User blog comment:Cornconic/Why are Ritual Pastas still a thing?/@comment-35911608-20200122233032

I completely understand this view, but I'm of the opposite opinion. I love ritual pastas - that work. The idea of a set of instructions that result in some form of creepy event is appealing to me in a way.

From the perspective of a reading experience, I find that a good ritual pasta can actually pull you into the story rather deeply. Again, in a good ritual, all the description of the environment along with it being written in that unique second-person perspective can allow you to imagine yourself in that situation, which only amps the terror of the situation. 11 Miles, I can see myself in that car trying to avoid the spirits on the road, I can feel the decreasing temperature of the car, and it's great.

Another great aspect of ritual pastas is that they're mostly exposition pieces (explaining the rules of ritual), which not only allows for some interesting explanations, but because of the number of rules and conditions surrounding the ritual, it's fun trying to see if it's something you could feasibly do, if you're clever enough to survive, trying to come up with strategies to make it out.

That being said, yes, a lot of ritual pastas I've seen these days do not meet the mark. They are typically a set of random Spooky instructions, like doing the ritual at 3:00 AM, to talk to the dead or some other very cliched topic. I think it's unfortunate, but not unexpected. If you're looking for a recent and decent ritual pasta, check out BloodySphgetti's Near Delirium Ritual. There were some interesting liberties taken in that story that I really liked.