Episode 10 · 5 min · The Darkive — Scary Stories, Horror Fiction, and Creepypastas

I Told You to Smile

Published May 18, 2026by Craig Groshek

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What begins as a strange late-night knocking at the door quickly spirals into a waking nightmare when a terrified narrator discovers the word “smile” written repeatedly across his bedroom window in the dead of winter. After police dismiss the incident as stress-induced paranoia, he sets up a camera in his bedroom hoping to prove that something is inside the house with him. What the footage captures is far worse than he could have imagined: a pale, emaciated figure crawling out from beneath his bed in the middle of the night, silently watching him sleep with a grotesque grin stretched across its face. And by the time the recording ends, one horrifying truth becomes impossible to ignore—the thing never actually left. FEATURED STORY: " I Told You to Smile " by Robert Cherry Performed by Sky Fortinski Produced by Craig Groshek 🔑 Support Us and Listen Ad-Free (Become a Patron Today): ⁠⁠ 🔊 Listen to More of our Podcasts: Chilling Tales for Dark Nights | ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠ Scary Stories Told in the Dark | ⁠ ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠ ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠ Horror Hill | ⁠ ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠ Drew Blood's Dark Tales | ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Fear From the Heartland | ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🎬 Other Places to Watch: ⁠⁠Rumble ⁠⁠ • ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠

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