Classic Halloween Tale to Tell: The Cursed Tape

This story has been circulated for many years. It was told before the films, The Ring and its Japanese predecessor, Ringu were released. It is often told on college campuses.

Have you heard about the videotape * that will kill you within 48 hours of watching it? Last year several college girls spent Friday night partying together. One was sent to the local rental store to pick up a scary movie. She asked the store clerk for a recommendation. While this woman was in the back the girl noticed a tape sitting on the front counter that had a strange title. Just as she was picking it up the clerk returned and requested she not touch it.

When she asks about the title the clerk shrugged and told her it is just a “home movie.” She then rented one of the films the woman brought from the back. But as the clerk retrieves her change she slips the other tape into her bag. Once back at the party her peers chastise her for swiping the tape but then they request she play it for them.

But when she puts the tape in the machine and pushes play the lights flicker and the power goes out but the television stays on. The video is of a woman being burned because she practices witchcraft and hoodoo. As the girls watch this she eerily looks out at them and utters a curse. She states that whomever witnesses her death will die within two days.

Unnerved, the girls watch as the videotape starts to make skipping sounds and then it just cuts off. The girls at first laugh at it but as one by one they start to die panic overtakes the remaining girls. As promised they all die by Monday. The graphic descriptions of the accidents that cause their deaths vary with each telling.

* This story was told before DVDs.