The Babysitter and the Red Room

Age: 15
Occupation: Student
Primary Language: English
  1. My brother shared a story with me that he heard at a summer camp:

“One day, there was this babysitter who was told to watch these kids in this house in her local neighborhood. She never babysat for this family before, but they seemed like nice and like normal so it wasn’t too weird or anything unusual. When she arrived at the house, the parents met with her and told her that their kids were great and she should have no problems at all. They said she was free to be comfortable in their home and can even help herself with their food in their kitchen and stuff. But they emphasized the fact that, she cannot even go near the locked room on the third floor of their house. If she avoids this room, then everything will be okay. The babysitter says she understands, but as soon as the parents leave, her curiosity wins. She goes to the third floor and up to the locked room. She tries opening the door, but is unsuccessful. She decides just to give up, and looks through the keyhole of the locked room. Much to her surprise and confusion, all she sees is red. She’s just staring into red. A red wall? Maybe a red pillow or curtain? She’s confused but goes ahead and heads back downstairs. All of a sudden, the parents return home. They say to her, you tried to get into the room huh? She tries to lie and say that she didn’t, but they know… The parents then explain to her that an evil spirit of a young girl who was killed in that room lives there. She is essentially a shadow, but has a single red eye..”

  1. My brother had heard this story when he was away at summer camp. The kids were sitting around a fire and telling each other scary stories before going to bed, which is a common camp tradition. Although they had told each other many stories that evening, this one really stuck with my brother. This was the scariest one to him because it was not a story he had heard before, since a lot of the babysitting scary stories usually end in a similar manner.
  2. This story is creepy and is a great one to be shared at future campfires or other events that call for classic scary-story telling. This story is a bit more complex than the typical scary stories that are told, so this one might be better suited for an older audience.
  3. I actually found this story scary and enjoyed it. Similar to my brother, I hadn’t heard this story before and I thought that the ending was really what made it especially creepy. I like how this story didn’t end in a way where the main character, or even the side characters involved, were harmed. I think this aspect also separates it from other scary stories. I would definitely share this story in the future if I’m ever at an event that calls for scary-story sharing.