As The Raven Dreams Podcast - Nightingale Floors | Creepypasta/Horror Fiction

Starting point is 00:00:11 Today's story is Nightingale Floors by Feeding on Fear from the Creepypasta Fandom Wiki. I agreed to watch my son's house for him while he was away on a trip in Japan. He moved out about two years ago after getting a well-paying tech job with some big computer company. In that time, he's been able to save up some money to go on this trip he's always wanted to do. Every kid has their special interests. Well, I guess my son's special interest is anything Japanese. He's been obsessed with anime and katanas and things of that nature since he was a young teenager. I guess it could be worse.

Starting point is 00:00:57 I always thought it was weird, but he's not hurting anyone, and it makes him happy. I pulled up to his driveway and noticed that his car was already gone. I assumed he would be there to greet me and say goodbye, but I guess now he's too old to even give me a hug before leaving. I walked up some concrete stairs to get to his unkempt porch and opened the front door. As I walked in, I saw a handwritten note sitting on the dining table, obviously meant to catch the attention of anyone coming into the front door. Did some home improvement. Ever heard of Nightingale floors? They're big in Japan. I read the note and pondered what that could even mean. My son is by no means a handyman, so whatever he's done must be fairly simple.

Starting point is 00:01:47 The house wasn't obviously changed in any discernible way when standing just inside the door. I put the note down and decided that I would find it when I find it. I started walking further into the house and noticed that every single step made a creaking noise. First, I thought the place just had an especially squeaky floor until I realized every room in the house had this problem, except the basement. In the basement, I found his DIY work. Nails and hinges had been screwed to the floor planks and beams in a way that makes them rub against each other and make that metallic squeaking. I sighed and figured I could put up with it for just a week. It was getting late, so I headed back upstairs to the living room to watch some TV. The living room was decorated with a bunch of figures and posters of anime characters,

Starting point is 00:02:46 none of which I recognized. It seemed childish to me, but I'm not about to tell my son how to spend his money. Before sitting down, I looked all around for a coffee maker. No coffee pot or curing machine, but there were plenty of energy drinks in the fridge. I decided to pass on them, and instead just went to bed in the guest room. The guest room was more normally decorated, just some rather boring white wallpaper and the same gray carpet that every other room had. As I lay in the twin bed that was entirely too small,

Starting point is 00:03:25 I thought about how weird this place is. I would never decorate my house with a bunch of toys as a grown man. Then something more important came to the forefront of my mind. I couldn't remember if I had locked the front door after coming in. I got out of bed and went to check. The creaking of the floors followed me all the way. I pressed down on the handle and sure enough, the door was locked. It was then that I realized something else.

Starting point is 00:03:58 There were no keys on the table for me when I arrived, and I had yet to find any. That meant that I couldn't lock the doors if I had to go somewhere. I went back to bed for the night, and I won't lie walking the long, dark hallway back to the bedroom with creaky floors, was still unerving, even as a grown man. The light switch was outside the bedroom door, so I had to walk a little ways in a pitch-black hallway,

Starting point is 00:04:29 seeing as all the other lights were off as well. When I woke up early the next day, I quickly realized there wasn't much to eat in the fridge. I would have to go out for groceries. As I stepped on to the porch getting ready to go to the store, I hesitated leaving, seeing as the house would have to be unlocked for the time being. I rationalized that, at most, I'll only be gone for an hour. So I gave in and decided to just leave the house unlocked. it's not like I had any other option. When I returned, I piled the bags onto the kitchen counter until the car was empty,

Starting point is 00:05:09 and then set to actually putting them away. Something bothered me, though. When I brought the first load inside, the first few steps into the house made the squeaking noises like usual, but they sounded a little different. They sounded almost as if they were. weren't squeaking right under me, but instead in the living room. The living room and kitchen are separated by a wall and two arched doorways, so I guess it isn't crazy to think some sections of

Starting point is 00:05:42 the floors share beams under the floor. I unloaded the rest of the bags from the car and that weird squeak from the other room only seemed to happen on that first trip. I guess I stepped on a plank in just the right way to make it do that. I spent the rest of the day doing nothing. too interesting. I researched Nightingale floors in this time. Apparently, they were used in palaces and temples to protect against ninjas, though they didn't even design the floors to do that on purpose. As it got later, I put a frozen pizza in the oven and got a Starbucks iced coffee out of the fridge to drink while I watched some TV. I went to bed about 10 p.m. and reluctantly shut off all the lights and marched down that black hallway with my only working sense being my hearing.

Starting point is 00:06:35 I could see nothing, but seemingly could hear everything, especially each and every creak of the floor. When I got to the guest room, I was relieved to be able to turn a light on and see again. I guess we never grow out of being scared of the dark. I call. I call, I close. I closed the door behind me, as I left the hallway, and just laid in bed with the lights on for a few minutes. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that if something was in the dark, then I would know, because of the floors. Then I felt a little silly for being scared. If anything, I should be less scared in the dark with these floors. I shut the light off and tried to get some sleep.

Starting point is 00:07:28 Eventually, I awoke and had to use the bathroom. I didn't bother to turn on the lights as to not bother my eyes. As I got up out of bed, I bumped into something before running my hand on the wall to find the door handle. The bathroom was almost in the dead middle of the hallway between the guest room and the living room. I felt along the wall until I grabbed the handle and entered the bathroom. The bathroom had a little nightlight plugged into the wall inside it. I sat down to do my business, staring into the large mirror that stretched from about sitting eye-level to almost the ceiling. As I sat on the toilet, I had a thought.

Starting point is 00:08:09 The first time I entered the house, the floorboards right in front of the door didn't squeak. In fact, I can only remember them squeaking one time ever, and even then the sound came from the living room, not the kitchen. I began to creep myself out with my own thoughts and regretted not turning all the lights on when I woke up. It was then that I heard the one singular creek outside in the hallway, and my blood ran cold as I asked myself a question. What did I bump into? The only piece of furniture in the guest room is the bed that I was sleeping in.

Starting point is 00:08:52 No nightstands or closets or anything. And then I heard another creak. I sat frozen, unable to do anything but listen. It seemed like whatever was making the sound was intentionally trying to be quiet. I could imagine a person taking long, exaggerated steps to make less noise. I heard another creak, and then another. ever closer they came. They seemed to be coming from the direction of the guest room, but then they stopped.

Starting point is 00:09:31 I must have sat their paralyzed for 20 minutes before I even had the courage to stand up off the toilet. I turned on the light in the bathroom so I could see more than just what the nightlight illuminates. I stood in front of the door for what seemed like an eternity and thought about what might be on the other side. or what I would do after opening the door. In a moment of either bravery or foolishness, I threw open the door and stepped back. I saw nothing but the wall of the hallway. The light from the bathroom only lit up what was directly outside the bathroom. I now had about a foot of light worth of vision in the hallway,

Starting point is 00:10:14 flanked by an inky abyss on either side going towards the living room and the guest room. The bathroom light flickered and went out. And I was left with nothing but the nightlight. I could only see what was directly in front of me. And then I heard another squeak outside the door. So that, my friends, was Nightingale Floors by Feeding on Fear. Bit of a, no offense to the author. Basic scary story.

Starting point is 00:10:57 A bit of a basic fiction horror story. that employs something that you have to have a little bit of knowledge about in order for it to actually be truly scary. Let me give you that knowledge right now. Nightingale floors are deliberately squeaky wooden floors found in ancient Japanese castles and temples. They use loose metal clamps and nails driven into the support beams, so whenever they saw the basement floors

Starting point is 00:11:22 and they were disappointed in how they looked, that's intentional. The floors are deliberately squeaky, um, to stop intruders, basically. So even the lightest and stealthiest footsteps causes a creaking noise. So any noise you hear means somebody is stepping on the floor. Therego, someone broke into the house, or someone was in the house, or something. It's hard to say. I do love ambiguous endings, which this person definitely gave the story an ambiguous ending.

Starting point is 00:11:54 I personally actually enjoy those. if you didn't, I apologize, but I think they're kind of fun, actually. And this was an interesting story. And in my opinion, it used the basics of a squeaky floor to kind of create that tension. So thank you to this person. Again, this was posted to the creepypasta wiki, so it was CC by essay. I will link to it down in the description so you guys have access to the story. Feeding on fear, you did a pretty good job on this one.

Starting point is 00:12:22 I enjoyed it, so. If you enjoyed the story, my friends, and you're on the story, YouTube side. Consider liking the video. Consider subscribing and leaving a comment and sharing it if you feel so inclined. And yeah, also you can subscribe to the main channel as the Raven Dreams. If you're on the Spotify or podcast side, Spotify, consider leaving a comment with your thoughts on this, rating the podcast if you enjoy my work. If you're on like Apple or something, you can leave a star rating. I don't remember if you can, I don't think you'll leave comments on Apple, so. Not yet at least. someday maybe. And if you're on none of those but you're listening on

Starting point is 00:12:59 some other podcast platform, well, just keep listening. That support means a lot. You can join the Patreon or YouTube memberships to get early access to content like this. Patreon.com slash As the Raven Dreams. You can also check out my merch store, atr-d dot shop, should get you there. If you have a story centered in to asther Raven Dreams.com or email it to Asther Raven Dreams at gmail.com. If you're a fiction author and want to send me a story, please do just make sure you mark your story as fiction because if it's not marked as fiction i assume it's supposed to be true and then if i read a story that's a fiction story that's supposed to be

Starting point is 00:13:35 true i'll probably contact you and be like hey are you okay anyways hope you guys enjoyed and yeah have a great day i'll see you again soon until then remember you are loved valid and important and you're the best that you can be don't forget it until next time much love and sleep well

As The Raven Dreams Podcast - Nightingale Floors | Creepypasta/Horror Fiction

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