The Most Dangerous Games: The Creature In Your Mind

Previously: The Oklahoma Darkness Game.

Note: Please don’t copy/paste or republish the text of this post on other websites without permission.

You only get one chance — maybe two, if you’re lucky — to perform the ritual game called The Creature In Your Mind each year. That’s because it must be performed on the night of a new moon that occurs during the month of December. No other new moon will do, and no other night in December will do. But hey, guess what? There’s a new moon set to occur on Dec. 7, 2018. That’s quite soon indeed, so now seems like as good a time as any to take a closer look at this one.

As far as I know, the version of this game that was uploaded to the Creepypasta Wikia on June 8, 2011 by user RiboZurai is the first version of it to hit the internet. It’s pretty firmly fictional — a lot of, uh, fantastical things are said to happen during it — but it’s interesting to me all the same; at its heart, it’s the sort of meditation ritual that might keep company with the Doors of Your Mind and the Three Kings. In fact, if you look past some of the more outlandish details, it very well could work — you just have to think of the titular creature as being something inside yourself, rather than some sort of literal monster.

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

The reward for successfully completing this ritual is knowledge in the form of specific kinds of dreams.

But there’s a price to pay, too.

As always, play at your own risk.

Players:

• One principal.

Requirements:

• Plain, comfortable, white clothing.
• A set of plain, white bed sheets.
• A plain, white blanket (optional).
• A bed.
• Pillows (optional, but recommended).
• A quiet room with a door you can close.
• A clock.

Instructions:

Sleeping:

1. Wait until a night on which a new moon occurs during the month of December. While you are awaiting, gather your supplies.
2. On that night, begin shortly before one o’clock in the morning. Take your supplies to the quiet room. The room must be equipped with a bed. Shut the door behind you.
3. Prepare the bed: If there are already sheets or blankets on it, remove them. Remake the bed with the set of white bed sheets and the white blanket (if using). Don’t forget to change the pillowcases, too. Place the clock nearby. Make sure it reads the correct time.
4. Prepare yourself: Remove your everyday clothing. Put on the plain, white clothing. Center yourself. Ready yourself for the ordeal to come.
5. At 1:28am, close the curtains if they’re open, turn off the lights if they’re on, climb into bed, and pull the sheets over yourself — in short, act as if you were going to sleep. Get comfortable; you might be here for a while.
6. Close your eyes.
7. Do NOT fall asleep — yet.
8. Wait.
9. Listen.
   • If you hear nothing: The ritual has failed. Get out of bed, turn on the lights, and leave the room. You may try again another time — although you might have to wait a year or more to do so.
   • If you hear whispers coming from behind the closed door of the room: The initial steps have succeeded. You may proceed.
10. Keeping your eyes closed, speak aloud — softly, but clearly — the following words: “Come to me; I wish to talk.”
11. Wait.
    • If the door to the room remains shut: The ritual has failed. You may either get out of bed, turn the lights, and leave the room, or you may simply fall asleep. Should you choose to fall asleep, you will slumber as you normally do; you will bear no ill effects in the morning. Regardless as to which action you choose to take, you may try again another time.
    • If the door to the room begins to open: The ritual has succeeded. You may proceed.
12. Sleep.
13. You have no choice.
14. You will sleep whether or not you wish to.

Dreaming:

1. Upon waking, you will find yourself in a small room with two windows, a table, and two chairs. (It will not be the room in which you fell asleep, and you are not actually awake.)
2. Do not be alarmed by the room’s appearance — even if it is… concerning in any way. If you are alarmed, do not allow your expression or behavior to betray your alarm. Keep it hidden.
3. Sit down in the nearest chair and speak the words, “I’m here.” Speak clearly and confidently. Do not allow your voice to waver.
4. The door to the small room will open. If you have gotten this far, it will never not open.
5. Greet the creature who enters through the door, but do not express any kind of alarm, fear, surprise, or concern. Greet the creature like you would someone you were expecting to see, someone you know well, someone who could not possibly be out of place here, or anywhere.
6. Greet the creature like this, no matter what it looks like.
7. Allow the creature to sit in the second chair.
8. Allow the creature to speak.
9. Listen.
10. Do not respond. Do not react. Do not interrupt. Do not betray your feelings in any way, no matter what the creature tells you.
11. Listen.
12. When the creature has finished speaking — you will know when that is — say only one thing: “I understand. Am I worthy to know?”
13. Present the creature with you open hand. It will ask for it; do not present it before it asks. Allow it to place an object in your hand. Do not look at it — yet. Close your fingers around it.
14. Wake up.

Waking:

1. Upon waking, check your surroundings. Have you returned to the room in which you feel asleep? Good. Now check the clock. Does it read 7am? Excellent. You may proceed.
   • NOTE: If you are NOT in the room in which you fell asleep, or if the clock does NOT read 7am, you are not yet awake. See: Additional Notes.
2. Open your hand. You may now look at the object inside it. What do you see?
   • If you see a coin: Your dreams in the days to come will be the most pleasant dreams you will ever experience. Enjoy them to their fullest; they are a great gift. After six days, your dreams will return to normal. From this point forward, keep the coin on your person at all times.
   • If you see a small toy duck: Your dreams in the day will come will contain echoes of your childhood. Pay attention to them well; they are trying to remind you of something important. After six days, your dreams will return to normal. From this point forward, keep the toy on your person at all times.
   • If you see a key: You dreams in the days to come will reveal to you the secrets of your closest friends. Guard them carefully; they are not your secrets to share. After six days, your dreams will return to normal. From this point forward, keep the key on your person at all times.
   • If you see nothing: You will have no dreams at all in the days to come.
     • You will have no dreams because, after you next fall asleep, you will never wake again.
     • You cannot dream when you are dead.

Additional Notes:

The ritual MUST be performed on the night of a new moon during the month of December. Do NOT attempt to perform it at any other time.

Also do not attempt to perform it without the correct color bed sheets or clothing.

It is not necessary to empty the building in which you intend to perform this ritual prior to beginning. However, it is recommended that you take measures to ensure that you will not be disturbed or prematurely waken at any point during it.

It is recommended that you familiarize yourself with lucid dreaming techniques prior to attempting this ritual. If you have trouble waking up after during or after Dreaming: Step 14, these techniques may be useful in encouraging yourself to wake. Resources pertaining to lucid dreaming may be found in the Additional Notes section here.

Concerning The December New Moon:

Sometimes — rarely — you might have two chances to perform the ritual in one year. Months in which two new moons occur do happen periodically. When they do, the second new moon of the month is referred to as a Black Moon.

The last time a Black Moon occurred was in September of 2016. This would not have been a suitable time to perform the ritual, as the Black Moon did not occur in December.

The next Black Moon is set to occur in July of 2019. This will not be a suitable time to perform the ritual, as the Black Moon will not occur in December.

The next time a Black Moon will occur in December will be in the year 2024. That year, the first new moon of December will occur on the first day of the month, and the second on the 30th.

It is unknown how performing the ritual on a Black Moon might affect the outcome.

But perhaps you’d better mark your calendar anyway.

Just in case.

The Creature In Your Mind: FAQ.

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[Photo via JayMantri/Pixabay, remixed by Lucia Peters]