Creepypasta has developed into a divisive genre, as you can see in my list of the best creepypasta of all time.
Some are more akin to literary short stories, others incorporate the internet to their advantage and read like blog posts, email correspondences or pseudo-documentaries.
In this article, however, I want to get back to the roots. Creepypasta first started out as short, scary campfire tales or urban legends shared via the internet.
That’s why I put together a list of the best short creepypasta. None of them are longer than a few paragraphs, some comprising only a few sentences.
Yet, they are all creepy and scary.
Table of Contents
- 22. The Message
- 21. Sarah O’Bannon
- 20. Across the Border
- 19. Just Be Careful Out There
- 18. The Statue
- 17. The Girl on the Train
- 16. The Trap
- 15. Home Alone
- 14. Who’s in my Bed
- 13. Lights in the Distance
- 12. Bad Dream
- 11. Baby Dolls
- 10. The Photographs
- 9. Lavender Town Syndrome
- 8. White With Red
- 7. A Painter From Queens
- 6. Wake Up
- 5. The Woman in the Oven
- 4. The Portraits
- 3. Mother’s Call
- 2. Wristbands
- 1. The Backrooms
22. The Message
The message is a short creepypasta and a classic.
Just read it. I won’t spoil the fun.
21. Sarah O’Bannon
Another effective and very short creepypasta.
The story outlines the practice of old to put holes into coffins. This allowed the attachment of a bell via copper tubing so people mistakenly buried could call for help. Yet, what happens when a gravedigger hears one of those bells ring?
A simple and short tale, but one that works well.
20. Across the Border
Across the Border is a tale also featured in my list of highly disturbing creepypasta.
It’s more an urban legend. It outlines what happens when a couple wants to spend an evening across the Mexican border with their young child.
I still hope this short tale is nothing but fiction.
19. Just Be Careful Out There
Just Be Careful Out There is a short creepypasta I first came upon on 4chan’s x board.
It’s not a story. Instead, it poses a single question, one that can be quite unnerving.
18. The Statue
The Statue is one of the most well known, short creepypasta out there, a classic.
It tells the story of a babysitter who, after putting the kids to bed, wants to watch TV in the parent’s bedroom. Yet, there’s this strange angel statue that’s unnerving here.
It’s a well-known story, one I enjoyed a lot. It’s simple, yet effective.
17. The Girl on the Train
The Girl on the Train is another well-known, short urban legend.
A young woman takes the last subway home and encounters a group of three people. She soon notices that one of them, a woman, stares at her the entire time.
After a while, another passenger sits down next to her and advises her to get off at the next station.
When she follows his advice, the man tells her why she had to get off.
The Girl on the Train is a classic.
16. The Trap
Another short creepypasta that’s more urban legend than story.
It details a supposed historical anecdote that happened in Berlin at the end of World War II. A blind, old man asks a young woman to deliver a letter to an address.
She agrees, but notices the old man running away moments later. His strange behaviour causes her to become concerned with the situation.
What makes this short tale so creepy is the historical background and the knowledge that something like this might have happened.
15. Home Alone
Another super, short tale that shows you don’t need a lot of words to scare people.
The entire scenario, depict in so few words, is highly unsettling.
14. Who’s in my Bed
Another super short creepypasta, comprising only two sentences.
When a father tucks his young boy into bed, he asks him to check under the bed. What he founds down there is much more unsettling than monsters.
Who’s in my Bed proves once again that you don’t need a lot of words to unsettle people.
13. Lights in the Distance
Another short creepypasta I came upon on 4chan’s x board back in the day.
A young man suffers from amnesia, but two streetlights in the distance always help him fall asleep. That’s until he notices something.
Another short, classic.
12. Bad Dream
Bad Dream is a simple creepypasta. A young girl crawls into her father’s bed after a scary nightmare. What she tells him, however, proves to be quite unsettling.
This is another short one, but one I absolutely enjoyed.
11. Baby Dolls
Baby Dolls talks about a certain malfunction in the baby doll toys of a certain toy manufacturer. The malfunction in question would manifest in the dolls, never ceasing their crying. The only way to stop them is to destroy the dolls.
Like many others on this list, this tale reads more like an urban legend. Still, it’s quite unsettling.
10. The Photographs
Another creepypasta classic about a photographer who goes out camping to take pictures in the woods.
When she develops the pictures, however, she discovers something quite unsettling.
The Photographs is another tale that proves that you don’t need a lot of words to scare people.
9. Lavender Town Syndrome
Lavender Town Syndrome is the most popular Pokémon creepypasta of all time.
More of an urban legend than a story, it details several suicides related to the original Lavender Town music.
It’s a quick, but enjoyable them.
8. White With Red
Another short tale more akin to an urban legend. It’s about a man who stays at a hotel. The owner tells him to stay clear of a certain room, but overtaken by curiosity, he ignores the warning.
When he peeks into the room via the keyhole, all he sees is a pale, white woman. The moment she notices him, he retreats, but soon returns. What he sees the next time, however, is different.
What with Red is another creepypasta that’s sure to scare you.
7. A Painter From Queens
A Painter From Queens begins with the narrator describing a bum living near his apartment.
The man, however, is an artist, and his work is fantastic. When the man offers to paint portrays, quite a few people pay him, but none of them seem to like the result.
Eventually, the narrator gets one himself. The result, however, proves different from what he expected.
This creepypasta has always been one of my favorites ever since I first read it. It’s a unique and strange tale, but a wonderful read.
6. Wake Up
Some creepypasta evoke horror by detailing creatures, serial killers or unexpected events. Others, however, are scary for entirely different reasons.
Wake Up is one such tale.
This short story has unsettled me much more than many other longer tales. I guess, it’s the little question ‘What if?’ that makes it work so well.
5. The Woman in the Oven
There’s something about mysterious and inexplicable events that makes them so fascinating.
When the charred body of a woman is found in a kitchen stove in Minnesota, the case seems clear. That’s until a tape is discovered in a nearby well.
Like many others on the list, The Woman in the Oven doesn’t waste time on a narrative, but gets straight to the point.
It’s an unsettling tale, one entirely inexplicable, but one that still makes you question what happened.
4. The Portraits
The Portraits is another tale that proves highly effective. It’s also the very first I ever read.
When a hunter gets lost in the forest, he spends the night at a cabin. All is well, but the many weird portrays on the wall are unnerving him.
The Portraits is a perfect creepypasta. If you haven’t read it, I recommend it.
3. Mother’s Call
Mother’s Call is a very short creepypasta, no longer than a few sentences. And yet, it’s more effective than many, many others.
It’s a fantastic little tale and proves you don’t need a lot of words to scare people.
2. Wristbands
Wristbands is another fantastic, tale.
It details that the patients at a certain hospital receive one of three different wristbands. The red wristbands, however, are only ever placed on people who died.
I won’t tell too much about this tale, just that it’s highly enjoyable.
1. The Backrooms
The Backroom’s is a creepypasta related to an image. In the image, we can see a set of strange, unsettling rooms.
Accompanying the picture is a brief description. What we see in the picture is The Backrooms, a place you end up in when you glitch through reality.
I don’t know why, but I love eerie ideas like this. Ending up in the Backrooms can happen to anyone and if you do, you better hope the other things wandering them don’t notice you.
