November 28, 2025 • 28 mins
Funny how life works, but there’s nothing funny about my situation
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📹 Video!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5WgClpZd6o
📖 Read Along!: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/1p4e37j/project_insomnia/
Check out my new books! A collection of Creepypasta compiled by some of my all time favorite authors and friends!
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💀 Volume 2: http://a.co/i0O9zks
💀 Comic Book: http://a.co/2POGdNW
🧊 Chill with the Community!: https://www.thechillingapp.com/
Visit the stores!
🍵 Wife's Tea Shop: https://etsy.com/shop/IvoryMonocleTea
👕 Shirts & Stuff!: https://shop.spreadshirt.com/MrCreepyPasta/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Ever find yourself jobless, angry and fed up. If not,
I envy your life. Unfortunately, that's the state I find
myself in. Worked at a grocery store for about a decade.
Customer decided to get rough with one of the other
employees over some goddamn baby formula. One punch later, they're
(00:25):
getting a couple hundred dollars in gift certificates not to sue,
and I'm I'm out the door. I'd say, funny how
life works. Really, there's nothing funny about my situation. So
there I sit, calmbing through Reddit for some horror to
take my mind off my impending financial doom, watching eighties
(00:48):
slasher films when that gets old, and rereading my Stephen
King collection. Of course, I mean, it'd be a good
life if I wasn't sneaking ever closer to starvation. One
day that I get a chat request, right accept that, say,
a phone number. My first thought is that it's from
some kind of arg So, wallowing in shame, worry and boredom,
(01:09):
you know, I'll just I give it a call. Thank
you for calling Project Insomnia. How may I direct your call?
An upbeat female voice says, God sent this number on Reddit.
Uh so I'm wondering what everything's about. I reply, good
for you, I'll connect your call. The voice replies, after
(01:29):
a few minutes of hold music, that's exactly as you
would expect. Someone answers, Nathan, glad you decided the call.
I've heard you're looking for employment and enjoy horror? Am
I correct? A professional sounding man says, I'm a little
weirded out. I'm not the type to use my name
online much. Of course, that is my name, but a
(01:50):
stand in. I'm sure you all know that, and I
certainly haven't been posting about my financial state so this anyway.
But people who run arg's can get really into the weeds,
so I don't really think of it too much. Right
right on both accounts? Why I reply, We have an
opportunity for you two weeks of your time using your
skills twenty k. The voice says, simply, God, I could
(02:14):
use that money in real life. Minaycuse will keep my
mind off things while I wait for some answers on resumes,
so sign me up. I answer, Nathan, I think you're misunderstanding.
We're not running any kind of game. I'm offering you
money for your time. The voice sounds mildly annoyed. Really huh, well,
I'll bite. What's the catch? Is this some kind of
(02:35):
MLM pyramid scheme? What's going on? I ask? Details can
be given in person. I'll send you a location we
can meet and see if you feel the job is
a good fit. I'd request you bring a suitcase in
case you feel like taking us up on our offer.
There are many other people who have been chosen, and
time is a factor. The voice explains. I get some
(02:55):
mild BS vibes from his statements, but it's not like
I have a full schedule. A couple days later, I
find myself in a small diner a couple of towns over,
sitting with a man in a plain black suit. He
doesn't seem nervous, but there's a vigilance in his eyes,
like he's used to watching out for things. Glad to
see you've made it. You wouldn't believe how hard it
(03:17):
is to get people to believe you're paying twenty grand.
The man in front of me says, I would. I'm
waiting for the part. What you tell me it's split
up over a decade, requires a five K deposit before that, though,
Can I know who I'm talking to. I ask you
can call me Adrian, and I assure you what I'm
offering is real. By the end of this meeting, if
(03:39):
you so choose, I'll have the money in your account.
Is Adrian's reply. There's some silence. The waitress comes over
anything I can get for you too. The middle aged
lady asks coffee for me and a clubhouse sandwich with
fries for my friend. Adrian replies, I'm not sure that
(04:00):
he knew what I'd order. More amused. Whoever these people are,
they've dug into me. So you're trying really hard to
cultivate a mysterious aura, and I mean it's working. You
know what's the job? I say, simple? Really, we want
you to watch horror, lots of it, for extended periods
(04:21):
of time and give your observations. Adrian said, is this
some kind of like AI training shit? Because I'm I'm
not desperate. I reply, no, Nathan, You'll be watching real people,
nothing artificial about it. But I know the question you're
really asking, why are we offering you so much money
(04:45):
for something you do every day? Well, you hope to
get a callback from the sanitation office or a McDonald's.
The answer is not going to be as exciting as
you think. Your accommodations are going to be rather spartan,
somewhere between us small apartment and a prison cell. We
need secrecy and a high volume of participants. Hence the arrangement,
(05:08):
Adrian explained. My food comes. I feel like I'm under
a microscope as I eat, Adrian's eyes dissecting my every movement.
So there's some kind of test run. I'm guessing, like
Halloween themed attractions that are at an amusement park. You're
paying for me to shot up about it more than
(05:28):
anything I question. Adrian gives a half shrug. Close enough
for government work. So what's the verdict? I have two
more people I have to see the night, Adrian offers,
sliding over a small stack of papers and a pen.
I read through the contract, smirking a little, says some
(05:49):
came manner stuff here. Adie like this part about consenting
to methods of encouragement that may lead to physical harm.
You can't sign away your rights against assaults. You guys
aren't going to be knocking anyone's teeth out, Adrian smiles.
No one in organization has any intent to put hands
on you. Astute observation. Though, if you want my opinion,
(06:14):
remove those parts. Just let people imagine what bad things
could happen. All the real bits seem in order. So
what about my money, I asked, The grin Adrian gives
me should have been my warning signed, but I was
too busy getting a notification of twenty thousand dollars in
my nearly empty bank account. Jesus Murphy, you weren't kidding,
(06:40):
were you. It's like someone tried to turn a submaren
brig into a bachelor pad, I say, looking around the
small room, there's a bed with thin sheets, a large
desk with a few dozen monitors, and that's about it.
Enough room to maybe do some pushups, but nothing more.
One thing I noticed right off the bat is how
the monitors were constructed. Thick textured plastic leads to the wall,
(07:03):
locking each one of them in place. They're hardwired into
the electrical system, the plugs being reinforced and grounded behind
the wall. There's a small vent in the ceiling, doing
its damnedest to minimize the musty odor of the place.
The toilet is what I expect, stainless steel and industrial,
but at least it's clean. The door gives me pause,
(07:26):
thick steel and with a slot in the middle. If
the project takes off, maybe we'll look into making the
workspace more comfortable. Adrian offers, like, you can make it
any less, so, but hey, twenty K makes it seem
a lot bigger than it is. Am I right, I
replied Meals are served three times a day. We've not
found any dietary restrictions in our research on you, but
(07:48):
if you have any, feel free to let us know.
You may keep your cellular device, but usage in most
cases will be seen as contrary to the rules outlined
in the contract. Once daily, you will be expected to
give a report on which you're seeing on the monitors.
Attention to detail is key, Adrian explains, Okay, so this
(08:08):
is kind of like a night trap needs a scape
room situation. I say, sitting down on a small computer
chair looking at the bank of various monitors, there's that
attention to detail we're looking for. Watch the monitors, Nathan,
Adrian says, closing the steel door. I want to know
(08:30):
what I'm feeling. Joy. Yeah, everything is grimy and eerie
as hell, but it's supposed to be. I'm alpha testing
something or the other in immersive horror game. Maybe I
light up a cigarette and I immediately notice two things.
The first is that all the monitors are showing three
different places, about a half dozen scenes of piece, give
(08:53):
or take seconds. Just how varied these screens are. Some
are crystal clear, some are antiques, but all or behind
a layer of almost imperceptible bulletproof glass. I don't I
know it's bulletproof glass. I don't, but it's clear. Can't
scratch it, can't leave a scorch mark on it. Most
of the monitors are dull a fast food place, gas
(09:17):
station inside of a house. After a while, though, someone
comes home, A nice looking lady nearly thirties or so,
smartly dressed, coming home late at night. I've been watching
paint dry for hours. I'm instantly drawn to anything resembling action.
The hell am I doing here? I say, frustrated as
I watch her through an impeccable screen. The house is dark,
(09:41):
her kitchen lights obscure, the background shadows play like feral
cats in her mc mansion. I yawn, wondering when dinner is,
for that matter, what time it is. Then I see
it on one of the older monitors, could just be
glitches from the ancient tech, but I swear it's a
pair of eyes, subtle, well done. It makes the hair
(10:04):
on the back of my neck stand up, But as
quickly as they appear, they're gone. The woman turns, looking
to where the apparition once was. She does her fridge door.
As she does, her fridge door closes. Whether it's on
a cord or something else, that's unclear. Nice, I say,
(10:24):
complimenting the scare, Peter or no, my heart's racing. Boring.
Hours fly by, like water and a dangerous lake. I
brought something, they assure me is dinner, meat loaf, heavy
on the loaf, nearly green, green beans, and corn bread.
I debate on keeping to whittle. At least the coffee
is decent, given to me in a two liter kraf
(10:47):
I look away when the woman starts changing. I'm starting
to think this was a live improv and meeting someone
after I've seen the naked seems gross. One lamp at
our desk lights her as she places modest jewelry expensive cases.
There's a noise, keening wail. A woman turns around, seeing nothing.
(11:08):
We're in the same boat, that is, until I look
at a smaller black and white monitor. Standing in front
of the woman is a rotten, lanky specter, torn asunder
and enraged, right in front of you. I scream, but
she can't hear me. The objects in the room rattle.
It's enough to scare the wits back into the woman.
(11:30):
She bolts to her bedroom door. The thing, that mournful thing,
grabs her by the arms. The sleeve of the woman's
housecoat crumbles, the flesh beneath it begins to wither. She
tries to pull free, but the grip of the specter
is immovable. She hammers down a hand and somehow, after
three frantic blows, the spirit lets go, growling in rage,
The woman gets distance between herself and the ghost, but
(11:50):
the undead doesn't bother to move. Small furniture flies like
it's been caught in a tornado. Windows rattle and fracture,
setting broken glass and waves onto the carpet. The woman
takes a wrong step, lacerating her foot, and she holds
onto a banister for support. The ghost laughs. The woman
rises as if she's being picked up by one leg.
She screams, now begging. Blood pours from her torn foot
(12:13):
into her eyes. The spirit dangles her in mid air.
Her arm begins to twist and warp, snapping and breaking.
I try to cover the speaker, but it's no use.
I can hear her pain for a moment she's still,
and then defenseless, she falls. The feet on that set
of monitors cuts out, and I'm jarred back to reality,
(12:35):
Sweat beating, nails, digging into the armrest of the cheap chair.
Well done, guys, but usually one for ghost stories without
he was damn near worth the time, I say to
whoever's keeping tabs on me. A few more hours of
staring at the screens and there's a loud clacks and
(12:56):
jarring in the small room. The monitors shut off. In
a prec her voice says, now begins your ten hour
rest period. There's a handful of reasons I have trouble
falling asleep, not the least of which is the amount
of coffee I've had. A close second are those noises.
I've watched everything from Psycho, which is great, and a
(13:18):
Serbian film, which is horrible, and not once has audio
stuck with me so much. I'm oken by that same
ear drum punching tone. Before I can brush the sleep
from my eyes. A breakfast is shove through the slot
in the door. It's about as well made as dinner was.
More coffee and half a cigarette. Later, I hear a
voice from an unseen speaker. Hey, Nathan, the voice says,
(13:42):
I can hear papers wrestling. That's me, I replied, Hi,
call me Percy. I'm asking you a few questions about
what you watched the previous day. If you have any
for me, by any means, just let me know. Your
voice is level. It's friendly. I was expecting Adrian to
be honest, I said. Percy laughs, this is a little
below his pay grade. I'm just a guy working a job,
(14:04):
you know, like yourself, a bit nicer digs. I'm also
not making two k a day, I smile. So what
do you want to know? I ask, Well, I'd like
for you to give me your overall impression of what
you're singing, with particular attention to things that stood out
or may have seemed odd. Percy replied, the format's neat.
(14:26):
You think you get obnoxious, but those actors you hired,
those effects make it worthwhile. I cut down a little
on the dead air, though the ghosts was scary, especially
the wounding around the face usually unique is probably the
right word. Second effect blew me away. One thing, though,
Why did the ghost let go when the lady hit her?
Didn't make any sense. Maybe if she hit it with
(14:47):
I don't know, like a bible or something, but as is,
I don't know, kind of killed The vibe seemed a
little lazy or I guess silly, I explained, good catch, Nate,
I'll have the higher ups have a look into that
way to earn a few grand huh, Percy replied, I'd
be better if I wasn't hanging around with the ghosts
of my own farts. That event isn't doing a damn thing,
(15:10):
I'd joke. The next three days go on in much
the same way. I scan the monitors till something spooky
happens and do my best to point all the plot
holes and stupid things I find. Not that there's much
to pick apart. The variety alone makes things worthwhile. I'm
(15:33):
seeing ghosts, demons, a couple of slasher villain types, a
handful of different creatures, despite the sponge baths and stale air.
It's honestly it's a dream job. But I wouldn't be
posting here if the dream didn't turn into a nightmare.
(15:54):
Day five shows me what this place is really about.
Breakfast comes the same as always. I dub Graggs due
to their color and my love of good Porte Monteux.
I answered some questions and the last thing I watched,
some kind of monster fight Club, seemed way too action oriented,
more like fantasy than horror, really, and I get ready
(16:16):
for another day. My selection consists of an empty barn,
a deep forest, and Adrian I said in the interview, No, AI, bullshit.
I'm out open the door and if you want your
twenty k back, you could see me in court. I'm
not going to be part of the downfall of art,
I say, no reply. My issue is I'm recognizing one
(16:42):
of the places i'm watching on a set of monitors,
Tumar's comics. Now I'm not much of a geek, but
I've been known to buy a comic or two, and
while I'm not in there every day, I know the
owner is well enough. Kumar and Josh Prete Patel a
little over middle aged and kind of folks that truly
love what they do. There's no way other than some
kind of generative special effects that I'm watching them. Guys,
(17:05):
I'm serious, I say. I try to sound enraged, but
I hear the anxiety in my voice. It's twenty K,
I whispered to myself, justifying the tossing of my artistic
morals to the wind. The more I watch, the more
people I know I see, the more I'm actually impressed.
(17:27):
I hate saying anything good about AI, but if I
didn't know better, I'd swear I was actually watching cameras
hidden in the shop. The longer I watch, the more
I think that this can't just be some kind of
special effect. I try to shake the thought, but as
the hours slowly tick by, it's all I can think about.
(17:48):
But what can I do? How could I prove things
one way or another? My hand starts to move towards
my phone plan forming. The second I grab it, a loudspeaker,
just storted voice hits me with like a slap in
the face. Nathan, do you know much about firing squads,
Adrian said his voice, calm uh no, Why I started
(18:15):
in any firing squad? One man has given a rifle
loaded with a blank None of them know who. The
reason why is that certain actions carry a weight, one
that's too heavy to carry for most no matter how
noble the intention, it leaves that sliver of doubt that
maybe you didn't really do anything. It's how most members
(18:37):
of a firing squad sleep at night. If you make
that phone call, it's only going to make things harder
for you. Cling to that doubt, cling to it like
a life raft. Adrian explains, what are you saying? I
asked panic as little as possible for your sake, and
(19:02):
I have to remind you using your device to communicate
is against the rules of your contract and will be
dealt with. Andrian threatens. I feel like I'm on the
edge of a cliff. On one hand, I know this
is all just some game spooking me out of this joint.
On the other, A lot of things aren't adding up.
(19:25):
I dial the number. I hear the ring echo through
the monitors. My heart drops, I feel sick to my stomach.
My phone disconnects. When I look down. I didn't see
the four emergency calls, only prompt just a string of strange,
illegible characters. I hear Adrian sigh, then the speaker cuts out.
(19:47):
A few seconds later, the industrial toilet sink combination starts
spewing water. It goes on for minutes, soaking everything in
the room and leaving about three inches of standing water.
I'm I'm shivering and scared, and I understand how truly
fuck I am. Watch the monitors, Nathan. You may not understand,
but you're helping to save life as we know it.
(20:08):
Adrian demands, what else can I do? The day slowly
trickles by, every customer, every shadow makes my heart stop.
Around eleven PM, Kumara and Josh Breet begin to close
down the shop. I think maybe they're safe. This another
(20:29):
of the feeds where nothing happens. No one likes being
proven wrong, myself included. The door wasn't locked. Short stocky
man and a dragging raincoat and beat up for Dora
walks in Sorry Boddy stores closed over it up bright
and early tomorrow, though, says the bad ignores him. The stranger,
(20:52):
faded plaid coat, catches on a set of action figures,
knocking them over. Sir, showed a little more care, please,
JS Briet says, nicer than necessary. The stranger laughs mockingly.
I catch an angle of his face, pale, rotun full
of small lesions look almost like burns, But as he grins,
(21:17):
I see it each of his teeth are small clusters
of wires. Get out. I'm on fucking run, I scream
at the screen, but of course they can't hear me.
I know what this guy is, or at the very
least to what he's capable of. I can't just sit here.
What choice do I have? Yesterday I probably have said
(21:42):
he's the worst thing I've ever seen. He's not really scary.
His gimmick seems tacky. The thought makes me sick to
my stomach. The callousness I viewed people's trauma with I
I vomit. The noise it makes in the standing water
makes me wretch a second time. Okay, Dick, Tracy's time
to get out of my store before I call the cops.
(22:03):
You have ten seconds, Kumar says in a commanding tone.
The stranger snickers again, then turns to Kumar and his wife.
I don't speak Hindy, but the squat man does. When
he says, shocks Kumar enough to pick up the phone
and dial nine one one, But of course there's no
dial tone. The lights flicker than dim, then go out completely.
(22:26):
Kumar and just Free use their phones as the light,
trying to find their way to the door. They reach it,
but it doesn't budge. Kumar begins to rattle the door.
There's an electric arking sound, then above them as a
twisted grin made of arking wire. I don't catch much
of the violence. By the time the stranger sinks his
(22:49):
teeth into Kumar, they both drop their phones. The feed
cuts out. I feel lightheaded, like nothing is real, but
it is all of it. I just watched people I
know get killed by a sealless urban legend, and I
(23:16):
don't sleep. By the time I hear Percy, I'm staring
angrily at the wall. Hey, I got about ten seconds
to talk. You need to think about this like getting
drafted into a world war. It sucks, it's gonna change you,
but it's for the fate of the world. Percy says,
(23:36):
his voice panicked. What the hell are you doing this?
Why are you killing people? I screamed, We're not. Every
place you've watched is the result of months of researching.
Even then, it doesn't always pan out, but the higher
ups they don't fuck around. Okay, do your time, get out.
Don't let anything get in the way of that, Percy pleads.
(24:02):
From then on, things don't feel interesting or exciting. Knowing
what I know, the violence hits home. It foxeth my head.
The worst are the stupid ones, the kind of things
I'd share with my family for the sole purpose of
mocking the writer. Something about a creature or a spirit
that can be accurately described as cringeworthy taking someone's life.
(24:24):
It's shocking and dismal. Then there's the cell itself. After
the first day of standing water, spots of mold and
veins and mildew start to develop on a wall. A
couple of days after that, I got a cough that
won't quit. It's my second concern, beyond what I believe
is a case of trench foot. Things are miserable to torture. Really,
(24:47):
by day ten, it's all I can do to focus
on the screens in front of me. I'm reading a fever.
One of my toes is turning a foul shade of green.
That morning's breakfast comes with a familiar looking stack of papers.
I laughed and cough and I see blood in the
phlem It's contract about the two weeks of my life
(25:07):
to have the water drain and some antibiotics. Of course,
there's another twenty k in it for me, But at
this point, I burn the goddamn money just to get
out of here. To be told, I don't know if
I'm gonna last another four days without medical attention and
air without spores in it. I sign, of course I do.
It's not like I have a choice. Who's a case
(25:29):
of being shot. Maybe I'd be brave enough to face
the music instead, But the thought of dying a slow
infect to death as sodden cell terrifies me. There's no
happy ending here. I'm still in this cell day thirteen.
In fact, first day since the fifth, I've seen a
familiar place my cell. It sits perched in the corner
(25:50):
of the room, looking down at me from the ceiling.
I can't see it when I look, but on an
old green tinted monitor it lurks. Can't make out much
of it besides what I think is a rusted old
army helmet. It's long brass teeth reflect the scant light
in the cell. Water's flooding my prison. As I finished
(26:15):
typing this punishment for reaching out to all of you.
It's my cry for help, my scream to the void
to try and figure out some way out of my situation.
But this is also my warning. Something is happening to
the world, something big and chaotic and worse than anything
anything that we've seen before. Rules are breaking, logic is failing,
(26:35):
things aren't what they seem, And someone somewhere out there
is keeping an eye on all of these threads and
the YouTube comments, looking for those people, those people that
know what they're looking for. Those of us who live
and breathe urban legends, ghost stories, watch your back, guys.
(27:01):
I I don't know what else to say. See other kids.
It's me, mister creepy Pasta. And we're currently entering fall,
which means Halloween is right around the corner. I just
want to say thank you guys for watching tonight's video,
listening to tonight's episode of the podcast, and to start expecting
(27:22):
more audios as we go closer and closer to the
spookiest day of the year. Once October starts, you know
what that means. I'll be having out a video every
single day until Halloween itself, and I expect to see
you there. I mean it. I expect to see you
there for every video, for every podcast episode, and I
expect to see you like comment and subscribe and all
that jazz bell what do you do on podcast? So
(27:43):
follow on Spotify. Yeah, that for the month of October
and especially so you don't miss the thirteen day countdown. Also,
I want to give a huge thank you to everybody
on this list of patreons. Some of these amazing folks
are Diana Krause, Acid System, Blake Ratler, Brandon Mendoza, Redda Crow,
Cawatuna Chicago hit Man, Corey Kenscha, Crusader, Jocobo, Dakota Best,
Danga Polson, Don Taking Cad Enchanted Buns, A's to Bean, Hadess, Nephew, Himbo,
Jerry how a Minute, Second Time Ingergirt Salstrom, Jay Kurns, Jettis,
(28:05):
Pat mcmogg, Mister Marcus Blitz, Psychomel Plant Pis Red, Shadow Cat,
Remember the Sun, Salty Surprise, Samar Len, Seclude, Simbas, Bloody
Mojo Sky, Harbert Smiley, The Psychotic Sully Man, Tolly Sue,
Team LAO seventy six, the Demended Voice in your Head,
The Chavez Brothers, The Joker, Brus, Tommy Walters, Vice, Roy Scorn,
William Wellington, You're bro Keegan zubub and Shadow Gardens. A
huge thank you to you guys, everybody who shows up
in the description down below, and as always, folks, sweet dreams.
Ever find yourself jobless, angry and fed up. If not,
I envy your life. Unfortunately, that's the state I find
myself in. Worked at a grocery store for about a decade.
Customer decided to get rough with one of the other
employees over some goddamn baby formula. One punch later, they're
(00:25):
getting a couple hundred dollars in gift certificates not to sue,
and I'm I'm out the door. I'd say, funny how
life works. Really, there's nothing funny about my situation. So
there I sit, calmbing through Reddit for some horror to
take my mind off my impending financial doom, watching eighties
(00:48):
slasher films when that gets old, and rereading my Stephen
King collection. Of course, I mean, it'd be a good
life if I wasn't sneaking ever closer to starvation. One
day that I get a chat request, right accept that, say,
a phone number. My first thought is that it's from
some kind of arg So, wallowing in shame, worry and boredom,
(01:09):
you know, I'll just I give it a call. Thank
you for calling Project Insomnia. How may I direct your call?
An upbeat female voice says, God sent this number on Reddit.
Uh so I'm wondering what everything's about. I reply, good
for you, I'll connect your call. The voice replies, after
(01:29):
a few minutes of hold music, that's exactly as you
would expect. Someone answers, Nathan, glad you decided the call.
I've heard you're looking for employment and enjoy horror? Am
I correct? A professional sounding man says, I'm a little
weirded out. I'm not the type to use my name
online much. Of course, that is my name, but a
(01:50):
stand in. I'm sure you all know that, and I
certainly haven't been posting about my financial state so this anyway.
But people who run arg's can get really into the weeds,
so I don't really think of it too much. Right
right on both accounts? Why I reply, We have an
opportunity for you two weeks of your time using your
skills twenty k. The voice says, simply, God, I could
(02:14):
use that money in real life. Minaycuse will keep my
mind off things while I wait for some answers on resumes,
so sign me up. I answer, Nathan, I think you're misunderstanding.
We're not running any kind of game. I'm offering you
money for your time. The voice sounds mildly annoyed. Really huh, well,
I'll bite. What's the catch? Is this some kind of
(02:35):
MLM pyramid scheme? What's going on? I ask? Details can
be given in person. I'll send you a location we
can meet and see if you feel the job is
a good fit. I'd request you bring a suitcase in
case you feel like taking us up on our offer.
There are many other people who have been chosen, and
time is a factor. The voice explains. I get some
(02:55):
mild BS vibes from his statements, but it's not like
I have a full schedule. A couple days later, I
find myself in a small diner a couple of towns over,
sitting with a man in a plain black suit. He
doesn't seem nervous, but there's a vigilance in his eyes,
like he's used to watching out for things. Glad to
see you've made it. You wouldn't believe how hard it
(03:17):
is to get people to believe you're paying twenty grand.
The man in front of me says, I would. I'm
waiting for the part. What you tell me it's split
up over a decade, requires a five K deposit before that, though,
Can I know who I'm talking to. I ask you
can call me Adrian, and I assure you what I'm
offering is real. By the end of this meeting, if
(03:39):
you so choose, I'll have the money in your account.
Is Adrian's reply. There's some silence. The waitress comes over
anything I can get for you too. The middle aged
lady asks coffee for me and a clubhouse sandwich with
fries for my friend. Adrian replies, I'm not sure that
(04:00):
he knew what I'd order. More amused. Whoever these people are,
they've dug into me. So you're trying really hard to
cultivate a mysterious aura, and I mean it's working. You
know what's the job? I say, simple? Really, we want
you to watch horror, lots of it, for extended periods
(04:21):
of time and give your observations. Adrian said, is this
some kind of like AI training shit? Because I'm I'm
not desperate. I reply, no, Nathan, You'll be watching real people,
nothing artificial about it. But I know the question you're
really asking, why are we offering you so much money
(04:45):
for something you do every day? Well, you hope to
get a callback from the sanitation office or a McDonald's.
The answer is not going to be as exciting as
you think. Your accommodations are going to be rather spartan,
somewhere between us small apartment and a prison cell. We
need secrecy and a high volume of participants. Hence the arrangement,
(05:08):
Adrian explained. My food comes. I feel like I'm under
a microscope as I eat, Adrian's eyes dissecting my every movement.
So there's some kind of test run. I'm guessing, like
Halloween themed attractions that are at an amusement park. You're
paying for me to shot up about it more than
(05:28):
anything I question. Adrian gives a half shrug. Close enough
for government work. So what's the verdict? I have two
more people I have to see the night, Adrian offers,
sliding over a small stack of papers and a pen.
I read through the contract, smirking a little, says some
(05:49):
came manner stuff here. Adie like this part about consenting
to methods of encouragement that may lead to physical harm.
You can't sign away your rights against assaults. You guys
aren't going to be knocking anyone's teeth out, Adrian smiles.
No one in organization has any intent to put hands
on you. Astute observation. Though, if you want my opinion,
(06:14):
remove those parts. Just let people imagine what bad things
could happen. All the real bits seem in order. So
what about my money, I asked, The grin Adrian gives
me should have been my warning signed, but I was
too busy getting a notification of twenty thousand dollars in
my nearly empty bank account. Jesus Murphy, you weren't kidding,
(06:40):
were you. It's like someone tried to turn a submaren
brig into a bachelor pad, I say, looking around the
small room, there's a bed with thin sheets, a large
desk with a few dozen monitors, and that's about it.
Enough room to maybe do some pushups, but nothing more.
One thing I noticed right off the bat is how
the monitors were constructed. Thick textured plastic leads to the wall,
(07:03):
locking each one of them in place. They're hardwired into
the electrical system, the plugs being reinforced and grounded behind
the wall. There's a small vent in the ceiling, doing
its damnedest to minimize the musty odor of the place.
The toilet is what I expect, stainless steel and industrial,
but at least it's clean. The door gives me pause,
(07:26):
thick steel and with a slot in the middle. If
the project takes off, maybe we'll look into making the
workspace more comfortable. Adrian offers, like, you can make it
any less, so, but hey, twenty K makes it seem
a lot bigger than it is. Am I right, I
replied Meals are served three times a day. We've not
found any dietary restrictions in our research on you, but
(07:48):
if you have any, feel free to let us know.
You may keep your cellular device, but usage in most
cases will be seen as contrary to the rules outlined
in the contract. Once daily, you will be expected to
give a report on which you're seeing on the monitors.
Attention to detail is key, Adrian explains, Okay, so this
(08:08):
is kind of like a night trap needs a scape
room situation. I say, sitting down on a small computer
chair looking at the bank of various monitors, there's that
attention to detail we're looking for. Watch the monitors, Nathan,
Adrian says, closing the steel door. I want to know
(08:30):
what I'm feeling. Joy. Yeah, everything is grimy and eerie
as hell, but it's supposed to be. I'm alpha testing
something or the other in immersive horror game. Maybe I
light up a cigarette and I immediately notice two things.
The first is that all the monitors are showing three
different places, about a half dozen scenes of piece, give
(08:53):
or take seconds. Just how varied these screens are. Some
are crystal clear, some are antiques, but all or behind
a layer of almost imperceptible bulletproof glass. I don't I
know it's bulletproof glass. I don't, but it's clear. Can't
scratch it, can't leave a scorch mark on it. Most
of the monitors are dull a fast food place, gas
(09:17):
station inside of a house. After a while, though, someone
comes home, A nice looking lady nearly thirties or so,
smartly dressed, coming home late at night. I've been watching
paint dry for hours. I'm instantly drawn to anything resembling action.
The hell am I doing here? I say, frustrated as
I watch her through an impeccable screen. The house is dark,
(09:41):
her kitchen lights obscure, the background shadows play like feral
cats in her mc mansion. I yawn, wondering when dinner is,
for that matter, what time it is. Then I see
it on one of the older monitors, could just be
glitches from the ancient tech, but I swear it's a
pair of eyes, subtle, well done. It makes the hair
(10:04):
on the back of my neck stand up, But as
quickly as they appear, they're gone. The woman turns, looking
to where the apparition once was. She does her fridge door.
As she does, her fridge door closes. Whether it's on
a cord or something else, that's unclear. Nice, I say,
(10:24):
complimenting the scare, Peter or no, my heart's racing. Boring.
Hours fly by, like water and a dangerous lake. I
brought something, they assure me is dinner, meat loaf, heavy
on the loaf, nearly green, green beans, and corn bread.
I debate on keeping to whittle. At least the coffee
is decent, given to me in a two liter kraf
(10:47):
I look away when the woman starts changing. I'm starting
to think this was a live improv and meeting someone
after I've seen the naked seems gross. One lamp at
our desk lights her as she places modest jewelry expensive cases.
There's a noise, keening wail. A woman turns around, seeing nothing.
(11:08):
We're in the same boat, that is, until I look
at a smaller black and white monitor. Standing in front
of the woman is a rotten, lanky specter, torn asunder
and enraged, right in front of you. I scream, but
she can't hear me. The objects in the room rattle.
It's enough to scare the wits back into the woman.
(11:30):
She bolts to her bedroom door. The thing, that mournful thing,
grabs her by the arms. The sleeve of the woman's
housecoat crumbles, the flesh beneath it begins to wither. She
tries to pull free, but the grip of the specter
is immovable. She hammers down a hand and somehow, after
three frantic blows, the spirit lets go, growling in rage,
The woman gets distance between herself and the ghost, but
(11:50):
the undead doesn't bother to move. Small furniture flies like
it's been caught in a tornado. Windows rattle and fracture,
setting broken glass and waves onto the carpet. The woman
takes a wrong step, lacerating her foot, and she holds
onto a banister for support. The ghost laughs. The woman
rises as if she's being picked up by one leg.
She screams, now begging. Blood pours from her torn foot
(12:13):
into her eyes. The spirit dangles her in mid air.
Her arm begins to twist and warp, snapping and breaking.
I try to cover the speaker, but it's no use.
I can hear her pain for a moment she's still,
and then defenseless, she falls. The feet on that set
of monitors cuts out, and I'm jarred back to reality,
(12:35):
Sweat beating, nails, digging into the armrest of the cheap chair.
Well done, guys, but usually one for ghost stories without
he was damn near worth the time, I say to
whoever's keeping tabs on me. A few more hours of
staring at the screens and there's a loud clacks and
(12:56):
jarring in the small room. The monitors shut off. In
a prec her voice says, now begins your ten hour
rest period. There's a handful of reasons I have trouble
falling asleep, not the least of which is the amount
of coffee I've had. A close second are those noises.
I've watched everything from Psycho, which is great, and a
(13:18):
Serbian film, which is horrible, and not once has audio
stuck with me so much. I'm oken by that same
ear drum punching tone. Before I can brush the sleep
from my eyes. A breakfast is shove through the slot
in the door. It's about as well made as dinner was.
More coffee and half a cigarette. Later, I hear a
voice from an unseen speaker. Hey, Nathan, the voice says,
(13:42):
I can hear papers wrestling. That's me, I replied, Hi,
call me Percy. I'm asking you a few questions about
what you watched the previous day. If you have any
for me, by any means, just let me know. Your
voice is level. It's friendly. I was expecting Adrian to
be honest, I said. Percy laughs, this is a little
below his pay grade. I'm just a guy working a job,
(14:04):
you know, like yourself, a bit nicer digs. I'm also
not making two k a day, I smile. So what
do you want to know? I ask, Well, I'd like
for you to give me your overall impression of what
you're singing, with particular attention to things that stood out
or may have seemed odd. Percy replied, the format's neat.
(14:26):
You think you get obnoxious, but those actors you hired,
those effects make it worthwhile. I cut down a little
on the dead air, though the ghosts was scary, especially
the wounding around the face usually unique is probably the
right word. Second effect blew me away. One thing, though,
Why did the ghost let go when the lady hit her?
Didn't make any sense. Maybe if she hit it with
(14:47):
I don't know, like a bible or something, but as is,
I don't know, kind of killed The vibe seemed a
little lazy or I guess silly, I explained, good catch, Nate,
I'll have the higher ups have a look into that
way to earn a few grand huh, Percy replied, I'd
be better if I wasn't hanging around with the ghosts
of my own farts. That event isn't doing a damn thing,
(15:10):
I'd joke. The next three days go on in much
the same way. I scan the monitors till something spooky
happens and do my best to point all the plot
holes and stupid things I find. Not that there's much
to pick apart. The variety alone makes things worthwhile. I'm
(15:33):
seeing ghosts, demons, a couple of slasher villain types, a
handful of different creatures, despite the sponge baths and stale air.
It's honestly it's a dream job. But I wouldn't be
posting here if the dream didn't turn into a nightmare.
(15:54):
Day five shows me what this place is really about.
Breakfast comes the same as always. I dub Graggs due
to their color and my love of good Porte Monteux.
I answered some questions and the last thing I watched,
some kind of monster fight Club, seemed way too action oriented,
more like fantasy than horror, really, and I get ready
(16:16):
for another day. My selection consists of an empty barn,
a deep forest, and Adrian I said in the interview, No, AI, bullshit.
I'm out open the door and if you want your
twenty k back, you could see me in court. I'm
not going to be part of the downfall of art,
I say, no reply. My issue is I'm recognizing one
(16:42):
of the places i'm watching on a set of monitors,
Tumar's comics. Now I'm not much of a geek, but
I've been known to buy a comic or two, and
while I'm not in there every day, I know the
owner is well enough. Kumar and Josh Prete Patel a
little over middle aged and kind of folks that truly
love what they do. There's no way other than some
kind of generative special effects that I'm watching them. Guys,
(17:05):
I'm serious, I say. I try to sound enraged, but
I hear the anxiety in my voice. It's twenty K,
I whispered to myself, justifying the tossing of my artistic
morals to the wind. The more I watch, the more
people I know I see, the more I'm actually impressed.
(17:27):
I hate saying anything good about AI, but if I
didn't know better, I'd swear I was actually watching cameras
hidden in the shop. The longer I watch, the more
I think that this can't just be some kind of
special effect. I try to shake the thought, but as
the hours slowly tick by, it's all I can think about.
(17:48):
But what can I do? How could I prove things
one way or another? My hand starts to move towards
my phone plan forming. The second I grab it, a loudspeaker,
just storted voice hits me with like a slap in
the face. Nathan, do you know much about firing squads,
Adrian said his voice, calm uh no, Why I started
(18:15):
in any firing squad? One man has given a rifle
loaded with a blank None of them know who. The
reason why is that certain actions carry a weight, one
that's too heavy to carry for most no matter how
noble the intention, it leaves that sliver of doubt that
maybe you didn't really do anything. It's how most members
(18:37):
of a firing squad sleep at night. If you make
that phone call, it's only going to make things harder
for you. Cling to that doubt, cling to it like
a life raft. Adrian explains, what are you saying? I
asked panic as little as possible for your sake, and
(19:02):
I have to remind you using your device to communicate
is against the rules of your contract and will be
dealt with. Andrian threatens. I feel like I'm on the
edge of a cliff. On one hand, I know this
is all just some game spooking me out of this joint.
On the other, A lot of things aren't adding up.
(19:25):
I dial the number. I hear the ring echo through
the monitors. My heart drops, I feel sick to my stomach.
My phone disconnects. When I look down. I didn't see
the four emergency calls, only prompt just a string of strange,
illegible characters. I hear Adrian sigh, then the speaker cuts out.
(19:47):
A few seconds later, the industrial toilet sink combination starts
spewing water. It goes on for minutes, soaking everything in
the room and leaving about three inches of standing water.
I'm I'm shivering and scared, and I understand how truly
fuck I am. Watch the monitors, Nathan. You may not understand,
but you're helping to save life as we know it.
(20:08):
Adrian demands, what else can I do? The day slowly
trickles by, every customer, every shadow makes my heart stop.
Around eleven PM, Kumara and Josh Breet begin to close
down the shop. I think maybe they're safe. This another
(20:29):
of the feeds where nothing happens. No one likes being
proven wrong, myself included. The door wasn't locked. Short stocky
man and a dragging raincoat and beat up for Dora
walks in Sorry Boddy stores closed over it up bright
and early tomorrow, though, says the bad ignores him. The stranger,
(20:52):
faded plaid coat, catches on a set of action figures,
knocking them over. Sir, showed a little more care, please,
JS Briet says, nicer than necessary. The stranger laughs mockingly.
I catch an angle of his face, pale, rotun full
of small lesions look almost like burns, But as he grins,
(21:17):
I see it each of his teeth are small clusters
of wires. Get out. I'm on fucking run, I scream
at the screen, but of course they can't hear me.
I know what this guy is, or at the very
least to what he's capable of. I can't just sit here.
What choice do I have? Yesterday I probably have said
(21:42):
he's the worst thing I've ever seen. He's not really scary.
His gimmick seems tacky. The thought makes me sick to
my stomach. The callousness I viewed people's trauma with I
I vomit. The noise it makes in the standing water
makes me wretch a second time. Okay, Dick, Tracy's time
to get out of my store before I call the cops.
(22:03):
You have ten seconds, Kumar says in a commanding tone.
The stranger snickers again, then turns to Kumar and his wife.
I don't speak Hindy, but the squat man does. When
he says, shocks Kumar enough to pick up the phone
and dial nine one one, But of course there's no
dial tone. The lights flicker than dim, then go out completely.
(22:26):
Kumar and just Free use their phones as the light,
trying to find their way to the door. They reach it,
but it doesn't budge. Kumar begins to rattle the door.
There's an electric arking sound, then above them as a
twisted grin made of arking wire. I don't catch much
of the violence. By the time the stranger sinks his
(22:49):
teeth into Kumar, they both drop their phones. The feed
cuts out. I feel lightheaded, like nothing is real, but
it is all of it. I just watched people I
know get killed by a sealless urban legend, and I
(23:16):
don't sleep. By the time I hear Percy, I'm staring
angrily at the wall. Hey, I got about ten seconds
to talk. You need to think about this like getting
drafted into a world war. It sucks, it's gonna change you,
but it's for the fate of the world. Percy says,
(23:36):
his voice panicked. What the hell are you doing this?
Why are you killing people? I screamed, We're not. Every
place you've watched is the result of months of researching.
Even then, it doesn't always pan out, but the higher
ups they don't fuck around. Okay, do your time, get out.
Don't let anything get in the way of that, Percy pleads.
(24:02):
From then on, things don't feel interesting or exciting. Knowing
what I know, the violence hits home. It foxeth my head.
The worst are the stupid ones, the kind of things
I'd share with my family for the sole purpose of
mocking the writer. Something about a creature or a spirit
that can be accurately described as cringeworthy taking someone's life.
(24:24):
It's shocking and dismal. Then there's the cell itself. After
the first day of standing water, spots of mold and
veins and mildew start to develop on a wall. A
couple of days after that, I got a cough that
won't quit. It's my second concern, beyond what I believe
is a case of trench foot. Things are miserable to torture. Really,
(24:47):
by day ten, it's all I can do to focus
on the screens in front of me. I'm reading a fever.
One of my toes is turning a foul shade of green.
That morning's breakfast comes with a familiar looking stack of papers.
I laughed and cough and I see blood in the
phlem It's contract about the two weeks of my life
(25:07):
to have the water drain and some antibiotics. Of course,
there's another twenty k in it for me, But at
this point, I burn the goddamn money just to get
out of here. To be told, I don't know if
I'm gonna last another four days without medical attention and
air without spores in it. I sign, of course I do.
It's not like I have a choice. Who's a case
(25:29):
of being shot. Maybe I'd be brave enough to face
the music instead, But the thought of dying a slow
infect to death as sodden cell terrifies me. There's no
happy ending here. I'm still in this cell day thirteen.
In fact, first day since the fifth, I've seen a
familiar place my cell. It sits perched in the corner
(25:50):
of the room, looking down at me from the ceiling.
I can't see it when I look, but on an
old green tinted monitor it lurks. Can't make out much
of it besides what I think is a rusted old
army helmet. It's long brass teeth reflect the scant light
in the cell. Water's flooding my prison. As I finished
(26:15):
typing this punishment for reaching out to all of you.
It's my cry for help, my scream to the void
to try and figure out some way out of my situation.
But this is also my warning. Something is happening to
the world, something big and chaotic and worse than anything
anything that we've seen before. Rules are breaking, logic is failing,
(26:35):
things aren't what they seem, And someone somewhere out there
is keeping an eye on all of these threads and
the YouTube comments, looking for those people, those people that
know what they're looking for. Those of us who live
and breathe urban legends, ghost stories, watch your back, guys.
(27:01):
I I don't know what else to say. See other kids.
It's me, mister creepy Pasta. And we're currently entering fall,
which means Halloween is right around the corner. I just
want to say thank you guys for watching tonight's video,
listening to tonight's episode of the podcast, and to start expecting
(27:22):
more audios as we go closer and closer to the
spookiest day of the year. Once October starts, you know
what that means. I'll be having out a video every
single day until Halloween itself, and I expect to see
you there. I mean it. I expect to see you
there for every video, for every podcast episode, and I
expect to see you like comment and subscribe and all
that jazz bell what do you do on podcast? So
(27:43):
follow on Spotify. Yeah, that for the month of October
and especially so you don't miss the thirteen day countdown. Also,
I want to give a huge thank you to everybody
on this list of patreons. Some of these amazing folks
are Diana Krause, Acid System, Blake Ratler, Brandon Mendoza, Redda Crow,
Cawatuna Chicago hit Man, Corey Kenscha, Crusader, Jocobo, Dakota Best,
Danga Polson, Don Taking Cad Enchanted Buns, A's to Bean, Hadess, Nephew, Himbo,
Jerry how a Minute, Second Time Ingergirt Salstrom, Jay Kurns, Jettis,
(28:05):
Pat mcmogg, Mister Marcus Blitz, Psychomel Plant Pis Red, Shadow Cat,
Remember the Sun, Salty Surprise, Samar Len, Seclude, Simbas, Bloody
Mojo Sky, Harbert Smiley, The Psychotic Sully Man, Tolly Sue,
Team LAO seventy six, the Demended Voice in your Head,
The Chavez Brothers, The Joker, Brus, Tommy Walters, Vice, Roy Scorn,
William Wellington, You're bro Keegan zubub and Shadow Gardens. A
huge thank you to you guys, everybody who shows up
in the description down below, and as always, folks, sweet dreams.
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