Lucia Peters’ previous work for The Toast can be found here.

There’s a story out there with the deliciously bizarre title of “The Noise Coming from Inside Children.” Written by a little-known author by the name of Ed Kann, it’s widely considered by those who have read it to be one of the most disturbing pieces of fiction ever conceived. It didn’t drive anyone mad just because they read it or anything; it did, however, receive such backlash at its initial publication for its horrific content that it was never reprinted, and as a result, it’s gained quite a reputation — it’s thought to be one of the horror genre’s greatest and rarest works. I mean, consider that title alone: “The Noise Coming from Inside Children.” If that isn’t the perfect title for a spooky story, I don’t know what is. Creepy noises, coming from somewhere creepy and involving creepy children… it’s everything weird and unsettling, all rolled up in one simple turn of phrase. It’s a title that makes me desperately want to read the story it’s attached to… 

…except that I can’t. We don’t know where it is. Or — and here’s the next layer of the tale — whether it actually exists at all.

You’re ten years old. You’re at your best friend’s birthday party, a sleepover this year: An important rite of passage for any child. Even though you were all instructed by the parental units to go to bed no later than ten o’clock, you’ve stayed awake for hours afterwards, tucked into your sleeping bags and laughing with another in the dark. Out of the sea of pillows drifts a solitary whisper: “Let’s play Bloody Mary!” A hush falls over the group; one person scoffs, muttering, “That’s dumb,” but by and large, the idea appeals. “Who’s going to do it, then?” The group asks, struggling to keep their voices down in their excitement.

You lift your head from your pillow. “I will.”

Most recently in Scare Yourself Silly: The Himuro Mansion.

He is four years old when the doll comes to him.

It is a gift from his family’s maid, a girl from an exotic place called The Ba-ha-mas (the word means little to him; after all, he is very young). The doll is dressed in a sailor suit and carries a small toy of its own, a stuffed lion; its face bears an expression not unlike the jes-ters he has seen entertaining the kings and queens in his picture books. At 40 inches, it is nearly as tall as he is himself; it is stuffed with wool made from wood (excelsior, his parents tell him), and its hair seems to him as though it might be real.

He is fascinated by the doll, entranced by it – so much so that he gives it his own name. Or does the doll choose the name itself? He is unsure, but he would not be surprised to find that the doll had done it on its own.

He begins to carry it with him everywhere.

Previously on Scare Yourself Silly: Boothworld Industries. 
Let’s play a little game. You’ve probably played it before; it’s called “Two Truths and a Lie.” Can you guess which of these three news stories are true and which is false?

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1.
A group of university students were shocked to find that a stranger had taken up residence in the basement of their off-campus home without their knowledge.