THIS FEATURE FIRST APPEARED AT UK HORROR SCENE HERE. ALL SUBSEQUENT CHAPTERS WILL BE PUBLISHED THERE FIRST.
As children there are few times in which we’re as likely to feel the icy suffocating grip of panic as those moments in which we wake in the middle of the night, our familiar room transformed into something unrecognisable by the cloak of darkness.
The imagination of a child is more than capable of filling the murky gloom and eerie silence with any number of otherworldly monsters, pushing them over the edge to tears and hysteria.
But what if these monsters were to be more than a figment of the imagination?
This week’s feature covers a story, plus a series of sequels, that examines this exact scenario — and has become one of the most popular and highly-regarded Creepypastas for the skilful manner in which it does so.
This story is Michael Whitehouse’s Bedtime.
Unlike a lot of the stories I’ve covered in this series, there’s very little doubt as to where this Creepypasta originated. On 8 August 2012, prolific author Michael Whitehouse (under his Redditor name Mike_Rants) published Bedtime to the nosleep subreddit.
You can read the story here.
In the story, Michael describes a series of incidents that occurred in his childhood home. When he was eight years old, Michael writes, he and his brother were each given their own bedrooms. Michael’s room was an odd, narrow shape, and he was given the bunk beds that he and his brother had shared prior to the move. Like any young boy would, he promptly claimed the top bunk as his own.
That first night, the young lad wakes having been disturbed by a noise. Still groggy, it takes him a little while to realise that he can hear movement… and it’s coming from his bottom bunk. Disturbed, he gives away his position, which causes the mysterious presence in the lower bunk to become agitated, wheezing angrily and thrashing about, prompting Michael to cry out for help.
When his mother checks on the boy there is no sign of any intruder, but the feeling of fear continues into the next day.
The following night he is visited once again by the mysterious entity and it becomes quite clear that the thing in the bottom bunk wants one thing and one thing only — our young protagonist.
These events continue night after night, until one day the boy makes a terrible mistake and fills the bottom bunk with obstacles — which prompts the nightmarish visitor to come to his bunk instead…
The story is pretty simple but it works incredibly well. Whitehouse’s writing style echoes that of the classic Victorian ghost story writer, the likes of the James’ (Henry and M.R.) or Blackwood. It’s highly descriptive and focuses a great deal on evoking a sense of dread, something which becomes palpable by the time the story reaches its spine-chilling climax.
It plays on our natural fear of the dark (something that, when it reaches a severe enough level has been called achluophobia, lygophobia, nyctophobia or scotophobia), a fear that is especially common in children. By featuring a young protagonist, Whitehouse’s story works on two levels: first, it inspires more sympathy as children are smaller, weaker and less capable of coping with such horrors than an adult character; and second, it transports us back to our own youth and encourages us to remember the days when the dark, or rather the imagined threats concealed within, were so haunting and terrifying to us.
The creature in the story, complete with the twisting, wringing sheets, is reminiscent of the nightly visitor in M.R. James’ iconic Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come To You, My Lad and the phenomenal 1968 BBC adaptation directed by Jonathan Miller. Later descriptions of it as otherworldly, almost arachnid presence also tap into one of the most widespread phobias, all while imbuing it with a predatory aspect.
In short, the whole thing is impeccably crafted to terrify the reader.
And terrify a huge audience it did, with pretty much universal acclaim from the NoSleep community. So imagine that same community’s joy when Whitehouse rewarded their support with a sequel, Bedtime: The Aftermath, a mere two days later. You can read the story here.
In this chapter, Michael goes on to describe another childhood incident, this time in his new room. He writes of a series of encounters with an otherworldly intruder who appears to him each evening sat in a battered old armchair at the end of his bed. Much like the first part of Whitehouse’s story, these visits soon take a decidedly threatening turn.
Some readers reacted with displeasure towards the sequel as they felt that Michael’s superb first story had such a wonderful conclusion, but for the most part, the vast majority of Michael’s fans were delighted to see the story continue.
And this was not yet the final chapter of Bedtime, with another sequel, Bedtime: My Fears Realised, published to NoSleep on 17 August 2012. You can read that chapter here.
Whitehouse’s third chapter outlines his decision to return to his childhood home to confront and banish his fears once and for all. Needless to say, the visit does not go well, and what is worse, this chapter concludes with the startling revelation that something may have followed Michael home. This is another wonderful chapter in the story and finishes on an exquisitely crafted double chill that had readers clamouring for more.
Thankfully for those readers, they had but one week to wait before a fourth chapter was published, this one entitled Bedtime: Something Wicked This Way Comes. Check it out here.
As if the events of the first three parts of Whitehouse’s story weren’t bad enough, it is in this fourth chapter that the incidents with the monstrous entity really escalate. In this part Michael reveals that the nightly haunter has turned its attentions not just to our narrator, but also those close to him. It describes a truly nightmarish scenario that leaves our protagonist at rock bottom and with only one option available to him — to put an end to his torment.
It’s another fantastic story and really pulls on the heartstrings, ensuring that the reader roots for Michael and feels his anguish at the loss of his beloved Mary.
The altercation described in the story is terrifying and surprisingly graphic, but it needs to be, because it is this chapter that finally spurs our hero on to stop playing the victim and take the role of aggressor in the game of cat and mouse between he and the wheezing thing. By now the fans were gripped and eagerly awaited the concluding part of Whitehouse’s story.
They had to wait a mere five days before the fifth and final chapter, Bedtime: Sleep Tight, made its way to NoSleep. Read it here.
In this thrilling conclusion to the series, Michael takes the battle to the thing in a series of life-threatening clashes. I shan’t spoil the conclusion here, but rest assured it matches up to the quality of the preceding chapters.
As is so often the case when a Creepypasta becomes a smash, Bedtime was soon shared and uploaded to all the usual web sites, including the Creepypasta wikia and Creepypasta.com, where Whitehouse himself posted the story. It proved to be just as popular here, drawing even more admiring eyes to Whitehouse’s work.
This in turn translated into the usual examples of fanart, including some fantastic readings on YouTube, arguably the finest of which is by the always excellent Otis Jiry for the good folks over at Chilling Tales For Dark Nights. I thoroughly recommend checking it out here.
Yet as brilliant as some of these adaptations are, none of them could have existed without the work of one man: Michael Whitehouse.
The charming, articulate Michael was kind enough to agree to speak to UK Horror Scene about the creation of Bedtime, and you can read his words right here.
HICKEY'S HOUSE OF HORRORS: Hi Michael, thanks so much for agreeing to speak with me.
The most obvious question first — what served as your inspiration for the story?
MICHAEL WHITEHOUSE: It happened to me. When I tell people that they usually look at me with an expression which says this man is quite mad. I imagine your readers doing the same. It would be truer to say it’s a memory I have. I’m pretty skeptical about these things. I always say seeing is not believing because the human mind is so easily tricked. For that reason I tend to think that it was some sort of sleep disturbance, perhaps sleep paralysis. That being said, the memory is so strong that it does make me wonder occasionally, and not in a good way. Some people might think I say this to be dramatic or promote the story, but that’s the truth of it.
MICHAEL WHITEHOUSE: It happened to me. When I tell people that they usually look at me with an expression which says this man is quite mad. I imagine your readers doing the same. It would be truer to say it’s a memory I have. I’m pretty skeptical about these things. I always say seeing is not believing because the human mind is so easily tricked. For that reason I tend to think that it was some sort of sleep disturbance, perhaps sleep paralysis. That being said, the memory is so strong that it does make me wonder occasionally, and not in a good way. Some people might think I say this to be dramatic or promote the story, but that’s the truth of it.
I would like to say that I changed a couple of details of course for dramatic effect, the last line of the story for example, but for the most part it’s what I remember.
People often refer to Bedtime as a creepypasta, but it actually appeared first as a story on the subreddit No Sleep. For those who have never visited it, NoSleep is a subreddit where people share first person horror stories which “are real”. NoSleep was quite small at that time, but I received enough encouragement that I went on to write four sequel stories. I had been reading a few posts there, as well as acquainting myself with creepypasta, and decided to share a story or two. It was the first one I shared, and after appearing on the website creepypasta.com it was embraced by the horror community in a big way. It changed my life, and without getting too maudlin about it, I owe that to everyone who has read, narrated, shared, and listened to Bedtime and its sequel stories. Most of all to those who come back for more.
HHoH: Which writers, horror or otherwise, do you consider yourself a fan of?
MW: Most of my influences come from the late 19th and early 20th century ghost story writers. M. R. James, Algernon Blackwood, W. W. Jacobs, Sheridan LeFanu, E.F. Benson, Oliver Onions, Edith Nesbit – the list goes on, and so could I; I’ll stop there. Needless to say I write often in the ghost story genre, and it’s a genre I love dearly.
Then there are the weird fiction writers like Ambrose Bierce, H. P. Lovecraft (despite his racist ways), Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, etc.
It goes without saying that I’m a huge fan of Poe (both his poems and prose), but I also love more modern writers like Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Clive Barker, and Neil Gaiman.
Outside of horror I admire Hemingway and Orwell, although I don’t write like them and they’d probably consider my work overly descriptive.
I love Tolkien, The Hobbit was the first full novel I ever read, and I go back to Stoker’s Dracula every few years. I also love a bunch of comic, radio, and film script writers, but I won’t bore you with another list. Okay, I’ll stop there, but there are so many wonderful writers past and present that it’s easy to be overwhelmed by who to read next!
HHoH: What work of your own are you most proud of?
MW: I wrote a story called Forgotten Valentine (read it here), which, if not the best thing I’ve written, it’s certainly the most important to me. It was the story which got me writing again after a few years away from it, even before I shared Bedtime, and it’s the first story I ever wrote that was more. Not just filled with bones which rattle in the night or an unseen breath by the reader’s ear; it was about life. I’m reminded of when Bradbury said he first knew he’d written something moving, and that was a big moment for him. Forgotten Valentine was, and is, that moment for me.
HHoH: What is your favourite Creepypasta by an author other than yourself?
MW: You’ll get me into trouble with this one! I’m lucky to count many of the great creepypasta writers as friends. It’s very difficult to boil it down to any one single story. Needless to say you can’t go wrong with anything written by Vincent Vena Cava or Milos Bogetic. Leon Chan is excellent and underappreciated. William Dalphin, M. J. Pack, Slimebeast, Bloodworth, Matt Dymerski, Anton Lesch, T.W. Grimm… Again, the list could go on.
If I had to pick one story though, I’m going to have to be boring and predictable and say Dathan Auerbach’s Penpal. It’s a rip-roaring read, and while it initially started off as a NoSleep story, I think most would consider it to be a creepypasta classic, certainly the first ever creepypasta novel. It has all of the ingredients: first person narrative, childhood fears, adult insecurities, and heart as well. It’s written in a very matter of fact style, but that only heightens the feeling that it could have happened.
HHoH: The fans are very passionate about the story. Are there any examples of fan art, such as films or readings, in particular that have impressed you?
MW: A lot of people have adapted Bedtime in different ways. It was adapted into a play in London for a short time, and I was even in negotiations at one point to have it turned into a pilot for an anthology TV show, but unfortunately that fell through, I even wrote a script.
People often refer to Bedtime as a creepypasta, but it actually appeared first as a story on the subreddit No Sleep. For those who have never visited it, NoSleep is a subreddit where people share first person horror stories which “are real”. NoSleep was quite small at that time, but I received enough encouragement that I went on to write four sequel stories. I had been reading a few posts there, as well as acquainting myself with creepypasta, and decided to share a story or two. It was the first one I shared, and after appearing on the website creepypasta.com it was embraced by the horror community in a big way. It changed my life, and without getting too maudlin about it, I owe that to everyone who has read, narrated, shared, and listened to Bedtime and its sequel stories. Most of all to those who come back for more.
HHoH: Which writers, horror or otherwise, do you consider yourself a fan of?
MW: Most of my influences come from the late 19th and early 20th century ghost story writers. M. R. James, Algernon Blackwood, W. W. Jacobs, Sheridan LeFanu, E.F. Benson, Oliver Onions, Edith Nesbit – the list goes on, and so could I; I’ll stop there. Needless to say I write often in the ghost story genre, and it’s a genre I love dearly.
Then there are the weird fiction writers like Ambrose Bierce, H. P. Lovecraft (despite his racist ways), Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, etc.
It goes without saying that I’m a huge fan of Poe (both his poems and prose), but I also love more modern writers like Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Clive Barker, and Neil Gaiman.
Outside of horror I admire Hemingway and Orwell, although I don’t write like them and they’d probably consider my work overly descriptive.
I love Tolkien, The Hobbit was the first full novel I ever read, and I go back to Stoker’s Dracula every few years. I also love a bunch of comic, radio, and film script writers, but I won’t bore you with another list. Okay, I’ll stop there, but there are so many wonderful writers past and present that it’s easy to be overwhelmed by who to read next!
HHoH: What work of your own are you most proud of?
MW: I wrote a story called Forgotten Valentine (read it here), which, if not the best thing I’ve written, it’s certainly the most important to me. It was the story which got me writing again after a few years away from it, even before I shared Bedtime, and it’s the first story I ever wrote that was more. Not just filled with bones which rattle in the night or an unseen breath by the reader’s ear; it was about life. I’m reminded of when Bradbury said he first knew he’d written something moving, and that was a big moment for him. Forgotten Valentine was, and is, that moment for me.
HHoH: What is your favourite Creepypasta by an author other than yourself?
MW: You’ll get me into trouble with this one! I’m lucky to count many of the great creepypasta writers as friends. It’s very difficult to boil it down to any one single story. Needless to say you can’t go wrong with anything written by Vincent Vena Cava or Milos Bogetic. Leon Chan is excellent and underappreciated. William Dalphin, M. J. Pack, Slimebeast, Bloodworth, Matt Dymerski, Anton Lesch, T.W. Grimm… Again, the list could go on.
If I had to pick one story though, I’m going to have to be boring and predictable and say Dathan Auerbach’s Penpal. It’s a rip-roaring read, and while it initially started off as a NoSleep story, I think most would consider it to be a creepypasta classic, certainly the first ever creepypasta novel. It has all of the ingredients: first person narrative, childhood fears, adult insecurities, and heart as well. It’s written in a very matter of fact style, but that only heightens the feeling that it could have happened.
HHoH: The fans are very passionate about the story. Are there any examples of fan art, such as films or readings, in particular that have impressed you?
MW: A lot of people have adapted Bedtime in different ways. It was adapted into a play in London for a short time, and I was even in negotiations at one point to have it turned into a pilot for an anthology TV show, but unfortunately that fell through, I even wrote a script.
In any case, there are some great narrators out there who have read the story. I’d have to highlight CreepypastaJr as he was the first high profile narrator to do the entire Bedtime series, which brought me a lot of new readers early on, and he did an amazing job.
I'd also give special praise to David Cummings and the Nosleep Podcast who did a brilliant version and have always been so supportive of my work.
HHoH: I've heard an excellent reading of the story by Otis Jiry over at Chilling Tales for Dark Nights. What were your thoughts on the adaptation?
MW: I’m a big fan of both Chilling Tales for Dark Nights and Otis Jiry. Otis lends a level of gravitas to every story he reads, and his adaptation was no different. He has such a wonderful voice, you can hear a character moment in every nook and cranny of each word. I’m actually producing my own anthology horror series podcast called Near Midnight at the moment, with Otis lending his talents to episode 3 of the first series.
HHoH: You have a few stories up at CTFDN, what encouraged you to work with them? Is this an ongoing partnership and what else can we expect to see the guys there cover in the future?
MW: CTFDN has always been really welcoming to me which I put down to Craig Groshek, the founder, and Jeff Clement who used to be a producer there. The production value is always so high. I’ve signed a bunch of stories over to them so that they can do their own narrations. I’d love to write some exclusive stories for their podcast at some point, we’ve talked about it, so fingers crossed down the line that’s something which can be hammered out.
HHoH: You're a prolific writer, regularly releasing stories to the web. How do you keep the creative juices flowing? Is writing a process that you enjoy or is it more about getting your stories out there to an audience?
MW: I love writing, so much so that it’s my full time job. Not that it says anything about the quality of my work, but I’ve probably released more stories than any other writer in the online community. I’m not exactly sure why that is, I think it’s because I try my best to finish projects and write every day. That’s the biggest challenge as a writer. The tale goes stale, and you want to move onto something else. Staying the course is the hardest thing to do, but the most rewarding.
Continually putting out material is difficult. While I write full time, most of that is as a freelance writer, even a ghost writer. I write other people’s stories or articles for their websites to pay the bills, and then when it comes to writing my own stuff sometimes the tank is empty. It’s incredibly frustrating. Hopefully in the next couple of years I’ll be able to write fiction full time if my book sales keep up, then it’ll have been all worthwhile and I can focus on what I love.
HHoH: Finally will you ever return to the story of Bedtime in the future? And what else can your fans look forward to from you in the days ahead?
MW: After writing Bedtime, I wrote four sequel stories. Then I started tidying up the stories so I could publish them. Writing is strange sometimes, it takes you places you didn’t even know you were going. Now, those stories have grown legs, wings, and tentacles, and I’m sitting here with a finished draft of a novel called Bedtime: A Ghost Story. I’m nervous about putting it out because the original story has so many fans, but I’m really excited to be releasing it in the next few months. Can’t wait to see what people think. Hopefully, they’ll like it.
I also have two horror novellas which really just need edits – The Mermaid of Porthleven which I’d describe as The Goonies meets Lovecraft, and The Sins of Abigail Flesh, which is a supernatural detective story. On top of that I have about 30 short stories, some of them released others gathering dust, so I’ll probably put them together as a couple of short story collections at some point. I’ve already released a horror novella called On A Hill and two short story collections, The Face of Fear, and The Horrors of Christmas, but it’s been some time since I’ve published anything else other than the free stories I release regularly. The next six months are going to be pretty crazy with three books coming out.
As for other projects, I run a Youtube channel called Ghastly Tales () and a podcast of the same name. It started off as a solo project, now we have a great team of people there and I love it! We make horror narrations, plays, and films. It’s a blast, and something I hope can grow and grow into the future.
Thanks for the interview, it’s been a pleasure.
To read more of Michael’s work, do check out his official site: www.michael-whitehouse.com plus his social media accounts at https://twitter.com/HorrorOfMike and www.facebook.com/Michael.Whitehouse.Author
MW: I’m a big fan of both Chilling Tales for Dark Nights and Otis Jiry. Otis lends a level of gravitas to every story he reads, and his adaptation was no different. He has such a wonderful voice, you can hear a character moment in every nook and cranny of each word. I’m actually producing my own anthology horror series podcast called Near Midnight at the moment, with Otis lending his talents to episode 3 of the first series.
HHoH: You have a few stories up at CTFDN, what encouraged you to work with them? Is this an ongoing partnership and what else can we expect to see the guys there cover in the future?
MW: CTFDN has always been really welcoming to me which I put down to Craig Groshek, the founder, and Jeff Clement who used to be a producer there. The production value is always so high. I’ve signed a bunch of stories over to them so that they can do their own narrations. I’d love to write some exclusive stories for their podcast at some point, we’ve talked about it, so fingers crossed down the line that’s something which can be hammered out.
HHoH: You're a prolific writer, regularly releasing stories to the web. How do you keep the creative juices flowing? Is writing a process that you enjoy or is it more about getting your stories out there to an audience?
MW: I love writing, so much so that it’s my full time job. Not that it says anything about the quality of my work, but I’ve probably released more stories than any other writer in the online community. I’m not exactly sure why that is, I think it’s because I try my best to finish projects and write every day. That’s the biggest challenge as a writer. The tale goes stale, and you want to move onto something else. Staying the course is the hardest thing to do, but the most rewarding.
Continually putting out material is difficult. While I write full time, most of that is as a freelance writer, even a ghost writer. I write other people’s stories or articles for their websites to pay the bills, and then when it comes to writing my own stuff sometimes the tank is empty. It’s incredibly frustrating. Hopefully in the next couple of years I’ll be able to write fiction full time if my book sales keep up, then it’ll have been all worthwhile and I can focus on what I love.
HHoH: Finally will you ever return to the story of Bedtime in the future? And what else can your fans look forward to from you in the days ahead?
MW: After writing Bedtime, I wrote four sequel stories. Then I started tidying up the stories so I could publish them. Writing is strange sometimes, it takes you places you didn’t even know you were going. Now, those stories have grown legs, wings, and tentacles, and I’m sitting here with a finished draft of a novel called Bedtime: A Ghost Story. I’m nervous about putting it out because the original story has so many fans, but I’m really excited to be releasing it in the next few months. Can’t wait to see what people think. Hopefully, they’ll like it.
I also have two horror novellas which really just need edits – The Mermaid of Porthleven which I’d describe as The Goonies meets Lovecraft, and The Sins of Abigail Flesh, which is a supernatural detective story. On top of that I have about 30 short stories, some of them released others gathering dust, so I’ll probably put them together as a couple of short story collections at some point. I’ve already released a horror novella called On A Hill and two short story collections, The Face of Fear, and The Horrors of Christmas, but it’s been some time since I’ve published anything else other than the free stories I release regularly. The next six months are going to be pretty crazy with three books coming out.
As for other projects, I run a Youtube channel called Ghastly Tales () and a podcast of the same name. It started off as a solo project, now we have a great team of people there and I love it! We make horror narrations, plays, and films. It’s a blast, and something I hope can grow and grow into the future.
Thanks for the interview, it’s been a pleasure.
To read more of Michael’s work, do check out his official site: www.michael-whitehouse.com plus his social media accounts at https://twitter.com/HorrorOfMike and www.facebook.com/Michael.Whitehouse.Author
Much like those names of accomplished and talented authors that Whitehouse was kind enough to list, he is one of the finest talents exhibiting his skills in the genre. It is the discovery of horror gems by the likes of Michael and his contemporaries that has fuelled the growth of Creepypasta into something as popular and enjoyable as it has become. In the hands of writers such as these, that growth won’t be slowing any time soon.
Join me again next time for another exclusive interview with one of the fathers of Creepypasta — the creator of one of the most iconic and popular characters in the genre.
If you haven’t already, do please check out and Like the Hickey’s House of Horrors Facebook page, which you can find here. It gives you a nice quick link to any new posts on this blog, plus regular news updates from around the web. I check the Internet so you don’t have to! Alternatively, follow me on twitter: The House @HickeysHorrors
Until next time, I hope you enjoyed your stay.
If you haven’t already, do please check out and Like the Hickey’s House of Horrors Facebook page, which you can find here. It gives you a nice quick link to any new posts on this blog, plus regular news updates from around the web. I check the Internet so you don’t have to! Alternatively, follow me on twitter: The House @HickeysHorrors
Until next time, I hope you enjoyed your stay.
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