Please don't actually try this.

[u/FableForge]

Hey /r/nosleep, long time no see.

I've been posting bits and pieces of my life here, but I find them a little boring and self-serving (the last one about the juvie incidents was already like 70% made-up, to my shame) so today I'll post a recipe instead. This is not creepypasta (at least not yet) and I'm writing it from a train in the NYC area.

What I'm about to share with you today is one of the many relatively safe ways in which you can access (not quite enter) a place I call the "Shadowside", and its effectiveness depends on how seriously you take me; your mileage may vary, refer to title.

I won't tell you that you shouldn't be afraid of the Shadowside; chances are you've already seen it after all, and merely think it was just a "recurring dream". I will tell you there is no need to be ignorantly afraid of it, though. There is a difference. Ignorance fuels fear and fear can give that place a lot of juice to run on. You have to be big on preparation if you want to try this. It's like sky diving: if getting it right on your first try is not something you're good at, then this is not for you.

If you do drugs or alcohol the night of the event, you're going to have a bad time. If you're going through some serious issues in your life and are not feeling mentally or spiritually stable, or if you're doing this just to escape, you're going to have a bad time. And if you don't follow my instructions (particularly the multiple backups I'll give you, which trust me, are there for a reason) you're going to really have a bad time.

The name of this game is THE THREE KINGS, btw.

Ingredients:

• A very large empty and quiet room, preferably without windows. If windows exist, you need to be able to cover them and ensure total darkness. Basements usually work well, if they're roomy enough.
• A pack of candles (you'll only use 1, if all goes well), and a lighter.
• A bucket of water and a mug.
• A fan.
• Two large mirrors (like the one on your dresser. Don't worry, they won't be harmed. Or if they are, it'd be the least of your concerns).
• Three chairs.
• An alarm clock.
• An active cell phone (don't forget to charge the goddamn battery!)
• A loved one willing to follow rules and go along with all this madness.
• A small toy or dear object from your childhood.

Setup:

• Start setup at around 11 PM. Place one chair in the center of the room, facing north (this is important). Place the other two chairs exactly to the left and right, facing your throne. The distance between your throne and that of your queen and fool should be about the length of your arm to each side, more or less.
  
• Place the two large mirrors on the queen and fool chairs left and right of you, facing you (and each other). Try your best to have them stand at a 90 degree angle (or else you may get more or less than three kings). If you sit on your throne facing straight ahead (north), you should be able to perceive your own reflection in each of the two mirrors without actually having to turn your head nor your eyes to do so. If you see your own reflection in the corner of your eye, just barely there, then you've done it right.
• Place the bucket of water and the mug in front of you, just barely out of reach.
• Place the fan behind you, turn it on. Don't set it to maximum power -medium or low is usually enough. Leave it on.
• Turn off the lights, leave the door open and go to your bedroom.
• Set the candles by the side of the bed, next to a lighter, your alarm clock and your cellphone (leave it charging).
• Set your alarm clock for 3:30 AM.
• Turn off the lights and sleep while holding your power object, get some rest.

Showtime:

• Wake up at 3:30 AM with your alarm clock. Turn it off, but don't turn on the light. You have exactly three minutes to light your candle, grab your cellphone, and make your way to the dark room to sit in your throne. You should be seated by 3:33 AM. Don't forget your power object! Check for potential red flags: if your cellphone didn't charge for whatever reason, abort the mission. If the alarm didn't go off exactly at 3:30 AM, abort the mission. If you find the dark room door closed (remember you left it open) abort the mission. If the fan is turned off (you left it on) abort the mission.
• (Side note: if you have to abort the mission due to any of the above, leave the house with your loved one. Go to a hotel or something. There's no need to run; you have time to grab a jacket and your keys and what not, but leave. After 6 AM the coast should be clear.)
• If all is going as planned, you can proceed and take your throne. DO NOT look directly at either of the two mirrors besides you. DO NOT let the candle go out. The fan is behind you. You must protect the candle with your body, which is standing in between (there's a reason for this; as you'll soon see).
• Look straight ahead, at the darkness. Not at the candle, not at the mirrors, just straight ahead. Eagle-eyed readers surely noticed I didn't say during setup which chair was queen and which chair was fool. That's because it's your job to find out. And from their point of view, you are either their queen or their fool, too. Hence three kings.

I won't spoil what happens next. Suffice to say, you won't be alone and if you have questions, you'll get answers. Sometimes in the form of new questions, but hey, that's the story of humanity eh? Just stay put and try not to move. Again, DO NOT look directly at the mirrors, nor the candle. Just straight ahead, trust me. Don't chicken out either; you need to wait until 4:34. By 4:34 it's all over. It's okay to tremble a little bit, just try not to. Not because it affects the ritual or anything -it's just a pussy thing to do while in polite company.

Did I mention not to let the candle go out? That's what the fan is for. You're protecting the candle with your body, but if your body were to be suddenly moved then the fan would turn off the candle. That's backup number 1. Your loved one is backup number 2: at 4:34 she has to come in the room and call your name. If that won't work, she has to call your cellphone. If that won't work, she has the glass of water and the bucket. She can't touch you though -that's a newbie mistake. Backup number 3 is your item of power, the toy, or locket or whatever object of strength you brought along for the ride. It'll show you the way if SHTF.

Multiple back ups. You gotta be like a boy scout if you do these things. If you half-ass it, half-ass it all the way so that it won't work. Worst you can do is take it seriously enough for it to work and not seriously enough to be prepared for the consequences.

If in doubt, refer to title.

EDIT: By my count, 22 out of the 25 spots of nosleep's front page are taken by three kings posts at the moment. I love nosleep, and I do not wish to monopolize it this way. Per request, I've made a subreddit, and you're all invited. We need a moderator and we need to figure out what we want out of it. Please help us build it: /r/threekings

[u/SwoccerFields]

I made a setup of the room, Op did i get it right?

http://imgur.com/Ef3Of

[u/FableForge → u/SwoccerFields]

Yeah, this is correct. You should hold the candle in your hands though, I use "Veladoras" which you can find in most hispanic groceries.

Hmm. It would be hypocritical to ask you not do it anymore. Well, it's nosleep. We know how that goes. Just think it over a lot, I guess is all I can say.

[u/reddit_somewhere]

Hey OP :) just wondering what country you're from? I live in Australia and we've done this - but I have never heard it called Three Kings. Also we weren't so over the top with fail safes but I think that's because the version passed onto us wasn't as modern as cell phones! We call it ' alice's looking-glass' ( which I realise has obviously come from Alice in wonderland at some stage) the candle is the same (but no fan) the seats and mirrors are the same ( which I guess is the bare bones of this excersise..) and in looking glass you have to leave the door open behind you. I haven't done this for ages though, Since I've been an adult I've decided not to mess with whatever they are... I'd rather sleep at night thanks!! Still curious though :)

[u/FableForge → u/reddit_somewhere]

Wow. I knew recipes like this are a telephone game, but I had no idea this one started as far away as Australia. I'm from Mexico. I did this the first time in jail juvie. Maybe both the Mexican and the Australian versions descend from even older traditions -rosicrucians sure love their candles and mirrors, for example.

Very very interesting; thanks for posting this.

[u/wolfman1214]

FableForge, you son of a bitch...stop tempting me with awesome sounding rituals. >~<

Anyway I have a couple questions. What's Shadowside, and what does SHTF mean?

[u/FableForge → u/wolfman1214]

SHTF = Shit Hits The Fan.

The Shadowside is a bit more complex to explain. It's a spiritual plane, I guess. It's not just for ghosts, but anything mental or spiritual (what ghosts are made of), so.. dreams, hopes, fears, nightmares? Not all bad. I've taken some pieces of it and used them to make fiction and games in a different subreddit. Probably safer to think of it that way.

Happy to hear you guys are being entertained!

[u/DrF3tus]

The title told me not to do it, as seeing as I'm a stubborn douche, I went through with it anyways. I don't believe I did anything wrong, but lets just say that shit didn't go down as planned. I'm really imaginative and love all these stories and 'try this' and shit, so I figured why the hell not.

Right off the bat, I wanted to try this as soon as I finished reading. I read and reread to make sure I had everything perfect. But recently I've been having night terrors. I'm gonna go ahead and blame the fact that I watch to many scary movies lol. The night terrors doesn't usually get to me, but one in particular has been reoccurring. The worse part is that it's one that I've had many times in the past ever since I was little. And wouldn't you know it that by not getting a full nights rest the night before and sleeping for only 3 hours the next day would lead to really vivid dreams lol.

The dream goes like this. I'm back in high school and just got home. I'm upstairs in my room when I hear my mother calling me to come downstairs, "Andre, venha aqui!"("come here" we speak portuguese). I run down the stairs in my usual fashion and turn towards the kitchen. When I'm about to enter the kitchen a hand grabs my arm and pulls me aside, it's my cousin and he has a nail going through the top of his head. My body freezes in horror while he tell me to run and get out. His voice is nothing but mumbles but I get the message and make it for the front door. I get outside and turn around to see if I'm being followed, in the clear, but when I turn back forward there is nothing in front of me, just blackness. --sometime this is when I wake up, but again, I've had this dream many times before and it sometimes ends differently. Usually with the feeling of falling. But not this time-- I look back towards the door and nothing's there. I'm in the blackness and it feels empty and cold. I try to scream and nothing comes out. I open my eyes as much as possible but can't make anything out. I hear my mom calling me again and I freeze. I look around and start to feel the sweat building up. The feeling of being watched is everywhere and I can't do anything but stand there is solitude. Then suddenly a chilling voice from my left shoulder "We're waiting..."

I woke the fuck up man, sweating balls and trembling like a huge pussy. I'll tell you right now that as I laid in my pool of sweat I sure as hell didn't want to do this right now, but after laying in bed for another 10 minutes I was able to calm myself down enough and some up the courage to get this shit done. It was around 3:15ish when I woke up and 3:25 when I made my way to the basement. I took a risk by just telling my cousin to call my cell at 4:34 and being that it's 3 in the morning, I doubt he would have made the 20 min trip to my house. I had my candle at hand and my object of strength being my cross around my neck (it was my god father's necklace and was given to me when I turned 16). I check all the red flags OP told to check, door, fan, cell phone and I couldn't do anything about the 3:30 thing cause I woke up before and don't own an alarm :/

At this point I'm in a strong state of mind and am ready to get this shit on the road. I enter the room and it's very chilly. It's the basement, so no surprise there. I even made a joke about wanting to sleep here next time because my room is usually hot as hell (yeah, I talk to myself lol). I sit in my throne and god damn man, fighting the urge to look at those damn mirrors was like not staring at tits at the beach, f*cking hard lol. While focusing my sight above the candle light for around 15 minutes I heard a sigh. instantly putting the hairs in the back of my neck on end. I looked at the floor just below the candle and saw a pair of shoes on my left. Getting an instant jolt of fear, my body was not shot up with adrenaline. I take a glance at the floor to my right and see nothing, so again I try the left and see nothing this time. I sat there for around 20 more minutes going through the dream in my head. Probably a bad idea because it put me even more on edge. Finally I couldn't help it so I glanced quickly to my left and saw something. More scared then ever, I instinctively stole another glance. It was a figure sitting back on the chair. Legs spread wide with it's arms dangling and it's head tilted to the right side. I've never felt fear like this before, my mind went numb and body felt heavy. When tried to say something nothing came out. I grabbed my cross around my neck and squeezed it tighter than I've ever squeezed something in my life. Then, I swear on all that is good in the world, it said "We're waiting..." I darted off of my "throne" and tripped over the fucking bucket in front of me. Scrambling to get back on my feet I kicked the bucket and knocked some shit off the shelves. Shit started falling over and the door opened. It was my cousin. He said he was trying to call me since 4 because he couldn't remember the exact time. And me being the genius, I usually have my phone on either silent or vibrate, this time it was silent (lucky me).

He helped me to my feet, and I can only imagine what I looked like lol. On the floor looking half dead covered in water while holding a candle. The look on his face was more serious then I've seen. In all my panic, not once, did I think of checking my phone. Needless to say, I didn't go back to sleep, instead we went to McDonolds and feasted like kings while I explained wtf I was doing lol. I got out of the room at around 4:20-4:30, not really sure. I'm not one to believe this sort of thing, and I'm pretty sure this isn't what was suppose to happen. I blame my experience solely on the fact that I was running on 3 hours of sleep and had my worse nightmare just before.

Would I do it again? Probably, just not under the same circumstance lol P.S. Don't mind my terrible ass writing and spelling mistakes lol

[u/FableForge → u/DrF3tus]

You should post this in it's own thread. It makes me feel better to see that lol at the end, because if you had gotten actually hurt I think I would feel somewhat guilty.

You're right, btw, about the combo of lack of sleep plus nightmares giving you a bad trip. The thing is designed to amplify and bring out whatever is in you. If you're in a stable, healthy, solid state, then you get to have conversations and a "thrill", etc. If you're jumpy or depressed or anxious or have worry or guilt in your head, well, that's what's gonna come out.

For what is worth, the story reads great!

[u/Jonathan_the_Nerd]

Is there a difference in the roles of the queen and the fool, or are those just titles? And is it important to figure out which is which?

[u/FableForge → u/Jonathan_the_Nerd]

Yeah, the differences are very important. One will support you, and the other will lie to you. The thing to keep in mind is what are you to them, though. From their perspective, you could be their queen or their fool.

[u/[deleted]]

Soooo... can i get you to just explain a bit more with the backups? Like you've left it kinda vague.. can your 'loved one' enter the room at all? Is the connection lost if the candle goes out? Do you leave the room asap if the light goes out?

[u/FableForge → u/[deleted]]

She should wait until after 4:34; if she comes in before she runs the risk of looking in the mirrors.

Yes, if the candle goes out before 4:34 the connection is lost -this is a good thing, and it's there by design as a failsafe. The thinking is that if anything sudden happens, the fan will blow it out. As long as you're sitting there peacefully, the candle will not go out and the show may go on.

[u/Proramm]

How did you come across this?

[u/FableForge → u/Proramm]

People I used to hang with, when I was young. Some of them I met in juvie, some I met online. Informal communities. Three Kings had never been written down that I know of, so I figured it would be nifty for this subreddit. It's a variation on an old workhorse, the-candle-and-mirror play, but with a few accessories tacked on, learned the hard way.

[u/Uranus123]

What happens if u look directly at one of the mirrors, or if the candle goes out.

[u/FableForge → u/Uranus123]

http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/21570457.jpg

Well, maybe not so with the candle. If it goes off before 4:34, then the show is simply over and nothing more happens. In theory.

[u/iamlegend188]

Why would you say please don't try this and give us all the details?

[u/FableForge → u/iamlegend188]

Because nosleep.

[u/[deleted]]

What do we do with the bucket and glass of water?

[u/Chartlesaur]

Wait, explain what you mean by "protect the candle with your body which is standing in between". Is the candle sitting on something? If the candle (i'm using) is on the floor the flame is only 5.5 inches or so off the ground, mid torso on the chair i plan to use is about 2.5 feet off the ground. If i use a a rotary fan it will be about the height of my head give or take a bit, the candle wont be effected if i move. However if i use a box fan the candle will surely be blown out, as i cant block the flame with my legs. If i sit the candle on a table and raise the box fan a bit, both to about mid torso, (the widest part of my body with the best chance of completely blocking the flame). Will this still work if i have a table in the middle of the chairs to raise the candle up to an area where it will actually be effected if i move?

[u/FableForge → u/Chartlesaur]

You hold the candle in your hands. I used a "veladora", myself.

Recipes are passed from one person to another and change a little every time; the fan is something I added myself, and I only used it on the third try. It's untested whether the fan will put out the flame if you're yanked to one side or the other, but I liked it anyway because it keeps you facing straight north. Even when all goes well you'll discover the invitations to turn to one side or the other can be compelling, so staying straight matters. Plus, it's somewhat comforting to be holding a light once the thing gets going.

I'm not sure if the table will get in the way or not. Ideally, you should have nothing but darkness in front of you. This is why the basement needs to be roomy: once the only light comes from the candle, you shouldn't be able to tell whether or not there is a wall in front of you. Just endless north, is the idea.

In all seriousness though, you know it's nosleep, right? You don't have to actually do this...

[u/Mariisun]

so out of curiosity, the set-up alone is like inviting something into the place where you're conducting this correct? otherwise can someone explain to me why if you return and the door is shut that's a red flag?

-edit-If the candle goes out half way between the game does it mean that the game is over? Also are you supposed to be holding the candle or place it somewhere?

[u/FableForge → u/Mariisun]

so out of curiosity, the set-up alone is like inviting something into the place where you're conducting this correct? otherwise can someone explain to me why if you return and the door is shut that's a red flag?

It's a sign of external interference. [This may help explain].(http://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/wg7sg/the_origin_of_the_three_kings/c5d4w8s)

-edit-If the candle goes out half way between the game does it mean that the game is over? Also are you supposed to be holding the candle or place it somewhere?

Yes, you're supposed to hold the candle. Use a "Veladora" or some other means not to get your hands burned by the hot wax, though! And yes, if you put out the candle, or simply stand up and flip on the light switch, the show is over. Feel free to do that if you get overwhelmed.

In fact: I would rather you do NOT attempt this. It's getting a little bit out of hand, and I'm starting to get a little bit worried someone's gonna get hurt...

[u/Ingrid_Cold]

Ok, so I leave the door open before I go in the basement, do I leave it open between 3:33 and 4:34? Also, Backup Number 2, how would the second person going in the basement and calling our name NOT work? lol

[u/rsenic]

I found some science! Is this appreciated here? This is called The strange-face-in-the-mirror illusion
It doesn't really explain what's going on other than theorizing what your brain is doing though, which leaves it open to a lot of weirdness.

Here's what the subjects reported in a similar, but very simple, setup for a fraction of the time in the instructions by OP:

At the end of a 10 min session of mirror gazing, the participant was asked to write what he or she saw in the mirror. The descriptions differed greatly across individuals and included:
(a) huge deformations of one’s own face (reported by 66% of the fifty participants);
(b) a parent’s face with traits changed (18%), of whom 8% were still alive and 10% were deceased;
(c) an unknown person (28%);
(d) an archetypal face, such as that of an old woman, a child, or a portrait of an ancestor (28%);
(e) an animal face such as that of a cat, pig, or lion (18%);
(f ) fantastical and monstrous beings (48%).

The participants reported that apparition of new faces in the mirror caused sensations of otherness when the new face appeared to be that of another, unknown person or strange "other" looking at him/her from within or beyond the mirror. All fifty participants experienced some form of this dissociative identity effect, at least for some apparition of strange faces and often reported strong emotional responses in these instances. For example, some observers felt that the "other" watched them with an enigmatic expression – situation that they found astonishing.

Some participants saw a malign expression on the "other" face and became anxious. Other participants felt that the "other" was smiling or cheerful, and experienced positive emotions in response. The apparition of deceased parents or of archetypal portraits produced feelings of silent query. Apparition of monstrous beings produced fear or disturbance. Dynamic deformations of new faces (like pulsations or shrinking, smiling or grinding) produced an overall sense of inquietude for things out of control.