Nicholas Grime looked at the window at the neighbor’s house, watching the twitching form dangling from the rope in the tree, the smiling figure holding the axe, and the bloodstained plastic sheet covering the front door. He sighed and looked at his own front yard, where...
I watched the back of their feet as we all walked into the woods together. Trailing behind and looking down to watch my steps, I could see their shoes leading the way. Three sets of different colors pressing the forest floor. For some reason, despite...
Have you ever laid awake at night, staring at the ceiling wondering what your life would be like if you had made different decisions? If you had gone left instead of right, if you had said no instead of yes. Do you wonder how big...
There’s this little flower shop on the way home from the office. At least, I thought it was a flower shop. The sign on the window says, “Granny’s Yarbs and Apothecary.” I wasn’t sure what to make of a name like that, but since the...
Mom always loved Jesus more than she loved me. She told me so herself, over and over again, when I was growing up. Every morning she would say to me, “Jimmy, you’re my only child, and I love you more than I love myself. But...
My culinary misadventures into inadvertently assisting in the summoning of what I can only assume is a demon began innocently enough. It all started just over a year ago with one of those meal box subscriptions. Learning to cook for myself after Mama died wasn’t hard,...
I stay up later than most people, so I was still awake and playing computer games when the crash happened. Tires screeched before I heard a tremendous crunching of metal. I thought it was just a simple car accident outside until an emerald spray of...
I drink, not because I like alcohol, but because I’ve recently seen the horrifying underbelly of the world, and I can’t go back to blissful ignorance in any other way than through the bottom of a bottle. I can’t sleep, either, so I’m writing this...
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...
Found this journal in an old storage locker I had taken possession of. It’s dated in the summer of 1985, and the pages are curled, smelling faintly of popcorn. As for the contents…well, go ahead and start reading. June 1 Infiltrating Funtasia’s Dreamscape Circus was easier than...
Pirarucu. The Brazilian name for “the red fish,” known among scientific circles as the arapaima. If you’ve never heard of “the red fish” before now, then prepare yourself, because you won’t be forgetting it anytime soon. Imagine a living torpedo, pushing ten feet and five hundred pounds...
Ford Street Bridge - Minneapolis, Minnesota Wednesday, September 10, 2021 - 11:55 p.m. EST Willis, hurry your ass up! Can’t you hear all those popping off like Fourth of July fireworks, and the sky’s a funky-ass green. Ronny told us all to leave over two hours...
Chapter 1: Clyde and Rachel “Clyde, won’t you please come to bed with me—it’s late, honey.” My eyes ached from the strain of staring into the screen for hour after hour. The screen though—is my vehicle. My vehicle to the world I’d been creating and now wished...
You probably think you’ve heard every scary “we went on vacation to a cabin” story ever told, but I promise you, you’ve never heard anything like what happened to my wife and me. There were no ghosts, no demons, no madmen stalking us through the...
He turned away from the group and went quickly down the road and on into the woods. A voice called Bradley behind him, but he paid it no heed. He began to move faster and faster until he was almost running full-tilt through the trees,...
I cannot deny that my chosen profession is one of great fascination and—truth be told—amusement for myself. I am sure the same does not always hold true for the clients I serve, but that is of no consequence of concern for yours truly. I am...
“Dr. Annelise Fowler,” “Annie, no one calls me Annelise.” “Alright then, Annie.” “You can call me Dr. Fowler.” Agent Romero slips a cigarette out of his pack, “You mind if I smoke, Doctor? Would you like one?” “I would mind, and no, I would not like a cigarette. Let’s just...
Who else could’ve asked for a more perfect Christmas morning? The skies not quite dark yet not quite bright, snowflakes gently pelting against the windows, the fireplace giving a warm, comforting glow, and the tree itself sparkling with glitter and multi-colored lights (in this case,...
Aggie circled the address and folded up the paper. It had taken almost seven years for the Pittsburgh Observer to return listing real estate in their Saturday edition. Luckily with the recession having decreased enough to beckon a mini housing boom back to the Pittsburgh...
My great aunt Mildred absolutely adored yard sales. That woman could haggle a tortoise from its shell. I tagged along a lot because she kept me while my parents were at work. She'd let me pick random junk, and she was an expert haggler when...
