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Bedtime



Estimated reading time — 57 minutes

 

Part One: The Beginning

Bedtime is supposed to be a happy event for a tired child; for me it was terrifying. While some children might complain about being put to bed before they have finished watching a film or playing their favourite video game, when I was a child, night time was something to truly fear. Somewhere in the back of my mind it still is.

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As someone who is trained in the sciences, I cannot prove that what happened to me was objectively real, but I can swear that what I experienced was genuine horror. A fear which in my life, I’m glad to say, has never been equaled. I will relate it to you all now as best I can, make of it what you will, but I’ll be glad to just get it off of my chest.

I can’t remember exactly when it started, but my apprehension towards falling asleep seemed to correspond with my being moved into a room of my own. I was 8 years old at the time and until then I had shared a room, quite happily, with my older brother. As is perfectly understandable for a boy 5 years my senior, my brother eventually wished for a room of his own and as a result, I was given the room at the back of the house.

It was a small, narrow, yet oddly elongated room, large enough for a bed and a couple of chest of drawers, but not much else. I couldn’t really complain because, even at that age, I understood that we did not have a large house and I had no real cause to be disappointed, as my family was both loving and caring. It was a happy childhood, during the day.

A solitary window looked out onto our back garden, nothing out of the ordinary, but even during the day, the light which crept into that room seemed almost hesitant.

As my brother was given a new bed, I was given the bunk air beds which we used to share. While I was upset about sleeping on my own, I was excited at the thought of being able to sleep in the top bunk, which seemed far more adventurous to me.

From the very first night, I remember a strange feeling of unease creeping slowly from the back of my mind. I lay on the top bunk, staring down at my action figures and cars strewn across the green-blue carpet. As imaginary battles and adventures took place between the toys on the floor, I couldn’t help but feel that my eyes were being slowly drawn towards the bottom bunk, as if something was moving in the corner of my eye. Something which did not wish to be seen.

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The bunk was empty, impeccably made with a dark blue blanket tucked in neatly, partially covering two rather bland white pillows. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, I was a child, and the noise slipping under my door from my parent’s television bathed me in a warm sense of safety and well-being.

I fell asleep.

When you awaken from a deep sleep to something moving or stirring, it can take a few moments for you to truly understand what is happening. The fog of sleep hangs over your eyes and ears even when lucid.

Something was moving, there was no doubt about that.

At first, I wasn’t sure what it was. Everything was dark, almost pitch black, but there was enough light creeping in from outside to outline that narrowly suffocating room. Two thoughts appeared in my mind almost simultaneously. The first was that my parents were in bed because the rest of the house lay both in darkness and silence. The second thought turned to the noise.  A noise which had obviously woken me.

As the last cobwebs of sleep withered from my mind, the noise took on a more familiar form. Sometimes the simplest of sounds can be the most unnerving, a cold wind whistling through a tree outside, a neighbor’s footsteps uncomfortably close, or, in this case, the simple sound of bed sheets rustling in the dark.

That was it; bed sheets rustling in the dark as if some disturbed sleeper was attempting to get all too comfortable in the bottom bunk. I lay there in disbelief thinking that the noise was either my imagination, or perhaps just my pet cat finding somewhere comfortable to spend the night. It was then that I noticed my door, shut as it had been as I’d fallen asleep.

Perhaps my mum had checked in on me and the cat had sneaked into my room then.

Yes, that must have been it. I turned to face the wall, closing my eyes in the vain hope that I could fall back to sleep. As I moved, the rustling noise from underneath me ceased. I thought that I must have disturbed my cat, but quickly I realized that the visitor in the bottom bunk was much less mundane than my pet trying to sleep, and much more sinister.

As if alerted to, and disgruntled by, my presence, the disturbed sleeper began to toss and turn violently, like a child having a tantrum in their bed. I could hear the sheets twist and turn with increasing ferocity. Fear then gripped me, not like the subtle sense of unease I had experienced earlier, but now potent and terrifying. My heart raced as my eyes panicked, scanning the almost impenetrable darkness.

I let out a cry.

As most young boys do, I instinctively shouted on my mother. I could hear something stir on the other side of the house, but as I began to breathe a sigh of relief that my parents were coming to save me, the bunk beds suddenly started to shake violently as if gripped by an earthquake, scraping against the wall. I could hear the sheets below me thrashing around as if tormented by malice. I did not want to jump down to safety as I feared the thing in the bottom bunk would reach out and grab me, pulling me into the darkness, so I stayed there, white knuckles clenching my own blanket like a shroud of protection.  The wait seemed like an eternity.

The door finally, and thankfully, burst open, and I lay bathed in light while the bottom bunk, the resting place of my unwanted visitor, lay empty and peaceful.

I cried and my mother consoled me. Tears of fear, followed by relief, streamed down my face. Yet, through all of the horror and relief, I did not tell her why I was so upset. I cannot explain it, but it was as though whatever had been in that bunk would return if I even so much as spoke of it, or uttered a single syllable of its existence. Whether that was the truth, I do not know, but as a child I felt as if that unseen menace remained close, listening.

My mother lay in the empty bunk, promising to stay there until morning. Eventually my anxiety diminished, tiredness pushed me back towards sleep, but I remained restless, waking several times momentarily to the sound of rustling bed sheets.

I remember the next day wanting to go anywhere, be anywhere, but in that narrow suffocating room. It was a Saturday and I played outside, quite happily with my friends. Although our house was not large we were lucky to have a long sloping garden in the back. We played there often, as much of it was overgrown and we could hide in the bushes, climb in the huge sycamore tree which towered above all else, and easily imagine ourselves in the throes of a grand adventure, in some untamed exotic land.

As fun as it all was, occasionally my eye would turn to that small window; ordinary, slight, and innocuous. But for me, that thin boundary was a looking glass into a strange, cold pocket of dread. Outside, the lush green surroundings of our garden filled with the smiling faces of my friends could not extinguish the creeping feeling clawing its way up my spine; each hair standing on end. The feeling of something in that room, watching me play, waiting for the night when I would be alone; eagerly filled with hate.

It may sound strange to you, but by the time my parents ushered me back into that room for the night, I said nothing. I didn’t protest, I didn’t even make an excuse as to why I couldn’t sleep there. I simply and sullenly walked into that room, climbed the few steps into the top bunk and then waited. As an adult, I would be telling everyone about my experience, but even at that age, I felt almost silly to be talking about something which I really had no evidence for. I would be lying, however, if I said this was my primary reason; I still felt that this thing would be enraged if I so much as spoke of it.

It’s funny how certain words can remain hidden from your mind, no matter how blatant or obvious they are. One word came to me that second night, lying there in the darkness alone, frightened, aware of a rotten change in the atmosphere; a thickening of the air as if something had displaced it. As I heard the first casual twists of the bed sheets below, the first anxious increase of my heartbeat at the realisation that something was once again in the bottom bunk, that word, a word which had been sent into exile, filtered up through my consciousness, breaking free of all repression, gasping for air screaming, etching, and carving itself into my mind.

“Ghost”.

As this thought came to me, I noticed that my unwelcome visitor had ceased moving. The bed sheets lay calm and dormant, but they had been replaced by something far more hideous. A slow, rhythmic, rasping breath heaved and escaped from the thing below. I could imagine its chest rising and falling with each sordid, wheezing, and garbled breath. I shuddered, and hoped beyond all hope that it would leave without occurrence.

The house lay, as it had the previous night, in a thick blanket of darkness. Silence prevailed, all but for the perverted breath of my, as yet, unseen bunkmate. I lay there terrified. I just wanted this thing to go, to leave me alone.

What did it want?

Then something unmistakably chilling transpired; it moved. It moved in a way different from before. When it threw itself around in the bottom bunk it seemed, unrestrained, without purpose, almost animalistic. This movement, however, was driven by awareness, with purpose, with a goal in mind. For that thing lying there in the darkness, that thing which seemed intent on terrorizing a young boy, calmly and nonchalantly sat up. Its labored breathing had become louder as now only a mattress and a few flimsy wooden slats separated my body from the unearthly breath below.

I lay there, my eyes filled with tears. A fear which mere words cannot relate to you or anyone else coursed through my veins. I would not have believed that this fear could have been heightened, but I was so wrong. I imagined what this thing would look like, sitting there listing from below my mattress, hoping to catch the slightest hint that I was awake. Imagination then turned to an unnerving reality. It began to touch the wooden slats which my mattress sat on. It seemed to caress them carefully, running what I imagined to be fingers and hands across the surface of the wood.

Then, with great force, it prodded angrily between two slats, into the mattress. Even through the padding, it felt as though someone had viciously stuck their fingers into my side. I let out an almighty cry and the wheezing, shaking, and moving thing in the bunk below replied in kind by violently vibrating the bunk as it had done the night before. Small flakes of paint powdered onto my blanket from the wall as the frame of the bed scraped along it, backwards and forwards.

Once again I was bathed in light, and there stood my mother, loving, caring as she always was, with a comforting hug and calming words which eventually subdued my hysteria. Of course she asked what was wrong, but I could not say, I dared not say. I simply said one word over and over and over again.

“Nightmare”.

This pattern of events continued for weeks, if not months. Night after night I would awaken to the sound of rustling sheets. Each time I would scream so as to not provide this abomination with time to prod and ‘feel’ for me. With each cry the bed would shake violently, stopping with the arrival of my mother who would spend the rest of the night in the bottom bunk, seemingly unaware of the sinister force torturing her son nightly.

Along the way, I managed to feign illness a few times and come up with other less-than-truthful reasons for sleeping in my parents’ bed, but more often than not I would be alone for the first few hours of each night in that place. The room where the light from outside did not sit right. Alone with that thing.

With time you can become desensitized to almost anything, no matter how horrific. I had come to realize that, for whatever reason, this thing could not harm me when my mother was present. I am sure the same would have been said for my father, but as loving as he was, waking him from sleep was almost impossible.

After a few months, I had grown accustomed to my nightly visitor. Do not mistake this for some unearthly friendship, I detested the thing. I still feared it greatly as I could almost sense its desires and its personality, if you could call it that; one filled with a perverted and twisted hatred yet longing for me, of perhaps all things.

My greatest fears were realized in the winter. The days grew short, and the longer nights merely provided this wretch with more opportunities. It was a difficult time for my family. My Grandmother, a wonderfully kind and gentle woman, had deteriorated greatly since the death of my Grandfather. My mother was trying her best to keep her in the community as long as possible, however, dementia is a cruel and degenerative illness, robbing a person of their memories one day at a time. Soon she recognized none of us, and it became clear that she would need to be moved from her house to a nursing home.

Before she could be moved, my Grandmother had a particularly difficult few nights and my mother decided that she would stay with her. As much as I loved my Grandmother and felt nothing but anguish at her illness, to this day I feel guilty that my first thoughts were not of her, but of what my nightly visitor may do should it become aware of my mother’s absence; her presence being the one thing which I was sure was protecting me from the full horror of this thing’s reach.

I rushed home from school that day and immediately wrenched the bed sheets and mattress from the lower bunk, removing all of the slats and placing an old desk, a chest of drawers, and some chairs which we kept in a cupboard where the bottom bunk used to be. I told my father I was ‘making an office’ which he found adorable, but I would be damned if I’d give that thing a place to sleep for one more night.

As darkness approached, I lay there knowing my mother was not in the house. I did not know what to do. My only impulse was to sneak into her jewelry box and take a small family crucifix which I had seen there before. While my family was not very religious, at that age I still believed in God and hoped that somehow this would protect me. Although fearful and anxious, while gripping the crucifix under my pillow tightly in one hand, sleep eventually came and as I drifted off to dream, I hoped that I would awaken in the morning without incidence. Unfortunately, that night was the most terrifying of all.

I woke gradually. The room was once again dark. As my eyes adjusted I could gradually make out the window and the door, and the walls, some toys on a shelf and… Even to this day, I shudder to think of it, for there was no noise. No rustling of sheets. No movement at all. The room felt lifeless. Lifeless, yet not empty.

The nightly visitor, that unwelcome, wheezing, hate-filled thing which had terrorized me night after night, was not in the bottom bunk, it was in my bed! I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing came out. Utter terror had shaken the very sound from my voice. I lay motionless. If I could not scream, I did not want to let it know I was awake.

I had not yet seen it, I could only feel it. It was obscured under my blanket. I could see its outline, and I could feel its presence, but I dared not look. The weight of it pressed down on top of me, a sensation I will never forget. When I say that hours passed, I do not exaggerate. Laying there motionless, in the darkness, I was every bit a scared and frightened young boy.

If it had been during the summer months it would have been light by then, but the grasp of winter is long and unrelenting, and I knew it would be hours before sunrise; a sunrise which I yearned for. I was a timid child by nature, but I reached a breaking point, a moment where I could wait no more, where I could survive under this intimately deviant abomination no longer.

Fear can sometimes wear you out, make you threadbare, a shell of nerves leaving only the slightest trace of you behind. I had to get out of that bed! Then I remembered, the crucifix! My hand still lay underneath the pillow, but it was empty! I slowly moved my wrist around to find it, minimizing as best I could the sound and vibrations caused, but it could not be found. I had either knocked it off of the top bunk, or it had…I could not even bear to think of it, been taken from my hand.

Without the crucifix, I lost any sense of hope. Even at such a young age, you can be acutely aware of what death is, and intensely frightened of it. I knew I was going to die in that bed if I lay there, dormant, passive, doing nothing. I had to leave that room behind, but how? Should I leap from the bed and hope that I make it to the door? What if it is faster than me? Or should I slowly slip out of that top bunk, hoping to not disturb my uncanny bedfellow?

Realizing that it had not stirred when I moved, trying to find the crucifix, I began to have the strangest of thoughts.

What if it was asleep?

It hadn’t so much as breathed since I had woken up. Perhaps it was resting, believing that it had finally got me. That I was finally in its grasp. Or perhaps it was toying with me. After all, it had been doing just that for countless nights, and now with me under it, pinned against my mattress with no mother to protect me, maybe it was holding off, savoring its victory until the last possible moment. Like a wild animal savoring its prey.

I tried to breathe as shallowly as possible, and mustering every ounce of courage I could, I reached over slowly with my right hand and began to peel the blanket off of me. What I found under those covers almost stopped my heart. I did not see it, but as my hand moved the blanket, it brushed against something. Something smooth and cold. Something which felt unmistakably like a gaunt hand.

I held my breath in terror as I was sure it must now have known that I was awake.

Nothing.

It did not stir, it felt, dead. After a few moments, I placed my hand carefully further down the blanket and felt a thin, poorly formed forearm, my confidence and almost twisted sense of curiosity grew as I moved down further to a disproportionately larger bicep muscle. The arm was outstretched lying across my chest, with the hand resting on my left shoulder as if it had grabbed me in my sleep. I realized that I would have to move this cadaverous appendage if I even so much as hoped to escape its grasp.

For some reason, the feeling of torn, ragged clothing on the shoulder of this nighttime invader stopped me in my tracks. Fear once again swelled in my stomach and in my chest as I recoiled my hand in disgust at the touch of straggled, oily hair.

I could not bring myself to touch its face, although I wonder to this very day what it would have felt like.

Dear God it moved.

It moved. It was subtle, but its grip on my shoulder and across my body strengthened. No tears came, but God how I wanted to cry. As its hand and arm slowly coiled around me, my right leg brushed along the cool wall which the bed lay against. Of all that happened to me in that room, this was the strangest. I realized that this clutching, rancid thing which drew great delight from violating a young boy’s bed, was not entirely on top of me. It was sticking out from the wall, like a spider striking from its lair.

Suddenly its grip moved from a slow tightening to a sudden squeeze, it pulled and clawed at my clothes as if frightened that the opportunity would soon pass. I fought against it, but its emaciated arm was too strong for me. Its head rose up writhing and contorting under the blanket. I now realized where it was taking me, into the wall! I fought for my dear life, I cried and suddenly my voice returned to me, yelling, screaming, but no one came.

Then I realized why it was so eager to suddenly strike, why this thing had to have me now. Through my window, that window which seemed to represent so much malice from outside, streaked hope; the first rays of sunshine. I struggled further knowing that if I could just hold on, it would soon be gone. As I fought for my life, the unearthly parasite shifted, slowly pulling itself up my chest, its head now poking out from under the blanket, wheezing, coughing, rasping. I do not remember its features, I simply remember its breath against my face, foul and as cold as ice.

As the sun broke over the horizon, that dark place, that suffocating room of contempt was washed, bathed in sunlight.

I passed out as its scrawny fingers encircled my neck, squeezing the very life from me.

I awoke to my father offering to make me some breakfast, a wonderful sight indeed! I had survived the most horrible experience of my life until then, and now. I moved the bed away from the wall, leaving behind the furniture I had believed would stop that thing from taking a bed. Little did I think that it would try to take mine…and me.

Weeks passed without incidence, yet on one cold, frostbitten night I awoke to the sound of the furniture where the bunk beds used to be, vibrating violently. In a moment it passed, I lay there sure I could hear a distant wheezing coming from deep within the wall, finally fading into the distance.

I have never told anyone this story before. To this day I still break out in a cold sweat at the sound of bed sheets rustling in the night, or a wheeze brought on by a common cold, and I certainly never sleep with my bed against a wall. Call it superstition if you will but as I said, I cannot discount conventional explanations such as sleep paralysis, hallucination, or that of an over-active imagination, but what I can say is this: The following year I was given a larger room on the other side of the house and my parents took that strangely suffocating, elongated place as their bedroom. They said they didn’t need a large room, just one big enough for a bed and a few things.

They lasted 10 days. We moved on the 11th.

Part Two

After writing my account of an horrific experience I had as an 8 year old child, many have encouraged me to speak about the aftermath. I’ve been hesitant to do so as I have felt unsettled since I broke my silence. Sleep has not come easy to me these last few nights. My scepticism, however, remains resilient and as such I will tell of what I experienced in the other room.

This won’t be as long, as what occurred only took place over a few days but that was more than enough for me.

If you recall, after that unwelcome nightly visitor left me, I was moved into another bedroom a year later. This room was much larger than the previous one and had a warm and welcoming atmosphere to it. Some places feel bad. The room before felt foul, but this one did not.

Thankfully I was given a normal bed, the previous one was taken apart and thrown out (a welcome sight I might add). I loved my new room, I enjoyed the space for all of my toys, I was happy that the place was large enough to have my friends drop by, but most of all I was relieved to just be out of that uneasy, foreboding part of the house.

On the first night I slept more soundly than I had done for a long, long time. Of course I still moved my bed several feet from the wall. I told my mother that I and my friends liked to use the gap between the bed and wall as a hiding place when we were playing.

I awoke the next day feeling refreshed and relaxed. As I lay there watching some of my favourite cartoons on a small portable television, I noticed something odd. An old dark brown armchair which had always been there, sat at the foot of my bed, large and looming. It was frayed and worn, having been given to us as part of a suite by my cousin, but it had been used many times even by then. The chair itself was not unusual, but what unsettled me was that I could have sworn that before I had went to sleep, the chair had been facing away from the bed. Now, in the cold light of day, the chair was facing me. I assumed one of my parents had moved it while I slept, probably looking for something which had been left their before we switched rooms.

The second night was not as restful. It was around 11pm and I could hear my parent’s television from the other side of the house. The room was largely in darkness, the only illumination an orange hue drifting through my window from the street lights outside. I lay there content. Content, until I heard something quiet, yet unmistakable.

At first I thought it was the sound of my own breath exhaling and inhaling as I rested, but when I stopped for a moment, the quiet almost inaudible sound of someone else in the room breathing in and out did not cease. It continued, rhythmically and without pause.

I lay there in the darkness, but while I was still recovering from the terror instilled in me from my experiences in my previous bedroom, I was not entirely afraid. The breathing was so distant and unlike the wheezing I had heard during my encounter with that thing in the wall, that I remained calm, and even at that early age I believed that it was so subtle, that it was probably my imagination playing tricks on me.

Still, I took no chances, I stepped out of bed, walked across the room and turned the light on. The sound had gone. I stared at that old worn armchair facing the foot of my bed, which was within reaching distance of where I slept, and turned it around to face the other way. I had no real reason to do so, but something about it sitting there filled me with dread.

The third night I was not so fearless. Again, I awoke in darkness. Lying on my back I stared up at the ceiling which seemed to happily absorb the dim orange light from the street. The tree outside my window swayed in a calm breeze casting a strange collection of improbable moving shadows across the room.

I could hear nothing but the long and distant hum of the city’s night traffic. Just as I began to drift back into sleep, I heard it; a creak from the bottom of my bed as if something had moved, or shifted its weight on the floor.

I raised my head, peering through the darkness, but saw nothing strange. Everything sat as it had done throughout the day, nothing was out of place. I cast my gaze across the room; some comics on the floor, a few boxes which had still to be unpacked, the armchair unmoved still facing away from the bottom of my bed; there was nothing sinister here.

I was now fully awake, glancing over at my television considering whether or not to enjoy some late night TV. I’d have to keep the volume low of course as my older brother would hear it in the next room and no doubt tell me to switch it off.

Just as I sat up fully in bed, I heard it again. A low creak, accompanied by a sound. The sound of the slightest of movements. I looked again at the room. The dim orange shadows cast by the leaves hanging by my window now took on a more menacing form.

I still saw no reason to be afraid. I stared at the chair at the end of my bed and saw nothing unusual about it. It’s quite common for the mind to take a moment to fully come to terms with what it is seeing. It takes time to put the full horror of what is in front of you together, into a moment of cold, bitter realisation.

Yes, I was staring at that old worn armchair in the dark, but what I was also staring at was the person sitting in it!

In the dim light I could only see the outline of the back of its head, the rest obscured by the spine of the chair. I sat motionless, staring, praying, hoping that my eyes were being misled by their surroundings. The slow creak of movement as it shifted in its battered throne chilled me to my very core; this was no mere trick of the dark.

Then, it shifted onto its right side. I knew what it was doing, it was turning to look at me. It was difficult to make out, for even in that room it seemed darker than everything around it. I saw what looked like a collection of long fingers slip over the crest of the chair, and then another. The room was silent but for the sound of this thing shuffling in its seat, and the crash of my racing heart.

At first I could only make out the outline of its forehead, but then it began to rise up revealing two pin points of light in the dark recesses of its deeply set eye sockets .

It was staring at me.

I screamed, and within a moment my brother and mother came into the room, switching the light on, asking if I’d had another bad dream. I sat speechless, barely acknowledging them, staring intently at the now empty armchair.

I was only in that room for another few days before we suddenly moved. I saw nothing for the remaining nights, except for my last sleep in that room where I awoke to the warm air of something breathing into my ear. I jumped out of bed, turning the light on. The slow rhythmic breath of something unseen remained, louder than before. I spent the rest of that night on the couch in the living room.

Two years later I slept soundly in my bed, in our new house. There had been no other incidences, and I was sure I had left behind whatever strangeness had plagued me, in that little average suburban home.

I was, however, left one parting gift. My tormentors (and in my opinion the watcher in that armchair was a different entity to the thing in the elongated room) had one last surprise in store for me. Like an animal claiming its territory, I was not entirely out with their grasp.

For one last, terrifying moment I felt the presence of those, things. I lay their sound asleep, two years since those horrifying experiences. I was in the throws of a nightmare and suddenly, happily found myself awake, safe and sound in my bed. The room was darker than usual. I breathed a sigh of relief as one does when waking from a nightmare.

But the room was so dark.

I could see nothing at all, as if something had snuffed out the light. I chuckled to myself, realising that I must have pulled my blanket up and over my face while sleeping. The cotton blanket felt cool against me, but the air was a little too warm, almost stifling. Just as I was about to remove the blanket for some air, I heard it: For the last time I heard it.

The rhythmic breathing of the watcher at the end of my bed.

Fear gripped me, followed by anger and despair. Why could I not be left alone? I then did something most peculiar. I decided to speak to it. Perhaps this thing did not mean to harm me, perhaps it was unaware of the terror it had caused. Surely a young boy deserved some mercy?

As the breathing grew louder and closer, I began to cry. I could feel its presence on the other side of the blanket, its breath hanging over me like a stagnant wind.

Through the tears I uttered two words, words which surely would put an end to all of this:

“Please stop”.

The breathing began to change, it became more animated, quicker somehow. I could hear something shuffling next to me, standing close by. The breathing then moved, first back to the foot of my bed, and then slowly across the room, through the door, into the hallway, and then gone.

Half crying, half elated, I lay in the still darkness, my face still covered by the blanket. You may consider this a victory of some sort, but I do not. If those things were real, I know now beyond a shadow of a doubt that their intentions were not misconstrued, they were twisted, filled with malice. I would normally never use such a word to describe anything, but it’s as close to evil as I hope I ever come.

How do I know that? I’ll tell you how. Moments after that thing seemed to have left the house, something pressed forcefully down on top of me, pushing the blanket with great strength against my face. I could feel a large hand with long thin fingers wrapping the covers around my skull, its nails imprinted upon me like razor sharp ridges. I managed to slide down into the gap between the bed and the wall, quickly making my escape, clambering and screaming out of my room waking my family.

Make no mistake, that thing in the darkness tried to smother me, smother me to death.

Part Three: My Fears Realized

A few days ago I submitted two nightmarish accounts from my childhood, perhaps you best read them to truly comprehend what has befallen me. I had been compelled to silence, gripped by the irrational fear that somehow even after all of these years, should I speak of it, that those things would seek me out and once again wreak havoc on my life.

In the name of science and reason I confronted those fears and set out to vanquish those tormented memories once and for all by sharing them with others, exposing them for what I believed they were; the delusions of a troubled child. I have held on to my scepticism and rationality for dear life, I have allowed them to define me, but this morning I was presented with verifiable, physical evidence. Evidence of what I do not know, but it cannot be ignored, and it seems strange to me that the last few days have been so tainted by apprehension and misfortune after finally breaking my silence, that I can no longer rely upon entirely conventional explanations.

In the wake of sharing those traumatic experiences I had as a child, I have been plagued by an overwhelming sense of unease. Initially, I attributed this to the fear I had experienced in simply recounting and reliving those terrible events in my mind, but as the days past it felt like so much more; a feeling of impending doom consumed my every thought.

While sleep came to me, rest did not. Each morning I awoke, my nerves on edge, as if deprived of sleep for an age. Nothing overtly frightening happened during the first few nights, no visitation, no unwelcome bedfellows, no wheezing breaths reaching out from deep within my bedroom walls, but I had that distantly familiar feeling of not being alone.

Do not misunderstand, I did not sense someone in the room with me. I did not hear, smell, or feel anything remotely supernatural, but throughout my days and nights I have sensed something subtle, almost on the periphery of my awareness; the feeling that something is on its way, something is coming, like the first few stagnant blasts of air from a subway tunnel, heralding the arrival of a lurching, unstoppable monstrosity; surprising, yet expected.

My sense of unease grew with each passing day, pushing its way under my skin, deep into my mind like some form of cancerous infection. I tried to focus my attention on various writing projects in a vain attempt to fill my mind up to the brim with other thoughts, hopefully leaving no room for those contaminated memories, but those thoughts came to me nonetheless.

My anxiety gained momentum until I could think of nothing else. I had to do something! I had studied Psychology for years at university, with this I knew that anxiety is often the result of a loss of control, and that one of the most effective ways to combat it is to empower oneself; this is what I intended to do. Call it foolhardy, but I was going to go back to that place, that house where those terrible events took place. I was going to confront those memories and expose them for what they were; nonsense.

It was an hours drive to my old home, but it was one filled with elation. I was confident, at ease, happy; I was in control now and nothing was going to get in my way from showing that the place I had feared my entire life was nothing but an average, humdrum, harmless little suburban house.

Gleefully negotiating the country roads and then motorway, finally I made it to the city. Gradually the streets began to take on a familiar appearance. Memories of playing in that neighbourhood came flooding back to me; a play park with my favourite slide, an ash pitch where we used to play football, my school yard filled with hide and seek and friendships long since abandoned, but never forgotten.

My mind wandered through those memories like a prodigal son walking home; wandered so much so that before I realised it, I was pulling into the street where I had once lived. The road was long and disappeared far into the distance finally entering into a sharp, blind turn. It was an old neighbourhood, and had been planned and built long before the advent of the car; this was evident by the narrowness of its roads creating a strangely claustrophobic feeling, as if the houses on each side rose up, leering at passers by.

I slowed my speed and cast my eye over each house that I passed. It was a uniform place, with every house looking not dissimilar. My heart suddenly began to beat faster as a cold chill crawled up my spine; there it was, there was the house! It was late afternoon and the street was quiet, almost lonely. I stared at that little place wondering how such an ordinary home could have instilled so much fear in me.

I had initially intended to only look at the house from afar, confirming it to me as a material construction, entirely explicable, and removed from anything uncanny. But as I parked I took a deep breath, and before I knew it I was out of my car, walking towards that old, metallic gate, its once bright floral shapes now darkened by aged, flaking deep green paint, revealing nothing but rust beneath. I ran my fingers over its uneven top, and with a subtle gasp, I pushed it open.

Walking along the path I was shocked at how disused the garden was. I thought to myself how much of a waste of a good lawn it was, which was all but obscured by a thick mosaic of weeds and other invasive species, but as I neared the house, I realised why: It was unoccupied. Once again a shudder crept through me, but as my anxiety rose up, I crushed it with my rational mantra:

“The simplest of explanations is usually the correct one”.

I assumed that due to the current economic climate that the house had probably just been on the market for some time, and that the owner wasn’t too aware of the old sentiment that the first bite is with the eye, but as I looked around I could see no “For Sale” sign, nor one “To Let”. It genuinely seemed as though this house had been forgotten, abandoned, and left to rot.

The windows at the front of the house were filthy and, as such, almost impossible to see through, but as I wandered around to the back of the building, I could see more clearly inside. I would have imagined that a house such as this one would be empty, but on the contrary, it was entirely occupied , occupied by the trappings of a modern life. I could see a television sitting in the living room corner, a coffee table with magazines strewn across it, various pieces of furniture sitting as if ready to be used, and a couple of coffee cups sitting on the windowsill still full, covered in mould. I would have thought the house was lived in if it was not for a thick layer of dust lying over everything, accompanied by the occasional spider’s web.

It seemed as though the most recent occupants had left in a hurry, and never returned.

Clambering through a sea of waist-high grass and bushes, I eventually arrived at that innocuous little window at the back of the house. The very sight of it frightened me, but this was mere memory and not the strange feeling of being watched from within as I had experienced as a child. Peering in, the room looked eerily familiar. I suppose there is little that can be done with a room so small, so oddly narrow, but through the dirt covered glass the room looked almost unchanged from when I had slept in it. A bed, a set of drawers, and what looked like an assortment of toys on the floor.

A profound sense of anger washed over me momentarily, but I shook it quickly from my mind. The room was clearly that of a child’s and the thought of that thing harming another innocent filled me with contempt for such a thought, and within me swelled the desire to protect any child from such an abomination.

As I gazed at that wall, of which a bed lay alongside it, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. For a moment (and it was for only the slightest) I thought I saw the blanket on top of the bed move. More than that, through that window pane I could have sworn I heard a wheezing gasp. Closing my eyes tightly I repeated another scientific mantra:

“Science does not owe its debts to imagination.”

Opening my eyes I saw nothing but an empty bedroom. No foul spirits, no unearthly things; just a room, no more, no less. I breathed a sigh of relief as it that all was well with world for the first time in many days. You may think that it was wishful thinking, but I genuinely felt that I had shown myself that there was nothing to be scared of, other than my over-active imagination.

It was starting to get dark and I wanted to be home before the night. Filled with confidence now that my anxieties were behind me, there was one last thing I needed to do. When we had left that house we did so in a hurry. As a child it was disorientating, even frightening to leave everything I knew behind, but there was one thing left which I always wondered about.

At the bottom of the garden stood a sycamore tree which looked to be even older than the house. I was amazed at how unchanged it was. I had grown up, gone on to pastures new, but the old sycamore still stood, wise, warm, almost friendly in its appearance.

I think it’s a rites of passage for any child to have a place to hide things. It’s often their first experience with independence, something removed from any authority figure. For me, my ‘stash’ was half way up the old sycamore. I’m sure I must have looked like a fool, but I happily and gleefully climbed the tree with abandon. The configuration of the branches had changed in places, but overall the happy memories of playing amongst the limbs of the old sycamore, of having a little piece of the world to myself away from everyone else, seemed vivid as it was remarkable how much remained unchanged.

Half way up I caught my breath and smiled to myself. In the central trunk of the tree lay a hollow. Whether it had been created by an animal, or perhaps the tug of a gale on a weakened branch long ago, I do not know, but it was where I kept things. If I found something which I was sure would be taken from me for being ‘inappropriate’, into the hollow it would go. The truth is though, that the majority of the items inside were not very interesting, mostly just toys and rarely exotic pieces of contraband like a slingshot or some smoke bombs. I had no reason to hide the toys, but when I was young it felt adventurous to have a secret.

The hollow was dark and filled halfway with rotting leaves, no doubt deposited there from countless autumns, nevertheless I reached deep inside to see what remained. I couldn’t believe it! I had found a toy that I had hidden there before we moved, all those years ago! I could feel the plastic in my hand, it’s sharp edges unmistakable, but the leaves and darkness of the hollow obscured its view from me as I struggled to remove it from the thick,wet mixture of rotting leaves and rain water. It seemed to be caught amongst a collection of small twigs.

The reason I was so excited was that I knew when we moved that I had left one of my favourite toys behind; a small plastic First World War British Soldier. It may not sound like much, but I had grown up on my family’s stories of my Grandfather’s adventures during both wars, and while he had passed away before I was born, I would often act out exaggerated versions of the stories with this small soldier in the role of the hero: My intrepid Grandfather. At the time I thought a hollow the perfect hiding place for a soldier.

My delight, however, quickly turned to horror. I felt sick to my stomach, for as I pulled the soldier out, I realised it was not my toy, but something else entirely. Stuffed into the back of the hollow amongst the sludge, and now in my hand, was the skeletal remains of a small animal. The bones crunched together in my grip as the few small flakes of hair and flesh left on it putrefied between my fingers. I almost lost my balance as the rotten and potent smell of death escaped through my moist grasp, invading my senses.

I climbed back down carefully, dejected. There was nothing else in the hollow, my toy was gone, probably taken by another child during the subsequent years. What remained of the poor animal, I buried under some loose earth in the garden.

I left that place immediately.

Despite my unfortunate encounter in the hollow I still felt empowered’. That I had actually plucked up the courage to revisit that place, to see how ordinary it really was, made me feel in control once more of my faculties. I did not at that time require anything other than a conventional explanation.

I said goodbye to the old neighbourhood, to that bad memory once and for all, and began to make my way home. By the time I had driven onto the motorway, something had begun to filter through from the back of my subconscious. At first I disregarded it, dismissing it as my imagination, but as the sun shone its last and dipped below the horizon, I sensed the growing of a compulsion in me. An idea which seemed to have been born and nurtured for no good reason. No rationale, no sound causal footing, but one which had to be followed, at all cost…

I must get home!

I increased my speed, zipping sporadically between the slower cars on the motorway, looking in the rear view mirror, keeping an eye on what might be following.

I had to get home!

Again, I drove faster constantly looking behind as if racing some unseen pursuer: 70, 80, 100 miles per hour! I tore along the road, I beeped, I yelled, the sweat lashed off of me. What was happening to me!?

Please, just let me go home!

White knuckled, I finally made it off of the motorway and onto the country roads which would lead directly to my town. The roads were narrow and wound around the now bleak and ominous countryside. Darkness seemed to blanket the road in front of me. I turned my full beam on and breathed a sigh of relief to see a bright light again, even if artificial. The manic anxiety which had seemed to grip me on the motorway appeared to have diminished, however, I still glared into the rear view mirror more often than I should have, just to make sure that there was nothing following me.

What a ridiculous thought! To think of something chasing my car! To put myself and others in danger by speeding down a busy motorway… Madness!

Still, madness or not, I had felt compelled to get away as quickly as possible and even though I had managed to collect my nerves, the loneliness of the road I was on fuelled my yearning for my own town, my own street, my own bed!

Nervously, I traversed the web-like winding roads which seared through the countryside, feeling relieved at the first sign of a lamp post, of civilisation, and of the boundaries of my town. I pulled up outside of my house, switching the engine off, and sat for a moment in silence. I had to stop all of this nonsense! Things coming out of walls, watchers smothering me at night, looking into someone’s window like a prowler, all of this was lunacy!

Tomorrow, I would start afresh, no more writing about my childhood experiences, no more reliving of dread filled nights. Just getting back to normal, carrying out my work, spending time with my girlfriend, and most of all reaffirming my belief, faith, and confidence in science and rationality.

Then the thing in the back seat leant over, grabbed me by the shoulder and breathed a foul, rancid breath from deep inside its lungs down the back of my neck.

I scrambled for the door, my arms flailing around looking for the lock. Fear possessed me, shook me; a fear I remembered all too well, a fear from all those years ago, lying awake at night in that sickening room. The inside of the car had grown much colder, but that was nothing compared to the icy fingers burrowing into my shoulder.

I honestly thought I was going to die, that this thing would finally get its way after all this time.

The door handle popped in my panicked grip and I fell out of the driver’s seat onto the pavement. For the briefest of moments I thought I caught a glimpse of something in the back seat; vague, the form of an old man, yet twisted and distorted grinning from ear to ear. Luckily there was no one around, as had there been I would have appeared a mad fool, for the car was empty. I grabbed the keys from the ignition and booted the door shut with my foot, locking it for the night.

I staggered down the path and into my house. I’m not going to lie to you but I drank myself to sleep last night. You may recall that I said I had evidence, actual physical evidence of something unnatural. You might be wondering what that evidence is. Well, I could say that it was the marks on my shoulder that made me shudder with fear, or I could tell you that my bedroom window lying prised open this morning, by what looked like claw marks, has left me dreading tonight, or any other. But no, none of that scared me as much as what I saw today upon waking.

Sometimes the most frightening of messages are the most simple, for lying on my chest as I awoke this morning, was a toy soldier, the soldier I had hidden in that hollow all those years ago; returned to me as an adult, bitten in half.

Part Four: Something Wicked this Way Comes

Last night was the most heart-wrenching and frightening of my life, so much so that I can barely bring myself to contemplate it. By now I will have submitted what occurred during my visit to that cursed place I once called home; a visit which heralded the return of my childhood fears. No matter what foul thing befell me then, nothing could have prepared me for last night.

After waking up to the chilling sight of that toy soldier, bitten in half, I found that the window to my bedroom was slightly ajar. On closer inspection it looked entirely as if the window had been prised open from outside. The latches were bent back, out of position as if subjected to an unrestricted, unbound brute force.

From the outside looking in, I could see three indentations where the unwelcome housebreaker had used some kind of tool to leverage the window unnaturally away from its latch. What was peculiar about those markings was that they seemed to cut across the outside of the window frame like an old uneven razor, unlike a crowbar or other implement which would have merely left a dent where it had been used as a wedge, to force the window open.

Nothing had been stolen and I attempted to rationalise the markings on the window as human-made, and not ‘claw-like’ as they appeared to be. The toy soldier, returned to me so violently, I could not explain. My heart sank at the very thought of it.

I knew it was a message, but it seemed to me to be more of a twisted joke, announcing the arrival of my childhood predator, rather than something to be puzzled over or interpreted.

I spent the morning checking each room of my house and its contents; nothing was missing. I could only hope that whatever that fiend had been in the back seat of my car the previous night, that it had only wished to frighten me one last time, and then be on its way.

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Perhaps its reach would be weakened so far from my childhood bedroom.

It is all too easy for any sane person to persuade themselves that a traumatic event is something more benign, but in this instance I could not; that broken toy was not a mere joke, but a promise. A promise that it would return, for what I did not wish to know.

My thoughts naturally tumbled inwards and back to those terrifying nights I had as a child. I was now re-introduced to the apprehension of bedtime, the longing for the day, and the anxiety of night. Like an old and relentless enemy, my fear grew throughout the day, festering inside of me leading to strange and ominous thoughts about the consequences of unwittingly bringing that thing home.

Do not misunderstand me, my fear was not simply for my own safety. As a child I believed that my nightly visitor was transfixed and consumed by wanting me, but I did not feel that my loved ones were in any danger. This, however, had changed. I did worry. This time I did feel nothing but fear for my loved ones, because you see, I do not live alone.

My girlfriend and I moved in together over two years ago. I have caused enough damage now, that I do not wish to speak her name and will simply refer to her as ‘Mary’. Mary and I had had a happy existence and in fact, we were very much in love. This coming Christmas morning I was going to propose to her, but that beautiful moment has now been bitterly taken away from me by that rancid abomination.

I knew that Mary would be home that evening. She works in events and promotion and as a result is often away from home for days at a time, travelling around the country coordinating various conferences and exhibitions. I do not complain about this, as she and I both know that I am a solitary character, and that the odd few days of solitude normally do me good, allowing me to dive headlong into my writing, absorbing each and every word, undisturbed.

Despite this, I always miss her, and with the events of the past week, reliving those torturous nights and then allowing them to return, I had missed her far more acutely than I had ever previously done so.

She arrived at around 6pm and I greeted her with a smile, a warm embrace, and a passionate kiss. I tried to hide my perturbed state of mind from her, but Mary knows me better than anyone I have ever met and immediately enquired:

“What’s wrong?”

I tripped and fumbled through my words as I explained to her that I had written a story about my childhood and that exploring those dark and twisted memories had left me distraught. Mary has an incredibly caring nature and she immediately lay her suitcase and bags on the floor, sat me down on our couch, and with her soft and gentle way, asked me to talk about the whole ordeal.

But I couldn’t!

I couldn’t mention this thing, this wretch which had now found its way to our home; an invisible and twisted invader which had been led there by my idiotic curiosity! At the time I felt that she would think me mad, but now how I wish I had told her the truth!

If there is one thing more damaging to a relationship than a lie, it is a half-truth. Not because it is deceitful, but because it is a corruption of the truth; perverted and abused to suit the teller’s needs.

I told her my half-truth.

I told her about my story, that of the thing in the narrow room and the watcher at the end of my bed, but that is where the truth ended and a lie began. I deliberately and deceitfully mentioned that it was of course just my imagination as a child, and neglected to talk of my experiences of returning to the scene of those depraved crimes. Knowing that she would see the damaged window latch and claw marks, I spun my web as I told a grand tale about waking up to a burglar attempting to break into our house, and having to chase them away.

I was quite the hero. I lied to her, and she showed me great sympathy and kindness for my deception.

I was embarrassed by the truth then, and I am ashamed of my lie now. If I had been truthful, then perhaps we could have faced this menace together, but instead that thing took advantage of my dishonesty and put a wedge between us.

The events of last night desecrated the most important thing in the world to me.

Night time arrived in all of its bleakness, and was unwelcome. I lay in the darkness, waiting. Mary was sound asleep next to me, each breath a soothing reminder of companionship, but despite my growing aversion to loneliness, I would have no sleep that night. I knew from experience that when my uninvited guest would show itself, it would do so with subtlety, increasing its grip on me with each visitation as if requiring time to build up its strength; a leech feeding on my fear for succour.

My nerves kept me on edge, which fought back the oncoming onslaught of sleep admirably. In the end though, biology won and as my bedside clock lumbered towards 4am, sleep took me; the relaxing blanket of nightly oblivion, anxiety washed away, my worries a distant memory, sinking deeper into the soft mattress below and finally into a long sought for rest.

Sleep, no matter how deep, is rarely all encompassing. For as I hovered over the cusp of a dream, something began to bother me. Something invasive, yet distant. I slowly opened my eyes and allowed them to adjust to the darkness. Mary lay soundly asleep and I calmed myself by listening to her breathing in the night. Inhale was followed by exhale, again, and again, rhythmically, hypnotically, I began to drift towards sleep once more.

But, no. There it was, something else, distinct yet undefinable.

It was distant, out of the way, almost obscured or smothered as if coming from…behind something. I strained my ears in an attempt to define it, but it was all too quiet. I remained in the bed for several more minutes, but with each passing second that almost inaudible sound grated on me, like broken glass on a raw nerve.

Sleep was now abandoned, and with much frustration I decided to reluctantly investigate the source of the noise. I sat up in the bed and listened intently. It was unlike any other sound I had ever heard. Quiet, low, but as my mind adjusted to the noise I slowly began to piece its nature together. It was most certainly obscured by something, but the closest thing I could relate it to…was a repetitive murmur.

I heard something similar previously when I was a child visiting my Grandmother in a nursing home. A place which had left an impression on me, seeing the wandering residents confused and of a fractured mind, meandering around the grounds like lost inmates murmuring repetitively to themselves of days gone past, repeating nonsensical phrases and words.

This is what it reminded me of; a continuous stream of indecipherable words, uttered by someone in the throws of confusion.

I turned to check on Mary, watching her chest rise and fall with each breath. Assured that she was undisturbed, I left the bed. As I stood up I recognised immediately that the murmuring was louder. While dark, I had left a light on in the hall as I always do which crept under the door and allowed me to view the room in a dim, but visible way.

I looked around to see if anything was out of place, but the room appeared as expected. My mind ambled back to that night as a child in the second room, when noises could be heard from some unseen, yet ever-present menace.

I took a step forward and as I did so the noise once again grew in volume. While I was still at a loss in deciphering the words, I could now hear the character of the voice. It was old, scratched by age with a harsh, guttural undertone to it. The words were being repeated at a frantic pace and seemed anxious, yet muffled by some unknown barrier.

I was frightened, but I drew strength from Mary being in the room, and with a deep breath filled with trepidation, I took another slow, and silent step forward, my bare feet cushioned by the cold floor below.

Again, the voice became louder. I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it, but I could have sworn that it had become more agitated as I drew closer. The next step I took, shook me to my very core, for as that murmuring, garbled voice grew louder still; amongst the rambling, gravelled sound of it, I heard a word. A word which shot an icy shudder through my bones. A word to be feared.

It spoke my name.

Dear God it knew my name! To me it was as if knowing who I was somehow endowed that thing with an unlimited reach. That I may never be rid of it. That it could kill me at any moment.

Something suddenly caught my eye, a movement accompanied by a ruffle of cloth. I knew now where that rhythmic, agitated voice originated. I knew now why it was muffled and difficult to decipher. I could now see it, only a few feet in front of me.

Standing.

Standing behind the closed curtains.

The moon was in its ascendancy outside, and while its glimmer could not entirely penetrate the thick cloth, it could barely, and faintly, outline the thing watching between my window and the curtains. I cannot now convey the strangeness which then overcame me. My anxiety and terror had heightened, but an unusual compulsion, an untimely sense of purpose took me over.

I had to see what it was.

I took another tentative step towards the curtains. They swayed slightly as if caught by a breeze, but I could not tell whether the movement had been caused by myself, or the hand of that thing hiding behind a shroud of cloth. I was now close enough to hear its laboured breathing, the displacement of fluid at the back of its throat palpable with each inhalation.

This was it.

I was going to confront this monstrosity from my past, this tormentor of children, this coward. Raising my right hand slowly, I accidentally touched the fabric of the curtain, causing a subtle ripple which parted the them momentarily. I gasped, for through that temporary slit, only for a moment, I saw it.

My God, how can I describe what was standing there? Even now, I close my eyes and wish that I could erase it from my memory. It shivered and shook as it continued to murmur, repeating some indecipherable phrase, sounding like a bizarre mixture of numerous languages. Its emaciated skin stretched over an unnatural frame of brittle and prominent bones; vertebrae, ribs, and other inner workings almost protruding through its paper thin, pale, languidly pink, and almost bruised looking husk. As malnourished as it appeared, the stomach was distended in places and its bony appearance did nothing to diminish the feeling that it was capable of exerting itself with brute, perverted force on any of its victims.

Sickness swelled in my stomach, a tainted, offensive smell filled the air, and as it murmured and whispered in the darkness through what sounded like broken, fractured teeth, I could not help but feel pity for this wretch, quivering in the night as if victim of a long starvation.

I quickly came to my senses and realised that this thing was not to be pitied, but feared. Not to be understood, but exposed. It was not shivering because it was cold, it was shaking with excitement, like a drug addict anticipating their next dose.

Standing there contemplating what I had just seen between the curtains, I once again prepared myself to remove its shrouded, clothed protection and to reveal it for what it was; a cold hearted vandal, a prowler of the worst kind, a deviant festering in its own delectation.

As I once again raised my hand to draw the curtain, something caught my attention. Its incessantly confused, gravelly, and inarticulate whispers squeezed through that broken mouth and uttered the three most terrifying words I have ever heard.

“Look behind you”.

A cold breath slid down the back of my neck.

Momentarily I froze, but love is a powerful motivator. Had I been on my own, fear would have taken me, shaking any possibility of resistance from my mind, but with Mary sleeping soundly in the same room as that thing; shielding someone I loved from that wretch was my only thought.

I turned around slowly and as I did so, I could hear it wheezing, gasping, groaning for air. At a quarter turn, I could smell its breath, the stench of death hung in the air, plague-like and foul. Then, I heard another voice. It was not that horror in the darkness, but Mary. She let out a scream which startled and distressed me to my very core. A scream which will haunt me for the rest of my days.

I turned quickly and laid eyes on it, but it wasn’t behind me, it was on the bed! It writhed and rasped, wheezing in delight, its bony spine curved with the anguish of countless years protruding through a ragged, torn piece of cloth which hung loosely over its torso, in a vain attempt to appear almost human.

But was it human? Had it once been human? Or was it something so vile, so despicable, so utterly and sorrowfully contemptible that no man or woman could ever attempt to quantify or understand it?

I sprung forward towards it, grabbing, hitting, pulling at that thing with every ounce of my strength, its loose skin slipping through my hands. It squeezed and forced Mary’s face into her pillow with glee, as its other limbs arched and contorted, tearing at her nightdress, running its long, starved fingers over her naked body with its sordid caress.

Mary’s screams were muffled by the pillow as I began to fear that she was being suffocated.

I shouted, I yelled, I pleaded with that thing to leave her alone, to take me, to do anything it wanted, but that only served to animate the fiend to even greater depths of depravity. It was hurting her, cutting her… my beautiful Mary.

Suddenly it stopped attacking her, but it still kept one of its brittle, gangly, and gaunt yet weighted hands on the back of Mary’s head, pushing her face further into her pillow. I had my hands around its putrid neck, trying as best I could to strangle the beast, but my efforts were in vain. Its scrawny frame belied its overpowering strength. I watched in sickly disbelief as it began to run its cadaverous fingers through Mary’s hair, slowly, and almost with affection.

I could now here the twisting and cracking of bone, the popping of cartilage, the snapping of tendons.

Thank God it was not coming from Mary! I was now on its back with my arm wrapped around its throat, and my chin rubbing against the abrasive skin of its shoulder. As its spine dug sharply into my stomach, it twisted its head in an entirely inhuman way. Its neck clicked and groaned under the strain with every arthritic movement, as if hindered by a thousand years of rigamortis.

It was now looking at me.

I have heard it often said of some people that they cannot see the forest for the trees, but now I truly appreciate that sentiment, so close was I to its black, icy stare that I could not take in its surrounding features.

I increased my grip, I swore, I screamed, I would have torn its throat out if I could have, but it was all in vain as it continued to run its scrawny fingers through Mary’s hair nonchalantly while looking at me.

I don’t think I will ever truly recover from the sound which seeped out through what I assumed to be its approximation of a grin; a wheezing sigh; a grunt; something which sounded very close to a sinister, otherworldly laugh.

As its face touched mine, its eyes stared deep into me. Not even my reflection was returned; two looking glasses into a sanctuary for the dark, devoid of light, happiness, and love. It was staring as if it wished to say something, as if it was trying to communicate a simple idea to me.

Malice.

With a wrenching, stuttered and violent movement, it tore an entire fistful of hair from Mary’s head leaving behind it an open wound. Then it was gone. Mary did not scream, she merely whimpered. I turned the bedside lamp on, but no words of care or sympathy could console her.

She wept uncontrollably.

The bed was soaked in blood which had seeped out from the numerous scratches on her back and the large cut where an entire section of her hair had once been. I hugged her, told her that everything would be all right; then she looked at me.

Looking at her tear filled eyes I knew what she thought immediately. She thought I had attacked her, that I had done those terrible things to her. Of all the experiences I have had, the look of betrayal, disgust, and contempt on Mary’s face will remain the most painful.

She is gone.

After composing herself, she gathered up some things and left. I tried to explain, I tried to tell her everything that had been happening, but she would not listen. Who would believe such a preposterous story? She simply said that she would not call the police, but that if I ever attempted to contact her, she would do just that. To her, I was the aggressor, not that thing. As she left, she turned to look at me one last time and then burst in to tears.

I know now that I have lost her forever. The woman I love more than anything on this earth thinks I am a violently hideous human being. If only she could understand that whatever did this, that it was not human, and if it ever was, it had long since abandoned that nature.

It was 5am when Mary left me; it’s 9am now. I am sitting here in the cold light of day at my kitchen table, writing this so that there is some record of what has transpired, so that people know, so that Mary knows, that whatever happens, that whatever occurs from here on in, that it was that despicable creature from my childhood, from that cursed narrow room all those years ago which rained this misery down upon me; upon us.

I must now dispense with the sentiment. I could easily sit here mourning the loss of my relationship with Mary, or I could allow myself to be overcome with fear; to do nothing. But that simply will not do.

I can hear the laughter of my neighbour’s children outside. At different stages in my life, I remember that same feeling of joy and happiness from something as simple as playing with friends, or climbing a tree, or kissing the woman you love, or even drifting off to sleep at bedtime to dream of what could be, in the safety of a happy family home. Memories, only memories…I fear I will never experience that happiness again. This thing has broken me. But I am resolute. Whatever that hideous wretch has in store, whatever it desires to do with me, I will not allow that thing to harm another person, or to invade another child’s life as it did mine all those years ago.

I must leave you all now as there is much to be done before it gets dark, before it returns. My plans are made and with any luck they will succeed. I wish I could say we will speak again, but I think that is unlikely. I hope you understand what must be done.

Because tonight, I’m going to kill it.

Part Five: Sleep Tight

I am shaking as I write this. I was released by the police less than two hours ago and I am compelled to record the events of the past day and night as quickly and as accurately as possible. In some ways I want to forget, but I know that I cannot, I know that I should not. For my own sanity I must divulge what has happened, it is far too important. Should I ever allow myself to be swayed by the mechanical, rational nature of the world once again, these words should serve to remind me that what is unseen is both mysterious, and frightening.

After Mary left, I knew that I had lost her forever, but rather than be consumed by depression and inaction, I was invigorated by one purpose, by one thought, by one idea that I knew I had to carry out. I had to destroy that thing, for I could not allow the chance that it may one day hurt my loved ones, or desecrate the innocence of another child.

I also knew that I faced death, but feeling that I had already lost everything, that was a small price to pay. It is said that revenge is a dish best served cold but having waited my entire adult life to be rid of this thing, its memory and the shadow that it had cast upon me, I met the proposition of killing this fiend, this corrupt and perverted force, with a smile on my face.

That night it would be dead, even if I had to drag it to hell with me.

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Busying myself for the next few hours, I packed a bag and wrote a letter to Mary and my family explaining what had happened and that they weren’t to blame. I phoned my mother and father, then my brother, just to hear their voices one last time, but I did not let on that I thought I may never speak to them again. My mother’s intuition led her to ask if everything was all right; I smiled and told her I loved her before reluctantly saying goodbye.

At about 7 o’clock I made my way out to the car. The sun had already set and the street seemed eerily quiet, as if the scene of an unattended funeral. I sat in the driver’s seat leaving the door on the other side open, awaiting my most unwelcome passenger.

By 9 o’clock nothing out of the ordinary had occurred, the place remained deserted and the cold night air flowing through the open door was beginning to bite. As I sat there, contemplation echoed through my mind. I ruminated on the nature of this cadaverous parasite. One question rose out of a sea of thoughts, towering above all else, unmoving, and continuous:

“Can you kill something which is already dead?”

I did not know if this was a thing of the grave, or some unworldly spectre which could be considered ‘alive’ in some way, but just as I was re-evaluating my plan, there it was. It was subtle at first, but there was a small, almost indistinguishable shift in the suspension of the car. Had it been any other circumstance, I would have put this down to a gust of wind pushing and pulling at the chassis, but I was all too familiar with that feeling from all those years ago, as the bunk bed would shift slightly with that thing climbing into the bottom bed. I knew its foul calling card. The air grew denser as if contaminated by some nearby corpse.

It was in the car with me, unseen yes, but there nonetheless. As I heard the slightest of whispered breaths from the back seat, I leant over and calmly closed the passenger door. I turned the key in the ignition and as I pulled out of the street, I could have sworn I heard a quiet yet distinctly malicious snigger, as of something mocking me.

Did it know what I had planned for it?

Our destination was not far, but the roaming hills through which our taken country road penetrated, rose up and diminished with regularity; a stark reminder of the ominous isolation of night. Occasionally on the way I could hear something from behind, but I refused to look for that thing in the dark. Patience; it would not be long before I would confront it.

The irony hit me, I was worried about scaring off the same thing which had terrified and tortured me as a child. I had to be resilient and so drove carefully and calmly through the countryside, swamped by darkness, hoping that my unearthly passenger would not suspect me.

I arrived.

The wheels of the car struggled and slid on the undergrowth as I headed off of the narrow country road. The landscape had opened up and as I looked at the broken and rotting trees around me, I felt that it was fitting to come to this bleak place in the cold night, to destroy that bleakest of things.

The land suddenly came to an abrupt end; a cliff etched out from an old quarry, looking deep into the black waters of the lake below. The cliff edge was relatively flat and had in fact at one time housed a road which had subsided into the lake decades earlier. The local kids would tell stories about the vengeful ghosts of those killed during the subsidence, but they were just stories. Or perhaps they weren’t. In the past I would have disregarded such tales, but who would believe mine if I told it to them now?

I switched the engine off and parked several metres away from the cliff edge, switching off any lights and composing myself for what would come. I sat in that car for what seemed a lifetime, the only company given to me by the occasional splash of water against the cliff below.

I waited.

This thing was smart, of that there was no doubt. It had toyed with me, relishing the pain and torment it had caused as only something of a coldly frozen intellect could. For this reason I knew it would suspect me, and perhaps even flee if I brought the car too close to the cliff’s edge; I had to wait for it to attack, let it feed, let it revel and gorge itself on me, perhaps then it would not notice as I slowly plunged the car into that dark, icy water below.

I was going to drown the bastard.

I had appraised the potential consequences in my head and reasoned that there would be a moment, a singular moment where I would have a slim opportunity to escape from the car just before it reached the edge. Mary and I used to go there occasionally, a place to be together away from everything else and it did not look nearly as stark during a summer’s day. I therefore had the place in mind and knew it well. The drop was at least 30 feet to the depths below and I did not want to be in that car as it hit the water, nor trapped inside with that abomination.

I waited.

Then I heard it. Slowly at first, and then increasing in rate and volume, a rasping, wheezing breath from behind. Strangely, it sounded more laboured than before. Each breath a struggle, filled with fluid, rotten and decayed. A shiver ran up my spine. A rank, foul smell began to fill the air.

The breath drew closer from behind.

My heart began to race, beating hard and fast as I looked up and saw the windscreen begin to ice up from inside. I could see my breath, a natural thing indeed, but what was unnatural was the breath visibly moving across my face from the side. I turned slowly, I wanted to cry, I wanted to leave, run into the night, but I had to stay, I could not allow it to escape.

It was sitting in the passenger seat.

I was staring at it, and it at me. Hunched over covered by darkness, contorted, gaunt, hands seized as if fighting rigamortis, it slowly moved towards me. One bony leg cracked and groaned as it slid over my lap and onto the other side.

Oh god, it was sitting on me!

It pulled itself in close to me and through a shard of light provided by the moon, I saw its face. Skin hung from its jagged features. Glassy eyes stared deep into me as its grin spread up through its face, unnaturally wide as the result of its half rotten flesh, exposing the rotten muscles, broken teeth and sinews of its rancid smile beneath.

Pulling closer it opened its mouth revealing a wet and putrid tongue which could be seen through part of its missing jaw. Wheezing, breathing heavily, a foul stench which stung my eyes and filled my mouth elicited a response from me as I wretched, my body attempting to expel its poisonous fumes, and as I did so it stopped for a moment, and then cackled to itself; happy, content. Staring into its icy cold eyes, it yet gave the impression of an afflicted and increasingly weak old man. It was still incredibly strong, but it seemed as though it had lost some of its potency.

Perhaps leaving that elongated room had somehow affected it?

Its long protruding fingers caressed my face and then, as a show of intent, it stuck one of them deep into my shoulder. I screamed as it bent and twisted inside of me, the rotting fiend moving its finger to cause the maximum amount of damage and pain that it could. As it did so its other hand slid down against my body.

It touched me.

It was time. With my free arm I turned on the ignition and though my shoulder was still pinned to the seat I managed to fight through the pain, put the car into gear and took off as fast as I could.

The creature flailed and screamed, it attempted to climb over me into the back seat, but I held on with all of my strength, the thoughts of what it did to Mary enough to fuel my rage. We raced towards the edge of the cliff and I eyed the driver’s door frantically. As we neared our icy plunge, I screamed in anger at its festering, rancid face and pushed it off of me.

It scrambled into the back seat for dear life as I scrambled for mine by unlocking the car door.

It was too late, the car careered over the cliff face and before I knew it, we hit the dark water, splitting the black glass-like surface with tremendous force. I should have died then, but an air-bag took the brunt of my impact, although I still managed to scrape my head across the door frame.

Dazed, I looked around. The sound that I heard coming from that thing was malformed yet familiar. The squeal of some demonic child soon gave way to the anguish and rage of an ancient intelligence which knew that it faced almost certain death.

The water was frozen and poured in through the now twisted open car door with such force that it winded me. I gasped for air as my unwilling prey now did. It writhed and twisted as it looked for an exit. Spying the open door, it pulled itself through the water towards me.

I curled up my fist and smashed it into that thing’s face. Pieces of rotten flesh flaked off under the impact as a dark black liquid oozed from the resulting wound.

Again it attempted to get passed me and I knew that to keep it in that car, long enough to drown, that I would have to die with it. I felt numb as the frozen water slipped over my chin, my heart struggled against the cold and with a sudden surge I was submerged and had breathed my last.

I held my breath, but only to compose and ready myself for an icy, suffocating death. I hoped that it would not be painful. My thoughts returned to Mary and my family, a all consuming sense of sadness and despair overwhelmed me, but as I struggled with that thing trying to get passed me and through the door, grabbing and flailing with its arms, I looked down and saw it.

Its leg was trapped between the dashboard and floor of the car by the impact of the fall, and although it could move, it could not leave.

I turned immediately for the door, I could barely see but a foot in front of me in that black water, but there was enough moonlight to light my way. Just as I got to the door, the wretch grabbed hold of me and pulled me back to it. It had given up all hope of escaping, but it wanted to drown me with it.

We fought for what felt like an age in that cold bitter grave as the car slowly sank deeper and deeper into the darkness. I could now feel my body pleading with me to take a breath, to exhale my last gasp of air and then inhale the frozen water.

I am happy to say that I used my wits to get out of such a horrible fate. Orientating my body , I pushed my feet against the dashboard with enough force to at last escape its slippery grasp. I do not remember much else, bar the anguished and hate-filled scream that my tormentor let out as I left it to die at the bottom of that icy lake.

I found myself walking through the wilderness, cold, wet, but alive. The wound in my shoulder slowed me down, but I kept the bleeding at bay by applying pressure to it with my other hand. It took me two hours to walk home, and I am amazed that I did not collapse from exhaustion or hypothermia. When I saw the familiar sight of the street that I live on, I was filled with a sense of accomplishment. A sense of pride and triumph.

I had beaten that thing once and for all!

That is until I went inside my house and found a trail of large, wet footprints leading from the front door to my bed.

Disbelief took me. Despair so sharp and so overwhelming that I am unable to convey it with mere words. It was lying in my bed, waiting, a white sheet covering its emaciated body from sight.

The human mind is a wonderful thing. Just as you believe your body has reached a level of exhaustion that it cannot recover from, that your emotions are so frayed that you feel you cannot continue, a thought springs as if miraculous from a weary mind.

Let it rest, for now.

I quietly crept through the dark and picked up my wallet which I had left on a small coffee table in the centre of my living room. Leaving the door unlocked, I left to attend to a new plan and returned an hour later. With a moment’s preparation I slipped into the spare room. There I lay in that unsullied bed, waiting. I was sure that this was the end game, that instead of toying with me, it would come for the kill. How it had escaped that watery grave I did not know, but I would be damned if it would escape again. I could only hope that it would sense me from the other room.

I closed my eyes, pretending to be sound asleep. Time lumbered onwards and although I fought it, exhaustion finally took me, sending me into a deep slumber.

I woke with its hands around my neck. It coughed and spluttered on top of me, a rancid black liquid dripping on my face as it oozed from its facial wounds. I struggled, gasping for air and hoping that I had the strength in me to escape its grasp, but it was too strong and my hands could not grip it with any sense of conviction, as it seemed to be dripping wet from its plunge into the lake.

It may not have seemed rational at the time, but as my vision dimmed and the last light of consciousness extinguished within me, I did as so many animals do in their last moments; I played dead.

Lying motionless, holding my breath, it shook me violently by the neck and then released me. I waited for my moment, my last chance to destroy this thing. Its laboured breathing relaxed slightly and seemed to stare at me almost quizzically.

I waited still for a shift of weight which might have let me throw it to the ground.

Leaning down close to me, its wide, crumbling sneer puckered. Gathering its putrid saliva in its mouth and in what was left of its cheeks, it then showed utter contempt for the living, and the dead; it spat its festering fluid onto my face, the remnants dripping down onto me through a hole in its jaw.

I wanted to scream, to do anything to remove such a vile smear on my skin, but I dared move; the time was not right. Leaning in closer, it prodded and scratched at the wound in my shoulder, the pain sheering through my body. With all of my resistance, I remained motionless.

Then, it slowly and patiently slid two of its long, distended fingers into my mouth. The taste was overwhelming, rancid, rotten, dead. The arthritic clicking of its knuckles shook my resolve. As it arched its back in glee, it suddenly pushed its fingers deep down into my throat.

I gagged, an instinctive reaction.

Instead of being shocked, a garbled laugh emanated through its broken teeth as it thrust its fingers deeper into my mouth. I felt its cold, hard flesh scraping against the inside of my throat pleading without words for it to stop.

In our darkest of moments, we sometimes find our true strength. I rolled to my side using its weight against it and finally, managed to break free. I fell onto the floor. Its long reach grasping at my feet, I kicked and screamed and at last was free. It stared at me, only for a moment. Rising up on top of the bed, its brittle bones cracking under its own force, it now towered tall and gaunt ready to pounce.

Since I was a child I had been a victim. It had terrorised me, taken my innocence, attacked Mary and broken my life.

I would not stand for it any more.

Sometimes the most dangerous prey is the one who can out think you, the one that lulls you into a false sense of dominance or superiority, the one who has conquered any fear of you with a sense of anger and betrayal. It had fallen into my trap, one conceived by logic, reason, and an understanding of the world through the eyes of a scientific mind.

Fire cleanses all.

As it groaned, shrieked, cracked and contorted, readying itself to pounce, in one swift motion I removed a blanket from the floor revealing a bucket filled with gasoline which I had bought in that short time of preparation. I threw it as hard as I could, the liquid splashing all over that horror and the bed.

It grinned at me, mocking my very existence, making light of my pain and the agony it had caused.

From my pocket I pulled out a lighter, lit it and through it onto that wretched thing. It writhed and screamed in agony, parts of its flesh crumbling away, searing into nothing in front of my very eyes; I almost felt sorry for it.

Let it burn.

The fire got out of hand, thankfully a neighbour heard the screams and saw the smoke, calling the fire brigade. I remember nothing of how I escaped.

I spent several hours in hospital being treated for light smoke inhalation and painful burns to my hands. It still hurts as I type, but as with many superficial wounds, they will heal. Perhaps there will be a few scars, but I can live with that.

The police arrested me shortly afterwards, believing me a murderer. They suspect that I killed someone in that fire and find it entirely suspicious that I have a deep wound in my shoulder, and scratches over my body. I’ve been told not to stray far in case they wish to ask me further questions, but they can ask away, I doubt they’ll believe my answers. They found no remains, nor any evidence that someone else was there, bar a strange outline of a figure etched deep into the bed and wall. It looked as though whatever had been there attempted an escape, but I do not think it accomplished this.

A weight has now been lifted from my shoulders, one which I now realise was always there, since I was a child in fact. I believe that thing had an affect on me even from distance, and now that it is gone, I feel whole again.

I am devastated that I’ve lost Mary, and my house can be written off as I’ll probably be charged with arson after they realise I started the fire, which means I can kiss goodbye to any insurance claim.

My hands ache, as does my shoulder, but my spirit does not. I am writing this from a hotel room, it’s small and unassuming, but it will suit my purpose. Tonight I intend to sleep and dream, as I did as a child, before that wretch invaded my life.

I believe that it was my rationality which saved me, my logical thought which allowed me to destroy such an evil, but I will never escape the conclusion that there is much more to life beyond the veil, out there in the darkness. It is a world I have seen, and do not care to revisit, but tonight I will rest and tomorrow I will build my life again with the confidence that my unwelcome guest is gone forever. I can feel it, I know it!

It will take time for me to adjust and perhaps my mind will play a trick or two a long the way, it is difficult to abandon the paranoia of a lifetime. I must learn to accept my safety once again. I refuse to be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my days, but I will always be cautious, as I was when I was in the hospital this morning lying on a bed in a quiet ward, I thought I felt the bed shake for the briefest of moments, but I know that it was just my imagination.

I am glad I have written down my experiences, it has illuminated much about myself to me, and most importantly should anyone ever, God forbid, find themselves in a similar situation, then maybe you will know what to do.

Now, it is bedtime and I must rest for I have never known a weariness such as this.

Good night, and sleep tight…


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811 thoughts on “Bedtime”

  1. The author was considerate enough to spare the parents. He could have ended with, “..And that was the last time I saw them. The police looked everywhere, but could find no trace.”

  2. voodoodollykatia

    I didn’t read all of the comments on this (too many – I plead laziness), but I feel like there’s one key element to this pasta that either hasn’t been praised or has not received what I personally consider ample enough praise.

    So here it is:

    This was like, hella well-written. The author is obviously VERY gifted, and clearly put a healthy amount of effort into this, too. The only thing about it that I didn’t like was the fact that it ended. The descriptions and overall tone blew my fuckin’ mind, AND it was scary; this story literally gave me chills! A million props to this THANK YOU so much for providing such a lovely piece, ten out of ten bedtime ghosts for you. :D

  3. I sleep on the top bunk of a bunk bed, against the wall, with everything removed from the bottom.

    I’m gonna die.

  4. Not even gonna lie this one got to me because something like this happened to me a few years ago. Me and my kids were at a family reunion up in Prescott (Az) and my family had rented a camp ground that was used during the summer months for girl and boy scouts. It had a large building / cabin that had a kitchen a “living room” and the whole back part spanning the whole length of the building was two rows of bunk beds for the guests. They had rented this anticipating many more family members to stay but a lot had brought RVs and trailers, so they said me and my kids were more than welcome to stay. We took two bunk beds all the way at the end. Me and my son slept on the one against the far wall, and my oldest and youngest daughters in the bunk beds to my right. Me on bottom, son on top, oldest on bottom youngest on top of the other. We had moved the beds together so my oldest and I had a little more “extra” room to sleep …. plus it was a super cold night. I’m not very good at sleeping in strange places, and we each only had a thin blanket so I was freezing and can’t sleep when I’m cold. I laid awake and stared at the full moon shining through the row of windows spanning the other side. It was beautiful. I finally closed my eyes trying to sleep and started to drift off when I felt someone grab me. Only the freaky thing was, I could see myself laying in bed next to my daughter. So it was as if this entity grabbed my soul. It was tall about 7 feet and just a mere shadow, but it had a death grip on “me”. (no pun intended) It started to drag me back towards the wall and something told me that if it got me to that wall I would never make it. I started to scream but it had me held so tight I couldn’t get enough air out to make sound. Finally just as my back touched the wall and his/ it’s grip tightened, I used every ounce of strength I had to yell out my daughters name. Instantly she woke up and grabbed my arm… (the me still laying in bed – remember I could see myself) Instantly the soul me or whatever you want to call it, violently crashed into my body and I began sobbing and shaking. My daughter saw what ever the entity was because she was staring at the wall with eyes as big as saucers. I never told my youngest kids about it, and until now I’ve never spoken about it as it still haunts and scares the shit out of me. But before everyone says I was dreaming, No I wasn’t. I was starting to drift off to sleep But hadn’t fallen asleep yet. needless to say I didn’t sleep the rest of that night at all. And to this day I have no idea what that was, or what it wanted, or what would’ve happened (not that I want to know that part)

  5. this creepypasta was one of the the firsts that i ever read and it scared the sh*t out of me because i had a bunk bed when i was around 8

  6. This was a amazing pasta, with great amounts of details, detailed enough to make you imagine the whole story, and then be scared out of your mind.

  7. biaspeopleareignorant

    This was very well written. I like the suspense of the whole story and how it would progress!!

  8. I really loved the ending. I loved how the parents got to experience what happened to the boy. Most pastas I’ve read like this have only the main character experience this, making them seem crazy. In this pasta, it shows that whatever this thing was that was haunting the little boy existed and and wasn’t just out for him. Good job.

  9. Wow that was amazing to read. Felt so let down by crappy horror stories and pastas as of lately and it’s got to the point where I don’t even read pastas below an 8.3 (ik, arbitrary af) but this was just something else. Loved it

  10. The house that is described sounds like my house and that room sounds like my room. I will never sleep again.

  11. Very well done. Excellent writing, good plot progression. And congratulations on being the only pasta that honestly freaked me out. (:

  12. Holy shit that freaked me out I had to sleep with the light on and have a bunk bed next to the wall with no one sleeping In the bottom bunk in a small room
    (」゚ロ゚)」

  13. omg, this creepypasta is just amazing…. towards the middle i thought the creature was nice because he was cuddling you.

  14. I’ve had ghost experiences in my house, and often wake up during the night without a reason. I don’t get bothered in my room a lot though, my ghost just likes to turn out lights, move stuff around, set off my brother’s toys, and laugh when you’re alone

  15. The fact that the parents couldn’t even last 11 days whereas their child lasted months, at least, is amazing.. This is literally the best story ever..

  16. The beginning of this reminded me so much of my childhood that I almost didn’t continue reading-I did, but I will probably move my bed away from my wall now…

  17. I have been tortured in my sleep for years so we have moved from house to house so this hit home hard I have never been dragged in to a wall though

  18. I sat on my bed with my back against the wall while I read this. Really looking back now it was a horrible mistake, I’m going to have nightmares for weeks.

  19. My only issue with this story is that the mom is supposed to have prevented the creature from disturbing the boy, but the ending suggests the parents were experiencing the same thing. Why is the mother no longer preventing his activities?

    1. I’m guessing because the light flooding in disrupted it, and two people who easily wake up keep it hesitant. When they move in, the dad has a hard time being woke up, so be probably isn’t a threat to the ghost

  20. epic story! although for some reason my comedic side got to me and at the end after reading, I pictured as if ‘the thing’ was just some homeless guy who climbed in the bottom of the bed and was violently whacking the staff (wink wink). haha

  21. I don’t know if your story is real but I had something very similar happen to me a few times. I know people talk of sleep paralysis but the devil is very real. I know what I saw and what I felt. I struggled with the devil for over an hour and I was choked. I thought I was going to die until I screamed out loud for Jesus and then it got very angry and disappeared. I know it sounds like I’m bat shit crazy, but it happened.

  22. Well fudge. I actually have a bunk bed, and the uh.. the weird thing is I was already laying in it when I started reading this story.
    Funny thing is.. I actually sleep on the top bunk, and uh… My bed’s against the wall .-.

  23. That is awesome. For the first time in a long time I was actually scared reading a scary story. The way you told the story was just perfect.

  24. When I began reading this, I began to notice that I’ve heard it before, but in a video game. Word for word, thus was in an RPG horror game called “It Moves”. People have played it on youtube.
    The game scared me simply because of how well written the storyline was. Now I see why.
    Did the person who wrote this story also create the game?

  25. i loved it it reminded me of my fears of sleep. To this day i have insomnia and nightmares every single night I fear sleep. So frustrating but I haven’t met that one yet. Excellent story at least I hope it was just a story…..

  26. maybe that ghost just want a place to sleep, if u move its sleeping bed, of course it gonna sleep in your bed lol, and it might not want to disturb you since it sleep in the lower bunk until you move your bed lol

  27. I saw a youtuber (Drakestopher) play the RPG game for this called “It Moves” and omg it is very creepy, I can honestly say I love this pasta 10/10!

  28. Damn… All these comments from three years ago is pretty eerie… But anyways, it was an awesome read and I broke out into cold sweat in the middle of it. First time a story ever did that to me, and I’m a horror story junkie, very good I love it!

  29. Tenacious Muffin

    Pretty shitty story if you ask me. The scariest part of this story is why the hell does it have a 9.3 rating?

  30. Lady Nightstalker

    The fact that you also sleep in the top part of a bunk bed, alone, in a small room, against the wall. I cannot! >_<

  31. Andrew Chambers

    This was an amazing story. i just read it, sorry it has taken me so long to find such brilliance.

  32. Nadia Stephens

    this kinda has nothing to do with anything but when i was really little i had a vague memory of me being in my bed i think i might have coughed so much that i fell or i just coughed and fell just of being clumsy but to the left of the foot of my bed was what i remember a ghostly when with black hair aand a long black dress i remember she told me something but i dont remember what she said

  33. Okay, wow. I mean, I think this is one of the best creepypasta I’ve read so far. I’m just in shock. Oh.

  34. oh my god if I experienced in my other house I would force my parents to make us move! also i’m glad your Ok…now to try and stop myself from imaging this tonight *^*

  35. By the way this was written, I could just feel being in that kid’s shoes. This is one of the best pastas I’ve read yet.

  36. Yay, thank you for helping re-surface my nightmares! Well, it was my fault for entering this website, but anyhow, thank you all the way.

  37. The Sneaking Wolf Fox

    WHA?!?! My bed is pressed against a wall and sometimes I even hug the wall… Now I’m scared… And I don’t like sleeping on the open side since I read a Creepypasta when I was 9 that scared me for the rest of my life… THIS IS THE SAME EFFECT EXCEPT I’M OLDER!!!
    But all in all this was an excellent story with good structured paragraphs. Well done in making one that I liked a lot without a flaw in my opinion!!!

  38. The ghost on the bottom bunk

    i love how they said ” They lasted 10 days. We moved on the 11th” that’s a great way to end something that…… well… is creepy I mean I love these stories (or any scary story) the way this is organized its perfect!

  39. By far my favourite story on this website. The writing is brilliant and the story had me scared every time my cat moved in the dark. Depending on who you are and what you’re looking for in a bedtime story, I do and don’t suggest reading this before you sleep.

  40. Oh my jesus morherfucking christ. That was terrifying. I’m never sleeping again! Well written and incredibly creepy. 10/10

  41. This is AMAZING!!!! I like how it always has you thinking at night if there is a ghost in your bed, and now I want to sleep in the attic. I LOVE IT!!

  42. Your story entitled “ashen” amazed me! So did this story too! I hope to see more of your stories. Cheerio my friend! ( I saw ashen first before this story)

  43. BvB's FallenAngel

    I love this so much. I have always felt that I’m being watched but it could just be the fact that I’m super paranoid. But it feels like much more than that. I have had a few experiences at my house. Everyone I tell they have a “reasonable explanation ” But I know what happened and what I felt was real.

  44. this is nice story. though I would say this is sort of a nightmare. I had experience things like me wanting to wake up in my dream but like something is preventing me to open my eyes or someone holding me to tight that I can’t even move ,so I fight back. Sometimes dreams or nightmares seem to be true until you wake up.

    1. Thanks, Fiona. It’s being adapted into a 30 minute film as we speak. There are four other stories which follow this one, just search for Bedtime and you’ll find them. Hope you enjoy the read :) I’ve been working on a novel version of Bedtime which will be out next year.

  45. I’ve experienced this, almost word for word. I tell the story to all my friends. Is this a true story or fiction. My visitor was a lot less violent too.

  46. That was almost another perfect creepypasta from Michael Whitehouse! The only complaint I have is that *spoiler* by the end of his final encounter with the ghost, the story only felt half over. This entire story was building up for a great payoff, but this sequent of events felt as though it was built up by the narrator to be something more than it was. Perhaps I’ve been reading too many overly-dramatic and violent creepypastas, but I think this one could have benefited from a slightly more intense and drawn-out climax.

  47. This was the single most terrifying thing I’ve ever read. As you described the thing constricting your chest, I found it harder and harder to breathe. I sit here now on the verge of an asthma attack. I’ve not had such an occurrence in years. Time to grab the inhaler.

  48. I don’t buy it. Too damn creepy to think the wall, which I rely on to shield myself from something creeping up to me from behind for a sense of protection much needed at times like this, can become the worst bedtime nightmare. I also think it’s impossible for an 8 year old to go through that experience for months without telling anyone, asking for help, or going insane.

  49. The best tale I have ever come across!!!
    Really, if there would have been no light in my room, I would have been found lay dead.

  50. One of the scariest and best stories or recorded events on this website and maybe even the internet. In two words: amazingly terrifying

  51. GREAT STORY. It does the whole creature/apparition thing very well without being monotonous and too close to other stories. The only thing I would have to say against it is to go more into the psychological dealing with the boy, but that’s just a personal preference so do not take it as anything negative. Just, wow.

  52. The author of this story is very detailed with words with an awesome ability to keep the reader interested. Should be a novelist. Very talented!!!

  53. Now this is the kind of creepy pasta that’s really really creepy. I sleep with my bed against the wall…alone…aaahhhhgggjjj

  54. I was kinda more entertained by the literature and language used over the story. Though very enticing, the language is just simply beautiful!

  55. I don’t remember how long ago I read this, but it’s been awhile. I came back to read it again for two reasons. 1: Nostalgia. 2: To see if it was as good as I remembered it to be. It was. This is definitely a creepypasta classic.

  56. Sincerely your #1 fan

    Awesome writing! I felt fear for the kid… I kinda thought that maybe his parents wouldn’t experience the same thing since it always went away when his mother came but holy moly that was a great story! 11/10!!!

  57. Tandoori Is Your Sister

    HA The parents cant take it but their child could. Now they see why their child was freaked out. Great story! I could visualize the whole thing and I love how you wrote it. It was just perfection. Great work. ♥

  58. My God this scared the shit out of me. My bed is against a wall, and this may sound so utterly stupid but I can’t push the thought from my mind that reading this may have somehow… invited that thing here. That sounds so insane but ugh, I have to move my bed now.

  59. I’ll never sleep in a bed next to a wall again, and definitely not a bunk bed!!
    Extremely good pasta…and super scary!

  60. Great pasta. This scared the bojangles out of me. When I was a kid I suffered from night terrors. Not super often but enough that I used worry about it pretty much every night. I used worry it was brought on by some kind of monster that wanted me to see it. For some reason I didn’t think it wanted to harm me, just scare me. As a kid that was somehow scarier. I used to lie awake facing the wall wondering if it was standing next to my bed, looking at me, hoping I would turn over and see it. This story reminded me of that.

  61. Great pasta. This scared the bojangles out of me. When I was a kid I suffered from night terrors. Not super often but enough that I used worry about it pretty much every night. I used worry it was brought on by some kind of monster that wanted me to see it. For some reason I didn’t think it wanted to harm me, just scare me. As a kid that was somehow scarier. I used to lie awake facing the wall wondering if it was standing next to my bed, looking at me, hoping I would turn over and see it. This story reminded me of that.

  62. If this happened to me I’d be fucked…I have a lofted bed, and I also have one of those curtains that block out 99.9% of the light so I wouldn’t be saved by morning!

  63. I really liked this story since it does seems like an allusion to the fears of sleeping alone as a kid and growing up against those fears (since at the end of the story, the kid really didn’t mind too much of the happenings anymore).

    Whether “it” really existed or not, it can also be interpreted just as “the horror” of sleeping alone on the dark without the protection of your parents/siblings.
    Of course, at the end of the story the parents also got to experience this…

    Would recommend.
    9/10

  64. I remember when i was small, i heard this weird baby crying outside and it made such a weird noise! i was so creeped out. Then a few years later i was older and i was having a sleepover with my friends and i heard the exact same noise, but my friends and me were awake. Since i was with my friends i wasn’t as scared, and they dared me to peek out the window to see what was going on. From the street lights, i found out it was two cats fighting on my lawn.

  65. My bed is surrounded by walls on three sides…

    I actually used to have a bunk bed that I had on my window because I knew that nothing could come through glass… Even though my bedroom was on the first floor, it was more comfortable than having it against a wall. I also tried the crucifix, and had a medal hanging from the post of my bed. In the mornings it had always “fallen down”.

  66. Amazing. .. but I have to tell someone about this, every night at exactly 10 to 2 I wake up. Not for any reason. I just wake up. And I feel like something is watching me and everything in the house seems alien and strange and this morning I looked in the mirror this time and it was normal but then it started to change. My eyes blackened and slanted and my teeth were jagged and hanging over my lip drawing thin lines of blood…. I’m so scared now for 10 to 2 in the morning

  67. Well written and magnificent creepiness! It reminds me of the classic story “What Was It” by F.J. O’Brien, only a lot more sinister.

  68. cthulhumiwatchamicalit

    Great story reminds me of when I was a kid and had this horrible dream about a monster dragging me under the bed then waking up under the bed scaring the crap out of me

  69. Really good story, only bad thing is i’m reading this on the top bunk with my lap top. My bed is set up to where there is a desk under it instead of it being another bed, and YOU GUESSED IT. Its against the wall so… shit. If I feel anything in my bed im suing you. And I really have to piss right now but im to scared to go down. I hate you -.-

  70. I was completely fine reading this story but as I scrolled through the comments I realized three things 1. its 3 in the morning 2. I am on the top bunk and 3. the bunk bed is against the wall I swear if something happens all I know is I haven’t been practicing this backhand for nothing.

  71. A little of ‘Oh Whistle and I’ll come to you my lad. A little of ‘The Upper Berth’.

    A lot of class.

    Excellent!

  72. This story is quite amazing. I love it. Its well written, and keeps you wondering. While reading this story, I could feel my heart beating, though reading something doesn’t make me scared…. All I can say is… WOW.. This story is amazing. I don’t know if you hallucinated most of this or not, but if you didn’t, I hope this never happens to you again.. And if it does, PLEASE live through it so you can write another story :D

  73. I loved this story. Very well written and spooky as hell!

    Make sure to read the following parts to this story though. It’s a good scare all the way through. (Wish the series was linked together.)

  74. Ok, where do I start?…

    I’m sure there are many on here express their desire for attention by trying to relate to these stories or make them real. I am in no way trying to do that.

    I’ve actually submitted stories of my own to sites. My stories are based on truth that I have experienced. The truths I’ve lived as a whole are a story for a different time. But, I’ve always been one to believe that, like locations, people also can be sort of a rare beacon to the paranormal. I believe it because I experience it first hand.

    Most people probably just stopped reading this. That’s fine. But if I didn’t address this here, I’d regret it. I experienced things like this CONSTANTLY as a kid. Especially around 8 years old. When I had a bunk bed. And slept on top. And cried out in tears for my mother. I’m making her read this…

    Unbelievable story. As a fellow writer, especially one that feels he’s almost been written about here, I say BRAVO. Extremely good. And very unnerving to someone who believe it or not can relate to it…

  75. This story was one of the best I’ve ever read. After reading this and all of the follow-up stories I can honestly say that I was completely immersed in this story and at many points filled with dread. Absolute dread. I have always been a paranoid sleeper, but as I am writing this at 4 AM, I can honestly tell you that if your intent was to amaze and terrify, you have done just that.

  76. Sometimes, at night, I hear humming and it’s quite unsettling. I know the song. It’s familiar. Like a nursery rhyme. This shit reminds me of it.

  77. Cartoon Reaper

    This in my opinion was probably the scariest creepypasta I’ve ever read but that might be do to some similar experiences that still haunt me

  78. okay,im sleeping with my aunt today…btw i need to print this story and then show it to my friends…hehehhehe

  79. As I lay in my bed which is up against the wall reading this something keeps touching my foot, like great timing. I just kinda slowly pushed it back toward the wall lol like nopeeee nope nope nooope

  80. This was a fantastic story. Scary and very well written. I wonder how much the author is influenced by M.R. James. There seem to be a few nods to James’ stories in here, as well as the obvious to F. Marion Crawford “The Upper Berth.”

    But yeah…this was phenomenal. I’m going to share this with every ghost story aficionado I know. Great job!!!

  81. Hey, this is one of the most brilliant piece of short stories i’ve ever read in the horror genre. Whether this incident actually took place with you or not but I found this story simply AWESOME!!!!

  82. this is by far one of the creepiest things I have ever read. the suspense of everything just kept on building. excellent work mate

  83. this had my muscles tense up the whole time I was reading it. Now I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight….I take my hat off to you…If I was wearing one…

  84. Whelp. I’m lying on my bed at 2:22 am with the lights closed and only the light from my laptop that is rested on my chest is enabling me to type this but needless to say, it technically blinds me from any other activities happening in the room soooo… Yeah, I read the comments first and I’ve decided not to read this.. For now.

  85. Yuno Gasai Tokisaki

    I am so relate to this pasta! This happens to me every night whenever I want to sleep. I sleep with my grandma (though im 13). But whenever my grandma leaves the room theres always something moving behind my feet. and ITS MOVING! and its cold. My belief of demons, ghosts and faeries kinda took me too much. THIS PASTA IS SO CREEPY AND IM PUTTING MYSELF HERE INSTEAD

  86. Yuno Gasai Tokisaki

    OMYGOD! Its the first time I can relate to a pasta!! This happens to me at night! I still sleep with my grandma tho im 13, but whenever my grandma would go out and leave me defenseless in my room, there’s always something moving behind my feet. Whenever it moves, it feels cold, and my fear just keep on growing like when something creaks below my feet. I just stay still and think theres nothing behind my feet at all. Sheeeeeeeeeeeesh this pasta just creeped the hell out of me! I dun wanna go to bed!

  87. Your Average Creep

    I like your bunk bed. It’s nice and comfortable and the sheets smell like that lavender laundry detergent your mom gets. I love every part of you. Especially the way you breath when your sleeping.

  88. One of the most captivating and engaging stories here; I find myself re-reading this every time I delve into creepypastas. not much I can say that hasn’t been said before: great descriptive imagery, believable character development, even the usual saved by sunrise trope is played pretty well. Dear author, you have my most sincere compliments as a reader.

  89. All these comments, so many ones having nothing to do with the story.

    Thanks, four year olds who have no reason to be on this site, you just gave me cancer.

    In other, unrelated topic, however, the story was good but it took a while to get into it. 9.6 out of 10, if this was a rating site.

  90. OMG I used to be afraid of sleeping alone….but now im terrified. And to make matters worse…..i have a bunk bed by myself and i sleep on the top……..o crap someone plz help me. I think I’ll have to start sleeping on the bottom just to make it not even a little bit better

  91. the story is very good and intriging as a pre-teen whos currently living in a room that looks just like the one u subscribed i could defently relate to the charcter in this story i alos like how u left a emptiness in the story by no telling us exactly what the monster was and even thought i knew the kid was going to survuve since he was the one telling the story every word i read i just kept on thinking that he was gonna die u kept me on the edge of my seat wanting more although. i did find it a bit long witch was really the only downfault to the story. this is my personal opinion but i think that horror sotries ona websight like creepy past shouldnt be any longer then 2 pages. yet the stories that go no longer then 1 page are more intriguing since u dont have to read alot yet just enough

  92. It’s his brother sneaking into his room each night. When he removes the bottom bunk the brother sleeps with him in the top bunk. And hides from his mother each time she comes in because he’s not meant to be there.

    Obvs.

    The last bit about the parents is probably because the room is so small.

    Good story though, the imagination of a child.

  93. I liked this story a lot but I don’t understand how the thing wasn’t able or willing to make it’s presence known when the boy and mother were sleeping, but was when the mother and father were sleeping in the room.

  94. Although the writer keeps re-assuring the reader of the validity of this story, how he was very convincing at first that he encountered this situation, if not, at least in his imagination, but if you notice the last paragraph, he mentioned that he never told the story to anyone but in the middle of the story he says he have informed many people with his dis-comfort.Call it a plot hole but I call the whole thing a phony!!!

  95. If his mom helped making the thing disappear, why did the thing harass both of his parents? That’s like, double the adult power.

  96. Ok….I’ll try AGAIN! Hoping it goes thru. Mr. Whitehouse, you are an AMAZING writer/storyteller. Whether this was based on true events or not – I truly believe this is my favorite story I’ve read on here. Psychosis & Mr. Widemouth are CLOSE seconds. And I, like many have had strange and unexplainable things happen – I may (unfortunately) never truly know what happened. Please keep writing, its your talent! Thank you!! Q

  97. This is like, my 8th time trying to post this – so I hope it isn’t posted as many times …Mr. Whitehouse, you are an AMAZING writer/storyteller. I’ve had a few things happen to me I dont know can ever be explained. Whether this is based on truth or not, it remains to be my ‘all-time favorite’.

  98. FRICKING BEAUTIFUL!
    My paranoia just increased by 20% though it was already at full capacity.
    Amazing story I llllllllllllpoooovvvvveeeedddd It!

  99. *shocked freaked out* the parents only survived 10 days… I think their child survived longer then that amazing…… At least the parents got to experience what their child experienced.

  100. Im 20… by legal definition a grown assed man… and now because of this story im never going to sleep without a nitelight again

  101. Really can’t sleep now D:

    Seriously, anxiety is at epic levels. Doesn’t help with the fact that 1) My bedroom is narrow; 2) I sleep on a bunk bed; 3) I’m on the top bunk; 4) Bottom bunk is currently unoccupied; 5) my room has a single small window; 6) my bed is right up against the wall.

    In fact I’m so scared, I just took some of my perscribed Propranolol tablets just to work up the courage to sleep >.>

  102. This is a cruel one since almost every bed is set up against a wall. Shit, I could barely stand the beginning of it. The climax is not quite as creepy, but not dissappointing because a portal in the wall is just awesome.

    Alternative ending: the kid gets taken, ends up in some other dimension where he is the “chosen one” and has to fulfill some epic quest to become the alien king of Narnia before he can go home! I would love that.

  103. Mr Jaffa cake:
    That was the most horrifying story ever this aint fake like that SLENDERMAN dis is real ive always been scared of sleaping but now its nice but this story has blown my mind

    The only thing scarier than this story is your grammer, punctuation, and spelling.

  104. Scariest pasta I have ever come across! I’ve shared on Facebook with close friends and relatives, and this pasta ultimately fueled my addiction for creepypastas. Great job and please continue writing.

  105. Congrats to you man, this was the only story that i have read that actually scared me. I was sitting in bed clutching my sheet as hard as i could throughout the entire thing. One of the best stories i have ever read!

  106. CreepyPastahelpsmesleep

    You have no idea how accurate this was for me. i have moved several times, and this is the smallest room I’ve had so far. I sleep in a loft bed up against the wall, with my writing desk, a wooden chair, and my taller chest of drawers underneath. It is currently the beginning of January, so i have short days and long nights. Right now, it is 1:48 a.m. My bed creaks every time I shift. I have a fish tank and the sound of the filter drowns out any other immediate noises. And i hope to God that the scraping noise coming from the wall is just my neighbor who forgot to put his trash cans out (again) and he is pulling them out now.

  107. I would like to say that this was an outstanding pasta. Sadly, I do have a complaint. You gave an excellent mindset for the monster, but I guess I would have enjoyed getting a full description of this monster. Great ending, by the way. 9.7/10

  108. Oh wow. This was so intense! Really, really well-written; 10 out of 10 and a gold star for you! I could actually picture the creature and almost hear it breathing… Gave me the heebie-jeebies!

  109. I love how terrifying the simple sound of ruffling sheets can be. I liked how it wasn’t like whispering or screaming, just the quite sound of movement.

  110. I loved it, but one thing bothers me… The story clearly says that when the mother sleeps in the bunk, ‘it’ can not harm him. Then, why the parents experience the same thing if the thing cannot do anything around the mothers presence?

  111. jgdfl;sgvjdfso;klvndfls;kvjdfkovsdf. Best pasta ever in my book! the author did a FANTASTIC job on this. i mean really, whats better than a kid tormented by a living corpse type thing and almost being dragged into the wall or another word for it: HELL, as well as the parents having to put up with it. How is this possibly bad? try to give me a solid answer if you have one.

  112. My Loft Bed is set up against the wall and too heavy for me to move… ;-; Who needs sleep? I apparently don’t anymore, couches in the living room, here I come! (Not up against a wall, of course…)

  113. Loved the story, but I think I’ve become too desentised to creepypasta to actually be scared by them. I wish they could scare me again.

  114. wow. just…. the whole story I was gasping at it. slenderman is some killer in the dark while this takes “the monster under the bed” into a horrifying story nobody wants to experience. I love it.

  115. HORRIFYING AND CREEPY. LIKE, I THOUGHT I WOULD DIE. AND I THOUGHT SOMETHING WAS TOUCHING MY FEET. NO SERIOUSLY.

    Now.. OBAMA I ORDER YOU TO GIVE THIS MAN A COOKIE.

  116. It sucks that my curiosity is higher than this kids… If i gathered the courage to even move with that in my bed, i prolly would’ve tried talking to it.

    Personally, I’ve always secretly hoped that demons and ghosts and shit were real so that i could well… get to understand and study them. BUT unfortunately I get too rational and understand that the real monsters are us

  117. This is the first creepypasta that’s ever genuinely scared me. I felt chills going down my spine when he felt it try to touch him through the bed. Would it have followed him if he’d tried to sleep on the couch? What was it? So good!

  118. you amazing, gorgeous creature. This story is wonderfully frightening, and just so well written. When I was little, I had a bunk bed on my own, and I thought there was something sleeping in it. I love this

  119. Mr. Whitehouse, you’re certainly well on your way to becoming a master of your craft. Your stories fill the reader with dread, anxiety and the desire to find out what happens next. All extremely crucial qualities that any horror/mystery/suspense writer covets.

    If I may offer one bit of constructive criticism, after reading this story immediately following the On The Hill series, I noticed that on occasion I would find myself skimming through paragraphs or skipping them almost entirely, only reading the first and last couple of sentences. And this is due to the fact that although your descriptions of people, places and situations are beautifully vivid, at times they tend to drag on in my opinion. The descriptions and thoughts of the protagonist are so vividly written that reading through them borders on tedious.

    That being said, I honestly believe you are an amazing writer and if you continue along this path, the name Whitehouse will be spoken alongside names such as King, Koontz, Bradbury, Bierce, Saul, Matheson and Lovecraft. I would love to read and will keep an eye out for any full novels or a collection of your short stories. In short, well done sir. You’ve gained a lifelong fan. Well done, indeed.

  120. For some reason. When I was a kid, I had a dream that I can’t quite remember… All I remember is a man, and I was running from him. Every once in a while I have this dream again and more details happen. I’m 14 and this has been going on since I was 7 or 8…

  121. Thanks… I have to move my bunk bed away from the wall now…

    But this was just creepy, man! I’ve seen some pretty creepy pastas, and this was one of the better ones in my opinion!

  122. Well…this was an awful thing to read in bed tonight. Excellent story, very chilling. The words flowed very well together. Almost poetic.

  123. This was so well written… it brought back memories of my own night terrors that I had when I was little. I loved the way you could visualize every description. Simply love it. Oh and btw my bed is against the wall haha.

  124. what an amazing story. they should add this to the creepypasta mod on minecraft. that would be cool a mob that if you got out of bed would kill you unless it is morning or if anybody else walks in or if you have a torch in your room.

  125. This was really good until the end most of the stuff at the end doesn’t even add up if it stopped attacking when the mom came in why would it have attacked the parents when they moved in there?

  126. It’s closing in on midnight and my bed is right up against the wall… .-. Well, I suppose sleeping will just have to wait.

  127. Oh Dear GOD! PLEASE HELP MEEEEE!!!! Well, thanks for scaring me shitless and for me have a FRIKIN SLEEPLESS NIGHT! God, I need to stop reading Pastas so often….but, I <3 SCARING MYSELF!!! EHEHEHEHE! "GO TO SLEEP"….Oh BTWs, BEST PASTA EVAAAAAHHHHH!!! XD

  128. A very good, old-style ghost story, which reminded me a bit “The Upper Birth”.
    The only thing I’m not sure of is why the parents had trouble in that room, since when the mother slept there with her son nothing ever happened.

  129. Oh wow… this is awesome! I found it comical how the parents only survived 10 days, while the child survived months XD I bet they felt bad for their son lol. I really think this story was worth reading, it made me inspired! Great work!

  130. The story was good, but your vocabulary sucks. Bad. The narrating voice makes you seem like a sixteen year old girl who looked up a bunch of words in the thesaurus to make herself sound sophisticated. Good story, bad vocabulary.

  131. Sir, your pasta, out of all the pasta i’ve sampled on this website, is the first to actually make the hairs on the back of my head stand up as if they were frozen solid. I counted 3 shivers up my spine and held me at the edge of my seat during the entirety of the story. Very well done. I loved it.

  132. literally stopped breathing and just held my hand over my mouth in total discomfort when he said it was in his bed. 10/10.

  133. You know I wonder if something watches me at night because I have a bunk bed like him and of course I sleep on top (By Myself) and I always seem to see a quick glance of something shiny banging on my window as I am typing this and when I’m awake. Please if you read this DON’T LOOK OUTSIDE!!!

  134. ive just read the beginning and i relized that when i got my bunk bed and slept on top i had wierd visions and could see myself in my dream sleeping srry about spelling

  135. Brilliant pasta.
    I Like the ending where the parents experience it too. Too often do they end with the child dying and nobody knowing why.
    But it’s still scary.

  136. Thank you, for an incredible and incredibly creepy story. This is likely the creepiest thing I’ve ever read.

    Cat therapy time.

  137. ThePsycoBehindYou

    It watches
    It listens
    It waits
    Waits for the right momment.
    Then it makes its move.
    Stay quite stay still don’t look in its eyes for as soon as you do it will take you

  138. Was sitting at my desk reading this and get more and more creeped out. I sleep in a room almost exactly like this and my bed is against the wall. Im literally staring at it trying not to think of some thing coming out of the wall. Im moving my bed right now.

  139. I like how you went through all of those paranormal events for almost a whole year but they lasted just 10 days.

  140. Man oh man I read bedtime IV first, not realizing that it was part of a series, and found this the next day. I think this one is better, but I definitely will try to find the rest of the stories. The comic relief at the end was much needed, thank you!

  141. wow… i just i dont even know what to say or what t do right now. i am laying down just paralized in a way :/ just wow

  142. This story was amazing. Truly amazing. But not I dont sleep next to a wall now… im terrified. I seriously should stop reading these.

  143. There was a few points where I almost cried and I’m teary right now.
    I had a similar experience but I put it down to sleep paralysis.
    Being an atheist and also an antitheist, I don’t believe in ghosts or anything supernatural… but holy fuck, did it scare me when I was about 6-7.
    I had a huge stuffed dragon that I used to love, one night when I was trying to get to sleep it started walking towards me with its arms extended. It walked across the open space at the foot of my bed and then reached the small narrow path between my bed and my cupboards. If I’d have let it reach the end of that path, it would have been between me and the door. I didn’t let it get that far, I beat that fucker to the door and ran straight into my parents room screaming and crying and jumped into their bed in hysterics. I didn’t love that dragon anymore.
    Given that I’m 21 now, it was somewhere in the late 90’s so as you can imagine, I didn’t have a computer (like most people) to be able to look up sleep paralysis… so as far as I knew, for years, I had the very real experience of a demon-possessed-stuffed-dragon coming for me to either give me a hug or devour my soul. It sounds fucking hilarious, I know, but it fucking wasn’t.

  144. DUUUUUUUUDE <3 This was AWEEEEEEESOMEEE!!! I loved every single bit of it! I have kinda experienced this before except it never attacked me and I never saw it…. But it was very scary for me as I was only 4. But I would never scream or anything :I Anyways…… This is just so good, It is creepy, disturbing and anything else you could ever want in a CreepyPasta! I am scared to sleep now but that was the point of the pasta :P You did a wonderful job and I would love to see more! ((Sorry for such a long comment XD))

  145. I had a similar experience in my bunk bed when I was younger. I slept on the bottom bunk, and occasionally, I would wake up to hear the sheets on the top bunk moving, and when they stopped I could hear breathing. I can’t remember it ever trying to do anything to me, but your story just reminded me of it.

  146. Scary…in a good way! I found the ending funny though. The parents taking the kid’s room then moving shortly afterwards haha.

  147. Maybe a possible explanation is the older brother. I know i used to sleep walk and end up who knows where when i was younger. you said you were always asleep so he could get in without disturbing you. He would then fall asleep and having night terrors that you heard. When you called for mother it awoke your brother and he hid under the bed before she saw him.

  148. when i was 8
    my mom said go sleep and i go and before i felt in sleep somethink cold holds my hand an i stand up nothing that i can see i am 14 now and it still happens but now i am not scared any more and my bed is against the wall now its vacation and now more thinks happen stuff fels vrom my desk the light go on at midnight not scared of it becouse he /she doesnt hurt me nobody nows it first time saying it

  149. Great story. The parents experiencing the thing in your wall was amazing. Who else got bunk beds for their ads?

  150. I was reading this at 1:30 in the morning to my girlfriend and twenty mintues before hand she opened the window, just as I was near the end the wind caused my money box to clatter to the floor and being the man I am I stole the quilt from her, hid my face, left my phone behind and shouted a pewdiepie like scream “UH stop it!”

  151. This was definitely an amazing story to read, reminds me of my nighttime terrors that my mind plays on me. No matter how old some of us get, there will always be some sort of fear lurking and waiting for us to remember it once again.

    -10/10 voted

  152. reminds me of all the bedtime fears I used to have when I was little.I slept on the bottom bunk, and when my sister got her own room when I was about five, I thought I heard things happening on my top bunk. that and I was afraid of sleeping too clos to the wall for the longest time.

  153. That was a scary ass story. I loved it in the butt. It felt so good. Awww yes. Up in there. Good story

  154. Why the f-ck did I read this!!??? I sleep on the top bunk. No hope for sleep now!
    Good story though.

  155. My little bro used to say that there was something in his room,now I believe him

    Korra:

    My little bro used to say that there was something in his room,now I believe him

    If your a freak like me,wave your flag

  156. the grim sleeper:
    wow oh wow,

    i just wonder how,

    the wurds fall in place like a sillohuet of kitty cats,

    jelly fish wearin’ its hat,

    mad hatter!,

    more like a rad hatter,

    out to all the ghosts!

  157. Omg. That was amazing was that all true. So much detail. And interest. That is what people want to hear something scary but has courage that this thing was so real!!!!!!!!! Great job. A+++

  158. good job you scared the **** out of me ill have nightmares now and for that i raise a toast in your name second time i’ve been this scared

  159. I’m 15, terrified of the dark, and I’m sleeping in a bunk bed that’s against the wall and I’m pretty sure I’m not gonna get any sleep tonight.
    Great story though, I loved it. It sent chills down my spine

  160. Wow, when I first started reading that, I was scared like, “OMG, WHAT IF THE SAME THING HAPPENS TO ME?” Then I was like, “Oh, I have a dog in my room, Im good.”

  161. Very well done.
    The storyline was very interesting, and reading this while my family is asleep in another room sent chills down my spine. However, I don’t think the mom would repeatedly go to his room the entire time. I think she’d just stay in the room every night instead of waiting for an ear shattering scream to wake her up for several months. Other than that, this is a great piece of work. Keep it up.
    9.5/10

  162. I find your timing impeccable. I find myself a bit reluctant to read these stories because I find myself horrified to the point of it affecting my sleep but this, this wonderfully written master work, chills me and terrified but it stops just soon enough to prevent it from being ingrained into my mind, preventing sleep. I always scoffed when people say that they enjoy being scared but this was a truly enjoyable chill. Three points to gryffindor,

  163. So easily relatable. Tense and gripping. Brilliantly detailed. And the parent experience topped it off.

  164. Just read this to my wife with the lights off… genuinely creepy! Very well written, too. We really enjoyed it!

  165. This was amazing. It actually made my heart beat a little faster than normal which is more than I can say for all the other creepypastas I’ve read.

  166. As a frequent victim of sleep paralysis, i connected to this story quite well. Though sleep paralysis isn’t paranormal in any way. You described how terror and helplessness feels perfectly. I really do enjoy your stories. Hats off to you, sir!

  167. Well, that’s enough creepypasta for one day. I won’t be sleeping tonight though that’s for sure.
    This story was amazing, perfect length, great writing skills, very chilling. I really hope it’s real (Not saying it’s fake or anything >___<) but yes, I enjoyed this very much. Thank you for posting such a fantastic story +9,000/10

  168. Very well executed, I like the fact that the author didn’t described it, made it much more intense.

  169. not gonna sleep with my bed against the wall anymore but this story creeped me out and i never get scared so cool

  170. Jeff the killer

    Whoa this series is really really good! it had me on the edge of my seat and I couldn’t stop reading! you should totally make this into a book dude.

  171. I read this, and at the bottom where the advert is, just after the writing, WAS AN ADVERT FOR A BED. Next to a wall, a bunk-bed and everything. Not lying, it was called Sunnyhouse (the company). I actually screamed. Good story though.

  172. Dude. If I was that kid I would have peed my pants on the first night!

    This story was VERY well written. Haaaave fuuuuUUUUUN!

  173. Aaah! God! I am now moving my bed away from my wall and sleeping with my light on. What was this abou???!!! I think i have actually pissed myself!

  174. Zed the joker insanity

    this story is strange because just a month ago the same thing happend to me the whole sleeper in bed with me thing i was at a friends house and the creature grabed me but me being 6’4 and 200 lbs built like a russian tank fought back and when i woke up thinking it was a dream there was blood in the bed but it wasnt mine

  175. wow…just wow…i loved it and i couldn’t stop reading.The word choice was amazing, very suspenseful and i couldn’t take mmy eyes off the screen.I started getting a headach i read it so intently! ten ten ten !

  176. Ben_scares_meeeee

    This was absolutely TERRIFYING!! My eyes and mouth widened with fear. I always feel this way. It scares the heck outta me! Anyways, it felt like you actually expierenced it. And I thought that letting the parents expierence it was brilliant! I would’ve never thought to do that. I really liked how you had excellent grammar! Only a few mistakes, but I could understand what you meant. Only 3 Creepypastas other than this have actually scared me. 1) BEN.wmv (I actually have Majora’s Mask which scares me even more) 2) Squidward’s Suicide 3) Spongebob’s Suicide. I EASILY give this 11/10! Lol, but anyways, I don’t think I can sleep tonight…. better turn up the One Direction and Macklemore!! Haha! <3
    -Slender Man jk lol It's Kikwi. (screen name) Btw, I'm only 12. Haha.

  177. I know I sound like a total loser but. . . I am 16 and I am very scared of the dark and any horror related thing. Yet here I am, reading this, becoming more scared than I usually am. I am glad that my younger brother shares a room with me but he sleeps in my bed, I am just seriously concerned about the other bed on the other side of the room. . . or rather, what is waiting at the bottom end of the bed.

  178. Scariest creepypasta ever… reading it, my feet went cold and I was afraid to turn around. my feet were facing the wall, too. 10 out of 10.

  179. AHH! I’m a little freaked out right now. I share a room with my sister, and I sleep on bottom bunk of our bunk bed. Oh, and I forgot to mention that our bed is right next to the wall. So yeah, I’m a little paranoid of my room right now.

  180. O.M.G. That is the best pasta I have EVER tasted. Michael Whitehouse, I take my hat off to you. I am not very easy to scare, but as I was reading this story,my brothers walked up to me and i looked up from the computer and SCREAMED! Not many people can say they’ve scared me that bad. ;)

  181. Phenomenal. Really great story. I’ve read the other submissions as well, and they are all really great. I can’t wait for your book to be released.

  182. Oh my gosh, I love this so much. It’s extremely creepy, and the ending was abrupt. I think I’ve just found my new favourite pasta. Thank you for submitting it!! 10/10

  183. this story remembers the nightmare I had that repeated for like a yr or so,when I was 5/6,I always woked up sweating &’ crying…it felt so realistic… but overall this is fantastic !

  184. This is one of the only creepypastas that actually scared me. Well done, my friend. I should of picked a better place to read this than my bed in the middle of a dark, lonely night.

  185. I wish I would’ve known more about what the thing actually was, and what it wanted. It did not seem to want to cause him harm while he was sleeping and only stirred when he was awake. Almost like a scolding parental behavior of animals in my opinion. I must also say that the kid is a trooper to put up with it for so long when the parents only lasted ten nights. All in all I love the story, it deserves the spot it is at.

  186. Corpse-Under-Your-Bed

    Okay, sir, you have officially made me terrified of my room, which is dark and creepy during the day. O-O I wll never be able to sleep, and I’m not sugar-coating you, just telling the truth. I am a Paranormal hunter, and now I will have to sleep upstairs. Mind if I write to my friend about this story? she claims nothing scares her, but your story might change that. ttylxiox

  187. “The feeling of something in that room, watching me play, waiting for the night when I would be alone; eagerly filled with hate.”

    God. That ‘eagerly filled with hate” part. The writer in me shivered in delight at your descriptions.

    Lovely story. 9.5/10.:)

  188. Great story, bad writing. Overkill on the thesaurus, unnecessary synonyms make for try-hard phrasing — and it’s obvious.

    1. I think it is a matter of taste. I’m not sitting plodding through a thesaurus while I write. My style of writing comes from what I read, and much of that comes from the Gothic, dark romanticist, and Weird Tales traditions of the 19th and early 20th centuries. It’s all about creating a sense of dread through description, mood, and foreshadowing. For some, it just isn’t what they like finding it boring and cumbersome, and I can appreciate that. But for me, I prefer reading the stories of M.R. James, Poe, LeFanu, Algernon Blackwood, Ambrose Bierce, Lovecraft and others. In my own way I try to write as they did, obviously just not as well, but all I can do is keep at it.

  189. . . . I have a bunk bed. . . I sleep on the top bunk. . . My room is tiny. . . Meh, I wasn’t planning on sleeping tonight anyway. . . Delicious Pasta. Fantastic writing style, and the immaculate grammar was a breath of fresh air. But seriously. . . I have a bunk bed, sleep on the top with a tiny room. Thank GLOB I have a roomie. . . After reading this, I think I might cry tonight remembering it. XD Second servings coming soon?

  190. When I was a kid and I lived with my grandparents I remember having a nightmare with a tall pale man in it every night for about a week and there was one night when I tried to scream to my grandpa who was awake in the other room no noise could come out..but I still think I just had some bad nightmares

  191. That was amazing, the descriptions were clear enough but also did not give every single detail and make me mored, it left just the right amount up to the imagination.

    Creepy as hell.

  192. heheheh i remember doing that to one of you’re filthy kind. poor thing commmited murder just to get out of my dwelling. note to humans…don’t go in caves.

  193. Michael I enjoyed your story immensely. Not many of these stories scare me and I almost dropped my ipad I was so nervous. You are a talented writer. Don’t give up if it gets difficult along the way to getting published. I think you will be very successful.

  194. The great use of intelectual grammar blew me away, usually you read a story and it’s like “herp a derp der was a guy in a rum teryin not tu di” but no, this was amazing

  195. If I was a mom and my child woke me up screaming every night right after he moved in a new room I would have try to do something about it. The very first thing I would do (assuming the child wouldn’t answer any questions) would be to move him back into the brothers room.

  196. Good job! I really enjoyed this story and the ending was so perfect. I wish you luck in your writing career and I hope to someday see something of yours published. I love it when I find a good writer on this website, your grammar and choice of words are flawless. Do you have other work on CreepyPasta? I would like to see it, if you do. This story is so perfectly written. The way you didn’t describe the entity in too much detail made me fear it even more. Thank you for such a great read :-)

    1. Thank you so much for the kind words. If you do a search here for ‘The Melancholy of Herbert Solomon’, ‘The Christmas Tree’, ‘Off the Beaten Path’ and ‘Pass it On’ you’ll find find other stories I’ve submitted to the site. My favourite is ‘Forgotten Valentine’, but that’s because it’s deeply personal.

      Thanks again for the support, and if you click my name you will go to my Facebook page which has everything I’ve ever posted online.

      ~ Mike

  197. worth reading every word. and its nice to see this site is still around and being contributed great stories too. im usually to late to cool things.

  198. Im very pleased to say that this is the creepiest and scariest pasta i have read in a while. thank you so much!

  199. Beautifully written with extreme suspense,and to my liking,lengthy.I have gone through traumatizing paranormal expiriences,but this one is unique in almost all ways.It’s almost hard to believe its true.But anythings possible.

  200. That feel when I experienced something alike when I was young. I’m Asian, and we used to sleep inside a net to prevent mosquitos (no idea what it’s called in English, sorry). One night, I woke up to a sound of wind, very strong wind within the room.

    It was absolutely strange as I was running an AC and there was no window in my room. I felt scared for no reason, as if I knew something. Then I tried to take a peak whilst pretending to be sleeping, and I saw the net was blown inside like there was truly a hurricane going through the room.

    My bed was against the wall, so it’s really unearthly that the net should be blown from that direction. Then something bizzare happened. And hand, more like a claw, pierced through the net. It went faster, and faster, and as I feared it grabbed my hand. I could feel how realistic it was, and I could still recall it now. It gripped my left hand tightly as if it wanted to break it. I tried to get out, and I did. I don’t know how I did it, but I broke free from that claw. I jumped and got out of the bed, accidentally threw myself onto the right-side-net and pulled the whole thing down.

    I saw it, a rotten arm with long nails like that of a zombie’s you see in games. It withdrew to the wall quickly and everything returned to its peaceful state.

    About 7 years later, we moved and the building was demolished for something else. I was expecting that a corpse would be inside that wall, but nothing. That building held much memories and mysterious tales which I’ve heard, or even experienced. But that night was the clearest and most obvious.

  201. I LOVED this! I also read the other parts of this on the link,and it was absolutely creepy! I wasn’t able to fully imagine the creatures though, but other than that it was amazing.
    9/10!

  202. I have experienced a feeling that there was a ghost in my house too! I think you’re story has very good quality overall. Please make a sequel!

  203. Writing skills are top notch. The part when the creature poked the top bunk from underneath made me wanna sh@rt my shorts.

  204. Writing skills are top notch. The part when the creature poked the top bunk from underneath made me wanna shart my shorts.

  205. The ending is great, but I would love to know what would have happened next? Did new people come to live in the house? Were they terrified too? What did the parents see? Did they understand why their child was that scared after they had slept there themselves? So many questions!

  206. oh my gosh. I have never REALLY FELT a true horror story, but with every description, every tense moment, I felt anxious. I could feel chills. I have never experienced that feeling before, but I am glad to say it was this that did it for me.

  207. Tough little bastard. Ma and Pa only lasted 10 days. But wasn’t it supposed to be afraid of his mother? Well, there was always light when she came, but she came at night, so the monster should also be repelled by artificial light too. Couldn’t he have just kept the lights on? You can still sleep with the lights on.

    Oh God.

    What if he tried that, and it didn’t work.

    He could see it.

  208. Reminds me of a rather scary situation I was in. It’s beautifully written, I really sympathized with the boy and could feel his fear. When faced with such a horrible, terrible creature as that, one can only quake with the agony that comes with a tight chest, and icy pinpricks that creep up your spine.

  209. Great detail..! I felt the tension building up as I read upon every word. The Scene, how he described it and how he reacts..! It’s simply marvelous..! An excellent job indeed..! Why sir, you should write another one~ I can not wait..!

  210. This story scared the hell out of me. Good job. Well done. Bravo. Very well written, extremely suspenseful. Perfect ending. Just a masterpiece.

  211. you left me with the thought of the creature in my mind, you never spoke of his face….yet I feel that I could tell what it is, great detail and well written. I would have loved to have known why this demon like creature wanted to harass the inhabitants of the home.

    in all though…..great story
    to bad I have bunk beds….and I sleep on top.

  212. I just can´t believe that NOBODY here got that it was his grandmother.
    She got used to his presence when in bed, so she has mistaken the boy for her husband (remember, she had dementia).
    Old people are breathing too, and cold, awkards hands are also common upon them.

    If you got that in mind, read the story again.
    It makes 100% perfect sense.
    The info about the grandma isn´t in there just for filling purposes.

    PS: I´m German, so don´t bother around with the mistakes I eventually made trying to “speak” proper english

  213. I just can´t believe nobody got that the “thing” was his grandmother, searching for her (dead) husband, thinking the boy is him (she had dementia).
    The author must be lauging his ass off.

  214. Holy crap this whole thing just scared the living hell out of me and now I can’t sleep. O_O My bed USED to be against a wall… I just moved it…. O_O

  215. I didn’t realise how much this story terrified me until I remembered that my bed is next a wall.
    Excellent job, I’m looking forward to reading the rest.

    1. Just finished braving the rest of the stories. Got goosebumps, and completely horrified. Kind of disappointed it had to end, but satisfied with the way you did it. Once again, excellent job.

  216. Amazing pasta! The room of the ghost thing reminds me of this room we had in my house before that’s very similar to your room. It was very small and enough room for a single 1person bed and some stuff.
    The “final boss”, as I’d like to call the suspenseful ending, was bone-chilling!

  217. Yup.. Well I have bunk beds, and I sleep on top, and I pictured this entire story in my room. Never sleeping again.

  218. This story was brilliant. I myself am not very good with going to sleep at night, finding the need to open my eyes and look around the room for fear of something in there undeniable. I loved the blunt ending about the parents lasting ten days, it left my heart pounding and made me feel like I’d suddenly fallen out of the air because it was obvious the horror was over.

  219. Very good. It creeps me out because it seems so genuin. I get the feeling this actually happened to you. Great job

  220. Wow. I read the whole five parts of your story and I must say my body was tense throughout my entire reading of it. Super creepy pasta!

  221. This is nothing short of absolutely incredible. Had me hooked until the end. The thing I love about it is, that you can get so fucking paranoid as to WHAT that thing is, you can psyche yourself out over this. Imagination, dude. The brain is a bitch.
    Also love the fact that it’s based around the narrator’s childhood. SO many terrifying things can happen in the most seemingly innocent time of your life. It’s ALWAYS creepy to read a childhood based pasta.

    So, needless to say, 10/10

  222. Now this is a great story. So much left unsaid. So much left to the mind. What? Why? How? The whole last part about the parents being scared of it was not only eerie but also kinda funny.

  223. There were a few mistakes here and there, but only a few. It took my attention away from the story very shortly, but the story quickly got my attention back on track. I enjoyed the plot and the intensity of the writing, but I do wish you wouldn’t have made separate spaces for single words like “Ghost.” Also, your exclamation points seemed to be childish at some points. I liked it a lot and gave it a 10/10 even thought it’s a 9/10

  224. Oh Gawd! So far the most tasty, creepy, creepypasta ive read its really thrilling and somewhat mysterious cause of the unwanted bedmate’s unkown details and unkown reason to why it has to pull you into a cold wall and let it devour you fully. Nice tasty pasta my freind I wish I could eat more from you.

  225. Libby/SnivyTheRuler

    marvolous exellent! thank you for thank very wonderful creepy pasta! very creepy indeed. I love how you describe your thoughts and the scene and everything! good sir I give you OVER 9000/10 no actually OVER infinity/10! I enjoyed this very much

  226. Perfect ten, wouldn’t change a thing. Best horror story I’ve read in a long time. I enjoyed the rest of the series immensely, but this one stole the show.

  227. This MUST be a movie. I would love to see an actual intellectual ghost movie. All the “ghost” movies being made lately haven’t offered an intriguing and frightening plot line in years. MUST BE A MOVIE!! Send this to a director or something, I dunno, but it must be soon!!

  228. Bloody hell that story was fantastic, I read it thinking that I wouldn’t be scared. I was very wrong. Walls will never be the same for me ever again. Well done. =D

  229. My favorite story from this website is Psychosis, but this… I believe that this may be the scariest story I’ve ever read. It’s winter at the time that I am writing this, and my bed is pushed up against the wall, and I don’t think I’ll survive the night…

    1. Libby/SnivyTheRuler

      nudges friend slender man.

      slender man look it’s that beautiful face looking Jeff The Killer

      *nervous laugh*

  230. @#*% that was scary… omg i need to get a cross right now and i live next to s church but no sir im not taking and chances. preist i need you to purify cross…..

  231. Absolutely amazing. It simply gripped my wits and sent chills down spine, and with the remains of feeling like someone is watching you when you are not looking. Tell me; did you come up with this on the spot, or did you plan, revise, proofread, revise, etc? What was your method of going about this? 10/10 stars from me, sir.
    This has for sure earned my respect of you, and just after one pasta, so I will definitely have to go read your other stuff after I submit this comment.
    Farewell, and keep writing, for Satan’s ballsack’s sake! :D

  232. This story… Wow … It really grabbed on and shook me to the bone. I am currently also planning on being an author, and this gave me so many pointers on how to really make an intense story. It’s just wow I can’t even explain how much I enjoyed this story. Of course being a 14 year old female, I’m frightened very easily, so tonight I am actually afraid to sleep in my bed by the wall haha but anyway this story was thoroughly amazing and I would love to read this in a published book with other gripping tales. :) best of luck to your career!

  233. I’m 13 and I’m honestly terrified of the dark. I loved your story, but now I can’t help thinking about how my bed is pressed against two walls, and a window. But anyway, keep it up, I’m loving it(:

  234. This story was incredibly amazing. The story had a good plot and creeped me out. I might not sleep tonight. The fact that this thing was in the wall was a great way to make this even more interessting. I believe you deserve this rating. 10/10

  235. I love your story! It was so creepy that I had to play Zelda music in the background to keep me from going insane. This is off topic but are you a lucid dreamer by any chance? It could be a false awakening maybe?

  236. This is by far the best story I had ever read I hope you write more. You are a wonderful writer, keep it up!!!! Great story!!!!

  237. Right as I finished this, the sun rose.
    Thank. God.
    But I’m not sleeping tonight. :P 10/10, man. Holy freaking shit. Completely terrifying. Reminded me of the Grudge, a little. This rocked.

  238. Fuck me, 10/10. I will never sleep against the wall again, and that used to be the only place I COULD sleep! :'( Never turning the lights out ever again for the rest of my life. Cuddles will never be the same…and I have asthma attacks in the night sometimes…

  239. That was such a mesmerizing story. I was glued to my computer the whole time. I, for a second, was truly glad I got rid of my bunkbed in the summer.

  240. This was good… But I’m terrified of the dark. I have to sleep with a lava lamp on all night. I sleep on a bunk bed with a printer underneath and it’s against a wall. All I can really say right now is that I have myself for reading this story.

  241. "Who’s there? Just come out so that I can faint easily." I usually keep thinking these now when I go to sleep. Your story rejuvenated my fear of darkness. Really…it was awesomely written…

  242. I thought the ghost was going to be his brother because he missed sharing a room with his younger brother, but when I read the ending I was a disappointed. The end needed a twist to it.

  243. I feel your pain deeply, once i was a person, but now being used and abused, i live in a dusty corner of a science classroom. miss sandeep bruces classroom.
    i am a science skeleton,yes you heard me. i am possessed by menacing llamas in hates, very splendid hats if i say so myself.

    lots of love, BOB DE SKITUN 2K12 xoxo

  244. Wow, this’ll make a great story to tell my friends. :) But really, truly a spine-chilling story.

    I’ve read nothing like it. 10/10

  245. Plenty of spelling and grammar issues along with questionable sentence structure and word choice. As for the overall effect, I’ve left scarier things in my toilet.

    2/10

  246. Omg im 14 and i sleep in a tiny room of my own, on the top bunk of a bunk bed pressed against the wall, this brought out all the perspectives i have during the night and totally wrecked my sleeping pattern, well done :D

    10/10

  247. well… i read this last night and got no sleep and dreamt about it, my bed is in the corner pushed up against two walls :( very very good and creepy!

  248. brings back every fear I had when I was little! I believe it is so good because you’re playing on a real fear that almost everyone has experienced first hand. Amazing job, truly scary!

  249. This was insanely creepy and awesome. Loved every bit of it. My bed is pushed against my wall, and I’m seriously considering moving it to the middle of my room haha.

    Thanks for the fun read!

  250. verry few stories on hear give me chills and make my hair stand on end like this one does. verry well written and i hope to see more from this author

  251. Very good story, i have had something like that kinda happen it can out of the office closet that is a cross the hall and it felt like there was someone in the room then my tv turned off. just to say good story, much scary than any movie not kiding good job

  252. Hi everyone. I’m so glad you have all enjoyed the first part of ‘Bedtime’. Some of you may be aware that I have been working on a collection of stories called ‘Bedtime and Other Tales of Terror’ including a much expanded novella based on this story.

    I have had to resort to crowd funding to get the book published, and I would really appreciate anyone who enjoyed this story checking it out, or sharing the page on Facebook etc. You can find it here: http://www.indiegogo.com/bedtime?a=238140

    If I can reach my target I’m hoping I can get the book released in time for Christmas. As always, thank you for all of your support and fantastic feedback. It means a great deal to me.

  253. Amazing! This is the kind of story that grabs those strings on my heart and pulls down hard. It also keeps my eyes wide and open until they ebgin to sting with dryness.

  254. This is creepy for so many reasons. I had childhood nightmares about a similar incident. I believed it just to be dreams (many of them were) but one night, the exact same thing happened to me….I got away, and never felt it’s grasp again…this is freaking me out!

  255. WOW! that is one fucking scary story! permission to send it to the yogscast for their halloween spack-2-cular thingy? this will freak a million people! (unless they mess around!) but i believe this is THE most scary story i have ever seen, and it seems to true to be a lie. i am usually the kind to deny ghosts and horrost and even god, ALL gods, but this is one detailed story so i HAVE to believe it! thank you for the amazing pleasure of your story Michael Whitehouse. (just letting you know, i had a distinctly simmilar experience where it was a more rotten coloured creature about a few inches tall and slept on my face every night for a whole year, i grew quite fond of it after a while, but that was a long time ago…) My rating for this pro story is 101/100

      1. thanks, i just sent them a message on facebook asking them to email me for it. (i put in credit towards you btw and the website)

  256. This story is terrifying to me. It reminds me of a nightmare I once had when I was a kid. The air in my room became thick with darkness and a loud wheezing sound was coming from my walls.

  257. Wow, this was actually incredibly good. Those years when you are a child in a dark room are already bad enough, then I read this and it just freaks me out. I don’t scare easily as well, but this pasta sent a few shivers down my spine. Good pasta, I would however like to know why the presence is acting the way it is, or why it felt so mangled. But you deserve a 9.5 out of 10, could have used just a minuscule amount of information more and it would have been perfect.

  258. Well damn…
    Awesome story, I don’t know how I’m going to sleep tonight cause I have a bunk bed, next to the wall, next to a window… I’m so dead! XD

  259. Wow dude something like this happend to me in reallife my father was not at home and sleeped in his bed. The first night nothing happend I just thought there were just some rats (his bed is under the roof and there is a little room behind it were you cant go in). At the second night I woked up because my laptop was shaking behind me (I know it doesn’t sound creepy but it was)it shaked like someone was under the bed and poking it. I grabed it and it stops I was just froozen and couldn’d move, nothing more happend that night. On the third night nothing happend but when I want to go up something felt down upstairs and the light go off this night i sleeped in my bed. But something woked me up i just saw something was staring at me from the other side of the room i just stared back until it was gone that was the last night something happend but i was scared every night I went sleeping.
    Greetings from Germany RobertS. (this really happend)

  260. I am completely terrified at the coincidence I experienced while reading this. Firstly I am in the top bunk of a bunk bed with a window next to my head facing my back yard. My room is too at the back of my house and I can faintly here the television from my parent’s room across the hall. The parts that frightened me though are that when I was first reading about the creature my brother tossed momentarily below. The other instance is that when I read that it was in your bed my cat jumped up into MY bed at that very moment. I am thouroughly frightened.

  261. That…was…amazing. No words can describe this, nor the fear I felt as I read this. It was as though I was there! I could feel, hear, and see EVERYTHING going on. Unfortunately, my bed is against a wall…

  262. i think this may be one of the greeates creepy pastas iv read. i saw a few mispellings like "actually" but all in all you nailed it. good job!

  263. Outstanding!! I kept looking around my apartment as I read this story and the sun is nowhere finished with the day yet. Hope to read more from you!!

  264. Michael:
    Fantastic job of capturing our interest early on and holding it throughout. Great suspense. Eerie setting. Masterful command of language. Well done sir!

  265. This was outstanding- this is coming from one of the most objective and difficult writers you’ll meet. It was fantastic! The last sentence certainly sent the message.

  266. What a gem of a story. I do not think I have ever read one that has garnered so much response from me (and I’m a HUGE Stephen King fan). I lost count of how many times I gasped and said "OH MY GOD". Please, post more!

  267. Wow. You have no idea how closely this (very well-written) story follows my own experiences as a child. Not that I actually encountered a ghost or a creature or whatever, but when I was very young, the house we moved into…something about it just terrified me when I tried to sleep at night. I’d have nightmares and I’d see things in the dark, and I was just terrified to fall asleep. Even my parents talk about how bad things were for me in that house, and none of us are sure why. They had to actually install an external lock to my door, though, to keep me from leaving my room at night. I vaguely remember banging on that door sometimes, crying and screaming that I didn’t want to be in there.

    Nowadays, I do sleep better, but I think my experiences in that room, whatever they were – knowing what we know now about things like infrasound, it was probably something like that which caused my nightmares and such in that house – led to all of my current sleep disorders. I find it very difficult to fall asleep at night and I put it off for a long time, not out of fear, I just havea lot of trouble falling asleep. I also have frequent bouts of sleep paralysis, which, as you can iamgine, is just lovely.

    Anyways, it was a great story and it resonated with me on a personal level considering my own terror of bedtime as a child.

  268. This is honestly the most terrifying thing ive ever read…not only because its so well written and suspenceful but also cause it reminds me of when i was 8 and after moving slept in my own room after a few weeks one night i was woken by my closet shaking as if there was an earthquake but it was the only thing shaking i layed there for 5 minutes so scared i couldnt even move after those 5 minutes i ran strait to my moms room (wich luckily was close) and ive never slept in there again xD i event blocked off the closet i still remember how scarey that was :,c anywho that was amazing

        1. I have had several things happen in my room when I occasionally woke up in the middle of the night for a couple of minutes where I was asleep but knew what was going on

  269. A very well written Creepypasta.
    This truly is a terrifying story, but I wish I could know what the creature wanted or how did it look like.
    Regardless, 10/10
    BEST PASTA EVER

  270. Actually I’m not that into supernatural stuff. But this one – to sum it up – was simply WOW! Couldn’t stop reading. Also I just HAD to follow the link to the follow-up-stories). Will comment as soon as they are uploaded here as well.

    For this part: 10/10

  271. I loved this one. I wish there were details on the appearance of the creature though. But I guess it adds to the mysteriousness. 10/10

    1. Thank you, I’m really glad you enjoyed it. This is the first story in a 5 parter. As soon as Creepypasta.com starts taking submissions again I will send them in. If you click my name it’ll take you to my Facebook where the rest of my stories are :)

      1. The experience you described is almost exactly the same as what I went through as a child, except mine was accompanied by sleep paralysis and I didn’t tell anyone or even let on that I was having nightmares until many years later. If you know any more about the science/superstition behind this, I would greatly appreciate any info you could pass on to me.

  272. There were a few times when I was reading and suddenly I realized I wasn’t breathing. The suspense really made me only want to keep reading. What brought me out of my trance, however, was that you kept using the word “breath.” You used it so much, and at times you meant “breathe.” There is a difference. I might have passed out if not for those few errors. Just might want to do one more run through when checking your stories. Other than that, bravo.

    I also look forward to a story with a villain who maybe has a motive and an explanation for why it is doing these things. Who knows, I might write one, then someone can criticize me.

    1. I felt the exact same thing. While reading I found my breathing pattern changing over and over. Never have I read such a short story that put me in this kind of trance. I like this a lot. I think I’ll spread it around a little.

  273. WOW WOW WOOOOW! I loved it! The ghoul kind of reminded me of an old Are You Afraid of the Dark monster that lived in the walls. I used to be utterly terrified of that idea! Now you’ve managed to reignite that fear with 10X more intensity! This story was AMAZING! Your writing is so professional! I can’t wait to read more of your stories!

    1. Thank you, it means a lot to me when people enjoy my stories. I am currently trying to become a professional writer. I’ll be self publishing my first collection online called ‘Bedtime and Other Tales of Terror’ soon. Fingers crossed I can get a publisher interested in it. If not, then I’ll just write for the love of it :)

      1. I pity the person who doesn’t see the gift and potentail you have. This story is far greater than most horror stories or even movies. This story alone, is even greater than the horror story series that I’m making! You Deserve a pat on the back!

  274. This scared the hell out of me. My brother and I had bunk beds when were kids, and this totally brought back the fear I used to have that something on the upper bunk was going to lean over and get me at night. Of course I never felt that comfortable when we’d switch beds, either…

  275. Very good! So well written and detailed, truly creeped me out as I read this laying in my bed pressed up against the wall with my window nearby at 3 in the morning! Very nice job sir, hope to see more from you :)

  276. Holy fucking shit. This was absolutely terrifying. This made me very uneasy. I have always hated sleeping alone in the dark, and this drew in all of those fears. I’m 24 years old, and I will still undoubtedly be sleeping with the door open. Dear lord. Bravo. Really, good form. ten out of fucking ten.

  277. That was fantastic. Incredible vocabulary and use of basic mechanics. You have written a truly great suspenseful pasta. 10/10 easily.

    1. iphone pretzel

      O god that is scary.
      BUT I LOVE THE RUSSIAN SLEEP EXPIREMENT YAA
      i am so weirdos i like reading pastas JUSTA GET SCARED.
      I know i cant spell well

    1. just finished reading this story and all the follow-ups, and i am in awe. i don’t think i’ve been this creeped out in a while. excellent work!

    2. This was sooo good! By the way you wrote this it really makes it sound like an experience you actually had.

  278. im 14 and hate the dark and i don’t think i can sleep to night … my bead is pushed up to the wall thank you for reigting this thow .

        1. Eeople who don’t have English as a native language usually have spelling and grammar down if they have English as a second language. Plus, he was not careful with his eyes and things of that nature, so you can assume he was just being careless and lazy, like most 14 year olds. (and yes, I am 14 as well).

        2. I’m 15, English is my second language and I really don’t see how this has anything to do with grammar and spelling…

    1. Same with me. I don’t like what’s in the dark, not necessarily the dark, too. My bed’s pushed up to the wall too.

  279. Very well written. Definitely suspensful. It left me wanting more. I wish there would have been some sort of explanation as to what this thing was or why it was harassing the inhabitants of that room, but I guess no knowing it part of the charm.

    Overall, very well done. You got a 9/10 from me.

        1. iphone pretzel

          Gonna read.
          Not gonna sleep.
          My bed is in front of wall,
          It faces a wall.?????

      1. Michael Whitehouse:
        I’m very glad you enjoyed it. There are four follow up stories to this one. You can read them on Wattpad http://www.wattpad.com/story/1881119-bedtime-watty-awards-2012 or on No Sleep http://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/xzyzc/bedtime_part_2/

        I will submit them to Creepypasta.com shortly :)

        damn dude I would send you money for these if I wasn’t completely broke… O.O

        Anonymous:
        wow im reading this at night. great

        same here and it’s emh… “thundering?” and raining like crazy here…

    1. wow oh wow,

      i just wonder how,

      the wurds fall in place like a sillohuet of kitty cats,

      jelly fish wearin’ its hat,

      mad hatter!,

      more like a rad hatter,

      out to all the ghosts!

        1. That was the most horrifying story ever this aint fake like that SLENDERMAN dis is real ive always been scared of sleaping but now its nice but this story has blown my mind

        2. Trent Mcmindes

          Yeah at first i didn’t understand what that meant by lasting 10 days but then I realised they couldn’t taken it anymore

        1. There is no such thing as “slendersickness”. Just the effects of his power over you, making you weak.

        2. Give me the right
          Area code, and a number
          I can use
          Directory don’t have it
          Central done forgot it
          Got to find a number to use

      1. What you just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I’ve ever heard. At no point, in your rambling incoherent response, were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this comments section is now dumber for having read it. I award you no upvotes and may God have mercy on your soul.

    2. Ha! Thats just a classic poltergeist. Just a man with a magic box. There no ghost or poltergeist, just a desperado with a little special tool. Aka juses sayten..

    3. My house is over 200 years old. When I move into the spare room like you, this happened to me too, but It tried to Push me off the top bunk and onto the floor. As my pillow fell down, i swear, it went though the floor! It was tugging me to the ground! I passed out as it grabbed my neck and touched my cheek, almost like you. I woke to the sound of my father knocking on the door, and as he was about to take a step in the room with the floor, I screamed stop, and he did as I said. I threw another pillow down. Nothing. He came in asking what was happening.
      I swear this is true. About a month later I found the pillow that went through the floor. It was in the basement, covered in blood and scratches. My mother wondered what happened to it and just threw it out. Nothing since then happened to me. I still live in that room, though now I have a carpet where the so called beast seemed to appear from

        1. Well I can’t attest to the above story, but I’ve heard a story from an acquaintance of mine that was about exactly the same type of thing. normally I’d discount such nonsense, but the look that accompanied the story was dead serious in a way that couldn’t be dismissed so easily. Of course sleep paralysis and waking nightmares could be an explanation, this is one of the more believable creepypastas
          I’ve read.

      1. Thankfully God has mercifully kept me from ever having experiencing something so horrific…But when I was younger, I had a dream. I was lying in the top bunk of a bunk bed, which was strange considering I had long ago given those up, I was sleeping, cuddling someone. But something made me realize it wasn’t someone but something. Just some dark, featureless creature aside from two mouths full of sharp teeth for a face. We struggled and I cast it off my bed where it fell into this gaping hole in my floor that I knew was Hell. As much as I’d like to say it was just a nightmare… Just thinking about it brings these feelings that tell me that maybe it wasn’t.

        1. something like that happened to me yet when i was 5.there was rustling of papers coming from under my desk witch was across from me since i lived in a long narrow room like you and sometime a pressure from under my bed came feeling like a small hand witch scared me when i heard how similar your story was.

        2. i dont get it why dont people believe it….paranormal activities are real nothing is fake….believe your eyes….believe your mind….believe whats in front of you…take a closer look

      2. Hi, sorry for the people that do not believe you, but I do, because I have seen things in my house. This is why I do not go to sleep without music, because then I can block the sound out, but I have seen people in my house and shadows and I even had a dream of my mom dating my ex step dad 3 years before she deforced my dad. I have also heard a kid laughing at me while I am doing chores….. No one in my family, but my sis and mom, believe me….. Mom has felt them and sis has had things move around…. But anyway I just wanted to say I believe you.

        1. Generic Internet Commenter

          I know exactly how you feel. Its hard to explain and almost unbelievable. But two years ago I was in my house alone. I was doing homework when I heard a sound come from the kitchen downstairs. At first I thought oh my parents are home. I went to go say hi but when I went down there. Nobody was there. Then about a week later I took a picture of the kitchen are since we were selling the house and something caught my eye. I saw the face of what seemed like a teenage girl in the window. I got paranoid at that time and asked my mother why that appeared. She thought I was ready and told me that for years ive been followed by a teenage girl. That she is suppose to be my guardian angel and appears when bad stuff is going to happen to me. I thought it was a load of crap since nothing happened. I saw here several times throughout my years but didnt give any attention to it. But 2 years passed and since I share a room with my little brother we have a bunk bed. One night it was like 3 am, I awoke to the sound of rustling. I thought my brother was just moving around but what scared me was that we sleep with our door closed but it was open. Once my eyes adjusted to the dark I could swe through the crack the silhouette of the girl there watching me. Since I got use to her I didnt scream I just closed the door and went back to bed. Now heres the scary part. Like the story my bed was next to the wall. I started feeling somw scratching on my arm and someone pulling me. Thats when I wanted to scream but my voice was muffled. No scream came out. I struggled to pull myself away from the grasp. Eventually I did and I couldnt see exactly what it was except for a hand that was going back into hiding. I turn and see the girl standing in front of my window motionless. Lets just say I start paying more attention to when I see her around. Thats my horrifying experience.

      3. Whoa…. That’s just…. whoa. Put up pentacles and triquetras, along with other Wiccan protection symbols… they really work, I promise. Crucifixes, not so much, but they can’t hurt you if you use a Wiccan protection symbol such as a triquetra.

        1. I have a bunk bed and i sleep in the bottom and its against the wall……shoot…..

    4. I do love this story and it’s ending, but I thought it would have been cool if the author found out at the end that his mother knew about the “ghost” the whole time, yet she still slept on the bottom bunk, enduring the ghostly embrace, so that the author could sleep at night.

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