This story is wonderful! I love the build up (and down) to the moment of crossing. And then learning about the other world...and that twist! Will we get to learn how Dylan heard about it? Or a sequel of alternate reality near escapes?! Thanks for writing!
I'm not planning on any sequels to this, sorry! All my 'ritual game' stories are stand-alone pieces meant to be turned into a compilation later down the line. All the same, I'm glad you liked this one!
Omg this reminds of this spooky mini tale in Pokemon. Except it was a ghost pokemon doing a prank on the stairs. 🤣 I also wonder what the circumstances were in him cheating on his girlfriend... I know cases of cheating aren't all the same, so I don't want to make any assumptions.
But it's awesome that he got to start life anew in a new place, having a job, etc. Lolll at the ending that aside from the creatures who try to eat us at night, all's good! 🤣 I was waiting for a punchline/ dark twist, and there it was, lol.
There are a lot of creepy stories out of Japan that involve stairways. Quite a few of them involve ghosts, probably because stairways are a space in between one floor and the next, ghosts exist between one realm and the next, you get the idea.
As for the unnamed protag cheating on his girlfriend, eh, I intended him as a bit of a fuck-up. A slacker going nowhere in life just wanting a fresh start and willing to try a funny little ritual game to run away from his problems. Cheating on his girlfriend because he got bored was just another one of his mistakes.
And yeah, you know me. There's going to be a dark twist somewhere, even if it's the last line. 🤣
Hahaha yeah I would be surprised if you didn't have a dark twist, especially near or at the end! Oooh yeah the protag does sound like a fuck-up!
There is something creepy about stairs...especially when it's dimly lit. I think about those stairs you can take in apartment buildings, if you don't choose the elevator.
This is random, but I realized sometime ago that dimly lit settings, are scarier than pitch black settings. In the latter, you can't see anything. But for the dimly lit ones, you at least see hints of things and it's more frightening!
Pareidolia. You see vague hints of something, and your mind fills in the blanks and makes it into something else.
Like, two spots on top and one on the bottom? Eyes and a mouth. That's a face now. Pretty sure a lot of the time when people think they see something like a ghost, it's pareidolia at work.
I really loved this. The build up and then the ending. Somehow it brought me comfort as well.
This story is wonderful! I love the build up (and down) to the moment of crossing. And then learning about the other world...and that twist! Will we get to learn how Dylan heard about it? Or a sequel of alternate reality near escapes?! Thanks for writing!
I'm not planning on any sequels to this, sorry! All my 'ritual game' stories are stand-alone pieces meant to be turned into a compilation later down the line. All the same, I'm glad you liked this one!
And a compilation to look forward too later! Yay!
Omg this reminds of this spooky mini tale in Pokemon. Except it was a ghost pokemon doing a prank on the stairs. 🤣 I also wonder what the circumstances were in him cheating on his girlfriend... I know cases of cheating aren't all the same, so I don't want to make any assumptions.
But it's awesome that he got to start life anew in a new place, having a job, etc. Lolll at the ending that aside from the creatures who try to eat us at night, all's good! 🤣 I was waiting for a punchline/ dark twist, and there it was, lol.
There are a lot of creepy stories out of Japan that involve stairways. Quite a few of them involve ghosts, probably because stairways are a space in between one floor and the next, ghosts exist between one realm and the next, you get the idea.
As for the unnamed protag cheating on his girlfriend, eh, I intended him as a bit of a fuck-up. A slacker going nowhere in life just wanting a fresh start and willing to try a funny little ritual game to run away from his problems. Cheating on his girlfriend because he got bored was just another one of his mistakes.
And yeah, you know me. There's going to be a dark twist somewhere, even if it's the last line. 🤣
Hahaha yeah I would be surprised if you didn't have a dark twist, especially near or at the end! Oooh yeah the protag does sound like a fuck-up!
There is something creepy about stairs...especially when it's dimly lit. I think about those stairs you can take in apartment buildings, if you don't choose the elevator.
This is random, but I realized sometime ago that dimly lit settings, are scarier than pitch black settings. In the latter, you can't see anything. But for the dimly lit ones, you at least see hints of things and it's more frightening!
Pareidolia. You see vague hints of something, and your mind fills in the blanks and makes it into something else.
Like, two spots on top and one on the bottom? Eyes and a mouth. That's a face now. Pretty sure a lot of the time when people think they see something like a ghost, it's pareidolia at work.
Ooh pareidolia! I didn't know there was a term for this phenomenon. :D