Ben Drowned, Explained
The haunted Majora's Mask cartridge story that defined what multimedia creepypasta could do.
What is Ben Drowned about?
Ben Drowned is a 2010 creepypasta, created by Alex Hall under the name Jadusable, presenting itself as a true account of buying a used copy of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask with a save file named "BEN" already on it. The posted story unfolds across forum updates and YouTube video uploads showing the cartridge behaving in ways the game shouldn't allow: character models replaced, deleted files reappearing, and messages suggesting the game itself, or something inside it, was aware of the player.
Why was the multimedia format such a breakthrough for the genre?
Most creepypasta before Ben Drowned was text-only. By pairing forum posts with actual edited gameplay video showing the described glitches happening on screen, the story gave readers something to verify, or at least something that looked verifiable, which was a significant escalation in how convincing found-footage style creepypasta could be. It's widely credited as one of the works that pushed the genre toward video as a primary medium, a path that led directly to the found-footage and analog horror movements that followed.
Did the story ever get an official resolution?
Yes. Unlike many creepypasta that simply stop updating, Jadusable continued the Ben Drowned narrative for years afterward, eventually bringing it to a defined conclusion rather than leaving it permanently open-ended. That sustained, serialized structure, closer to ongoing web fiction than a single viral post, was unusual for the genre at the time and influenced later long-form creepypasta projects.
Frequently asked questions
Is Ben Drowned a true story?
No. Ben Drowned is fiction created in 2010 by Alex Hall (online as Jadusable), presented through forum posts and edited gameplay footage to look like a real haunted game cartridge.
What game is Ben Drowned based on?
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask for the Nintendo 64, specifically a fictional used cartridge the story claims came pre-loaded with a corrupted save file.
Listen to free narrated horror in the same vein
Night Tales publishes original narrated creepypasta covering similar territory to Ben Drowned: free, no account required, five to fifteen minutes per episode.
Hear stories like Ben Drowned on Night Tales →