I always dreamed of becoming a teacher. The type of teacher who decorate’s their classroom in hope to brighten everyone’s day. Expecually during the holiday’s. I’d go all out, not caring about the cost or how long it took to finish. Seeing their little faces light up as they walk in. I’d be worth it. I wanted, no… I needed to become my students favorite teacher. A teacher that they will never forget. Whenever my name would be brought up, a memory of me would crawl out of a hidden corner of their mind, and brighten your day. That my the dream. But life has a way of forcing you into places you don’t belong. After college it was damn near impossible finding a elementary school position. Ether school funding was being cut, lack of students in the community. Or worst of all the lack of teachers refusing to retire. Refusing to pass the torch to that new generation. These old incompetent, waste of human space refusing retirement, makes my blood boil. They’d rather keep their cushy positions, causing the children to suffer from their lack nuance and 50 year old lesson plans they reuse decades after decades! These senile wrinkled flesh bags should be thrown out! Sorry I get a bit huffy over things I have a passion of. But I shouldn’t get upset because I, Victoria Fe Hancock has some amazing news! I was finally offered a teaching position! Know that I have a chance to make my dream come true, I will do whatever it takes to achieve it, even if it kills me.

2. “Hello?… miss Hancock.. anyone there?” A young man questioning the dead air of the phone call, only hearing deep shallow breathing.

“YES! Yes i’ll take it!” My cell phone shakes in my and slides as I struggle to hold it. “Oh.. umm .. perfect. Well like I said.. it’s a Elementary school called ValleyHaven.. uh in ValleyHaven Pennsylvania.” “I’d don’t know how’s many times you need me to agree with you Mr. Phone man but I already said yes.” The sound of my breathe rising.

“I’m sorry, yes I understand that.. I’m just giving you the information you need.” I hold in my breathe and excitement. “I’m sorry…. Ple … please go on..” Phone shakes as palm sweet makes it even harder to hold up th phone. I quietly holding down my shaky knees as I pay close attention to the recruiter. “Ms. Hancock are you still there?” “…yes..” “Alright… I have one more request from the schools principal.” I sit up and continue to listen . “Is it possible to be there Monday morning?” “.yes.” “.. uh 1hr early to meet the principal before class? I understand you live 4 states away and this is last min…” I cut him off. “ Mr. Recruiter.. you need not to worry, daddy always said. On the path to your salvation, do what must be done… I will be there.. besides I’m currently living in my car so packing is literally already done!” I said my thank and hung up on him. That Friday night I drove 13.25hrs to ValleyHaven. Not sleeping a wink! Just gas, potty, and coffee. Just what daddy taught me. I arrived there at 7:45am.. From what seemed to be hours surrounded by trees and dirt paths. Twisting and curving. It finally showed its self. ValleyHaven, It was everything I could’ve dreamed it to be. The smell of cedar and sulfur filling the air, I as in heaven. I had pulled out all my money found the local motel in and rented my room for the month. That’s all I could afford. Daddy says I could always make a lil extra cash the next town over, plus I remember seeing a plasma center also. I spent the weekend days getting my lesson plans ready and exploring the town. Daddy told me not to wonder off too far but, he was just being a over bearing bear. It’s Sunday afternoon now, Ugh I love this town. It’s the kind of place where everyone smiles at you, walking into stores you will always hear a “Hello friend!” You literally can’t go down the street without someone stopping to say hi or a “How are you friend.” I’ve talked to almost everyone I ran into. And the best part, they actually listened to me! Of course I listen to them also. I’ve never had siblings or friends, kids mostly ignored me. It didn’t change the older I got, I was lonely. The only friend I had was, Daddy. The next morning I was in a rush! If it wasn’t for Daddy waking me up I might have overslept! “You’re the only one I can ever count on” I give daddy a tight squeeze. “I’m sorry but today I can’t bring you, It’s my..” “Of course I know if it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t be he… Ok.. Ok what the heck.” I kiss his little black rough nose and shove him inside my backpack. After taking a Quick Look back making sure everything is put away… I head out the door.

3. The school was hidden away outside of town, one exit one entrance. With the amount of trees it forced me to turn on my head lights. Finally following a light out of the forest. I saw it. The school was a Dark Cathedral style building, a bell was the size of me placed hangin into the building. With some sections taller than others, with the height point in the middle of the building. The building had carvings in every corner, finally noticing it. Stoned children carved into the building. Depicting the children playing hide n seek, but the closer I look. They weren’t hiding they were chasing.. who are they chasing? A bronze statue of a cross with a stoned naked woman hugging it form behind caught my eye.

I must’ve still tired because from down here the stone woman seemed to move. Heavy wooden doors open breaking my amazement of the school. A middle aged man with a peppered beard started walking my way. “Mrs. Handcock?” . The closer he got I noticed his outfit, wearing a white button up shirt an tie with slacks and boots. On the tie I noticed the cross and women symbol sewed on. “Call me Victoria, Vicky for short.” I reach out shaking his hand with both my hands in excitement. “Welcome I hope finding this school wasn’t a problem? My name is Mikeal, I’m the Principal… May I show you around.” I follow him as we make our way through the massive doors. As he showed me around, I felt underwhelmed, the outside was a lot more appealing. It was just a typical school hallway, White paint with a shade of yellow dripping from every corner. The classrooms had the bare minimum decoration, just crosses and more of the stone children, except they were more detailed. The teachers were lifeless husks moving seats and tables. “So much work” I muttered, Mr. Principle continued giving a brief history of the school but I didn’t listen, my mind already knew what I had too do. A quiet whisper crawled into my ear. As I agreed with him. “Your right Daddy… we should.”

Annoying to have to break something into pieces just to post it on r/nosleep - not ideal for a first story, I know.

Any advice for how best to go about posting the next few parts? (Time of day/frequency etc) Also, this story goes pretty hard, horror-wise around part 3 - does part one need to include the flairs/tags for the entire story?

‘Box Baby’ is the story, for reference.

The story that even when life gets busy and you have less time for Reddit, still makes you think of it, the story that you compare all other Reddit horror stories too, or the story that makes you question life.

For me I have a few.

• Dad's tapes got me started

*Tommy Taffy still makes me nauseas

• The left right game gave me an existential crisis

I can’t think of any off the top of my head except maybe Penpal >!Josh getting kidnapped by a random stalker and forced to live with him for years before he finally dies with him!< or Aaron’s Magic Boxx >!getting your whole body twisted up and turned into a monster!< What are some other creative but terrifying fates the characters faced?

I'm relatively new to writing and to posting in reddit, and I don't want to be considered spammy my posts.

Hi, I've been a lurker on NoSleep for several years now. I still haven't found a single story that creeped me out or that made me feel uneasy when I'm alone. I wanted to start writing my own but I honestly can't relate to fear the way most people do. I've seen pretty morbid things since I was a kid so I don't know. I guess to me the scariest thing would be for my dog to die without ever seeing me again and thinking I abandoned her. Or if my loved ones were to be tortured or something, but that's about it.

So any stories I can read that will keep me up at night?

Edit: Thanks for all the answers everyone. If anyone is still reading this after the edit, has anyone here watched the TV show "From" ? It felt like such a NoSleep thing to me, that if anyone knows of any similar stories or TV shows I'd appreciate it.

I’ll be honest, I started posting here on a lark around six years ago because I had an idea that needed to get out. Never expected it to go anywhere. Lo and behold, people liked the idea and I kept going. Reading that original story and some of my earlier ones back, they’re pretty rough, but they made me into the person I am today because of just how much love they were shown by all of you.

In the time since then I’ve dipped in and out on occasion, took some time to publish my own sci-fantasy book called Between Sunless Seas and work on a digipunk Robin Hood web series I call Strays. Gotten a ton of great feedback on the way and even approached to adapt one of my stories as a short film. Now, I’ve added another step- getting signed by a publisher for my stories!

When Reality Tears is a collection of stories, some from nosleep and some from my own files, that I’m really proud of, and it’s been picked up by Velox Books! I’ve poured a lot of love into these, and it covers some of my early nosleep stories all the way to some of my most recent.

I feel like I’m rambling here but my point is- thank you all so fucking much for letting me do this. I seriously couldn’t have gotten anywhere without the feedback from readers and other writers in nosleep. It’s all thanks to every single one of you that I’m able to take this next step, and I hope you’ll stay with me for future steps as well.

Again, thank you all so much. I love you, seriously ❤️

My first published book, an expansion of my “Welcome to Charlie’s” series, which the talented u/Jgrupe (Jordan Grupe Horror) and Lighthouse Horror narrated, is out now!

https://www.amazon.com/Welcome-Charlies-Retail-Ashley-Watson/dp/B0DV4K2FHX/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0

If you like comedy horror in a weird place with weird happenings, I highly recommend checking it out! “Tales from the Gas Station" was my biggest inspiration, and u/BlairDaniels (the wonderful writer I'm working with to publish it) has compared it to “John Dies at the End.”

I’ve been working on this series since 2021, and I have loved every bit of it. The interest it has garnered makes my heart so happy, and I can’t wait to see what unfolds with this new chapter for the series.

Book 2 coming March 31st!

I’m not going to complain here but I am wondering what happened to the series? Like the left right game or the cabin getaway series? Where you could just read and fantasize and eagerly wait for the next part to come out. Where you could theorize with the others in the comments. Why does nobody do those anymore?

Hey all!

I posted about my interactive story project a while back and some NS peeps kindly suggested I rework it on Reddit and find an outlet where I could have all the posts together and include polls and images amongst the text. Thanks for the advice guys, I have done just that!

Now The Wicked Among Us is massively outperforming my previous posts over on Substack and I thought you might be interested:

Six friends assemble at mysterious Loch Kaille for a 25th birthday celebration. When one of them is found dead after a violent storm, the survivors begin to suspect and then turn against each other. All under the watchful eye of something Wicked.

Readers can decide the story and characters’ fates via poll vote. Come and join in if you're feeling witchy…

https://open.substack.com/pub/jackcroxall/p/interactive-story-the-wicked-among

Thanks so much all!

Jack x

Hello, everyone! My new book, ‘Unwatched’, has just been released by Raven Tale Publishing! It’s currently available to read on Kindle, and the paperback version will be released on Tuesday.

This is an extended version of my nosleep art gallery story from 2023, and it’s the first of a trilogy (Through Black Wounds) featuring 2 other stories that you may recognise from nosleep!

If you do read the book, thank you! And if you enjoy it, I’d be immensely grateful for a review; it’d really help me out!

I appreciate every single reader who has supported me by reading, commenting, upvoting, and following my subreddit; without you, this wouldn’t have happened! Thank you!

Link

"Guttural". The bane of the tales I enjoy from /NoSleep. It seems to be the sole descriptive term used in over 70 percent of the narrated stories I listen to. I could be wrong. And So: I most humbly offer the following modest list of alternatives, drawn from a battered 1985 edition of Roget's Thesaurus:

"Hoarse"; "Husky"; "Raspy"; "Throaty"; "Croaking"; "Growling"; "Grating"; "Gravelly"; "Gruff".

I know this is not a generous list, and I wish I could compose a better one. Thank you for your considerations.

In one of the stories I wrote, the story ends in a cliffhanger where the protagonist might die from a curse, would the be breaking Your Main/Point-Of-View Character CAN'T BE Dead or incapacitated/incarcerated by the end of the post/story. rule?

Rant post

Btw this isn’t a dig at narrations in general, I’m more than happy for someone to read my stuff, but it’s pissing me off that something I put a ton of work into is being “narrated” on YouTube by garbage slop posting accounts using a shitty ai voice with Minecraft parkour in the background. And to make it worse they cut out like 60% of the writing so the story is totally incomprehensible and just butchered. And this is gonna be how some people first discover my work. Fantastic.

I have noticed at least one writer who frequently posts and deletes more than one story on the same day until they get one that gains traction. I'm an active reader and I find this really annoying and unfair to other posters, especially because it's so hard for most writers here to gain traction already. Is this kind of thing even allowed? The rules sound like it isn't.

So I'm writing a story and I have a title that is short and 2 words, but ik no sleep is full of the "I did something and something happened" sorta titles, so should I come up with 2 titles or can I just stick with my short one?

r/nosleep guidelines have been added to and updated. Please carefully and thoroughly read ALL of the guidelines before posting as they're your only warning. Failing to read and follow these revised guidelines is on you and will lead to subreddit bans. Click the links below to read the full guidelines as this post is just a summary!

##NOSLEEP GUIDELINES INCLUDE:

• 24 Hour/1 Post Per Day | Audio, Image, Video | Codes and Puzzles | Discreet Links | Formatting

• Identifying Information/Doxxing | Immersion/In- And Out-of-Character | Main Characters (Victimization) | Mental/Physical Health

• Modmail, Removals and Reposts | Scary Personal Experiences | Unacceptable Horror | Use of Intellectual Properties

##ADDED/UPDATED GUIDELINES INCLUDE:

• IMMERSION HAS RETURNED. From now (2025 JAN 17) on, all posters and commenters must remain in-character in r/nosleep posts and comments. THIS DOESN'T APPLY TO modmail, direct messages/chats, other subreddits and websites, etc.
  • What this means, in part: * Stay in-character in the comments. * Don't impersonate/mimic other subreddits or websites. No TIFU- or AITA- or AMA-style comments/posts/titles. * No interest checks or author's notes.

• STORIES MUST BE SCARY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES AGAIN. From now (2025 JAN 17) on, all stories on r/nosleep must be framed as scary personal experiences where something scary happened to your Main Character. They all must be in first person point-of-view and be in either past or present tense.
  • What this means, in part:
    • Something scary must happen to/directly affect your Main Character, whether it's having a dream about being attacked by demons, narrowly escaping a serial killer, living in a haunted house, etc.
    • Your Main Character can't just watch/read/hear about scary stuff happening to others. This means no found media stories (including but not limited to diaries/journals, transcripts, USB drives, etc) and no "lost episode"-type stories.
    • Stories can't be written in second or third person point-of-view. Stories can't be written in future tense.
    • Lists of rules and/or ritual instructions must include a scary personal experience, you can't just post a list of rules and/or instructions for a ritual.

• MAIN CHARACTERS has been updated to include:
  • Your Main Character can't be dead or in a coma or incapacitated/incarcerated by the end of the post/story. Posts/stories can't end mid-word/-sentence/-paragraph, with an ellipses (...), with an m-dash (—), a hyphen (-), etc.
  • Your Main Character can't be an animal, an insect/bug, anything that falls under the "animal kingdom" umbrella.
  • Your Main Character can't be an inanimate/non-sentient object.
  • Your Main Character can't be posting from or in the past or the future. The scary personal experience can have happened in the past OR be happening in the present, but your character is posting to NoSleep in the present.
  • Your Main Character can't be posting found media (see above) or posting a "lost episode"-type story.

• Under MODMAIL, REMOVALS, REPOSTS, we've included:
  • Don't send stories or ideas through modmail.
  • If you want to repost a story already on NoSleep, you must contact the Mods to request permission, which is on a case-by-case basis and not guaranteed.

• DISCREET LINKS have been updated to include information about series links and the FORMATTING section has also had a bit of updating. IDENTIFYING INFORMATION/DOXXING has been expanded on to be even more clear.

• The COMMENTING GUIDELINES have been updated to reflect the changes.

• As always, you also have to abide by Reddit's Content Policy and Reddiquette.

• If you're new to Reddit, you'll need to check the Beginner's Guide to Reddit for help.

Keep an eye on r/nosleepooc for announcements of any other updates/changes and don't forget the many, many other subreddits also available!

Creative question for any and all.

Writing is fun for me, and everyone does it differently, so I’m curious.

Is your process something like “I gain inspiration from astral projection and I commit it to writing every night from Midnight to 3 AM and I only post during full moons after downing a glass of chocolate milk” (Which is totally okay if you do that)

Or is your ritual a secret?

But I am curious if anyone else has a process they typically commit to.

I myself write almost every day during downtime at work, or when I’m alone at night before bed. I prefer to write only when I’m alone, or when my mind is active. If I skip more than one day of writing, I will reread the story in full. I don’t write on days I find that I’m extraordinarily tired. These are disorganized steps, but sometimes it feels like a process I always follow.

Posting is a different thing altogether, I haven’t begun posting enough yet to really have a ritual with that but Im curious if anyone does.

Lighting a candle? Closing the app immediately? Posting late at night immediately after finishing a story then going to sleep?

What are your rituals?

I've been fascinated about the idea of interconnecting what looks like absolutely standalone stories on nosleep to one long tale. The only interconnected universes I know are the "Social universe", "the multiverse" "All in good time", "Bloodworth saga" and "infected town", so please don't recommend those.

Hey, I'd like to see if I could get a short story traditionally published in a horror anthology or magazine. Does anyone know of any that accept previously published work?

Hello fellow NoSleepers! I’ve been writing here since late 2019. Today is the release date of my first ever book, Friends, Lovers, & Other Gaslighters. It’s a compilation of 25 of my stories loosely themed around deceit and manipulation.

I went the self-publishing route because I wanted full control over the layout, selection, and cover art, and I’m quite happy with how it all turned out. The book has been a passion project of mine and I’m proud of it.

The vast majority of the book’s content has been posted online and/or adapted on podcasts before (a dozen have been on Creepy and a handful have been on the NoSleep Podcast), but it’s all newly-edited, with two of the stories being substantially rewritten from the previous versions. The stories are also arranged to flow in a very particular order, and there’s a few pages of ‘bonus content’ and a short, newly-written epilogue at the end that addresses a set of recurring characters. The book also features a brief shout-out at the end to the NoSleep Podcast for inspiring me to begin writing.

If you’re interested, you can find it in eBook and paperback formats on all major outlets. Reddit removed my post when I included a bunch of links earlier, so for now, I've compiled them here!

Thanks to the readers and writers who make this community such a supportive environment! Have a nice day/spooky night everyone.

###r/nosleep's guidelines will be changing again on FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 2025.

The CURRENT guidelines will be in effect until we make the official announcement post on Friday, January 17, 2025. There will be more details and links in the official announcement.

###Changes WILL include:

• The return of IMMERSION, which means both readers and writers will have to remain in-character and there will be Main Character limitations like: can't be animals/insects or inanimate/non-sentient objects; can't be incapacitated/incarcerated or dead by the end of the post. No impersonating other websites or subreddits.

• Stories being SCARY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES again, written in first person only, using past or present tense only. No found media/lost episodes/etc.

• Content warnings won't have to be under spoiler text.

• The Identifying Information/Doxxing guidelines will be even more clear.

###Don't forget: there are many other subreddits out there, too!

I know about Stolen Tongues, We Used to Live Here. But are there any other novels/novellas adapted from original nosleep stories?

Reddit is currently having an issue where comments and posts are disappearing/vanishing/becoming blank. The content may return randomly, then disappear again. It seems to be affecting people on both mobile and desktop, across all operating systems, browsers, etc. We don't know what's causing it or how to fix it. We won't approve glitched submissions as we can't read them.

Be sure to visit r/help for Reddit tech support and sort by NEW to find the absolute latest information.

As a writer, has it given you any inspiration, taught you anything about writing horror, or given you any motivational or confidence boosts?

For readers, have you ever read anything that got you to pick up the pen yourself? Or has reading nosleep stories done anything for you that you'd like to highlight, either just favorite stories, interactions, or aspects of the community?

I'm wondering how people view the subreddit, and what gets people going to it regularly. No matter what someone thinks about the state of the sub, there's still a lot of stories, and a lot of readers, posting and reading every single day. And I think it might be good to sit around the fire together and talk about what keeps us around, see how the community views itself.

A lot of pople ask about what happened to nosleep and why its dying...

I myself had a bunch of stuff published in 2016 to 2018 thanks to the sub, and I loved it! But I feel like time has passed, its not as brand new and exciring and also many of us have aged, work multiple jobs, had kids in the meantime and have overall less time to dedicate to crafting these stories.

On the other hand Im sure that the creativity and will to generate horror content is there... I just dont know where?

I also feel like with less time, perhaps we should explore alternative mediums to create these horror stories (what else is out there?) that dont rely solely on writing and that perhaps explore the possibilities of collaborative works (like r/nosleepteams had all the fun of writing a horror story! But required much less time).

Where are the new fresh and fun spaces of horror creation nowadays?

Hello! I'm pretty new here and need some advice. I'm working on a story I'm super excited about, but it’s shaping up to be way over the 6000-word limit, probably around 8000 words. I'm thinking about splitting it into two parts and posting them a day apart to stick to the 24-hour rule.

I know series can be hit or miss here, and I'm not just chasing upvotes, but I don't want my story to flop either. So here’s what I’m wondering: Is posting the second part just a day after the first too quick? I’m trying to figure out how to keep everyone hooked for part two. I'm planning to end the first part by having the narrator say they need a bit to mentally regroup before sharing more, since the second part gets a lot heavier. Does that sound like it’ll work?

Also, should I build more of a following by focusing on shorter stories before writting a series?

Any advice would be awesome. Thanks a bunch!

Good morning NoSleepers,

I hope you're safe and warm today. The snow is falling here and I believe I'm looking at a weekend full of cleaning up fallen branches and writing in my warm office.

My first short story collect, I've Done This Before, released back in April of 2024. It was a fun ride and great experience.

I'm happy to announce that the book has been adapted to audio format and is available here for purchase on Audible. If you need something to keep you entertained while you drive or clean the house, I hope you'll consider picking up a copy.

I hope everyone is well and I appreciate all the creativity and excellent stories coming from the community. Please feel free to drop a comment below with a link to your own books or an update on what you're working on these days. Always glad to share the soapbox.

Cheers,

G. Tripp

Hello everyone!

I am happy to announce that I have signed with Velox Books! This deal is for a collection of short stories and it will come out later this year!

To have a book published is a dream come true, and it still feels a bit surreal, to be honest. Big thanks to u/VeloxBooks for giving me a chance, I feel honored. Also, many thanks go to you, the readers. Without you, none of this would've been possible. Your continued support over the years means so much to me.

More about this deal on Velox's socials: Facebook and Instagram.

More on this soon. Until then, take care.

All the best,

Alin/PostMortem33