Buzz
As internet horror tales continue to gain traction, with YouTube becoming overrun by countless videos of people narrating them, even professional filmmakers are answering the call to adapt these chilling stories into short films. This trend has reached a point where significant technical expertise and creativity are poured into some of these adaptations.
10. White With Red
This story, also known by its alternate title “The Keyhole,” follows a man who checks into a hotel room and is warned not to peer into the adjacent room. When he does, all he sees is a red hue. He assumes someone has hung a red dress over the keyhole, but in reality, he is gazing at the bloodshot, lifeless eye of a long-deceased hotel guest.
Brandon Christenson’s adaptation of this tale into a short film is exceptional. Robert Scott Howard brings life to the character with minimal dialogue, while Rusty Meyers’ portrayal of the hotel clerk is vibrant without crossing into caricature. The effects for the inhabitant of the unmarked room are remarkable, delivering one of the most unsettling blinks in cinematic history. Additionally, a subtle pretzel joke is weaved into the film without taking away from the eerie tone.
9. The Expressionless
This eerie tale by Tom Lever became so widely circulated on the internet that it was eventually debunked by the renowned website Snopes.com. The story, set in 1972, takes place at Cedar-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, where a strange entity is encountered. A woman, with a featureless face like a mannequin’s, enters the hospital, her gown drenched in kitten blood, with the kitten still hanging from her mouth. The staff attempts to treat her, but after a brief cooperation, she violently lashes out. When security arrives, she bites the first guard in the neck. A doctor, inquiring about her identity, is met with her chilling response as she leans over him: “I…am…God.” She then vanishes and becomes known as “Expressionless.”
At first glance, it seems improbable that the owners of the YouTube channel Totallysketch could pull off a competent adaptation of this story. Known for producing lighthearted comedies, often centered around cleavage, the channel's most popular videos feature internet stars like Shane Dawson and Jenna Marbles, who are far from the frightening type. Their foray into feature-length horror, the 2013 movie Smiley, was universally panned, making the odds of a successful adaptation even slimmer.
Despite these concerns, The Expressionless turns out to be a surprisingly effective horror short. The production quality is impressive for such a small-scale project, and director Michael Gallagher handles the story with skill. The true highlight, however, is Denna Thomsen's portrayal of the titular character. Though she doesn’t resemble a mannequin, her performance is chilling in its understated way, especially during the more subdued moments. Ironically, when she starts killing, the horror seems to lose some of its intensity.
8. Sonic.EXE
"Sonic.EXE" is arguably one of the most disappointing creepypasta stories to gain widespread attention. The plot revolves around Tom, who receives a CD from his missing best friend with a warning to destroy it immediately. Ignoring the advice, Tom plays the game, only to find it has been altered in disturbing ways. The iconic Sonic character now appears sinister, with dark, bleeding eyes. Sonic easily eliminates all the characters Tom controls and begins threatening him in his dreams. The story culminates with Tom playing the game again, hearing a voice behind him, and turning around to discover... a Sonic doll.
Although "Sonic.EXE" garnered a fan following, leading to countless fan art and even inspired someone to modify the original Sonic game, it’s more comical than terrifying. Tom's exaggerated fear of a small doll and his poor judgment in playing the game despite his friend’s ominous warning only add to its absurdity. The creepy 8-bit laugh of a character named Kefka is also described as unsettling—take a listen for yourself and see if it truly lives up to the hype.
The author has a peculiar habit of over-explaining the duration of each action, often with unnecessary precision (e.g., "I sat there for maybe 25 seconds"). Because of this, creepypasta.wikia, the site that helped the story gain popularity, eventually labeled it a "trollpasta." This indicated that the story was so poorly written it might have been intentionally done for comedic effect. However, the author strongly rejected this categorization, insisting that it was meant to be taken seriously.
Jake Pound's achievement in transforming this story into a surprisingly effective short film is nothing short of remarkable. As an actor, Jake maintains a balanced performance, avoiding over-the-top emotional displays while skillfully using sound to heighten the atmosphere. While he does retain some of the less successful elements, such as the Kefka laugh, his decision to modify the absurd ending was a brilliant choice, ensuring the audience isn't left trying to find a small doll scary.
72. AM: The Smiling Man
Originally posted in Reddit's NoSleep section, "The Smiling Man" has grown into an urban legend known for its strikingly simple premise. The story, which is supposedly true, recounts an encounter between a man and a strange figure performing an odd dance with a wide grin. The bizarre person then approaches him, staring in a way that feels unsettlingly ambiguous. The author, blue_tidal, merely notes that "he looked completely insane," leaving it unclear whether the figure posed any real threat.
One of the greatest strengths of Michael Evans's film adaptation of "The Smiling Man" is its complete lack of dialogue, a decision that allowed the film to reach a much wider global audience by eliminating language barriers. It’s likely no accident that it is currently the most-watched video on this list.
A clever addition in the film is how Sean Simon's character initially reacts to the Smiling Man by laughing at him. The filmmakers were fully aware of how their project navigated the fine line between horror and comedy and embraced it, rather than forcing a purely frightening tone. Blue_tidal appeared quite content with the adaptation, despite offering some small critiques about its accuracy.
6. Five Nights At Freddy’s
Scott Cawthon’s indie horror game Five Nights At Freddy’s casts the player as a security guard who must monitor cameras and close doors to avoid being killed by roaming animatronic creatures. Though critics found the storyline of the game somewhat convoluted, the design of the characters and the scares were enough to satisfy the audience. It was a huge success, particularly given that Cawthon's prior games had been relatively minor Christian-themed titles. Allegedly, the concept for this popular game was born out of a critique of his earlier work, which claimed that the 3D characters resembled creepy animatronics.
Jake Pound returns with a new short film that’s even shorter than his Sonic.exe adaptation. This time, the film focuses on a man playing the game, rather than a security guard. More people have likely played the game than have ever been in a situation similar to those in it. The image of Freddy Fazbear glowing ominously in the background is beautifully executed, appearing desaturated yet still detailed. While Pound uses some game footage in the final shot, which doesn't look as realistic, it still serves as an effective jump scare.
5. The Midnight Man Ritual
The Midnight Man ritual is a dark and eerie ceremony performed at the stroke of midnight to summon a malevolent humanoid entity. The goal is simply to survive as the being attempts to capture and torment the summoners to their death.
Steps for the ritual: Write your full name on a piece of paper, bleed a drop of blood onto it, turn off the lights, place the paper on the front door, light a candle, and create a salt circle around yourself. If the Midnight Man manifests in your home, you must avoid him and stay within the circle until 3:33 a.m., ensuring the candle never goes out for more than 10 seconds.
8-BitMassacre’s video featuring someone testing the Midnight Man ritual stands out in several ways. It’s the only “found footage” horror film on this list. While the protagonist doesn't become very sympathetic, he feels entirely believable as the type of person who would attempt such a ritual. The portrayal of the Midnight Man is flawless, both in his stalking of the hero and during the jump scare at the end. The audio during his appearance is particularly well executed.
4. The Girl In The Photograph
This creepypasta is a blend of dark humor and creepy intrigue. Tom, a student, stumbles upon a photograph of an unbelievably beautiful girl holding up two fingers in a peace sign. He asks around to see if anyone knows who she is, but no one has a clue. That night, he hears mysterious giggling and tapping on his window, and he goes outside to check it out. But there's no one there. The next evening, the same strange noises occur, and once again, Tom follows the sound, photo in hand. Tragically, he's struck by a car and killed. When the driver looks at the photo, the girl now has three fingers up.
John Chris Lopez’s film adaptation of the story is almost entirely shot in black and white, with some notable exceptions, like the colorful petals of flowers. The film makes subtle improvements to the original plot. Tom, in this version, is a photographer who finds the photograph (this time it's in a frame, which adds an element of suspicion). Rather than just hearing strange sounds, he sees the woman as a vision, making his decision to walk into the street seem somewhat more rational.
3. Slender Man
Despite countless parodies and an oversaturation of his image, Slender Man remains the most enduring creepypasta character. He’s also one of the rare horror figures to have inspired a real-life murder attempt (which, thankfully, was unsuccessful). Eventually, creator Eric Knudsen will likely allow a commercial film or other production about Slender Man. Until then, fans continue to enjoy the many videos and games centered around this mysterious figure.
Most Slender Man videos aim to mimic the rough, ambiguous, and amateur aesthetic of the viral Marble Hornets series that first brought Slender Man into the spotlight. However, Gearmark Pictures took a different approach, presenting a slick, professionally crafted film about the creature.
The story centers on a Confederate soldier from the American Civil War, determined to shield his younger sister Emily from an ominous presence. The film's acting is so compelling that Slender Man himself takes a backseat to the chilling performance of Daniela Leon, who plays Emily after she succumbs to the mysterious entity's influence.
2. The Rake
The Rake is thought to have first emerged in 2005 on 4chan and was later solidified in 2006 by Bryan Somerville on a blog hosted on SomethingAwful.com. It is a skeletal humanoid monster with long claws that infiltrates people's homes, sometimes violently, other times lethally, and occasionally just by intimidating its victims. For centuries, this entity has appeared in various places around the world, with countless videos documenting its presence.
Go For Broke Pictures, the creators of the noted 2 AM, chose to depict Rake in a more brutal fashion than most. Under the direction of Shun Ostubo, the creature is reimagined as a fearsome predator with hollow, empty eye sockets, abandoning its earlier portrayal as a lurking, frail figure.
The monster has already taken a father's life before it’s even seen on screen. Most of the story focuses on the surviving family members trying to escape the creature’s clutches, but the final scenes are remarkable, featuring pseudo-historical artifacts that suggest the monster’s existence. Particularly eerie are the photos of the alleged victim from above and the crime scene investigation that follows.
1. Stitches
This tale predates the creepypasta movement, with Snopes reporting its origins as early as 2004.
A babysitter arrives at an unfamiliar home and begins to notice strange occurrences, like water running by itself. There's also a life-sized statue or mannequin in the house, which either resembles a clown or an angel. When she calls the homeowners to inquire about the odd statue, they tell her that they don’t have one.
The UK film group Bloody Cuts produced an outstanding adaptation of this story, starring Bethan Hanks as the babysitter and Paul Ewen as the “statue.” Despite the fact that the story is well-known and its ending is predictable, the high-quality production makes this version stand out. The unsettling visuals of scattered toys and trinkets throughout the house, along with excellent lighting and camerawork, contribute to its unique impact.
A chilling story commonly shared in the realm of creepypasta involves an eerie urban legend surrounding the Pokemon series. Much like the famous Lavender Town Syndrome, this tale speaks of a mysterious and dark bootleg version of the Pokemon games. The story centers around a man who stumbles upon a black cartridge and is transported into the role of a ghost character, armed with a move known as ‘Curse.’ This move grants him the ability to wipe out all enemies in an instant, and soon, he begins eliminating every human character he encounters, leaving the world empty. As he continues, he begins to wonder if this altered version of the game was designed as a lesson in mortality for children.
One of the most memorable and amusing parodies born from the Pokemon Black legend is a video produced by Ridgway Films titled Creepypasta. Combining over-the-top humor, such as a cereal box full of game cartridges marking the start of the game's unnatural abilities, with some delightfully campy performances, the film also features moments that are surprisingly unsettling. A particular scene, where the protagonist finds himself surrounded by ghostly Pokemon, stands out as eerily haunting despite its absurdity. Even those who aren't usually captivated by creepy Internet tales about video games will find themselves intrigued by this one.
Pokemon Black was the inspiration behind one of the most clever parodies in creepypasta history: a video titled Creepypasta by Ridgway Films. The video takes a humorous approach, with a cereal box brimming with game cartridges acting as the first indication of the game's unsettling powers. Despite the campy acting and slapstick comedy, the film is not without its unsettling moments. A particular scene in which the protagonist is surrounded by ghostly Pokemon is surprisingly spine-chilling, even though it’s presented in such a ridiculous way. This video is a must-see for anyone curious about this unique blend of horror and humor.
