Scary Websites for the Halloween Season?

October 20, 2008 1:10 PM

Please recommend some spooky, scary websites for late-night, Halloween Season reading.

This question from a couple of years ago has some good stuff in it, especially the "Caver" story, which is no longer there but viewable on archive.org. Please let me know about some spooky websites to look at and read late at night. Thanks!

posted by interrobang to media & arts (12 comments total)

Not the creepiest website in the world, but this place has the complete works of H.P. Lovecraft freely available for download. Ancient, leviathanic evils are always worth a Halloween peek. :)
posted by Willie0248 at 1:34 PM on October 20, 2008

You can do a search for creepypasta. It doesn't matter what search engine you use.

Just do not click on anything on the first page. Instead add "&herEyes=666" to the search URL query string. A single search result will appear, but the link goes only to a black page. Wait a bit, however, and you will be greeted with the image of an old woman's ashen, wrinkled face. Do not look away from the face. Stare intently into her eyes for six, maybe seven seconds. It will feel like eternity.

Lost in the reverie, if you suddenly you see tears of blood coming from her eyes then look away and turn off your monitor quickly. Then run. Do not look back. Run in a straight line as far as your feet will take you. Stop only when you absolutely cannot run anymore. Do not look back. If the feeling of a black, murmuring swell of terror being just steps behind you has fully subsided by the time you stop running, then you are safe.

The face may instead nod at you, however, and you will be allowed one question. Only one. It cannot be about her. Speak the question into your microphone clearly, once, without hesitation or ambiguity. Do not look away. The image on your screen will slowly change. It will be your answer. It is said that some have seen their answer and were struck dumb and mad. Others have seen it and remained unchanged -- but for a dark anger that they have no control over, that causes them to lash out at any time before lapsing back into sad, stark silence, betrayed only by a horror in their wide, distant eyes. It is a horror from having just lost something which will never be regained, and the gap has been filled with something creeping and cloying and whispering and dark which will never let go.

Game to try it? Now read the first word of every paragraph in this post.
posted by brownpau at 1:48 PM on October 20, 2008 [2 favorites]

This previous question (from yesterday) has some good links.
posted by burnmp3s at 2:00 PM on October 20, 2008

The Enigma of Amigara Fault is a pretty creepy web comic story, suitable for Halloween. Read with the lights off.
posted by elendil71 at 2:05 PM on October 20, 2008

Oh I should point out that the Amigara story is Japanese (I think) although its written in English and it is read from RIGHT to LEFT on the page. It could get a little confusing otherwise.
posted by elendil71 at 2:09 PM on October 20, 2008

No creepypasta is complete without a hearty heap of Ted the Caver and John Dies in the End.
It doesn't seem that John Dies in the End is still available online, but it may be somewhere.
posted by Jonsnews at 2:18 PM on October 20, 2008

James Hynes' list of Halloween Reading
posted by mattbucher at 2:25 PM on October 20, 2008

I just ran across One Bloody Thing After Another a serialized horror story by Joey Comeau. I haven't read it yet, but if his A Softer World is any indication, it should be quite nasty.
posted by rtimmel at 2:27 PM on October 20, 2008

Last year I became addicted to reading "true" ghost stories on The Shadowlands. There are thousands of stories on there, all told from the submitter's "experience." I don't know whether I believe in ghosts or not, but even if you don't these are scary as hell and can be pretty entertaining. I can't tell you how many times I read these during my lunch hour at work and felt like I needed my mommy.
posted by bristolcat at 3:33 PM on October 20, 2008 [1 favorite]

I've only started listening to this recently, but Pseudopod is a weekly horror podcast that's pretty good. Each week is a different author, so there's obviously some variability in terms of quality. I especially liked Radiodemonology from last week.
posted by Nelsormensch at 3:49 PM on October 20, 2008

I just went back and reread some stories from the link I suggested (ghost stories on Shadowlands) and I feel kind of dumb. I forgot how much weak/unreadable material there was. You'll want to pick through and find some longer stories - there really are some gems in there.
posted by bristolcat at 4:38 PM on October 20, 2008

Black eyed kids is creepy. The writer claims it's true.
posted by AV at 5:30 PM on October 20, 2008