TheLaughingMan.exe

I enjoy text-based adventures. The idea that there are no graphics and everything is described in such detail, so as to entice the player to see the setting for themselves, is what makes me love them more than any other genre of game. They’re basically like playing a choose your own adventure book. It was this love for text-based adventures that got me in the mess I’m in.
A few weeks ago, I decided to replay one of my favorite text-based adventures, Zork. The complexity of the game when I first tried it out in Middle school, however, was lost. The nostalgia factor, though, that was still alive. Sadly, it didn’t keep me interested for long. I went to google and started searching for mods that fans had made. Download after download produced mediocre copies and shoddy story lines that couldn’t keep me hooked like my treasured Zork. As I was giving up hope, I ran across a game called The Laughing Man. Thinking it was a fan game based on the Ghost in the Shell terrorist, I downloaded it to see how it would play out. What I played, however, had nothing to do with Ghost in the Shell.
The game started out like any other text game, explaining your adventure to you and painting your surroundings with words.
"You find yourself alone in the living room of your one bedroom apartment, sitting on your couch with your laptop on the coffee table in front of you. In the hopes of reviving the feeling you once had from one of your favorite games, Zork, you began to download various fan-based adventures and mods. After several hours of searching and finding nothing that could hold a candle to your prized treasure, you began to give up hope. That is, until you found The Laughing Man! You install the game and eagerly await for the game to begin, knowing that it’s going to be a game you won’t soon forget!" the words popped up on the screen and gave me a bit of a chill. How did the creator know my intentions for playing the game? This fear was immediately brushed off when I realized it was very vague in describing the room I was in. Whoever made this game was taking a shot in the dark to try and scare the player. I was excited, though, I hadn’t run across a horror game like this before and was eager to keep playing. I should’ve just stopped there.
Wanting to test the limits of the game, I did a simple command. Look. What came up next was something that I’ll never forget.
"You look around your living room, beige walls surrounding you. On these bland walls, you’ve attempted to spice up the mundane paint with some posters of your favorite movies and games. On the northern wall is your front door, a sickly green the landlord put up in the hopes of making the place less dreary. Next to the sickly green door sits a window, peeking out into the dark parking lot where your silver Mitsubishi Lancer rests. Towards the southern wall is your bedroom door. The Eastern wall sits behind your 36" flat screen TV, a present from your father you received when you moved out. The Western wall is where your couch is, which you’re sitting on now. A bit off center in the room is your coffee table, which holds a variety of empty beer bottles and soda cans. You really need to clean up!" I stared at the screen of my laptop, astonished. The game had just described my apartment’s living room and even threw in the make and model of my car. Before I could type anything else, a message appeared on the screen.
"The Laughing Man sees you, what do you do? :)"
I was perplexed, it didn’t say who the laughing man was and why this was so important. Not knowing what else to do, I typed in ‘Look’ again.
"You look around, and aside from your boring, and slightly messy, living space you see nothing." I was about to look out the window when the message appeared again.
"The Laughing Man sees you, what do you do? Do you run? :)"
This time the message had a bit of a hint attached to it, I’m guessing the creator must have added that for beginners. Then again, this creator seemed to have planned ahead for a lot of things. With this new clue in hand, I decided to run, keying in the command swiftly.
"CAN’T RUN!" The message flashed across my laptop’s screen in dark red. I know it sounds silly, but when it comes to a text-based game, scares like that can make you jump. I was standing in my living room when I looked out the window and noticed a strange figure in the parking lot. Looking back to the screen, I decided to input the command ‘Look out window.’
"You see a strange figure outside in the dark parking lot. You can’t make out its face, but you can’t shake this nagging feeling it has its eyes on you. :)"
This game was getting weird. I wanted to shut my laptop down and call the police, but once again the game had sent up another message.
"You try to shut off your laptop and call the police, but the game won’t stop until you finish it. Looking at the phone lines, you see they have been cut. :)"
Sure enough, looking to my phone, the cord’s been cut. Thankfully, I still had my cellphone. Closing my laptop, I dialed 911 in the hopes of getting someone to tell me I’m being paranoid and scared. Before I could press the last digit on my phone’s touch screen I heard what sounded like laughter. Thinking it was from my cell phone, I pulled it away, yet the laughter continued. It sounded hollow, almost like the canned laughter on a sitcom. Looking around for the source, my eyes landed on my laptop. It was coming from the speakers. Opening my laptop, slowly and cautiously, I saw the game was still running. A new message had shown up.
"The Laughing Man is knocking on your door. :)"
As soon as I had read the message, there was a knock on my door. Without hesitation, I ran up to the front door, flipped the dead bolt, and finished dialing 911. As I waited for the line to connect, the knocking on my door became louder and louder. The sound of laughter from before starting to emanate from my laptop’s speakers again. I couldn’t take it anymore, I slammed my laptop shut and booked it for my bedroom, the cellphone still tight to my ear, still making the same dull busy tone.
As I sat in my room, the muffled knock on my door getting louder and more aggressive, I prayed for someone to pick up the phone. Lingering beneath the banging I could hear the faint sound of laughter from my laptop become more maniacal and sinister. Finally, the line connected and I heard a voice, all fear leaving me for a split second.
"The Laughing Man is outside your bedroom door, do you let him?" the voice was cold and empty, almost robotic. My spine froze, my skin tightened from the physical chill brought about by this alien and distant voice. As I dropped the phone, I heard a knocking at my bedroom door. I didn’t have any options, I was on the second floor and didn’t think I could make the jump down. I should have just jumped.
My trembling hand gripped the door knob and slowly turned it. I could hear the hinges creak as I pulled the door open. What stood before me was a horrible abomination of God, if there ever was one. It stood over 6 feet tall, the top of its head turned to an odd angle so it could fit inside of my small living room. Dark green, wrinkled skin seemed to be piled onto this large monster. Looking closer at its face, it was almost human. It looked like a middle aged man had been forced to wear this enormous, awkward suit that was three times his size. On the man’s face, I’ll never forget his face, he wore a painful grin. It was almost as if some invisible being had forced hooks into the corners of his mouth and pulled up, creating a tight smile. Its eyes were filled with pain, yet it continued to smile that large, toothy, agonizing smile. I couldn’t breathe, terror had taken that pleasure away from me. I just stood there, eyes locked with this gigantic beast of nightmares. It began to let out this soft whisper, almost like it was giggling. The giggling changed to a chuckle, then obnoxious laughter. As we stood there, permanently locked in a staring contest, this thing began to laugh hysterically, the folds in its wrinkled skin filling out as it brought in lungfuls of air. When I couldn’t take anymore, my head pounding from the boisterous laughter, I fainted.
That was all I remember from that night. I woke up the next morning, my laptop still on my table, door locked up tight, everything exactly where it was before that monster came into my house. At first, I thought it was just a dream I had. Yeah, that had to be it, a nightmare fueled by my search for a new game to satisfy my Zork nostalgia. That is, until I checked my cell phone. I had 2 text messages from an unknown number. The first one read:
"Game over. :)"
I tensed up as I looked at the two words. Those two simple words that confirmed that my nightmares were real. When I looked at the second text, I couldn’t catch my breath.
"The Laughing Man sees you, what do you do? :)"
Ever since then, I’ve changed numbers, addresses, even went so far as to change my name. I’ve even given up playing text-based adventures. Last thing I want is to relive that night HE came. If it was even a HE. Still, every once in a while, I get a text from an unknown number. I don’t read them, he doesn’t come if you don’t play. Which brings me to the whole point of this story. If you ever find a file named TheLaughingMan.exe, don’t run it. Don’t even look at it. Otherwise, he’ll come and he’ll find you. And if he does find you, don’t run. You can’t run, because there’s no real escape from him. :)

 Written by naldoD20 for /r/nosleep (source)