• 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: “Gamer”

August 2, 2017 by Lucia

Previously: “Bedtime.”

R.D. Ovenfriend’s “Gamer” is a creepypasta not in the classic sense — that is, something which has been copied and pasted time and time again, with little to no information available about its original author — but in the modern one: It’s a piece of horror fiction originally published on the internet. In this case, it hails from the NoSleep subreddit, where it (rightfully, I think) won the title of Best Monthly Winner of 2014. 

A video game arcade

What makes it so successful is its grounding in reality: In essence, it’s a story about the Milgram experiments. You’re probably already familiar with Stanley Milgram’s study about the extremes people will go to when they’re “just following orders”; conducted in 1961 and published in 1963, it basically explained the rise of fascism and World War II, showing that people are capable of evilness — even if they don’t think they’re being evil. All it takes is an authority figure to coax people to do terrible things. In recent decades, we’ve begun questioning the results somewhat; however, a group of scientists in Poland also published research this year that replicated the results of the Milgram experiments… so maybe Milgram wasn’t so far off the mark, even if his experiments were ethically dubious.

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

If you prefer your creepypasta narrated, here’s a good one.

And as a parting thought: How far do you think you would go in this situation? Because no matter how quickly you like to think you’d stop… I’m willing to bet you’d go a lot further than that.

You know that little boys aren’t supposed to go into strange rooms with men they just met, right? When I was ten, I knew this too, but I was a huge video game nerd. In the 1980’s, if you wanted to play video games, you had to go to the arcade in the mall.

The arcade had a wide array of video games in the lobby area. But the best games were hidden in a secret room at the back of the store. I had heard about it from other boys at school. They said that if you spent a lot of time (and quarters) playing video games on the main floor, the owner, Stanley, would take you into the backroom where the secret games were kept.

The guys said that Stanley got access to the arcade games months before they came out. It was also rumored that there were some games in the backroom that were too risqué for the main floor. Weird underground video games from Japan that involved sex and gore.

I had been coming to the arcade with my friends for over a month, but Stanley never showed any interest in me until I came by myself one day.

You have to understand that this was a safe, quaint college town in the 1980s. Things were different. Moms would drop their kids off at the mall, armed only with stern warnings about talking to strangers — and leave them there for hours. Everyone did this. It wasn’t neglectful.

I was playing Street Fighter when Stanley approached me. “You’ve spent a lot of time at that game.” I was a little shocked that he was right here. I had seen him around the store, but never this close. It was like seeing a celebrity in person for the first time. “Ya. I’ve almost gotten a high score three times.” He asked, “Do you want to play some other games in the back?”

And that was it.

Keep reading…

***

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 Sumeet Jain/Flickr]

Filed Under: Tales Tagged With: creepypasta, Creepypasta of the Week, Gamer, Milgram experiments, Ovenfriend, psychology, Stanley Milgram, video games

Primary Sidebar

Top Stories

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

15 Creepy, Scary 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

  • The “Lost” Mickey Mouse Cartoon

    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