05 Jan The Whimper Tree
When I was a kid, I used to love it when my granddad came to visit. He was a big man, tall and stout and loud, with a huge bushy beard and a booming laugh. He wore an eyepatch over his left eye, and in...
04 Jan Lights by the Roadside
I’m an EMT in my childhood hometown of Hillhaven, Montana. There’s only one hospital worth the name in the whole county, Hillhaven General, so when I moved back into town after ten years living in Helena, that was the only real choice for a freshly-licensed...
03 Jan The Little Dentists
I had my first trip to the dentist last week. I do mean first, too. I don't think I ever went growing up. Mom said baby teeth didn't matter since I was going to lose them anyway, and the little dentists would protect my permanent teeth...
02 Jan Slow and Steady
I bought a new house last month. It’s a lovely little place. It’s rustic, homey, remote—everything I wanted. The man I bought it from built it himself forty-five years ago. He told me that. He told me everything about it, from the depth of the...
01 Jan A Fear of Silence
Back in 1956, I signed up for a psych experiment in college. They had a float tank, one of those sensory deprivation chambers, and they needed people willing to be closed up in it. Easiest experiment in the world, as far as I was concerned. All...
31 Dec The Old Grave
I’ve read that your hair and fingernails keep growing after you die. Then again, I’ve also read that that’s stupid, and that actually what happens is that your skin contracts, making your hair and nails look longer. That one always seemed more reasonable to me....
30 Dec August Heat
PHENISTONE ROAD, CLAPHAM, August 20th, 19—. I have had what I believe to be the most remarkable day in my life, and while the events are still fresh in my mind, I wish to put them down on paper as clearly as possible. Let me say at the...
29 Dec House
My name is Aramis Churchton. On December 14, 2004, I came to the town of Belconsin, Maryland, in order to spend a night in a tenantless house on a quiet road. It was a three-hour drive from the western part of the state, and I...
28 Dec Hearts and Minds
Arnold Willis slowly opened his eyes, dreading what he would see. The small alarm clock on the nightstand read a merciless 5:58 a.m. The sterile hospital wall came into focus behind the clock, in sharp contrast to the brightly-colored balloons which floated at the edge...
27 Dec She Waits Upon the Coastal Road
October 6th, 1853 When I set out for Port Humber, I had not imagined that this would be where I met my death. Indeed, I must confess that I had always imagined myself beyond death in a sense. Not above it, no. One of the few...
27 Dec The Mystery of the Highball Mail
This is a story told to me by my dad about his dad, Julius Bentley, who worked as a conductor for the old Mid-Northern Railroad. My Grandpa was the conductor on a train called the Highball Mail back in the 1950s. It was a train...
26 Dec Remember Only the Checkered Clown
People in my hometown don’t talk about what happened during the summer of 1969. Urban legends, unsolved mysteries and tragedies can be found in the history of any small town in the world and mine is no different, yet those who remember the checkered clown...
25 Dec Are You There?
Jonah Harvester was the golden-haired, angel-faced picture of innocence that every parent envisions their little boy as. He had a cherub’s wry smile and a natural charisma to him that was impossible to deny. You just couldn't say no to that face, and no one...
24 Dec The Immortal Coil
I was awaiting an interview with a dying man, sitting in an uncomfortable chair, watching an ancient television set mounted high in the corner of the hospital waiting room that flashed riot scenes. Placards waving, black faces crying into cameras, the capitol was burning and...
24 Dec Mr. Otter
You know when I was a kid, I used to love indoor playgrounds. I’m sure I’m not the only one. You go to some unsuspecting building in the middle of some strip mall and inside is no mere store or restaurant. It’s a kingdom that’s only...
22 Dec Second-Hand Criminal
My brother Sean was ten years older than me. We lived with our parents in a place called Garland, Virginia which is 40 miles southwest of Washington, DC. When Sean was in his teens, he and my parents didn’t get along at all, and after...
22 Dec The Drognar
“When you're Dead…you live in a box, and it's always dark, but you're not ever afraid.” – Kelly Link, “The Specialist’s Hat” When Ellen and Juliya were 4 and 6 years old, Dad would leave out the most gruesome parts of the story of the Drognar. But...
21 Dec The Colour Out of Space
West of Arkham the hills rise wild, and there are valleys with deep woods that no axe has ever cut. There are dark narrow glens where the trees slope fantastically, and where thin brooklets trickle without ever having caught the glint of sunlight. On the...
20 Dec A Christmas Angel
Garbage lined the quiet street with dirty papers, bottles, and cans. One trash bin tipped on its side with a wretched smell of old beer and cigarettes from behind a bar that overlooked a small alley. A slight breeze blew down the run-down alleyway of...
19 Dec 8 Down
A gunshot went off seemingly from nowhere, but it was from one of the officers at the young girl’s site, me. Mr. Whimpley’s head lay at his daughter’s feet, brains lying across her feet and up her muddy legs. Her body was thin, and she looked...