Creepypasta: Myths of the Internet
Considering many of us have been locked inside with the internet as our only means of communication, let’s discuss the illustrious myths of the internet. These myths are known as creepypasta, and are horror stories that have spread throughout the internet to the point of becoming internet myth.
Copypasta first started in the early 2000’s, and were stories that were copy + pasted all over the internet across forums, message boards, and blogs. Some were simply jokes, and some were legitimate stories. However the most popular of copypasta were sinister horror stories, earning them the name creepypasta. These creepypasta started out as original stories about fictional creepy events and stories. A key component of these stories was convincing the reader that the events actually happened or were at least plausible, and so the stories provided images and recordings of audio or video. Sometimes the authors of these stories would mysteriously disappear in order to drive home the scary element. Not all creepypasta were entirely original though, eventually many started becoming based in other forms of media.
Many of the most popular creepypasta are based around video games. These stories will have elements such as haunted video game cartridges, creepy glitches, and sometimes even full horror stories that are simply based in the world of a video game. You’d expect many of these stories to be short one-off things, however many are multi-part stories that take quite a bit of time to read and experience. Some authors of video game creepypasta hack and modify the video game that the story is based in so that they can recreate events in the story and take screenshots or video. In that same vein, many video game creepypasta can actually be played rather than read. Creators will make full games where the player becomes the main character of the story and experiences the horrifying events. Many of these games start out normal, as essentially copies of existing games. But as the player continues the game will glitch, distort, and change into something more sinister. Many creepypasta have become myth and legend on the internet after being spread around so much, and many of the most popular ones are well over a decade old.
Copypasta and creepypasta are examples of how mythology can even be created on the internet. Copypasta still lives on, mostly through meme stories that people copy and paste to share around. And creepypasta is still made, although perhaps not at the legendary status that it once was at. However early creepypasta is a perfect example of early internet culture and mythos.
