Dr. Benjamin B. Forsythe was an odd scoop of orange sherbet, a cold, pasty, dour sort. His whole life had been a matter of melting into something or nothing. He’d become a successful psychiatrist over his long career. Dr. Benjamin’s office was in St. Louis,...
Harris Wilson never considered himself particularly generous, especially around the holiday season. He’d spent too many years concerned about the direction of his life and where he would find himself after several disastrous years at college. But after a series of short-lived low-rent jobs, mostly...
Growing up, my dream was to be a journalist. Maybe I’d watched too many movies, but I loved the idea of chasing down big stories and going undercover to investigate huge scoops. Mingling with the rich and famous and being first on the scene of...
My job usually isn’t all that interesting, and that’s the way I like it. I’ve done my time in the workforce. A lot of people my age are retired by now, but I never really had money to step out of the working world. My...
Ever since my wife Adalyn disappeared, it’s been just Charlie and me all alone. I don’t mind it. I’ve never much cared for company. If I’d wanted visitors, I wouldn’t have tried to get as far away from civilization as I could now, would I? ...
His secretary had asked him if he’d had time for an interview today…some small-time reporter, looking to earn a few clicks out of a chat with an old businessman. He’d declined, of course. Told her to reschedule for next week, although even if he was...
Past As you probably know, Christmas is indeed a time for reflection. A time to revisit memory and times gone by with those you've loved and those you've lost. I should know. I am, as it happens, the ghost of Christmas past. Ugh, the ghost of...
I was headed toward the airport to catch a flight, driving down a country road that my GPS claimed would serve as a shortcut when my luck officially ran out. A sudden flat tire caused me to swerve off the road, slamming my rental car into...
In the late 1800s, set against the raw beauty of Lake Michigan, if you looked across the water, you would often see a dazzling spectacle. Sleek, three-masted schooners were running smoothly on a western wind day in and day out before the days of motor vehicles....
Everyone in town knew my family, the Bowers. We are considered cornerstones by some. Never wavering in any community activity. Until this year. We experienced a tragedy, one that only now with the holidays past us I can talk about. It’s an event that changed the meaning of this...
Eggnog, the Guinness of dairy products, There are two types of people: those that hate it, and those that love it. I was born on December 22nd, just three days before Christmas Day. I can remember my mother talking about how she drank it by the...
Her shoes were too tight. The coat was too itchy. And by god, if Zoe heard ‘All I Want For Christmas is You’ one more time, she’d go postal on everyone here. That would be a memorable visit to the mall’s North Pole- seeing one...
My very first Halloween, I wasn’t on the schedule. It was my first year as an EMT. I had a calling, to attempt to resurrect the dead for minimum wage. I was interested in the busy shifts, but apparently Halloween is one of those days...
My family still visits now and then. They check-in, a text once every so often, an email. I don’t blame them. They act concerned but keep just enough distance not to become wrapped up in the stench that follows me. My parents still hold onto...
There are numerous games that circulate the internet. Most are written for fun. A rare few are written based on real experiences of those who found the worn corners of reality. Some are trying to quantify it into a recipe as a way to process...
“No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.” John 3:13 CHAPTER 1 Devon, England. October 1991 The Duke’s Head pub had been derelict for two years now; boarded up, condemned; but no one missed it. It had never been a...
If you see this man on the side of the road, don’t drive home. We have this urban legend in my city called the Wrong Way Man. Supposedly, you might see him standing on the side of the road when you’re driving. Some say it’s always...
My first memory is of loneliness. Sitting forgotten on a shelf, detached from the world. Unloved and abandoned. I suppose it was sometime around 1934, although I couldn’t recall the exact day. Like anything else in this world, I don’t recall the start of my own...
“With how many things are we on the brink of becoming acquainted, if cowardice or carelessness did not restrain our inquiries?” – Mary Shelley, Frankenstein Detective John McCarthy stood in the ankle-deep snow. Blowing hot air into his cupped hands while examining the scene. Christ. Why’d he...
His name was Connor. Dustin Connor, but he never went by that name. Some called him Con or Connor. I called him Mr. Connor. Mr. Connor was the bravest and most imposing man that I and many have ever known. He stood well over six feet...
