10 Oct They Will Not Let Me Go
They will not let me go. I don’t know for how long I have been held a prisoner here, nor to what ends my captors hold me for. If I had the strength still, I’d have fought them. Heaven knows I try now, but something...
09 Oct History of the Young Man with Spectacles
From the filthy and obscure lodging, situated, I verily believe, in one of the foulest slums of Clerkenwell, I indite this history of a life which, daily threatened, cannot last for very much longer. Every day, nay, every hour, I know too well my enemies...
08 Oct Dead Channels
This is a dream. The room swirled misshapen around me; the vague contour of belongings I knew to be mine — my bed and dresser, the clothes piled in the hamper alongside them, all sat in a foreign arrangement. Askew and twisted against walls seated in...
07 Oct The Erasure
Part I The final echoes of children’s laughter faded down the street, blending with the rustling of dry autumn leaves as Simon stood on his porch, surveying the quiet neighborhood. The air was crisp, the scent of dying leaves and faint smoke from distant bonfires carried...
06 Oct For the Good of the People
“Think they’re gonna hear us c-c-c-coming?” “You’re the loudest of us all, Joe, dragging that bum leg of yours.” Joe tried to keep the volume down — it seemed deafening in the quiet night air -– but he continued to kick up gravel as he hobbled down...
05 Oct Ombrophobia
Part I The storm arrived faster than anyone expected. Six-year-old Evelina McIntyre sat cross-legged on the carpet in her bedroom, a small, cozy space nestled on the lower level of her family’s home in Georgia. The room, with its pastel green walls and neatly arranged shelves...
04 Oct Chernobog Station
Chernobog Station was but a hollow reminder of the grim reality of what the Arctic Circle could do in a single night. Hoarfrost and harsh winds tore apart equipment, covering everything in a slick sheet of icy gray and black. It gave the impression of a...
03 Oct Novel of the Iron Maid
I think the most extraordinary event which I can recall took place about five years ago. I was then still feeling my way; I had declared for business, and attended regularly at my office, but I had not succeeded in establishing a really profitable connection,...
02 Oct Aqua Aeterna
The submarine mess hall was total chaos. It rang with clanging trays, raised voices and general hubbub. Even so, Nathan’s head snapped up when the first rivet pinged free. The sharp fracturing of metal was followed immediately by a second report as the massive pressure...
01 Oct The Promise Land
He woke up, wiping the sleep from his little eyes. He squinted, straining his vision back into clarity. Morning? he wondered. He shuffled from the bundle of raggedy cushions he'd been sleeping on. He peeked through the blinds at the world outside. In doing so, he...
30 Sep Last Night, I Played Twister with a Ghost
Part I If you think playing Twister with a ghost is strange, you’re right. But that’s not even the strangest part of what happened. It’s what happened after that really made me question what I’d done. I guess I should start by explaining how I ended up...
29 Sep The Nest
May 3rd It’s been months since I’ve written in this journal. I’ve been preoccupied with applying to medical schools, and now I’ve been accepted to the program of my first choice. I’ve gone on at length about this university and its merits, so I’ll restrain myself...
28 Sep A Nightmare Made Flesh
Troy Davis, a stalwart of the mines for over three decades, lived a life shaped by the grit and grind of the subterranean world. However, one ominous morning, the very mines that defined his existence became a perilous trap. A reckless explosion had reverberated through...
27 Sep WarWolf
Working for the defense industry has always been a trip. I started out in the late 90’s, working out of Yuma, AZ, engineering the next wave of unmanned surveillance drones for the U.S. military. Technology had come so far by this point…nothing seemed off-limits, and...
26 Sep Pongo
Part I James Walker pulled up to the curb of their new duplex, letting out a slow exhale. The move to the town of Ridgewood had taken longer than expected, and the sun was already starting to dip below the horizon. This was supposed to feel...
25 Sep La Lechuza
The Owl Witch On a Wednesday shortly after 3 PM, a taxi pulled up to an old house in Rosevine, Texas, an unincorporated community in northwestern Sabine County in Texas. Thiago Angel Martinez, a stocky fifty-year-old man with a bald head, large mustache, and covered in...
24 Sep The Tragedy at Lake Newell
Part I I remember everything about that day at Lake Newell. The way the sun gleamed off the water, the shouts of laughter echoing through the park, and the bright colors of picnic blankets sprawled across the grass. It was supposed to be a perfect day—the...
23 Sep Mars
Go, Light Your Torches A thin cloud of red dust whips outside the airlock window. I press my forearm against the glass and lose myself in the soft hiss of sand moving against the hull. Wind. The thought almost makes me laugh. I always thought it was...
22 Sep Farthest Shores
As long as Paula and I have been married, there hasn’t been a chance for us to slow down. Not to say that is a bad thing, of course; it’s just that after seven years of work, school and taking care of aging parents, we really,...
21 Sep They Feed at Night
Part I The soft glow of the bedside lamp bathed Terrance’s room in a warm, comforting light. The familiar scent of fresh laundry clung to the blankets as Abby tucked them around her son, smoothing the edges and making sure he was snug. It was part...