I am a musician. Not a terribly great one, but still, I consider myself a musician. I can play with the best of them, and I know my way around an instrument or two. More importantly, I am a collector. A collector of various items...
“Your hair smells nice.” That was the first thing he said to me. “Said” is too weak a word, even. Whispered. Oozed. He oozed those words into my ear, an invasion as unwelcome as if he had stuck his actual tongue inside. My back was to him,...
I was on my way to Canada to see family when the pursuit began. Thirteen-hour drives are no joke. I’ve done eight hour drives more than a few times, so I thought I’d be fine, but the mind starts to fray at six—and I hit that...
--Case #40157J –Paranormal Research Division-- Confiscated from Cairo police department on 3/8/2020 Journal entries from Canadian-American researcher Steven K. Simms Journal discovered in descending passageway near entrance to Pyramid of Khufu, Egypt Case status: OPEN -Dr. Simms research log entry 3/7/2020 3:28 PM I’ve arrived at Cairo International Airport and will...
Everyone that served in the sandbox has a story about the war following them home. Some it’s about the things they saw, some about the things that happened to them, or the people — the brothers and sisters they served with. Some, if they’re honest...
There’s an orphanage situated in northern Pennsylvania, in a small town so isolated from the rest of the world that it might as well not exist. Why in God’s name anyone decided to put “Dawson’s Home for Special Children” here, I’ll never know. But, without...
Monday, September 9 I can’t go back to the shop anymore. I had thought it was safe, but I was wrong. It caught me by surprise. It was… it was too much. I probably shouldn’t have blown up the way that I did. That was stupid. ...
Deep in the woods, there’s a beautiful mansion. In this mansion, would seem to be a happy home. In the back garden and in the front yard: children play, laugh, and have fun. There is no mother and father, so to speak, just as almost...
You know how you’ll sometimes be driving, and it suddenly clicks that you spaced out for most of the trip and don’t recall a chunk of time on the road? That was what happened this morning as I pulled off the freeway and realized that...
The first time I saw it, I was exiting the final train that evening. The station was practically abandoned at that point and uncomfortably quiet. I try to avoid getting home so late, but I wanted to take Monday off so that I could go...
“I’m sorry, Mister Aching, but could I ask you to remember for me what was giving you trouble?” Remember? Oh, yes. I remembered. It had been last night—not a good night by any measure. Kyle had come home from work, and I’d forgotten our anniversary. He...
Stretching through one of the United States’ largest deserts is highway 50. Aptly nicknamed “the loneliest road in America”, it is indeed as secluded and desolate as one might imagine. On this particular night, the western horizon was lit up again and again in spectacular...
“If the children come knocking at your door and ask to enter, you must never invite them in or they'll devour your soul.” “Is that what she screams about?” I ask. “Shh, you’ll unnerve her.” Nurse Monro, the nurse who’s training me on how to handle difficult...
I was summoned from Calcutta to the heart of India to perform a difficult surgical operation on one of the women of a great rajah’s household. I found the rajah a man of a noble character, but possessed, as I afterwards discovered, of a sense...
That damn Sarah Hatley is dangerous. She’s been “dowsing” for dead animals ever since the last of the winter snow melted. The Hatley girl is always carrying that same crooked bit of a willow branch. Sarah holds it out in front of herself with her...
“Feeling down? Have a sinister sweet tooth? I have just the solution, Cordella’s Confections! Over on the corner of Brigantine and Salado Open every Monday through Friday, eleven to four.” A woman’s smile froze on screen. Cordella Joilee appeared perfect to the average eye. A gorgeous woman, about twenty-eight...
I’m used to mysteries in my life. I never met my mother, for example. My dad used to talk about her all the time, but she always felt like a pretend character, or like maybe she was just an imaginary best friend of his. Dad...
I never quite figured out who decides which lost souls have a right to be remembered and which ones don’t. I got a phone call while I was sitting next to my dying wife. I know that the medical equipment was supposed to be keeping her...
“They say that if you look into this pond, the dead who lie beneath its surface will stare into your soul, and see the secrets you’ve kept hidden.” “They also used to say that if you touch yourself, you’ll grow hair on your palms. Well, do...
29I leave dinner to pick up the phone, cupping my hand over my mouth in the hallway. “Who is it?” There’s a second of feedback, a high whining noise, and then a response. “Jim’s not here.” “Sorry? Who’s Jim? In fact, who is this?” I ask a flurry of questions,...
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