The Smiling Man

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About five years ago I lived downtown in a major city in the US. I’ve always been a night person, so I would often find myself bored after my roommate, who was decidedly not a night person, went to sleep. To pass the time, I used to go for long walks and spend the time thinking.

I spent four years like that, walking alone at night, and never once had a reason to feel afraid. I always used to joke with my roommate that even the drug dealers in the city were polite. But all of that changed in just a few minutes of one evening.

It was a Wednesday, somewhere between one and two in the morning, and I was walking near a police patrolled park quite a ways from my apartment. It was a quiet night, even for a week night, with very little traffic and almost no one on foot. The park, as it was most nights, was completely empty.

I turned down a short side street in order to loop back to my apartment when I first noticed him. At the far end of the street, on my side, was the silhouette of a man, dancing. It was a strange dance, similar to a waltz, but he finished each “box” with an odd forward stride. I guess you could say he was dance-walking, headed straight for me.

Deciding he was probably drunk, I stepped as close as I could to the road to give him the majority of the sidewalk to pass me by. The closer he got, the more I realized how gracefully he was moving. He was very tall and lanky, and wearing an old suit. He danced closer still, until I could make out his face. His eyes were open wide and wild, head tilted back slightly, looking off at the sky. His mouth was formed in a painfully wide cartoon of a smile. Between the eyes and the smile, I decided to cross the street before he danced any closer.

I took my eyes off of him to cross the empty street. As I reached the other side, I glanced back… and then stopped dead in my tracks. He had stopped dancing and was standing with one foot in the street, perfectly parallel to me. He was facing me but still looking skyward. Smile still wide on his lips.

I was completely and utterly unnerved by this. I started walking again, but kept my eyes on the man. He didn’t move. Once I had put about half a block between us, I turned away from him for a moment to watch the sidewalk in front of me. The street and sidewalk ahead of me were completely empty. Still unnerved, I looked back to where he had been standing to find him gone. For the briefest of moments I felt relieved, until I noticed him. He had crossed the street, and was now slightly crouched down. I couldn’t tell for sure due to the distance and the shadows, but I was certain he was facing me. I had looked away from him for no more than 10 seconds, so it was clear that he had moved fast.

I was so shocked that I stood there for some time, staring at him. And then he started moving toward me again. He took giant, exaggerated tip toed steps, as if he were a cartoon character sneaking up on someone. Except he was moving very, very quickly.

I’d like to say at this point I ran away or pulled out my pepper spray or my cellphone or anything at all, but I didn’t. I just stood there, completely frozen as the smiling man crept toward me.

And then he stopped again, about a car length away from me. Still smiling his smile, still looking to the sky.

When I finally found my voice, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. What I meant to ask was, “What do you want?!” in an angry, commanding tone. What came out was a whimper: “Whaaat…?”

Regardless of whether or not humans can smell fear, they can certainly hear it. I heard it in my own voice, and that only made me more afraid. But he didn’t react to it at all. He just stood there, smiling.

And then, after what felt like forever, he turned around, very slowly, and started dance-walking away. Just like that. Not wanting to turn my back to him again, I just watched him go, until he was far enough away to almost be out of sight. And then I realized something. He wasn’t moving away anymore, nor was he dancing. I watched in horror as the distant shape of him grew larger and larger. He was coming back my way. And this time he was running.

I ran as well

I ran until I was off of the side road and back onto a better lit road with sparse traffic. Looking behind me then, he was nowhere to be found. The rest of the way home, I kept glancing over my shoulder, always expecting to see his stupid smile, but he was never there.

I lived in that city for six months after that night, and I never went out for another walk. There was something about his face that always haunted me. He didn’t look drunk, he didn’t look high. He looked completely and utterly insane. And that’s a very, very scary thing to see.

The Smiling Man

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Pumpkin2500 avatar
Pumpkin2500
3 years ago

ooo creepy (i really wish pictures still worked on this site lol)

bell in hell
bell in hell
3 years ago

yo can google the picture you will know which one it is when you see it

yahir
yahir
4 years ago

I was sad that ghost are not real but that all changed when one dsy I was walking down street and I saw a woman who look like she was In her 30s and she take

bruh13 avatar
bruh13
6 years ago

omd i watched the youtube vid of this. i think i have a fetish for the smiling man now lol XD

B
Beepbeep
6 years ago

I couldn’t see a picture on my phone but based on these comments I’m not really sure if I want to see it…

CRIMSONBEAST avatar
CRIMSONBEAST
7 years ago

i imagined everything while reading it .. i actually felt like if i was in his place .. its an amazing pasta

TowerMalfunction avatar
TowerMalfunction
7 years ago

Well I think a gun is now coming with me everywhere I walk. Thank you sir for never again letting me walk at night in peace. Jokes aside, this is a great read. Its simply creepy. A very creepy and classic feel to it. Wish I could see the dude to make it that much creepier…

Punk Elf
Punk Elf
7 years ago

this is a very interesting story! very well done… to bad i can’t see the picture…

Hugh
Hugh
7 years ago

This one gave me motherfucking nightmares

Vad92
Vad92
7 years ago

Shiiiit! The photo!
I was in the dark.

That0neguy avatar
That0neguy
7 years ago

Picture? What picture? Oh well. The story has a creepy feeling. I can’t stop thinking about how the smile looks >.>

A
arashasa
7 years ago

The picture seems to be missing… Opening it’s URL brings up a 404 eroor page.
Nevertheless, this was quite unnerving….

P
pau
7 years ago

I love walking alone at night, i just find the emptiness of streets really peaceful. But after reading this what i once found peaceful is now really very creepy.

random_guitarist avatar
random_guitarist
7 years ago

Weirdly I seem to remember reading this in school when I was like 9 // Tasty pasta!

KryssiPasta avatar
KryssiPasta
8 years ago

That is incredibly creepy. Loved it!

Shizuko avatar
Shizuko
8 years ago

Amazing story! Quite well written as well,and that picture gave me the creeps O_O

TheplantFern avatar
TheplantFern
8 years ago

Awesome, it gain me that panicked feeling I love to get when reading a good pasta.

marta avatar
marta
8 years ago

It’s too bad i can’t see picture on my lumia,but i bet i already k how it looks like,any way,good job 4 inserting a pic.god dayum,tht was my first creepypasta tht sucked me in wanting 4more :p this is scary 4 a thot & it is accurate for ppl working the night shifts&ppl tht r like me loving the dark or just ppl tht by any circumstances r now in a black alley or something.gives awareness . Madness in humans is by far most scariest thing humanity&all living earth creatures ever seen.it secretly lurks in the mind of a person waiting to get out n tht can b caused by various tragedies ,so it is unpredictable. Madness drives ppl do scary,unhuman,barbaristic things tht healthy human mind would never enter,making hurt others around them n themselves.

IAmBread avatar
IAmBread
8 years ago

I could not see the picture on my mobile device, but it seems to not be your fault. Creepy one also, gave me the chills! 9/10 breads.

Lexii
Lexii
8 years ago

This was posted on my birthday… Holy fuck…