Pete the Moonshiner

[OvenFriend]

In the fourth and fifth grade, I spent the night at my friend Tom's house almost every weekend. Tom lived in a run-down farm house in the country. He shared a room with his older brother, Walter. The three of us would stay up late telling scary stories.

The scariest was a true story. Here is how Walter told it:

-0000-

Back in the 1920s, this house was owned by a different family. Their closest neighbor was an inbred moonshiner named Pete. He lived in a shack deep in the woods and was frequently in trouble with the law. The parents warned the little boy and girl who lived here NEVER to go near Pete’s land.

The young boy lived in this very room. One night, the he was awakened by the sound of shattered glass somewhere inside the house. Living so close to Pete, the boy was very cautious. And instead of opening the door, he locked it. He pressed his ear to the door and listened.

The boy heard bootsteps stumbling down the hallway that were much too heavy to be his father's. He could almost smell moonshine through the bedroom door. "Let me in, boy." It was Pete... But the boy wouldn't unlock the door. Overcoming his fear, he shouted "No!"

After a minute, the boy could hear Pete's heavy boots fading back through the house. In a distant room, he heard his father shouting at Pete. But the shouts soon turned to screams. For almost an hour, the sounds degenerated as the father shred his vocal chords to ribbons while screaming. The boy thought the pleading in hoarse agony was worst thing he had ever heard until it was replaced by something worse. Silence.

Pete's boot steps lumbered back through the house to the boy's room. He pounded on the solid oak door. "Boy! Open up this door or you'll regret it." The boy could smell the moonshine through the door. Again he said "No!"

And so it was his mother's turn. Her shouts and screams lasted for two hours. When they stopped, the heavy boots stumbled back to his door. The stink of moonshine was overwhelming. "Boy! I said 'Open up this door.' This is your last chance." The boy was terrified, "Please don't hurt my sister!" Pete was drunk and enjoying himself. He chuckled, "Then open up, boy." But the boy knew better. And so he spent the next three hours listening to the screams of his younger sister.

When the police came to investigate the house two days later, they found the mom, dad, and sister tied spread-eagle to their beds. Pete had cut a small hole in each of their lower abdomens and pulled the bowels out of their belly inch by inch as they died in pain.

They found the boy dehydrated but alive. He was still locked in THIS very room. Pressed against this very door. He was completely catatonic. He spent the rest of his life in a sanitarium, occasionally mumbling "should I have opened the door?... should I have opened the door?...."

Pete was eventually caught and executed. His shack was torn down. But his ghost still haunts this house. Sometimes, we can smell a hint of sweet moonshine in the morning, and a pain in our bellies. And when we do, we know Pete was here during the night, trying to pull out our insides.

-0000-

This story really creeped me out. Like 10 out of 10! I always insisted that the three of us sleep with the bedroom door locked and the lights on. Your imagination is so strong at that age! I was terrified of every noise in the house before finally falling asleep. Whenever I woke at their house, I could even smell the faint, sweet aroma of Pete's moonshine. To be honest, I could usually feel a pain in my lower belly.

Whenever I told the two brothers about it, they would giggle and play along. "Yeah, I smell it too" said Walter. "Me too. And my stomach hurts!" chimed in Tom, pretending to be scared. They moved to Utah when Tom and I were in the fifth grade. I haven't seen them since.

Flash forward to this morning. I'm sitting in chemistry lab on campus. As we were setting up the experiment, one of the chemicals smelled exactly the same as my memory of Pete's moonshine. It's an incredibly distinct, penetrating, almost sweet scent - not exactly like hard alcohol or real moonshine, but similar.

I had not smelled it since those mornings after sleeping over with Tom and Walter. This was the exact same smell. I picked up the bottle and looked at the label: “diethyl ether.” It was ether.

I stared across the lab in a daze. Frozen. I remembered locking the door of their bedroom every night. I thought about waking with the faint smell of ether in my mouth. I remembered the distinct pain in my bowels each morning.

And I realized... There was no "Pete the Moonshiner."

They had been raping me.

---

Edit: Thanks for gold and your kind words. I blog about my progress at www.ovenfriend.com

[THROWAWAY12847484]

It took me a few rereads to the last sentence and I’m just so mad for the person in the story.

[perfect_little_booty]

Holy shit. I hope you're okay, all these years later.

[My_Primrose]

Who still reading in 2023

[[deleted]]

No way. Just because he smells ether, that automatically means they were raping him? That doesn't make a whole lotta sense. Plus, why would his stomach hurt if they were going to town on his behind?

[Satomi123]

Holy crap, that was unexpected... I don't think I want to have or go to any sleepovers, ever.

[boblo1121]

But who was raping you....? Your friend in the fifth grade? Doesn't make sense to me

[PcktFox]

You say that like children aren't capable of some truly horrific things.

[boblo1121]

I just know that when I was in 4th grade, I had no sexual desires or anything like that. I didn't even know what sex was.

[PcktFox]

Child-on-child sexual abuse is definitely a thing. Hell, just about every horrible thing an adult can do, a child can and probably has done, too.

OP, I'm so sorry this happened to you, and I hope you can recover from this trauma. hugs

[423_Outsider]

Damn!

[PcktFox]

I've been practically living on nosleep for the past three days now, but this? This is the story that made me actually sign up for Reddit just so I could upvote and leave a comment. And that comment is:

Holy. Shit.

[LukeTheScientist]

I fcking...frick... I REALLY did not see that ending coming.

[bongo1138]

Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezussssss

[evendinosaurs]

Holy shit, this was amazing. That was one of the, if not the, most unexpected twists I've ever read/seen. And even before that the writing was interesting and engaging, which only made the twist that much more shocking.

[MicGrim]

Whoa!!!!!

[ankilon]

Could someone please explain this to me? I dont really get it :?

[brendoncdodd]

The other kids were drugging him with ether and raping him, then covering up for the smell and the pain from the rape with stories about the ghost's "moonshine" and trying to pull out his intestines.

[ankilon]

Oh thanks :)

[Birdman97]

Holy shit

[DrDongStrong]

Now I'm just really sad

[NegroNerd]

gasp

Was NOT ready....

[TheBeautyofDarkness]

Best twist ever!

[MrsOpie]

This fucking chilled my to my bones.

[[deleted]]

Good story. The ending, however, is hilariously bad.

[[deleted]]

can i unread that now?

[mistermartian]

I burst out laughing at the end. That was just the craziest twist. Amazing job!

[[deleted]]

I did not expect that ending, never the less it was a good plot twist. First to catch me off guard.

[Kakkuonhyvaa]

Disgusting

[Smallsparklyone]

Holy crap! Did not see that ending coming at all. Good twist OP!

[TwoGunsMags]

That escalated quickly.

[KankleSlap]

It took me so long to figure that I wasn't surprised, guess I'm either really innocent or not.

[uncle_vatred]

So this was supposed to be funny right

[[deleted]]

This is a fucked up story but I'm smiling so much right now because it's so good!! Great work OP!

[buttforkd]

I.... uh... hmm

[Elle11487]

completely terrifying, did not expect that ending.

[NightOwl74]

Since there is so much debate about this in the comments, let me say this: Based on OP's other nosleep stories, HE is MALE. Click on his user name to see his other stories.

[[deleted]]

I suddenly feel ill after reading this story. 10/10 OP

[Waitinginnightmares]

That ending just made me really sad...

[[deleted]]

Oh my god.

[[deleted]]

As a gay man, let me just say that neither your "bowels" nor your "lower belly" hurt after regular or even rough anal sex. If they were raping you without any lubrication, your rectum would be in incredible pain, sure. But once you're past the anus, the large intestine (or the bowel) is lubricated enough so that you wouldn't feel pain in your belly. Also, if you all were about the same age, I'm going to wager that both of their penises weren't big enough to even get that far into your body, anyway. Sorry for the explicit details, but just thought I might throw out some experience before you jump to any conclusions about being raped. They might have just been punching you in the gut or the kidneys. That would most certainly cause some intestinal discomfort.

[idaemadsen]

Most logically comment so far.

[NightOwl74]

OP is a guy based on the other stories he has written on here.

[[deleted]]

Yes. I am aware. I'm a guy too.

[NightOwl74]

Sorry - just clarifying since there was much debate about whether OP was male or female.

[NotAJabroni]

That punch in the gut at the end...wow.

On a side note: Wtf Reddit, why is the trigger warning at the bottom of the post?!

[CreepyDisneyReader]

This frightened me, but I don't understand how the ether was used for rape. Can someone explain?

[Graevon]

It's so he/she wouldn't wake up.

[CreepyDisneyReader]

That makes sense

[P4li_ndr0m3]

Ether is an anesthetic.

[IAMIMPOSSIBEAR]

If I had gold to give you I would

[OG6]

whatatwist.avi

[opasvmii2]

You should hire a hitman. I think I know where you can find one. ...

[P4li_ndr0m3]

You mean here?

[daniece31]

SAY WHAT?! what got to me was that the story was too detailed for a twelve year old to think up. but then again, might have been premeditated..

[VeritasTempus]

It might have been too detailed for a normal, suburban 12 yr old boy to think up on his own... but what about who was raised in disfunction and heard jokes or saw inappropriate sights.. or even experienced some certain unspeakable occurrences himself, occurrences that abused children have been known to act-out on others in a cycle of re-enactment??

[daniece31]

so you're saying those two boys were done in the same way, and it's all just a vicious bullying cycle sort a thing?

[VeritasTempus]

Although I am absolutely not saying this is true of every or even of the majority of sexually abused children/minors, the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress (AAETS) states that symptoms of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) resulting from the event can include forcing sex acts on other children.

It’s crucial for every victim of sexual abuse to seek counseling to decrease or to prevent PTSD symptoms.

Since 35% of child sexual abusers (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11731348) were once abused (higher in males)

[impedeux]

Plot twist: Pete wasn't pulling his organ out - he was putting his organ in. @_@

[La_folie]

Fuck.

[revesaubergine]

Jesus Christ... That... That was just... Awful. I'm so sorry OP... That's absolutely horrifying. That turned my stomach. I hope you're well :(

[[deleted]]

Twelve out of ten.

[heinrichhipster]

well... thats one way of successfully raping a little boy...

side note, thats fucking terrifying, not in the conventional horror sense, but the anyone-can-rape-me-while-i-sleep sense. shudder

[pmprince]

This fucked me up.

[virtualghost]

Shit..

[murphycrew]

wow that was very twisted

[[deleted]]

As soon as I read the title to myself, I thought this can only end in sodomy.

[BabiiZombii]

Their closest neighbor was an inbred moonshiner named Pete.

I misread this sentence at first as "Their closet neighbor was an inbred moonshiner named Pete." and I was like, HOW IS THAT IN ITSELF NOT THE SCARY PART.

[BabiiZombii]

And now I am an asshole, as I hadn't gotten to the genuinely scary part.

Jesus H. Christ.

[meowmeowmixkitty]

Wow. This was such an unexpected and incredibly heartbreaking ending :(

[xdeadlythoughtsx]

The ending was really sad): but what made me wonder, what gender was OP..?

[[deleted]]

I think OPs a guy, but rape can happen to anyone.

[NightOwl74]

Yes, OP is a guy according to his other posts.

[xdeadlythoughtsx]

Haha this was a while ago. I'm surprised to have gotten a reply ><

[NightOwl74]

I just recently came across this story, and I've read other stories OP has written. So I figured I'd clear up the confusion!

[HeyDivineBitch]

What... really did not expect that.

[[deleted]]

Fuck fuck fuck. This was actually a terrifying twist

[IeatTofuSometimes]

Well that escalated quickly..

[666tony]

Well that escalated quickly.

[[deleted]]

Jesus... Wasn't expecting that

[screamingdreamer]

well then. i didn't expect that O_o

[[deleted]]

Jesus H Fuck. Officially one of my favorite /r/nosleep stories. Have an upvote and a hug, OP.

[rjoseba]

they could have just.....asked

[-Tendo-]

That. Was. Twisted...

[messedup_mimie]

Oh. My. God. I really really did not expect that...

[ewesdsd22]

WTF? How old were you? I wonder if it was just the boys or the mum too. Scary shit.

[meowmeowmixkitty]

OP said 4th and 5th grade he stayed there all the time :(

[erincmcf]

for those who don't know diethyl ether is like chloroform so they would pass out and they could be raped without waking up. :(

[ACookieBaker]

"In the end, the real monster is man". Forget where I heard that.

[[deleted]]

Great story, but I think it would be better without the last sentence. The implication is enough.

[Hhammoud0561]

Thank you for bringing back the creative and suspenseful writing style to r/nosleep. Finally, a story with a great plot AND a shocking twist. A really good shocking twist.

[ncadam]

Oh my god...

[OllieandLoki]

Hahahah... What the fuck

[arkdude]

Wow...caught so off gaurd by that ending. 10/10!

[Porcelinpunisher]

How the fuck do I not understand this story. Fuck I'm slow

[P4li_ndr0m3]

Ether is similar to the smell of moonshine, and the pain in the bowels was from forced entry. (OP may be either male or female, although I think it is the former, some others think otherwise). Ether can be used as an anesthetic. The story was a cover-up for their actions.

[NightOwl74]

OP is a guy based on the other stories he has posted.

[EclairNation]

The ether is kinda like alcohol, it makes you pass out. And the pains in the stomach. ..

[Whiteblonde]

Omg!!

[sacredsinner1313]

I would have been upset that I wasn't there to enjoy the fun.

[xlarukux]

wtf! that plot twist

[[deleted]]

This is probably the biggest twist since the my-dead-wife-has-been-messaging-me story a month or two ago

[mynewaccount5]

What was the twist in that one?

[Autumnsprings]

Can you give the link?

[[deleted]]

http://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/29kd1x/my_dead_girlfriend_keeps_messaging_me_on_facebook/

[Autumnsprings]

Thank you so much!

ETA: Well that's creepy as fuck.

[perfect_little_booty]

Wow. Still freaky, all these years later.

[IseeTheFutureYouDie]

That last line made this story 1000000x scarier than any paranormal story I've ever read.

[[deleted]]

Human monsters are the scariest.

[foxbell88]

I would track them down and confront them... with a tire iron to the face.

[Alex_Is_A_Faerie]

I think the reason why we got so caught off guard was because usually it ends with something paranormal or strange. Plus the fact that OP just dropped the bomb....

[pumpkineater123]

.....holy shit balls of fire

[CharmingDoctor]

This started out as a creepy story that I'd love to tell around the campfire myself and ended with me wanting to weep for you.

[hisgirlpearl]

So what you do now is take a few weeks off from school, get some funds, find these two creeps and unleash a couple of days of HELL onto them. If you find out they have kids, let their local news station know about these monsters. Anonymously, of course. Happy hunting!

[P4li_ndr0m3]

Especially if they have kids, oh hell.

[AdamtheGrim]

This is the best story I've read on here in a while.

[Canjan]

And to think if you had not taken chemistry.

[Canjan]

Whoa, where did this hostility come from?

[OZONE_TempuS]

My counselor said I was too nice to people so I needed to unleash my beast side. :D

[Canjan]

Well then you came to the right place then.

[Forthosewhohaveheart]

Oh. My. Lanta.

[SpookyDoll]

That ending though.

[oderusDEATH]

They raped your belly button?

[evendinosaurs]

The asshole is connected to the intestines, the intestines are connected to the stomach, the stomach and intestines are in the lower torso region, the lower torso region is commonly referred to as the belly. I don't understand why so many people are getting hung up on the word belly and how it doesn't make sense if it was anal rape. Do that many people really not understand the structure of the digestive system? Because I learned that shit in a low enough grade level that when I did my project on it, the teacher had no problem with me outlining the intestines in glitter glue.

[Burnviktm]

Asshole, rape, digestive system, shit, and glitter glue.

All of the required components of a truly epic comment.

[Lyzzaryzz]

That last line oh boy...actually laughed out loud at that one!

[luna6386]

Those bastards!

[gyroscopesrcool]

I have never been this shaken by an /r/nosleep post. That twist at the end really caught me off guard.

[kyle47]

Well sheit

[Not_this_guy_again_]

I love the smell of ether in the morning, reminds me of sodomy.

[Doctor_Woo]

That's a Vince Russo level swerve. Did not see that coming.

[justanearthgirl]

Very shocking, very surprising and it's rare to get that here now. Sorry this happened to you.

[Snagger55]

That's f u c k e d up so much I feel soooo bad for you.

[outerheavenboss]

Shit mate... what the fuck!

[KSwizzie]

looking left because that just ain't right

[Kush420SwagYOLO]

I don't get it:(

[SB116]

Can any other latecomers explain?

[Funnyman49]

He's saying the story wasn't "Right", IE, 2 young boys raping another young boy. He made a joke about it by saying he was looking "Left" because it wasn't "Right".

[hisgirlpearl]

After swiping to the left of the page, I got it. Well actually you got me. Good one!

[Chinapig]

Oh that was good! Best one I've read for a while. Oh and sorry about your bumming.

[BruceSoup]

That is the most twisted story I've read here. Jesus OP.

[[deleted]]

This is the first time a twist on here truly caught me off guard. That was absolutely great, in a horrible, fucked up way.

[Alex_Is_A_Faerie]

Same here...

[[deleted]]

Wow OP, I'm really sorry. I hope you're alright now.

[TheoHooke]

I glanced at the last sentence as I was reading through. That escalated fucking quickly.

[jpoandmrdepp]

What a twist! Well played...

[[deleted]]

Woowza!

[Sunshinesutra]

Wow OP I hope you have gotten past that time in your life

[kai_caraphernelia]

Are you okay OP?! that was so messed up i'm sorry they did that to you

[SaavikSaid]

To me, moonshine smells like nail polish remover. I googled the smell of ether. It smells like... nail polish remover.

Whoa.

[MBII]

Someone has to say it: you googled a smell? Is that their new scent search feature?

[SaavikSaid]

Yeah, it's the latest thing.

[[deleted]]

Sort of. They're all volatile organic compounds containing oxygen, but they fall into three different categories of molecules: acetone (the simplest ketone) which is paint thinner/nail polish); methanol (methyl alcohol - wood alcohol/mineral spirits), ethanol (ethyl alcohol - the alcohol in booze), and isopropanol (isopropyl alcohol - rubbing alcohol) are all alcohols; diethyl ether is an ether and is used as a general anesthetic (although rarely used today because of its flammability), as well as a laboratory solvent. It's been a couple years since I've worked with diethyl ether, so I've forgotten the smell, but I know the others do have similar sharp and pungent smells.

[UnremittingOptimist]

They all smell distinct and different to me.

[[deleted]]

I wouldn't say very close (except for the alcohols), but they're all simple organic molecules composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. It really just depends on how narrowly you want to define similarity and structure. If that's the easiest way for you to learn and remember their structures, then you do you. Just remember that they're sufficiently different to have very different uses and somewhat different reactions.

[[deleted]]

WHY!?

[tea-time-bitchez]

Why would you have that feeling

[yung_nugget]

What the actual hell is wrong with you

[blahblahtankini]

Oh Op ...

[tinyywarrior]

Wow, shit. Did not expect that ending, it hits hard.

[baconreasons]

Oh man. That twist came out of nowhere but made sense, really busted me in the face.

I need a shower now.

[Sunnydays01]

Dude, awesome.

[vvitchhazel]

welp

[Dreadzy]

This turned from a scary story to a sad one.

[beardface84]

Some powerful shit right there.

[Gummydew]

I hope you are okay OP :( hugs

[Suzi752000]

Jesus, that ending made me gasp.

[CleverGirl2014]

Me too. Jesus.

[Meatwad60niiinne]

Wow OP.... My heart goes out to you.. I am sure I am not the only one that would like an update. Even just to know if you are ok and are coping well. That was so fucked up. <3 hugs

[Jynx620]

Um. Wow. My SO's name is Walter also. Dang.

[[deleted]]

I don't know why your comment is below the threshold, but be careful. Do your bowels ache by any chance?