Described as the “Campfire stories of the internet,” and “Modern folklore,” Creepypastas are a relatively new type of horror fiction. Since their popularity and notoriety skyrocketed around the early 2010s, the community behind these stories has been in a constant flux.

Origins of Creepypasta

The name “Creepypasta” is a blending of two words (or a portmanteau). The first word is an easy one, being “Creepy”. How do you describe something that makes your hair stand on end, sends a chill down your spine, or otherwise gives you the willies? Creepy, that’s how!

Why “pasta”? What do spooky stories have to do with starchy comfort foods? Well, nothing, really.

The term “pasta” is an internet bastardization of the word paste. It all stems from the term Copypasta, which means something that’s copied and pasted. There are many stories, memes, or humorously excessive rebuttals (check out the Navy Seal Copypasta) to be found throughout the internet that are considered Copypastas, as they are often copied and pasted, verbatim.

Therefore, when we combine Creepy with Copypasta, we get Creepypasta. A story which (often has no credited author, or has been posted anonymously) is often reposted across several mediums of the internet, and possesses horror elements or scary themes.

One could consider the first Creepypastas to be the “cursed” chain emails of the early ‘90s. While shallow, poorly constructed, and hardly even a story by any real standards, they still vaguely fit the format, having been copy-pasted, and possessing a spooky narrative.

Over time, as the internet blossomed into its own unique being, so too did Creepypastas come into their own. People start creating, sharing, and otherwise distributing spooky stories all over the internet. Some common mediums that are still in use to this day are Something Awful, Reddit (subreddits such as r/nosleep, or r/creepystories) and internet forum boards like 4chan’s /x/ (Paranormal).

Such stories began to grow in popularity, resounding with teenagers and young adults. They often featured cryptids (undocumented but “witnessed” lifeforms), haunted video games, disturbing science, mental illness, rituals, and serial killers.

The “Golden Age”

There was a period where Creepypastas were so popular and prevalent that the community became thickly saturated in content, for better or worse. Many people came up with spooky stories that were either bad on purpose (eventually creating its own spinoff story style Trollpastas), jokes, or twisted tales based on pop culture.

Slenderman Creepypasta OC Scary Story — The titular character, Slenderman

This popularity led to the creation of subgenres within the community. Some notable progenitors were “Jeff the Killer”, “BEN Drowned”, “Slenderman”, and many more. These stories, respectively, were responsible for the “...the Killer”, “Haunted Video Game”, and “Beings” subgenres of their own.

While these stories, and many others that are still famous to this day, were loved and spawned many spin-offs, knock-offs and copycat stories, they didn’t lack their share of scrutiny. To this day plenty of the Creepypasta community’s members feel as though such stories are a stain on the term “Creepypasta”.

Specific subgenres became so heavily saturated in low quality content, that they ended up creating off-branch communities of their own.

Lost Episodes is a subgenre that focuses on twisted and horrific versions of classic movies or shows, usually cartoons. They often involve hidden or obscured old “original” recordings, that carry either terrible effects, or contain gruesome and disturbing footage.

Backrooms are stories based off of a very simple, original Creepypasta, about an individual who slips through reality into a seemingly altered dimension that is a series of rooms. The original story itself reads more like a writing prompt than a scary story, so it’s not hard to see how it could inspire such a world of its own.

Haunted/Cursed Technology is exactly what you’d expect. Everything from computers with anomalous effects, to haunted video games (a massively saturated niche of its own). These stories often rely on nostalgia to evoke emotions, and tie them with fear, in a way very similar to the Lost Episode subgenre.

…the Killer (OC) subgenre is debatably the most controversial. The typical cliché is that a young person who is bullied at school, abused at home, or often both, suffers a particularly traumatizing event which leads them to “snap” and become a ruthless murderer with apparently super-human abilities. A large part of why this subgenre is so polarized is the ham-fisted reliance on abuse and mental illness. It may come across to many as insensitive and cheap. Those who are fans of this subgenre tend to right copycat or knockoff stories by creating their own tortured “OC” (Original Character), that they base off of themselves.

While there are plenty other subgenres, these are the ones that attract the most user created content, still to this day.

The Dark Side of the Sauce

Sometimes, when things go viral, or explode in popularity, they become twisted and distorted. The original intended purpose can become “lost in the sauce” and the messages they intend to send are obscured. Creepypastas were no different.

In 2014, a young girl was led into the woods, brutally stabbed, and left for dead by her “friends”. They were inspired by Slenderman, and wanted to prove his existence, and become his “proxies” (a term. used by fringe members of the community, for the drones / obedient servants of established Creepypasta characters). The victim survived, miraculously, but it begged the importance of distinguishing reality from fiction.

Ben Drowned Creepypasta Majora's Mask Legend of Zelda — “BEN Drowned” of the Creepypasta by the same name.

In a similarly disturbing turn of events, a young girl tragically had taken her life in 2016, in at least part due to inspiration of the story “BEN Drowned”.

Spoiler alert: This story is based off of the controversial Legend of Zelda game, Majora’s Mask, released in 2000. It is highly regarded by many fans of the franchise as one of the best games ever released (others say it’s one of the worst of the series). It contains more of a focus on dark themes such as futility, depression, anguish, and grief. It’s substantially more downtrodden than any of its previous or following titles.

BEN Drowned involves a haunted N64 cartridge of the game. In the story, the spirit possessing the cartridge is the twisted and hostile spirit of a young boy, who was ritualistically murdered, and seeks to cause harm to and manipulate the protagonist. This spirit is what was allegedly responsible, at least in part, for the young lady’s suicide.

There were likely a host of other factors that led to the tragic event, but in her blog, the young girl specifically mentioned her relationship with “Ben Drowned”. She claimed that she “can’t live without him,” and hasn't heard from him in months. It’s believed that she was being catfished (when a person online tricks others into thinking they’re someone else, often with romantic motives) by someone who had convinced her that he was the titular antagonist of the story.

These types of stories brought the Creepypasta community to headlines, in the worst kind of way. It was viewed not as a compilation of creative and spooky stories from minds all around the world, but as a cult-like inspiration for heinous acts that threaten young lives. A sad turn of events, considering it couldn’t be further from the truth.

Modern Creepypasta

Nowadays, the community still thrives. Although not nearly as recognized and popular as it once was, perhaps it functions more smoothly because of this. Creators and writers now intend to uphold high standards, and are more akin to horror-fiction writers than internet storytellers. The more recent releases tend to be closer to the works of Stephen King, or H.P. Lovecraft than to the cheesy chain-letters of the late ‘90s early 2000s. These horror stories are told in frightening, original, and artistic means.

There are still some fringe communities that perpetually cater to a younger demographic, focusing more exclusively on the older stories, and attempting to mimic or copy their styles and content. These users often create their own OCs that they base off of themselves, to self insert into an established world where all of the Creepypasta characters of yore are canonically linked, somehow. From “shipping” (creating romantic relationships) their OCs with established Creepypasta characters such as Jeff or Ben, to simply trying to create the next big buzz with their own “Suzy the Killer” archetype.

Currently, there are sites dedicated exclusively to Creepypastas. Sites like Creepypasta.com and Creepypastawiki.com are focused more on the actual story aspect, having either rating systems or quality standards in place to ensure that low-effort or poorly conceived stories don’t waste people’s time.

Other sites such as Creepypastafiles are focused more on the OC side of things, where people may create their own “Creepypasta character” and self insert, often with the intent of becoming a “proxy”.

The Future of Creepypasta

While many people outside of the community see all of its creators as fanfiction writers attempting to slip their “OC” into established spooky stories, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Unfortunately, it’s brought about a poor association with the Creepypasta name for many.

But what’s left of the Creepypasta community now? What does the future hold? That’s hard to say for sure, but currently, the future’s looking bright. Content is being created by responsible and story-driven authors, who fastidiously edit and proofread their work every day.

On the side of the community that is enthusiastic about the older stories and their characters, new users join all the time. The community tends to cater to a younger demographic, and it appears as though it’s one that people “grow out of”. What happens when they do? Well in many cases they join the more mature side of Creepypastas, creating legitimate stories.

Those on the mature side focus on the craft of writing. Making it their outlet and passion. Through dedication, they have become an up and coming generation of inspired and unique horror writers.

The Takeaway

If someone you know starts getting involved in one of the Creepypasta communities, it really means one thing. In a nutshell, they like horror. There’s nothing strange or dangerous about Creepypastas. In fact, they’re no worse than the horror flicks still being released in theaters to this day. Often times they may even be better!

Dog on Computer in office — You never know who could be on the other end of the computer…

As with any community, it’s important to help children, teenagers, and young adults recognize what healthy relationships are, and how to distinguish fiction from reality. Online communities can host some of the most caring, and helpful minds, but you never really know who’s on the other side of the computer.

If you’re concerned about someone’s online interactions, approach them about it, and be prepared to listen. It’s more important to hear what they have to say, than to lay down anything you’ve rehearsed!

Did I miss something? Are you P-O’d that I insulted your “proxy’s” master? Tell me all about it in the comments!