
'It's comforting to think there are dark corners we haven't explored'ĭeWitt didn't actually take r/NoSleep, or the creepypasta genre in general, seriously for a long time, thinking of it as "Slenderman" knockoffs and nonsensical memes like "Who Was Phone?" But his impression changed after he started reading some of the more immersive stories, and realized the potential of short, snappy writing. Fans of mystery and thriller novels often flock to r/NoSleep as well because they know there's no chance of something jumping out at them. The creepy feeling of being watched or a sense of impending doom isn't just for conventional horror junkies either. What made it work is something that is deeply entrenched in the r/NoSleep culture today - atmospheric prose that conjures up feelings of dread, even when nothing is really happening. "Hell, sometimes the horror in those stories wasn't even happening to the protagonist it was just something they were witnessing." "What was particularly enjoyable about the stories written at that time was that they didn't require any blood and guts, or jump scares, or any of the unsubtle trappings of modern horror," he said. He likes to think of his style as a modern take on the "Gothic-inflected, gaslit, pessimistic, dream-like type of horror" that was written in the late 19th and early 20th century, where authors would "build tension by drawing on the uncanniness of even seemingly mundane situations." Benson when materializing his nightmarish worm-shaped monster, and from "Silence of the Lambs" for the mental hospital element.


"In my wildest dreams, I thought maybe the titular patient would end up a creepypasta legend like ' The Rake,' or ' Jeff the Killer.' The idea that he and his story would catapult me into the entertainment industry never even occurred to me."īefore he started writing his own horror stories, DeWitt's literary skills only came out when playing gothic horror-themed Dungeons & Dragons campaigns with his friends. "I'd go to the local all-night IHOP, post up, get bottomless iced coffees, and just write through the night," he said.
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He said it still feels hallucinatory that he's had so much success because his "The Patient" series was "a little bit of harmless fun" he would have during periods of insomnia. "Does that answer your question?"ĭeWitt now lives in Los Angeles where he has been working on his second novel and a screenplay. "I'm pretty sure I scared the living daylights out of the girl I was dating at the time with the scream of triumph and delight I made when my manager called to tell me Ryan wanted to do it," the author Jasper DeWitt told Insider when asked how it felt to be recognized by a Hollywood star.

Ryan Reynolds revealed he was interested in turning a renowned story on the sub called " The Patient Who Nearly Drove Me Out Of Medicine" into a film in 2018. "Just having to pretend you are sitting around a campfire telling scary stories to people. "I know some people aren't as into the immersion rule, and having to stay in character, but I do think there's something really special about the environment that it creates," she told Insider. Rebecca, another mod, said r/NoSleep has a campfire vibe, "where you help someone figure out something really horrible that happened to them." I don't know if they've actually experienced this in their lives, but they're either exceptional writers or they're just putting out what they feel." It's like you are sitting around a campfire telling scary stories "In some of my favorites, you can feel it. "The whole goal of the story is to inspire fear in others," Rog said.

It's a very specific brand of horror where the community gets involved and interacts with the writer, so they become part of the story. What Rog loves about the sub is the "creep factor" that really makes you feel terror for the person who is writing the story.
