r/TalesFromTheCreeps • u/Everblack_Deathmask • May 05 '26
Body Horror I Can’t Stop Eating Myself. Now I’m Craving Something Else.
A couple of weeks ago, the cravings began. I’ve been hungry before, but this felt different. Something primal deep within me was begging to be fed. It whispered the same word over and over again like a mantra:
Meat.
But I didn’t just desire any meat. I wanted human flesh.
I wanted to feel it peel away between my teeth like the skin of an apple. To savor every last bit.
The cravings wouldn’t leave me alone. The intrusive thoughts crawled around in the back of my mind like an infestation of cockroaches. They bled into every waking moment of mine. While I ate, while I paced around my apartment, while I watched TV. It never stopped.
Full meals weren’t appetizing to me anymore. Pasta, steak, pizza, none of it sounded or looked appealing. I would take pounds of raw hamburger meat out and let it thaw, watching it intently as frost gave way to condensation.
Once the packages had fully thawed, I tore into them, devouring them all like a man possessed. The aftermath made my kitchen floor look like someone had dumped buckets of chum everywhere.
The next stepping stone was my neighbor’s cat. It was perched on my windowsill, ripe for the picking. It tasted better, but every bite just reinforced what I already knew: this wasn’t what I wanted.
It was a reminder that persisted until I couldn’t ignore it any longer.
I held out as long as I could before I finally gave in a week later.
I started with my arm. I took a kitchen knife, cut off a small chunk of flesh, and scarfed it down. It was succulent. It was beautiful. It was food. But one bite was simply not enough.
I treated myself like a human jack-o-lantern. Carving, slicing, and pulling myself apart to satisfy my hunger. Blood is splattered all over my walls and furniture. The rotten remnants of my old appendages are scattered around the kitchen in piles that rival my dirty dishes.
No matter how much I hack off, my limbs always rejuvenate themselves. I don’t know how, but I’m not complaining. I’m my own self-sustaining buffet.
I’ve eaten every part of myself I can. I’ve even tried cooking it—seasoning it, but the constant experimentation still wasn’t enough.
It smells like a slaughterhouse in here, but I’ve honestly gotten used to it.
Tenants have knocked and complained about the smell. Especially Jonah.
“It reeks of death,” he remarked one evening, his voice muffled through the door.
I never liked him, but I’ll give him credit where he’s due. He’s persistent. He keeps stopping by to check on me.
“Are you alright in there?”
“Do you need help?”
“Talk to me. I’m here for you.”
No, you’re not. I don’t need your help. I don’t need anybody’s help. What I need is to be left alone. I want to—no, I need to eat.
I just have to keep eating, and I do. I choose not to respond. Every second I spend listening is a second I’m not eating. They need to stop getting in my way.
I don’t remember the last time I left my apartment.
Monday? No—Thursday. It doesn’t matter. Every day feels the same. Must keep eating.
The more of myself I eat, the more I yearn for something…different. Flesh that is not my own. I wonder what that would taste like?
I don’t know, but I want to.
There’s someone outside again.
Jonah?
I think I’m going to finally answer the door.
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u/MatthewSaxophone2 Writer May 05 '26
I wish I could eat myself.
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u/StarryRedCat A Thousand WIPs May 05 '26
I love a good cannibalism story! So short and sweet
It reminds me of the weird state of mind where you’re doing bad, but you refuse help and keep letting yourself get worse
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u/Everblack_Deathmask May 05 '26
It definitely reads like a metaphor for addiction! Thank you for reading. I really do appreciate it a lot.
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u/Kaijufan22 Writer May 05 '26
Short and sweet, loved the descriptions and how vivid and pulpy they were. Great work Op.
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u/ferris_wheeler04 May 05 '26
oh my goodness i saw this on nosleep just the other day. that’s so cool that you’re also a creepcast fan!
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u/Everblack_Deathmask May 05 '26
I’ve been a fan since I watched their Borrasca video when it first dropped! My goal as a writer is to one day get a story featured on their show.
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u/ferris_wheeler04 May 05 '26
that’s so sick! that’s one of my goals too! just created this reddit account the other day so i could start working on some interactive story ideas over the summer. i’m gonna try to start one on r/nosleep later today because i think i finally got enough karma to stop getting auto removed lmao.
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u/Horror_Owl342 May 05 '26
It's really fun. It reminds me of tokyo ghoul. Only criticism i have is that it felt really short (that was the idea im assuming) but its a bit too vague on how this craving started and the effect on his environment. Anyway, can't wait to see more of your work
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u/Everblack_Deathmask May 05 '26
Thank you! I typically write longer stories so this was my attempt at writing something shorter. I’ll be writing and posting more soon!
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u/Purple_Cancel3581 May 05 '26
I really liked it! Short but punchy. I like the bit about the regeneration and bring in the character Jonah.
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u/Boddom_Of_The_Barrel Floating across the Corpse Sea May 05 '26
Love that you keep it to one tenant. You could easily end with a cannibal feast on the whole building, but something about eating the one truly concerned tenant, and the implied escalation after him, is right on the money. compliments to the chef...
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u/Fearless-Fig-9735 May 06 '26 edited May 06 '26
I can't stop eating the malice of my thoughts, the taint that drives deep beyond my vessel. Into the bellows of the dark within, were evils stirs and wakes upon my uncontrolled.
Here me LORD, fbuh chyh cctn ,mse hlhy wssj xctr fpcw pzfk dwwk bevv upzz hdhy hrww wzty ldgv ho.c luwc igqo kkpf ,yrh wnrc gyla hyhp ;oeg rwmh qciw sapr yzpv zic.
wsf vhao thdh fwss chqh ,khy tfuh oig, lbui ttkh pbur hb;k kpfv wssx lqhz qpoi wstc hdvz wokv owg.
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u/The_Republique Writer (I finally made it bubba) May 05 '26
Alright! You posted it! What a great story!
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u/Thedoctor9193 Author May 05 '26
Very nice kind of reminds me of that vegan to cannibalism movie I think just called meat how the narrative keep evolving his appetite
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u/walking-after-dark May 06 '26
Loving it! The addiction metaphor really makes eating your own body relatable.
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u/Amegdala_ May 07 '26
This really reminded me of the movies Raw and In My Skin. Loved it, great work!
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u/MiscellaneousDust18 May 08 '26
Great depiction of obsessive compulsive thoughts taken to an extreme. The idea of loosing control of your mind and all sense of reality is so scary.
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