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Theo Twining



Estimated reading time — 3 minutes

This is the tale of an incident that occurred to me a few years ago, when I was a younger man, and convinced that the world was exactly as I saw it, and worked exactly as I was told it worked.

I had just finished my undergraduate degree at a college I shall not name, in the middle of Wales. Though my degree was interesting enough, I really wanted to leave behind the books and the academia, and immerse myself in the study and practical research of the paranormal. Though my funds were slight, at best, and my student loan needed repaying, on returning to London, I placed an advertisement in my local gazette, asking for anyone who had experienced paranormal phenomena, and didn’t mind talking about it to give me a call. I couldn’t offer anything in the way of a reward for their troubles, but I did promise to buy them a drink or two while we talked over what they had experienced.

It didn’t take long for me to receive my first and only caller, and to be honest, I was quite surprised that my ad had this much success. But I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. The call came while my mobile was turned off, but a number had been left on voicemail, and a few days later, I called back. I didn’t want to respond immediately, though I don’t know why. Perhaps I wanted to seem more professional. Like I had a hundred people on a waiting list or something.

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Anyway, I called the next evening, and was greeted by the voice of a young man, who identified himself as Theo Twining. I asked if we could meet, but he declined, with a dry and solemn chuckle. I told him that it didn’t matter, and that we could conduct the conversation just as easily by telephone. Perhaps he was shy, I told myself. His situation was this:

Since about two weeks ago, he (and he paused for a good minute or two before recanting his tale, repeatedly telling me that I would think him stupid) had started to see worms, regular earthworms, across his path. I at first thought him a little bit paranoid before I heard the particulars of the tale. Not just outside, not just crossing his path, but in all manner of places. If he made a cup of coffee, there would be an earthworm, dried and boiled at the bottom of the cup. When he woke, he woke to find himself covered with five or six of them, and when he sat at his desk, they would crawl toward him from beneath the monitor screen, and from under his keyboard. He told me of how he lived in a neat-ish studio apartment on the third floor, and how this only happened very recently.

I listened to all he said with a rapt silence, alternating between deep fascination and a nagging guilt. I was finding such thrill in hearing this tale while Theo was undeniably suffering over it. Naturally quite hooked on his story at this point, I asked again if we could meet. Maybe he was more at ease with me now? But he seemed even less inclined now to meet. However, he did promise that he would call the next day. We agreed that I could take the call at 7pm, after I got home from work.

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I work in a not-so-busy estate agent’s, so I spent most of the next day’s office hours mulling over what he had told me, and even went as far as to run an internet check on Theo Twining. What I found made revulsion rise in the pit of my stomach, a hot and acidic feeling of sickness. I don’t know for how long I sat there, still and shocked, until a co-worker shook me out of it, asking me if I was okay. It was all I could do to lie, though before me the screen gave details on Theo Twining.

A young man of (…), the same area of London in which I lived, had committed suicide in his apartment two weeks ago. The obituary and funerary notice was in the very same paper in which my advertisement appeared. I ditched my mobile as soon as I could, tossing it into a hedge, and I took the next few days off work. I went off to visit friends, not wanting to be alone.

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As of writing this, I am studying for a master’s degree in my undergraduate subject. I never tried to investigate the paranormal again, after that. The world doesn’t work the way I am told it does.

Credited to [email protected]

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76 thoughts on “Theo Twining”

  1. I felt underwhelmed. It was a very good plot, and the last paragraph really closed it, but I wish that there were more details. It all seemed to end too quickly. Good job on the story, I really hope you try to make this a longer story. Email me if you ever get the chance to make it a longer story, the more details, the better!

  2. This is my first time on this site and I clicked random pasta and this came up my name is Theo so that creeped me out enough

  3. I hate to be the tool that says, “Is this real?” but,… is it? Because if it isn’t, 10/10 for realism. Why would someone just end a made up story like that? No follow up, no ‘…and from that day on I was plagued by worms’ crap, just, “NOPE!”. I mean, if it is real, it was probably someone messing with him but if it’s made up it’s either a bit odd or really, really convincing. Either way, I like it.

  4. I feel bad for Theo, all he wanted was to chat with this guy, but the guy turned out to have something against the undead and just stopped talking to him. Poor Theo :,(

  5. I hate it when people complain when something is predictable so it’s not as good. Lol with these stories we kinda instinctively map out the possibilities so it’s hard to do a simple tale with a twist you don’t expect.

    Like the first commenter here who KNEW the Theo guy was paranormal somehow. Well no shit. Hindsight bias also plays a role sometimes.

    Anywho. About the story, I figured he was died but I liked the story as something new for a few reasons. The worm thing seemed really random (which is maybe why the writer avoided maggots which is more fitting as people mentioned) so I found that interesting. I also thought it was an interesting twist on the usual new ghost experience when they don’t realize they’re dead. Lastly, somebody people didn’t like this but I really liked the narrator’s extreme reaction.

  6. And that’s the story of how I found an ad in the newspaper and called it with a fake name I got in the obituaries!

  7. I swear I once read a Goosebumps novel with a really similar plot, except it was the narrator being plagued by worms.

  8. So, wait.

    The protagonist wanted a paranormal case, knowing that he would be dealing with spirits or the undead.

    The protagonist got a paranormal case that did not seem to involve spirits or the undead, so the protagonist kept the case.

    The protagonist researched the paranormal case like any other paranormal-detective(forgot the name ><) would do.

    Immediately afterwards the protagonist dumped his paranormal case.

    What the hell.

    3/10

  9. In my opinion, it would have been much scarier if the narrator had begun seeing worms at the end.

    Fear the Darkness

    -Nex

  10. Why would he ditch his cell? He’s talking to the living dead! And how many opportunities does one have for that kind of experience? Well, now, if Theo was gonna come and eat you or spread his earthworm friends onto you, then yes, ditching your cell was a good move.

    Nicely written pasta. The ending needs more trimming though. Something NEEDS to happen in order for us to get creeped out by the pasta.

  11. Ahhh…
    This one took me a minute. My initial reaction was, “Why not maggots?” After all, it would be maggots devouring a corpse rotting in a studio flat, not earthworms.
    But it makes sense now that I think about it. My only remaining question is however did Theo get a telephone down there?!

  12. For some reason, I feel the fellow in this story is scared a little too easily. Being the logistical person that I am, I’m sure my mind would have come to this conclusion should this have happened to me:
    The ad was placed in the same newspaper as the information about this Theo fellow’s death. Obviously, the person calling was trolling the Narrator by pretending to be said Theo.

    Am I the only one who came to this conclusion?

  13. This is for some reason creeped me out, but then the ending was a let down. He just threw his phone away and is now attending school again? Not remotely interesting for an ending but the dead guy calling was creepy.

  14. I didn’t think this was predictable. Maybe it was for the first few people, but the rest just sound like bandwagon hoppers…

    Oh and guys, he was reaching out because the guy placed the ad in the same paper that Theo’s obit appeared in. :P The story even spells that out directly for you. Just sounds like Theo wanted to answer an ad is all.

  15. but isnt the point of the story the fact that Theo himself doesn’t even know he’s dead? the earthworms are just supposed to be a subtle clue that he is obviously buried, maybe maggots would have been too obvious. i liked it, but i’ll have to rethink my position on life if earthworms (or maggots) start crawling out from under my computer screen…

  16. I liked this story, but it should have been maggots, not worms. Maggots freak people out a lot worse (not me, I’m a “bug” nerd) and are actually scavengers of corpses.

    Yes, this will come as a shock to many people, but earthworms don’t eat dead bodies. They can’t digest meat and won’t attempt to eat it no matter how rotten it is.

  17. I don’t get it. If he was a zombie then why did he keep seeing earthworms instead of maggots? If he’s a ghost then why did earthworms keep following him?

  18. I didn’t find it creepy but i very much enjoyed it. I love pasta that has the potential to actually be true and I see several ways this one could be for example: Someone buys the paper reads it sees an add for someone requesting paranormal stories, then checks the obituaries and finds a suicide and decides to make a prank call…I dunno but I liked this one. =)

  19. Am I the only one who didn’t find it predictable? Maybe its because I’m sick and hungover….

    Good read, I say. Not very creepy, but good read.

  20. Wow, daily stories added at such a fast rate, I’m impressed. Theo Twining sounds quite like a roleplaying character, maybe a necromancer?

  21. i liked the beginning, but the ending ruinrd it, maybe, if they wemt into more details about the worms, or him being a ghost, or even made the worms follow the narrator, anything to set upspme climax and tone

  22. Well-written and interesting, but not that creepy in my opinion, as, unlike pastas that I do find creepy, the subject matter of this pasta doesn’t affect me personally or appeal to home-alone late-at-night superstitious paranoia (such as mirrors – creepypasta has made me fucking hate mirrors >.<).

  23. But who was suicidal kid on phone?

    Also I really thought this was going somewhere interesting because it was a little long and the worm thing looked like it was progressing.
    Then suddenly BOOM GHOST KID!
    Sort of ruined it for me, but I have to admit it was pretty well executed.

  24. saw the end coming, and it was a bit too quick. as in, the beginning was well thought out and then the ending was just really quick like ‘oh by the way, i’m dead.’ the end.
    why did theo kill himself i wonder? and what made him want to reach out? =\

    this was ok though, these pastas have been better written i must say.

    oh, and now i wonder what a boiled earthworm looks like.

  25. The person formerly known as 'Noneya'

    Huh.

    It reminded me of a n00b gettingcaught in something bigger than himself.

    That was the paranormal world in general saying ‘Buddy, youve got no clue as to what youre dealing with.’

  26. I would have to say that this was indeed a bit predictable. Maybe I’m reading too many of these. Or not enough! In any event, by the third paragraph I thought to myself “he’s dead!” and he was! Worms were a nice touch though, as despite the predictability, I was still unsettled.

  27. My first comment on this site, having only started coming here yesterday.

    A bit predictable, especially considering the fact that Theo didn’t want to meet in person. I knew the instant I read about the ad that someone who was paranormal in some way would respond.

    Overall, though, it was reasonably well written, but there was virtually no tension.

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