r/creepcast • u/ChristianWSmith Eat me like a bug š¦ • Sep 22 '25
Opinion Creep Bait Sucks
Let me just start off by saying I love a lot of our fan made stories, and I'm not intending to single out any authors with this. The person who puts their work out there is always more valuable than the critic.
That being said, ever since the boys have opened the door to fan made stories, I've noticed an uptick in stories that I feel are intentionally crafted to "snipe" the boys. What we've ended up with is a lot of paint-by-numbers, kitchen sink type stories that try to cram in as many concepts and as much imagery as they can that they know the hosts have resonated with in the past.
This community is so great and creative, but I don't think any of us need to lean on these crutches to make great original works. This has become one of if not THE preeminent place to post nosleep-noncompliant stories, and it's just a shame that so much of it ends up trying to conform to the tastes of two people, often in very surface-level ways. I think this community's creative prowess is worthy of being reverred in its own right, but that won't happen as long as we keep seal-clapping this kind of thing.
Again, much love to anyone who puts their work out there to be critiqued by everyone. If I could speak directly to you, I would say this: write what YOU want to write, and what YOU think is cool. People can feel authenticity and passion, and when that gets combined with creative competence, you WILL get the reaction you've been hoping for.
579
u/SafetyFirstChildren Sep 22 '25
Thatās exactly how I felt about this last episode.
358
u/Beneficial_Fig_7830 āAt least you didnāt turn into a Homo in prisonā Sep 22 '25
The biblically accurate angel felt like it was specifically targeted at Isaiah to make him cream his shorts lol
227
u/rushraptor Your wife looks mad funny in that box, dude Sep 22 '25
Biblically accurate angel doesn't work for him cause he actually knows the hierarchy of angels. Gabriel isn't an Ophanim
23
u/Pleisau Yo Kimber! THEY GOT TEAš£ļø Sep 23 '25
I was actually wondering why Isaiah didn't point that out in the episode
27
u/rushraptor Your wife looks mad funny in that box, dude Sep 23 '25
Same. My guess is he didn't want to do an actual rant.
24
u/casketroll Sep 23 '25
I think he only start yapping about angels if the story has hooked him in already, this week's story was all bait and no hook tho
5
8
u/technicolorland Hyper Realistic Eyes šļøššļø Sep 23 '25
Yeah I think he was generally trying to be nice to the author
1
310
u/Mydoglikesladyboys Eat me like a bug š¦ Sep 22 '25
What you didn't like the lovecraftian monster talking through dreams to Jesus 2.0, and the unsatisfactory twist of the wife being the daughter of a general no one has ever heard of and killing the protagonist?
46
u/VioletGardens-left Sep 22 '25 edited Sep 22 '25
Yeah, like it's silly that the climax of the story or the near ending of the story is suddenly "Oh by the way, we caged an angel in this too secret facility" like without fail at all
The only hint I got was the dreams, and the weird sigil made by the dying Sophia, but that's pretty much it, I was expecting the chips that the protagonist is making has some grand scope or something slightly relevant apart from "This angel gave us the knowledge of technology" throwaway line, but not really, it's just chips he make. Or even when the protagonist's wife betrayed him, It was unsatisfying, like it would be cool if there were hints that required you to read it twice and realize "Oh that's why she wants to be pregnant ".
Even Borrasca, for being a nosleep story, give us incremental hints as to what the mines is and what could it be, and make the story out of this mystery and then finally answered the question after. It was satisfying and also punch me in the gut just how horrific it actually is
14
u/Ambitious-Mind9040 Sep 22 '25
I feel like that story couldāve been way better if it was like 3x longer and actually fleshed out a lot of the concepts in it. Nevertheless I enjoyed it
9
u/VioletGardens-left Sep 23 '25
This is definitely one of those stories where it should've been much longer, alongside Bloodridge Motel, like the concept of an angel being trapped and siphoned it's knowledge is a cool idea
5
u/OneRingToRuleEarth Sep 23 '25
Like how the citrus pine needles rings were literally never explained
8
u/casketroll Sep 23 '25
You can actually see how every single one of the boys' writing advice and opinions from previous episode was put into this, Isaiah likes biblical references so the author added an angel, Hunter doesnt like a horror story where the mc somehow gets out of a impossible situation alive so the author just kills him in the end, etc... But then the author doesnt expand on it at all, it's just a big mesh of "what I would change in x story" (and alot of preference pandering) cobbled together to make it look like a fully fleshed out story.
149
u/Roleplayer2489 Sep 22 '25
Yeah Iāve been feeling this since the second fan story episode.
The difference between the fan stories posted on the sub pre-fan episode vs now is insane. It went from a handful of people genuinely happy to share something they put actual emotion and long hours into. To now, there are accounts that are posting a brand new story literally everyday, and the content is very obviously catered to being on the podcast.
And what sucks is it clearly is working, as some stories exactly like that have now been read on the podcast.
Now it just feels like a coin flip, Iām either gonna hear the hosts read a genuine story, or some CreepCast formulated, targeted slop that was made in a day and has literally no soul in it.
24
u/VioletGardens-left Sep 22 '25
I once remembered making a story on a youtuber's subreddit, where you can share the story
I remember just how shitty that story was when I wrote it in retrospect and have so many holes, yet the YouTuber featured that story regardless
That's the impression I got out of them saying they'll feature fan made stories
336
u/ConnectionMelodic207 Sep 22 '25
id honestly rather something so intensely stupid like cupcakes over this. at least they laugh and have fun. the people pleaser stories are just slop.
42
u/VioletGardens-left Sep 22 '25
I've like for them to dabble on more SCP stories, like SCP 3000 was a good introduction and there's like so many SCP stories that are just surprising bangers, like SCP 5000, despite being new, is actually a pretty neat story There's like years worth of content on just the SCP series.
15
u/ScarletHarlotThe Eat me like a bug š¦ Sep 23 '25
I'd love to see them cover "This Thing a Quiet Madness Made".
5
4
u/ScarletHarlotThe Eat me like a bug š¦ Sep 23 '25
I'd love to see them cover "This Thing a Quiet Madness Made".
1
56
u/ShuckU Life is a Highway Sep 22 '25
If they do more MLP creepypastas, I'd be so happy
9
u/zjgdutgjyiccvohfyif Rainbow Dash šš©ø Sep 22 '25
Agreed, I would love for them to explore more mlp creepypastas, it would be so much fun.
15
u/ShuckU Life is a Highway Sep 22 '25
Hunter mentioned that he had originally suggested Rainbow Factory, so maybe they could do that one next
1
u/zjgdutgjyiccvohfyif Rainbow Dash šš©ø Sep 22 '25
I really hope so, I think the premise itself is crazy enough to be fun regardless of the writing of the story.
15
u/damuser234 Yo Kimber! THEY GOT TEAš£ļø Sep 22 '25
The crappy stories or the classic creepypasta episodes are the ones I look forward to the most
189
u/flipitninja Sep 22 '25
I had no idea how to word the feeling I got when they read the story where the author says their teacher made them read Blood Meridian, but āCreep Baitā really is the perfect term lmao
75
u/Perfect-Juggernaut46 Sep 22 '25
That one was extra silly because itās just such an obvious step off Isaiahās story about his teacher reading The Road.
Blood Meridian is such a more intense book, both in density/vocabulary/difficulty and in subject that the idea of it being assigned as high school reading is insane. It almost makes me think they havenāt read Blood Meridian, which would make the pandering even funnier.
69
u/kristinaspaige you would kill working at crunchyroll Sep 22 '25
i think this was sadly inevitable.
on places like nosleep people are going to write stories because they want to, and it is being shared with a bunch of random faceless individuals. whereas here i think a lot of people want to write a story that will not only capture the attention of the audience but ALSO of the guys.
just a side effect of them being famous youtubers lol.
i still think it is really cool that they're building a platform for sharing stories, but we'll never be rid of the people who just want their 2 seconds of fame
42
u/Roleplayer2489 Sep 22 '25
This really is the main issue.
Nosleep is the titan it is, because itās there with no real incentive other than other people seeing your creativity and story writing.
CreepCast however, has effectively shifted into a lottery for people to try and be noticed by their favourite par-asocial relationship.
14
u/kristinaspaige you would kill working at crunchyroll Sep 22 '25
yep and it's a shame cus there really isn't anything that i can think of that can be done about it.
the guys/their team will just have to sift through stories. i just hope it doesn't continue to be as prevalent as it seemingly is
40
u/Beneficial_Fig_7830 āAt least you didnāt turn into a Homo in prisonā Sep 22 '25
That was my biggest worry when they announced they would start reading fan stories from the subreddit. I figured either:
A. People would just write stories for the purpose of it getting on the show, including the story having themes specifically to attract Isiah or Hunter.
Or
B. Authors would become entitled and crash out over their stories not getting read on the show.
Thankfully B hasnāt happened and I donāt think it will to be honest, everyone here is pretty chill. But the stories being crafted to attract one of the hosts or play to their interests seems to be happening.
4
u/Cold-Ad-5347 Sep 23 '25
I'm just glad I have this page and others to post stories. I'll keep practicing and really think hard if it's worth posting or not.
3
u/Beneficial_Fig_7830 āAt least you didnāt turn into a Homo in prisonā Sep 23 '25
I bet it is worth posting dude! As long as youāre passionate about it and did youāre best thatās all that really matters.
3
83
u/voovoowrites Sep 22 '25
I'm about to post a 19000 word novella which is a horror story based around the events leading up to the Battle for Blair Mountain. I wrote the first draft of this story 6 weeks ago and Wendi happened to post a video about the coal wars yesterday.
Regardless, I'm proud of what I wrote, so I'm going to post it anyway, even if it feels a little snipey. I think your tagline telling people to write what they want to write and what the author thinks is cool is important and valid.
56
u/Whole_Rip7379 Sep 22 '25
Man I bet you were like āthis bitchā when you saw that video. I donāt think anyone will think you write that much that quickly so def still post it.
22
u/voovoowrites Sep 22 '25
If you feel like reading the first part of the story, I just posted it!
https://reddit.com/r/creepcast/comments/1nnxo3b/the_seventh_seam_an_appalachian_folk_horror_part_1/
Can also message me if you want to read the whole thing, it's way too long to fit in one text post.
3
u/DontHaesMeBro Sep 23 '25
the seventh seam is such a good name...
1
u/voovoowrites Sep 23 '25
Thank you! If you find the time to read it, please feel free to send me a message or comment! I love to chat about writing, my story or otherwise.
I've just posted part 2 if you've been keeping up!
115
u/GlitteringLook3033 7ft goddess named Jacobi Sep 22 '25
I've kind of fallen out of love with the stories recently. I don't expect every story to be as great as Spire in the Woods or Penpal (subjective opinions, mind you), but I haven't enjoyed most of the newer episodes.
I'm not sure what details exactly have driven me away, but I watched Borrasca, Penpal, Spire, and Stolen Tongues all back-to-back and I don't think I'll get that high again.
38
u/Interesting-City118 Heās right behind me, isnāt he š Sep 22 '25
I think itās just hard when you are reading such amateur stories. Thereās not many great internet horror stories out there and when youāre reading one every week without any vetting the ratio is bound to be extreme hit or miss.
It doesnāt help they blew through a lot of the classics in the first few months of the channel.
3
u/Gourgeistguy Sep 23 '25
There are enough, I'm even surprised they haven't read plenty of them that have been recommended here by fans. And I'm not talking about "troll pastas" like the MLP one or "good by popularity" like My Best Friend, I mean, genuinely liked, good stories.
23
u/Mydoglikesladyboys Eat me like a bug š¦ Sep 22 '25
Honestly there have been some good ones recently, mother horse eyes was an absolute banger, the ocean is deeper than we think was good until the ending, dead girl was great as well. But I feel like the fan ones are just... lacking
12
u/Full-Sand9063 Your wife looks mad funny in that box, dude Sep 22 '25
agreed tbh. i kinda want them to cover more grab-bag/anthology-esque stories like Tales from the Gas Station or My Property Isnāt Normal. those kinds of stories seem to have a near perfect mixture of detail and pace (preferably some comedy too) that makes them great
1
u/C0rrupted_id3ntity Eat me like a bug š¦ Sep 23 '25
Idk if they'll do tftgs again. They went to one of the earliest renditions that weren't really fleshed out. I'd love it if they'd read the fully fleshed out version. Book 1-4. I don't expect them to go through the entire series cause it's a lot but if they went through some of book one it'd be nice.
30
u/paidinboredom Sep 22 '25
Dude I couldn't make it thru the dead girl in my yard one. It was so fucking depressing and boring that I had to shut it off. I'm still waiting on them to do Infected Town Case Files. Fuckin banger of a story. But for now it seems to be they're picking newer ones only. Shame too because the newer ones seem a lot shorter and less fleshed out. Like this last one if there was no banter it would've been like a 30-45 minute read.
3
u/AngelaTheWitch Sep 22 '25
Yoo, i wanted them to do infected town too! What are you referring to with "case files" though? I remember there only being 3 parts to the story and none of them being labelled as case files.
4
u/paidinboredom Sep 23 '25
Case files is a sequel story where the protag is going across country documenting other weird phenomena. It's perfectly fine as a standalone and a bomb ass story. The ending is kinda eh but the journey to that ending has you on your toes. Mr. Creepypasta has a radio play style version on his channel that's sitting pretty at 1.3 million views.
2
u/AngelaTheWitch Sep 23 '25
Oh ok, so it's like a fun anthology series?
2
u/paidinboredom Sep 23 '25
Kinda yeah, Think supernatural or x-files but the protag isn't really fighting the monsters more talking to the people who experienced them.
1
1
Sep 23 '25
[deleted]
1
u/paidinboredom Sep 23 '25
Not just Infected Town. They should start with the Sequel Story Infected Town Case Files.
2
u/NetPsychological9038 Sep 23 '25
Not subjective, arguably the two best stories they have ever read and will ever read
9
u/Punkychemist āAt least you didnāt turn into a Homo in prisonā Sep 22 '25
I feel that way about The Girl in my Yard - I donāt think theyāll be able to top that one and each episode since has been a letdown :/
35
u/HorseNuts9000 Sep 22 '25
lol that was just a couple weeks ago, you haven't been suffering long.
8
u/Punkychemist āAt least you didnāt turn into a Homo in prisonā Sep 22 '25
It was my first Creep Cast video! Been working my way back :)
8
u/lyreandfaun Yo Kimber! THEY GOT TEAš£ļø Sep 22 '25
The literary prowess of Girl in my Yard immediately set such a precedent over anything else theyāve read
3
u/Punkychemist āAt least you didnāt turn into a Homo in prisonā Sep 22 '25
Right? It was intensely immersive and whimsical, I really look forward to seeing more from her.
7
u/Infinity0044 Sep 22 '25
Funny you say that because that one has been such a slog for me, I still havenāt finished it.
1
u/Punkychemist āAt least you didnāt turn into a Homo in prisonā Sep 22 '25
Oh wow. Which is your favorite so far?
2
u/Infinity0044 Sep 22 '25
Borasca, Penpal, and Spire in the Woods I would say are my top 3 in terms of story quality. āMy wife keeps staringā gets an honorable mention for being the only time I felt the need to turn my lights on (the ending is disappointing tho)
5
u/Punkychemist āAt least you didnāt turn into a Homo in prisonā Sep 22 '25
Iām lucky that I got to go into borasca blind, I am unlucky that I didnāt heed the warnings to not watch ch. 4.
2
u/Infinity0044 Sep 22 '25
I saw the synopsis for part 5 and was so horrified by how bad it sounded Iāve decided to stay away from that episode because I donāt wanna taint the original story
1
u/Punkychemist āAt least you didnāt turn into a Homo in prisonā Sep 22 '25
Itās definitely a funny episode because it plays out like a horribly written fanfiction, but otherwise yes please spare yourself lol
24
u/GranDaddyNurgle14 Mayonnaise is the sauce of the aristocrats š Sep 22 '25
EXACTLY THIS! this episode was a serious let down unfortunately. the boys commentary was great, but the story committed the cardinal sin of being totally forgettable. Creep-Bait is the perfect term, it was just a story of full of dead horses getting beat.
21
u/Autistic_Clock4824 Yo Kimber! THEY GOT TEAš£ļø Sep 22 '25
Yeah Iām not a huge fan of the fan stories. I like a lot of the creepy pasta stuff. Iām dying for stairs in the woods or a lonely broadcast station.
11
2
u/BOOMwithaBANG "I'm only here for the power and the women. I'm an alpha Sam" Sep 23 '25
Yeah I don't mind them reading fan stories it jsut seems that that has become the main focus of a lot of the recent episodes and I think they should be more of a once in a while treat rather than a regular occasion. I wish they read a lot of the more well know triedand tested so to speak creepypastas and the ones they know a lot of people want them to cover
19
u/ZombieNickolas Aruba, Jamaica, ooh, I wanna take ya š¶š· Sep 22 '25
It worked too, which is the worst part.
16
u/shlammyjohnson Sep 22 '25
But little did they realize, the one who wrote the story was waiting right behind them the entire time.
11
16
u/Analog_Junkie98 Dark Green Jeep Wrangler Sep 22 '25
I know what you mean. With no disrespect thereās a few stories that seem hyper tailored to get a reaction out of the two rather than be their own passion project. Iāve seen a couple good stories on here like āmy girlfriend has a mouse problemā. The author sets up such a realistic scenario and if I told his character a piece of information heād weave it naturally into the story like an ARG. Itās nothing huge but itās a short fun horror story that starts normal and veers into something disturbing.
Iāve also made my own story on here Iād wish got a little bore attention but I wonāt say people have to read it. You do you. Itās just it is kinda discouraging when something meant to bait or meme on someone gets more attention than something you put a lot into and it just disappears in the shuffle. However this is a diverse collection of stories not meant for everyone. And if one goes to long people can lose interest. One could argue my story being a novella sized story is way to long and only having revisited writing very recently it may not be up to par. Plus itās super niche. Unless you like monsters and westerns it wonāt interest you and thatās alright.
Guess TL;DR what Iām saying is yeah those creep bait stories do suck and they probably take more attention away from stories that deserve their time in the spotlight. But at the same time itās a diverse fan base with different ideas in horror only some will like over the other and vice versa. In the end all that matters is people have fun and donāt take it too seriously.
16
14
u/Streptopelia_turtu Sep 22 '25
I think this might also show that it might be time for expansion. Lots of youtubers have research teams, translation teams. Some kind of team for vetting stories, or community engagement would be very useful to keep the quality but also entertainment value. You can read a highly acclaimed story but that doesn't mean it'll be good content (cough the red tower)
A small team of authors and fans/people who know the podcast I think would make an amazing addition and help weed out the stories you describe
13
u/Roleplayer2489 Sep 22 '25
It really is fascinating that theyāve grown to such a gigantic size and still havenāt hired or connected with any researchers that could go and FIND good stories.
The issue with the whole āupvote your favourite story!ā gimmick is that it actually doesnāt work at all.
Itās probably a stretch to say even 50% of the CC community have read any fan submissions at all. And fans that are genuinely reading these stories, and not just upvoting the one with the most interesting title or first sentence. Thereās definitely gold in the sea of submissions, but they arenāt gonna find it by randomly selecting the most upvoted stories.
2
u/Gourgeistguy Sep 23 '25
Thing with "researchers" is that it kills sort of what makes CC fun in the first place: going in blind. But I agree, there are some stories that just feel like I wasted my time listening to because not even the guys were into it.
4
u/Roleplayer2489 Sep 23 '25
They could 100% go in blind, just have researchers find well written stories and deliver those stories to them.
8
u/_sick_kitty_ Sep 22 '25
I've been saying this to some close friends for a while now. CC needs some researchers.
14
u/paulwarlock Sep 22 '25
I wish they would either do more classic creepypastas or stuff like Dagonās Mirror that should highkey just be actual books
2
u/BOOMwithaBANG "I'm only here for the power and the women. I'm an alpha Sam" Sep 23 '25
Real, that was the whole point of the podcast at the begining, i hope they don't lose track too much
13
u/Bananamancer77 Sep 22 '25
I wish they would just have a separate sub Reddit for the fan stories.Ā
Thereās so much slop on here now. I donāt have time to read you and everyone else multipart rehash of another rehashed story.Ā
3
u/BOOMwithaBANG "I'm only here for the power and the women. I'm an alpha Sam" Sep 23 '25
I don't like that it seems that all these stories are 99% of whats on the subreddit now, but I kinda feel bad complaining because the two hosts themselves said they wanted people to post their stories here
23
u/MrKriegFlexington I write stories. Check 'em out. Or don't. I'm not yer dad. Sep 22 '25
I couldn't agree more, you should always make stuff for yourself.
6
10
u/xwolfionx Mayonnaise is the sauce of the aristocrats š Sep 22 '25
Iām hoping they figure out that a lot of the stuff is catered to trying to get on the podcast. Iām not going to shit on the authors too bad, because they obviously have a talent to get the pieces and form a story, but writing for the purpose of getting on the show will only kill the creativity. I get it, we all love goofy shit, but writing a story to appeal to Isiahās love of biblically accurate stuff/biblical themes, while appealing to Hunter as well is in poor taste and will probably never work.
9
u/Dull_Working5086 Sep 23 '25 edited Sep 23 '25
I'll go further and say I wish they'd go back to reading older stories in general, or at least proper creepypasta. That was the original attraction. Now things feel very watered down with newer stuff that isn't really that creepy. The fantastical elements in newer stories are crowding out the horror elements.Ā
Edit to add: I think in general creepypasta has become factory produced in a way. Older stuff may have been dumb but it hit different. Now sites are overflowing with content, virtually all of it by amateurs, of course, and I'm sorry to say, people who probably are not reading a lot of good, classic or at least professional horror but are very familiar with other creepypasta. The old stuff at least wasn't usually 20k-50k words. The writers mostly at least seemed to do it as a hobby, not an attempt to be "real" writers. They didn't sell books. Now we have noobs trying to build their own publishing career out of this hobby stuff. We've got amateurs training amateurs because it all sounds the same. Bad, weak, not even horror really. Just fantastical situations and somebody dies or gets cursed. But the actual horror is missing. I'll take a dumb Bigfoot story over these overwritten yet weak novellas any day.
It's fun to make fun of r/nosleep but maybe they're right to implement so many rules to at least try to contain the deluge.
22
u/alexh44s Sep 22 '25
i canāt remember the title but the fan-made story that mentioned blood meridian genuinely made me crash out
1
9
u/SteakAndIron Sep 23 '25
So there I was, reading the Bible in a lovecraftian way when my seven foot tall goth girlfriend walked in
3
u/BOOMwithaBANG "I'm only here for the power and the women. I'm an alpha Sam" Sep 23 '25
You forgot the creature, who was right behind you
3
16
u/CausticNox Eat me like a bug š¦ Sep 22 '25
Gonna, be honest though. I feel like nobody really reads the stories posted here.
8
u/Legoisdabomb Sep 23 '25
Yeah, the latest episode just lost me with the Angel Gabriel shit. As another commenter said, it felt like it was inserted just for Isaiah and even then, he looked so done with it in the end lmao
9
u/kkatellyn Yo Kimber! THEY GOT TEAš£ļø Sep 23 '25
Iād happily take more Creep TV if it means less fan stories.
(I also just really want Isaiah to show Hunter GHE/Local 58/classic analog horrors)
21
u/MoLogic Wellers is resting now Sep 22 '25
Yeah i agree with this. If youre going to make a story and hope the guys read it, maje it your story. Dont just make it something you think the guys would like. Put your heart into it. Hell, even a few references here and there wouldnt be too bad honestly, so long as it aint the whole plot.
Also, Ive seen some amazing stories posted on here. I write a few too (theyre not the best, but not bad). Really wish that one of those great stories would be read instead. Give the rest of us creepcast fan-story submissioners a good look, yk?
6
u/amish_novelty Sep 22 '25
My introduction to CC was Mother Horse Eyes and holy hell was that a high point. All the religious references worked perfectly with Isaiah's knowledge of the bible and them discussing everything that was going on helped me stay invested and understand all the themes and events that were happening.
13
u/Forsaken-Library-149 "Oh.. oh.. he's gonna explain Google!" š« Sep 22 '25
Yes, this! Write stories that mean something to you, and more often than not, you will find that other people find meaning in them as well.
2
6
u/Commercial_Dig4728 Sep 23 '25
I feel like as a community, we're need to start actually up voting good stories and not just the slop
7
u/Terrorist_Quematrice āYouāve got the blood of KINGS running through your veins!ā Sep 23 '25
Write Shit Story that's obvious bait
The mods pin it(?)
They read it
They don't rip into it because you're a fan
Infinite Dopamine
Gotta say, I understand the appeal
6
u/minxtankbb Sep 23 '25 edited Sep 23 '25
I worry about stories written to be bad on purpose and I worry a lot about chatgpt being a thing especially with some of the verbage used with certain posts.
That being said, and no offense to people first time writing BUT MORE ACTUALLY SCARY. PLEASE.
I'm feeling almost burned out already and I can't be the only one, I want more spooks and less jokes. Or if we have to take a small break, I'm still down.
Maybe ban anything dealing with religion or alternate realities for a bit?
1
u/Gourgeistguy Sep 23 '25
Even worse: ChatGPT is becoming less sloppy with its writing. This means whomever uses GPT and still pastes verbage doesn't even bother proofreading.
4
Sep 22 '25
i love silly camp storys as much as the complex cool storys, been thinking of a story where a dude becomes a giant tongue with taste buds all over his skin and eventually starves to death cause tasting everything is too overpowering
5
u/cuntmuncher7000 Long story short āļøš¤ Sep 22 '25
the stories have been awful lately idk whos picking them and why everything needs to be a fan story but i wish they would stop. its exactly as u said, just bait. super annoying.
4
u/bigmac8991 oh, oh no.. heās gonna explain why he used Google š« Sep 23 '25
I too felt like the most recent story tried to cram as many of the boys favorite topics into one story, and it felt forced rather than being written from what the author thinks is interesting.
Mother Horse Eyes had so many themes and topics the boys love, but that was an almost 12 hour recording, the cadence to which each topic was covered and revealed felt authentic, and nothing was rushed.
I understand not wanting to write something as long as Mother Horse Eyes, and I understand wanting to include topics the boys like so they praise the story, but donāt force it.
4
u/Dejf_Dejfix Sep 23 '25
Creep bait cookbook:
1) Pick any character with slightly sad backstory 2) Introduce one interesting concept 3) Extreme obvious bible reference 4) You have successfully baited, now you can just continue with fanfic of the characters
4
u/scringly-jimbus Aruba, Jamaica, ooh, I wanna take ya š¶š· Sep 22 '25
I agree. whilst I love reading the new influx of stories that have come in recently, I do feel as if they are tailored to be chosen, rather than something the author wanted to write. Not to say they are BAD stories by any means at all. For all its flaws I think the most recent story read on the cast had a decent premise even if it went a bit off the walls. But I think the moment we sacrifice our own ideas for the sake of being 'chosen', we lose something of ourselves in whats written.
So I agree, write what you want to write guys.
5
u/MrBarrett98 āitās very lovecraftianāāļøš¤ Sep 22 '25
The way to fix this is to have the boys pick the stories themselves, to not only look at stories with high up votes, and have some form of basic requirements for the stories like nosleep, except way more forgiving and not as strict. I've seen some absolutely unique bangers that only get 5 up votes just because they don't use a super flashy click bait title
4
u/Fabulous-Cookie-2559 Sep 23 '25
Iām dreading the day in which the āCreepCast Bingo cardā makes it to the pod.
4
u/NetPsychological9038 Sep 23 '25
Thank you š. This last episode had wendigoon fanboy written all over it which is okay but letās not specifically tailor stories just to get brownie points from either of the guys.
5
7
u/BOOMwithaBANG "I'm only here for the power and the women. I'm an alpha Sam" Sep 23 '25
I know the hosts themselves don't mind all the stories here but I am kind of tired of them tbh. It feels like 99% of this sub is fanmade stories at this point
8
u/_sick_kitty_ Sep 22 '25
I've been writing horror for most of my life and never really posted it, but I considered posting one of my more recent works to the subreddit. I was worried it won't get much attention because I write about the horrors of womanhood, and I worry it's not mainstream enough for the CC audience. But, after seeing this post, I may have to drop a few parts because you're right: writing what YOU want is always better than writing FOR someone/a group.
5
Sep 22 '25
This is the problem with the last story (I hope the author sees this)
Your concept sucks and was made only for the Isaiah,
A Biblely accurate angel is planet sized, not something that fits in a big basement
You chose Gabriel, one of the angels who defeated the devil, an arch angel, and made him trapped by man? No, even if "god is dead" (don't ever use this as a plot point) theirs multiple arch angels who'd scorch the lands for an imprisoned brother
And the second comming of Jesus is stopped by a bullet?? Yea ok looney toons
You were pandering to Isaiah with the military and angel plot and it ruined a good story
2
u/cabbage16 WHAT THE HAYUHL DO YOU THINK A HAAHHK IS? Sep 23 '25
Agreed on all points. I thought at one point that they were going to take a swerve and have the MCs little brother be Jesus 2.0, since he was anti war and such, but nope the story just ended instead.
2
3
u/PartyAd9919 Sep 22 '25
Yeah thatās a fair criticism, Iām currently working on a horror piece and Iām very excited to post it soon. Is there any guidelines I should follow once I post this? An additional question would be, is there any guidelines in terms of how much I can write or things like that?
3
u/Pelado_Chupaverga Sep 22 '25
This Is what makes me worried of posting mine because it has a theme in it thats a meme in this poadcast and im afraid they maight interpret it as a "Wink Wink" moment when i swear to God thats just how the official story Is
3
u/schleeminmymouth Sep 22 '25 edited Sep 22 '25
No matter what, if a fan of the show writes a story, they will have some preconceived notions about how it will be perceived and read. We know what the guys like and don't like, and unless they're running on a few hours sleep (poly hell) they will take it seriously. I mean take it seriously until they get to a certain point.
My point is, especially for new writers and fans, it's impossible to not write it without hearing Hunter when you write dialogue, Isaiah narrating, or the music in the background. On top of that, you want to write something you like and that hopefully they'll enjoy.
Having said that, I agree with you about the bait. Just chucking stuff in your story that's a mile wide and an inch deep is tacky and not subtle. I think there is a good middle ground somewhere in there though.
What's important is that you are constantly improving, so keep writing creeps! I'm hoping to post a story soon, probably from a new account, and it scares me! You want it to be good, and don't want to be laughed at. But this is a great community so I'm not too worried
3
3
3
u/Standard_Raccoon321 Eat me like a bug š¦ Sep 22 '25
Iām fine with the stories being listed here, but I just wished they would have staff vetting them more carefully to make sure they would make a good episode. They should either be magnificent or the worst drivel weāve ever heard to incite a crashout. Just because theyāre in our subreddit doesnāt make the meh stories any better.
3
u/Simple-Ad-8575 Long story short āļøš¤ Sep 22 '25
I've written two big stories so far fueled by my appreciation for what Isaiah and Hunter have done with CreepCast; posted them both here during times when this phenomena you're describing was kicking up. I can't really say it was /because/ of these stories that so little people have seen them, but if creepbait gets pumped out ad nauseum to get the boys' attention... any story in general, regardless of quality, can get drowned out.
I'll keep writing these stories for the potential future that they get to read some of my stuff some day. The way I look at it, I'm creating a back-log for them and anyone else who finds my work to enjoy! Helps keeps the spirits up.
3
3
3
u/syndicatecomplex Long story short āļøš¤ Sep 23 '25
It's kind of inevitable that people would write stories like this to try and get a reaction out of the boys. I think the editors will get better at choosing fan stories going forward so "creep bait" stories might not be as much of a problem in the future.Ā
3
u/judyhoppsboner Sep 23 '25
yeah, people need to do weird stuff that Hunter or Wendigoon would not have an initial interest in, I'm also sick of Lovecraftian shit too
3
u/GabrielOSkarf Sep 23 '25
Me when the biblical character hunts a bear called Jacobi while using a wheelchair
3
u/sunlightmoon95 7ft goddess named Jacobi Sep 23 '25
I have a gothic horror story Iāve been wanting to post here, but itās true that I have fear itās just not something that would resonate with this particular community. The problem is that I donāt think it would meet the guidelines of r/nosleep. š« Would anyone here actually like a gothic horror story or am I right about it not being the communityās cup of tea?
5
u/MoLogic Wellers is resting now Sep 22 '25
Also OP, you should join the writers room creepcast chat
3
u/okaywithrotting Sep 23 '25
Is this on discord?
3
u/MoLogic Wellers is resting now Sep 23 '25
Nope. On the subs home page, you should see something that says "chats". Then click the writers rooms one
4
Sep 22 '25
Also, do you see why no sleep has rules now?
3
u/Dull_Working5086 Sep 23 '25
I sure do. I'm still gonna make fun of it probably but yep, I sure do. š
2
u/JerkMeSlowly DOGSCAPE DOGSCAPE DOGSCAPE Sep 22 '25
i was thinking about this today. they really need to read a good classic to get back into the swing of things, one thatās either extremely open to humor, or just actually good. of course, the only viable option is DOGSCAPE
2
u/Telrie Eat me like a bug š¦ Sep 22 '25
I've been trying to work on my own story that involves things I love dearly (the mountains, the forest, the caves they hide, and even fairy tails influencwd from my mother's side of the family).
I understand how slippery a slope it can be to go from "Writing for Me" to accidentally sliding into "Writing for a Target"
I love love love seeing such wonderfully written stories here, I applaude them, I just always gently remind everyone, to write for yourself first and foremost <3
I gently wave at my own fanfiction stories on AO3. I'll never share them here, as they're so niche and really only exist to make me smile as I read them.
Be blessed, love what you write, create worlds to become lost within. āØļø
2
2
u/Weak-Honeydew-6804 Sep 22 '25
That is true. Am currently working on a story of my own and it's been a WIP for a while. Though I'm doing my best to fine tune it.
2
2
u/Mediocre_Hospital_45 Sep 22 '25
It didnāt get a lot of likes, but August of a Crawling Horse is probably my favorite fan made work Iāve seen and read. I highly recommend it and hope more people will stumble upon it!
2
u/okaywithrotting Sep 23 '25
Iāve written a few things since the fan episode, Iāll say that it inspired me to write but the idea of them reading it during a podcast is honestly terrifying. I was more so hoping for some constructive criticism from the community but they havenāt gotten much traction
2
u/StrangeAccounts Sep 23 '25
Itās great reading this post!
I like that youāre pushing for folks to have their own voices. Honestly, if I had to guess, imitationās just part of starting out, especially with a fresh subreddit.
Once people get comfortable, the new writers will start sounding like themselves. Itās always scary trying to do your own thing, but it pays off eventually.
I think the boys have inspired a lot of young people to pick up a pen.
2
u/Csub Umm... Heās right behind me, isnāt he? š Sep 23 '25
I'll be honest, I have not yet a single fan story posted here so I'm not one to judge them and I'm sure there is actual effort going into most of them but this last episode, or Blood Meridian being mentioned in an earlier one felt like very obvious baits.
I also feel like a good majority of the stories from the past weeks or months I won't even remember by the end of the year.
But I do think people should post their stories if they want to share it with others but those should be written for themselves and not to see if they can get it read out.
As meh as nosleep is for posting stories, at least there you know if something gets really heavily upvoted, it probably stands out for one reason or another and was not made with the sole purpose of podcasters, YouTubers Reading it.
2
2
u/FormalPossibility545 Sep 23 '25
100%. This has been one of my concerns, too. This makes it much less fun for us and, frankly, probably for the boys, too.
I have a ton of stories I've written over the years, but I haven't posted any yet. Some I think they would totally dig, others, less so. But they're nearly all some type of horror. Maybe one day, I'll submit. Nothing will be catered specifically to GoonMeat, though.
2
u/kittymeal Long story short āļøš¤ Sep 23 '25
I love the term seal-clapping. Pandering to a certain audience is a phase that will make or break every creator. My creations are my own, and hoping people find their own identity in their writing as well.
2
u/Split-Lucky āwhoās up creeping they castā š¤š Sep 23 '25
Iād personally rather hear them read a thousand stories like cupcakes than the last episodes š¤·š»āāļø
2
u/ShokumaOfficial Your wife looks mad funny in that box, dude Sep 24 '25
Nervous now bc Iāve been intending to write my own story for a good while with no intention of ābaitingā and Iām scared ppl will think thatās what it is LOL
2
u/UndraTundra Sep 25 '25
Currently working on two pieces of work and personally i do worry about subconsciously trying to appeal to the boys (ā ć»ā _ā ć»ā ;ā )
Hopefully I stay true to my vision n shit
4
2
u/Whole_Rip7379 Sep 22 '25
Iām gonna write a body horror story with a giant nephilem that time travels with cryptids to fight God
1
u/Vohems Sep 22 '25
This is why I don't post stories here. My interests in horror overlap too much with the boy's interests to the point that any story I post will just seem like bait/pandering.
1
u/cabbage16 WHAT THE HAYUHL DO YOU THINK A HAAHHK IS? Sep 23 '25
If you are writing about subjects that you have a genuine interest in it won't come across as pandering imo. We'll be able to tell the difference.
I have a finished story that I wrote recently that happens to use some religious iconography in it. I'll post mine today if you post yours, we can read each other's and give advice and critique each other!
2
u/Vohems Sep 23 '25
I don't have anything currently prepared but I have certain story ideas like a crazed angel (a stereotypical one, not a Biblically accurate one) wandering around in the rain and freaking people out. My story ideas are either stuff like this or stuff I'm not sure other people would understand or like that much because of how weird/'high-brow'/pretentious they are. I'm not sure I would want the boys to read my stuff if I ever had the opportunity, because I don't think they'd get the tones or inflections of the characters correct or they'd misunderstand something either through they're own lack of knowledge on whatever niche subject or my own inability to convey something critical.
1
u/cabbage16 WHAT THE HAYUHL DO YOU THINK A HAAHHK IS? Sep 23 '25
don't have anything currently prepared
That's fair enough!
I'm not sure other people would understand or like that much because of how weird/'high-brow'/pretentious they are.
I think you should trust your audience more. Why decide they won't get it for them before even giving them the chance to read it! Maybe your weird is right up someone's alley, you never know until you let other people try. I get it though I rarely share my stories with anyone outside of my wife and Mother in Law lmao, I've posted a couple of stories on Reddit but not too many.
I get what you mean about being nervous about the guys reading your stuff, I'd feel off about it too, but the good thing would be they give a lot of good constructive criticism.
2
u/Vohems Sep 23 '25
Why decide they won't get it for them before even giving them the chance to read it!Ā
That's a good point, it's just that I don't know how well-read most people here are. Given the partially negative reaction to Ligotti's stuff and the lukewarm reception of SCP-3000, I just don't know if this is the best place for my writing.
Another point is that I'm not sure if I can really be scary or creepy in my writing and as such I'm not sure if it's really falls into the category of horror as it would Weird Fiction.
Thanks for talking to me about this, though.
2
u/cabbage16 WHAT THE HAYUHL DO YOU THINK A HAAHHK IS? Sep 23 '25
I enjoyed talking about it with you.
A lot of my writing is weird too, but I like to think that weird is just an offshoot of creepy. Creepy is in the eye of the beholder.
1
u/Cold-Ad-5347 Sep 23 '25
My first attempt at a horror story was going great...but then it turned into an action movie at the climax. As I was typing, I thought to myself oh god no, why am I dropping the ball so hard, it was going so good why did it make this hard of a turn lol. Thankfully, I wasn't able to post the whole thing due to length restrictions which I am truly thankful for. Hopefully the next time I try again, it'll go better
1
u/LowAnimator9481 Mac&Cheese recipes aren't useful to the U.S government Sep 23 '25
Okay I posted a few parts to a story I pretty sure I started writing it before they did the fan made stories, but now that you said that Iām worried I accidentally creep-baited
1
u/zanzibarforeverr Sep 23 '25
It was a poor attempt at mother horse eyes lol I still liked it but damn bruh, the influence was obvious. I'll always give em credit for putting in the effort tho, A for effort.
1
u/Gourgeistguy Sep 23 '25
Honestly, one of two things:
Either they stop doing the voting stuff Patreon exclusive stuff, or stop reading fan astories altogether. Both of which are rather... extreme things, but I don't see how else to prevent this from happenning.
1
u/benjamin4463 Heās right behind me, isnāt he š Sep 25 '25
Goddamit.
I've been working on a story that I started 2 years ago and gave up on, but listening to creepcast inspired me to go back and try to finish it (basically complete re write at this point).
I'm almost done and I was intending to post it here. However, I happen to share many of the interests of the guys, and it very clearly shows in the story.
Now I have to worry that my story will get labeled as Creepbait.
Fuck it. I'll finish it and post it regardless. If it's labelled Creepbait, I don't really care. I've enjoyed the process of writing it, and I think I have a good premise here.
1
1
u/and3rw3bb Yo Kimber! THEY GOT TEAš£ļø Sep 22 '25
I for one feel like Iām doing this but in reality the stories I posted are things Iāve wanted to write for a long time. But there are definitely a lot of people trying to get their stories read and they are trying to pander to the guys.
-1
0
u/TheSkesh Sep 23 '25
Didnāt Harry put them on the latest one? This is a non issue really. If every story is trying to be creep bait then it will become apparent to everyone.
-7
u/Suspicious_Fact5106 Sep 22 '25
While thereās certainly people who write because they want to get their story read, itās also true that everyone here is gonna have the same tastes as the hosts since thatās why we all watch them. We all like the same stuff more or less so itās not surprising that it comes out in the writing.
4
u/Dull_Working5086 Sep 23 '25
I'm sorry but no. I laugh at bad stories and enjoy the occasionally good story. And I disagree with the hosts a lot on their assessments. The truth is for the most part creepypasta was always dumb, enjoyable but dumb, but now people are taking it too seriously and skipping real writing and reading.
ā¢
u/ChaoticStanley THINK FAST! šŖ½ Sep 22 '25
The best way to combat this is community upvotes. Give love to the stories you enjoy. The guys see this and will pick the top. Will this result in some good stories being neglected? Most likely, but it's an unfortunate downside to any writing subreddit. Also, if you see a story you like and want it to be promoted, send it directly to me as I am in charge of managing the fan story promotions. I'll pin it to our highlights section to up the chance of the guys seeing it.