• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Stories
  • Games
    • View All
    • FAQ
  • Encyclopaedia
  • About
  • Support TGIMM
  • Shop
  • Contact

The Ghost In My Machine

Stories of the Strange and Unusual

Creepypasta of the Week: "The Woman in the Oven"

January 2, 2017 by Lucia

Previously: “Misfortune.GB.”

Let’s start the new year off with a blast from the past, shall we? “The Woman in the Oven” — sometimes simply referred to as “The Tape” — is one of the oldest creepypastas around. Its original author remains unknown; indeed, there are several versions of it floating around, so at this point, there’s no telling how many authors it actually has at all. For what it’s worth, the oldest version I’ve found dates back to June of 2008 — two full years before I learned what creepypasta even was. That’s the version I’ve reproduced here — in full, purely because the tale is so short.

A vintage oven

I’ll admit that I actually don’t find “The Woman in the Oven” as effective as I feel like it had the potential to be. It’s a puzzle as much as it is a story, and that, I dig; however, I think it would have been stronger if there was actually one definitive answer to the puzzle, which the dedicated reader could only arrive at once they actually buckled down and did the work. Instead, it’s so open-ended that it feels somewhat diminished to me. As I’ve remarked several times before, I’m a fan of the unknown as a storytelling device, but I always feel like something stops being scary when there are a zillion possible explanations to it. I believe in some circles, they call it “insufficient information.”

[Like what you read? Check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available from Chronicle Books now!]

For what it’s worth, the kind of cremation described in this story also requires temperatures much greater than a domestic oven would be able to supply. Your average cremation oven reaches temperatures of 870 to 980 degrees Celsius (1,598 to 1,796 degrees Fahrenheit), whereas the kind of oven you’ve got in your kitchen is only capable of going up to 500 or 550 degrees Fahrenheit — maybe 600 if your oven runs hot, but likely not much more than that.

But “The Woman in the Oven” is still a classic for a reason: The way the story makes the reader into a detective turns it from a passive experience into an active one, and that’s pretty rad. Oh, and this riff on the tale is worth reading, too.

During the summer of 1983, in a quiet town near Minneapolis, Minnesota, the charred body of a woman was found inside the kitchen stove of a small farmhouse. A video camera was also found in the kitchen, standing on a tripod and pointing at the oven. No tape was found inside the camera at the time.

Although the scene was originally labeled as a homicide by police, an unmarked VHS tape was later discovered at the bottom of the farm’s well (which had apparently dried up earlier that year).

Despite its worn condition, and the fact that it contained no audio, police were still able to view the contents of the tape. It depicted a woman recording herself in front of a video camera (seemingly using the same camera the police found in the kitchen). After positioning the camera to include both her and her kitchen stove in the image, the tape then showed her turning on the oven, opening the door, crawling inside, and then closing the door behind her. Eight minutes into the video, the oven could be seen shaking violently, after which point thick black smoke could be seen emanating from it. The camera then continued to stationary point at the oven for another 45 minutes until the batteries apparently died.

To avoid disturbing the local community, police never released any information about the tape, or even the fact that it was found. Police were also not able to determine who put the tape in the well.

…or why the physical stature of the woman on the tape did not in any way resemble the stature of the woman found in the oven.

***

Follow The Ghost In My Machine on Twitter @GhostMachine13 and on Facebook @TheGhostInMyMachine. And don’t forget to check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available now from Chronicle Books!

[Photo via Rick Galvan/Flickr]

Filed Under: Tales Tagged With: classics, creepypasta, Creepypasta of the Week, oven, The Woman in the Oven, video tape

Primary Sidebar

Top Stories

‘Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark’ Is Now Available From Chronicle Books!

15 Creepy Phone Numbers To Call That Actually Work (UPDATED For 2023)

The Backrooms, Explained: How To Make Sense Of The Internet’s Favorite Non-Reality

About

The Ghost In My Machine is an internet campfire of sorts. Gather round, because it wants to tell you strange stories, take you on haunted journeys, and make you jump at unexpected noises.

Continue Reading >

Support

Like what you read? Support The Ghost In My Machine!

 

Support

Follow

Facebook Twitter

From the Vault

  • Bloody Mary & Other Games We Shouldn’t Play

    Scare Yourself Silly

  • This Man

    Creepy Things That Seem Real But Aren’t

  • The Dionaea House

    Creepy Things That Seem Real But Aren’t

  • The Noise Coming From Inside Children

    Scare Yourself Silly

  • NoEnd House

    Is It Real?

  • Killswitch

    Creepy Things That Seem Real But Aren’t

  • Suicidemouse.avi

    Is It Real?

  • 200 Phenomena In The City Of Calgary

    Scare Yourself Silly

View All >

Letters from the Beyond

Enter your email to receive blog posts and updates by email

  • Stories
  • Games
  • Encyclopaedia
  • About
  • Support TGIMM
  • Shop
  • Contact

Privacy Policy

We use cookies to give you the best online experience. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of all the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT