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NoSleep is a place for authors to share their original horror stories. For a more detailed explanation of the subreddit, click here.
Suspension of disbelief is key here. Everything is true here, even if it's not. Don't be the jerk in the movie theater hee-hawing because monkeys don't fly.
Still confused? Check out the rules and guidelines or ask your questions in /r/NoSleepOOC!
Note: Please attempt to secure permission from the authors before posting, narrating, or sharing a story elsewhere. Authors work very hard on their stories and credit should be given to them for their work.
Come chat in the NoSleep IRC!
Posting Rules:
Read the Posting Guidelines & Author FAQ, and make sure your story fits all the guidelines before posting.
All stories, including each part of a series, must follow these guidelines or they will be removed.
Only post your original stories. Plagiarism, posting creepypasta, or band-wagoning another writer’s story are against the rules.
Even if you are the original author of a story found elsewhere on the internet, the post runs the risk of removal if you cannot prove this to the moderators. This is to protect the intellectual property of the writers.
Your submission must be a story. This means something must happen, then something else must happen as a result.
If you have a non-story meta post to make, please visit the discussion subreddit at /r/NoSleepOOC. When in doubt, see the fine folks over at /r/nosleepworkshops for advice.
- Stories must be a minimum of 500 words. If your story does not meet that minimum, it will be removed. There are no exceptions to this rule and appeals will not be considered, so please plan your story accordingly or consider posting at /r/shortscarystories.
Updates to series posts must be at least 800 words and as long as the original post. If your update is under 800 words, it should be edited into the previous submission. Series posts that don't meet length requirements will be removed.
You can find the rest of our series guidelines here
- Do not comment out of character in your thread. Example: saying “I wrote this for English class” in your post or in the comments would be “out of character,” as it takes away the reader’s ability to immerse themselves in your story.
- A small, discreet link to your personal website, YouTube channel, or author page is acceptable at the end of a story as long as it is not a fundraising site.
- Graphic content must be marked with Trigger Warning/NSFW tags and any appropriate flair.
No clickbait titles. Clickbait titles follow a formula: "Interesting plot point + vague insinuation designed to attract readers". Your title should be captivating to your audience without resembling something you would find on Buzzfeed. This includes, but is not limited to, titles like "I'm a (profession), and (something happened/these are my stories/etc)".
Titles that violate this rule will be removed at moderator discretion. Please see the posting guidelines for more information.
- Do not include a TL;DR with your post, and do not summarize the plot in your title. This is a subreddit for scary stories, not scary summaries. Get creative, and find a way to define your story without giving it away.
- Tags (example: [True], [real experience], /r/someothersubreddit) are not allowed. The only thing in brackets[]{} or parenthesis() should be a reference to which “part” of your series the post is. Example: (part 1) [Pt2] On tagging other subreddits in your titles- this is misleading and has become an issue. Rule-breaking tags will result in a post removal.
It is against the rules to repost the exact same story (under the same user name or another user name) for the sole purpose of getting more attention for that story. Posts must always be original, unique, and rule-abiding.
Additionally, it is against the rules to repost a removed story without moderator approval. You must message the moderators before reposting. Do not delete and repost a story removed by moderators, or you may incur a ban.
- Posts must be formatted so that they are readable. This means posts must be broken up into paragraphs and utilize proper grammar and punctuation. Please remember to hit enter twice between paragraphs when writing, and do not use tabs at the beginning of paragraphs, as reddit interprets these as code blocks.
Comment Rules:
- Readers are to act as though everything is true and treat it as such in the comments.
- No debunking, disbelief, or criticism (constructive or otherwise). If the formatting is off, report the post and mods will address it.
- No “backseat modding.” If something breaks a rule, report it- don’t go all vigilante and start correcting other users.
- Do not ask for proof or tl;dr’s.
- Be respectful to one another- this means no disrespectful, derogatory, or otherwise unkind comments towards or about one another. This also means no hate speech- if you can’t be civil, you can’t comment.
- Comments must contribute to the discussion. This means no joke comments- “nope,” “all aboard the nopetrain,” “who was phone,” none of that. It also means your comment should have or make a point.
- Report all comments that violate these rules.
Any violation of these rules will be met with appropriate discipline. Inappropriate posts and comments will be removed at moderator discretion. Harassment of users, repeated rule violations, or reposting removed stories can and will result in a ban.
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Posts and comments on this subreddit may be removed at moderator discretion.