It Turns Out the Novella I Wrote Is Accidentally Similar to a Popular Creepypasta That Already Exists

I took some time before writing this one.

Because if I didn’t, this post would’ve just been me screaming for 1000 words.

I’ve been working on a trilogy of creepypastas for a few months now.

They started with one idea, which I call “Hyperacusis” as a placeholder. While figuring out the delivery conceit for that story (ie. who’s writing the story, how it got posted online, etc.), I came up with a second idea, which I’ll call “Spectro” (also as a placeholder). “Spectro” jumped way ahead because its characters and plot required less deliberation (it’s what I call “Adult Goosebumps-core” in the vein of stories like It, Borassca, and Stranger Things). Eventually though–about a month in–I had to slow down to make important decisions about “Spectro,” at which point some of the changes I was thinking of making to “Hyperacusis”–like changing the monster and the stories’ heart–branched off into a third creepypasta, “Dysmorphia” (placeholder).

All three stories are finished now, as of two days ago.

“Spectro” was done first. It wound up becoming a novella.

“Dysmorphia” was second, but I got feedback that it didn’t hit like I wanted it to, so I went back, reconsidered its theming, and decided to give it more love/time with a rewrite.

“Hyperacusis” was done third. Also wound up approaching novella length.

“Dysmorphia” is officially done and almost totally rewritten as of Tuesday.

The plan was to post “Dysmorphia” and “Hyperacusis” on Reddit with the hopes a popular podcast would read them. Then I’d self-publish them in one book with “Spectro” as the big, satisfying final act, since it’s the longest and I really, really like it.

But a major wrench was thrown in that plan about three weeks ago when the podcast I’m targeting read a story that’s a lot like “Spectro.”

A lot like “Spectro,” but also, way, way, waaay better.

So much better that it’s definitely my favorite creepypasta of all time and easily one of my favorite horror stories of all time.

So much better that it’s already been optioned to be a Netflix series and, even through the massive disappointment, I’m excited to watch it.

The story in question is “The man in my basement takes one step closer every week.” by Marcus Kliewer.

And it’s so good that it briefly toys with ideas I thought were awesome and then continues way, way past those ideas, blossoming into a truly amazing piece of art.

Suffice it to say, the podcast loved it.

And it gave me a serious crisis of faith.

To paraphrase my writing buddy (who really enjoyed “Spectro” but hasn’t read “The man in my basement”), “There must be some novel difference that makes ‘Spectro’ unique.”

And that’s the problem. There’s a lot that makes Spectro different; to be totally fair, it’s not like the stories are one-to-one copies of each other. It’s just that the things “Spectro” and “The man in my basement” share are not the things that make “The man in my basement” so incredibly awesome.

I’m trying to not give spoilers for Kliewer’s story here (because, holy shit, if you haven’t read it, you really, really should), but it’s the equivalent of writing what you think is a fun sci-fi adventure and then discovering Star Wars. And then watching said Wars and realizing that some of the best parts of your fun sci-fi adventure are just set dressing on the moisture farm. And then discovering that your sci-fi adventure doesn’t have Jedi, lightsabers, rogue scoundrels, or Darth Vader.

That’s what I felt a few weeks ago.

Well, that and the truly unique horror of listening to podcasters read reveal after reveal that matched your own work.

Okay. I wound up screaming anyway, but only for 600 words.

So what am I doing with “Spectro” now?

I have no idea.

There are a bunch of positive flip-sides to all this.

1. The podcast loved the story that’s similar to the novella I wrote. That’s pretty cool. A good sign that I’m headed in the right direction.
2. I was never planning to post “Spectro” for that podcast anyway, so although a wrench, it’s not a major one.
3. “Dysmorphia” and “Hyperacusis” are still, as far as I’ve seen, not incredibly similar to popular horror stories that already exist.
4. “Spectro” is not published yet, so I can make changes. Although, to be perfectly real, I don’t know if this is an “Elizabeth Sparkle VS Sue” situation where I’m actually fine and don’t need to change anything at all.

All of that said though, I still have no idea.

The major thing is that I don’t want people to think I just read “The man in the basement” and wrote a poor Echo Fighter of it.

But I also don’t want to contribute something to the Horror scene that isn’t doing new and interesting things.

So I truly don’t know. Because even if I were to submit it somewhere and it got published, it just wouldn’t feel satisfying. I don’t want to feel like I’m just kinda sorta doing the paces with ideas that are already super familiar.

And I also don’t want to feel like I reverse-psychic-plagiarized somehow. This I at least acknowledge isn’t really fair to me; I know “Spectro” came entirely from me, but it still suddenly feels like it didn’t somehow. Like I read “The man in my basement” and went, “I’ll just pluck out this idea, this idea, and this idea and mash ’em together.” And then I snorted like a cartoon pigman.

It’s ridiculous, but it’s where I am right now.

Going Forward

I know that I’m not gonna scrap “Spectro.” The plan was always to reread it and make a few changes that I’ve had in mind for a while. That reread will definitely help me decide if it’s actually fine or truly too similar to publish.

But in the meantime, I’ve gone into overdrive watching and reading popular Horror stories I’ve never experienced. Especially watching (I’m the worst at watching things). Why do that? Because I don’t want to get caught off guard again, and the previous rate at which I was consuming awesome Horror was way too slow.

To wrap up, I’m making no attempt at a lesson here.

But I will leave y’all with a challenge.

This feeling of discovering your story idea already exists isn’t new. I’ve felt it before, way back in 2008, when I pitched a story idea to a friend:

Me: “I wanna write a story about a dude who’s, like, a serial killer, but he only kills bad people who deserve it.”

My coworker: “That’s Dexter.”

Me: “Oh, that’s what that show is? Well, fine, but I’d make it weird because my protagonist would, like, see the ghost of his dead dad all the time, telling him to–“

Coworker: “That’s also Dexter.”

Me: “Are you fucking kidding me??”

This phenomenon needs to have a name. If I can come up with a good one, maybe I’ll post about it. But if any of y’all come up with one (or already have one), put it out there.

That way I can find out it’s already existed for years and I’ll experience all of this shit all over again.

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WIP Update:

‣ “Hyperacusis” (psychological horror short last mentioned on July 12th) – Still giving myself time away from it before the reread and edit that I mentioned last time. The plan was to focus on rewriting “Dysmorphia” first, and now that it’s done, I’m getting back to “HyperQ” this week.

‣ “Dysmorphia” (body horror short last mentioned on July 12th) – Finished the rewrite last Sunday. Finished a first pass on Tuesday. Already sent out for a beta read.

‣ Untitled Sci-Fi/Horror Novel (last mentioned June 22nd) – Finally–finally–back to worldbuilding. But also, taking a cue from a fellow writer on r/WritingHub, I’ve started heavily drafting scenes I’m already excited to write. They might not wind up in the final product, but it really, really helps getting me back into the spirit of the story.

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I’ve been Louis Santiago and, as always, please feel free to use any of my tools on the Resources Page for your own writing. They’re all free and they always will be. If you want to talk about any of my tools on your own platform, cool, but please provide props and links back to this site; I’m still not asking for money on here, but I am trying to build my platform as best I can while helping other writers.

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