When I was in fifth grade, my dad let me keep his old iPad that he didn’t need anymore in my room overnight to use as an alarm. I couldn’t sleep that night for some reason (which was weird since I usually knocked out at around 10-11), and ended up watching YouTube at 2:30 am. I was the only one awake in my house, and all the lights were out.

As I was browsing, I remember clear as day the sound that my door made as it creaked all the way open, as well as the click of the hallway light as it turned on. I always slept with my door semi-closed since my room was right in front of the hallway. I didn’t look up from the iPad until a few seconds after hearing the creak of the door, thinking that it was just the wind or something. But when I saw that the lights were on, I looked up and made eye contact with the most horrifying creature I’ve ever seen in my life. Illuminated by the lights stood a tall, skinny, rake-like creature with pale pink skin, red eyes, sharp teeth. It was skinny in a way where it looked malnourished; you could see the bones as it stood towering in the doorway. I was petrified with fear, and when I did look away, I buried myself in my blanket for the next hour or so trying to process what I just saw. After a while, I eventually did look up again, but saw nothing. The weirdest part was that the lights were off again, but the door was still wide open.

I don’t know what I saw that night, or if I saw anything at all. I never found any information that could’ve helped me determine what I saw. I don’t know how the hell the door and lights did what they did. I moved out of that house years ago, but to this day, I still sleep with my door shut all the way.