This week, a look at one of my favorite recent web series: 'School Rumors,' a terrific piece of found footage that exemplifies the art of less-is-more storytelling. Here's what happens when the monster in the basement is real... theghostinmymachine.com/2025/12/01/t...

SADAKO for VOGUE JAPAN

This week, something short and not-so-sweet: "The Kaleidoscope," a creepypasta that might make you think twice about bringing home that neat thing you just found at that out-of-the-way antique shop you stumbled onto by chance. theghostinmymachine.com/2025/11/24/c...

Today is my birthday! 🎂 If you like my work and want to make my day, I only ask that you share my art and stories with someone who might enjoy them :) Or trick your gullible friend for a minute. That's also a good one.

In 2009, a thread posted to 2ch titled "Do you want a house in Kita-ku, Kobe City?" offered a free house to whoever wanted it, as long as they abided by certain... stipulations. Odd ones. Troubling ones. Ones to which no ordinary person would agree... theghostinmymachine.com/2025/11/17/e...

This week, a ritual game that's been circulating TikTok since the spring of this year. If you've been itching to try to record a video of a ghost in your own home, playing The Sky Is Blue And I See You might be the way to do… maybe. theghostinmymachine.com/2025/11/10/t...

There's knowing yourself… and then there's *knowing yourself.* These 13 ritual games might help you do the latter. Play at your own risk... theghostinmymachine.com/2025/11/03/1...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN Y'ALL Here's hoping any parties you are either going to or throwing turn out better than these ones theghostinmymachine.com/2025/10/20/d...

This week, a creepypasta about how gargantuan pumpkins are really grown - or, as I like to think of it, It's The Great Pumpkin's Terrifying Grimoire, Charlie Brown. Happy almost-Halloween, friends! theghostinmymachine.com/2025/10/27/c...

Today, a look at one of my favorite highly specific horror subgenres: Dinner party horror. Consider this a lesson in how NOT to throw your Halloween party this year. theghostinmymachine.com/2025/10/20/d...

Sleepy Hollow isn't the only place where headless horsemen ride... theghostinmymachine.com/2025/10/13/e...

Haunted houses, cursed train stations, amusement parks populated by ghosts... all of these places claim to be some of the scariest locations you'll ever visit. There's just one problem: They... might not actually exist. theghostinmymachine.com/2025/10/06/t...

Looking for a way to change your fate? Playing the Ghost At The Crossroads game might help. You don't even have to go to an actual crossroads to do it. theghostinmymachine.com/2025/09/29/t...

Most things are terrible but THIS IS TERRIFIC

Tucked down a tiny passage in the city of Cambridge in the UK, there's a haunted bookshop. No, really - that's what it's actually called: The Haunted Bookshop. theghostinmymachine.com/2025/09/22/h...

To celebrate the 5th anniversary of my Yokai zine project; I’ve made the PDFs for both zines available via my patreon for purchase; •Part 1: www.patreon.com/posts/139043... •Part 2: www.patreon.com/posts/139038... also available for all supporters pledging $5 or more! • patreon.com/samkalensky

Everything is bad, but books are good. Get a book. Read the book. Cherish the book. Finish the book. Tell your friends about the book, and leave a review of the book. Hold the book close. Listen to what it tells you. Do as it commands. Place it on the dread altar and let it guide your every choice.

If you're looking for costume inspiration this year… maybe don't take it from Carrie Morgan's Halloween costume. theghostinmymachine.com/2025/09/15/c...

Today, an oldie but goodie: We're taking a look at the "Mystery Cave" of the classic internet horror story known as Ted The Caver. Hold onto your headlamps... theghostinmymachine.com/2025/09/08/e...

HI, HELLO, it is DANGEROUS GAMES TO PLAY IN THE DARK'S sixth birthday! Happy birthday, Dangerous Games! It is still widely available in both hardcover and e-book form, and probably also in the stacks at your local library! Check it out! bookshop.org/p/books/dang...

HI, HELLO, it is DANGEROUS GAMES TO PLAY IN THE DARK'S sixth birthday! Happy birthday, Dangerous Games! It is still widely available in both hardcover and e-book form, and probably also in the stacks at your local library! Check it out! bookshop.org/p/books/dang...

Looking for a short, simple ritual game to play with one player? The Ghost Book Game might fit the bill. But as always: Play at your own risk... theghostinmymachine.com/2025/09/01/t...

This week, some reading recommendations - a "What's In My Bookshelf?" kind of thing, with a highly specific focus: Friends, let's talk about some horror novels that are about horror movies. theghostinmymachine.com/2025/08/25/h...

Are you a fan of John Carpenter's The Thing? Yes? Then you're probably going to dig this creepypasta about a group of friends that set out for a multi-day hike and get... a little more than they bargained for. theghostinmymachine.com/2025/08/18/c...

In the darkest corners of your home, something might be hiding. It looks like a child. It is not a child. It is Carazi, the Child Of The Void. theghostinmymachine.com/2025/08/11/e...

This wish-granting ritual game should only be used for the deepest of wishes, owing to the fact that you may only attempt to perform it once - just once - over the course of your lifetime... theghostinmymachine.com/2025/08/04/t...

It's time for our annual installment of our long-running Most Dangerous Games FAQ feature, in which I attempt to answer your burning questions about ritual games, urban legend games, and sleepover games of all types. theghostinmymachine.com/2025/07/28/t...

Have you ever lived somewhere with walls so thin, you could hear your next-door neighbors through them? theghostinmymachine.com/2025/07/21/c...

Be warned: Should you encounter hantu galah in the wild... by the time you notice, it will be too late. theghostinmymachine.com/2025/07/14/e...

Last day for this on sale at Bookshop dot org!

The alchemist/fantasy corner in my library! The center piece is the lovely "Dangerous games to play in the dark" by Lucia Peters, a really fun read! For all the horror and creepypasta lovers ❤️ @ghostmachine13.bsky.social

Hi, hello, DANGEROUS GAMES TO PLAY IN THE DARK is on sale as part of this! It's a great time to get a cute lil' hardcover to keep in your back pocket for all your on-the-go ghost-summoning needs! bookshop.org/p/books/dang...

Y'all, Pam's art is so good both in this book and also just in general, I am so unbelievably lucky to have this caliber of work gracing these pages, LOOK AT HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS

oh look, does that cover art look familiar??? (this was so fun)

This is an instant buy, also Pam Wishbow cover A++++

Hi, hello, DANGEROUS GAMES TO PLAY IN THE DARK is on sale as part of this! It's a great time to get a cute lil' hardcover to keep in your back pocket for all your on-the-go ghost-summoning needs! bookshop.org/p/books/dang...

Want to get in touch with someone who's passed on? The Hell Phone ritual game might be one way to do it. But with a name like that… well, asking “What could wrong?” is perhaps not the best way to approach it. theghostinmymachine.com/2025/07/07/t...

This week, something less eerie and more nostalgic: A look at Nungnae Station, a no-longer-in-use railway station in South Korea that now functions like a tiny time capsule. Bonus: It's easy to visit! theghostinmymachine.com/2025/06/30/a...

With a mysteriously-cancelled television program at its core and a structure that carefully drops crucial and unsettling pieces of information when you least expected it to, the creepypasta "Future Tech" is excellent reading for fans of Black Mirror. theghostinmymachine.com/2025/06/23/c...

You're probably familiar with the story of the Girl With The Green Ribbon Around Her Neck - but there's much, MUCH more to it than you might think, and much more history to go along with it. theghostinmymachine.com/2025/06/16/e...

You're probably familiar with the story of the Girl With The Green Ribbon Around Her Neck - but there's much, MUCH more to it than you might think, and much more history to go along with it. theghostinmymachine.com/2025/06/16/e...

Think campfire ghost story mixed with childhood spooky games like "Bloody Mary" or "Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board." Perfect little book for your friendly, neighborhood goth. 🖤😉 #booksky @luciapeters.bsky.social

There's a Japanese children's game not too dissimilar from Western nursery rhyme games like London Bridge and Ring Around The Rosie. THIS version of it, however, is... something else. theghostinmymachine.com/2025/06/09/t...

This week, an eerie historical mystery: Was Émélie Sagée really haunted by her own doppelganger? theghostinmymachine.com/2025/06/02/c...

Absolutely losing my shit over "Tom Thumb is somewhere here but he is too small to draw"

This week, a quick and crafty tale of revenge, in which we see the neighborhood scourge get his comeuppance in what some might consider to be the perfect crime. Mwahahaha. theghostinmymachine.com/2025/05/26/c...

Released in 1984 as the theme song for the movie The Occupant, this tune might be something a little more than just music. It might, in fact, be cursed. theghostinmymachine.com/2025/05/19/e...

Y'all seem to be looking into Himuro Mansion again, judging by my analytics, so for the curious, here's the deal with that - including the actual source of the quote that was pointed to for a long, long time as evidence of Fatal Frame being based on truth: theghostinmymachine.com/2022/03/21/t...

Y'all seem to be looking into Himuro Mansion again, judging by my analytics, so for the curious, here's the deal with that - including the actual source of the quote that was pointed to for a long, long time as evidence of Fatal Frame being based on truth: theghostinmymachine.com/2022/03/21/t...

I see you there, putting in the work. Keep at it. Write that thing. Paint it. Sculpt it. Compose it. Photograph it. Play it. Record it. Choreograph it. Draw it. Cook it. Knit it. Whatever. Keep making art.