“That one is very special,” said the old man running the antique shop. Emily looked up from her phone to see a large baroque mirror with a gilded frame of carved flowers. The late afternoon sunlight that shone through the storefront glittered over the frame, making...
Too often, throughout history, what we can’t explain we label a religion. Religion is the bait and switch that gets us on our knees. But when it comes to evil, it’s a more subtle religion, one we pray against. On the big screen, Peggy Carter tells...
“We’re gonna make this a tradition,” Jerry said confidently. The others in the back of the van could barely hear him over the music. “Arbor Day getaway.” “We’re not, Jer,” said Sarah. Jerry gave her a wounded look, and she reached over and put a hand...
Before I even get into this, I’ve got a very important public service announcement for those of you already judging me based on the title of this alone. I don’t want any of you giving me lip in the comments about how I shouldn’t have...
Part One In some strange kind of way, I suppose it was appropriate that Nicholas passed so near Halloween. He loved the dressing up and scaring friends, going to spook houses nightly for the week ahead and then staying out all night the night of. It...
“Ah, welcome!” The man who stood at the open door was painfully suburban. His thick-rimmed glasses were slightly too large for his face, even with the wide grin he was currently sporting. His pastel polo shirt was tucked into the belted waistband of his cargo shorts....
Part One It was early on in my childhood that I understood what the definition of gluttony was. Or at the very least a hungry dose of greed. My family was engulfed in such. My grandma always said there wasn’t much difference ‘tween the two and...
Claire awakens from the dream, sheets and nightgown soaked. Yanking the covers off, she rushes into the bathroom and throws cold water onto her face to help stem the hot flash, but it doesn’t work. She fumbles down the dark hallway and into the kitchen,...
The annual office Halloween party was in full effect. The large, open-space office was plastered wall-to-wall with paper bats and plastic pumpkins, and every surface covered in enough candy bowls to give a football team diabetes. Dressed in their vampire capes and witch’s hats, the...
Let me start by saying that I hate Halloween. But don’t write me off yet; let me explain. Every year, my mother would sew me a ridiculous costume that no one in their right mind would think to wear. While my friends were clad in...
You know that feeling you get when you are deep in the forest? Like something is watching you? Maybe even following you? But, of course, you continue on, because it’s just your imagination. Except that it’s not. The feeling you have is instinctual, and you...
Nearly half a million children are reported missing each year in the United States. Averaged out across all of the cities, towns and the like, that comes out to about four missing kids per populated area per year. Fortunately, all but a tiny handful—about twelve...
THE FOLLOWING STORY IS A SEQUEL TO THE STORY: "Kill the Curdler" The funny thing about problems, Ackerman reflected, was that they never went away. They just changed into other problems. Sometimes smaller, sometimes larger, but never gone. Problems fed on each other, just like everything else....
“Remember, the entrance door to the sanctuary is inside you.” — Rumi, 13th Century I had a wife once, aeons ago; but I can't remember her name. I can’t even see her face in my dreams anymore. I must write all this down before any more of those...
Rachel sat alone amongst the dilapidated pews strewn carelessly on the church floor. It had been longer than she cared to remember since she had visited the church, and time had not been kind to the once-warming embrace of its dimly lit walls. Now it...
In simple terms, I cannot write the story as it happened. I must dumb it down for those critics who refuse to delve into a simple dictionary. Let us move on in the simplicity of common language that we all might understand. The bar was noisy,...
1 A loud thud exploded in front of me. The precise spot which seconds earlier would have landed my body had it not been for the fate from the faint whine in the sky forcing me to halt in my tracks and look up. I would...
Mary Wyles My name is Richard William Kinnley. I’m seventeen years old. Other than that, I ain’t got nothin’ to say til my daddy and lawyer get here. ***** I gaze down the old farm road which stretches for miles in front of me. The hood ornament on...
"Yea, buddy," Jason Biggs shouted, smiled, and then gulped down the rest of his brewski as Bon Scott fabulously articulated that he was on the highway to Hell. He crushed the can and tossed it out of his open window. His gray chest hair fluttered...
"A bit of a lemon, isn't it?" Sheila asked as she hefted the first box out of the moving van. A short, high chuckle responded to her question as she turned around to see Matt, her husband, striking a superhero pose with his fists at...
