Something is changing the people in my apartment building. I don’t know how better to describe the present phenomena rather than to explain, as simply as I can, that they come back different. When they speak, their eyes never move, never leave for a second, piercing, dwelling shadow orbs...
The pregnancy had not been unplanned. In fact, we had planned our entire lives around the pregnancy… patiently acquiring degrees and job titles until we were financially secure enough to start trying. Then, the careful charting of Anna’s cycles, and the dutiful love-making, even if we...
The world came back into focus. She stood motionless at the edge of the bed, watching me from beneath the decaying black shroud that covered her head. Two white, reflective orbs passed over me. I could feel the pressure of her dread gaze as it seemed...
Everyone that served in the sandbox has a story about the war following them home. Some it’s about the things they saw, some about the things that happened to them, or the people — the brothers and sisters they served with. Some, if they’re honest...
Part I How happy we are today The feeling will only escape No matter who we blame it on When the thrill is gone, it's gone, it's gone - Trifonic Warren Biggs thundered into the radio station that sat at the edge of town, the town itself sat at the edge...
8Why would you tell a five-year-old kid such a fucked up tale? Ever since the memory of my fifth birthday came back to me, this is the question I’ve kept asking myself. But I don’t have the answer. I suppose I shouldn’t be that surprised. Given the...
“Why do you want this job?” I straightened my tie while staring into the eyes of this person who would determine my employment fate. His eyes looked weary and he looked tired. He sipped from his coffee mug. “Well, sir, I feel I could do well at...
There are few attractions that I would consider to be more inherently creepy than the Haunted Mansion. It’s a ride inside of the “Happiest Place on Earth” that is literally built around the theme of death and people have really grown to really love the...
There’s an orphanage situated in northern Pennsylvania, in a small town so isolated from the rest of the world that it might as well not exist. Why in God’s name anyone decided to put “Dawson’s Home for Special Children” here, I’ll never know. But, without...
Monday, September 9 I can’t go back to the shop anymore. I had thought it was safe, but I was wrong. It caught me by surprise. It was… it was too much. I probably shouldn’t have blown up the way that I did. That was stupid. ...
Deep in the woods, there’s a beautiful mansion. In this mansion, would seem to be a happy home. In the back garden and in the front yard: children play, laugh, and have fun. There is no mother and father, so to speak, just as almost...
You know how you’ll sometimes be driving, and it suddenly clicks that you spaced out for most of the trip and don’t recall a chunk of time on the road? That was what happened this morning as I pulled off the freeway and realized that...
I’m really at the end of my rope here. No, check that. I was at the end of my rope weeks ago. Now I’m sort of clinging to the side of the cliff by one bloody fingernail. I didn’t even know that you could get banned from calling...
The first time I saw it, I was exiting the final train that evening. The station was practically abandoned at that point and uncomfortably quiet. I try to avoid getting home so late, but I wanted to take Monday off so that I could go...
August 8th, 1991 The cultists calling themselves “Baal-Daeva’s Truth” had become so efficient at home invasions that neither of Samantha’s parents were able to call the police before they died. The firefighters with Engine 21 were the first emergency responders on the scene, and I was...
The moon hung heavy overhead through a striated bank of clouds, and even though it was a weeknight, the Levine family was gathered on the front lawn, necks craning up and peering into the sky. The meteor shower was due to start at any minute...
For months, I caught glimpses of Claira from the safety of my cubical. So beautiful, faultless. Through innocent eavesdropping and pattern recall, I unknowingly learned almost every detail of her life; when she had lunch, who her friends were, and where she would be at...
Though every poet considers the heart to be for more than pumping blood, I wonder whether any could hold an organ in such esteem if they lived a day beneath my skin. Is it not said that those who suffer have seen the eye of...
“I’m sorry, Mister Aching, but could I ask you to remember for me what was giving you trouble?” Remember? Oh, yes. I remembered. It had been last night—not a good night by any measure. Kyle had come home from work, and I’d forgotten our anniversary. He...
In 1989, we detected a faint call coming from the depths of the ocean. A strange cry from a massive creature, traveling alone in the vast blue waters below. At first, it sounded like an oddity, a malfunctioning hydrophone, but then we heard it again...
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