
When a Rooster Crows
When I first saw the stranger, he was standing in front of Lester McCreed’s house. The stranger was dressed simply enough—overalls, a plaid shirt, a brown cap, and one of those surgical masks you see everywhere ...
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When Catfishing Goes Bad
My cousin Patrick was murdered a few months ago. Yeah, Patrick was weird and self-absorbed, but at the end of the day, he was only twenty-four. I didn't know much about what happened other than what ...
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When Death Cheats You
Everyone knows the term "cheating death": it's when you get to escape the ending of your life, or the cruelness of how it will end or just the terror itself it carries. But everyone knows that ...
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When Gods Blink
On the 25th March, at 14:57GMT, the world stopped for 27 minutes and 54 seconds. No-one noticed at first. Those that eventually did were ordered to keep quiet. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There was no sudden jolt, no collapsing ...
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When I Was Not My Own
Being trapped inside your own body was the kind of horrible thing you'd hear about coma patients and those who suffered from sleep paralysis, but not really as a deliberate prison; or even such a literal ...
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When Monsters are Real
There are many stories about monsters. Have you ever stopped to think about what makes something a monster? Charybdis, Dracula, Grendel, and Slenderman are all different, yet they share some fundamental quality. I suppose you could ...
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When Rain Comes
It begins gently at first, softly falling like a child’s tears. It is a sad thing, but not so unusual and wholesome in its way. And the wind lightly blows, almost tenderly caressing your face. This ...
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When Science Found God
I’ve never much cared for religion. I mean, it’s interesting and all; the old parables and philosophic insights from people two millenniums removed from the present. I particularly enjoy the books of the Apocrypha, and the ...
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When the Circus Came to Town
The tents appeared in the middle of the night, without preamble. There was some heated discussion at city hall, because not even the mayor knew they were coming. They must’ve worked out something, though, because the ...
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When the Halloween Decorations Start Bleeding
"Am I going to be charged with murder?" The detective sighed, and did not answer. His eyes were tired, haunted. "Just help us get to the bottom of this," he said. "Okay," I answered. "I'll do ...
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When The Lights Go Out
Have you ever had that feeling in the pit of your stomach when you feel like something bad is going to happen? It is a new level of anxiety that makes my mind want to explode! ...
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When You Go A-Knocking
Growing up in small town in the middle of Kansas in the 1970s meant that not only was there not much to do as a slightly mischievous teenager, but if you did want to do something, ...
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When You Go to Heaven, They Take Your Skin
The car accident was a blur. A symphony of shrapnel flying across the highway; the debris of at least three vehicles. At the time, I didn't know who was at fault, or what exactly happened. I ...
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Where A Kid Can Be A Kid
When I was a child my father owned a janitorial company that worked almost every night at our local Showbiz Pizza Place/Chuck E. Cheese’s. He would often bring me to work with him so I could ...
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Where Bad Kids Go
I must have been six or seven when I lived in Lebanon. The country was ravaged by war at the time, and murders were common and frequent. I remember during a particularly vicious era, when the ...
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Where Monsters Come From
Horror stories are all about monsters. Things out to get you. Eat a few people, make a bloody mess, and have you scared for your life. But...no one ever wants to consider where monsters come from ...
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Where Power Lies
I watched my copper mailbox dangle from the door of my bar through the blurs of my windshield wipers. They made that tight squeeze against the glass, not a forgotten drop or streak. They were new ...
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Where the Birches Lean
It was the last week of school before Christmas break. That meant that the students and teachers of Ridgecrest Christian Preparatory Academy had little intention of actually working. Most classes had become a social hour but ...
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Where the Caterpillars Die
Fear is only as deep as the mind allows, was my mother’s favorite idiom. Growing up, she never hesitated to use it against my childish fits, whether I was upset about sleeping alone in my bed ...
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Where the Nightmares Go
The sun shone dimly through gray skies, barely illuminating a vague dirt road upon which a young teen walked. The young man was tired, fighting off fatigue as he forced one foot in front of the ...
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Where The Snow Isn’t Cold
You know the old saying; the one that starts with: ‘A good day at the cabin begins with a sunrise…’? Well that is very much true, but what is a bad day some ask? That’s being ...
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Which One Was The Real Thing?
I heaved a sigh of relief after closing the hallway door and glanced down at the skittish little furry friend at my feet. My dog, Chip, practically latched himself to my ankles as he followed behind ...
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