Creepypasta - The Modern Twist in Horror Literature: Kwartalnik Opolski" 2016, 4
Creepypasta - The Modern Twist in Horror Literature: Kwartalnik Opolski" 2016, 4
Przemysław SIEK
The 21st century saw humanity making great advancements in many fields,
such as medicine or science, none however has had as great an impact
as the rise of the Internet. Ever since it was open to the general public, there
have been many debates as to whether it is a useful tool which gives us endless
possibilities, or perhaps a means of turning people into mindless, antisocial
zombies. Although one could find arguments to justify both of these claims,
it is true that as technology is developing, people appear to be less inclined to
read. This is demonstrated in a study conducted by Jessica E. Moyer entitled
“Teens Today Don’t Read Books Anymore”1 among many others. If this
is the case, can we say that using the Internet leads to illiteracy and portends
the fall of literature? Not quite. As we all know, everything depends on how we
use the tools we are given – and such is the case here. A truly remarkable
example of how the Internet can lead to popularizing both reading and writing,
and even contribute to literature itself appeared several years ago. It is known as
Creepypasta and has unfortunately been rarely discussed in the media (only
a few articles have been published so far), and almost completely ignored by
literary scholars. In the past, literature was passed down orally – this is mirrored
by how Creepypastas circulate. The only difference is that the voice of a story-
teller has been replaced by electronic communication devices. The principle
however remains the same – a tale is being told and shared with those willing
to read or listen to it. This article attempts to analyze the phenomenon
1
J. E. Moyer, Teens Today Don’t Read Books Anymore: A Study of Differences in Interest
and Comprehension Based on Reading Modalities: Part 1, Introduction and Methodology,
‘The Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults’, 02 Feb. 2010, p 2.
Creepypasta – the modern twist in horror 38
of Creepypastas by explaining what they are, how they draw from and develop
literature in general, how they can influence other media and what possibilities
they present for potential authors.
It is not really possible to determine when Creepypastas actually came into
being. What is certain, however, is that the term originates from “copypasta”,
a word used on the popular 4chan forums in 2006, which is used to describe
viral copy-and-pasted text. As one might deduce from the adjective ‘creepy’
alone, they are horror-related stories of varying length, which are distributed
by readers copying and pasting them all across the Internet. This is not the only
means, however, as during the last few years a new trend has arisen. The popu-
lar video streaming website YouTube was flooded with narration videos.
Those were simply audiobook versions of popular horror tales and real scary
stories, however, their bulk consists of Creepypastas. The popularity of such
videos is incredible, with some narrators having audiences of millions of view-
ers, which – coupled with the number of people posting these videos – results
in Creepypastas having a greater audience than books written by established
writers. Apart from more traditional works (those which resemble horror fiction
as we know it), there are also other kinds which are divided into various
‘sub-genres’ based upon their form and the topics they touch upon. The most
popular of these are:
• Ritual Pasta: not literally stories per-se, mostly plotless – usually descrip-
tions of occult rituals leading to different results. Interestingly, many
of them are based on real rituals of several different traditions, like pagan,
viccan, satanic, etc.
• Feels Pasta: not always horror related, these stories are very emotional.
Their aim is to evoke deeper feelings in the readers, such as sadness,
happiness, melancholy, etc. They also tend to moralize.
• Parody Pasta/Crappy Pasta: low quality stories, either due to technical
issues or simply being foolish. The term Parody Pasta is usually reserved
for stories which are intentionally written to be like this, whereas Crappy
Pasta for those which were not, but ended up being sub-par.
• Lost Episode Pasta: Stories either describing an episode (or several
episodes) in existing non-horror series, usually cartoons, which never
actually aired and are disturbing in nature. Also tales of people’s encoun-
ters with such episodes.
• Mental Illness Pasta: Stories involving insanity and/or mental problems.
• Photography Pasta: Tales revolving around pictures and memes.
They have gained considerable notoriety due to the fact that the images
which they refer to actually exist (whether they are genuine or not
is debatable), which adds to the feeling of realism.
Przemysław Siek 39
2
"Genre Listing." Creepypasta Wiki. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.
3
S. Chess, Folklore, Horror Stories, and the Slender Man: The Development of an Internet
Mythology, (London: Palgrave Pivot, 2016), p.15.
4
H. P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature. (New York: Dover Publications, 1973),
p.4.
Creepypasta – the modern twist in horror 40
finds such texts at, perhaps they are authentic accounts or even people seeking
help? If we add to this the very nature of their content, it is safe to call them
‘weird fiction’. To quote Lovecraft again, the most important aspect of ‘weird
fiction’ is:
A certain atmosphere of breathless and unexplainable dread of outer,
unknown forces must be present; and there must be a hint, expressed with
a seriousness and portentousness becoming its subject, of that most terrible
conception of the human brain — a malign and particular suspension or defeat
of those fixed laws of Nature which are our only safeguard against the assaults
of chaos and the daeligmons [demons] of unplumbed space.5
All of the above adds to the scare factor Creepypastas inherently depend on,
and other literary forms that they sometimes mimic. In order to better under-
stand how this works, an analysis of some of these texts is vital.
Not all Creepypastas are lengthy or complex texts – some of them manage to
convey the sheer sense of dread in a few simple sentences. A fine example
of such a story is “Bad Dreams”:
‘Daddy, I had a bad dream.’
You blink your eyes and pull up on your elbows. Your clock glows red in the
darkness — it’s 3:23. ‘Do you want to climb into bed and tell me about it?’
‘No, Daddy.’
The oddness of the situation wakes you up more fully. You can barely make
out your daughter’s pale form in the darkness of your room. ‘Why not,
sweetie?’
‘Because in my dream, when I told you about the dream, the thing wearing
Mommy’s skin sat up.’
For a moment, you feel paralyzed; you can’t take your eyes off of your
daughter. The covers behind you begin to shift.6
This story may seem simplistic, but it definitely manages to greatly rouse
the readers when told or read in proper conditions. Certainly many people can
recall scary stories they had heard in their childhood, such as those told around
campfires. Looking back we would most likely consider them silly and wonder
how it was possible for us to fear them. This story proves such an explanation
5
H. P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature, (New York: Dover Publications, 1973),
p.5.
6
"Bad Dreams | Creepypasta." Creepypasta. N.p., 10 Oct. 2013. Web. 29 Aug. 2016.
Przemysław Siek 41
7
"The Russian Sleep Experiment." Creepypasta Wiki. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2016.
Przemysław Siek 43
may not be aware of its origins. The novel is actually a diary written by
an unnamed attorney living in Pontevedra, Spain. He writes about his life
in order to vent his emotions, but soon his words become the record of his
survival. The world is struck with a global viral outbreak which changes people
into zombies. The protagonist at first tries to hold out in his house instead
of evacuating, which turns out to be a good idea, as the military ‘Safe Zones’
are quickly overrun by the walking dead. Due to loneliness and lack
of resources however, he is soon forced to leave his house and search for
a new safe haven. During his travels he comes across other survivors and finds
out that even in such dire times, not everyone can be trusted, as sometimes
humans are as bad if not worse than the undead that hunt them. In the end,
he and a few other survivors manage to get to the Canary Islands, where
they think it is safe.
The story may seem simple and similar to many others involving zombies,
but it is not the plot itself that is the most important aspect of the novel.
It is the way in which the story is told and the protagonist himself – he
is no hero, only an ordinary man facing overwhelming odds who does his best
to survive using the skills he has. Whereas most tales of this kind have a central
character who is a born survivor (or quickly becomes one), here the protagonist
is someone who does not even know how to use a firearm, let alone survive
in this apocalyptic world. This makes it all the more personal for the readers,
as they can more easily relate to him, imagine themselves in the situations
he faces and the choices he makes. The manner in which the story was first
circulated adds to this in a significant way – as a blog, the reader considers
it less as literary fiction and more as an actual account of events (although in the
end he or she is aware of its fictional nature, as obviously no such outbreak has
occurred in reality). By posting the story at regular intervals of time
and by using real background information, the author established credibility–
a trait inherent to Creepypastas. This is further strengthened by analyzing
the relation between the author and his creation. When researching the story
and its author, it becomes evident that he himself is the protagonist (their jobs,
age, hobbies, etc. are the same) and the action takes place in locations he knows
very well, down to the slightest detail in many instances. This allows him
to give his work a sense of reality rarely found in fiction. It is worth mentioning
that the novel’s popularity inspired two sequels (Apocalypse Z: Dark Days
and Apocalypse Z: The Wrath of the Just) which were also released in print
and boosted Loureiro’s literary career. This trend of Creepypasta authors
becoming recognized writers has become more frequent in recent years.
Due to their nature, one can argue that the best Creepypastas are the ones
which make full use of the medium by which they are circulated. By being
Creepypasta – the modern twist in horror 44
anonymous and creating an air of supposed realism, their authors create tales
which start to be copy-pasted across the Internet, causing them to become part
of a modern-day mythology of sorts, not unlike the tales our predecessors spun
in taverns or at campfires. Thus, one can argue that the author receives no
recognition and may only be rewarded by his or her own sense of pride
in the creation. That is not always the case, however, as some have actually
managed to have their works released in print. Whether encouraged by
the success of their craft or by being sought out by publishers, these amateur
writers were given a chance to try their hand at being professional writers.
The most recent example is Jamie Townsend, whose compilation of works enti-
tled Ghoulies, Ghosties and Other Terrible Terrors was published in May 2016.
He is not the only one, however, since many others have had their works
published, either as a complete compilation of a single author’s pieces,
or as collections containing tales of several authors. These include works such
as: Creepypasta: An Anthology (edited by R. C. Bowman), Creepypasta: Black
Edition (authored by Zachary Ryan Davis), Creepypasta (collaboration
of several authors) and The Big Book of Creepypasta: Thirty Tales of Terror
from the Darkest Corners of the Internet (anonymous publication) just to name
a few. The literary community was not the only one to recognize the potential
of Creepypastas, as recently also the cinema began to show interest
in this phenomenon. Famed movie director Max Landis has expressed
a wish to create a horror anthology series based on the popular “Candle Cove”
Creepypasta series. He is not the sole example, as one of the best known names
in both horror literature and cinema, Clive Barker, has started working
on a webseries entitled “Creepypasta”, which covers some of his favorite tales8.
It is also worth mentioning that many indie horror films of varying length have
already been made and are available online. This goes to show that this online
literary phenomenon potentially has a bright future in the cinema as well.
That is not the end, however, as several video games have also been created
(such as the extremely popular “Slenderman”) and there is even a comic book
series already being made. All this proves just how impactful this phenomenon
is and that it definitely will not be falling into obscurity anytime soon.
In conclusion, Creppypasta is a truly unique phenomenon. Not often
do we see a literary genre (in this case – horror) evolve into a worldwide
fascination. A positive one at that, as it is apparent that it leads people
to actually develop their writing skills (the authors constantly receive feedback
from users, which helps them improve), while also giving them a chance
8
"Are Creepypastas The Next Big Thing For Horror Films?" Medium. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Aug.
2016.
Przemysław Siek 45
Streszczenie