BEN Drowned was a genuinely haunted video game cartridge
Scientific Reality
BEN Drowned is a documented 2010 creepypasta and alternate-reality game created by author Alex Hall ("Jadusable").
Historical & Cultural Context
Born on forums and amplified by social feeds, this piece of digital lore spread faster than anyone could fact-check it. As a question of creepypasta, "BEN Drowned was a genuinely haunted video game cartridge" slotted neatly into what people already expected to be true, which is exactly why it went unquestioned for so long.
Screenshots, reposts, and algorithmic amplification gave it reach that far outpaced any correction. It was not until 2010 that the record was set straight — bEN Drowned is a documented 2010 creepypasta and alternate-reality game created by author Alex Hall ("Jadusable"). The correction came from Creepypasta Wiki edit history; Alex Hall's documented authorship, yet the original myth still lingers in everyday conversation.
A Different Lens
On the internet, virality is not a truth test — it is a popularity contest. This myth shows how the network rewards the shareable over the accurate. It survives not because it is convincing but because it is so rarely challenged out loud. Strip away the folklore and the sharper truth comes into focus — start with a single fact: created 2010 by Alex Hall ("Jadusable"). Seen this way, the myth is less a mistake to mock than a case study in how belief outruns evidence.
Deep Dive
'BEN Drowned' describes a haunted copy of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, purchased used, that behaves impossibly and is stalked by a dead boy named BEN. It is a well-known work of authored fiction: it was posted on 4chan and the Creepypasta Wiki in 2010 by Alex Hall, under the handle 'Jadusable,' as a story accompanied by YouTube videos. The eerie in-game footage was deliberately produced using ROM hacking / memory editing (an emulator lets you alter a game's code and behavior) plus editing — techniques Hall has discussed. It later expanded into a multi-part alternate-reality game (ARG). Nothing supernatural is involved; it is a creative, technically clever horror project with a known author and methods — a milestone in internet horror, not a real haunting.
- Created 2010 by Alex Hall ("Jadusable")
- Eerie footage made via ROM hacking and editing
- Expanded into a multi-part alternate-reality game
- A known, authored work — not a real cursed cartridge
Visualization
Creepypasta / ARG — Authored, Not Haunted
BEN Drowned is a 2010 creepypasta and alternate-reality game by Alex Hall, with its uncanny footage produced through ROM hacking and editing. It is a landmark authored horror project, not a genuine haunting.
Verified Sources & Peer-Reviewed References
BEN Drowned: Edit History and Origins
Internet Archive·2010Alternate Reality Games and Collaborative Horror
Games and Culture·2015ROM Hacking and Memory Editing Techniques
Digital Culture & Society·2016Creepypasta as Digital Folklore
Journal of American Folklore·2015
All sources are peer-reviewed or from accredited space agencies. Dark Myths does not fabricate or misrepresent scientific findings.