The Legend of Countess Esmeralda
Brown husks of acorns crunched underfoot. Leaves glided down from the canopy overhead – walnut browns and russet reds and soft lemon yellows. They looped and twirled in a gaudy death dance, determined to party out ...
The Legend of Icthos Thanos
Camp Royaneh, the Boy Scout camp where I work has been around for many years. 86 years to be precise. However, what people often forget is, prior to becoming a Boy Scout camp, this place was ...
The Legend of Shuffling Joe
Part 1 It was a typical day at school when I heard that Jessica Braymer had disappeared. That’s not to say that there was anything especially “typical” about Jessica herself. She’d been one of the most ...
The Legend of Tallulah James
All my life, I've fostered a deep love for Halloween. Everything about it makes me tingle with joy and the expectation of a fun, spirited time. I mean, the weather is superb; the leaves of yellow, ...
The Legend of Wide Eyes
The legend began during lockdown on March of 2020, within a town whose name and location I refuse to give away-on the chance anyone reading this is curious and stupid enough to check this place out ...
The Letter to My Other Self
I had woken up after a very long time. It almost felt like an eternity. I opened my eyes and there it was, the night, my lost love. I was so happy, so excited to see ...
The Letters
You were out of town for the weekend. When you came back to your apartment, your mailbox was stuffed full. At least 30 letters. Letters with no return address, several of them felt soggy and heavy, ...
The Leviathan’s Grin
Sean woke up in his modest bedroom to the sound of his wife Doris cooking breakfast, just as she did every morning. Wiping the sleep from his aged eyes, Sean sat upright in his bed for ...
The Library
So the other day the library calls to have my department do some computer work for them. Usually they have their own IT staff, but sometimes our department will go over there to help setting up ...
The Library
As I crossed the threshold of the library, I noticed that all sounds of the street stopped. I shrugged it off as being well soundproofed. I slowly weaved my way through the aisles, finding nothing that ...
The Library is Hungry
Most towns have a library. They’re public buildings, institutions of knowledge and fantasy. The books held within are almost sacred; librarians and their assistants: the priests and acolytes of knowledge and lore. Some libraries, however, are ...
The Light Hungers
It has been the way of things since the dawn of time. Evil has always been birthed by darkness. The strong feed on the weak and the lesser. Not always for survival, but sometimes, just to ...
The Light in the Sky
My family has lived all over Southern California, from San Diego to Los Angeles and back again. For a few years we lived outside of Los Angeles, in the valley north of the city, an area ...
The Light in the Window
Joan was not in the mood for the early shift. In a sleepy daze, without much (if any) mindfulness of what she was doing, she clutched her cell phone resting on her nightstand, and, after a ...
The Lighthouse
There is a small island in the Mediterranean Sea that does not appear on any map. It cannot be seen from any other island, nor can any other land be seen from it. On this island ...
The Lighthouse Project
In early April of 2016, a study was conducted on the psychological effects of solitary confinement under the influence of lights. It was on a Sunday morning when tragedy transpired for Guy XXXXX*. *At their request, ...
The Lights
On the southern edge of the small town of Rhanville there is a wide unlit road that separates the town from a wild and thick forest. Three houses adorn the northern edge of the road – ...
The Lights in Papa’s Room
It was the year of my 25th birthday that my dad told me he was sick. It was hard to hide, really. Obvious. But I suppose it would be hard for such a mountain of a ...
The Lights in the House Below
All great writers claim to suffer from insomnia at least once in their lives, although I’m sure a bulk of them misuse the term and glorify the disorder. After all, all artists “struggle” and it seems ...
The Lilies Are Bleeding
My lilies are my most prized possession. Hand picked. I will only take the most supremely beautiful specimens. They must be white as an angel’s wings, and so soft and delicate to the touch that you ...
The Linen Closet
Reading a couple stories here, and something that happened to me came to mind. You ever have moments that you blip out completely? As if your brain can bother to remember something only so often, so ...