I can’t touch people who are almost dead. It’s not a phobia, a religious thing or even a preference. I just literally can’t do it. My hands pass through them like they’re already gone. It’s horribly unnerving. You ever walk up a flight of stairs, but...
“Crow!” Eli called out to his companion in a hushed tone. He could see nothing beyond the faint ring of light their campfire was casting among the dense forest of pines. Eli’s friend, Dead Crow, a Cheyenne Indian did not answer. He wasn’t terribly worried...
I’ve always found dead bodies fun to play with. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated. The way the skin changes color, and the body deflates like it’s been emptied out. How the eyes always creep open the teeniest bit when you really...
My pursuit for the occult and arcane lead me to London in the year 1646, wherein a new bridge was planned to cross the river at Tower Hill and near the growing fame of Shakespeare’s theatre. I, on the other hand, to save myself from...
The world was small, like a tiny blue and white marble whirling on a sheet of black glass. Peppering it like glitter were thousands of stars. Lunar Module Pilot Marcus Windthrope witnessed it all from the exterior of the International Space station. Sweat beaded his...
To understand the value of an hour, one must first cherish its passing, and what more profound a way than the slow, inevitable tick of minutes to measure the descent of your demise. To understand why I cherish this hour above all else, I must...
“Hey, you’ve reached Aaron and Katie. We aren’t home right now but leave us a message, and we will get back to you! Thanks!” “Katie, this is your mother. You didn’t call last night and missed lunch with us today. I am getting very worried. Please...
My name is Daniel Burgess. I’m the photography coordinator for a public relations and marketing agency in Chicago. At least, that’s what it says on my business card. I’m not so sure what I am, anymore. Just before dawn, I dragged myself out of my apartment...
His teeth crunched into another handful of spiders. The pimple popping nature of their exploding abdomens under his gnashing teeth made Jay sick to his stomach. The way too audible sound of the popping didn’t help either. “Looks like that’s another five spiders, Jay! You’re falling...
Ugh, my head. I know bad hangovers. I know hangovers so bad, no cold shower or energy drink can fix them. I know what taking a punch feels like. I was seventeen when my coach thought me ready to step into the ring. Half an hour later,...
I recently bought a house in the country. I wouldn’t quite call it a country estate, but if someone else did, I wouldn’t disagree with them, either. The house covers a few thousand square feet, and it’s on 25 acres of land. Honestly, it’s a...
Until recently, I was the head of the psychology department at a small, unassuming university. To protect the privacy of those still working there, I will not tell you which university it is, though I suspect you can find it in the papers. It depends...
“Tell me about the first time you remember being scared.” Duane hesitated. “It’s stupid, you know?” “Nothing’s stupid, Duane,” Dr. Earles gently admonished. Earles was a balding man in his early sixties, with thin glasses and a neatly-trimmed, mostly white beard. He very much looked the part...
“And I looked, and beheld a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.” – Book of Revelation 6:8 “Alert: traffic ahead. Estimated travel time has increased by 15 minutes.” Simon sighed and drummed his fingers on his steering wheel....
911 gets three kinds of calls. There’s the “someone needs help” call, obviously. That’s the sort that most of our training deals with, and it’s the kind that everyone pictures first when they think of 911. You could, if you wanted, subdivide these calls into...
“Rain fell on the roofs of the just and the unjust, the saints and the sinners, those who knew peace and those in torment, and tomorrow began at a dark hour.” – Robert R McCammon, “Mine” August 6th, 1982 was a day in Duxbury that no one...
I’m here to make a confession. I don’t know if it’ll help, if anything’ll help at this point, but I’m out of ideas and out of time. So here goes. A year ago, I was at a party, a decent-sized shindig, bunch of working folks letting...
I was seven years old when my brother Frank died in a fire. He was nineteen and a fireman and everything I ever wanted to be in the world. My parents told me that he’d died a hero, that he’d been inside a house saving...
The days all started with the briefing room—a wall-to-wall palette of aged pastels and stark, hospital grayness. In the center of our little room, an oval-shaped table dominated the space with every seat filled with a tired nurse. From one of the windows, a bar of morning...
I am going to tell you a story. This isn’t a pleasant tale yet it does contain elements of happiness and love. However, it is mostly and most unfortunately permeated with an abundance of terror and hopelessness. I do hope that you are not faint-hearted...
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