I saw it for the first time when I was 10. I was lying in my bed, tossing and turning, like usual. After about 3 hours of not being able to fall asleep, I decided to turn on my bedroom light and play with my toys. Something I knew I wasn’t supposed to do so late at night. As I rolled over to flip the switch, a cold chill ran up my spine. I hesitated to turn it on and decided to take a quick look around my room. It was dark out, which is typically how it is at 11 pm. The only illumination in the black void, came from my spiderman nightlight on the other side of the room next to my dresser. My gaze fell upon that area, not quite knowing why. I finally flipped on the switch. To my surprise however, the light didn’t turn on. My heart began to pound in my chest. I continued to look towards the dimly lit portion of my room. It was at this time that I heard something that made me shift my gaze towards my closet. It was the sound of crying. Well, whimpering would probably be a better word for it, as the sound didn’t seem to have too much emotion behind it.
I slowly pulled the covers off of myself, exposing my body to the chilling fall air creeping it’s way in through a draft under my door. I attempted to flip the switch again, but nothing happened. I was terrified. I thought about running out of my room and into my father’s, waking him up and asking to sleep with him for the night. I quickly put that thought out of my head, however. Dad has to be up for work very early, and probably wouldn’t be happy by the disturbance. The whining from my closet continued, and I decided that I would go check on it. I was young, what can I say. I lifted one foot off the bed, and the other quickly followed. In just a moment I was on my feet making my way towards the door of the closet. Just as I had reached the handle and was about to turn it… the crying stopped. I just stopped. My heart was beating a mile a minute at this point. I grasped the closet door and slowly opened it.
I hesitantly looked inside but what I found wasn’t what I expected. There wasn’t a monster, or a ghost, or anything like that at all. It was just, clothes. As I searched around in the closet, I noticed that my nightlight began to lose its glow. I turned my attention away from the closet and back towards the nightlight. That’s when I saw it. Standing behind my dresser. Staring directly at me. It… looked somewhat human. Except for the fact that it wore no clothes, and its skin was as pitch black as the night sky. It was easily 6 feet tall, and it’s back curved at an unnatural angle. It had 2 bright white eyes, but no other features that I could see in the faint light. Its hands, or claws is probably a better term, were wrapped around the top of my dresser.
I stood, motionless staring at the creature. It did not move… It just stared… I tried to scream, but no sound came out of my dry throat. I slowly made my way to the door of my room, never looking away from the creature, I turned away to find the handle, and I heard a noise that made my blood run cold. It was moving. Slowly but surely sneaking up behind me. I quickly turned around and almost fell backwards in terror. It was… right behind me. It was much taller than I expected it to be. Its head almost touched the ceiling, and its lanky body stretched and contorted, showing that it was slouching. Its claws were in the air as if it was ready to attack. As I looked at it, it seemed to be frozen in place as if trying to pretend it wasn’t there at all. I had no idea what to do, if I opened the door and ran, it would surely get me. It was mere feet from me at the current moment. I knew it had to be fast by how quickly it got from behind my dresser, to right behind me.
I was breathing heavily. My heart felt like it would jump out of my chest. There was nothing I could think to do, but stare at whatever exactly it was that was in my bedroom. I stood there for what felt like hours, trying my best not to tear my gaze from this abomination. After a very long, uncomfortable staring contest, it began to move. Lowering its claws, it slouched down even further, turned away from me, and started towards the closet. It opened the door, and went inside, shutting the door quietly behind it.
I let out a breath that I didn’t even realize I was holding. The first thing I thought to do, was to try the light switch again. To my surprise, it worked. The room lit up like a savannah at sunrise. The crying noises were gone. The monster… was gone. At least, I hoped it was. I was too afraid to go open the closet door back up. Can you blame me? I was a little kid. I was traumatized. I left the light on the rest of the night, and needless to say, I didn’t sleep. My Dad came in my room when the sun rose to wake me up. He was surprised to see me already awake sitting on my bed, with the light on.
He asked me what was wrong, and I told him. He pushed it off as I nightmare. Looking back now, I can’t blame him. It sounded crazy. Like a kid’s overactive imagination cooked up a bizarre nightmare. But it wasn’t a nightmare. It was very, very real. I was scared to go to bed the next night. After a while however, I reluctantly fell asleep. I was awoken around 1 am to the same sound I heard the night before. A faint crying coming from my closet. I quickly sat up and was wide awake. I immediately went for the light switch, and as I expected, it didn’t work. I ran back to my bed and stared at the closet, pulling the blanket over me so that the only thing that was visible were my eyes. I stared at the closet, listening to the crying. I knew I couldn’t open the door. I was smart enough to know that whatever that thing was, it was safer for me, if it stayed in the closet.
It didn’t stay in the closet. Not long into my gaze upon the door, it started to budge. Slowly pushing outwards and opening. When the door was about halfway open, I saw its terrifying face again. It looked directly towards the bed, and when it saw me sitting there, staring back, it froze once again. The only part of it I could see was its head. Peering around the door. Staring directly into my soul. I began to cry at the sight of it appearing again. Why was this thing in my room? What did it want from me? And most importantly… how do I get rid of it? I sat staring at the creature much longer than the previous night. As long as I stared at it, it didn’t move. After what seemed like an eternity, it’s head slid back behind the door and out of sight, closing the door gently behind it.
I was beginning to realize that if I just didn’t look away, it wouldn’t hurt me. So, that’s what I did. For months and months the creature, who I began calling “The Looker” visited me during each night. A few times I tested my theory and turned away from it when it appeared. Every time, I would hear shuffling and it would be closer when I turned back towards it. I had gotten good at timing when to turn back. I told my dad about The Looked many times, but he always just rolled his eyes. Again, I can’t blame him.
I began to fear The Looker less and less over the course of a year, until one warm August night. It was around 12:45 and I was sitting on my floor playing with my toys without permission, when my dad barged into my room and began yelling. He screamed at my and told me to get in bed at the very instant. I did. The lecture continued when I noticed the closet start to open behind him. “Dad! Turn around! It’s The Looker!” He rolled his eyes and looked behind him. It was too late. As he turned The Looker grabbed his neck and twisted his head 180 degrees. A sickening crack came from my fathers body and I screamed. Well, tried to. Once again, nothing came out. I backed up against my wall and cried staring at the creature who I was starting to believe was harmless. It looked back at me with its cold white eyes.
After a while, it disappeared into the closet once again. When it did, I ran to my dad, grabbed his phone and called 911. The funeral came and went, and I was sent to live with my grandmother. The Looker… did not follow me. Thankfully. I never saw it again. I still see a therapist after over 20 years. It’s helped some but I still see my fathers lifeless body in my nightmares.
I just moved into a new apartment with my dog Rocco. And as I’m lying in bed right now…. I just heard crying from my closet.
I think it’s back. But luckily I still know how to keep it at bay. Just DON’T LOOK AWAY!