I saw something back in 1990 that has haunted me ever since. We were a Boy Scout troop of sixteen boys between the ages of 13 and 17, going on a two-day hike along a trail that ran sixty miles from Richmond to Marion in Indiana....
I was always told not to look out a window at night, because you might not like what’s looking back at you. They call this an “old wives’ tale” or something like that, but for me, it was just a bunch of silly crap, so...
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....
You think good and evil don’t exist? That ain’t true. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it firsthand. I’ve even seen the Devil. Our family was small; just my parents, my older brother Jacob, and me. Ma always doted on me, being the baby and all, much...
Jessie wondered if she and her brother would have more in common if they had been identical twins. The differences didn’t surface unless you spent several days watching them. Minus the lack of identical faces, they seemed to have the same bond that every other pair...
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...
Our beautiful Kathryn, My life was just about perfect, as close to it as it could be without actually being so. I was young, with a promising career ahead of me, the love of my life by my side, the whole world at my fingertips. I...
Grace Merritt almost choked to death on a Saturday morning, roughly 2 a.m. She awoke to a burning anger in her stomach, a sharp twisting feeling that felt as though her innards were looping into bloody knots. Ignoring it and falling back to sleep was...
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...
The terrible thing happened at night—as most terrible things do. While I click-clicked away at my home job as a transcriptionist, I’d often watch the boys playing in the backyard. They’d be at it for hours, acting out some scene with foam swords and plastic guns,...
I’ve been here since I was two years old, and by all accounts, I had a normal upbringing. That’s owed to the fact that this is an altogether normal place. The people work in other nearby towns or craft wares here that they sell in...
My name is Noah Ryley, and I like to burn things. It had all started when I was nine, after my parents separated. Custody was granted to my mother since my father had taken the opportunity to jump ship. Probably to start a new family with...
I’ve owned Pinelawn Cemetery, the cemetery that serves the small town in which we reside, for going on 11 years now. Our land is a good size, but due to the size of the town from which our cemetery draws its...
“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...
I need your help. I don’t know who you are, or how many of you I’m actually addressing. That’s the problem with doing something like this, when you don’t really know your audience. I just need to know if I’m going insane, or if I’ve...
My girlfriend, Amber, shook several thick envelopes in my face as soon as I came through the front door. “Do you see these? Huh? Huh?” she snarled with her teeth bared and nose scrunched. “They look like junk mail to me,” I said. “They are junk mail! And...
My friend Shannon had been through quite a bit in the past few years, and that was the only reason that I didn’t immediately call the police when I stopped by her work and found her halfway through the process of climbing out of a...
Let me start my story by telling you something about me, the most important thing, in fact: I find things, and I fix them. That’s who I am. If you don’t know that, you don’t know me. I’m a second-generation auto mechanic, born-and-bred. I’ve been repairing...
