The Ghost In My Machine

The Apartment Staircase Game: A Ritual To Go To Another World If you have access to an apartment building with at least 10 floors, you can play the Apartment Staircase Game and go to another world.

Want to play the Elevator Game, but don't have access to a building with an elevator? Here's a staircase-based alternative. Just... make sure you know what you're in for before you try it. theghostinmymachine.com/2026/03/02/t...

Horror Novels About Houses You Wouldn't Want To Live In If you crave horror novels about houses - haunted houses, horrible homes, & other domiciles not to live in - you've come to the right place.

When is a house not a home? When it's a horrible home - a place where something terrible has happened, or is happening, or will happen sometime in the future. And the houses in these horror novels are definitely NOT places you'd want to live. theghostinmymachine.com/2026/02/23/h...

"The Perfect Video Game": A Creepypasta Classic In the creepypasta "The Perfect Video Game," folks who get their hands on a rare console get more than they bargained for...

The perfect video game doesn’t exi— theghostinmymachine.com/2026/02/16/c...

Taxi #45: Davao City's Haunted Taxi Legend, The Philippines It's said that late at night, Taxi #45 trawls the streets of Davao City in the Philippines for passengers. Don't get in - it's haunted.

If Taxi #45 pulls up next to you in Davao City in the Philippines... don't get in. It might just be a ghost taxi. theghostinmymachine.com/2026/02/09/e...

The Eternal Love Ritual: An Eerie Game To (Not) Play If you're in search of your one true love, the Eternal Love ritual game, or Amor Eterno, might be worth trying... or not.

Valentine's Day is fast approaching, so let's take a look at a seasonally-appropriate ritual game. Just be warned: Who - or what - your “eternal love” is may not be what you're expecting. theghostinmymachine.com/2026/02/02/t...

The Hexham Heads: An Enduring Unsolved Mystery In the 1970s, two small stone heads were discovered in the garden of a house in Hexham, UK. But what happened to the Hexham heads?

In the 1970s, two small boys unearthed a pair of tiny stone heads from their garden in the village of Hexham in the UK. We still don't know exactly what the Hexham heads are - or where they've gone. theghostinmymachine.com/2026/01/26/u...

Kubinashi Rider: Japan's Headless Motorcycle Rider Legend According to legend, if you drive on certain roads in Japan late at night, you might see a kubinashi rider - a headless motorcycle rider.

Meet the Headless Horseman's modern cousin. theghostinmymachine.com/2026/01/12/e...

Kubinashi Rider: Japan's Headless Motorcycle Rider Legend According to legend, if you drive on certain roads in Japan late at night, you might see a kubinashi rider - a headless motorcycle rider.

Meet the Headless Horseman's modern cousin. theghostinmymachine.com/2026/01/12/e...

Right?? I was also delighted to discover this one! Super fun to learn about.

Creepypasta Of The Week: "I Bought My Son A Bucket Of Slime For Christmas, And..." There are Christmas gifts; there are CHRISTMAS GIFTS; and then there's the bucket of slime in this creepypasta.

From the December backlog: When is a bucket of slime not a bucket of slime? When it's... whatever the heck it is in this creepypasta. theghostinmymachine.com/2025/12/22/c...

The Badalisc: Italy's Winter Holiday Goat-Serpent Creature On Epiphany, the people of Andrista, Italy in Valcamonica hunt for the fearsome Badalisc. Here's what to know about the holiday creature.

From the December backlog: Meet the Badalisc, a wacky Italian goat-serpent-thing that spends the year collecting local gossip so it can roast the entire town on Epiphany. Fun! theghostinmymachine.com/2025/12/15/e...

(We'll be playing catchup here, re: pieces that went live on TGIMM throughout December while I was taking a little time off from social media to recharge - stay tuned this week for a handful of tidbits that went up in December!)

The Spirit Ticket Game: How To Play The Yeongan Ticket Ritual If you'd like to gain the ability to see ghosts - yeongan eye or yin-yang eye, as it's called - the Spirit Ticket Game is one way to do it.

First game for the new year: Yeongan Ticket, or the Spirit Ticket Game. It might just be your ticket to earning your spirit eyes... theghostinmymachine.com/2026/01/05/t...

A Polish Christmas Ritual For Good Health In The Coming Year In the spirit of the season, this Polish Christmas ritual aims at fostering good health in the coming year. Here's how to do it.

In the spirit of the season, here's a Most Dangerous Game for the holidays that... isn't really dangerous at all. Here's to your good health! theghostinmymachine.com/2025/12/08/t...

In The 'School Rumors' Web Series, The Monster In The Basement Is Real What makes the School Rumors web series by Beckett Wagner so scary? Practical effects: The monster in the basement is real.

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

Creepypasta Of The Week: “The Kaleidoscope” The creepypasta "The Kaleidoscope" might make you think twice about about bringing home that neat antique you just found.

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...

A single human skull lies on the overgrown floor. It has many faces, eyes, noses, repeating in a fractal pattern. From the cracks in the bone, a small fractal flower emerges. The water behind swirls in shimmering patterns.

A picture taken from the floor of a hospital room. In the foreground, a person lies on the floor. Behind its head, their spinal cord, brain and eyes tumble outside, appearing to slither like a snake.

In the far distance, way behind the mountains, a face that is too large to comprehend looks back at you, eyes wide open.

A large 747 aircraft flies low close to a runway on a foggy day. The plane is completely dilapidated, with a missing cockpit area, several large holes in the fuselage and destroyed motors. It is surrounded by a coat of black smoke.

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.

The “Do You Want A House In Kita-ku, Kobe City?” 2ch Mystery In 2009, a 2ch poster in Japan wrote, "Do You Want A House In Kita-ku, Kobe City?" But the free house also came with a mystery...

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...

The Sky Is Blue And I See You: How To Play The Scary Ritual Game If you point a camera at a room and say "The sky is blue and I see you," you might record a ghost. Here's how to play the scary ritual game.

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...

13 Ritual Games To Meet Your Double Or Doppelganger These ritual games to meet your double might teach you a little something about yourself... or they might put you in great danger. Your call.

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...

Dinner Party Horror Movies, Books, Games, And More If hell is other people, then dinner party horror is the most hellish of hells - and these movies, plays, books, and video games prove it.

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...

"Harvest Hill": A Creepypasta For Halloween In the Halloween creepypasta "Harvest Hill," winning a pumpkin-growing contest has a far greater cost than you might want to pay.

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...

Dinner Party Horror: What To Watch, Read, And Play If hell is other people, then dinner party horror is the most hellish of hells - and these movies, plays, books, and video games prove it.

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...

The Dullahan, The Headless Horseman Of Ireland In Irish folklore, the dullahan, or dulachan, rides forth whenever death is near. Here's what to know about this headless horseman.

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

The Scariest Places In The World That Don’t Actually Exist A lot of haunted locations... aren't real at all. But the scariest places in the world that don't actually exist still make for good stories.

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...

The Ghost At The Crossroads Ritual: How To Play This Eerie Game Looking for a way to change your fate? The Ghost At The Crossroads ritual game might help. But, as always: Play at your own risk.

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

The Haunted Bookshop: The Many Ghosts Of Sarah Key Books, Cambridge, UK The Haunted Bookshop in Cambridge, UK has been drawing in bookworms in search of a good read, a good ghost story, or both for decades.

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...

Sams yokai zines

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