25 Dec The Problem With the Drains
“Man, that shift sucks!” I hear it all the time. I can understand why people say it; I used to think the same thing. I still do some days. I’m one of the lucky people that go to work while everybody else is...
23 Dec Snow Day
Posted at 11:00h
in Beings and Entities, Children and Childhood, Monsters, Creatures, and Cryptids, Natural Disasters and Storms, Psychological Horror, Strange and Unexplained, Survival Horror, Suspense and Thrillers 0 Comments
Jake Thomasson pulled the sleeve of his sweatshirt down, covering his hand, and wiped away the condensation from the window. It was the third time he had done this in the past ten minutes, but he didn’t want to miss seeing if any cars drove...
16 Dec It Wasn’t a Reindeer
Posted at 11:00h
in Animals and Wildlife, Beings and Entities, Christmas and the Holidays, Monsters, Creatures, and Cryptids, Myths and Legends, Nature and the Outdoors, Strange and Unexplained 1 Comment
“Christ,” I muttered to myself, as the first flakes of snow started to fall. They gathered in fuzzy clumps over the windshield before my wipers cleared them away. I’d been waiting for fifteen — no, twenty minutes now — in my sister’s driveway. Had I...
05 Dec The Trunk
Moving day. A chance to start fresh in a new place. New opportunities, new community, new home. Home. Not just a house. To Eric Sherman, this was a place he could finally call home. No ex-wives to hound him for alimony. No disapproving parents to...
12 Sep The Promise
Posted at 11:00h
in Children and Childhood, Feelspastas and Happy Endings, Strange and Unexplained 0 Comments
The anniversary of Layne’s death wasn’t for another three days, but when “Cochise” came on the radio as I approached that curve, I took it as a sign. Layne’s favorite song. I pressed the gas and shifted gears as Chris Cornell began to wail. The...
27 Mar He Who Preys
My daughter Hannah had always had a fascination with bugs of all kinds. She collected them and kept them in a terrarium she insisted I buy for her when she was six. It was on a constant rotation as her interests changed; when she was...
17 Jan The Curse of Luck
My life hasn’t been what most would consider to be… great. As you will read, I have always had terrible luck. I was an infant when a drunk driver decided one night that he wanted to drive on the wrong side of the road at...
16 Jan Large Yellow Eyes
Posted at 11:00h
in Beings and Entities, Deaths, Murders, and Disappearances, Investigations and Crimes, Monsters, Creatures, and Cryptids, Strange and Unexplained 0 Comments
My name is John Dawson, and I was a beat cop for twenty-two years for a small town in rural West Virginia. People talk and stories get passed around, especially in small towns with few ears but big mouths. Sometimes, the people knew a crime...
20 Jul The Contract
Posted at 00:00h
in Beings and Entities, Strange and Unexplained, Technology, the Internet, and the Deep Web 0 Comments
Teddy Wilson rapped one knuckle against the smoked-stained glass door adorned with the worn, white letters that announced, “Martin Croker: Editor” before popping his head into the room. “You wanted to see me boss?” The man who served as his immediate supervisor for the last decade...
14 May The Bottom of the Ninth
Posted at 00:00h
in Beings and Entities, Comedy, Humor, Parodies, and Satire, Locations and Sites, Strange and Unexplained 1 Comment
“Welcome back to the bottom of the ninth inning ladies and gentlemen and it appears that we have yet to receive an update on the injury to the twenty four-year veteran, Bryce Harper, who was hit by that devastating fastball to start the inning and...
09 Apr Beta
Posted at 00:00h
in Beings and Entities, Deaths, Murders, and Disappearances, Science and Experimentation, Science Fiction, Strange and Unexplained 0 Comments
We live in a world where anything is possible and Dr. Dyson Lynch truly believed that. In fact, it was his credo and the science needed to make anything possible was his first and only true love. From the moment he saw his first diagram...
13 Mar The Molendinar Burn
Posted at 00:00h
in Beings and Entities, Deaths, Murders, and Disappearances, Folklore, Folktales, and Superstition, Locations and Sites, Monsters, Creatures, and Cryptids, Myths and Legends, Strange and Unexplained 1 Comment
Jack Mckay huddled in the cold midnight street with a pale green sleeping bag encasing his lower half. Spindled trails of light reflected off the gleaming roads from damp lampposts. But the cold wasn’t what gave Jack his nightly jitters—not by a long shot. The...
05 Feb Writer’s Block
Posted at 00:00h
in Beings and Entities, Madness, Paranoia, and Mental Illness, Strange and Unexplained 0 Comments
“Did you get my story written?” Christie asked as she came through the front door just after two. Normally she wouldn’t be home for another couple of hours but apparently the schools had let out early that day for something to do with testing. She...
25 Jan Roommates
Posted at 00:00h
in Beings and Entities, Deaths, Murders, and Disappearances, Investigations and Crimes, Madness, Paranoia, and Mental Illness, Strange and Unexplained 0 Comments
The second Darryl’s keys were rattling in the lock Katie was off the couch and racing to the front door. “Did you do it? Did you do it?” She was practically bouncing up and down with giddy anticipation and unwilling to give him a second to...
15 Jan White Out
Posted at 00:00h
in Beings and Entities, Locations and Sites, Monsters, Creatures, and Cryptids, Natural Disasters and Storms, Strange and Unexplained 0 Comments
It was cold. Morgan woke up shivering, his breath coiling in the air before him. Why was it so damn cold? Key West was known for a lot of things but its frigid mornings weren’t one of them. Quickly pulling himself from the sheets and throwing on...
02 Jan The Debt Collector
Posted at 00:00h
in Beings and Entities, Deaths, Murders, and Disappearances, Madness, Paranoia, and Mental Illness, Strange and Unexplained 0 Comments
Grant could not have asked for a prettier day to drive on. He had only been driving for Uber for a couple of months now in his free time, but he enjoyed it so much it was, little by little, starting to surpass his time...
25 Dec The Quest
Posted at 00:00h
in Beings and Entities, Deaths, Murders, and Disappearances, Period Pieces, Strange and Unexplained 0 Comments
Grynnwald grabbed his son by his beaten breastplate and shook the hysterical young man, slamming him against a massive oak tree, nearly unleashing the chest-piece in the process. “Haurik!” he screamed desperately trying to break through the panic. “Compose yourself!” It took a moment for Haurik...
22 Dec Another Fairy Tale
Posted at 00:00h
in Beings and Entities, Deaths, Murders, and Disappearances, Folklore, Folktales, and Superstition, Monsters, Creatures, and Cryptids, Strange and Unexplained 1 Comment
Once upon a time in a land far, far away there was a story that became well known in all the kingdoms of men. It started as a whisper in the back of ale-houses and progressed to the point of street-corner news barkers. No one...
19 Dec Elf on a Shelf (with a Knife)
Posted at 00:00h
in Beings and Entities, Christmas and the Holidays, Deaths, Murders, and Disappearances, Strange and Unexplained 0 Comments
“It’s creepy,” Dan balked. “It’s cute,” Julia countered. “Besides, it’s fun. I mean, geez Scrooge, where’s your Christmas spirit?” Dan picked up the doll and turned it over in his hands. It was the prototypical Christmas elf as imagined by Hollywood in a red onesie, Santa...
13 Dec Leave Your Flashlights at Home
I’ve been a national park ranger for close to two decades. Protocols have changed a lot in that time. I write this just to try to keep people safe for the next time you venture to the big outdoors. Let me tell you about the last...