Story of the Night - October 17, 2013

Unfortunately, due to some other pressing matters, I was unable to sit around on Reddit for a few hours last night to find a story to link for the evening.  I didn't want to rush through and provide you with some random story, so I made the decision to take care of it this morning.

Tonight I have selected Excuse Me While I Kiss the Sky by baldymcraw.  What sticks out about this story is that it is not your typical NoSleep fare; it is more like a study in a specific phobia than a campfire horror story.  That being said, I enjoyed it thoroughly and believe it is well worth your time.

A few posts ago I mentioned that I would begin selecting stories from NoSleep's past to help newer visitors to the forum get a sense of what keeps folks like me coming back.  I'm going to start with one that screwed me up for a little while, The Soul Game, by user BLOODWORTH.  Bloodworth is among the more successful writers who have contributed to the NoSleep community, and his website can be found here.

That's it for this time.  Hopefully this evening that whole meddling life thing won't get in the way of me reading a few hours worth of crowd-sourced horror.

Thanks for coming by, and see you later.

Story of the Night - October 16, 2013

Halloween is coming, and as you can imagine, NoSleep is starting to ramp up for the occasion.  This evening it is only appropriate that our story fits the coming theme, and with that, here is One Last Trick or Treat by straydog1980.  User straydog1980 is a long-time writer on NoSleep, and this story keeps with the high quality level we have come to expect from them.  Another story by this author that I think should be on your reading list is Milk and Cookies, and if you still need more, My Friend's Warning About Strange Places in the City.  straydog1980 has quite the table of contents to go through and, if you are new to the sub, they are a great place to start.

As always, if you have any comments or suggestions, please let me know at NoSleepStoryOfTheNight@gmail.com.

Thanks for coming by, see you tomorrow, and sleep tight.

Story of the Night - October 15, 2013

Welcome back to the NoSleep Story of the Night.  Tonight's story is one that made me have a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach when I read it, so hopefully you'll enjoy it as well. Author Ahnold_Shvawtsanegga presented the tale Like Brothers (NSFW, Trigger Warning).  This one should keep you up a little later than normal, but please, take the trigger warning seriously.

Starting sometime this week, I'll be adding links periodically to older NoSleep stories that were formative to my enjoyment of the subreddit.  There is a long history of great storytelling on NoSleep, and it would be a shame to only read the newer stories.

If you have any questions or comments, please let me know at NoSleepStoryOfTheNight@gmail.com.

Thanks for coming by, see you tomorrow, and sleep tight.

Story of the Night - October 14, 2013

It was bound to happen eventually, and here it is: A next-morning retroactive Story of the Night to compensate for last night being missed.  The upside?  Two posts today.

I've decided to consider stories for each day's post based on different categories.  Currently, the categories I will use are Single, Series, and Short.  I'm open to changing the categories in the future, and I don't plan on posting a different story for each category each day.  I am using the categories because these three types of stories are like apples, oranges and bananas.  It is difficult to compare a great short horror story against a longer one, or a single story against a multi-part story.  For today, I have selected a Single and a Short as their respective Stories of the Night.

First, the short story.  One of the ways I can identify a great short horror story is by how much my mind races during its short duration.  In a longer tale, it is easier to develop a sense of suspense and leave the reader guessing about what will happen; it is a much greater feat in a short story.  Author Meltedroad presented NoSleep with Thanksgiving with Family, and it is an excellent example of what I have described here.

In the single story category we have Did I lock the door? by Billthesailor.  This is another one of those stories that will spoil easily if I give a description, but you can get the gist from the title.  A great read, and one that has encouraged me to get a few extra locks for the house.

That's it for this better-late-than-never edition of NoSleep Story of the Night.  I'll be back this evening to get this train back on schedule.

Thanks for coming by, and see you later.

Story of the Night - October 13, 2013

It's come to my attention that some folks may eventually get here without hitting NoSleep first.  In an effort to help newcomers, NoSleep is a forum on Reddit (called a subreddit by the community).  It is a place for users to post horror stories, with some limitations.  The key for NoSleep is "Everything is true here, even if it's not."  Basically, the moderators and community do not allow debunking and proof requests in responses to stories.  The other thing that rule affects, though not as strictly as the prohibition of proof requests, is that stories must not be so far-fetched that they could not possibly be true.  You won't find any zombie apocalypse stories on NoSleep.

The mods put it pretty well in the NoSleep sidebar:

About the "Everything is True" rule:

r/nosleep is a place for you to go and read campfire-style scary stories written by fellow redditors. Stories should be believable, but realistic fiction is permitted. Readers are to assume everything is true and treat it as such as far as commenting is concerned. These stories are here for your entertainment. If a story is too unbelievable, please report it for mod review.

So, with that taken care of, on to the story of the night.

This is the kind of story that keeps me coming back to NoSleep.  Author Nomdepluum provided the community with the story Lapse.  It is difficult for me to even describe this story without giving something away, but I will go so far as to say a reading of this story could replace drug education presentations in schools.

That's it for tonight.  Once again, if you have any questions or suggestions please let me know at NoSleepStoryOfTheNight@gmail.com.  I'm thinking about doing an additional feature story periodically from NoSleep's illustrious past so that the new folks can catch up on all the great stories that have come through the forum.

Thanks for coming by, see you tomorrow, and sleep tight.

Story of the Night - October 12, 2013

As someone who frequents the New Queue on NoSleep, I'm used to weekends being kind of a hit-and-miss time of the week for submissions.  This weekend seems to be a little different, and I have gone back and forth as to which story to feature this evening.  If you want to check out the full list of new stories submitted, drop by the NoSleep New Queue.

After much internal debate, I have selected There's a diner open late that I like to eat at after work by user Walpurgisnight.  One of the great things about a well-written NoSleep story is that just enough detail is given to help you shape the scene in your mind, letting the horror become your own.  The diner in this story became a little bit of every second-rate diner I've ever entered.  I love that feeling.

Once again, if you have any suggestions or questions, please let me know at NoSleepStoryOfTheNight@gmail.com.  I'm open to suggestions not only about the layout and design of the blog, but about stories you think should be featured.  Shameless self promotion is perfectly fine, as long as the story you suggest fits the bill.

Thanks for coming by, see you tomorrow, and sleep tight.

Story of the Night - October 11, 2013

Alrighty, time for the first NoSleep Story of the Night...and there's two of them.  For future reference, I'll be presenting the stories without spoilers, but with any trigger warnings that would normally be visible if you were browsing Reddit.

The first one is titled Married (Trigger Warning).  This one grabs you pretty early on, and tackles a few subjects that aren't usually covered in your standard NoSleep fare.  The author, AL_365, isn't a stranger to the subreddit.  More of his work can be found here.

The second story of the night is titled Repo (Part I Part II).  This one doesn't have a trigger warning on it, but I'd advise you not to read it at work.  The author, Gregslap, has been posting stories to NoSleep for nearly a year now, and this two-parter is among the shorter of the series that they have posted.

Now on to an administrative note.  I'm still deciding whether to make this nightly thing of ours a one-story-only deal or split it into categories (such as One-Shots, Series, etc.).  If you have any ideas please let me know at NoSleepStoryOfTheNight@gmail.com.

Thanks for coming by, see you tomorrow, and sleep tight.