• 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 Village In The Attic”

February 5, 2024 by Lucia

Previously: “Lorraine.”

This week, a short and shivery little tale from Japan: “The Village In The Attic,” a creepypasta, or kowai hanashi (怖い はなし), about a boy who finds something unexpected in the ceiling crawlspace of his home. Translated over at the Okaruto Tumblr in November of 2013, it’s one I haven’t seen rendered in English anywhere else — but when I stumbled upon it the other day, I found it a delightful little surprise that I think really should be more well-known that it is.

an old, run-down attic

A caveat: This is a rare instance where I wasn’t able to track down the source material. Given that most, if not all, of the translations on the Okaruto Tumblr are English renderings of posts from the 2ch paranormal boards, my assumption is that this one originated somewhere on 2ch, as well; I’ve been unable to figure out the correct search terms for it in Japanese, though, and, as such, haven’t been able to dig up the original text. And, as always, it’s distinctly possible that there aren’t any extant versions of it anymore, anyway, given the ephemeral nature of 2ch.

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

The Okaruto Tumblr has also regretfully been defunct for quite some time; it’s last post is a brief admin note that was posted in July 2015, after which nothing else was forthcoming. I assume its translator simply got to a place in their life where they no longer had the time or available resources to keep it going, which is understandable; at the same time, though, it’s a little bit of a loss: The translations were smooth and well-localized, and the selections included both heavy hitters like “Resort Job” and lesser-known tales that still deserve their time in the spotlight.

“The Village In The Attic” is one of the latter types of stories. It has a delightfully eerie little twist delivered right in the very last line, so stick with it until the end. It’s short — I promise. And it’s absolutely worth five minutes of your time. Find it excerpted below, and read the full story at okaruto.tumblr.com.

***

A new kid came to my class one day. He never talked to anyone, though, so he didn’t really have any friends. He just put his head on his desk and moped all day. After a while, I began to wonder about him and decided to talk to him.

“You always look so sad,” I sat at the desk in front of him. “Is there anything you need to talk about?”

He started shaking a little bit when I startled him out of whatever he had been thinking about, but finally he began talking.

He said that about a month ago, something really bad happened. He was sitting in his room playing video games when he just happened to look up at his ceiling. He noticed that the board covering the entrance to the attic above his room seemed to have been moved. Darkness was all he could see in the gap, but rather than being scared of what moved the board, he wanted to know what it was. He moved his chair right under the entrance and pulled himself up after grabbing a flashlight to bring with him.

Keep reading…

***

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

[Photo via Tama66/Pixabay]

Filed Under: Tales Tagged With: 2ch, creepypasta, Creepypasta of the Week, Japan, the internet

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