When we are speaking of the supernatural, of the disturbing, of the grotesquely weird and disgusting, we consider only the monsters themselves. We see the twitching limbs and sharp teeth, the death and the despair, and the heart-stopping terror of the moment of death. We...
My brother and I were always the best of friends. We were only a year apart, with him being older, and we spent nearly all of our time together. We grew up in a house pretty far from the rest of the town so...
One frequent discussion in the comments both here and over at Crappypasta is what, exactly, makes a good character. Some people seem to eschew any detail about the character's traits or life, preferring them to be a blank slate for the reader to imagine as...
It was early Sunday afternoon, and my parents were at church, leaving me home all by myself. They were devout Christians, yet I was not. Sometimes they even tried to get me to go, but it bored me to tears, and just was not a...
October 31st 1691 ‘’Hurry,’’ Deliverance whispered, her voice softer than the light breeze which tousled her lank grey hair. ‘’Bury it, child, bury it deep.’’ Tucking a wayward strand of raven hair behind her ear, Abigail continued scooping up handfuls of soil and tossing them into the...
For several nights I have seen a man vanish into the woods behind my home; a man that I do not recognize. It started three nights ago. I thought nothing of it at first; perhaps he was a homeless man living in some clearing...
Nature is said to be the holder of true beauty, there are people who swear by this and believe it so foolhardily. I believed this too for a time, I never knew of what was truly waiting for all of us in the places...
Ever since the incident I’ve been so paranoid. No one would even really explain what exactly happened that night. I couldn’t make any sense of it, even though I was there. Every single detail is still etched into my brain, but I still can’t tell...
My name is not Xin, but that is what you can call me. Everything I am about to tell you is completely true. I believe I was born in the early 90's. “Believe” is the right word in...
“Oh, Loki. Stop.” Jamie batted the fluffy tail out of her face. It tickled her. The cat lazily glanced back at her from his spot on the counter and flicked his tail in her direction once more. Jamie rolled her eyes and got up from her...
I remember Phantasia Forest. I bet I’m one of the few people willing to admit that, and I’m probably the only person who remembers it for all the good instead of all the bad. I’ll never forget the summer it opened – the summer of 1954....
The sun was still up when we arrived. The car park was more of a passing place. Simmers was shuffling in the passenger seat next to me, he was overheating. Dressed in all the latest climbing gear, tin whistle and dodgy Japanese head torch from ebay, he...
1. It is the year 2037. Yeah, okay. I know it’s a cheesy way to start a story, but I just feel that it’s worth mentioning. Especially since it happened 25 years ago. I can’t help but think if I could have saved Jimmy. After all, it...
I have never been a sucker for ghost stories. I’ve never believed in ghosts, and I don’t think—honestly, I do hope I’m right—I ever will. I also don’t believe in demons or angels. It’s all just a bit too far out of my imagination for...
It is on a cold November night that I wander into the café, exhausted, but unable to sleep. My hands are shaking as I pass my change to the bored cashier. Of course, I manage to fumble about half of it on the floor. My...
I spend most of my Thursday nights driving. I drop the girl off at home and then I go, I just go anywhere. I need those few small moments where I can feel completely free from everybody. There’s a road that stretches around an old garden...
Margaret Owen stared out into the distance from her quiet Vermont ranch, taking a break from attending to the oddly large quantity of dishes left in the sink. She never quite considered how the sink managed to be full by every evening, considering her husband...
You may have heard of the Farnsworth experiments. My dad was one of the scientists involved. He rarely talked about it, and when he did he always said the rumors were overplayed. The team tried and failed, nothing more to it. He seemed to get...
Thomas rose from his modest flower garden and wiped his filthy hands on his jeans. He stood there for a moment, his eyes lingering on the lush blossoms. A sense of accomplishment overcame him. Though the plot was humble, what it lacked in quantity, it...
“I don’t want to move away.” The words hang in the air between them, like dust, slow and stuffy. “I don’t want you to move away either,” says Toby. They’re both sitting cross-legged on the hardwood floor of his bedroom, facing each other. Matthew pokes at a...
It seems archaic, putting pen to paper in this day and age. Hell it’s been so long that I am archaic. I figured after so long, I should at least retell my story on the off chance I succeed tonight. It’ll take some time but...
Farmer John was dead and gone; Hay-men watched his fields still: Lumpy sacks that had for long Drawn the crows in manner ill Some had come to pull them down But always failed in the task, Bound to flee at hinted frown Seen, they swore, in vacant mask Passersby would scarce arrive -- Merely...
Kat sat alone on her couch, shoveling popcorn into her mouth. She stared at her TV tied to the suspense of the movie. The sky darkened as the sun approached the horizon, hidden behind the ocean of trees her house lay among. One lone tree...
I’m posting this tonight in the hope that it will clear up the misunderstandings surrounding the disappearance of Debra Lindsay Caine, at the risk of my personal ridicule. Sticks and stones and all that. None of it will matter after tonight. Consider this my one...