Chapter 1 I grew up being a bit of an explorer at heart. It hadn’t exactly come naturally, but instead through my family’s forced moves from army base to army base. I turned ten this year and I was on at least my eighth adventure to...
The Act The large metal plate was secured with long threaded bolts into the enclosure. These were applied and tightened down by two skimpily clad, dark-haired assistants, or vassals as they were called, and appeared to also be identical twins. The cage looked to be impenetrable...
Chapter One Tanner Lee Palper, or Tilper as people had called him even before he could remember, sat on the old rustic bench he’d put by the pond years ago. His pole sat leaning against the limb that jutted towards him from the water. It was...
Chapter One Dried, dead leaves crunched underneath the rhythmic footfalls of the trio. Mrs. Kendal took in a haggard breath, clearly struggling to keep a steady pace. Mandy watched the elderly mark, noting she had a death grip on her son, Trevor, as they wound their...
The lantern on my desk flickered and then went out, drenching the cabin in a tar-like darkness. I cursed quietly to myself. It seemed only the day before that I had filled the lamp, and I’d been ashore since. Carefully I placed my quill into...
Chicago, Il. Shorty Small, a man neither short nor small, took a final drag on his cigarette. Without diverting his gaze, he flicked the butt to his right. Glowing flakes of tobacco scattered as the dying cigarette struck the neighboring building’s brick wall. The sparks triggered...
Day One: October 2069 The week started out like most, sitting at my desk in a cubicle, sipping coffee and attempting to concentrate despite the constant din of other federal investigators in their adjacent spaces speaking loudly on their phones. My name is Ryan Powers. I’m one...
I guess if I squint hard, and crank my head just right, that there tree does kinda seem to have curves like a woman. But with the ice coverin’ the glass, Bob’s crap headlights, and the fat nasty pile of...
In the beginning, what we did was beautiful. It all started in 345 when Saint Nicholas supposedly “died.” Or at least, that was the story given out. What a bad joke. As if a man who could resurrect pickled meat into living breathing children would ever...
I grew up in a family that always struggled with money. I wish I could say we made the best of our situation, but that would be the worst kind of lie: the kind that lets my father off the hook. He was a destructive,...
My chair tilts back as I scroll through the horror forum posts. There’s not one thing that I’ve read or watched that has so much as quickened my heart rate. I dejectedly set my phone aside, knowing there’s nothing I’ll find here. Horror’s not like...
As you may or may not know, I do investigative journalism regarding various unscrupulous business practices. My byline is generally ignored, so I can imagine not many but a small few are aware of my work. However, it is important that in this matter I...
When I was a little boy, my fondest summer memories were spending time in the north woods at my Uncle Howard’s. He had this rustic old cabin surrounded by nothing but pure nature. The local hunters called it Howard’s Hideout. Every time my brother John and...
Growing up with asthma was always a little challenging, but having a dad that smoked two packs a day made it even harder. Mom would always chastise him for the bad habit, and he would always claim that he would go cold turkey. It was a...
I am recording this message to sort out my thoughts and provide the most accurate information I can to those on the surface. I apologize if it is not the most cohesive possible. Given the circumstances I am facing, it is the best that I...
I know most of you are probably heading off to get a few drinks with friends and pass the night away watching the ball drop from the comforts of your couch, and if so, I applaud you for not having a care in the world...
Just looking at the faded poster-board sign made me feel sick. From the looks of their website (which looked like it had been created on a Macintosh), Mausen Hausen was a cheap, German-themed Disney World rip-off amusement park that popped up seasonally repurposing what was an...
People think true crime writing is a glamorous job. And it is when it isn’t swallowing you wholly into its dark heart. There’s an old true crime cliché – “the husband did it!” You know, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, the husband did do it....
When the wave of virus pandemics in the 2020s and 2030s made travel abroad impossible, I really missed it. It felt like a First World problem, complaining about a lack of holidays. I mean, it’s not like I’d died, got any lingering illnesses, or lost anyone...
I suppose there are people in the world that are worse than Pastor Murdoch Prior. But Prior really was a bastard. Even before everything that happened, he was a bastard. My memories before Priorville are hazy with only bits and pieces sticking out, but granted, that whole...
