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The Decaying Mall



Estimated reading time — 2 minutes

There is a dead mall somewhere in Virginia that is in an advanced state of decay. For one reason or another, the mall still stands — there have been several plans, some of them quite elaborate, to revitalise the area, many of them calling for the original building’s demolition…but none of them have ever come to pass.

It is quite a shame, a sorry thing to look at today. In its heyday in the 1970’s and early 80’s, the mall was jampacked, the place to be on the weekends, especially Saturday nights. It was upscale, fashionable, and always a happy place to go.

Years went by, and bigger, better malls opened around the city. The mall slowly started losing tenants, until today it is completely empty. If you go in it nowadays, you will be astounded by the vast emptiness — every step you make and every word you speak will echo loudly. Where once scores of people did their shopping, met for lunch, and got together, there is now only eerie silence. Over the years, the happy, upbeat feeling of the place has darkened, more and more, until now many people avoid it — but can never tell you exactly why.

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The story would end here, were it not for a very curious rumour: it is said on certain Saturday nights throughout the year, something very strange happens. If you go to one of the entrances of this mall, it will be unlocked. Push open the door, and it will give way — and you may enter.

Near a bench right in the entrance will be a shadowy figure — casting a shadow that obscures than the darkness around it. This shadowy figure can be spoken to — call out to it: “I know your secret, and the secrets you keep.” Where once there was shadow, there will appear a face — a radiantly pale, withered old man’s face, with black holes for eye-sockets.

“No,” he will respond in a voice that will be like the slithering of maggots, “for I know yours.”

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He will then ask a question — the question will be about your life, or rather a detail about your life, something that happened many years ago. The question he poses will be one you should know the answer to — but so obscure, it will be difficult to answer at first, if you can answer it at all.

You will be forced to answer — you simply won’t be able to respond with “I don’t know”.

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If you get the answer right, the shadowy man will thrust a box into your hands, before dissolving back into the darkness. Open the box, and there will be a note, onwhich will be written the name of the person you were meant to marry or fall in love with. Only rarely is it the person you think it will be.

If you get the answer wrong, your body will be found the morning of the following Sunday, at the entrance to the mall you came in, mutilated and eviscerated so badly no one will be able to identify the body.

Credited to: Royal-Sovereign. Thanks!

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107 thoughts on “The Decaying Mall”

  1. Just reading this for the first time.. that sounds completely like the second mall in my city……. its still up and everything…

  2. Just reading this for the first time.. that sounds completely like the second mall in my city……. its still up and everything…

  3. Just reading this for the first time.. that sounds completely like the second mall in my city……. its still up and everything…

  4. Just reading this for the first time.. that sounds completely like the second mall in my city……. its still up and everything…

  5. My question to all the rituals is if it is truely real then how come only the author knows all the rules. I think its all mind over matter. But cant hurt to try… Oh and some one write about BLUE BABY BLUE.

  6. “now many people avoid it — but can never tell you exactly why” Maybe because there’s no logical reason to go to an empty, abandoned mall? ^__^;

  7. A shadow cast of a shadow? Shadowception..

    -OR-
    Yo dawg, I heard you like shadows, so I made your shadow cast a shadow of a shadow.

  8. I must say, as soon as I read ‘dead mall in Virginia’, the first thing that popped into my head was the old Walnut mall, about 30 minutes south of where I live in Richmond. (The mall itself is in Petersburg). It’s been closed since the early 90s (1991-2 I believe).

    Azalea Mall would have been closer to me, but it was razed about 15 years ago, so that one’s out. ;)

  9. Sorry, there’s no way in hell you’d get me to go inside a abandoned mall, especially at NIGHT! No thanks!

  10. I would laugh if the old man asked the question: “Who were you meant to be with?”. That would be great. You get it wrong, you die. You get it right, you get a piece of paper with what you just said written on it.

  11. “the person you were meant to marry or fall in love with.”
    This information is only valuable if it turns out to be accurate, in which case I’d rather just wait it out.

  12. “Casting a shadow that obscures than the darkness around it.”

    Grammar FAIL!

    This really killed the creepy for me =/

  13. Hmm… get it right, find out the name of the person I’ll marry. Not even who it is exactly, just the name. Get it wrong, and die horribly.

    Yeah. SO not worth it.

  14. Love is fickle, blind, and illogical. I do believe the story says that in the box will be the name of the person you are meant to marry, fall in love with, etc etc? If I were the old man, I would write out an obscure name and the person would waste their whole life trying to find this person. But perhaps that’s just me.

    Fear The Darkness

    -Nex

  15. Things that refrained this pasta from clicking with me:

    1. Why is it that every creepy pasta must involve some old man? Old people should not be that creepy >.> since old people’s brains are not as young as…young people’s? okishouldstfunow.

  16. Another one that’s too vague to ever actually perform. You have to go “somewhere in Virginia” on one of several “certain Saturdays of the year”? With directions like that, how is anyone ever supposed to find the correct time and place?

  17. Change everything from the “shadowy being lurks in dark haunted place with either horrible death or reward waiting” part.

  18. Well written, but going to agree with it being too big a risk to find out the name of the person you are to marry imho.

  19. You know the funny thing about actually going to find the person you were suppose to love is… they just might be married. And after you’ve risked life and limb to face old man shadow? Hm. This will not end well. Good pasta tho. =D

  20. @midnightgirl: Who remembers every detail of their life? Can you honestly say you remember what you wore on any given day, what you ate for breakfast each morning or what brand of shampoo you used each and every time you washed your hair?
    I think that the question would be about something just as mundane, something you would be unlikely to remember easily, or maybe at all. Making the question about something memorable wouldn’t be any fun for him at all, would it?

  21. I loved this story. This is probably the best ritual i have read in my opinion. The ending is very good and i love how it’s set at an abandoned mall. I would love to go to any abandoned mall or place like that…

    as for what i think about the question, if it is about a detail in your life it would be easy if you gave it thought right?

  22. I dunno, it seemed pretty cliche and I didn’t like the writing. It tried too hard to be descriptive. “A shadow casting shadows”? Really? A voice like maggots? Don’t try so hard.

  23. Id say walking into the mall knowing it is a life or death thing just to know who your true love is is kind of risky all the same it is still good

  24. What the hell man?

    Don’t shadowy figures have anything better to do than hang out in run-down places, asking obscure questions about the past, hoping you guess incorrectly so they can gut your ass?!

  25. doesn’t make sense. How could the rumor be true, if none of the bodies have been identifiable? what if it’s someone else’s body, and you just disappear?

  26. It truly isn’t worth the risk. As much as they’ll say you can never be sure, everybody’s note comes out the same way.

    “Abe Vagota”

  27. if i went into an abandoned mall and saw a ‘shadowy figure’ that casted ‘shadows’ -rolls eyes-…i’d simply smile, turn around, and run =]
    end of

  28. You know this is weird because you might have already known who you were going to marry or fall in love with but your risking your life to know something you know is probably the most obvious answer ever.

  29. I like this. I really do.
    Partially because to some people, the risk would be worth it. And to others, it wouldn’t.

    But there is no real generalization to be made.

  30. Alright guys, sounds good, guess I’ll be trying to come up with moar!

    Also I’m sort’ve disappointed Monsieur Welldone didn’t show up on my story, haha!

  31. The person formerly known as 'Noneya'

    BUT WHO WAS MALL DUDE- Oh, been done.

    Damn.

    I like it, but with all these creepy pastas I want to know the mysterious people’s deals.

    Why are they mysterious/violent/all knowing? Why do they have such strange tasks/put you on strange tasks? Do they all know eachother? Is there some sort of club for paranormal know-it-alls? Is Mr. Welldone and Micheal Jackson invited to their paranormal parties?

  32. OP here.

    Thanks for all the compliments — and criticisms, what the Hell — but I gotta ask:

    PHONE said she really enjoyed it. Most people seem to as well. Should I keep cooking Creepypasta for you all?

  33. Sounds like a hella risky way to get that information…if I were that desperate, I’d just go with the legends that revolve around throwing apple peels. Still, it does prove that abandoned buildings have unlimited creepy potential.

  34. I liked it, but it reminds me of numerous creepypasta’s I’ve already read.
    The mutilate bodies and shadowy entities are getting a bit old.

  35. This sounds like one of the malls that I used to go to. Thus bricks I shat.

    It’s slow-moving in the beginning, and it kind of made me think that it would suck. The ending scared the fuckness out of me though.

    The major flaw of this story, however, is that it bears too much of a resemblance to the “Halloween Void” pasta – especially with the appearance of the old man in this story and the baby in that one. Also, the “x will be found dead in y” part. But other than that that, its nice. Vair nice.

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