creepypastas

Creepypasta is a genre of horror fiction circulated on the Internet. The stories are typically short, standalone tales presented as first-person or found documents, designed to evoke fear and unease. They are often crafted to be read quickly and shared widely via links, forum posts, or copied text.

The term "creepypasta" emerged in the early 2000s from "copypasta"—text that is copied and pasted across online forums. The genre originated on early imageboards and discussion sites such as Something Awful and 4chan and later expanded through Reddit, dedicated sites, and wikis. Creators publish anonymously or under pseudonyms, leading to a diverse body of works.

Common features include first- or third-person narration, mundane settings contrasted with extraordinary events, supernatural or paranormal entities, unsettling atmospheres, and twist endings. Many stories are designed as standalone but sometimes become part of larger shared universes or multimedia projects.

Prominent examples include Slender Man, Jeff the Killer, Ben Drowned, Smile Dog, and The Russian Sleep Experiment. Creepypasta has inspired fan art, video games, YouTube narrations, and collaborative writing projects such as the SCP Foundation, though SCP is a broader shared-universe undertaking. Stories are archived on dedicated sites and wikis such as Creepypasta Wiki.

Reception is mixed: the format is popular and influential in online horror, but quality varies, and some works are criticized for plagiarism or low literary quality. The genre has also attracted attention for real-world incidents linked to its mythology. Despite debates, creepypastas remain a notable voice in digital folklore and online storytelling.