Dan stepped towards the water’s edge with a smile and a stretch. “It really is beautiful out here. Thanks for inviting me.” “Don’t,” David said, grabbing his arm. Dan looked down at the arm on his, then up to the man it belonged to, meeting his all...
“We’ve been out here all day. I don’t understand how we haven’t so much as seen the beast,” William said from his seat on a fallen tree. Birds cawed from somewhere off in the distance, but the woods were otherwise silent. He sipped the ale...
There was a time once when my life was more like what most would call normal. I don’t remember when that was, but it’s only logical to assume that before pills, punk rock and pussy, there was a bout of normalcy for Mister Gillean Rush. ...
I don’t go into the woods. There are things in there, things that drive my anxiety through the roof at the mere thought of coming close to them. A casual hiker may not notice them, lying low and deep within the surrounding foliage. On a...
I’m on the lookout for a new job, but I think it’s time that I got a job that has nothing at all to do with IT. I mean nothing. No computers. No keyboards, mice, motherboards, wired networks, wireless networks. Definitely no PEBKAC (look it...
In between the mozzarella sticks and the second course, I’m thinking about dying. I don’t think of anyone or anything in particular, and I most especially am not thinking about myself. I happen to like life most of the time, and as far as I know,...
“Are you sure there’s buried treasure here?” “Yeah, I have heard strange tales about this place. Ghosts and zombies and shit.” I resisted rolling my eyes as the small skipper boat we were on slid up against the sands of the island. “It’s not like a treasure map,...
Last year BloodyDisgusting gave it 4 out of 5 screams. Fangoria Magazine touted it as “the most original haunted house concept on the market.” But you shouldn’t believe the reviews. No, really; don’t. Full Moon Flights is not what it seems. According to the brochure, they are a modern...
It started with a call from a friend, Luke. “Rob, are you awake?” he asked in a panic as I groggily searched for my glasses. “I am now,” I remarked dryly as I checked the time. Three fucking thirty in the morning. “This had better be good,”...
I knew my time at the Rossetti University was going to be something special the minute I learned of its intriguing history. Originally used as a battle fortress during the last years of a strange land war amid pioneers of the Northwest, the last remaining soldiers...
Part 1 Sol ran the red light at the intersection of Main and Marigold and tore down the road to Marigold Court. He’d outstayed his welcome at the poker game, and since the Dominicans knew where he lived, he’d outstayed his welcome at his own apartment....
It was a small village, a hamlet far off of the beaten path of the major towns and cities, but the people there were hard-working and friendly. They never required walls because there was nothing to guard against. They had nothing of value, there was...
The following is transcribed from a collection of reel-to-reel tapes recently located in the basement of the long-abandoned St. Elizabeth of Hungary Hospital (location redacted). The reels appear to capture a conversation between one of the hospital residents and an unknown individual (originally believed to...
“Hey, Derek! Come here! Plissken’s got a new video!” From his cubicle, Sean Bannister watched as Derek rolled his chair down the aisle to Jacob’s desk, and even though the day was late, most of the senior staff had gone home, and there wasn’t a whole...
Everybody loves the woods, until they follow you home. When my father came back from the military, we bought our first house—a boxy, two-story affair on the woodsy outskirts part of town. I was twelve going on thirteen then. Our neighborhood was a little off the beaten...
In early April of 2016, a study was conducted on the psychological effects of solitary confinement under the influence of lights. The following is an account of that study. For privacy and at the request of individuals involved, names and identifying details have been omitted...
It wakes you. Not the moan of a withered hag or the fleeting voice of a dead man, but the low trill of wind slipping past your window. Air being pressed into a hushed breath. The shadows meld themselves back into your bedroom. You blink. The blurred, hazy...
THIS IS THE SECOND PART OF A TWO-PART STORY. FOR THE FIRST PART OF THIS STORY, CLICK HERE. It was gearing up to be a long night. The place was packed two-deep with thirsty patrons, and our barback was nowhere in sight. I wouldn’t know it until...
I arrived at the Kotirc Outpost at approximately 3:30 in the afternoon alongside three senior officers from HQ. We had been told nothing about the facility’s state or its staff, simply that we had lost all communication with them about three days before our arrival. Russell, the...
I know we’re not supposed to speak ill of the dead, but Braden Kelly was a monster. I can say that now, after years of therapy with someone who specializes in treating trauma and abuse. But, if you’d asked me about him even two or three...
