable examples of these includeSonic.exe,Ben Drowned,Herobrine, and theLavender Town Syndrome.
Due to the narrative techniques of creepypasta stories and their popularity amongst children, these stories are sometimes mistaken as true stories by their readers, especially younger ones. The ease of access of these stories and their mix of fantasy and reality appeals to children, and the common themes of uncertainty and ambiguity in the narratives can cause confusion in the reader.[34]
In the notorious "Slender Man stabbing" in Wisconsin in 2014, two 12-year-old girls, one of whom had been experiencingauditory hallucinations as a result ofschizophrenia, tried to kill another girl in order to appeaseSlender Man and prove that the character was real.[17] After the attack, the Creepypasta.com website put out a statement in response to the media attention, expressing sympathy for the incident that occurred, and clarifying that its stories are fictional.[35]
In Indiana in 2015, a 12-year-old girl fatally stabbed her stepmother, believing that a clown character, Laughing Jack, from a creepypasta website had directed her to do so. The girl was found to have been experiencingdissociative identity disorder for some months prior to the attack.[36]
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