Though written about in fiction occasionally, the mirror box is quite an old invention. Being inside of one can be enlightening or traumatizing for the witness who bears its burden. The procedure is simple, though finding and preparing the materials required might take some time.
The materials to construct the box are:
-Six square metal sheets, slightly taller than the witness. The length should never exceed the height of a witness with raised hands. One of them should be larger than the rest by at least the thickness of the sheets themselves. The material should preferably be made of graphite or lead alloy for the most prominent effect.
-Five nearly perfect, aligned mirrors, sealed upon the metal plates. Each of the 5 will form the sides and bottom of the inner box. One larger mirror should be attached to the large metal plate, which will be used for the top.
-A simple light source of pure white or bright yellow. The light source should emit in almost all directions. Candles can be used, but carbon dioxide and monoxide poisoning is a problem. The light source should not be planted upon the mirrors or receive any outside energy. Construction techniques are left up to the witness.
-Two or three alarm clocks. An extra alarm clock of any kind is also needed. Watches are alright, but not suggested due to the small type face and hands.
-Wear simple clothing.
-Do not bring any other objects. Witnesses have often crowded the box, causing it to become either useless or highly dangerous. This includes jewelery, food, weapons, or religious materials such as beads and crucifixes.
-An assistant is required to help the witness in and out of the box and get help in case of emergencies. The assistant should be trusting and as strong willed as the witness.
-Two ladders
-Several Blankets, water, medical remedies, and a first aid kit.
When the box is complete and ready to use, prepare the alarm clocks to ring around ten minutes after the witness’ planned entrance. Depending on the material used for the box itself, the time of day will not matter, but a night during a new moon is suggested. Despite intuition, sound does not play a large role in the event. The witness should use a small unattached ladder to enter the box. The top should already be placed upon the box, with an opening large enough for the witness to enter. Once inside, the witness should be handed the light source and the clocks (one should be kept with the assistant). The outside assistant should ask sincerely whether the witness is alright. Once confirmation is given, the top should be moved to seal the box. The witness may turn on the light source once the box is sealed. At any point should the witness ask to leave the box (if soundproof, tapping should be used), ONLY the top should be opened. The witness may do it themselves, since the top of the box should be easily reachable. Once ten minutes are up, ALWAYS remove the top, regardless of what the witness says. Some witnesses may plead to stay inside the box, even suggesting great danger should it be opened. The assistant should never trust those pleas. Suffocation is only one of many concerns should the witness stay too long in the box. Once the top has been slid opened, place the second ladder in the box to allow the witness to leave. If the witness has any serious wounds, or discoloration, call for medical help.
Should you happen to meet a witness, never trust what they say about their experience, and never ask them for the time or where the antumbra meets.
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.
Df? That had no backstory or anything
Random Creepypasta is… Not as random as you think. This is a real thing that have caused people to go insane! DO NOT ATTEMPT PLEASE!
Not to be rude or anything, but wouldn’t someone question why you needed 6 pieces of metal and 5 mirrors, as well as 2-3 alarm clocks and 2 ladders? I know that if I started to ask for this material and, if I got it, start building it in my house, I would be questioned by family members exactly what I was doing. Also not to be rude, but how would you approach your friend and ask them to help you? “Yes, so I have made a mirror box, I have an alarm clock right here for you if you are willing, but I need someone to assist me in getting me in and out of said box once I am in there for 10 minutes. Wanna help?”
Don’t get me wrong, I love this story, I just like to question things.
I don’t quite understand this, I’d like to know whar the actual purpose of making the box is, and the kind of stuff that supposedly happens to the person in it? I’d also like to know what atumbras are xD
BUT… Even though I don’t get some things, still very creepy, it definitely managed to scare a bit, this is a lot of the stuff that freaks me out, everything in this, small spaces, mirrors, old rituals which almost definitely aren’t true but I would never try myself just because you never really know what could and because I don’t like to play around with that kind of stuff…. But I like to read about to scare myself xD
Dafaq!?!!! Arghh!
Sorry for typos just my IPhone being restated. WHO WAS SOFTWARE DESIGN?!
While irrelevant, I always had a similar idea to get a big mirror room/box and point a laser in it. IM JAMES BOND! Lasers EVERYWHERE. Anyways, I may try this, but communication with the assisstant seems… difficult. I doubt you’d hear knocking through a thick lead wall… Plus, is the lead there to keep something in, or out? That and by knowing what an antumbra is I can tell that with a light source that goes all directions (highly possibly a glowstick) in a mirrored room, that for maybe 6 to 8 mines it will be adjusting unless youre moving the light source then it will probably take longer than ten. I hypothesize that it will be a spectacular show once an eclipse is made of you and the light to create weird shapes. If there was anything magical about it Id say that maybe it would show your true inner self and if a person is bad enough, then it would manifest and hurt them.
Still a cool pasta that I would most defiantly think about. More realistic and vague than most other ritual pasta. 9/10 for legend, but +1 for ring reasonable and possible to accomplish.
Why does everybody say they don’t get it? Its not a story bra. Its like directions and shit. I think there should totes be like a category for directions and stuff like this.
Interesting…I kinda like these, it gives me stuff to do that may cause my possible doom! Fun….
i enjoyed it ^__^
Gotta love the classics, leaves the field open for your imagination & normally, you have to have some common knoledge to truly understand it. haha
I hate all the idiots who call this stupid or badly written. The box shouldn’t be taller than the witness with his/her arms up so he/she can remove the lid if he/she needs to! The clocks are a timer to prevent suffocation. As for the creepy factor… Obviously you’re unfamiliar with the disorientation of the mind that mirrors can cause. Or, for that matter, the demons that inhabit them…
pretty creepy to me. It is err mysterious and leaves me asking questions.
I’m kind of guessing something happens inside the mirrorbox where when the person comes out they aren’t the same person. I don’t know the consequences of asking time and things or what exactly happens though.
I find this hard to masturbate to…
One of my favorites. Loved it and will ever do. If anyone ever tries it, post results! I’m way to scared… Maybe those of you saying “that wasn’t scary at all” and “2/10” should do this, since this seems to you not terrifying…
I’m gonna try it, it fuckin scares me but really lures me too. This creepypasta’s just amazing
I think I want to build one of these now.
Hey i am a WITNESS this before and its very scary…You cant trust your eyes…not even your mind….
I was in a funhouse like a profesional 3 floor one and there was one section on the second floor called the MIRROR MAZE…only all lights off except for the one by the begining and end….it was pretty big and not the kinda mirrors where you look like you can walk thorugh with an actuall path but just find your way through…..i was with my cousins and we where all looking for the exit but They forgot me and left me in there,,,,,i was trying to find the way out when I ended up in a corner where 3 mirrors encased a small opening……….I ended up thinking there was a path in front of me and ran straight into a mirror………strugling to get out i rubed my hands on the mirrors and skipped the small opening………i thought i got stuck so stood there thinking ill wait till another person comes then scream………..I was looking at one mirror when i thought i saw a shadow behind me…i turned around and it was behind me again….then to the side of me and then all around me……………………………..i was really scared because soon the shadow started to move…………….i turned around quick thinking i would run the oppisite way because i thougt i found the path when the shadow/my dark reflection was right infront of me……………i was terribly scared and my herat jumped and i ran back into another mirror and started to cry…………………………..If you want to know more email me>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.>>>>>>>>>>> [email protected]
Hey i am a WITNESS this before and its very scary…You cant trust your eyes…not even your mind….
I was in a funhouse like a profesional 3 floor one and there was one section on the second floor called the MIRROR MAZE…only all lights off except for the one by the begining and end….it was pretty big and not the kinda mirrors where you look like you can walk thorugh with an actuall path but just find your way through…..i was with my cousins and we where all looking for the exit but They forgot me and left me in there,,,,,i was trying to find the way out when I ended up in a corner where 3 mirrors encased a small opening……….I ended up thinking there was a path in front of me and ran straight into a mirror………strugling to get out i rubed my hands on the mirrors and skipped the small opening………i thought i got stuck so stood there thinking ill wait till another person comes then scream………..I was looking at one mirror when i thought i saw a shadow behind me…i turned around and it was behind me again….then to the side of me and then all around me……………………………..i was really scared because soon the shadow started to move…………….i turned around quick thinking i would run the oppisite way because i thougt i found the path when the shadow/my dark reflection was right infront of me……………i was terribly scared and my herat jumped and i ran back into another mirror and started to cry…………………………..If you want to know more email me>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.>>>>>>>>>>> [email protected]
@Pandar I’m sure your explanation was very enlightening, but when you say Umbra my mind immediately fills with physics puzzles, glow sticks, and nude zombies.
This was lovely. Very interesting idea, building a box like that.
It wasn’t spooky, but very interesting, until the very last line.
“Never ask them for the time or where the antumbra meets.”
The possibilities are so-very-vaguely unsettling. It’s delicious.
I swear 95% of you a just pure retarded.
All I can say is…
“What?”
I’m disappointed. Curious as always to see what it’s
like in a mirror box, but at the same time now losing interest.
…this sounds like a job for the mythbusters.. wanna see wtf would happen if someone did this
I’d try it, but I am scared D:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01KSxc1mvJ8
I think it’s worth for all of you to explore this link a bit. Don’t worry, it’s not a rickroll, and no decent troll would link to a rickroll and announce that it’s not. If you want, insert it into google before you go to it.
Anyway, it’s a link to a video demonstrating the “mirror cube” concept explored in this Creepypasta. I want you all to use your imagination and try imagining being in the box in the video yourselves, but with only one lit bulb instead of a light coming down from above filling all the portions of the box.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umbra
Now that we know what a mirror box is, explore that link. This describes the astronomical concepts of the “Umbra,” “Antumbra,” and “Pentumbra.”
Basically, by being in a lightless box with only one spherical source of light, you’ll generate a similar effect to that described on that page. A “shadow self” will appear, and it will be distorted and (if aligned right) even three-dimensional.
Imagine the chaos as your eyes search the box, and no matter where you move the light there will always be a lurking shadows scattering all around and behind you. You’ll begin to become disoriented, paths will seemingly form in the box where there are only mirrors, if you’re standing and moving you’ll find yourself bumping into walls upon trying to follow these paths. Sound will echo. Your mind will start forming images in the mirrors that aren’t there.
This is the creepy part, the fact that the mind can be rendered so helpless and the things you can only imagine you’ll see in that box that may haunt you forever. There’s no “Vampire Bigfoot” at the end of this story, like KingPenguin said.
This is meant to look like something similar to a psychologist’s ledger or a magician’s personal notes. That’s why the writing is the way it is.
What having a chronometer and asking about the antumbra does to further the illusion and mystery is one of the finer parts of this creepypasta, that brings it beyond just a simple haunting illusion.
I think this is a brilliant idea, for a creepypasta and actual execution in real life. 10/10 for the author.
Hey, the count, guess what? It\’s called a creepyPASTA, from COPYpasta, you fuckwit. THEY\’RE MEANT TO BE PASTED AROUND IN NEW PLACES.
jesus fucking christ you people
“it could have done without the complicated instructions”
IT’S INSTRUCTIONS
FOR BUILDING A MIRROR BOX
THAT’S THE ENTIRE POINT
i’m planning on building one of these
I like this story. A lot of people are saying that they didn’t get it or it wasn’t particularly creepy, but I don’t feel like that’s the point of this particular story. It’s not supposed to be obviously frightening, just a bit off, a bit disturbing. The devil is in the details. Why can’t we ask a witness for the time? Why can’t we ask a witness about a shadow? What do these things relate to? Why even use the term “witness”? A witness to what? The implications are what makes the story interesting.
To everyone complaining that the box construction was ‘complicated’…I was going to write something insulting here, but I will explain this extremely simple procedure which I describe as ‘Geometry 101: using 6 faces to make a cube and then lining it with mirrors’ instead:
To explain: 6 metal sides slightly taller and wider than the subject’s reach in the relative directions. 1 side is to be slightly wider than the others, presumably intended to be used as the lid so as to facilitate a grip when opening from the outside. The inside 6 walls are lined with mirrors. Construction complete. You are now ready to step inside with your flashlight and presumably become extremely disoriented.
This sounds pretty interesting, but I think the subject would end up stumbling around and banging into the glass alot risking breakage and serious injury, OR simply lying on the floor for 10 minutes.
Also the creepiness is implicit rather than overtly referenced. The instructions are intentionally written in a succinct ‘manual’ style format to engender authenticity. The imagination of the reader trying to conceptualize the visual chaos in the box, and the equally vague references to distrust anything the subject says “even should he threaten violence” is creepy factor enough. Never ask him what he saw in the box, and never believe any thing he tells you. It’s so cryptic! It’s a perfect creepypasta.
Does every creepypasta need to end “I hear vampire bigfoot tapping at the panes of my windows even as I now feverishly type these words!”?
I like it alot and deffinatly want to try it, I read some of the comments and found out what an antrumba is, but I still don’t know what they witnessed…
I think I saw something like this on What Not to Wear before..
Someone should try this..! >_<
I liked it.
It ain’t scary if the first part sounds like Bob Vila wrote it.
I have heard of a similar experiment like this but with a small box. You make a box out of six square mirrors facing inward and just leave it there. After some time, people report strange scratching and growling noises coming from inside the box.
I had never before heard of making one big enough for a person to stand inside.
Do some research. And btw, who the hell doesnt know what antumbra means? Honestly I cant remember how long ago I learned what it means. Did you all fail the 7th grade?
Morons.. you completely misunderstood the pasta.
Stupid pasta is stupid. And old. This is three-month-old back-of-the-refrigerator pasta.
Bad. Just…bad. The instructions of how to make it were complicated, and probably unnecessary. Coulda just had a description of the appearance – that would have done just as well. Probably better, actually. And what the Hell happened in there? We don’t get to know and we don’t get to find out. That’s like some little kid saying “I’m not telling you what I did because-” and leaving it there. Why the Hell not? This isn’t creepy/scary/interesting/good. It was building up to nothing. The most exciting part was the part about the antumbra, purely because I don’t even know what it is and that adds mystery. honestly, one of the worst pastas I’ve ever read. And there’s some real shit out there.
But that’s just my opinion.
^_^
To each their own…
The ending totally killed it. It was ok until then.
it’s goood but a little confusing
it seems that the biggest issue with this pasta is inability to understand, rather than it not being creepy.
When I first read it I wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but figured that something appeared in the mirrors of the box that caused the witness (obviously a reference to seeing SOMETHING) to either become obsessed or mad.
The fact that they could possibly come out wounded implies that whatever is seen in the mirrors can somehow get out, and the part about not bringing weapons makes it appear more that the witness could harm themselves.
Of course after reading and figuring out what antumbra was it made it easier to understand.
I like it.
9/10
Basically, because of antumbra, you will start seeing a dark figure in front of you. Its a trippy effect. For those people that are claustrophobic and paranoid, you will see a dark ghost in front of you as well as all the sides multiplied by the mirrors so it looks like there are 10+ dark ghosts that appear all around you while you are in the box. It’s a really trippy way to hallucinate. I’ve seen this on tv once and people were freaking out. Lol
TheMirrorBox.avi
Augh these are so bad. The “You must then do this/You will then see this” style of shitty “prose” that passes on 4chan. Horribly written.
This is an entertaining creepypasta. Completely mystifying. 10/10
Eh, doesn’t really make much sense but it does give the reader that insatiable urge to do it which I think is what makes the story interesting imo.
I liked it.
Basically, you sit in the mirror box and the light casts a shadow upon you. At some point, on one of those mirrors you will completely obscure the light. Thus creating an Antumbra. Essentially the Antumbra is the negative of something that is lighted. So, your negative will appear. What happens when this happens is beyond me,but it can be good or bad apparently, which is really dumb.
Hm, I dont get it. What do the mirrors do?
This pasta has always confused the crap out of me to much for me to be even slightly spooked by it.
Completely irrelevant to this pasta, which I quite liked btw, but where has the forum gone? The link above the stories has disappeared. It is just me or is it gone for others too?
There’s a story in the book Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edogawa Rampo, and translated into English by James B. Harris. It has a story called The Hell of Mirrors.
It’s a very good story about how this man became obsessed with mirrors, he created all these crazy mirrors. At one point he creates a mirror ball, which has a one-unit mirror around the inside. Well Tanunma, the man obsessed with mirrors was found after the teller of the story broke the sphere, since there was no way of entering as the handle to the door of the sphere was broken.
When Tanunma came out, he was completely mad. Nobody really could understand why he went insane inside that ball of mirrors. This story reminded me, of The Hell of Mirrors. I recommend you get the book, it has a good number of stories that are creepypasta-ish like The Chair.
I’d much rather spend my time in a tube of Tang.
Haha, At first I thought this would be another boring \"do this and see a ghooooost! Boooo!\" Pasta. And it sort of was, but the end put a smile on my face, because it leaves you wondering \’What do they see? Whats an antumbra? Why should we not ask them the time?\" Leaves you with an unsettling feeling. :) Good job.
@Violent Harvest, this pasta has been around a lot longer than you have. Deal with it.
this was creepy i wander what antrumber was
I don’t get it
Establishes too little to be more than vaguely unsettling.
Creep factor I’d only give 2/10 as is.
It was well written, unlike some other pastas I could point out in the past. Nothing broke me out of the story.
And it was an interesting, albeit cliched ritual (Mirrors? Dark rooms? Time limits?).
So for that, I’d give it a 7/10.
But for the creep factor? The consequences and reactions of the witness weren’t creepy enough. I think that’s most people’s issue here. More description of what the box-person might say/do, and more warning might improve it? Maybe?
Also, I think this is one ritual past that might benefit from the “this is my experience doing this ritual” point of view, rather than just the instructional.
Awful
My main problem is, there was absolutely no clarification on how the mirror box LOOKED.
So I was envisioning this big, asymmetrical thing waaaay up in the air and this little man climbing into it from this rock ledge with a little tiny ladder. Honestly. =S
I like this style of pasta, generally, when there’s something that /did/ happen but you’re not told about it; But it kind of erased all creepiness from this pasta. The first-person view, like “I was going to be put in a mirror box because I witnessed ______” would have been better for this in my opinion, but as it is, this is more like a campfire story to be told at evening. =L
4/10
i think the count might be retarded, this isnt the first time hes complained about stuff being on king of wolves too…well newsflash:
none of that stuff was ever exclusive to king of wolves, dumbass. everything on king of wolves is taken from other sites and message boards and ALL OVER THE INTERNET ALREADY, it’s been like that for years
if youre going to complain at least know something about the site you seem to love to much
I don’t see what’s creepy about this story.
Hoh snap.
I still don\’t quite get this pasta..It\’s an oldy-but-goodie, but I still don\’t understand what it has to do with anything.
Yeah, it wasn’t creepy, not even a little bit. Also, it doesn’t give very much detail as to how to build this mirror box, or what to do when inside.
IMO: Fail.
Antumbra…Penumbra…all parts of a light source/shadow. Read here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umbra
Umm.. Rather creepy, yeah.
Buut, I don\’t quite see the point of the story if I can\’t ask them anything. :/
Still creepy tho.
Second comment!
I don’t get it but ok. Feel claustrophobic now though.
I thought old pastas were better than this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqyixwqiCag
Not bad, I like most mirror pastas, so…
Also:
Inb4 people asking about picture post
I don\’t get it… Maybe I\’m missing what an antumbra is but I would like some clarification as to the creepyness of this pasta…
It is a solid idea, but it doesn\’t really seem to say how it is creepy. It has much potential, but no kinetic, creepiness.
This is an absolute classic, old as the Internet though. It’s on that old The King of Wolves page you used to link to, but I guess it has a place here.
but who wasfuy5
WITNESS
Sarah: so when you say this is “not to current standards” do you mean “not good at all”? Because this was awful.
1/2 vauge, boring, long directions. 1/2 nothing spooky going on.
who mods these things? oh my god this site keeps going downhill.
NOTHING CREEPY HAPPENS AT ALL.
Well it’s good to see some good Pastas on again. I like this. Classic but extremely well written. I enjoy it, for the reason of detail but slight enough to leave room to freak and wonder…
Has anyone ever tried this? I sense much potential for mind-fuckery, antrumba or not.
this is the second creepypasta i have found that has been coppied from this site: thekingofwolves.webs.com i am really dissapointed guys :(
This confused me completely..
Old as fuck, and I was surprised to find that I hadn’t posted it yet. It’s a classic creepypasta, regardless of if its “stale” or not to current standards, so up it goes.