u/ChaoticStanley

Hello everyone. Sorry about the delay!

The winner of the final three poll is u/theAbominableMantis for their story "Butterflies Beneath My Skin" and special thanks to the runner ups u/ShatteredTestimony and u/NarrowDirector911! AbominableMantis's story will be pinned until the start of the next contest!

And now for the July Contest!

Subgenre: Any Genre
Other details: Any pov, feel free to rewrite prompt however you want as long as the central concept remains intact.

Prompt: Something changed and I could feel my heart start to slow. Despite the icy wind cutting into my skin, a warmth passed over my burning blue hands like a soothing balm. The snow no longer felt like a thousand needles pricking my flesh but a cloud-like cushion. My thoughts, as well as my vision, became muddled. Yet, there was still a noticeable voice in the back of my mind. Slightly muffled by the sirens in my head lulling me to a final slumber, but it was still there--still screaming at me to get help. It would come for them next. I knew that, yet... all I wanted to do was sleep.

Task: Write the leadup this finale

Rules/Requirements: Written submissions only. Submissions MUST have “[insert month] Submission” after the title. Otherwise, they will be not be entered. Limit submission to one post (Reddit’s character limit is 40K) but you can write more parts for yourself. Follow the rules of the subreddit. Winner of the previous month is not eligible for winning this month.

Submissions will be closed July 24th. I’ll make an announcement post and you guys can tell me what are your favorite stories (NO SELF PROMO). I’ll take feedback into account, but ultimately, me and the other mods will be the final judges–meaning that we will consider your picks but if we like a story better that went under the radar, we’ll most likely go with that. Just an example of what I mean. On July 29th, we’ll announce the top three and that’s when you guys vote. August1st is when I’ll announce the winner and the next challenge!

Hello, everyone! It is Mod Stanley's turn to pick the theme and run this month's contest!

The theme this month is going to be a celebration of the channel hitting 1 million subscribers! The art must include the boys and the announcement of the 1 million subscribers. You can include any characters, bits or settings you want as well.

**Rules:**

1. **Use the art contest flair.** If you use the regular "Fanart" flair, it is not eligible for submission

2. **No pre-existing submissions.** Do not re-post any art you've already submitted to the subreddit.

3. **Last month's winner is not eligible for winning this month.**

**The submission with the most upvotes win!**

Good luck!

Hello, everyone!

I'll try to keep this as short as I possibly can to not take up too much of your time. For those of you who don't recognize my username, a little over a year ago, I was honored enough to be contacted by Harry to have Isaiah and Hunter read my story "My Crew and I are Stuck Aboard an Abandoned Ship" on the podcast. I'll be completely honest, when I found out something of mine was going to be read by them, and seen by hundreds of thousands, potentially millions of people, it would be an understatement to say I was nervous.

As much as I'd like to make writing a career, I was, and still am only an amateur. Not to mention I already, even as some people claimed to have liked it when narrated on other YouTube channels, was slightly unhappy with being forced to compromise my vision for the story in order to fit the format that was required to post it on a certain subreddit that I will not name directly. But even still, I felt proud of my work.

So, when the episode aired, I was an amalgamation of excited, and a bundle of nerves. I watched them read through it, stoked when I saw they seemed to like it. And then, towards the end of the story, something happened that, at the time, was the most stinging sensation a writer can experience, but in the end, was one of the best things to happen to me.

The guys critiqued my work.

Even as I laughed at their jokes and their lines, I fully admit, part of me didn't exactly take it well. After all, to most writers, their creations are special, things that parts of yourselves embedded into them. When I was younger, I was told that the first time you have your work properly critiqued, it would be the hardest thing to experience, simply because of your own biases, believing that it is perfect as is. Well, they were not wrong.

I was faced with the reality of my own shortcomings; repetitive verbage (The infamous "Chill up the spine and scream" meme is likely going to forever be part of Creepcast lore), slow, slogging plot at times, what one other YouTuber dubbed "The Sccoby-Doo Effect", glaring plot holes, and the unsatisfying ending.

I didn't really take it well, as ashamed as I am to say it.

I ended up backing away from writing after that, especially after making the mistake of looking at the YouTube comments and seeing some people mercilessly tearing into the story (Rightfully so, in some cases, in hindsight). I think I put out only two stories after that, and then stopped entirely. For roughly close to a year, I simply went about my life with no desire to return to writing. I still watched Creepcast, though, still also let narrators narrate some of my older stories.

Then, 2026 rolled around. Something began stirring inside of me. The desire to write again.

I began simply writing stories for myself. Ones that are bad, and will never see the light of day, as a way to get over my self imposed writer's block, and my flabby creative muscles. Then, about three months ago, I posted my first story to Tales From the Creeps. It was something similar to the stories I'd written years ago, the same format. I took one look at it, and wasn't happy. It was the same format that led me to where I'd ended up. I wasn't writing what I wanted to. For a moment, I thought about giving up.

Then, I remembered Isaiah's praise at the end of my episode.

"You certainly have a talent as an author; Keep working at it, and keep making stories." To which Hunter agreed, saying that's all you can do.

That decided it for me. I decided right then and there, "The hell with it." Even if I felt sure that the style of writing I truly like and enjoy wouldn't go well on Reddit, I didn't care. I decided I no longer wanted to write things in a style I didn't enjoy, just because it was what certain subreddits had popularized. I wanted to write things I, as a reader, would love to read myself, influenced by writers I've always loved like Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, Richard Matheson, Robert Aickman and others, and with the same style or prose and verbage I'd grown up reading. I wrote my first story in that style, a story ironically called First. I crossed my fingers and posted it.

I never expected what would come next.

People liked it. Praise, and even still, a little constructive criticism began to roll in. I wasn't getting the massive amount of upvotes I had chasing the trends or posting to the big places, but I was getting far more positive traction than I had before, short of my most upvoted older stories. And you know what? It felt good. In fact, it felt great. And so, buoyed by that confidence, I wrote my second story in that style. And again, people really liked it. It even got a shout out for how good it was. I even had a highly respected member of Tales From the Creeps state they'd like the guys to cover one of my new stories. And finally, coming to now, I wrote and posted my newest story so far.

And again, it got a huge amount of positive reception and support, telling me it was great and to keep going. As of writing this, I'm already working on preparing to write my next story. I can't say I'm fully back yet, that'll take time. Rome wasn't built in a day, and you don't recover from a year of no writing immediately. But, I'm actually working, and writing what I feel I've always wanted to.

I've improved my craft, making sure not to make the same mistakes I have before with vocabulary, pacing, character development or story structure. And for that, it feels rewarding beyond description.

And none of that would have happened, if it hadn't been for Isaiah, Hunter, and yeah, even Harry, since he was the one who found my story.

If they hadn't read, critiqued, and been brutally honest about my work, if they'd only been gentle and mentioned the parts they did like, right now I either wouldn't be writing again. Or worse. I would still be writing, but stuck in the rut I had been a year to three years ago. I would still be writing mediocre stories that my heart wasn't fully invested in, compromising the visions of my stories to fit arbitrary constraints, and perhaps most importantly, I would still be repeating every mistake I had before, simply because I would have believed that I was writing at my best, and I didn't need to improve. I would have eventually published work that was mediocre at best, and it would have been deader than disco.

Isaiah, Hunter, Harry? I'm not sure if you'll ever see this. But, if you do, from the bottom of my heart. I just wanted to thank you. And, by extension, the fans of Creepcast. You guys actually opened my eyes to my mistakes as a writer, acted similarly to the person in someone's life who isn't cruel, but is going to be bluntly honest with you and tell you where your weaknesses are, where you screw up. You've made me a better writer, and also a happier one. And for that, I will eternally appreciate it.

Merci Beaucoup, guys. Have a great week, and thanks for reading all this.

Hello,

Mod Stanley here. We have an important announcement. We have pulled the "Narrated" flair and will not be allowing people to post about their story getting narrated.

If you browse the tag (which will always still be searchable regardless of deactivation) you'll see a lot of channels being promoted that utilize AI thumbnails. Some even use AI narration. As you know, we have a firm anti-AI stance and it always felt sort of sleazy and hypocritical to allow people to promote channels using AI.

Now, obviously users aren't doing that intentionally. We know you all just wanted to proudly show off your story being narrated as it is a big achievement. However, we just don't want to risk promoting AI content in any way and every other post was just AI art over and over. So, we've decided to just pull the tag as it was overrun with that content and we don't want to be promoting that at all on the main feed like that. The AI art issue isn't going away anytime soon. So many creepypasta reading channels are utilizing it and it's a shame to see.

We do want to provide you all with ways to compromise on this ruling. You can go back and add a link in the comments or edit it in the actual story that was narrated. Or on your next upload, you can add a link there letting users know one of your previous stories was narrated.

We will also still be allowing people to ask for stories to be submitted for readings too. That's all fine and dandy as it's a contribution to the community and an opportunity for those writers. Those who want to ask for submissions may do so under the "Offering Help" flair as they've done before.

We're sorry about this and if the AI art ever stops being used (although we doubt it unfortunately) we'll happily put the flair back up. We just don't want to allow any opportunities for AI art to be promoted front and center on the main feed and this flair was one of them.

Thank you,

Mod Stanley, Mod Devi

Thank you for the fun submissions! It was a great time, as usual, reading through them! Also, wishing y'all one last Happy Pride before the month ends 💚

View Poll

Hello everyone!

This month's prompt contest is now closed! Thank you to everyone who posted submissions!

Please comment your favorite story (not your own) down below. The three finalists (based mostly on mod opinion but community feedback does factor in somewhat) will be announced June 27h in a poll where the community will vote. winner will be announced July 1st and their story will be pinned front and center at the top of the subreddit for the rest of the month until the next winner is chosen! Here are all the submissions for you guys to check out!

Fire In The Skies Over West Virginia

Sour

"H-Hello"

Fracture

A Shadow's a Heavy Burden

The Atomic Shadow

Cold, Cold Heart

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Butterflies Beneath My Skin

Everything Beth Left Behind

Holding Room

That's Not My face

Divided Soul

Same and Amie

The Seam

Voicemail

Jesus Remembers

How To Survive Your First Day of Camp

The Impersonation of Venus

She Fell in Love With the Voice Behind the Door

Extracurricular Erasure

Livin' Libido Loca

I Haven't Seen My Parents Since Junior Year

Bitter Beings

Bears

Found Soul

Casket Echoes

The Cubicle Shadow

Thank you to everyone who submitted a story for the May contest!

So, the winner of the final three poll is u/TheLastWhiteKid for their story "Signal" and special thanks to the runner ups u/OffKilterFilter and u/FoggyGlassEye! TheLastWhiteKid's story will be pinned for the entire month.

And now for the June Contest!

Subgenre: Any Horror + Queer Horror (Happy Pride lol)
Other details: Any POV

Prompt: (Thank you to TheLastWhiteKid for the prompt) Shadow under the door: Wait. Under the door, sliding across the seam. The light doesn't catch on the floor like that... Did a light burn out? No that... that's a shadow... someone's shadow! How long has it been there? Couldn't have been that long, but I just noticed... Who are they? Why are they just standing there? Whether in a closet, bathroom, laboratory, a bedroom at a college party, your character(s) notice the lingering shadow under the door. What is it? A perverted peeping-Tom? A die-hard stalker? An infected police officer? An axe murdering chimpanzee? Whatever it is, it must be revealed and the story must include LGBTQ+ characters for the month of June.

Rules/Requirements: Written submissions only. Submissions MUST have “[insert month] Submission” after the title. Otherwise, they will be not be entered. Limit submission to one post (Reddit’s character limit is 40K) but you can write more parts for yourself. Follow the rules of the subreddit. Winner of the previous month is not eligible for winning this month.

Submissions will be closed June 14th. I’ll make an announcement post and you guys can tell me what are your favorite stories (NO SELF PROMO). I’ll take feedback into account, but ultimately, me and the other mods will be the final judges–meaning that we will consider your picks but if we like a story better that went under the radar, we’ll most likely go with that. Just an example of what I mean. On June 27th, we’ll announce the top three and that’s when you guys vote. July 1st is when I’ll announce the winner and the next challenge!

​

Let’s take a trip this week and discover the mysteries that lie in the town of Point Pine.

Official Discussion Thread for this week Creep Cast Episode. Please enjoy.

Hello, everyone! We just added a new rule to the sub and thought it'd be best to make a PSA with it as it's very important. (Thought it'd be a no brainer but guess not)

WE DO NOT TOLERATE PLAGIARISM IN THIS SUBREDDIT. Anyone caught plagiarizing will be permanently banned. No second chances.

Now, I want to be clear, this does not apply to having similar concepts or ideas. No idea is 100% original and when it comes to writing in general (but especially amateur horror stories), there will obviously be commonly used tropes, themes, all that jazz. And in a space filled with new writers and constant submissions, some stories will be similar to others. Its just inevitable.

This is in regards to just lazily ripping off other users/authors. Stealing text, blatantly copying a story beat for beat, etc.

So, if you see a story and feel like it is plagiarizing you or another author, PLEASE DO NOT PUBLICLY CALL THEM OUT. I cannot stress this enough. Every single time a public call out happens of another user, it just ends up creating drama that pulls focus away from the actual issue. Especially if the accusations end up false so now a user has been witch hunted for no reason.

Please just report the story to the moderators with any proof you can provide.

Also included in the new rule, is a section about reposts. While not an outright bannable offense, any stories that are just reposted from other websites/subreddits/etc. will be removed. Even if credit is given, even if the original author gives permission. If the original author wanted to post here, then they would.

And while not a new rule, this is a reminder to REPORT ANY GENERATIVE AI MATERIAL! Again, please do not call them out. It just makes investigating them even harder. Use the report function and the story will be removed until the author proves otherwise.

Thank you

Hello,

As I'm sure some of you have noticed, we've received a major influx of new users and have ran into similar issues over and over again in modmail. So, just making a PSA for all new users on this sub and anyone else who is unaware of this information.

If your post has been removed with a message "this post has been removed by Reddit's filters" then that means the automated moderator flagged it. Normally they only flag low karma accounts to make sure it's not a spam bot or troll, but sometimes it fucked up and flags a random user.

When this happens the post is sent to a queue for manual review and approval by a moderator. We check the queue multiple times a day so just give it a few hours if this happens. By then, one of us will have come around to check the queue.

Please do not spam your post over and over. This will only result in more work for us and Reddit flagging your account as a spammer, resulting in a possible shadow ban. Also, do not privately DM any of the mods. We ignore any and all private DMs from users regarding subreddit issues.

Please modmail only if you have a concern! If you don't know what modmail is... honestly just Google it. You'll get a more comprehensive and faster answer. But in short, modmail appears as sort of like an email chain on our end and all the mods can see it. Whereas private DMs are just that, a private DM that only can be seen by that one person.

Another reminder, PLEASE BREAK UP POSTS BY 24HRS. I know to some this seems unfair, but it's to prevent people from spamming the feed with their 10 part series and burying other stories.

Thank you and happy writing!

Might as well ask y'all since you guys have been so helpful with each other. Love to see that.

But I have an issue with maintaining motivation. I'll have the motivation to write when I'm at work or when I'm in bed at 2am. But when I actually sit down to start writing, I suddenly lose all motivation. Like, I suddenly dread writing and feel so lazy in the moment despite a part of me really wanting to write. I have ADHD and so I'll try to pop an Adderall, but obviously pills don't fix everything. It's also a mind battle too which is the part I need help with.

If anyone has tips or tricks, I'd love to hear it. Thank you

Hello everyone! Gonna be so real, straight up thought I posted this but I, in fact, did not. Apologies for that.

This month's prompt contest is now closed! Thank you to everyone who posted submissions!

Please comment your favorite story (not your own) down below. The three finalists (based mostly on mod opinion but community feedback does factor in somewhat) will be announced May 28th in a poll where the community will vote. winner will be announced June 1st and their story will be pinned front and center at the top of the subreddit for the rest of the month until the next winner is chosen! Here are all the submissions for you guys to check out!

Eclipse

The Thing That Won't Stop Screaming

The Nugget

Back Alley Wishes

The Egggcension

Every Night at 3:12 AM, Someone Knocks on My Window, I Live on the 10th Floor

Don't Point, Don't Whistle, Not at Night

Grotesque Beauty

Industry Star

Mat

Penny Pull Yourself Together

The Resurrection of a starlet

Kelly Duval was spawned from a microbe

Idol Sunset

Strawberry Dreams

The being who lies beneath the old theater's floors

A Star is Made of Many Parts

Purgatory isn't quite what I expected

The dancing doll TV show

Masks

Lock the Freezer After Showtime

Geodesics and Their Implications on the Human Soul

The Ballad of Eric 8-Ball

There Could Only Be One

The Ballad of Bobble the Blob

I Want to Burn Brighter Than All The Star

Borrows Voices

The Greatest Show Unearthed

Eve Built Eden

Prima Donna

Fourth Born, Slaughter

The Clicking Clot

Little Witch Little

Sonnet 2: Serpentine Superstar

Signal

Deadhead

Synesthesia

Silver Throat Records

For the Sake of

Hello, sorry for the delay! Reddit was just not functioning on my end.

Thank you to everyone who submitted a story for the April contest! I saw that ya'll had some real fun with the prompt and I'm so glad.

So, the winner of the final three poll is u/The_Republique for their story "Risen" and special thanks to the runner ups u/No-Original890 and u/MidnightScribe666! Republique's story will be pinned until the start of the next contest!

And now for the May Contest!

Subgenre: Any Genre
Other details: Third POV only

Prompt: They were destined to be a star, the ultimate triple threat. They were blessed with perfect pitch, a keen sense of rhythm, and the acting chops. All that was missing was the voice, the legs, and the face. (Any pronouns are fine, I used they to keep it neutral)

Rules/Requirements: Written submissions only. Submissions MUST have “[insert month] Submission” after the title. Otherwise, they will be not be entered. Limit submission to one post (Reddit’s character limit is 40K) but you can write more parts for yourself. Follow the rules of the subreddit.

Submissions will be closed May 17th. I’ll make an announcement post and you guys can tell me what are your favorite stories (NO SELF PROMO). I’ll take feedback into account, but ultimately, me and the other mods will be the final judges–meaning that we will consider your picks but if we like a story better that went under the radar, we’ll most likely go with that. Just an example of what I mean. On May 28th, we’ll announce the top three and that’s when you guys vote. June 1st is when I’ll announce the winner and the next challenge!

Thank you!

Hello, everyone!

I've made posts promoting fan stories on r/talesfromthecreeps before but realized we haven't done it since we created the sub in the first place. The mods and I noticed more and more people in the comments here and there are asking for more fan stories after the absolute banger u/sufficient_leave144 wrote. So we decided to make a megathread for recommendations. It'll be pinned to the top of the subreddit for a good while in the hopes that the CC team will see it and peruse through! It can be for solo stories or grab bags!

Please provide direct links to the stories from the writing sub just to make it easier for whoever picks the stories. I also highly encourage you all to tag the author (not required though) just because it'll be nice for them to see people actively recommending their work and encourage them to keep writing!

Also, be sure to upvote any suggestions you agree with! The more upvotes, the more likely the guys will pick it out. And if you check out any of the stories left in the thread, be sure to go upvote them and comment your support!

Thank you,

Mod Stanley

Edit: And don't plug your own stories. Not only is it an EXTREMELY biased recommendation, it's a bit tacky. Plus it breaks the rule on self promotion