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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
1 Timmy stood close to the shiny champagne-colored box, his hands trembling as they cautiously gripped the smooth rounded edge. His eyes wide-open with shock, his lips clamped tightly, fighting every urge he could muster to keep from squealing out in horror. He knew what he’d...
The air in the room was frigid and stank of rotting meat. The unearthly groans spewing from the small, spindly creature’s mouth chilled Maddie to her core. The vile words it used to remind her of her every mistake and shortcoming filled her with shame...
There’s an irony about life in a small community. When most people think of it, they imagine a quiet life, much more peaceful than the clamour and bustle of the city. In one sense that is true, there is less noise, and people generally don’t...
“Of course, I’ve heard of it, but it’s fake! There is no such thing as the Cemetery Run.” Jake kicked a stone down the dirt path running between the school and the small playground at the edge of his neighborhood. It smashed through the dead...
It was a warm September evening in High Point, West Virginia, when Silas first saw the Yellow Carousel. A retired surface miner, he and his wife, Emma, had lived near the top of this ridge for most of their fifty-two years together. The land behind their...
In a dilapidated house at the edge of a small, quiet town, where the shadows danced and the wind whispered secrets, was what was supposed to be my wife and I’s paradise. Our once-grand home now stood as a decrepit monument to the relentless march...
“Do you play video games, Terrance?” The devil asked as he sat perched atop the podium. I held my wife’s dying body in my arms, tears streamed from my face, and her blood covered my bare chest. I looked up with a mixture of hate and...
“That one is very special,” said the old man running the antique shop. Emily looked up from her phone to see a large baroque mirror with a gilded frame of carved flowers. The late afternoon sunlight that shone through the storefront glittered over the frame, making...
Too often, throughout history, what we can’t explain we label a religion. Religion is the bait and switch that gets us on our knees. But when it comes to evil, it’s a more subtle religion, one we pray against. On the big screen, Peggy Carter tells...
“We’re gonna make this a tradition,” Jerry said confidently. The others in the back of the van could barely hear him over the music. “Arbor Day getaway.” “We’re not, Jer,” said Sarah. Jerry gave her a wounded look, and she reached over and put a hand...
“It was the biggest night of their lives, the grand finale of their first world tour taking place in Atlanta. The music blared, the crowd went wild, and they stood on the stage as rock gods," he whispered. Artificial flames flickered in the cool night air,...
Chapter One: Surprise I lay my hands against the edge of the bathroom sink and stare at my reflection. I could still add a trickle of blood down the corner of my mouth...
Before I even get into this, I’ve got a very important public service announcement for those of you already judging me based on the title of this alone. I don’t want any of you giving me lip in the comments about how I shouldn’t have...
Part One In some strange kind of way, I suppose it was appropriate that Nicholas passed so near Halloween. He loved the dressing up and scaring friends, going to spook houses nightly for the week ahead and then staying out all night the night of. It...
“Ah, welcome!” The man who stood at the open door was painfully suburban. His thick-rimmed glasses were slightly too large for his face, even with the wide grin he was currently sporting. His pastel polo shirt was tucked into the belted waistband of his cargo shorts....
