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Awakening



Estimated reading time — 2 minutes

You’re awoken from a dreamless sleep by a dull thud from the hallway. Your eyes snap open and fix instantly on the door. What made that noise? Breathing hard, fear beginning to twitch in your mind, you realise with a shiver that you’ve kicked your duvet off in your sleep. You quickly grab it, pull it around you and unconsciously begin to tuck it around yourself tightly as you curl up, leaving no part exposed. You become a warm, safe ball: coiled, leaving only a small gap between the duvet and mattress so you can see out, pillows becoming shields between your head and the wall. You are briefly reminded of your childhood, hiding from imaginary bogeymen. But this feels more palpable, more dangerous.

Another thud. This time, it seems louder, deeper, coming from just outside. Trying to keep calm, you run through all the things it Has To Be: the pipes in the wall, which have been groaning for weeks now, with ever-increasing frequency and urgency (they were never this deep or this loud). The blind in the bathroom, left to flap by an open window (you double-check all the doors and windows each night). Perhaps it’s your parents, returning late and drunk (they’re away on a cruise for another week). Your cat, prowling through the house at night (you put it out that evening). Despite all your desperate reassurances, you feel the fear turn to panic, and you pull the duvet tighter around yourself, reducing your field of vision to a thin chink.

Another. The loudest yet, just inches from your door. Your churning brain conjures images straight from your childhood nightmares – masked psychopaths, giant spiders, shape shifting creatures: amalgamations of bone and gristle, twitching their way across the floor, scrabbling with twisted limbs for the door handle, then scuttling in with a burst of speed, claws grasping for your quivering body.

Another. Your breathing is hoarse and shallow now, mere gasps in a suddenly dry throat, lungs closing up, stomach churning and roiling, eyes wide and fixed. Your blanket is still tucked vice-like around you, your body pinioned underneath its futile protection, just inches of cotton between you and whatever is about to burst in, eyes burning, talons gleaming dully, to claim its prize.

Suddenly, in a flash of realisation, you realise what the source of the noises is: the old, falling-apart bookcase in the corridor. One of the legs must have given way, and the tilt is tipping books one by one onto the floor. As you listen carefully, you can hear the quiet riffle of the pages as another tumbles to the ground. There ought to be one last thud and… yes. Silence once more descends, and with it, a soothing calm.

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As you sink back into sleep, you glance around the room, still snugly cocooned, seeing the vague shapes becoming defined as your night vision improves. Your desk, chair and television all emerge out of the murk, imposing good, sane reality on the void of night. Then, just before you shut your eyes, you see something that makes the bottom of your stomach drop away into nothingness.

There, on the floor, is your duvet.

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Your screams are muffled.


Credited to foreverandever.

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Copyright Statement: Unless explicitly stated, all stories published on Creepypasta.com are the property of (and under copyright to) their respective authors, and may not be narrated or performed under any circumstance.

151 thoughts on “Awakening”

  1. let us fix this…..and then i realized that i had another spare blanket because it was winter and i was cold

  2. I… Have the the strange urge to burn my blanket now. This story is gonna freak the living shit out of anyone reading this in their bed.

  3. William M. Buttlicker

    Why you gotta bash the duvet monster? He jus wanna cuddle….

    Also, I would like 1 million dollars worth of paper.

  4. Things like this make me glad that 911 now has readily available texting hotlines. I don’t understand how anyone being attacked by a blanket monster, or a creepy bookshelf that goes thump in the night, could call for help on a phone without being heard and lunged at.
    But since the thing was on him/her the whole time, that wouldn’t have been possible either most-likely..

  5. @Acid: I am so glad I am not the only one who thought, “Lethifold.” Those things are highly dangerous!!

  6. I actually quite enjoyed this one. It reminded me of the exercises that my therapist would read to me, in an attempt to come me down; though, naturally, this has the opposite effect. Good job.

  7. Come on, guys. All we want are hugs. :( I’ll have you know that Haley (person in story) understood after my husband explained. She just posted this for fun. So if this happens to you, chill. We are actually pretty warm.

    ~Love,
    Mrs. Christi Duvet <3

  8. I had to read several comments to figure out what happened at the end. That sort of takes the suspense out of it but doesn’t necessarily ruin anything, especially when reading it again. Therefore, I say very good.

  9. I thought this was pretty well written. Although I took a couple of minutes to figure out what a “Duvet” was, my mind running blank for a moment. I then figured out what it was. But then as i read comments I got stuck on the word “comfortor”. Figured out what that was in the end too. The only word I use is Blanky.
    But It really was good, I enjoyed the fact that the Author started going one way, then did a complete U turn in another direction, it caught me off guard just a touch. Enough that I wanted to give a single clap for putting thought into the story.

  10. I have my blanket and comforter around my legs right now

    Mind you, it is day time, so I can actually clearly see that it isn’t a monster…

    Anyways, thinking about it, there are a few explanations as to why the narrator lasted through the whole story. Maybe the monster was asleep, and was slowly waking up due to the character panicking. Or maybe its digestive system take a while to get going, requiring the warmth of its prey to fully warm it up to be triggered (although that brings to mind a reptilian monster, which begs the question: How the hell did the narrator mistake a reptile for a duvet?)

    And for anyone wondering how it could be a threat without a mouth: It could have small pores, some used as vacuum-like mouths, and some used to spew out acid, making it like an oversized bug

  11. A really well written story that left me with a visceral reaction. A solid 8.5/10 for me, even though I felt that the beginning did not lead up enough to the end. Maybe a bit more paranoia from the main character through out it would have lead up to a more shocking conclusion when he realizes that the real danger lay in the room.

  12. Holy Schnikess!!!
    Omg..I am 13…home alone..dead of night…and after i read this i heard a huge thud in my hallway and i realized my duvet in the livingroom..I ran as fast as my lil legs could go and ran back to realized my front door was unlocked…. and then i started crying because I got scared..thanks :D hehe

  13. Adding this onto my previous comment, my duvet is black, and is constantly sliding off my bed with it being satin,i dont generally use the quilts unless its cold, so i understand fully.

  14. Very well written…Build up was nice… and I loved how it lulls the reader into a false sense of security when the author realizes that it’s just the books, and then out of nowhere, WHAM! The duvet is on the floor!!! ( And most people who didn’t know what a duvet was would rationalize that it was a blanket/comforter…)

  15. i still want to know what the hack is a “duvet” T_T
    and about this story i would write at the end:

    but suddenly i hear a warm voice that reminds me of mom:
    “wakeup honey, your just having a bad dream”

  16. I’m with Cupcake. I never occured to me that the duvet was the monster… just that something else was in the room. But then i read the comments and got confused.

    Still very well written and creepyy

  17. Did it ever occur to you guys that the duvet wasn’t the monster, but in a wave of relief it wasn’t noticed that the duvet could have been pulled off by something else lurking in the room? That was my initial impression, but I could be wrong.
    A blanket monster seems kind of stale, so I guess my brain automatically comes up with alternate explanations to make the event more interesting. Hell, if my comforter was wrapped snugly around me and I find it suddenly strewn about my floor, I’m not going to be assuming it’s alive. I’m going to be panicking and wondering who the hell snatched it off whilst dashing for the door!
    Tasty pasta is still tasty.

  18. there was a most awesomely shit brix thread on /b/ awhile ago. It had all the classics, and some really good ones I had never read before. They creeped me the fuck out. And best of all? No fucking ritual pastas. I figured I’d like to join in on the epicness. I copied and pasted this story, submitted it, and everyone laughed at me…

  19. I liked how you had the narrator go through a list of what monstrosities were outside his bedroom in his mind.

    “the pipes in the wall, which have been groaning for weeks now, with ever-increasing frequency and urgency (they were never this deep or this loud). The blind in the bathroom…”

    Also, the repetition of “Another” helped paced the story excellently. A great way to use repetition.

    Most of all, I liked your one sentence paragraph at the end. “There, on the floor, is your duvet.” That helped break apart the ending from the long flowing chunks that preceded it. It placed emphasis on a the one image; quite poetic actually.

    One thing I would ask though, is that you remove the last line: “your screams are muffled.” It seems to be a cheap cliche, and does not deserve any place in your writing. Your piece is excellent the way it is, ending with “There, on the floor, is your duvet.”

  20. I thought it was super well written, and kept my attention… But I did kinda go “WAT” at the ending. Then I read through the comments and understood it better, but…a blanket monster? Kudos for the element of surprise, but it’s true, warm and cuddly blankets aren’t scary.

    Overall, though, I really did like this a lot. :]

  21. im sorry..but..what? can someone explain this?

    You are saying taht the blanket ate the person or whatever..but I dont get it. How can you get that conclusion?

    I am way confused…

  22. Sama approves. Well done. A genuinely creepy pasta that has me feeling that paranoia that creepypasta used to make me feel.

    I think this is the best story I have read in quite some time.

  23. Fucking creepy to those who do the whole -wrap-up-in-blanket when scared.
    And seriosuly lol’ing at everyone bawwing over ‘duvet’ rather than blanket.
    Would you all prefer a doona instead? Different words for the same thing, people.

  24. This was a great story. I am Canadian and did not know what a duvet is, but the author does well to keep the plot flowing, following with an unsuspected plot. Some people may state that they were not creeped out by the pasta due to the blandness of the object in question. However, the author’s usage of the duvet is a very interesting choice both psychologically and plot-wise. It’s in our human nature to safeguard ourselves with a cover, especially in our youths; I recall covering myself up with my blanket entirely in my youth whilst sleeping, leaving only my nose and mouth uncovered. There is a great sense of irony – albeit I must say that this somewhat ruined the creepy aspect of the story – in the usage of the duvet as the monster. One advice I would give the author is to not use brackets to explain the backstory. It is a very lazy move, very unprofessional and completely ruins the immersion for any reader.

  25. this reminds me of those old stories we use to say in elementry skool..(The ones that go..Im on the first step…Now im in your bedroom…NOW IM UNDERYOUR BED)

    I enjoyed it

    it brought back fond memeories

  26. It was a bit long getting to the point, and really? The bookcase is the one doing it? I’m sorry, but the realization that it was the bookcase was reaching. Other than that, I liked the story, was nice and creepy, especially since I wrap myself up every night. XD

  27. Then you remember that you have sheets on your bed.
    Nice pasta, but you’d think maybe you got under the sheets in yer sleep. I do that.

  28. OM NOM NOM NOM NOM!
    Enjoyed this pasta.

    @foreverandever – I like the use of the word “duvet”. I’m pretty sure most people know the word, and those who don’t will quickly figure it out. It’s a more comfy-sounding word, if that makes any sense, and I think that really adds to the pasta.

  29. somehow i thought this pasta didn’t involve any “blanket monsters” … i mean, you can’t really sleep very well if you have an active imagination late at night in the dark and the duvet was his protector and it fell. and then bricks were shat.

  30. Sounds a bit like an Ittan-momen from japanese mythology, its a cloth-like monster which attempts to smother people by wrapping itself around their faces

  31. i remember one night, i was unusually scared and would not sleep. i wrapped myself with my blanket and duvet and had like 3 pillows surrounding me. one pillow fell off my bed and i FREAKED OUT. it was like my shield was broken.

    so i kinda get this story.

  32. What I don’t understand is that, why would the person who wrote this feel the need to say “duvet” instead of “blanket” or “quilt” etc. in the first place?

  33. lover of the phrase 'he/she'

    k so, i didn’t like this at all.
    didn’t scare me, probably because i didn’t understand it when i finished reading and i still don’t.
    did the monster plan the bookcase failing so the person in the story would focus on it and not him/her being consumed, (was he/she even consumed or was it something else?) or was it not really the bookcase & books? if not, who/what was it?
    how would he/she not notice being consumed/whatever was happening to him/her?
    was it his/her duvet that he/she was tucking around him/her at first, then the duvet monster comes and “consumes” his/her body when he/she was asleep or was it always the monster thing?
    why would he/she scream if it was just a duvet monster that looked, felt, smelled like his/her duvet? duvets don’t have mouths or anything, it’s not like it could hurt him/her.

    i could probably go onnnnn and onnnnnn with this.
    is there just something else i’m not understanding that’s obvious to you all?
    because this is just way too confusing imo~
    not tasty pasta in the least

  34. I really liked how this pasta ended. I honestly didn’t see that coming. The buildup seemed a bit trite, but the ending didn’t disappoint. Way to go, man.

  35. This is just retarded. We spend the whole story scared of whatever is in the hallway, only to find out that it’s just books falling and that our blanket isn’t really a blanket. In that same line, here’s a bunch of stories just like that:

    Your car isn’t car!

    But shoes are not shoes! Eating feet!

    Hat isn’t hat!

    Rectum isn’t what you think it is!

    The end.

  36. So… the story takes place in the D&D universe? Because I’d be surprised if there WASN’T a man-eating blanket in those games…

  37. pastamuncher, that’s a Harry Potter book. Not the actual series, but “Magical Beasts and where to find them” or something like that.

    You must be rather young, I’m thinking…

  38. Cheers for the feedback:

    To those who liked it: thanks guys, I appreciate it!

    To those who didn’t: meh, I tried.

    To those bemused/angered by ‘duvet’ – I can rewrite it for international audiences with ‘blanket’ if you really want :p

    Oh, and just to fix the plot hole/s, the blanket-type-thing took a while to get moving because the person was doing its job for it: encasing themselves inside it tightly so they’re very unlikely to escape …and it’s strong enough to hold a human inside…. look, fuck off with the plot holes, alright? It’s a creepy pasta :'(

  39. when i was younger i had this book on magical creatures,and one of them is one that resembles a blanket,comes in under the door and engulfs you in your sleep. this pasta reminds me of it. i like it though :)

  40. Unfortunately logic ruined this one for me. Assuming something as thin as a blanket could eat you, couldn’t you simply rip it apart from the inside? Also, I wish I had a duck feather blanket. That sounds comfortable as hell.

  41. I quite enjoyed that. Well-written, the terror building with every sentence. There’s an overabundance of cheap twist endings in horror stories, but this story stands as an example of a surprise ending done well. A creepy and refreshing read.

  42. The word ‘duvet’ just ruined everything.
    My red-blooded American mindset just oozed with annoyance and homophobia at each mention.

    The monster may as well have been a croissant, or a hat box.

  43. Gabriela Sabatini

    This was good, but not as good as my win over Martina Navratilova at the 1991 Pan Pacific tournament in Tokyo. I overcame my opponent’s formidable accuracy by acing her opening serve on the second set, and won the next three games!

  44. Tasty.

    I was expecting a dry cold pasta that had very good descriptions but would fall flat on its pasta-face when the thuds turn out to be indeed the monster.

    Good twist at the end. Poor comfy duvet though. It was wrongfully replaced.

  45. Huh. It reminds of that story where something tugs at your sheets.
    I don’t get it though. What, the objects where alive on their own? If that’s the case, this was unsatisfying.

  46. Actually its the french word for “down” (as in feathers).
    And the American version is a comforter. Same thing, just different names.

  47. Ahh I didnt get it till i read everyone comments.. i think I still dont get it though.. uhm but it was written pretty well ahah :P

  48. It should be fairly obvious what the duvet is, even if you didn’t know the word. Just look at the context.

    Nice twist, in that you mention picking up the “duvet” at the very start of the story, so the reader won’t already suspect a plot twist.

    Decent.

  49. I don’t think I could wrap something around me without knowing what it is. I mean… who doesn’t know the difference between a blanket and a blanket monster?

    3/5.

  50. Makes me wonder why the blanket-monster-thing didn’t just eat him from the beginning.

    IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE!!!

    Okay, I’m done now.

  51. Pasta wasn’t anything special…At first it seemed almost well-written, but as it progresses, it just seems as though the author just used a thesaurus to make it sound more intelligent rather than putting any thought into the word choice.
    That aside, it could have been good with the build up but the…”Humans have tongues, too!”

  52. You guys thought the duvet ate the person? I guess that makes sense but I thought the person just rationalized what the noise was, going so far as to hear the sound of his duvet cover being pulled off as the rustling of pages. Though since his eyes were focused on the door the whole time I suppose it makes sense that it was some duvet monster eating him.

  53. This pasta is innacurate. What grown person hides under the covers when there is a threat? That’s why I keep a baseball bat in my room. The first instinct is to go for the lightswitch.

    Either way, tasty pasta.

  54. This freaked me out just my the sheer fact I used to do that exact same thing with my blanket all the time. Just a tiny hole to breathe.

  55. @arancaytar

    I’ve lived in america my whole life and I’ve called a duvet a duvet before. Also, the word you’re looking for to liken a duvet to another blanket is “comforter”.

    Enjoy your linens terminology for the day : P

  56. hahaha, that was kinda funny, i liked it.

    but wouldnt you feel the difference between a blanket and something thats not the blanket you sleep with every night?

  57. WHO WAS DUVET?

    I didn’t know at first, but I figured it was some sort of blanket. I like how it builds up tension, and was then had an original twist. I didn’t guess it.

    But I am not frightened by a duvet-shaped monster. What’s scary about something that looks like a blanket and feels like a blanket?

    I almost thought the duvet on the floor was the fake one.

    But good job, I liked.

  58. Okay, it took me a while to “get it”. Still, the duvet took a little bit too long to do something, seeming it was in privileged position to do whatever it’s done after the story ended since the first paragraph.

    In short: the story seems longer than it needed. Still, it made me think and look up what a “duvet” is.

    …On an unrelated note, here on the Google Ads: “Sleep Apnea”. *shivers*

  59. Reminds me of that Harry Potter-thing (from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) that creeps into your room and suffocates you in your sleep.

    Nice story :D

  60. @ZanRei: it’s a kind of blanket, filled with insulator of some kind

    I like the TWEEEEEEST of this story, but beyond that there’s not much. I guess you could say it tries to build up the tension well enough. A tasty, yet not filling pasta. Would reorder though.

    BUT WHO WAS DUVET?!

  61. Only complaint is that I had to stop reading for a moment to answer one question to myself.

    What the hell is a duvet?

    1. A duvet is a soft, thick quilt, somewhat like a comforter. In colder areas, like Iceland and Denmark, duvets are used instead of sheets because of the chillier temperatures. I suspect Google has already told you, however.

  62. God damn. That would be right awful, to expect a terror from the hallway only to discover you have wrapped yourself in the unholy nightmare. I can only imagine what the being would look like to vaguely resemble a blanket in the dark….

    Scary.

    1. Red Blood Red Neck

      It was those old school blanket ghosts. The ones kids used to wear during Halloween with eye cutouts.

      1. It was those old school blanket ghosts. The ones the kids used to wear during Halloween with eye cutouts.

  63. Really? “We want to do something different so we’re going to do an ending that has nothing to do with anything else in the story really!” I mean, I like that it’s the object of comfort that kills, but this is worse than the Lamp Monster Stephen King came up with in Family Guy. /end_rant

  64. Wow, I was totally expecting a thing from the hallway, then “Oh, you pulled the thing that’s gonna eat you around yourself.”

    Very nice.

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