I flipped through the channels, eyes glazed over, not really seeing what was on the screen. I was tired, a long workday behind me and an even longer one in front of me. I considered going to bed, but didn’t want to bring on a...
Two months ago we moved into our new place. It’s honestly amazing: huge property, beautiful forests, and an old barn out back that my wife Lydia hoped to remodel into a workshop. She loves wood carving. We have two sons and a daughter. Elliot is ten,...
I cannot share all the details of what happened on March 3rd, 2018. As a doctor, I’m not allowed to share certain private details, so names have been changed, and I do not mention what hospital I worked at at the time. There has to...
My name is Harry, and I’m dying. Less than a few weeks ago, I was in my car, sitting on a ledge. Engine revved, looking toward the open lake. I could hear geese calling out and looked toward the clouds to see they were breaking through...
I could smell the stench of death before I even stepped out of my truck. In its glory days, this place was the jewel of the neighborhood, the American dream personified. A sprawling two-story, three-bedroom house only a few miles from the beach. Looking at it now,...
I’m alone now. They’re in the other room, eating. The dog. They’re eating the dog. They don’t even try to hide it from me. I’m apparently so weak, I’m not a threat to them. They hid it when the cops came by. They broke out into smiles, acted personable...
The year was 1989. The McCallisters had just moved to the small town of Northfield. Todd McCallister had finally gotten his teaching license along with a job teaching history at the high school. Maria was content to stay home with their two children: Alexis, a...
I was tucking my daughter into bed one night last week. Normally, she’s a huge hassle to make go to bed, but that night she seemed actually eager to go to sleep. I sat down in the chair beside her bed and asked her what...
Though the wind bellows fiercely across my face like the howl of a nameless beast, though the moon twists shadows into abyssal creatures and the gates of Hell within my companion’s eyes, I am not afraid. I will be, he promises, but not yet. You see...
The fire at my campsite was burning low when the stranger separated from the shadows to join me. The collar of his long coat was turned up against the chill, and his bony fingers clutched a rough rope leash that extended behind him into the...
Take the I-87 north from Queensbury, Vermont. Then the 28 up through North Creek. Keep going, if you want to take the route that I did. You’ll pass right through the town that doesn’t exist on any map. My headlights probed the first of the ramshackle...
You can blame it on the alcohol, but that wouldn’t make me feel any better. People drink every day without killing someone. Besides, if I’m being really honest here, I probably would have still killed him if I’d been sober. You can blame it on my...
My wife lost her battle against breast cancer last month, leaving me alone to take care of our daughter, Ellie. Every single night Ellie asks if Mom is going to tuck her in, and every night I have to beg her before she’ll let me...
I was sixteen when I saw the first crack. A jagged line, almost four feet long but less than an inch wide. I found it by the sidewalk behind my house. Not on the sidewalk—the crack was in the air, visible from every direction as...
My grandfather was 95 years old and not long for this world. There was nothing but a mess of tubes and wires to tether him here with us. It was difficult for him to speak, but each rasping whisper carried a severe weight that could...
Justice isn’t blind. If she cannot see, then it’s simply because she doesn’t care enough to look. She turned away that dark night my sister was attacked where even the moon and stars must have hidden their faces in shame. From all accounts, it was...
He stood in front of the huge black Edwardian door awaiting an answer. The frosty morning air crept closer into his bones sending a shiver down his spine. He’d regretted that Christmas hair cut the minute the clippers touched his neck. His head now felt...
Last week, something happened in my house. Something I couldn’t believe and still am having a hard time believing. I don’t have an overactive imagination, and I don’t scare easy. I don’t believe in ghosts, aliens, the paranormal, and all the rest of the horror...
I don’t know why I’ve not been fully affected the same way my wife and child have. I don’t know why I can still remember, but I’m going to use what little time I have left to warn other people. My wife and I have only...
The circumstances in which we found Ms. Kerry were unpleasant. She had been dead for just over a week by the time we were called out, though how much of the smell came from her decomposing body and how much was from the house she had...
