The Asylum Mythos: The Peekers

“Have you heard of the Peekers? Mischievous, spiteful little tykes. Once they notice you, they’re always watching. Always. Always. Always. They’re always watching. Peeking around corners, hiding in the closet, sniggering in hushed tones. They’re rather nasty, I tell you! They’re been known to come here to the Asylum occasionally, taking unwary inmates away for some devious purpose. We don’t hear from them again. They haven’t come to me of course, not even the Peekers can outsmart the Hag-Man. I feel no fear.

Nobody knows what they look like. Nobody even knows what they truly are. Demons, monsters or otherwise. They say you just simply feel an unearthly presence. An chill perhaps or maybe a soft wind. A peripheral shadow or the weight of eyes. You just feel them watching. Peeking and peeking and peeking and peeking. You might even hear them if you’re lucky. Chittering and hissing, chuckling and gibbering. You might think you seem them in the corner of your eye. A flash of shadow or a burst of movement. That’s just part of their game though, they won’t take you until you’re scared into utter mindless terror.

They’ll get closer and closer. They’ll grab you and take you away once you’ve finally lost your mind. To where? Who knows. You’ll be lost for good though. I got lost once. They go for the weakest among us. The fools, simpletons and the imbeciles. Sometimes the young and helpless too. Cruel, devilish, gibbering things that they are! Clawing at your mind from just out of sight.

They’re ancient things to be sure, far older than any human civilization. Our forebears told tales of shadow monsters and fey beings that took helpless infants and younglings into the night or into the dark forests. Perhaps the Peekers are they? Even I don’t know for sure. One could even theorize that this is how they grow in numbers. Assuming of course that the Peekers are, in fact, not once singular being. Could they, in fact, be an it? Who’s to know? There have been stranger things in this world. How intriguing, yes?

So next time you are walking out under the moon, whether it be in the city or in the wildness, don’t ignore that feeling of being watched. Who knows? You just might be…”