“Dear David” is probably the spookiest thing on the entire Internet. It dominates cartoonist Adam Ellis’s Twitter feed. You see, a few months ago, weird things started happening in Ellis’s apartment, and before long, Ellis pinpointed what he’s pretty sure is the cause of the strangeness: a ghost. Ellis calls the spirit — who also seems to have a dented head, likely the reason he’s a ghost and not a real boy — Dear David.
For whatever reason (fun? ghostly duties?) Dear David moderately terrorizes Ellis. He watches him while he sleeps, messes around in the attic, haunts his dreams, and shows up in photographs when Ellis leaves a camera set up. You know, spooky ghost stuff. (Is any of this really real? Who cares? It’s scary!)
Ellis hadn’t updated the world on Dear David in a while, leading some to wonder if Dear David had sucked out his soul, or taken residence of his body, the way ghosts are wont to do. Nah, Ellis was just sick, but earlier this week he made up for lost time with a long Twitter thread detailing his latest encounters with Dear David, which are the creepiest ones yet.
Ellis started waking up in the middle of the night, feeling uneasy.
Sorry for the long break—I haven't been feeling great the past couple weeks and haven't had time to update. (thread)
— Adam Ellis (@adamtotscomix) December 13, 2017
But last week something started to happen. Late on Wednesday, I woke up with a start and felt something strange, like something had just been watching me. I turned on the light but I was alone.
— Adam Ellis (@adamtotscomix) December 13, 2017
Still, there was this a tangible feeling of… badness? Everything felt wrong, sort of like when you have the flu and you wake up at night and can't really tell where you are for a minute.
— Adam Ellis (@adamtotscomix) December 13, 2017
It was a feeling I'm used to—it always accompanies David. People tweet at me a lot saying he might just need help, but I'm certain that's not the case. Every time he shows up, I feel a palpable sense of malice.
— Adam Ellis (@adamtotscomix) December 13, 2017
There's what I felt that night. Malice. Dread. But still, I was alone. And I was so tired, I wound up just going back to sleep. I've been so exhausted recently I can barely function.
— Adam Ellis (@adamtotscomix) December 13, 2017
The next night, the same thing happened. I woke up suddenly, feeling like I had just missed seeing something. Like a candle had just gone out and I could still smell it.
— Adam Ellis (@adamtotscomix) December 13, 2017
Suspecting Dear David, he set up his phone to take a photo of his bedroom every 60 seconds while he slept.
I downloaded an app that takes a photo every 60 seconds and set my phone on top of a bookcase (it's almost 7 feet tall, so it had a pretty good view of my bed and the surrounding room). Then I went to sleep.
— Adam Ellis (@adamtotscomix) December 13, 2017
Just like before, I jolted awake hours later, feeling the same unease. I turned on the light and hurried out of bed to get my phone from the bookcase. There were probably 350 photos to scroll through.
— Adam Ellis (@adamtotscomix) December 13, 2017
And then things got weird.
Just like before, I jolted awake hours later, feeling the same unease. I turned on the light and hurried out of bed to get my phone from the bookcase. There were probably 350 photos to scroll through.
— Adam Ellis (@adamtotscomix) December 13, 2017
Nothing in that chair on the left side of the photo…
The vast majority of them were me sleeping in an empty room. It's sort of dark but you can see me sleeping. I'd left a couple night lights on just in case anything showed up, but for the first hundred or so photos it was just me in an empty room. pic.twitter.com/yDwR7to8xA
— Adam Ellis (@adamtotscomix) December 13, 2017
Then, suddenly, he was there. Standing on the chair at the foot of the bed staring at me.
— Adam Ellis (@adamtotscomix) December 13, 2017
And there he is.
Then he appears to collapse on the chair. The next dozen photos are all the same. He's completely lifeless. At first I'd thought he was dead, which obviously doesn't make any sense. I looked over at the chair half expecting him to still be there but it was empty. pic.twitter.com/yA5MltIp0i
— Adam Ellis (@adamtotscomix) December 13, 2017
Then Adam and Ellis play the world’s spookiest game of Hide and Seek.
But then, in the next photo, he's gone. The room it totally empty again. He's gone in the next several photos, too. I figured maybe that was it, but I kept swiping through the photos.
— Adam Ellis (@adamtotscomix) December 13, 2017
About 15 photos later, he was back, standing next to the bed. It was just like the last time I saw him. pic.twitter.com/gxAbepRKUG
— Adam Ellis (@adamtotscomix) December 13, 2017
That's when my heart started to race. I didn't want to look at the rest of the photos, but I knew I had to. I swiped to the next photo and my heart sank into my stomach.
— Adam Ellis (@adamtotscomix) December 13, 2017
Dear David got close. Too close.
He was on the bed. Inches from me, staring down at me sleeping. pic.twitter.com/MOtQEgTLma
— Adam Ellis (@adamtotscomix) December 13, 2017
The next one was worse. In the next photo, he's staring right at the camera. pic.twitter.com/WhmuAr9DcQ
— Adam Ellis (@adamtotscomix) December 13, 2017
After that, there's seemingly nothing. He disappears again and the rest of the scroll is just me alone in my room again. That is, until the last photo.
— Adam Ellis (@adamtotscomix) December 13, 2017
If this is freaking you out, you should probably stop reading at this point. Otherwise…don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Here's the final photo on the scroll. pic.twitter.com/LkkpiEbBnr
— Adam Ellis (@adamtotscomix) December 13, 2017
AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!
I'm at a loss for words. That malformed ear, that stringy hair. I didn't even know what to think. I looked all over my room but couldn't find anything. And honestly I've been so exhausted I didn't know how to process it.
— Adam Ellis (@adamtotscomix) December 13, 2017
Even now, all I wanna do is just go to sleep.
— Adam Ellis (@adamtotscomix) December 13, 2017
Ellis is tired, but he’s probably not going to be sleeping well for awhile. Neither will his readers.
i dunno I get hella chills from it I feel like I have to believe it if it physically affects me but you never know, only time will tell haha btw you're gorgeous
— alex marie (@briliantsuicide) December 13, 2017
i got chills too, when i first read it i believed all of it but these pics just look so different idk & thank u !!! (-:
— H ☆ (@haileyywalker) December 13, 2017
https://twitter.com/Stephano6524/status/940805359194791939
No no no no no pic.twitter.com/W22yOEkLTm
— 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤✧ (@markpatti_) December 13, 2017
These pics are terrifying. Maybe everyone thinks it’s fake because it’s so real looking xxx
— Jen (@iamjenmckee) December 13, 2017
Me whenever I get a tweet notification from you: pic.twitter.com/EwcO5khAmX
— The Libradoll (@Libradoll) December 13, 2017
Adam, you need to get that place blessed for sure. Get rid of the marble & shoe. Salt & burn them far away from your house. Idk if it's tied to David but better safe than sorry. But definitely get your apartment blessed, my dude. Or cleansed. Or something.
— Shander🇺🇦 (@zerostar21) December 13, 2017
https://twitter.com/new_moon_friend/status/941034135191150592