Something is wrong with Sleigh Town—Roni knew that much about it. During the pre-covid era of twenty-eighteen, I was hired as a night security guard for a park in our town, right on the cusp of December. Since its grand-opening in the seventies, the acres were established...
Grandpa Cobalt hated letting things go. Whether it was the wobbly chair he kept in his study or his favorite warped record he fed to the gramophone—looping the same groove over and over. He was a tall man with a frosty thin hairline and a nose capable...
Everybody loves the woods, until they follow you home. When my father came back from the military, we bought our first house—a boxy, two-story affair on the woodsy outskirts part of town. I was twelve going on thirteen then. Our neighborhood was a little off the beaten...
In early April of 2016, a study was conducted on the psychological effects of solitary confinement under the influence of lights. The following is an account of that study. For privacy and at the request of individuals involved, names and identifying details have been omitted...
It wakes you. Not the moan of a withered hag or the fleeting voice of a dead man, but the low trill of wind slipping past your window. Air being pressed into a hushed breath. The shadows meld themselves back into your bedroom. You blink. The blurred, hazy...
THIS IS THE SECOND PART OF A TWO-PART STORY. FOR THE FIRST PART OF THIS STORY, CLICK HERE. It was gearing up to be a long night. The place was packed two-deep with thirsty patrons, and our barback was nowhere in sight. I wouldn’t know it until...
The days all started with the briefing room—a wall-to-wall palette of aged pastels and stark, hospital grayness. In the center of our little room, an oval-shaped table dominated the space with every seat filled with a tired nurse. From one of the windows, a bar of morning...
Grace Merritt almost choked to death on a Saturday morning, roughly 2 a.m. She awoke to a burning anger in her stomach, a sharp twisting feeling that felt as though her innards were looping into bloody knots. Ignoring it and falling back to sleep was...
The terrible thing happened at night—as most terrible things do. While I click-clicked away at my home job as a transcriptionist, I’d often watch the boys playing in the backyard. They’d be at it for hours, acting out some scene with foam swords and plastic guns,...
My name is Noah Ryley, and I like to burn things. It had all started when I was nine, after my parents separated. Custody was granted to my mother since my father had taken the opportunity to jump ship. Probably to start a new family with...
When a heart fell out of the medicine cabinet, Carrie Pickett screamed. Not two seconds ago, she’d wandered in, relieved herself, and opened the swing-door for her sleeping pills. Out it rolled, rebounding off the sink and against the floor with a sickening plop! The sudden movement startled...
When I was a kid, my stepfather asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up. “A magician,” I answered quickly with worldwide clarity. He huffed at that answer. “That ain’t a job, son. Wearing makeup and doing a little dance at parties ain’t...
I used to think of Hell as a faraway place. For those of you out there who still hold that belief, this piece of my life is for you. Don’t ask me why I’m doing this; I’m honestly not sure. My therapist says writing about our...
[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] [field title] [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="12px"][vc_separator type="normal" color="#ffffff" thickness="5" up="3" down="3"][vc_empty_space height="24px"][vc_column_text]Use this form to send a message to author [taxonomy featured_author].[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="12px"][vc_column_text]Looking for more details? Visit our featured authors page for more information about this author.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="36px"][vc_column_text][contact-form-7 id="499" title="Author Contact:...
[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" gap="15" equal_height="yes" css=".vc_custom_1475885484025{padding-bottom: 50px !important;}"][vc_column width="1/4"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1585773570351{margin-bottom: 10px !important;}"] [taxonomy featured_author] [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="10px"][vc_single_image image="776" img_size="200x200" alignment="center" style="vc_box_circle" qode_css_animation="" css_animation="top-to-bottom"][vc_empty_space height="10px"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1476990443996{margin-bottom: 10px !important;}"] FEATURED AUTHOR [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] ✉ Message the Author [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Official Blog • Facebook • Twitter • Tumblr • Reddit[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="20px"][vc_column_text]Michael Paige is a short story author and aspiring novelist....
“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...
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...
Just perfect, I thought as the storm released sheets of rain over the canopy that spilled onto the walkway. Lightning lit up the sky in a brilliant stitch of fire followed by a powerful bellow. I was leaning against one of the tapered columns with...
“Fuck you!” Nathan Keene screamed at his grandmother. Her quivering lip stiffened and sucked in a gasp. The widening sclera of her aged vision looked as though they’d pop out of her skull. With all the strength his little hands could summon, Nathan slammed the...
