Two days ago, I was out for a walk around my neighborhood. It was the ideal kind of summer day; bright sun overhead, wispy white clouds streaking across the sky, and a gentle breeze to keep my body from overheating. I even took the time...
Of all the nights for the devil to visit, he chose one that was calm. No great storms, no loud bashes of lightning and thunder. It was a quiet evening, cloudless, the stars blotted out by the lights of the city. I was on the...
When I was six years old, I followed a red bird into the woods. I didn’t think much about it, it just made a funny sound and I wanted to look at it. So I wandered off. My mother had fallen asleep on her sunbed...
“Can you believe this crap?” Doug asked his younger brother, David. The Sunday night football game featuring their vaunted Steelers had meandered to its soul-wrenching conclusion: a Steelers loss. “You knew good and darned well that this was gonna be a rerun of last season,” David...
When Everett and Ruth Watterson move into a quiet neighborhood, they seem perfectly polite—until strange noises, missing pets, and unsettling encounters convince their neighbor that something far darker lurks behind their curtains. What begins as uneasy observation spirals into obsession, culminating in a discovery that...
I’ve started and deleted this more times than I want to admit. The drafts always stall at the same place, where I have to write my brother’s name and follow it with what became of him. Caleb. Seven years old when this began, with a...
David Halloway had lived in the new city for less than three months, and already the novelty of relocation had worn away. His apartment was smaller than the one he’d left behind, the traffic worse, the food scene less impressive than the online blogs had...
Frank Delaney didn’t like shopping on Saturdays, but his wife Martha had asked, and he’d put it off long enough. The local grocer was busy, though not unbearable. He parked near the entrance, took one of the rattling carts with the stubborn front wheel, and...
I’ve always been a night walker. Some people drink, some people binge Netflix, some people smoke. Me? I put my sneakers on after dark and walk until the buzzing in my head dies down. That night had been especially heavy. The rain had started before dawn...
Part I The leak didn’t come from a whistleblower site, or from an agent trying to make a name for himself. It just appeared, first on a message board for paranormal enthusiasts, then on Twitter, then TikTok. By the time the FBI issued a takedown request,...
I had always heard BioTechtronica was a nice place to work. You should have seen all the advertisements all over Indeed and LinkedIn. One of the “Most Fun Places to Work of the Year,” several years in a row. Job satisfaction at an all-time high. ...
Jeremy Blake’s life is in shambles when he rediscovers a forgotten children’s program from his youth. One episode, however, has been erased from history, and every attempt to uncover it is met with silence, fear, or warnings. As Jeremy digs deeper, he finds himself stalked...
A veteran survivalist leaps at the chance to join a wilderness reality competition, certain he can outlast the elements and his rivals. But as the days wear on, the forest reveals a darker challenge: a predator that doesn’t just hunt—it plays. Through strange cries, shifting...
On the final night of his probationary driving job, Keith finds himself forced down a detour that leads far from the familiar. What begins as a simple road closure spirals into a nightmare of captivity, where human bodies serve unthinkable purposes and survival depends on...
The president of the Canterbury Homeowners Association took a deep breath and rubbed his temples. Wished the shrill sound in his ears would go away. It didn’t. “Then what exactly am I paying dues for?” “Listen, Karen—” “Mrs. Wheeler-Browne. That is Mrs. Wheeler-Browne to you.” The president bit his lip....
FOREWORD Recovered from the home of Thaddeus Collins – Keegan, Wisconsin My name is Lucy Collins. Thaddeus—“Thad” to most—was my grandfather. He vanished from his home in Keegan, Wisconsin, in early November of last year. There were no signs of forced entry, no struggle, no blood. The...
Hoping to film a food tour and rack up views, influencer Ethan Carter and his friend Tyler Banks arrive at a sleepy coastal town with a shabby boardwalk and a taste for seafood. But after a strange crab dinner and a warning from a grizzled...
When lurid Halloween posters featuring a wolf-like mascot named Mickey start appearing in his small Minnesota town, Jon is the only one unsettled by the sight. As the event draws near, the whole community seems gripped by a strange excitement—and an eerie phrase they all...
Long obsessed with the mysterious disappearance of the town of Tartarus, one man finally seizes the chance to uncover the truth behind the legend. What he finds is more than lost history—it’s a chilling secret rooted in horror and desperation. Trapped in a twisted reflection...
“Grace, I’m so sorry about all of this. I’m behind you, the community’s behind you, and we’ll do whatever you need us to do and help in any way we possibly can. You and John are not alone. Don’t ever forget that.” Dr. Corcoran’s leathery face...
