“And that’s why you should never, ever put a virtual reality headset on while you're high,” David said, leaning back on the log that he sat on and looking back and forth at us as if he’d told the scariest story we’ve ever heard. The story was scary for sure, but only because it highlighted just how little truly went on in David’s mind. “I think you’ve had enough,” I said, reaching over and snatching the blunt out of his hand. As I brought it to my lips and took a puff he tried to take it back but I leaned away before he could get it back. “I barely go any, what the hell,” he complained. “Dude,” our friend John interjected “You just told a story about people taking their heads off because they think they are still in a virtual reality headset. I think you’ve smoked plenty.” I coughed after taking a massive hit. “Yeah David, I actually want to play some VR tonight. Last time you got too high and passed out on the couch.” “It’s like you haven’t listened to my warning at all,” he said, starting off menacingly but cracking himself up as he continued his sentence. After a few moments he stood up. “Yeah, let's go play now. I have an early class tomorrow anyway.” I shook my head, dropping the small bit that was left of the blunt and smothering it with my shoe. As we walked back to our dorm suite I was glad I’d decided to wear my sweatshirt. It was a bit chilly, even for an autumn night. As we approached their dorm building I could not help but notice how quiet the campus was. It was a bit later in the evening, but on this night it was silent as if we were the only students on campus. I didn’t really feel that high. In fact I was thinking of taking another hit or something when I arrived back in the room when the world glitched. It was a small glitch. Walking towards the entrance of the dorm the world jittered and then replayed a single instance of time. In essence I took the same step twice and did not move. The odd sensation of it caused me to stop walking. David and John took a few steps before turning to look at me. Or should I say their avatars turned to look at me. I can’t be sure anymore. Until the slight glitch while I was walking this all seemed real. So did the previous layer of this sick game. “Are you good,” John asked me. I’m too stunned to speak. I’ve got to take my headset off. I bring my hand to my face only to feel my hair. Stop freaking yourself out. This isn’t a video game, you’re just high. I am trying to reassure myself that everything is alright but I’m not so confident it is. I thought the last layer was real, until I saw him. “Aaron?” John said, stepping towards me. “Are you alright?” I nod, slowly. In the last iteration I ran away from him and went back into the woods. It was there that the shadow man crept up on me but I remembered to take the headset off just before he could get me. “Yeah,” I say, nodding slowly. “I’m just higher than I thought.” I try to believe my own words. Of course this is all in my imagination. I follow my friends in my elevator and we make our way to our dorm sweet. “Ok let’s play some games,” John said. “Ready?” he asked. “Imagine if my story was real,” David said, turning towards me and smiling. “We put the headsets on after smoking and just get trapped in some infinite void.” He laughs, but I’m no longer certain if he was laughing at his stupid joke. I think he was mocking me. The more I zoned in on his smile the more sinister it appeared. “We’ve played VR high so many times,” John pointed out. “Stop messing around and get your headsets on.” John and David made their way into their rooms. I stood looking down the hallway at my door. “Aaron get on,” David called out. I started to walk towards my room but again the world seemed to jitter. This time what John said returned to memory. We’ve played VR high so many times. I tried to dismiss that silly thought but no matter what I did or where I looked my anxiety levels began to rise. “Get on,” a voice said. It sounded like my own. It came from my bedroom. “Come on Aaron, put on the headset. You know you want to,” the voice from my room said. I wish I had run back into the woods when I had the chance. No, this isn’t some game. If this is real nothing is stopping me from going back. I turn back towards the front door of our dorm suite and open it to escape, but the hallway is no longer there. There is nothing but an empty void. It’s true. I’m in a headset. I collapse onto the floor feeling for the device on my face. All I feel is my eyelets, brows and nose. I can’t take it off. This isn’t even fair. I didn’t put the headset on after I smoked. Or did I. The common room begins to despawn pixel by pixel and I am forced to retreat back into the hallway leading up to my room. On my way back I look into the bathroom mirror before it too despawns and I see it in my reflection. My eyes and nose are covered by a virtual reality headset. Pressing my hands at my temples I attempt to pull it off, but all my efforts do is yank my skin up. The despawning pixels into the void are nearly at my feet so I retreat back into my room and slam the door. I’m holding the door shut with my back to it when I see him, or I guess I should say when I see me. There I am sitting in a swivel chair in the center of the room drooling with a virtual reality headset on my head. On the desk by my nightstand I see the loose gummies on the table. They warp as the room glitches. The door behind begins to vanish into the void like the rest of the room. “Aaron get on the game,” distorted versions of David and John’s voices say from the other room. At least the voices come from where their rooms were. Everything but the floor in my room surrounding the desk chair where the other me sits in the headset has been consumed by the void. Looking at myself slouched back in the chair wearing the virtual reality headset I remember taking the edible before placing the headset on. “No,” I mumble to myself. “No, this is crazy.” I almost fall into the void as the floor behind me continues to fade into nothingness. Everything is gone except for a four foot radius around the chair where my body slouches in the headset. “Take it off,” I called out. It doesn't respond so I reach for the headset myself and try to pull it off, but it is stuck to the other man's head. “Take it off,” I yell, gripping the headset tighter and pulling on it. With each tug I feel pain shooting through my own neck. Still the void continues to spread towards me so I continue pulling. The head rips off my body as my vision enters the void. I try to scream out but I can not. “And that’s why you should never, ever put a virtual reality headset on while you're high,” David said, leaning back on the log that he sat on and looking back and forth at us as if he’d told the scariest story we’ve ever heard. The story was scary for sure, but only because it highlighted just how little truly went on in David’s mind.
This was such an interesting story! You sure have many talents! I love reading Stephen King at the moment. His book with short stories that came out recently 'I Like it Darker' was so good. After reading one of the short stories I couldn't sleep. That's what real horror is. I guess if you made a longer story of what you just wrote, it certainly would come close! And also, reading out loud isn't my thing either
Horror recomendations: Stephen King, Pet Cemetery Stephen King, The Shining Stephen King, Dreamcatcher (Horror/sci-fi) James Herbert, The Secret of Crickley Hall James Herbert, Others
I liked it. It reminded me of the Black Mirror episode, Playtest, with the vr horror. I think you told the story pretty well even though you don’t normally write this genre and you weren’t super excited about the idea. Don’t be too hard on yourself, writing effectively is difficult even when you’re familiar with the genre and passionate about the project. The most important thing is getting stuff written. There were a few unnecessary words and mechanical mistakes with punctuation, but nothing major. My only criticism is that you should’ve emphasized the inciting incident more. It doesn’t need to be a major change, just saying, “In fact, I was thinking of taking another hit or something when I arrived back in the room, but then the world glitched,” instead would work. Now that you’ve actually written this idea down, you might get more excited about it in the revision stage. I’d be excited about its potential if this were my project. There’s so much cool, imaginative stuff you can do since your story involves the literal warping of reality. This honestly isn’t a bad idea for a horror story. But it’s also totally understandable if you just wanna move onto the next thing. We can only spend so much time on one short story. Anyway, thanks for sharing. It’s inspiring to see another aspiring writer share their experiences and prose, especially since you seem just like me fr. Good luck on your writing journey!
@@Chudi2000 I def will circle back to it. I appreciate the feedback. I think the struggle with the inciting incident came from me not really knowing where to go with it. Love Black Mirror btw!
@@patrick_nilan Same my brain gets lost in subtopics, glad you kept it in tho it was funny and relatable because I don’t write horror either (I’m writing a superhero/capepunk novel) and I want to diversify my writing interests.
“And that’s why you should never, ever put a virtual reality headset on while you're high,” David said, leaning back on the log that he sat on and looking back and forth at us as if he’d told the scariest story we’ve ever heard. The story was scary for sure, but only because it highlighted just how little truly went on in David’s mind.
“I think you’ve had enough,” I said, reaching over and snatching the blunt out of his hand.
As I brought it to my lips and took a puff he tried to take it back but I leaned away before he could get it back. “I barely go any, what the hell,” he complained.
“Dude,” our friend John interjected “You just told a story about people taking their heads off because they think they are still in a virtual reality headset. I think you’ve smoked plenty.”
I coughed after taking a massive hit. “Yeah David, I actually want to play some VR tonight. Last time you got too high and passed out on the couch.”
“It’s like you haven’t listened to my warning at all,” he said, starting off menacingly but cracking himself up as he continued his sentence. After a few moments he stood up. “Yeah, let's go play now. I have an early class tomorrow anyway.”
I shook my head, dropping the small bit that was left of the blunt and smothering it with my shoe. As we walked back to our dorm suite I was glad I’d decided to wear my sweatshirt. It was a bit chilly, even for an autumn night.
As we approached their dorm building I could not help but notice how quiet the campus was. It was a bit later in the evening, but on this night it was silent as if we were the only students on campus.
I didn’t really feel that high. In fact I was thinking of taking another hit or something when I arrived back in the room when the world glitched. It was a small glitch. Walking towards the entrance of the dorm the world jittered and then replayed a single instance of time. In essence I took the same step twice and did not move.
The odd sensation of it caused me to stop walking. David and John took a few steps before turning to look at me. Or should I say their avatars turned to look at me. I can’t be sure anymore. Until the slight glitch while I was walking this all seemed real. So did the previous layer of this sick game.
“Are you good,” John asked me.
I’m too stunned to speak. I’ve got to take my headset off. I bring my hand to my face only to feel my hair. Stop freaking yourself out. This isn’t a video game, you’re just high. I am trying to reassure myself that everything is alright but I’m not so confident it is. I thought the last layer was real, until I saw him.
“Aaron?” John said, stepping towards me. “Are you alright?”
I nod, slowly. In the last iteration I ran away from him and went back into the woods. It was there that the shadow man crept up on me but I remembered to take the headset off just before he could get me.
“Yeah,” I say, nodding slowly. “I’m just higher than I thought.” I try to believe my own words. Of course this is all in my imagination.
I follow my friends in my elevator and we make our way to our dorm sweet.
“Ok let’s play some games,” John said. “Ready?” he asked.
“Imagine if my story was real,” David said, turning towards me and smiling. “We put the headsets on after smoking and just get trapped in some infinite void.”
He laughs, but I’m no longer certain if he was laughing at his stupid joke. I think he was mocking me. The more I zoned in on his smile the more sinister it appeared.
“We’ve played VR high so many times,” John pointed out. “Stop messing around and get your headsets on.”
John and David made their way into their rooms. I stood looking down the hallway at my door. “Aaron get on,” David called out.
I started to walk towards my room but again the world seemed to jitter. This time what John said returned to memory. We’ve played VR high so many times. I tried to dismiss that silly thought but no matter what I did or where I looked my anxiety levels began to rise.
“Get on,” a voice said. It sounded like my own. It came from my bedroom.
“Come on Aaron, put on the headset. You know you want to,” the voice from my room said. I wish I had run back into the woods when I had the chance. No, this isn’t some game. If this is real nothing is stopping me from going back.
I turn back towards the front door of our dorm suite and open it to escape, but the hallway is no longer there. There is nothing but an empty void. It’s true. I’m in a headset.
I collapse onto the floor feeling for the device on my face. All I feel is my eyelets, brows and nose. I can’t take it off.
This isn’t even fair. I didn’t put the headset on after I smoked. Or did I. The common room begins to despawn pixel by pixel and I am forced to retreat back into the hallway leading up to my room.
On my way back I look into the bathroom mirror before it too despawns and I see it in my reflection. My eyes and nose are covered by a virtual reality headset. Pressing my hands at my temples I attempt to pull it off, but all my efforts do is yank my skin up. The despawning pixels into the void are nearly at my feet so I retreat back into my room and slam the door.
I’m holding the door shut with my back to it when I see him, or I guess I should say when I see me. There I am sitting in a swivel chair in the center of the room drooling with a virtual reality headset on my head. On the desk by my nightstand I see the loose gummies on the table. They warp as the room glitches. The door behind begins to vanish into the void like the rest of the room.
“Aaron get on the game,” distorted versions of David and John’s voices say from the other room. At least the voices come from where their rooms were. Everything but the floor in my room surrounding the desk chair where the other me sits in the headset has been consumed by the void.
Looking at myself slouched back in the chair wearing the virtual reality headset I remember taking the edible before placing the headset on. “No,” I mumble to myself. “No, this is crazy.”
I almost fall into the void as the floor behind me continues to fade into nothingness. Everything is gone except for a four foot radius around the chair where my body slouches in the headset. “Take it off,” I called out.
It doesn't respond so I reach for the headset myself and try to pull it off, but it is stuck to the other man's head. “Take it off,” I yell, gripping the headset tighter and pulling on it. With each tug I feel pain shooting through my own neck. Still the void continues to spread towards me so I continue pulling.
The head rips off my body as my vision enters the void. I try to scream out but I can not.
“And that’s why you should never, ever put a virtual reality headset on while you're high,” David said, leaning back on the log that he sat on and looking back and forth at us as if he’d told the scariest story we’ve ever heard. The story was scary for sure, but only because it highlighted just how little truly went on in David’s mind.
This was such an interesting story! You sure have many talents!
I love reading Stephen King at the moment. His book with short stories that came out recently 'I Like it Darker' was so good. After reading one of the short stories I couldn't sleep. That's what real horror is. I guess if you made a longer story of what you just wrote, it certainly would come close!
And also, reading out loud isn't my thing either
@@tayahoward1526 hm the goal is to not be able to sleep!
Horror recomendations:
Stephen King, Pet Cemetery
Stephen King, The Shining
Stephen King, Dreamcatcher (Horror/sci-fi)
James Herbert, The Secret of Crickley Hall
James Herbert, Others
@@MRichards2775 I’m leaning pet cemetery
I liked it. It reminded me of the Black Mirror episode, Playtest, with the vr horror. I think you told the story pretty well even though you don’t normally write this genre and you weren’t super excited about the idea. Don’t be too hard on yourself, writing effectively is difficult even when you’re familiar with the genre and passionate about the project. The most important thing is getting stuff written.
There were a few unnecessary words and mechanical mistakes with punctuation, but nothing major. My only criticism is that you should’ve emphasized the inciting incident more. It doesn’t need to be a major change, just saying, “In fact, I was thinking of taking another hit or something when I arrived back in the room, but then the world glitched,” instead would work.
Now that you’ve actually written this idea down, you might get more excited about it in the revision stage. I’d be excited about its potential if this were my project. There’s so much cool, imaginative stuff you can do since your story involves the literal warping of reality. This honestly isn’t a bad idea for a horror story.
But it’s also totally understandable if you just wanna move onto the next thing. We can only spend so much time on one short story.
Anyway, thanks for sharing. It’s inspiring to see another aspiring writer share their experiences and prose, especially since you seem just like me fr. Good luck on your writing journey!
@@Chudi2000 I def will circle back to it. I appreciate the feedback. I think the struggle with the inciting incident came from me not really knowing where to go with it.
Love Black Mirror btw!
0:41 Mood
I go off on tangents and get absolutely lost 😂
@@patrick_nilan Same my brain gets lost in subtopics, glad you kept it in tho it was funny and relatable because I don’t write horror either (I’m writing a superhero/capepunk novel) and I want to diversify my writing interests.