The Pine Creepers | Animated Horror Story

I'll never forget the summer of 95. [Music] I was 13 that year a heat wave had set in making it one of the hottest July's on record the house I grew up in on Lake Michigan didn't have air conditioning most of the time that was fine at night a breeze would come in off the water so just an open window was usually enough to cool things down and sleep pretty comfortably not that summer that summer was different some of my friends and I had taken to Camping outside to try and escape the heat Jordy Baker Auggie McLean and me I don't know if it really made all that much difference I think maybe we just like being together that made it easier to get through foreign [Music] I can't remember the first day I met Jordy we lived on the same street in our small town and we did everything together he was my best friend it felt like it had always been that way Augie was a quiet kid back then but you wouldn't know it when we were alone so much so that his big mouth got us kicked out of my backyard dad had to be up at five for work and he didn't exactly appreciate Augie's high-pitched laugh the same way Jordy and I did there was a clearing In the Pines behind jordy's house where we used to hang out sometimes so we decided to set up camp back there an old rusted out Buick Century marked the spot I always wondered whose car that used to be back before it became part of the woods I mean thinking about it now I'm not even really sure how it got out there through the trees in the first place we cleaned out the broken glass and the cigarette butts left behind by The Neighborhood teenagers we made a fire pit out of one of the wheel rims Jordy managed to pry off the mosquitoes out there were ruthless at sundown dry prickly needles covered the ground in a thick blanket under the trees the only thing I hated more than that feeling under my feet when I wasn't wearing any shoes was the crunching sound they made whenever I was it wasn't all that cozy of a spot but at least it was private a place far enough away from the rest of the world that we could stay up all night laughing and no one would care Jordy had skim some beer from a case in the basement that his dad was working on four bottles of lukewarm lager to share between us not exactly a blowout but not enough that Mr Baker would miss him either I don't drink much beer these days but even just the smell of it always brings me back to that night [Music] the hours slip past as we stoked the fire talking about nothing in particular that half a sip of beer must have gone right to Augie's head as he called it a night pretty early on without even finishing one bottle we didn't mind more for us at some point Jordy brought up what happened to Pike Lister [Music] Pike was two grades ahead of me in school and he probably failed a couple on top of that he was big and everybody was scared of him on a Friday that past November Pike left school after his usual extra hour of detention to walk home and that was the last time anybody saw him search lasted for weeks they never found anything some people said he just took off ran away from home others thought he might have drowned in the lake accidentally not Jordy though I listened quietly as he laid it all out how his dad said it wasn't the first time something like this had happened around here how back in the 70s four people disappeared Without a Trace and now around that same time locals had started seeing something in the woods that wrapped around our town pale creatures with large eyes and long limbs creeped around on all fours the pine creepers that's what we call them anyway Jordy figured that's what happened to Pike the pine creepers must have got him I laughed him off and eagerly changed the subject we ended up burning a couple more sticks before letting the fire die and heading to bed one of us could take the back of the Buick and the other had to sleep in the tent with Auggie to call it a two-man tent was being generous I offered to bite the bullet or at least that's what I let Jordy think I'd never admit it at the time but the truth is all that talk about the creepers had me a little scared auggies snoring and spooning seemed like a fair price to pay if I didn't have to be alone outside after all if they could take Pike Lister what chance did any of us have I'm not sure what time it was when I woke up foreign [Music] it was still dark out and I could hear rain coming down outside for the first few minutes I just laid there listening to the steady sound of the drops against the tent it wasn't long before I realized that beer had gone right through me and I wasn't going to be able to hold it I fumbled around until I found the Lantern and I made my way outside the night air had cooled down a bit with the rain which felt nice the whole sky was clouded over blocking out any light from the moon or the Stars my eyes finally started adjusting to the dark that was when I noticed it something catching the light just beyond the edge of the clearing dim reflective shine that flickered as I moved the lantern took me a second to realize what I was looking at eyes watching me it was hard to see much of what those eyes belong to I knew what they were Pine creepers [Applause] my pulse pounded in my ears as we stared each other down I carefully started backing up never once looking away I wanted to turn and run so badly but just kept slowly taking one step after another I got back into the tent as quickly as I could without making much noise maybe if I was quiet enough those things would move along I thought about waking Auggie didn't want him to freak out and draw attention to us seconds passed nothing the rustling of the trees the calm drone or the rain just as I started to think that maybe I'd overreacted maybe my mind could be playing tricks on me it started that familiar awful sound crunch of those needles there was something moving around outside the tent foreign was out there alone I kept telling myself he wouldn't wake up he was safer in the Buick that I should stay still stay quiet I laid there and I kept listening for what felt like forever I was too scared to do anything else I never woke up Auggie I never called out to Jordy I never did anything [Music] the hours passed and I must have fallen asleep for a few minutes because the next thing I knew the birds had suddenly started chirping and even from inside the tent I could tell it was getting light out that gathered any bit of Courage I had threw the sleeping bag off and gave Augie a shove I climbed out of the tent first but he wasn't far behind me part of me believed that the pine creepers were still out there just waiting for me to slip up when I saw the Buick I got this awful feeling in the pit of my stomach it was empty Jordi was just gone [Music] on the way back to his house I kept telling myself we'll find him there he just got up early and he wanted the comfort of his own bed he wasn't there we waited around all day but he never came home by the evening our whole town was at a frenzy looking for him I never told anybody about what I saw that night not even Auggie nobody would believe me anyway I've played it over and over in my head I'll never forget the summer of 95. that was the year Jordy Baker went missing [Music]

Channel: Don't Walk Home Alone After Dark

Views: 152,683

Keywords: Horror, Animated, Scary, Animation, Creepy, Cartoon, Story

Id: TA_GKaqJ074

Length: 12min 0sec (720 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 07 2022

Reddit Comments

[u/Xartana]

Fun fact: This is also directed by the same guy who directed Hilda.

[u/Dense-Ad-2732]

Like, that is straight up Hilda's artstyle lol.

[u/Aurik-Kal-Durin]

Reminds me of Oxenfree...

[u/Jacob-Monkey]

probably made by the same people, it'd be so cool if its the same universe