In the fall of 2011, a man hung himself in a bottling factory of a popular over the counter sleep aide company just outside Chicago. The man worked as a quality control manager and had just been laid off to save the company money. In the morning, the cleaning crew found him swaying in the breeze from the air conditioning system with a note in his breast pocket that read “sleep tight.”
Over the next few months a string of strange deaths were associated with areas where the sleep aides from the factory were shipped. Seemingly healthy people had died in their sleep from apparent strangulation. All the victims had severe bruising on their throats. Oddly, police were unable to ascertain how the murderer entered the victim’s home or a possible motive for the murder. Further, vivid reports began coming in from people who had taken the pills but not died.
One lady reported taking the pill and right before she fell asleep she opened her eyes and a bald, middle aged, man wearing a short sleeved white collared shirt was hovering just above her face. She closed her eyes hoping the man would disappear but when she opened her eyes he was there, inches from her face. She even recalls feeling the man’s breathing on her forehead. He then began strangling her. Luckily for her, her husband noticed her gasping for air in her sleep and quickly woke her.
Another man recalls falling asleep after taking the pills. He awoke to the figure of a man swaying in the corner of his room. He turned on the light next to his bed and saw the man with better accuracy. He was a bald, middle aged, man wearing a short sleeved white collared shirt. The bald man then removed the noose from his neck and reportedly floated towards the man attempting to strangle him. Again it was the man’s spouse who woke him. He awoke gasping for air in shear terror.
The FDA did a full investigation and found no evidence of tampering. Even after a recall of the pills and a public awareness campaign warning of possible tampering, the deaths and reports of the bald man didn’t stop. It was only when the company shut down the factory that the deaths and reports decreased. It is unknown how many deaths were the result of the apparent tampering or how many of the pills from that factory are still sitting in cabinets across the country.
i loved this !! — it was a perfect short and i know thats hard to do.
its weird reading the comments and seeing people say getting laid off isn’t motivation enough.. some people haven’t lived life … if you get laid off your job which your whole life relies on – it makes sense if you just get rid of your life too….
5/5
This tiny creepypasta is one of the better ones I’ve read it causes you to think if the man actually is dead or if he faked his death and then killed people supporting the company.
Great pasta, very original.
i thought it was a good pasta i don’t know i felt getting laid off was a good reason i can see how he built up his hatred for why he got fired just to save money so good job !
i loved it! It reminded me of a nightmare my friend once had, she woke up with bruises on her arms where she had been abused by a devil girl in her dream. Creepy. Keep up the good work!
It was short and well written but it could have had more grotesque detail of victims
It was… ok. Short and to the point I suppose
you have a way with words- short and to the point. i hope to read more. :0
this is why i don’t take sleeping pills…
cant rly say it was too gud 🙁 expected more out of this author
It was short. It was to the point. It was great. You told a great story without making it lengthy, which is something very few short-story writers can do. Thank you for writing.
I agree with noobersauce on this one. well written :).
I agree with the author on this one. Some people don’t need a lot of motivation…after all, that’s why they call it “going postal”. Well written story.
This is really good!! 🙂
Liking your job? Hell Imagine that being the only source of income in his household…Imagine your family not having food on the table because you no longer have a job, imagine your bills piling up, your car being repossessed and your house being foreclosed on, imagine not being able to afford the basic necessities, that’s not including if said man or said man’s family needed any medical supplies…imagine suddenly not having a source of income after you’ve been working for the same company for years, you gave them years of your life only to be booted out like trash because they couldn’t afford to keep you on their payroll, THAT is enough motivation, What I WILL say is that I believe perhaps a little backstory on the man’s life might add to the story…:)
I agree with the author on this one. Being laid off for next to no reason SUCKS, especially when it’s just due to expense cuts and you drew the short straw.
It really sucks if you liked the job and felt solidairty among your superiors at some point.
Imagine one day you show up one morning to work at the job you like only to be taken aside before you even reach your desk, just to be sent home with your final pay cheque. Happened to me recently, so I can relate to the loss and betrayal that the character must have felt.
I was lucky enough to have my weekend job to fall back on, but I was still pretty bed ridden with the depression of it all for like a week.
This is well done, but I agree with noobersauce. I don’t think losing his job was enough of a motive. Maybe if there was more of a backstory to the worker, or being laid off for a reason other than expense cuts, it would feel justified.
Anyway, it was a good read and an interesting idea.
Thanks for your response! I respectfully disagree becaue I think being laid off is a great motivation. Many people have lost the sense of respect from thier employer which I think is a vital compnoent of the American Dream. People put alot of stock into their career; geographic location, sense of self worth, social networks and last but not least economic subsistence. To have your career so thoughtlessly ended by a soul less corporation is sure to inspire anger. So I was trying to tap into the overall distrust of large corporations and get a sense of justice for the little guy. Now, you’re right, you or I may not murder innocent people. But then again, I’m not an angry spirit. It implies that spirits have less compassion for innocent folks. Anyways, thanks for reading and I greatly appreciate your comment!
The concept behind this was actually quite nice, but I think the ghost of the man could have had a better motive than just being laid off his job it’s seems a bit too flimsy.