Scary Horror Stories by Dr. NoSleep
There's a Service Elevator in My Office That Only Runs at Midnight
17 Apr 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What happens when a new office job turns into a nightmare?
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I take a sip of the vending machine coffee and scald the shit out of my tongue, which is not a bad thing since the coffee tastes like crap. Burning my tongue probably saves me from the worst of the flavor. Nursing my tongue, I turn away from the vending machine and nearly scream. Hey there. An older man dressed in coveralls says, his hands tucked into his pockets. You're new.
A name tag sits on his coveralls, but I can't quite make out what it says. The lettering is in flowing cursive script, and the flowing is almost literal as I stare at it. It's like the letters refuse to stay in their place. I rub my eyes and blink a few times, but it doesn't help. God, I'm tired. The older man snaps his fingers, bringing my eyes up to his. You got a name, new guy? He asks.
Oh, right, yeah, sure, sorry. I say and laugh. He just stares at me. Um, yes, my name's August, August Johns. Good to meet you, August Johns, the older man says, sticking out his hand. You can call me Denny.
Chapter 2: Who is the mysterious night maintenance worker Denny?
Nice to meet you too, Denny. Is that short for Dennis? Nah, just Denny. Huh, I've never met someone with the name Denny who isn't a Dennis. You know a lot of Denny's, do you? No, not really, but I have met a couple here and there over the years. Good for you. He smiles, and I look around the break room, thinking of a way to make a quick exit without being rude. Go on, Augie, Denny says.
I bet you have all sorts of work left to do before you can head home. I relax at being let off the hook. Um, yes, I do. Low man on the totem pole. I need to get three reports done by Friday, and I'm still learning the system here. Yep, they don't go easy on the new guy, do they? I smile and nod, then look toward the break room door. Well, I should get back to my office and keep working.
Good idea. Walking away, I pause. Um, no one's called me Augie since I was a kid. That's so. It just came to me. Knew a couple Augies in my day. Kinda like you knew some Denny's. Were they Augusts like me? They were Augies. I wait for him to continue, but Denny leaves it at that, so I nod, smile, and hurry back to my office.
Shutting the door, I set my coffee on the front of my desk, then do a couple of twists at the waist followed by a good, long stretch, my arms reaching to the ceiling. There's a pop in my sternum, and I sigh. With that done, I sit at my desk and pull up the first report that I'm working on. an analysis of a small manufacturer that our company is looking to acquire. They make widgets.
I'm still not sure what kind of widgets, though. The details are a little sketchy. Scrolling through the records, all I see are item numbers and case sizes, shipping manifests and inventory tallies. There are receipts for raw materials, but no descriptions of what those raw materials are. There are no descriptions of anything the company makes.
Rubbing my temples with both hands, I try to make sense of it. How can a company have a bottom line just north of 3 million annually, but not detail exactly what they manufacture and sell? I sift through the files, hoping to find an explanation. There's a light knock at the door. Denny doesn't wait for me to answer, just opens it and peeks his head in.
Just about midnight, he says, that smile of his plastered on his face. I glance at my phone and see that he's right. Huh, thanks, I say. I should be done soon, maybe. He stands there, only his head visible. Is there something else? I ask. Nope. Just wanted you to know that it's almost midnight. HR told you about being here after midnight, right? HR? No. Is there some policy against working late?
Do you need me to leave so you can clean? Clean? I'm no janitor. We have a cleaning service for that. I'm here for night maintenance. The after midnight kind. I frown. I don't know what that means. The after midnight kind of what? Maintenance? You'll either see or you won't. He ducks out, then sticks his head back in almost immediately.
And, just in case, since it sounds like HR dropped the ball, do me a favor and stay away from the service elevator until after the sun rises, alright? Can you do that for me, Augie? This office has a service elevator? After midnight it does. Then he ducks out again, this time staying away. He doesn't close my door though, so I get up and walk over to close it.
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Chapter 3: What is the significance of the hidden service elevator?
That would be a good idea. Maybe I should go back to my office and grab a... What? A desk lamp? My stapler? The tape dispenser? A woman shrieks from behind the elevator door. No time for a weapon. I sprint to the door and look for the call button. It's hard to see. Like, really hard to see. The panel it is on and the button itself have been painted with the same color as the paint wall.
The woman cries. Hold on! I'm here! I shout as I go to press the button. A hand clamps around my wrist and spins me around. What you doing, Augie? Denny asks. You're not messing with the service elevator, are you? Not after I specifically told you not to! There's a woman trapped in there and screaming for help, I exclaim. We need to get her out of there. Woman? What woman?
Denny asks, looking past me. He shakes his head, then fixes his semi-amused gaze back on me. I don't hear a woman. And he's right.
Chapter 4: What warnings does Denny give about working late?
The woman is silent, no more screaming. No, I heard her, I say and turn back to the elevator. Denny grabs my shoulders and holds me in place. There was no woman, Augie. That's just the elevator. It'll bait you. Bait me? What does that even mean? For your sake, let's hope you never find out the hard way. Although, you will find out sooner rather than later.
Still holding me by the shoulders, he steers me away from the elevator, backing up while he leads me down the hallway. a hallway that now has doors for the bathrooms and the mechanical room, and the supply closets. That's it, Augie. Just keep walking. I quickly glance back over my shoulder. There's no elevator door, only a blank wall at the corner of another hallway. Where'd it go?
I ask, and look back at Denny. Denny is gone. His hands are no longer gripping my shoulders, even though I can swear I feel his fingers digging into my muscles. I call out. No reply. Okay, I need to go home, I whisper, then double-time it back to my office.
Thankfully, the floor plan of the whole place doesn't change on me again, and when I take the corner, the cubicle desks and side offices are right where they are supposed to be. Racing past it all, I get to my office and slam the door closed. Then I rush to my desk and gather up all my personal items, my backpack, my jacket, my car keys.
I log off my computer, thinking that I'll set my alarm and come in super early instead of staying here way too late. That'll work. I only need a couple more hours to sort out this first report, to figure out what the hell the widgets the small company is selling.
If anyone asks why I don't have the reports done yet, I'll say I tried to work from home, but the remote connection kept getting cut off. Slipping my jacket on as I leave my office, I head the opposite direction I have been going for what feels like hours, and stride toward the reception area and the regular elevators. Or I try to.
I come around the corner and see the doors for the bathrooms, the mechanical room, and the supply closets. Must have gotten turned around in here. Must have gotten turned around in my hurry to leave. I reverse directions and go back around the corner. It's the same scene. Bathrooms, mechanical room, supply closets.
And what I guess is Denny's office, the door cracked, soothing music coming from inside. I stomp over to the door and yank it open. What the hell is going on? I snap. Denny is behind his desk, playing solitaire with a deck of cards that looks like it'll turn to dust with a hard sneeze. Now, that's a great question, Augie, Denny says, not looking up from the cards. What do you think is going on?
I asked you, asshole! That stops him. Denny sets the remainder of the deck of cards next to the row he's already laid out. Then he looks up at me, and he is not smiling. Asshole? Why would you call me that, Augie? I've been helping you all night long. You've been wandering around this place for hours like some dingbat zombie. Almost got yourself hurt a couple of times too.
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Chapter 5: How does the protagonist react to the strange sounds in the office?
I could take that deck of cards and shove it down his throat, choking him to death. How would that be for an apology? Man, it has got a hold of you, Denny laughs. He scoops up all the cards and starts shuffling them together, his eyes on me the entire time. What's it doing now? What is what doing now?
But it's a stupid question, because I can hear that purr and the clangs and the bangs and all that stuff. I also hear something else. Weeping? Crying? Is that a kid? I ask Denny. He sighs. Oh, it's showing you that. He sighs again. Well, I'm not surprised. It hasn't exactly gone easy on you tonight. He stands and rounds his desk, slipping past me like I'm a coat rack in his way. Come on, August.
Time to learn why no one works late here. He's out his door before I can even think through what he just said. Then I'm scrambling to keep up as he walks down the long hallway that now has no doors again, except for the large elevator door at the far end. Denny is halfway there by the time I catch up. What are you going to show me? I ask. Nothing good, that's for sure, he replies.
Without looking at me, his eyes fixed squarely on the elevator door, Denny grabs my bicep and squeezes. When I open the elevator, you stay behind me. And no matter what it says to you, what it promises, what deal it wants to make, you say nothing, you do nothing. Understood, August? Understood? No, I understand nothing. You can say that again. His grip gets tighter, bordering on painful.
But I need you to understand just enough to do what I say. Stay behind me. Do not let it confuse you. Let what confuse me? The elevator? You're talking like it's a living thing, which is crazy, Denny. It's a damn elevator. Sure it is, August. Sure it is. and we're at the elevator door, but this time the button isn't hidden.
It's right there on the wall in plain sight, and even backlit by a pulsing red glow. Cute, Denny says to the door, but he's not for you. I'm just teaching him, you hear? Not for you. What are... Denny holds up a finger, and I shut my mouth.
Then he takes that finger and presses the elevator button, while also backing into me, forcing me to take several steps down the hallway, putting a good six feet between us and the elevator. The crying child noise gets louder and louder until the elevator doors slide open, revealing nothing.
Just a service elevator with an oversized space so that office furniture and large pieces of equipment can be shuttled up and down the building. It's empty, I say. Is it? I take a step, looking to move around Denny for a better look. But he grabs my arm and yanks me back behind him.
What did I say, August? Stay behind me!
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Chapter 6: What eerie events unfold as midnight approaches?
I'm glad that the music is so loud, because it almost drowns out the chewing noise I hear coming from the elevator shaft. As I get to my office, I wonder who they'll hire to figure out the whole damn widget mess in that report. At least I know it's not gonna be me. That's not my job anymore. I'm night maintenance. Thanks for tuning in.
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