The Lamp Story (Reddit Creepypasta)

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About

The Reddit Lamp Story sometimes called refers to a creepypasta that originated on Reddit. In 2012, Redditor /u/temptotosssoon recounted an experience where he imagined that he lived an entirely different life in the moments after he sustained a head injury, only shaking out of his dream when he became enraptured by a lamp in his living room. The story has been reposted on Reddit's /r/Glitch as well as the Creepypasta Wiki, having a resurgence on TikTok in 2023.

Origin

On January 11th, 2012, Redditor /u/temptotosssoon^[1] responded to a /r/AskReddit that read, "Have you ever felt a deep personal connection to a person you met in a dream only to wake up feeling terrible because you realize they never existed?"

The Redditor described an experience where he enjoyed a life with his wife and two children, only to be distracted by a lamp going fuzzy in his living room, causing his life to break down and reveal that he had only his family after sustaining a head injury. The post gathered over 2,000 upvotes in 10 years (seen below).

Spread

Redditor /u/temptotosssoon's story was subsequently reposted to viral effect on Reddit's /r/Glitch^[2] subreddit by /u/TriumphantGeorge on March 30th, 2015, where it gathered over 11,000 upvotes in eight years. The post was accompanied by an introduction that read:

One of my favourite glitches is this one posted by /u/temptotasssoon, who apparently lives an entire life in the moments after a head injury. He eventually awakes from this dream when he notices that something is strange about a lamp.
People are always asking for it, but because it's in a comment rather than a proper post, it's hard to search for. So, I'm reposting it here to give the story its proper place in glitch history…

On June 23rd, 2020, YouTuber^[5] Quack Tales animated the story and uploaded it to YouTube, gathering over 21,000 views in three years (seen below, left). YouTuber^[6] Dread Central posted the story on April 7th, 2022, gathering over 25,000 likes (seen below, right).

The Lamp Story was featured on TikTok years after it was initially posted on Reddit, with TikToker^[3] @guacamolephil posting a video recounting it on March 31st, 2022, and gathering over 2.4 million plays and 100,000 likes in a year (seen below, left). The story had a resurgence on the platform in 2023, with TikToker^[4] @wafflem28 posting a meme about the story on November 12th, 2023, gathering over 6 million plays and 600,000 likes in a week (seen below, right).