I was summoned from Calcutta to the heart of India to perform a difficult surgical operation on one of the women of a great rajah’s household. I found the rajah a man of a noble character, but possessed, as I afterwards discovered, of a sense...

I always wanted a little sister. I would beg my parents, β€œPlease? Pleeeeaasssee?” and they’d roll their eyes and tell me that it wasn’t as simple as I thought. That didn’t stop me from talking about it every chance I got, though. When they brought Sarah...

β€œIf you’re counting sheep to help you sleep, don’t look them in the eye, For some will give you dreams to keep, and some will make you die.” The idea of counting sheep stretches back to a simpler time in our history. A time before all those...

July 29th, 1991: 2 pm One of the young men spoke, breaking the quiet thrum of nature around the group. β€œThe marathon winds right through these woods, Jordie.” Leeroy gestured with a sweep of his hand to indicate the dense wilderness around himself. β€œAnd you’ve got...

This happened on Halloween when I was in high school. I say that so you can understand why some of the people acted the way they did. You know how Halloween gets. All sorts of pranks are pulled, people cover themselves with fake blood, etc....

That damn Sarah Hatley is dangerous. She’s been β€œdowsing” for dead animals ever since the last of the winter snow melted. The Hatley girl is always carrying that same crooked bit of a willow branch. Sarah holds it out in front of herself with her...

β€œDamn, Pete!” my newest employee Marlon exclaims as he nods his head across the bar. β€œThat woman’s eyes are all over you. It’s that time again, huh?” I try to hide my devilish smirk as I give a nod of my own in agreement. I slide...

Kel and Sidney sat in near-perfect silence, taking turns to draw from a handle of vodka that they shared between them. The bottle of liquor was one of the most expensive ones left at the corner shop. It hadn’t mattered that it was expensive, because...

β€œFeeling down? Have a sinister sweet tooth? I have just the solution, Cordella’s Confections! Over on the corner of Brigantine and Salado Open every Monday through Friday, eleven to four.” A woman’s smile froze on screen. Cordella Joilee appeared perfect to the average eye. A gorgeous woman, about twenty-eight...

For the rest of my life, I’ll remember Tali. I didn’t know her personally, but her art permanently changed my town. Our community never recovered and it probably never can. I distinctly remember so many of her illustrations. There was always such surreal and vivid...

Debbie Sanderson was a dream come true at five-foot-nine with a quick wit, perfect smile and the deepest brown eyes I’d ever seen. We’d met on a discord server about two months back and really hit it off. Our conversations evolved from messaging to phone...

I never quite figured out who decides which lost souls have a right to be remembered and which ones don’t. I got a phone call while I was sitting next to my dying wife. I know that the medical equipment was supposed to be keeping her...

β€œThey say that if you look into this pond, the dead who lie beneath its surface will stare into your soul, and see the secrets you’ve kept hidden.” β€œThey also used to say that if you touch yourself, you’ll grow hair on your palms. Well, do...

29I leave dinner to pick up the phone, cupping my hand over my mouth in the hallway. β€œWho is it?” There’s a second of feedback, a high whining noise, and then a response. β€œJim’s not here.” β€œSorry? Who’s Jim? In fact, who is this?” I ask a flurry of questions,...

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