My family lived in Vermont for a number of years, in a small town called Northfield, south of Montpelier. There’s a local legend in Northfield, of a thing known as the Pigman. The story has multiple versions, as most do, but there are some parts that...
When you’re a teenager, everything is unfair. You can’t do this, you can’t go out, TV has to be off, and people just don’t understand how tough life can get. My parents always say I have no idea what “tough” is. But I think I do...
I remember each dream quite vividly. They were the kind you have where everything seems so real that when you wake up, you struggle to differentiate between the waking world and the dream world. The first night, I woke up and the sun had already risen....
An illusion it will be, so large, so vast, it will escape their perception. Those who will see it will be thought of as insane. We will create separate fronts to prevent them from seeing the connection between us. We will behave as if we are...
It is the night of Bacchanalia, and we are heading to the celebration. The woods are dense, but the path has been clearly marked with torches leading to the glade. We arrive – I, my wife, and our four children – dressed gaily in warm...
My upbringing was about as traditional as an upbringing gets. My parents were married, I had a younger sister, we lived in a nice suburban neighborhood, I had friends at school, all the trappings of a normal, healthy childhood. But there was one thing. One rule. One rule...
“Alright, class, we have a new student joining us today.” Everyone straightened their backs and perked up, intrigued by the prospect of someone new the way only children can be. Only Michael remained slouched, head on one arm and playing at indifference, but still, he looked...
my dad taught me how to use the internet because sometimes he said he felt too lazy to scroll and he just wanted to sit and smoke cigarettes and drink beer and i would read out the answers in the threads he liked the sound...
I live in a small, but lively town in Massachusetts. Its local legends have fueled my love affair with the paranormal. It's a subject that fascinates me to this day. Coupled with insomnia, this passion led me to spend many a late night at the...
It had rained off and on that summer night, leaving the forest dark and humid. Pushing through the wet underbrush after his friend, Noah wiped his hands on his pants, gripped his flashlight tighter, and complained, “But what if the ghost is real?” Crunching through the...
The day I accidentally witnessed my physics teacher die horribly, I didn’t know what to do. I went to my classes in a daze, sat there stunned for hours, and wondered if people would think I had something to do with it if I reported...
This is the 2nd in a multi-part series. If you haven't already, please read the 1st part here. Part II To this day, I don’t know what came over me, but as the cops entered the room, I was overwhelmed with the idea that they meant me...
“Is it true? Did every cop in the precinct call in sick tonight?” I asked my friend who lives across the street from the police station. “Yeah, Wayne.” I heard him answer as I could also hear him racking his shotgun. “Can’t say I blame them,...
“Daddy, why is mommy so cold?” She was dead. Maurice knew that much, but why was she so cold? His father, a stout man named Gregory, was silent. Everyone knows we die. Not even children deny it. Yet knowing a fact and believing it are different....
Are you unfulfilled? I want to help you. Specifically you. Yes, you, the one reading this going “Is he really talking to me?” Yes, I‘m really talking to you. I know you, I know your type. Bored, frustrated with life, seeking that thrill that’ll make you...
I graduated from high school a few years back. I still live with my parents, but I’m using this time to my advantage. They’re kind enough not to charge rent and that allows me the ability to save up almost every penny I make. The...
I was twelve years old when I went on my first hunting trip. It took a lot of brown-nosing and a lot of help from my grandfather, but eventually my father caved and allowed me to go. I was ecstatic. Every fall, my dad and grandpa...
James was an eight-year-old boy with the heart of a dog and the energy of a hummingbird. His mother died when he was only five, so he lived with his grandmother, Babcia. They were very poor: their house was a tiny, dilapidated thing, with a...
The boy hated the nights when his big brother snuck out. He would stare at the empty bed in the bedroom they shared, under the large open window in the eave. Through there, every now and again, he could hear the unmistakable metal thuds of...
The invasion began in 1985, or so we were told. The headlines immediately caught our attention, “Killer Bees Found on Southern Border!” These were the type of things that sparked the imagination of every child. It filled our heads with images of terrifying attacks and...
