Lighthouse Horror Podcast - 6 RULES for idiots who want to Summon a Demon | Scary Stories

Episode Date: October 5, 2024

Rule number 5 haunts me to this day... Scary Story exclusively written for the channel by The Lighthouse Horror Team  Cover Art from Ninerio More of the artist’s works at ninerioarts                      Original YouTube link: 6 RULES for idiots who want to Summon a Demon       Merch: lighthousehorror.shop For more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel: Lighthouse Horror | YouTube  Patreon: Lighthouse Horror | Patreon Music: Lucas King - YouTube Myuu - YouTube  Incompetech Darren Curtis Music - YouTube  Thank you for listening to this scary story! If you enjoyed this new creepypasta story, please check out some of my other horror stories. We'll be uploading new episodes every week, featuring ghost stories, haunted encounters, mysteries, true stories, creepypasta, and anything supernatural and paranormal. Don't miss out on the thrill and suspense that await you in each episode!

Once you start the ritual, make sure you know how to end it. I'd been stuck in my apartment for ten days straight, I think. Wasn't really sure. It was hard to remember anything since I started the ritual. I didn't sleep much. And the food went bad days ago. But leaving was not an option. Not if I wanted to save Maddie.

One more night. That's all it would take. I hoped. Now, Maddie's my twin brother. He was the good one, you know. He'd always been the golden boy, smart, considerate, loved by everyone. He even got a full scholarship to college. It was like someone split up the good and bad parts of a person when Maddie and I were born.

Me? I've always been on the wrong side of everything. Jobs, the law, you name it. Maddie was the only one who never stopped believing in me. I never meant for it to turn out that way. I just didn't think things through. But I didn't care about any of that. What mattered was that I couldn't just watch him die.

Not when there was something I could do about it. I found this book, you see. I was in this old secondhand bookstore to get something to cheer my brother up. Maddie loved the pulpy crime thrillers that were on clearance. He could tear through a stack of those in a week, probably because he couldn't do much else from a hospital bed. But that was where I found it. A book called The Gospel of Worms,

a skinny leather-bound thing that smelled like mold. It was shoved under a pile of murder mysteries, like it was waiting for me to find it. Though calling in a book was an understatement, it was all handwritten. Every inch of it was covered in notes and scribbles. A few of the pages had whole sections crossed out in red ink. And the pictures, they looked like they were printed out and glued on. But it said it could give someone control over life, sickness, and even death.

I thought it was a joke. at first? Or maybe I was just curious. I can't remember anymore. My memory, it hasn't been the same since I found it. All I remember was I started reading and I couldn't stop. I stayed in my apartment until I missed visiting hours. I didn't get to bring Maddie his books that day. I felt awful when I noticed the time. but the nurse told me they had to give him an emergency dose of meds that afternoon, so he was knocked out most of the day anyway. I dropped by the hospital the next morning. Maddie was still asleep, but I wanted to drop his books off,

so he had something nice to wake up to. I placed the stack on the table, and I gave his hand a squeeze. His eyes opened instantly, and he smiled at me. Wow, thanks, Mikey. That's enough to last me a lifetime, he said. I gripped his hand tighter. Hey, man, don't joke like that. You're going to live long enough to see every one of these guys retire, I said.

I bet their publishers would still put out the books even after they die. He started. I'm pretty sure that James Patsy. Patterson is going to be on the New York Times bestsellers list until Judgment Day, Maddie said, struggling to say every word. But he'd always been the type to commit to a punchline. Look, Maddie, I think I found a way to help you. But I'm going to have to go away for a while, okay?

Two weeks, maybe three tops. So you got to promise me that you'll still. I couldn't finish the sentence. You don't got to do that, Mikey. I told you, I'm fine with what's coming. I've lived a good life. And I've got a brother who brings me a whole library every week. I finally feel like I have all the time in the world, you know?

He said, You're 24, for God's sake, all right? don't talk like that. You're going to get more time, I said, with more force than I intended. I could see he wanted to argue some more, but he struggled to even keep his eyes open. So he just nodded. And he asked me to read to him. I did.

And I stayed until he went back to sleep. And then I headed straight to Walmart. The book was clear on this. Once the ritual began, I couldn't leave until it was done. I wasn't supposed to have any contact with the outside world either, and the whole process. It was supposed to last for weeks, but other than that, it was pretty simple. Follow the steps, say the words, and he'd get better. Just six simple steps is all it would take.

I filled my cart with enough supplies for a month just to be safe. After getting that done, it was time to hunt down the things I needed for the healing ritual itself, and those weren't something you could find in a grocery store. I had to go to the dark web forum. I spent hours on a bunch of different forums. Soon enough, I got invited to a couple of private chat groups. It was there that I found my lead. You'd be surprised what people were willing to do for the right price.

There was a whole underground market for occult objects and services. Rare herbs, hard to find bones, animal parts. There were even things like unicorn hair, mermaid eggs, and angel feathers. I spent days going through listings and putting up ads. Most nights, I was up way past midnight setting up meetings. By the fifth day, I got a call from my boss at the garage I worked at. Didn't even ask me if I was okay. Just told me not to bother showing my face there again.

Didn't matter much to me, though. I had bigger things on my plate. Then after a week, I found my suppliers. I met a prison guard who wanted to get paid in crypto. He said that harvesting what I wanted wouldn't be easy. And then, there was a kid who worked at a funeral home. He didn't charge me much. He was new to the occult scene.

So, he just wanted me to spread the word about his services. The most surprising contact of all was the suburban mom who made custom ritual tools in her basement. No questions asked. And then just when I got everything I needed, Mom called. She was pissed at me for worrying Maddie. I told her I was in the middle of trying to save his life. She hung up on me after that.

But again, I didn't really care. I went through my checklist one last time. I paid the rent in advance to make sure no one else bothered me. And then I locked the door. Now, before I can actually do the ritual, I still had a few more things I needed to do. The book said, I had to make sure my place was sealed off and I was purified. I opened up the first bag of salt. I needed to make sure my entire apartment was lined with it, every room, window, every doorway.

I went through ten bags of the stuff by the time I was done. I made sure to go over each line twice so there wouldn't be any gaps. This was the only way to keep any unwanted spirits from interfering with a ritual. Once that was done, it was time to prepare myself. The book said I needed to be of pure body and mind for it to work. That first part was pretty straightforward. It just meant no eating during the purification fact. No food, just water. But the part about cleansing the mind, it was a bit trickier. Every night at midnight,

I had to face east and light a candle in front of me. Then I had to stare at the fire and focus my mind on what I wanted the most in the world, the thing that had driven me to do this ritual. The gospel said this cleansing phase. It had to be done for three days. The first day was the hardest. I spent the entire day trying to ignore my hunger. By evening, my hands were shaking. I could barely hold the match steady. Then I sat on the floor, and I stared at the light. I imagined Maddie, healthy again. I thought about going out with him for drinks and listening to his dumb jokes. I pictured him working at the DA's office and reviewing a case. And finally, being the best man in his wedding. I forgot about all my hunger. I didn't know how long I sat there. The next thing I knew,

the fire had gone out, and it was almost morning. By the third night, I was almost looking forward to it. The visions I had of Maddie, they felt so real. I didn't mind going hungry anymore. I hadn't felt this motivated in years. When I lit the candle that night, I felt something shift inside me, like something locking into place.

I was ready to begin. the next night I cleared out my living room. Then I burned a mixture of herbs. I made sure to spread the smoke all around my apartment. It wasn't long before I heard a banging on my door. It was the old lady across the hall. She complained about how the smell was stinking up the whole floor. But I couldn't stop. I didn't answer the door. I had to keep going. Last I heard was she was going to call the fire department on me. Now, there were six steps I needed to follow, and each step had to be done at midnight. The book also said, I couldn't move on to the next one until the signs were clear.

Step one, light the candles made from the fat of a condemned man, then recite the first incantation. I pulled out the candles I got off the dark web. I placed one in each cardinal direction, north, south, east, and west. At exactly midnight, I went around and lit each one. Then I stood in the middle, and I opened up the Gospel of Worms. I didn't recognize the language the incantation was in. Plugging it into Google didn't turn up anything, so I wasn't sure if I even had the words right.

I tried to pronounce each syllable as clearly as I could that I hoped it'd be enough. The moment I finished reading, someone started banging on my door. Great. The last thing I needed was for the fire department to break my door down. But then the knocking moved. The next bang came from inside the walls.

It knocked along, wall and into the next one. And when it got to the window, I heard something tap against the glass. I lived on the third floor. The curtains hid whatever made the sound. The knocking continued around the room in a steady rhythm. It did not stop until the sun came through the window. As soon as it did, I packed up the candles and I went to bed. I was exhausted, but hopeful. This must be the sign that the book talked about. I was ready for the next step.

I woke up a few hours later, at this point in the ritual I was allowed to eat again, but I wasn't really in the mood, because just the thought of what I needed to do next made me sick. Step two. Drink a mixture of the fresh blood and the add. Ashes of the Innocent. The book listed the exact measurements for this one. I didn't need much blood. Just enough for a mouthful.

But the whole thing still made me queasy. I spent the day trying not to think about it, even when I prepped the materials. Shot glass, knife, antiseptic. In the ashes, of course. Then midnight rolled around. I took a deep breath, and I cut my palm open. I watched the blood flow into the shot glass and mix with the ashes. For the first time, I questioned what the hell I'd gotten myself into.

If it weren't for knocking last night, I would have quit right then. The gospel of worms could have just been made up by some lunatic. But something did happen. I couldn't deny that. So I took a deep breath, and I swallowed the shot. I gagged. I fought the urge to vomit everything back up. I had to keep it down.

I had to. And then nothing happened. I sat there on the floor waiting. I watched the clock tick towards dawn, but there were no signs. No knocks. No nox. Nothing. Not even a cold spot. I went through all that, and all it did was waste a whole day to save Maddie.

No more mistakes. No more doubts. The next night, I set everything up again. I didn't even think about it. I got my hand again, and I downed the whole shot in one go. Just a few moments later, a horrible feeling surged through me. I couldn't stop it. I doubled over and vomited. And what came out was like nothing I'd ever seen before. It was some sort of black, sticky, fluid. It came out in these thick, dark ropes, and then it started to move. It crawled and expanded all over the floor. I wasn't throwing up by that anymore. But it still was still managed to spread until it covered the entire ground. It only stopped just before it touched the salt

that lined the room. The black substance quivered for a moment. Then it began to sink between the floorboards. I watched as it slowly disappeared, as if it had never even been there. It didn't even leave a stain. And as soon as it was all gone, the knocking started again. Lots of them. They came from every wall now. Loud, overlapping, banging filled the entire room. Like a whole crowd was cheering me on. It went on the entire night. When it finally stopped, I went straight to bed. When I woke up, it was already late afternoon. I felt like I'd been run over by a truck. Every part of me ached.

My head throbbed like I'd downed a whole bottle of whiskey last night. It was like a bad hangover. I managed to get up and make some ramen. Wasn't much, but it was all I could handle. Eating it felt oddly comforting. It was the most normal thing I'd done in a long time. As the sun began to set, the lamline rang out. The sound made me jump.

Then I wondered, who the hell would be calling me? I knew I couldn't answer it, though. I'd come too far to mess up the ritual. So, I went over and unplugged the phone. A minute later, my cell phone started ringing. The screen lit up with Maddie's name. I had a ton of missed calls and unread messages. Most of them were from him.

It tore me up to ignore it, but I didn't think I should even read his text. What if that counted as contact with the outside world? The phone continued to ring. Sorry, Maddie, but this is for you. It'll be worth it. I thought. I shut the phone down. I had to prepare for the next step. Step three. Construct an effigy with the personal belongings of the sick and surround it with salt.

Compared to the last one, that sounded easy enough. I put together the old mannequin I brought just for this. Then I unpacked Maddie's clothes and his graduation portrait. As midnight approached, I calmed myself by meditating. I'd gotten into the habit of doing that when I needed to calm down or pass the time. It reminded me that this was all worth it. I was almost at peace when the disconnected landline rang. It went off three times before it stopped mid-ring. At the stroke of midnight, I started on.

step three. I put the mannequin together while I dressed it up in Maddie's clothes. I used an old hoodie of his and the shirt he wore the last time we went out together, and then I taped his photo onto the mannequin's face. Around the base of the mannequin, I poured a thick circle of salt. Then I stepped back and waited. The room was silent. Hours ticked by. By the time sunlight shone through the windows, I was pissed. Another night wasted. Maddie didn't have much time. I took everything apart, and I went to bed.

And when I woke up, I was still angry. What the hell did I do wrong? Maybe I needed to cleanse myself again. Worth a shot? I was barely eating anyway. I spent the whole day staring at a candle. and thinking of Maddie. I couldn't afford any more mistakes.

The ritual had to go perfectly from now on. That night, I set everything up again. I reassembled the figure, and I fixed up the clothes, and I made sure the salt circle was as perfect as I could make it. I waited. And again, nothing happened that night. I waited until morning. Then I tore the mannequin apart. I tore the clothes off more roughly than necessary. What was I missing? What more could I possibly do? I was starving and exhausted. I could feel my ribs

through my shirt, and I could barely stay on my feet. I stumbled into the kitchen for something to eat, but when I opened the fridge, I had to slam it shut again. The smell hit me hard. Everything in the fridge had gone bad. Vegetables had liquefied. The meat had turned green. There were maggots everywhere. The milk had exploded and turned into a curdled mess at the bottom.

I'd just bought all that food a few days ago. And the fridge was still running fine. I checked the cupboards, but everything had rotted there, too. The cans were covered in rust. The ramen was covered in mold. Even the peanut butter had turned into a dark shade of green. And then it dawned on me. This was the sign I was waiting for.

I could move to the next step. This would mean I won't have anything to eat until the ritual was done. But I was halfway through. Only three more steps to go. I can last that long. For Maddie, step four. Burned the effigy while chanting the second incantation. I dragged myself back to the living room to set up.

The mannequin stood right in the middle of the room, the one that I just pulled apart. It was wearing Maddie's clothes. A salt circle was drawn neatly around. around it. Everything was all set up for the next step. I just had to wait for midnight. I collapsed into bed, exhausted, but relieved. This was almost over. And Maddie, Maddie would be cured in just a few days. I fell into a deep sleep. It was the best I'd had in weeks. When I woke, it was almost midnight.

My body felt weaker than before I went to bed. I struggled to get myself to the living room. And yet, I was excited. With shaking hands, I struck a match, and I lit up the mannequin. It caught fire immediately. The flames spread over the figure. The smell of burning plastic filled the air. I began to chant the second incantation.

I could barely hold the book up. But I concentrated on sounding out every syllable. And as I chanted, Maddie's photo began to move. The image turned its head and it smiled at me. Then his face got closer, like the Maddie in the photo was walking towards me. His face filled the frame. Then the fire reached the photo. Its edges started to melt.

And as the picture warped, Maddie's face transformed from a smile into a horrified scream. The moment I finished the chant, the landline started ringing. It echoed throughout the apartment. Each ring drilled into my ears. It only stopped when the fire went out. By the end of it, the mannequin was a melted pile of plastic. The clothes had all burned away. The photo was a charred, crumpled ball. I was too tired to clean up. I staggered to the bedroom, and I crawled into bed.

But as soon as I put my head on the pillow, the whole thing collapsed. The frame cracked into. I pushed myself up. All around me, my home was just falling apart. The paint curled and flaked off. cracks formed on the ceiling. The windows were now covered in grime. I heard a light bulb explode somewhere.

I went to the bathroom sink. The water that came out barely formed a stream. I caught as much as I could for a drink. After a few seconds, it stopped completely. Then I saw myself in the cracked bathroom mirror. My face was covered in small, fresh. cuts. I had no idea where they came from. I tried to wipe at the blood. My shirt was torn and full of holes. I didn't really have time to dwell on that. I just wanted to sleep. I collapsed on the couch.

A cloud of dust puffed up when I did. The springs dug into my back, and I couldn't sleep. So I just stayed there, thinking I'm Maddie. I missed him more than ever, but we were going to see each other soon. I just need to survive this ritual. Two more steps left. I held on to that thought as I waited for midnight. Throughout the day, I could hear things breaking down. Furniture fell apart. Glass shattered. Every now and then, I heard another light bulb explode.

By evening, every appliance, every appliance. I had stopped working. But I stayed on the couch. I needed to save up my strength for the next part of the ritual. Step 5. Look at a mirror in the darkness.

I started by clearing away the burned-up mannequin from last night. Then I carried the bathroom mirror to the living room. I set it up against one of the walls. The last thing to do was to wait until midnight. I wished I could do my meditation thing again to pass the time, to forget how hungry I was.

But the candles were all used up. So I just laid on the floor. It hurt too much to move. By midnight, the apartment was completely dark. Normally, the street lamps outside would at least filter through the windows. But that night there was nothing. Did the whole neighborhood lose power? I was too tired to check or even care.

The room was hot and stuffy, and it was hard to breathe. I sat up and faced the mirror. I wasn't even sure if I actually was in front of the mirror. I couldn't even tell if my eyes were open or not. But I stayed still, and I hoped I could make it until the next step. The next thing I knew, the morning light was hitting my eyes. face. I was sprawled on the living room floor. My body felt stiff and sore, seemed like I fell asleep during the night. I looked up to see if something happened to the mirror. I saw my reflection

looking back. Standing behind me was the mannequin. It was completely intact, but the clothes looked knew. Its face was different. It looked like Maddie now. I snapped. That crossed a line. This ritual, or whatever's behind it, it couldn't just use Maddie like that. I shoved the mannequin into the closet. But as soon as I slammed the door, a soft knocking sound came from the inside. I froze. The knocking grew louder, more persistent, and for the first time, I started to truly question what forces I'd invited into my home. I went to a window. The knocking continued. I needed something normal, something familiar. I looked out, and the streets were empty. It was the middle of the day.

But there were no cars, no people. The sun shone brightly. The sky was clear blue. But it looked wrong. It looked like it was colored in by a child. I looked around, and I saw something move slowly across the street. It was a man, I think. He moved strangely, like his joints were.

replaced in wrong, and he was tall, too tall. The head reached all the way to the top of the window. On top of his head were a pair of goat horns. I stepped back in shock. I didn't want that thing seeing me, but as I stumbled back, I bumped into something behind me. I turned around and I saw Maddie's face grinning at me. The mannequin had its hands reaching out towards me. I lashed out, and I knocked its head off its body. It crashed against a wall before landing with a dull thud. It rolled around the floor until it faced me again. And then around the severed head, there started to ooze blood. I flipped through the gospel of worms.

None of this felt right for a healing ritual. My hands trembled from a combination of hunger, the exhaustion, and fear. I struggled to read the messy handwriting, but it seemed like I did everything right. I got to the last page of the book, and there was only one step left. Step 6. Offer up your happiest memory. This section was harder to read than the rest of the book. The handwriting was messier, like the author was in a rush when he wrote it. I went through the page over and over again. I needed to really understand what this ritual

would do. And that's when I was finally... able to make out a short note scrolled at the bottom of the page. It was a warning. It said that a banishing spell must be performed after the wish has been granted. If not, fulfilling the wish would release something into the world. I didn't know what that something was. The author had covered the name in thick, dark lines. I turned the page to the banishing spell.

But it had been torn out of the book. Heavy footsteps echoed through the apartment. The light outside dimmed. But not because it was almost evening. No, it looked like someone was turning the sun off. The blue sky turned gray. It looked even more flat now, like it was made of something solid. It looked like a giant gray wall trapping me here. And then the sky began to crack. Giant fractures formed and pushed the world apart.

Something moved in the corner of my eye. It was the mannequin. Its head was back on its neck, and it wasn't smiling anymore. Instead, it looked sad, disappointed, like how the real Maddie looked the last time I saw him. All he wanted was for me to stay, to be there for him when he needed me. Like he'd always been for me. He wouldn't have wanted any of it. he wouldn't want this evil released into the world. I've made a lot of mistakes in my life,

and I was just about to make the biggest one. I threw the book down. I dug out my phone and I turned it on. I prayed to God that it wasn't too late. Everything else in my apartment had stopped working, but somehow the phone powered up like normal. It even had a full battery left. I unlocked the screen.

Notifications started flooding in. Missed calls and unread messages from Maddie. He wrote that he was worried, that he was scared. He said he kept having the same dreams about me ever since I stopped visiting. He saw visions of me trapped in my apartment as I was burned alive. And he just wanted to know if I was all right. God, I was an idiot. With shaking hands, I dialed his number.

He picked up on the third ring, and I said, Hey, Maddie, can I come by today? And that was all it took. As we talked, sunlight filtered through the room again. Outside, I could hear car. cars driving by and people talking. It was over. I told Maddie I was coming by later with a new stack of books for him.

And he said he'd wait up for me. Before I left, I wrote down one final rule in the book. Step 7. Don't do the ritual.