The Lamp Story (Reddit Creepypasta)
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About
The Reddit Lamp Story sometimes called refers to a creepypasta that originated on Reddit. In 2012, Redditor /u/temptotosssoon recounted an experience where he imagined that he lived an entirely different life in the moments after he sustained a head injury, only shaking out of his dream when he became enraptured by a lamp in his living room. The story has been reposted on Reddit's /r/Glitch as well as the Creepypasta Wiki, having a resurgence on TikTok in 2023.
Origin
On January 11th, 2012, Redditor /u/temptotosssoon[1] responded to a /r/AskReddit that read, "Have you ever felt a deep personal connection to a person you met in a dream only to wake up feeling terrible because you realize they never existed?"
The Redditor described an experience where he enjoyed a life with his wife and two children, only to be distracted by a lamp going fuzzy in his living room, causing his life to break down and reveal that he had only his family after sustaining a head injury. The post gathered over 2,000 upvotes in 10 years (seen below).
![[-] temptotosssoon 2198 points 11 years ago* (last edited 11 years ago) throw away account cause this is really personal. My last semester at a certain college I was assulted by a football player for walking where he was trying to drive (note he was 325lbs I was 120lbs), while unconscious on the ground I lived a different life. I met a wonderful young lady, she made my heart skip and my face red, I pursued her for months and dispatched a few jerk boyfriends before I finally won her over, after two years we got married and almost immediately she bore me a daughter. I had a great job and my wife didn't have to work outside of the house, when my daughter was two she [my wife] bore me a son. My son was the joy of my life, I would walk into his room every morning before I left for work and doted on him and my daughter. One day while sitting on the couch I noticed that the perspective of the lamp was odd, like inverted. It was still in 3D but... just.. wrong. (It was a square lamp base, red with gold trim on 4 legs and a white square shade). I was transfixed, I couldn't look away from it. I stayed up all night staring at it, the next morning I didn't go to work, something was just not right about that lamp. I stopped eating, I left the couch only to use the bathroom at first, soon I stopped that too as I wasn't eating or drinking. I stared at the f------ lamp for 3 days before my wife got really worried, she had someone come and try to talk to me, by this time my cognizance was breaking up and my wife was freaking out. She took the kids to her mother's house just before I had my epiphany.... the lamp is not real.... the house is not real, my wife, my kids... none of that is real... the last 10 years of my life are not f------ real! The lamp started to grow wider and deeper, it was still inverted dimensions, it took up my entire perspective and all I could see was red, I heard voices, screams, all kinds of weird noises and I became aware of pain.... a f------ s--- ton of pain... the first words I said were "I'm missing teeth" and opened my eyes. I was laying on my back on the sidewalk surrounded by people that I didn't know, lots were freaking out, I was completely confused. at some point a cop scooped me up, dragged/walked me across the sidewalk and grass and threw me face down in the back of a cop car, I was still confused. I was taken to the hospital by the cop (seems he didn't want to wait for the ambulance to arrive) and give CT scans and s---.. I went through about 3 years of horrid depression, I was grieving the loss of my wife and children and dealing with the knowledge that they never existed, I was scared that I was going insane as I would cry myself to sleep hoping I would see her in my dreams. I never have, but sometimes I see my son, usually just a glimpse out of my peripheral vision, he is perpetually 5 years old and I can never hear what he says. EDIT (24 hours after post): never though anyone would read this, I changed a line so that it no longer seems that my 2 year old daughter bore a child. I have never seen Inception or the Star Trek episode so many have mentioned (but I will eventually) I will not do an AMA I've had many PM's describing similar experiences and 3 posters stating such experiences are impossible, I'd say more research needs to be done on brain functions. Pre-med students, don't assume you know everything. A few have asked if they can write a book/screen play/stage play/rage comic etcetera, please consider this tale open source and have fun with it permalink source embed save save-RES report hide child comments](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/704/906/77e.png "The Lamp Story (Reddit Creepypasta)")
Spread
Redditor /u/temptotosssoon's story was subsequently reposted to viral effect on Reddit's /r/Glitch[2] subreddit by /u/TriumphantGeorge on March 30th, 2015, where it gathered over 11,000 upvotes in eight years. The post was accompanied by an introduction that read:
One of my favourite glitches is this one posted by /u/temptotasssoon, who apparently lives an entire life in the moments after a head injury. He eventually awakes from this dream when he notices that something is strange about a lamp.
People are always asking for it, but because it's in a comment rather than a proper post, it's hard to search for. So, I'm reposting it here to give the story its proper place in glitch history…
On June 23rd, 2020, YouTuber[5] Quack Tales animated the story and uploaded it to YouTube, gathering over 21,000 views in three years (seen below, left). YouTuber[6] Dread Central posted the story on April 7th, 2022, gathering over 25,000 likes (seen below, right).
The Lamp Story was featured on TikTok years after it was initially posted on Reddit, with TikToker[3] @guacamolephil posting a video recounting it on March 31st, 2022, and gathering over 2.4 million plays and 100,000 likes in a year (seen below, left). The story had a resurgence on the platform in 2023, with TikToker[4] @wafflem28 posting a meme about the story on November 12th, 2023, gathering over 6 million plays and 600,000 likes in a week (seen below, right).
@guacamolephil #reddit #crazy #storytime #fyp ♬ Mysterious – Andreas Scherren
@wafflem28 The Lamp Story, inspired by a reddit story #distressingmems #horror #creepy #fyp #americanpsycho ♬ original sound – waffle 🧇
Various Examples
@helen_christie iykyk 😩💡#thelamp #redditstories #redditreadings #thelampstory ♬ Brutus (Instrumental) – The Buttress
@thebufferfish SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME THAT YOU KNOW THE STUPID REDDIT LAMP STORY, I THINK THIS IS TOO NICHE 😭
♬ Ghost zombie – Herving_😮💨
Search Interest
Unavailable.
External References
[1] Reddit – /r/AskReddit
[3] TikTok – guacamolephil
[5] YouTube – Quack Tales
[6] YouTube – Dread Central
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![[-] temptotosssoon 2198 points 11 years ago* (last edited 11 years ago) throw away account cause this is really personal. My last semester at a certain college I was assulted by a football player for walking where he was trying to drive (note he was 325lbs I was 120lbs), while unconscious on the ground I lived a different life. I met a wonderful young lady, she made my heart skip and my face red, I pursued her for months and dispatched a few jerk boyfriends before I finally won her over, after two years we got married and almost immediately she bore me a daughter. I had a great job and my wife didn't have to work outside of the house, when my daughter was two she [my wife] bore me a son. My son was the joy of my life, I would walk into his room every morning before I left for work and doted on him and my daughter. One day while sitting on the couch I noticed that the perspective of the lamp was odd, like inverted. It was still in 3D but... just.. wrong. (It was a square lamp base, red with gold trim on 4 legs and a white square shade). I was transfixed, I couldn't look away from it. I stayed up all night staring at it, the next morning I didn't go to work, something was just not right about that lamp. I stopped eating, I left the couch only to use the bathroom at first, soon I stopped that too as I wasn't eating or drinking. I stared at the f------ lamp for 3 days before my wife got really worried, she had someone come and try to talk to me, by this time my cognizance was breaking up and my wife was freaking out. She took the kids to her mother's house just before I had my epiphany.... the lamp is not real.... the house is not real, my wife, my kids... none of that is real... the last 10 years of my life are not f------ real! The lamp started to grow wider and deeper, it was still inverted dimensions, it took up my entire perspective and all I could see was red, I heard voices, screams, all kinds of weird noises and I became aware of pain.... a f------ s--- ton of pain... the first words I said were "I'm missing teeth" and opened my eyes. I was laying on my back on the sidewalk surrounded by people that I didn't know, lots were freaking out, I was completely confused. at some point a cop scooped me up, dragged/walked me across the sidewalk and grass and threw me face down in the back of a cop car, I was still confused. I was taken to the hospital by the cop (seems he didn't want to wait for the ambulance to arrive) and give CT scans and s---.. I went through about 3 years of horrid depression, I was grieving the loss of my wife and children and dealing with the knowledge that they never existed, I was scared that I was going insane as I would cry myself to sleep hoping I would see her in my dreams. I never have, but sometimes I see my son, usually just a glimpse out of my peripheral vision, he is perpetually 5 years old and I can never hear what he says. EDIT (24 hours after post): never though anyone would read this, I changed a line so that it no longer seems that my 2 year old daughter bore a child. I have never seen Inception or the Star Trek episode so many have mentioned (but I will eventually) I will not do an AMA I've had many PM's describing similar experiences and 3 posters stating such experiences are impossible, I'd say more research needs to be done on brain functions. Pre-med students, don't assume you know everything. A few have asked if they can write a book/screen play/stage play/rage comic etcetera, please consider this tale open source and have fun with it permalink source embed save save-RES report hide child comments](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/list/002/704/906/77e.png "The Lamp Story (Reddit Creepypasta)")
Top Comments
polandgod75
Nov 23, 2023 at 09:10PM EST
Onion Man
Nov 23, 2023 at 10:34PM EST