Dathan Auerbach

"Penpal began as a series of short and interconnected stories posted on an online horror forum. Before long, it was adapted into illustrations, audio recordings, and short films; and that was before it was revised and expanded into a novel. How much do you remember about your childhood? In Penpal, a man investigates the seemingly unrelated bizarre, tragic, and horrific occurrences of his childhood in an attempt to finally understand them. Beginning with only fragments of his earliest years, you'll follow the narrator as he discovers that these strange and horrible events are actually part of a single terrifying story that has shaped the entirety of his life and the lives of those around him"--Amazon.com

Penpal

Ghofran Mustafa 

If you're looking for a quick read with horror/creepy vibes, I think you'll enjoy this one!

Shivam

8

My expectations going into this book were a little misguided. I wasn't aware of its origin but as it progressed I could draw clear comparisons with a lot of 'internet horror' that I've read and loved over the years. The writing is a little jarring in it's amateur nature at times, but it's also astonishingly good for the rest of the book. 

The amount of tension built through a relatively simple setting and small set of characters is impressive. A lot of stories written for online forums fall prey to excessive sappiness but I'm happy to say that this book avoids that. The conflicts and dialogues felt mostly unmarred by forced emotiveness. This gives the book a good momentum once you're properly immersed into it.

Colton Ray

I first stumbled across this story in its original form on Reddit about two years ago, and read through it in a crazy rush to the end. I thoroughly enjoyed it and considered it supremely creepy. I had a long road trip this week, and decided to listen to the audio version on YouTube, and again, I really enjoyed it. The setting, the tone, the characters are all extremely well-done, and the author does a great job of really making your heart sink. This is a dark, dark story. I still have not read the actual expanded book version, so my rating is for the original story, which you can read for free on Reddit. One of my favorite horror stories.

kayla 

Wow. The first half of this book was phenomenal from the writing to the characters. I really appreciated the fact that the MC's mother made reasonable & safe choices rather than the idiotic ones you usually see in horror media -  I actually liked the way her character was written the whole way through. The atmosphere and writing at the beginning was amazing, I was genuinely creeped out for the first 50-75% of the book but unfortunately towards the end, <spoiler>(as the MC grew up)</spoiler>, it began to fall flat for me. 

I do believe that the ending itself was well done, it was consistent and logical.. and I was extremely close to crying, but the build up fell too far into the typical horror cliches for me. Overall, I'm glad I read this book because of the first 50-75%... wow. 

Rated using the CAWPILE system. :3

So creepy and well written. Honestly one of my favorite books I’ve read this year. The perspective of the narrator’s childhood and the naivety that brings, which leads to such big reveals when you realize what’s really happening, was artfully done.

Erin Goss

Sage

I wish I had read this in instalments on reddit. Let me just say that I fucking love r/nosleep, and spend many nights reading on there instead of sleeping. Unfortunately, this book falls short. It would do well as an Internet series, but as a book, Penpal's writing is stunted. The author's rambling sentences run for miles, the dialogue unnatural, and plot holes are around every corner. There are also a lot of times where the writing feels strained- he uses big, heavy words that are not warranted by the situation, or context.

I wasn't creeped out or even a little bit scared, as most reviewers mention they were, and I'm a huge wuss when it comes to horror. The horror aspect seems to be blotted out by the bad writing. 

I get that the author meant to leave some things to the imagination by leaving things foggy and unexplained, but I was utterly unsatisfied when I reached the end. There was no climax. It was just a tightrope of forcing myself to finish the book because I've seen such great reviews and I didn't want to miss out. 

Maybe I'm overly critical, or maybe I'm just a bad reader. In any case, I'm not going to bother reading Penpal again to seek answers to the questions I have. It's not worth the time.

This was such a good read. The way it all came together in the end was so well done. I was actually scared at times and I cried at the end. 

Carlie katt

Gabriela Gorgoni

A little slow in some parts, but for majority of the time I couldn't put it down. Read this book in one afternoon, very well paced and nice to relax with.

James Winduss

I didn’t really know what to expect from this book when I started as I had only briefly read the synopsis and didn’t read any of the reviews, but I really enjoyed it. It started off super creepy and weird and then somehow the author managed to finish it off with what I felt was a truly sad and devastating ending. What I liked most though was how the author wrote the perspective of the narrator as a child dealing with all these individual events versus his feelings of these events upon reflection as an adult. As the reader, you’re able to make connections between the events that the young boy at the time isn’t able/doesn’t make which to me is partly what made the first few chapters so jarring and the ending so sad. I’d definitely recommend this to people wanting a shorter thriller/horror-esque tale to sink their teeth into. 4.5 stars rounded down to 4!

Terror at it’s finest. I remember hearing this on a creepypasta podcast and rediscovered it last year and decided to read it. Incredible, heart-pounding moments that stick with you.

Vicky

Ethan E. Harris

This isn't horror. It is terror. Little bits of terror all mixed together with a dose of innocence. 

I think the author did an excellent job at taking seemingly unrelated events and tying them together in chapters taken from moments in the childhood of the main character.

It resonated with me, I believe, because I saw my own youth reflected in the story. There is some chilling stuff to be had here. There are hints and echoes dropped by the author which are left to the reader to consider, little bits of dread not noticed by the main character, but fully realized as the tale is read. I really appreciated these little bits. It had to be difficult for an author to casually place these little pieces in the story and let the reader take them as they may. 

Excellent.

• mature language, stalking, murder, child torture  & etc

<i>“I miss you, Josh. I’m sorry that you chose me, but I’ll always cherish my memories of you.We were explorers.We were adventurers.We were friends.”</i> 

People told me that this would truly creep me out. Initially it did, it definitely did in the beginning. But later on I kind of understood that it was a stalker story. Was I afraid ? Definitely. While I quite enjoyed the way the story was told I would’ve loved if there was a lot more closure. I think what unnerved me was the fact that this was a harmless penpal project that turned sinister real bloody quick. The Polaroids, the dead animals, the woods. Creeped me out like nobody’s business.

But as much as this was a horror, it was a story of friendship. Saw someone say “creepypasta? More like weepypasta!“ and I agree. Josh was a wonderful friend and I liked him, him being caught was unexpected to me and it hurt. I knew something bad would happen just not to Josh. 

Danya <3

3.5 ⭐️ 

 

Genre: Psychological horror 

Age group : New Adult 

POV : First person POV

Characters: 4.5/5 ⭐️ 

Plot: 4/5 ⭐️ 

Setting/Themes: 3/5 ⭐️ 

Writing: 3.5/5 ⭐️

Creep factor : 4/5 ⭐️ 

• Please check TWs & CWs 

• mature language, stalking, murder, child torture  & etc

<i>“I miss you, Josh. I’m sorry that you chose me, but I’ll always cherish my memories of you.We were explorers.We were adventurers.We were friends.”</i> 

People told me that this would truly creep me out. Initially it did, it definitely did in the beginning. But later on I kind of understood that it was a stalker story. Was I afraid ? Definitely. While I quite enjoyed the way the story was told I would’ve loved if there was a lot more closure. I think what unnerved me was the fact that this was a harmless penpal project that turned sinister real bloody quick. The Polaroids, the dead animals, the woods. Creeped me out like nobody’s business.

But as much as this was a horror, it was a story of friendship. Saw someone say “creepypasta? More like weepypasta!“ and I agree. Josh was a wonderful friend and I liked him, him being caught was unexpected to me and it hurt. I knew something bad would happen just not to Josh. 

Sage Lee

daisy

Jen Estrella

I would give a 4 to the completed story and 3 to the reading experience so 3.5 it is. :) 

I enjoyed reading this for the most part, but I started getting confused when I got to the third chapter. My concrete brain just couldn't handle the non-linear recollections. I kept forgetting pieces of information that I needed to see the complete picture. 

It totally makes sense to write it this way, because the narrator is piecing together bits and pieces of memories while blocking certain memories; the problem here is me - My brain can't wait and wants the story immediately. Anyway, I did end up feeling satisfied after googling spoilers and realizing that I had in fact missed the point of certain events in the story. Oops.

Rainey Michelle

This was one of the creepiest books I've ever read and I absolutely loved it. One of those stories that makes you realize that the scariest things on Earth are what people and what they're capable of.

Excellent book. 

This story had me so jumpy. One of the scariest books I've read in a long time. Definitely recommend it

Was that supposed to be scary? Am I supposed to believe that kids in kindergarten really built a raft and traveled down a river?

This was apparently on reddit before being a book. It's horrible. The characters are not believable, the snippets of a story don't make sense, jump in the timeline, and don't even stick to a single time within their "chapter" or story. I honestly still don't understand the timeline, because they jump from kindergarten to first grade, then to being like 14 or 16, and then back to kindergarten and forward, etc.

The stories ramble with descriptions and side stories that don't add anything to the work. The scare factor wears off quickly, as the first story ends with a twist so suddenly they all end with twists.

Even the finale doesn't make sense. I cannot believe it to be a real reaction that people would have. I'd give it 0 stars if that were an option.

Ariel Himboi

Penpal is a short reddit-style story spanning the years of a boy as a kid up until he's a teen, unraveling memories which reveal a more sinister light. Underneath the loneliness of a boy with a single mother who explores the great nature and woods around him, as he makes one best friend, and how the events come into a focus when he's older, as things slowly come to a brutal close.

This was extremely eerie. I found the beginning monologue a little pretentious, and although the order of events sometimes leapt too far from one another and rounded back again, I was left baffled by the end, mouth wide open in shock and realization. This book was  good . 

I rather enjoyed how much I didn't know I was getting into until the last sequence. This novel keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering, 'who is it?' 'what is it?' and at the end, 'how much do we really know this character?'. Even now, as I'm writing this, I'm afraid I might have a heart attack. Honestly, I need to scrounge up some change and by this book physically just so I can take it apart. So many little details I need to go back and see just for everything to get more clear. 

This book has rattled me. Shook me to my core without me even feeling it. This is the type of book that will keep you awake, thinking, and when you're not awake, aware of your eyelids frantically shaking as your body fights your brain to project itself around you to see if you're safe in bed.

Absolutely jarring in every way. And at the end, the twist? I'll never forget it. I need more like this, now.

Brianna Brown

I had heard about this book time and time again over the past couple of years on reddit so when I finally got my hands onto a copy I had to dive in. I love all things horror, and this was the perfect amount of genuine creepiness and true psychological suspense. I've seen a few rough reviews based on the author's writing but I disagree. It was easy to read for me and had just the right amount of emotion in it for me. I would love to see more from this author!

Joleen

Spent all night reading and I will probably have nightmares all night but so bloody brilliant!

Penpal

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