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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/Spoopychillz on 2024-11-10 23:56:04+00:00.
When you think of McDonald’s, chances are that you have fond memories. Whether it be the old commercials with Ronald, Grimace and all their friends, or immersing yourself in childhood whimsy at the small themed playgrounds outside your local McDonald’s, many associate McDonald’s with fun.
Yeah, that’s what I originally thought too.
The year was 2005. I had just come back from working my shift at the police station. Nothing overly eventful had happened, save for the occasional cat stuck in a tree or whatever. Nothing much really even happened in my town at all. Apart from one random missing children incident years before. I say children, but that’s relative. They were in their early adulthood and I was in my mid 40s. But that ended up being a cold case. Although, we would talk about it from time to time at the precinct
Back when I was starting out, I had received a case that five children in different neighborhoods had gone missing without any sign of leaving or a struggle. The thing they had in common was that all of them had a VHS playing in the TV at the time. However, unfortunately, the tapes were mysteriously blank when submitted into evidence. So all we could do was just chalk it up to coincidence. I remember that day, I had a small bit of time to kill acter. And that’s when I remembered it was a yearly yard sale nearby. There was a family on the next block over from me that did this on the exact same day every year. After a few minutes of perusing and checking out what was available, my eyes landed on one particular VHS tape. In thick, squiggly letters I read: “THE WACKY ADVENTURES OF RONALD MCDONALD: WEEKEND AT RONALD’S!”.
I hadn’t heard of this VHS tape before. I thought it was rare. So naturally, I was practically ecstatic about the find. I was grabbing at my wallet to snap it up within seconds.
From what I could understand, there had been seven of these tapes in total. All centred around the titular Ronald McDonald and all his friends in McDonaldland. The group consisted of Ronald, Birdie the Early Bird, Grimace, Sundae the dog, the hamburglar, and two kids called Tika and Franklin.
“Take it. It’s free”
I jolted back as an old woman appeared from seemingly nowhere behind the other side of the table.The video seemed like it might be a fun, lighthearted watch while drunk. Why not spend 40 or so minutes watching whimsical, brainless content?
“Sure, I’ll take it.” I responded.
I reach out to take it and she quickly grabs my wrist. Near bone breaking for an old woman.
“Oh, but, when you see it, it sees you…”
I looked at her and felt like there was nothing behind her eyes. Maybe alzheimers or something. Honestly, this strange encounter made me want to watch the tape even more. ———————————— Once I reached home, I got out the VCR, which, I’ll admit, hadn’t been touched in some time.
The tape began with nothing really interesting happening in the live action segments. Just regular, kids show stuff. Ronald McDonald goofing off and the like. However, the animated segment is where things got just a little more interesting.
Ronald and the gang had been invited to a Halloween party in a mansion and just had to get there. But the thing was, the mansion was so big they didn’t know which room the party was being held in. Poor Birdie had become so terrified they wouldn’t make it that she popped out three eggs, all of which came out with screaming, pulsating baby birds.
It was just the kind of weird stuff I was looking for . I was having a bit of fun with the musical numbers, even.
That all changed about 10 minutes in though. Members of the gang had started going missing one by one, and only Ronald was left standing. As Ronald creaked his way down the crumbling stairs, with his eyes being the only indicator of him moving, he flicked on the light, and let out a scream which sounded like it came from wild animal. Then the scream turned into laughter. Maniacal laughter.
It was the missing kids who disappeared all those years before. But at the same time, everything was different about them. To this day I can remember the grotesque detail on how they looked.
The kids were dressed as the McDonaldland gang.
Hamburgular’s mouth looked as if every tooth, save for one, had been forcefully torn out of his head, blood, cascading down his pinstripe suit.
Grimace was nowhere to be seen, but I didn’t dare question where he was.
The children, Tika and Franklin, were also nowhere to be found. But then again, they hadn’t been seen much the whole episode.
Sundae the dog was a raspy, heavy-breathing monster, his face covered by his fur. I wouldn’t have even known it was him if not for his brick-red hair.
And Birdie had what I hoped to god to be ketchup on her bib, her wings looking like mangled limbs, what sounded like a dozen pops and cracks emanating each time she moved. What looked to be a beak was crudely stitched on to her face, threatening to break off easily.
Meanwhile the McNugget buddies barely looked like their cartoon counterparts. Where there would be crispy, flaky batter, they were just covered from head to toe in blisters.
I felt nauseous. What had they done to these kids?
Theaudio and video started breaking up, but one thing was crystal clear. The gang. Theyjust stood there, smiling at the viewer. Somehow seeming to smile at me.
And then Ronald began edging closer and closer until I could see his seemingly mascara ridden eyes boring into mine. A distorted voice said:
“There’s always room for one more in Mcdonaldland.”
The TV cut to black, and without warning, a pale white hand attached to a red and white striped sleeve shot out of the television along with the top of Ronald’s head peering out. Along with pieces of broken glass stuck into it.
He moved faster than I expected and grabbed my ankle.
He started dragging me in. Behind him I could see the typical McDonald’s mascots holding the kids by the shoulders, all of them laughing with a gigantic grin. However, in all the kids’ eyes all I could see was pain and fear.
“GET AWAY FROM ME!!” I screamed, kicking the clown hard in the face.
“ “Youre going to join us all in here eventually”” Ronald laughed, bleeding from his face
And then, with several clicks from his irregularly contorted bones, he crawled backward into the TV.
It was over. Or so I thought.
For months after, I was constantly plauged nightmares. These nightmares would have me stuck in a hellish version of Ronald McDonald’s house. There would be a distorted, deafening version of the show’s theme song, as if it was being played on a broken tape or vinyl.
During these dreams I would be chased by one of the nightmarish mascots of the Mcdonaldland gang. Each time one would find me, they would stop dead in their tracks, grin and hold up a different number. Each counting down to something. Ten, then nine, then eight, and so on.
Each character had their own creative way of disposing of me. Ronald would maniacally bash my brains in, Sundae would maul and mangle me. Or, the McNugget buddies would all jump onto my stomach and begin piercing my flesh with their little beaks. Until it all ended one day and I woke up in a hospital.
As it would turn out, Ronald McDonald had knocked me unconscious and the “nightmares” had put me in a coma. A concerned colleague stopped by my house, after not hearing from me for a while and had found me unconsioousnext to the coffee table. Needless to say, I was in very bad condition.
Im on my journey toward healing now and have not been plagued with any nightmares since. However, there’s still one thing that worries me. What were they counting down to? Was it a countdown until the end of my coma? Or was it a reminder that one day I would eventually cross over into their world? I guess only time will tell.