July 28, 2025 • 9 mins
What happens when you explore your subconscious… and something’s already waiting for you?
In this solo episode of Make You Scream, host Nicki Baber walks you through the chilling ritual known as Red Door, Yellow Door — a viral horror game also called Doors of the Mind. It’s been played at sleepovers and seances for decades… but some people never come back the same.
🔍 You’ll hear:
• How to play the ritual (and what not to do)
• Real stories from Reddit of people who say they saw forest bodies, faceless men, and forgotten trauma
• The psychology behind the game: lucid trance, suppressed memory, and symbolic fear
• Why some players report seeing the same entity… even across different parts of the world
🎧 Whether you think it’s just a game or a psychic trap, this one will crawl under your skin.
🕯️ Submit your own story: makeyouscreampodcast.com
📲 Follow Nicki Baber on socials for behind-the-scenes + horror drops
🎙️ New episodes of Don’t Play Scary Games every Monday 1PM EST
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome back, Banshees, to another episode of Make You
Scream, the podcast where we dare you to play the game so
you're not supposed to. I'm your host, Nikki Weber, and
today we're diving deep into a game that doesn't need a board,
candles, or even a haunted house.
You only need a friend, a couch,and a willingness to explore
your subconscious. This is the psychological horror
ritual known as Red Door. Yellow door, also called Doors
(00:24):
of the Mind. People say it unlocks hidden
memories, that you can meet beings inside and that you can
get it gets stuck. I found a lot of real stories of
people who played it and we're going to unpack them.
So here's how it works. Let me tell you a little bit
about the game. It's wildly debated how you play
Red Door Yellow Door on the Internet, but this is the one I
find to be the easiest to understand.
(00:47):
So you need a room that becomes very dark that you won't be
disturbed in. This could be a bathroom, a
bedroom, some people use, a closet, a phone to time the
event to see how long your friend is under at least two
people and if there's any other people watching they need to be
completely silent. You need water and a cold towel
(01:09):
just in case your friend won't wake up.
So one person is the subject andone is the guide.
You find your room. Doesn't matter what time of day
you do it at, just make sure it's quiet and dark.
Once you're in the room, the subject lays down on the floor
and the guide sits behind them with their legs crossed.
They have job it's to massage the subjects temples until the
(01:32):
game's over and if something goes wrong, they're the closest
so they can wake them up. Now they start chanting red
door, yellow door, any other color door, red door, yellow
door, any other color door. And a lot of people have said
that the entry can take a littlebit.
It can take a long time. It really just depends on the
(01:53):
person but it average takes like3 to 5 minutes of just saying
red door, yellow door and everyone in the room can chant
this. The subject is not chanting
this, they're just trying to relax and listen.
When the subject goes into the trance, you'll notice their body
or breathing changing and then the guide guide to them.
(02:14):
So the guide would say things like what color is the door and
the subject is seeing like a hallway.
Usually they ask what color is the door?
How do you feel about the door? Do you want to go in?
Do you see anyone? Do you hear anything?
Is the doorknob hot, cold. What does the door look like?
You might see a hallway, a door,a staircase.
(02:37):
You're guided gently. But here's the catch.
A lot of people think you're walking through your own
subconscious. Some say it's just your
imagination and others say you can meet things there and not
everything wants to let you go back.
There's a few rules to keep you safe.
Number one, never open a door ifthere's someone behind it #2
don't follow any man in a suit. Honestly a good rule for life #3
(03:01):
don't go downstairs if you see aroom with clocks, get out.
If you get stuck, your friend has to wake you up immediately.
People have claimed that they came back so shaken and
different and it really has affected them.
Like some of these stories are crazy.
Let me just share some of them with you.
OK so one person said that me and my sister and my best friend
(03:23):
played this game and my experience was different because
of what happened after we stopped playing.
My best friend was the one who was in the game and I was asking
questions and my sister was rubbing the temples.
I don't know if this was important but we didn't record
it. We didn't have candles, nothing
like that. When my friend got into the room
it was dark and she couldn't really see anything so I told
(03:44):
her to look around and she foundan orange door and a huge hole
on the ceiling. I told her to go into the orange
door and she said it made her feel uneasy.
I told her to look around for a a rope or a ladder so she can go
through the hole and she turned around and she saw the man in
the suit but she couldn't identify the facial features and
he had an orange key by him. My sister told her to get the
(04:06):
key and go through the orange door but I don't want her to.
The man was just staring at her.She tried to talk to him but
couldn't. The man got up and started to
walk towards her so I told her to run somewhere so she did and
she didn't look back and the manwas chasing her so we woke her
up. That was the end of the game,
but during that night she had a dream that the guy in the suit
(04:27):
told her to play again in a demanding way and they're asking
if anyone has had this experience.
How do you stop the dreams? Another person said.
My friend and I played this. I saw an Angel at some point
while walking down endless stairs.
He had his hand out towards me as if to take his hand and
looking at the ground in a way that his hair hid his whole
face. He was blonde and dressed in a
white toga and sandals and whitelight coming from behind him.
(04:50):
I felt terrified the moment I saw him and felt the need to go
down the dark hallway that had been following me since I found
it. I also saw a black figure
looking at a blank wall. Then when my friend did it, my
friend saw a pink room with pinkeverything, including a cat
behind a yellow door. Somewhere during the start of
it, she came across a living room of sorts.
It had a TV, couch, and a wardrobe.
(05:11):
The TV was playing the news, Thetable had a newsletter on it
only about furniture and a cup of warm tea.
The wardrobe had a black costumein it.
Additionally, there was another door she didn't get to explore
since once she mentioned the suit I told her to get out
because I was reminded of the man in suit.
Plus the warm tea indicated someone was there recently and
she'd heard footsteps earlier. Another thing she saw was a
(05:32):
drawer that held a photo of two men with their faces wiped and a
letter written in a language shedidn't understand.
The letter was dated February 15th, 1 something.
I also felt like my arms were burning while going into the
trance. They asked does anyone know what
this means and if not does anyone have any theories?
So interesting that people are all seeing men.
(05:53):
This one is an experience experience from Reddit.
This guy said. I saw three doors, brown, yellow
and red. I opened the brown one.
I saw a man under a street lightwith a wizard's hat.
I knew he wanted to hurt me so Iran but I didn't wake up.
I kept walking and he was there again waiting.
It's really crazy because these make me wonder like why is our
(06:14):
subconscious so scary? Like why do we have such like
terrifying dreams and visions and all of those things.
This one is so disgusting and disturbing.
I followed a hallway and suddenly I I was in a forest.
The trees were full of people hanging dead.
I ran into a hospital and it wasabandoned.
Everything felt wrong. Then I saw a staircase.
(06:34):
I went down and when I woke up Istill felt like I didn't really
leave. That just sounds so terrifying.
I think I'd prefer the one with the guy with the wizard's hat.
Another story, this one's calledMiss and the familiar face.
My friend went into the red door, said it was Misty, said
she saw people and one of them looked like my sister, but she
(06:56):
said it wasn't my sister. She said my sister wasn't alive
in there. She said I think I know things I
shouldn't. We ended the game, but she kept
drawing the same hallway over and over again for weeks.
Each story sounds different, butthe patterns are like the
feeling of being watched unfinished, not ending.
It's like everyone's playing into the same blueprint.
(07:17):
But I do wonder if it's because people have read other people's
stories about it. If you guys do attempt this,
please let me know in the comments of your experience and
what you're seeing. Now let's talk about why this
game works. It's not just about ghosts.
It taps into a guided trance andsensory deprivation.
When your brain is quiet, you'resuggestible.
Your subconscious fills in the blanks.
It can show you scary stuff. We store trauma as visual
(07:40):
fragment, so we encode fears as places, doorway shadows.
If your brain thinks the red door equals danger, then
probably you're going to see a monster behind it.
And once you're in a suggestiblestate, that becomes real to you,
so your heart mate might rise, your body panics, you wake up
shaken. And that's why people say that
they don't just imagine it, theyfeel it.
(08:01):
It's the same principle behind lucid dreaming or hypnosis and
even PTSD flashbacks, because the mind can create real terror.
Should you play red or yellow? That's up to you.
I think of all the scary games, this is one that I would be more
open to because it's more like Ilike the trance state kind of
thing more than I like summoningsomething, if you know what I
(08:24):
mean. But remember this, doors and
dreams aren't always just doors.Sometimes doors are locked for a
reason. And if you do play, make sure
your partner knows what to do and you play with someone
trusted. Maybe now you're wondering which
door you might open. But ask yourself this, what are
you actually hoping to find behind it?
I'm Nikki Weber and this has been make you scream.
(08:45):
If you've ever played Red door, Yellow Door or any other mind
opening soul bending games, I want to know.
So go to the make youscreampodcast.com, scroll to
the bottom and submit your story.
You might just get featured nextweek.
Until next time, take care of your mind and your soul.
And remember, if you see the manin the suit, run.
Welcome back, Banshees, to another episode of Make You
Scream, the podcast where we dare you to play the game so
you're not supposed to. I'm your host, Nikki Weber, and
today we're diving deep into a game that doesn't need a board,
candles, or even a haunted house.
You only need a friend, a couch,and a willingness to explore
your subconscious. This is the psychological horror
ritual known as Red Door. Yellow door, also called Doors
(00:24):
of the Mind. People say it unlocks hidden
memories, that you can meet beings inside and that you can
get it gets stuck. I found a lot of real stories of
people who played it and we're going to unpack them.
So here's how it works. Let me tell you a little bit
about the game. It's wildly debated how you play
Red Door Yellow Door on the Internet, but this is the one I
find to be the easiest to understand.
(00:47):
So you need a room that becomes very dark that you won't be
disturbed in. This could be a bathroom, a
bedroom, some people use, a closet, a phone to time the
event to see how long your friend is under at least two
people and if there's any other people watching they need to be
completely silent. You need water and a cold towel
(01:09):
just in case your friend won't wake up.
So one person is the subject andone is the guide.
You find your room. Doesn't matter what time of day
you do it at, just make sure it's quiet and dark.
Once you're in the room, the subject lays down on the floor
and the guide sits behind them with their legs crossed.
They have job it's to massage the subjects temples until the
(01:32):
game's over and if something goes wrong, they're the closest
so they can wake them up. Now they start chanting red
door, yellow door, any other color door, red door, yellow
door, any other color door. And a lot of people have said
that the entry can take a littlebit.
It can take a long time. It really just depends on the
(01:53):
person but it average takes like3 to 5 minutes of just saying
red door, yellow door and everyone in the room can chant
this. The subject is not chanting
this, they're just trying to relax and listen.
When the subject goes into the trance, you'll notice their body
or breathing changing and then the guide guide to them.
(02:14):
So the guide would say things like what color is the door and
the subject is seeing like a hallway.
Usually they ask what color is the door?
How do you feel about the door? Do you want to go in?
Do you see anyone? Do you hear anything?
Is the doorknob hot, cold. What does the door look like?
You might see a hallway, a door,a staircase.
(02:37):
You're guided gently. But here's the catch.
A lot of people think you're walking through your own
subconscious. Some say it's just your
imagination and others say you can meet things there and not
everything wants to let you go back.
There's a few rules to keep you safe.
Number one, never open a door ifthere's someone behind it #2
don't follow any man in a suit. Honestly a good rule for life #3
(03:01):
don't go downstairs if you see aroom with clocks, get out.
If you get stuck, your friend has to wake you up immediately.
People have claimed that they came back so shaken and
different and it really has affected them.
Like some of these stories are crazy.
Let me just share some of them with you.
OK so one person said that me and my sister and my best friend
(03:23):
played this game and my experience was different because
of what happened after we stopped playing.
My best friend was the one who was in the game and I was asking
questions and my sister was rubbing the temples.
I don't know if this was important but we didn't record
it. We didn't have candles, nothing
like that. When my friend got into the room
it was dark and she couldn't really see anything so I told
(03:44):
her to look around and she foundan orange door and a huge hole
on the ceiling. I told her to go into the orange
door and she said it made her feel uneasy.
I told her to look around for a a rope or a ladder so she can go
through the hole and she turned around and she saw the man in
the suit but she couldn't identify the facial features and
he had an orange key by him. My sister told her to get the
(04:06):
key and go through the orange door but I don't want her to.
The man was just staring at her.She tried to talk to him but
couldn't. The man got up and started to
walk towards her so I told her to run somewhere so she did and
she didn't look back and the manwas chasing her so we woke her
up. That was the end of the game,
but during that night she had a dream that the guy in the suit
(04:27):
told her to play again in a demanding way and they're asking
if anyone has had this experience.
How do you stop the dreams? Another person said.
My friend and I played this. I saw an Angel at some point
while walking down endless stairs.
He had his hand out towards me as if to take his hand and
looking at the ground in a way that his hair hid his whole
face. He was blonde and dressed in a
white toga and sandals and whitelight coming from behind him.
(04:50):
I felt terrified the moment I saw him and felt the need to go
down the dark hallway that had been following me since I found
it. I also saw a black figure
looking at a blank wall. Then when my friend did it, my
friend saw a pink room with pinkeverything, including a cat
behind a yellow door. Somewhere during the start of
it, she came across a living room of sorts.
It had a TV, couch, and a wardrobe.
(05:11):
The TV was playing the news, Thetable had a newsletter on it
only about furniture and a cup of warm tea.
The wardrobe had a black costumein it.
Additionally, there was another door she didn't get to explore
since once she mentioned the suit I told her to get out
because I was reminded of the man in suit.
Plus the warm tea indicated someone was there recently and
she'd heard footsteps earlier. Another thing she saw was a
(05:32):
drawer that held a photo of two men with their faces wiped and a
letter written in a language shedidn't understand.
The letter was dated February 15th, 1 something.
I also felt like my arms were burning while going into the
trance. They asked does anyone know what
this means and if not does anyone have any theories?
So interesting that people are all seeing men.
(05:53):
This one is an experience experience from Reddit.
This guy said. I saw three doors, brown, yellow
and red. I opened the brown one.
I saw a man under a street lightwith a wizard's hat.
I knew he wanted to hurt me so Iran but I didn't wake up.
I kept walking and he was there again waiting.
It's really crazy because these make me wonder like why is our
(06:14):
subconscious so scary? Like why do we have such like
terrifying dreams and visions and all of those things.
This one is so disgusting and disturbing.
I followed a hallway and suddenly I I was in a forest.
The trees were full of people hanging dead.
I ran into a hospital and it wasabandoned.
Everything felt wrong. Then I saw a staircase.
(06:34):
I went down and when I woke up Istill felt like I didn't really
leave. That just sounds so terrifying.
I think I'd prefer the one with the guy with the wizard's hat.
Another story, this one's calledMiss and the familiar face.
My friend went into the red door, said it was Misty, said
she saw people and one of them looked like my sister, but she
(06:56):
said it wasn't my sister. She said my sister wasn't alive
in there. She said I think I know things I
shouldn't. We ended the game, but she kept
drawing the same hallway over and over again for weeks.
Each story sounds different, butthe patterns are like the
feeling of being watched unfinished, not ending.
It's like everyone's playing into the same blueprint.
(07:17):
But I do wonder if it's because people have read other people's
stories about it. If you guys do attempt this,
please let me know in the comments of your experience and
what you're seeing. Now let's talk about why this
game works. It's not just about ghosts.
It taps into a guided trance andsensory deprivation.
When your brain is quiet, you'resuggestible.
Your subconscious fills in the blanks.
It can show you scary stuff. We store trauma as visual
(07:40):
fragment, so we encode fears as places, doorway shadows.
If your brain thinks the red door equals danger, then
probably you're going to see a monster behind it.
And once you're in a suggestiblestate, that becomes real to you,
so your heart mate might rise, your body panics, you wake up
shaken. And that's why people say that
they don't just imagine it, theyfeel it.
(08:01):
It's the same principle behind lucid dreaming or hypnosis and
even PTSD flashbacks, because the mind can create real terror.
Should you play red or yellow? That's up to you.
I think of all the scary games, this is one that I would be more
open to because it's more like Ilike the trance state kind of
thing more than I like summoningsomething, if you know what I
(08:24):
mean. But remember this, doors and
dreams aren't always just doors.Sometimes doors are locked for a
reason. And if you do play, make sure
your partner knows what to do and you play with someone
trusted. Maybe now you're wondering which
door you might open. But ask yourself this, what are
you actually hoping to find behind it?
I'm Nikki Weber and this has been make you scream.
(08:45):
If you've ever played Red door, Yellow Door or any other mind
opening soul bending games, I want to know.
So go to the make youscreampodcast.com, scroll to
the bottom and submit your story.
You might just get featured nextweek.
Until next time, take care of your mind and your soul.
And remember, if you see the manin the suit, run.
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