Have you ever woken up from a dead sleep in the middle of the night with a crushing obligation sitting on your chest like a bull elephant? No? Me neither. My sleep is never clouded with vivid dreams or horrific nightmares. To me, it is...
I light another cigarette. My lips, pursed upon the filter, draw the tobacco to ignite as my lungs crowd with smoke. I had quit the habit some ten years prior due to health provocation, which may explain why I choked and wheezed through the first...
“Trust me,” Cameron said, smiling at his wife, Diana. She looked back at him no less worried, but he continued to lead her to the basement door. Diana hit the brakes and shook her head, her fingers slipping out of his. Cameron sighed. He looked at...
Our plane cropped over the horizon, the endless woods meandering and covering every inch of land for miles around the forested area, effectively isolating it from the rest of the earth by mountains on almost all sides. Within the bowl-shaped valley of greenery, it was...
The inside of this tent felt like the inside of Carrie’s heart: cold, empty, a place once full of people now deserted. Outside the purple tent she could hear the excited carnival-goers, the BB guns popping balloons, bells dinging whether or not someone lost or...
After lunch, I go back to my living quarters and draw a triangle. Between each corner of the triangle, I write our names out. I am at the top of the triangle. On the bottom two corners, I write Rosie and Kenneth. Rosie and Kenneth hate each...
Shorty Small, a man neither short nor small, sat with his back against a wall in a dingy bar several blocks off Bourbon Street. He concentrated on the front door and sipped on a half-consumed bottle of Nola Blonde Ale. The din of Mardi Gras could...
Henri Greyson heard a mournful howl of wind when he stopped to catch his breath. After a harrowing dash through the forest, he rested his hand against an old oak’s trunk for support. Looking up, bare limbs swayed in the cold fall gusts. Moisture-laden clouds raced...
Chapter One: Just an Illusion How in the hell did I get here? Oh yeah, I was with Sara Painter, my secretary and her sexy body got me here. Looks like the same ceiling in the same place we always come to. I always look up...
Last month, I started my first solo hike on the Appalachian Trail. Growing up, I’d hiked a lot with my Dad, but it was never more than a half-day before we broke off into some activity or went home. But for the last few years,...
I’ve received copies of the recent writings and recordings of Matthew Calder. I say “copies” because the originals are still in police custody in connection with several ongoing investigations. The writing is presented as is—I literally copied and pasted from the original documents, so aside...
I met the old man at a Bojangles restaurant. I was about sixteen at the time and had just dropped out of high school with my parents’ blessing. It wasn’t the sort of place where you’d learn much of anything. Aside from how to take a...
“Look out for their eyes, Mom. That’s the first thing you’ll see.” Standing in the middle of a forest in the dead of a winter’s night was usually not my preferred method to wind the day down. With the canopy of branches overhead, the only light...
“The world is full of monsters with friendly faces” — Heather Brewer It’s been almost thirty-five years since Danny’s gruesome murder, and the killer has still not been caught. Some say that they never will be. Like many unexplained deaths in the area, Danny’s untimely demise in...
Randy’s eyes darted from the television news broadcast to the actual horror happening outside his window. The voice of the newscaster said, “Major cities all around the globe,” as Randy watched flaming rocks rain from the sky. Before his eyes, they pounded cars into nothing...
Suitcase in hand, you head to the station. There is no way in hell that you are going to forgive that lying, cheating bastard ever again. He can’t be trusted anymore, and you know it. You know his lies about working late nights. The smell of...
Part I I have never been a superstitious man, and can honestly say that I do not believe in vampires, ghouls, demons, or anything else that those youngsters with their vivid imaginations and smartphones like to dream up. But there is one thing that happened a very...
Dave pulled up in front of his friend Ryan’s trailer. He was glad for Ryan when he got land and got out of the trailer park but now that he had to drive out here in the dark after a cryptic text message, he decided...
Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires: The eye wink at the hand! yet let that be, Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see. — Shakespeare, Macbeth When I promised my, shall I say, partners (who will remain anonymous as long...
Ted pulled his car off the paved road and onto the gravel driveway where his worn tires grumbled. “Yeah, I get the feeling.” It had been a long sales day for them both. When Ted had started selling water purifiers, everyone was in a panic about lead...
