General Notes
- Posts and comments on this subreddit may be removed at moderator discretion. We do our very best to remove rule-breaking posts and inappropriate comments, and to be fair to all authors and readers.
- Rules are not applied retroactively after being introduced. Some archived posts (posts that are more than 6 months old) may now violate newer rules and will not be removed. Please keep this in mind and make sure your post adheres to the newest version of the rules.
- In March 2018, we held an event called "THE PURGE", where posts did not have to follow our posting guidelines. All of these posts were allowed to remain on the subreddit and have a flair that says "THE PURGE". If you see a post that is marked with this flair, please remember that it was made during a special event and does not reflect our current posting guidelines.
- On Halloween 2018, we held an event called "Beyond Belief", where posts did not have to follow the believability guidelines and the 24 hour rule was suspended. All of these posts were allowed to remain on the subreddit and have a flair that says "Beyond Belief". If you see a post that is marked with this flair, please remember that it was made during a special event and does not reflect our current posting guidelines.
- On March 25, 2020, we added a new rule stating that posts using the novel coronavirus/COVID-19 would be removed on sight to prevent fearmongering and the spread of misinformation. As of July 28, 2021, we have also banned the use of COVID-19 vaccines as the primary source of horror. You may include the pandemic and COVID or the vaccines in your stories, but they cannot be the source of horror.
- 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.
- Please do not contact moderators individually outside of modmail regarding r/nosleep. Any advice or suggestions given outside of modmail will not be considered moderator approval, and there is still a possibility that your post using said advice or suggestions will be removed for breaking rules. You can message the mod team by clicking here.
- If you are unsure whether or not your story meets any of our posting guidelines, feel free to message the mods with a draft (preferably in a google doc) before posting. If you do this, please be patient. We will review the story and advise you on it, but posts already made to the subreddit will be handled first.
Posting Guidelines
All posts on r/nosleep must contain a meaningful amount of horror and be framed as a scary personal experience.
- Nosleep is a niche subreddit for horror stories that are framed as scary personal experiences. Your narrator/main character should be scared by what’s happening, and there should be a meaningful amount of horror elements in the story. While we are a horror subreddit, we are not a subreddit that accepts all types of horror.
Elements that are acceptable to be the primary focus of horror include, but are not limited to:
- OP is being haunted, stalked, or threatened
- OP finds or witnesses something terrifying (i.e. witnesses a murder, finds a mutilated body, etc)
- OP encounters a menacing creature/entity
Elements that are not acceptable to be the primary focus of horror include, but are not limited to:
- Rape/pedophilia
- Necrophilia
- Bestiality
- Abuse, whether domestic or against a child
- Mental or Physical illness/disability
- The victimization (stalking, murdering, etc) of others by the narrator/main character
- Torture porn (where the primary focus of horror is the narrator being tortured or witnessing someone else be tortured)
- Gorenography (where the primary focus of horror is excessive gore)
- Erotic horror (where the primary focus of horror happens during a sex act)
We also do not allow stories where the primary focus is:
- A tragic personal experience - where the primary focus of the story is something tragic that OP witnessed or experienced (i.e. a car accident, the death of a loved one)
- Friendly paranormal entities - where the primary focus of the story is a ghost or creature that are helpful and/or endearing.
- Strange events/things - where the primary focus of the story is something strange or weird that the narrator/main character experiences or finds, that simply confuses the narrator/main character or makes them question what just happened rather than scaring them.
- Something shocking/infuriating - where the primary purpose of your story is to surprise the reader or make them angry.
- We do allow comedic and wholesome horror, as long as the comedic/wholesome portions are not the primary focus, and the horror outweighs the comedic/wholesome aspects. If you remove the funny/heartwarming bits, your story must still contain a meaningful amount of horror as determined by the lists above.
If you are unsure whether or not your topic would meet our guidelines, please
message the mods
Your post must be a complete horror story
- Posts on r/nosleep must have an event followed by a consequence. Something must happen, then something else must happen as a result. The event/consequence should be major plot points. “I got a new job then I saw a ghost” is not a complete horror story. “I disturbed a ghost at work and then it followed me home to torment me” is a complete horror story.
- Posts that just include a list of items, a set of instructions, or a list of rules with no accompanying narratives are not considered complete stories and will be removed.
- We consider posts where the primary focus of horror happens in a vision, dream, sleep paralysis episode, or hallucination to not be complete horror stories. The events must actually happen to the narrator/main character. If you would like to use these elements, you must include something coming out of the vision, dream, sleep paralysis episode, or hallucination when the narrator/main character comes out of it. For example: If a narrator has a dream about a demon, then wakes up, it is not a complete story. If a narrator has a dream about a demon grabbing their arm and then wakes up with a hand-shaped bruise in the same spot, it’s a complete story.
If you have a non-story meta post to make, join the discussion at /r/NoSleepOOC
Your story must be plausible
This means: The person or character responsible for posting to
r/nosleep must be physically capable (i.e. must reasonably have access to an internet-enabled smart device or computer), and mentally capable (i.e. must be able to use language to express themselves) of doing so,
and that the events of the story cannot easily be disproved.
See below for details.
What’s not allowed:
- As a general rule, if readers can look outside or turn on a national news channel and immediately know that the events are not actually happening, the story is not appropriate for r/nosleep. This includes, but is not limited to, apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic scenarios and events that happen on a large scale (i.e. a large sea creature destroying New York City, all of Detroit entering another dimension).
- You may mention if the events of the story include local news coverage, but not national/international news coverage.
- Your story cannot include a celebrity, politician, public figure, etc. as a major character.
- Your narrator cannot die at or before the end of the story, unless there is a plausible explanation for how the post was submitted to r/nosleep (i.e. the events were documented in a journal that was found and submitted by someone else).
- Your story cannot reveal or insinuate that the reader’s life and/or the world as we know it is a dream or simulation.
- Your narrator cannot be a deity or deity-like figure. This includes Gods, Angels, Satan, and Death/Grim Reapers. Your narrator can be a demon if they are possessing a human body at the time of posting.
- Your narrator cannot be a baby, doll, animal, or inanimate object. This includes if your narrator is possessing these things.
- Your narrator cannot be in another dimension, space, the past, the future, or a time loop at the time of posting unless there is a plausible explanation for how they are submitting a story to present-day r/nosleep in this dimension. Your best bet is to make sure your narrator is on present-day Earth at the time of submitting.
- Your narrator cannot be incarcerated or incapacitated (physically unable to post) at the end of the story without a plausible explanation of how they are posting to r/nosleep. Stories that end mid-sentence to insinuate that the narrator was attacked, taken, or killed before submitting will be removed.
- 2nd person POV stories - where the reader is directly addressed and/or told what to do/what they’re doing - are not allowed unless they are addressed to a named character.
- 3rd person omniscient POV stories - where the thoughts, feelings, and unseen actions of multiple characters are known to the author/reader - are not allowed unless there is a clear explanation for how the information is known to the author (i.e. mentioning that the author interviewed each character)
- Your story cannot shift POV’s without a clear explanation of how/why it is happening. (i.e. a narrator explaining in 1st person that they found a creepy book, then transcribing the book, which is written in 3rd person)
- Your story cannot change narrators without a clear explanation of how/why it is happening (i.e. the original narrator dies, then the killer or a family member finds their post and submits it).
What is allowed:
- Your narrator/main character can be a ghost or artificial intelligence, as long as there is a plausible explanation for how they are submitting to r/nosleep.
- Your narrator/main character can be a monster, as long as they are physically and mentally capable of posting to r/nosleep.
- Stories that include fantastical elements, such as mythical creatures.
- Stories that include factual inaccuracies, such as how a medical procedure is performed.
- Stories written in 3rd person limited POV, where the thoughts, feelings, and unseen actions of one character are known (as long as said character doesn’t die before the end of the story). This is because it is plausible that the character is either writing it themself with an artistic flair, or that they told the tale to someone else, who then shared the story on r/nosleep.
If you include a phone number, address, or e-mail address in your story…
- Phone numbers must not resemble real phone numbers for any location. The best way to avoid your post being removed for containing a phone number is to censor part or all of the number (i.e. “xxx-xxx-xx83”) or to use movie numbers (i.e. “555-0199”).
- Any addresses included in your story must leave out the city and state. You may also consider censoring or redacting part of the address (i.e. “xxxx Ashbury Lane” or “134 [redacted] St.”). Do not share a link to a specific location on google maps or any realty sites (i.e. Zillow, Trulia, etc).
- Any email addresses you include must censor or redact some or all of the address.
This rule exists to protect our authors. If your post contains what looks like complete personal information, the Reddit admins may suspend your account for doxxing. Due to a lack of time and resources, they do not verify whether the personal information is fake or not.
If your story contains a puzzle for readers to solve, you must message the mods with a draft of the post and the answer to the puzzle before posting. This is to ensure that the story and puzzle meet all of the
r/nosleep posting guidelines and Reddit rules quickly and efficiently, and to prevent potentially offensive information or personal information from being hidden behind a puzzle.
The minimum word count for standalone stories and stories that are part 1 of a series is 500 words. There are no exceptions to this rule and appeals will not be considered.
The minimum word count for series updates is 1,000 words. There are no exceptions to this rule and appeals will not be considered.
If you have more than one story to tell in your post…
- Each individual story in your post must be a complete horror story. This means that something must happen, then something else must happen as a result, and that the story must include a meaningful amount of horror that scares the narrator/main character.
- Each individual story in your post must be connected by a central plot element beyond who it happened to. These elements include:
- The exact location (i.e. the narrator’s house)
- The same workplace/job (i.e. things happen while the narrator is working as a plumber)
- The same entity (for example: all of the events were caused by the same ghost)
- The only exception to these rules is if the events are formed as a continuous narrative. (i.e. “My sister and I summoned a demon with a Ouija board and the demon set our house on fire. Then the hotel we went to was haunted by the ghost of a little boy who pulled my hair, so we went to a bar where we met and narrowly escaped a serial killer.”)
Only post your original work.
- You cannot use someone else’s intellectual property in any way. Examples include:
- You cannot copy/paste a story you found elsewhere and post it to r/nosleep. Plagiarism is not tolerated here, and you will be banned.
- You cannot write a story using exact plot points from someone else’s work. (i.e. A woman is hired to babysit a doll that a couple claims is their child, then finds out that all the creepy stuff the doll does to her was actually the couple’s real child, who is a grown man who lives in the walls of the house. This is the plot of The Boy.)
- You cannot base your story on someone else’s work - whether it is intended to be a rewrite, a continuation, or a work of fanfiction - without their express permission. If you have obtained this permission, the original creator must send a message to the mods confirming that they’ve given it to you.
- You cannot use characters created by someone else without their express permission. If you have obtained this permission, the original creator must send a message to the mods confirming that they’ve given it to you. For example: You may write about vampires, but you cannot write about Dracula.
- You cannot utilize creepypasta stories or characters, such as Sirenhead, the rake, Jeff the Killer, Slenderman, etc. in your story even if you do not name them as such and only describe them.
- You cannot use known fictional characters or base your story in a known fictional universe. This includes SCP, H.P. Lovecraft, etc. This not only breaks the IP rule, but also our plausibility rule.
- You cannot use a photo, video, or audio recording that you found and claim it is your own. You may use these things in an “I found this mysterious thing on my front porch” type scenario, but you cannot claim you created them.
- If you are running a collaboration, you must message the mods with a complete list of those who are participating before the collaboration begins. Failure to do so will result in any stories after the first being removed.
Photos, videos, and audio recordings can be used as an element of your story to boost immersion but you cannot rely on them to make the post a complete horror story. The story itself - without the added photo, video, or audio recording - must follow all of our posting guidelines. Additionally, you must describe what can be found in the photo, video, or audio recording in the body of the post.
Usernames should not impersonate another user or their work.
- Do not create a username that is the name of or closely resembles the name of an established r/nosleep character that you did not create.
- Do not create a username that could be easily mistaken for another r/nosleep author.
- Usernames that violate these rules will immediately be banned from the subreddit.
You cannot repost your story without mod approval. You must message the mods
before you delete the original post and/or make a new post.
- If you would like to repost a story you wrote in the past, we require that it be at least 6 months old and be significantly rewritten. This means that you cannot post the exact same story. It has to have changes to the plot, characters, etc. We will require that you submit a draft of the new post before you are given permission to repost.
- If your post was removed and you made edits to make it rule-abiding, you must either edit the removed post and alert the mods or send the mods a draft of the new post before you submit. This is to ensure that your new post is rule-abiding and that you don’t end up with another removed post, which is frustrating for everyone involved.
- Any stories reposted without mod approval will be removed, and continuously breaking this rule will result in being banned from the subreddit.
Interest checks and asking for upvotes is not allowed.
- Do not ask for upvotes or for people to “comment letting me know if you want more”.
- Do not state “I’ll update if you guys want me to.”
- Do not state “I have more stories that I’ll share if there’s interest.”
Do not summarize your plot in your title or put a tl;dr in your post.
- Your title should not describe nearly every major plot point of your story.
- “I went to this old house, found an old diary, and now the ghost of this guy is haunting me.” is not an acceptable title.
- “I found an old diary while urban exploring, and then everything went to hell.” is an acceptable title.
The only thing in parentheses or brackets in your title should be the part number of a series.
- [True], (TW), [Scary], (My first story), etc should not go in your title
- [Part 1], (Update), (Final), etc are welcome.
- (Part 1 of 2), [Part IV], etc are not recognized as valid by the bot and will be removed.
Titles that impersonate another subreddit (i.e. “ELI5”, “TIFU”, “Dear r/relationships”) are not allowed.
- Since we are a realistic fiction subreddit that roleplays in the comments, titles like this just make people angry when they realize where they are.
Do not comment out of character in your story.
- Remember: everything is true here, even if it’s not. You cannot say or even insinuate that your story or others on r/nosleep are not true. Commenting out of character in your story destroys the suspension of disbelief for the readers.
No solicitation.
- You may link to your website or social media page, as long as the link is discreet. We recommend hiding it as the last word in your story or an “x”.
- You may NOT link to amazon, kickstarter, patreon, or any sales or fundraising site.
- You may NOT link to a mailing list, petition, or anything else that asks users for personal information.
Graphic content must be marked as “NSFW/Trigger Warning” and any appropriate flair.
- If there is any mention of rape, pedophilia, sexual assault, abuse, suicide, or self harm, you must mark your post as NSFW/Trigger Warning.
- If there is graphic depictions of animal abuse, you must mark your post as NSFW/Trigger Warning.
- If there is excessive violence or gore, you must mark your post as NSFW/Trigger Warning
You may only post once every 24 hours.
- This includes posting different stories from different usernames and collaborations between different users.
- Regarding collaborations: If several authors are posting multiple stories that are connected, each part must be posted 24 hours apart. You do not have to follow the 24 hour rule if another author posts their part of the collaboration and you want to post something unrelated (as long as your last personal post is 24 hours old).
- If multiple authors have written a single story together that is to be posted from a single account, each author involved in the collaboration must wait 24 hours before posting again, regardless of the username used.
Series Specific Guidelines
All parts of a series, including the first part, must meet all of the r/nosleep posting guidelines.
- In particular, each part must be a complete horror story. We do not allow introduction or filler posts.
All parts of a series must be marked with a series flair. If your post appears to be part of a series and isn’t marked, we will mark it for you.
You must include links to all other parts of your series in each post.
- You should include links to both the previous and following posts in each part of your series, if applicable.
- When you post part 2 of your series, you should include a link to part 1 in the body of part 2, then go back to part 1 and edit in a link to part 2 in the body of that post.
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