Sometimes you’re in the mood to get PTSD, other times you just don’t want to sleep.
Fortunately, others have blessed us with their talents and created creepy stories to keep us from getting that small taste of death at night, also known as sleep.
One day, you awaken to realize the world is monochrome. Literally – you can no longer see colors; your skin is gray, your speckled pjs are various shades of gray, even your bright, pink nail polish you meticulously painted on the night before is black.
You venture outside only to discover a giant, gray forest has grown around your house obscuring everything – a forest that’s pulsating with life. Panicked, you attempt to run back inside only to realize you can’t move because an angry tree root has tethered itself to you and is slowly dragging you beneath the ground. You let out a desperate cry for help, but alas! There’s nothing but forest around. The tree buries you up to your neck. Just as you close your eyes to greet a slow, painful death – you’re stopped. A faint howl wafts past your ears and you open your eyes. Some sort of shadowy, red-eyed creature stands a few feet away from you, staring down right at your head.
That’s basically what reading Nocturne is like.
Sadly, Nocturne updates rather sporadically but it has major Junji Ito vibes. It’s mostly a series of random tales, and they’re super short too in case you have to wake up for work tomorrow but still want to be nervous as you lay in bed, staring at the dark abyss also known as your ceiling.
Nocturne Rating: 9/10
Gremory Land
A bunch of teens go to an horror-themed amusement park called Gremory Land. All is fun and games, except just kidding!
From the start, there wasn’t much appealing about Gremory Land but when you toss machete wielding killers dressed as animals, rides designed to butcher you, and the traumatic back-stories of everyone involved into the mix, it’s even less fun.
Gremory Land is written by the same author as Melvina’s Therapy (which I also recommend). It has a neat twist ending that will either leave you amazed, or scratching your head in confusion.
Still, it’s uber creepy.
Gremory Land Rating: 7.5/10
Rotten (Foul Smell)
You’re a child living in an apartment alone – your landlord is an actual pedophilic demon, resembling a cross between the woman in black and the crypt creeper. The giant ogre of a man living downstairs is a serial killer; your neighbor’s apartment smells like something dead is rotting inside of it. Oh and you can see ghosts, none of whom are as terrifying as the humans around you.
That’s basically the plot of Rotten – there’s a room full of shoes, a missing girl and a twin in search of her, and a cop who can literally smell evil. Somehow, Jaeshin is tossed into the middle of all these things as he attempts to exist without dying.
Rotten is part thriller, part horror that will leave you stressed and seeing weird faces for a long time.
Rotten Rating: 9.5/10
As you’re driving down the road after work, everything becomes a gaussian blur of pastel pinks, blues, and yellows.
Momentarily in awe of the beauty around you, you fail to see the ghostly half-bear, half-eagle creature in the middle of the road. Swerving, you over-correct and smash into the guard rail, flipping right over it. The car lands in a heap after sliding down the mountain, though somehow you’re still alive and well. Bloodied, you scramble out of the vehicle only to find the world is still a gaussian blur and there are ghostly, mutated animals everywhere.
Anyway, Tales of Terrible Things are a series of terrible stories, most of which have an awesome twist. The author is such a good writer that even me, who is the queen of predicting how things ends, is often surprised. It’s only flaw is that it updates sporadically but the author (Sarah Rydholm) is probably busy. She also has a Patreon.
Tales of Terrible Things Rating: 10/10
Picture your average teenagers getting killed in violent ways by murderous but attractive, supernatural creatures in the woods and then add the end of humanity to the mix and you have Witch Creek Road.
The story does indeed start out with a bunch of teenagers on their way to death headed to the woods for a fun night of drinking, partying, and fooling around only to encounter a group of witches who have sinister plans. You’d think that’s where the story ends, but actually it’s only just begun. There’s a skinned man, a talking gun, and Pandora’s box – if that sounds confusing, it is.
Still, it’s all very creepy.
Witch Creek Road Rating: 6.7/10
Silent Horror
A bunch of incredibly sweaty people who never speak have horrible things happen to them – that’s the plot.
What makes Silent Horror exceptional though is just how squicky it is. Most of the stories are pretty short, but they’re all delightfully violent if you’re a wicked soul like me.
You use to be able to read it on Webtoon, but because Webtoon is full of pansies, you can now read it on Tapas instead, though a handful of stories are still on Webtoon.
Silent Horror Rating: 8.5/10
Ghost therapy in the afterlife – a group of ghosts get together to tell the scariest stories of all: stories about humans. Given that all the characters are ghosts, you know none of these stories end well.
Ghost Teller isn’t really scary in the bloody, violent, creepy faces sense but most of these stories hit a little too close to home in being something that could easily happen in real life.
It has two seasons, both of which are equally depressing and thought-provoking; all the stories feature different characters with various tales of woe. It’s enough misery to keep you up into the wee hours of the morning, stewing over the cruelty of humanity.
Ghost Teller Rating: 9.5/10
ARayOfDawn 