I have a beautiful smile. Oh, how I miss it. This morning, I wake up and I smile at my bedroom mirror. I am disappointed at what I see. I kiss my husband, I send my two children off to school. I entertain guest friends. I show them all my lovely smile. But I look…
Everyone has tales about the strange and bizarre. My story is about how my half-hole mask saved my life, and continues to save my life to this very day. Late in December, I was traveling north from California to my home state of Oregon. Nothing fancy, I was just going to visit the family for…
I bolted upright in the bed not sure what I expected to see, but knowing that something had startled me awake. Moonlight filtered in through the window and I shivered despite the unseasonably warm temperature. After a few moments I heard it; a soft tapping of fingers against glass. Slowly I turned my head to…
So, three friends and I decided we were going to camp out in this 30 acre sanctuary down the street from my neighborhood. It’s paralleled by railroad tracks and a road on one side, and then a small road on the other said. There’s a lot of forest and trails, but also these big sand…
All too often, my nights would end with a freezing walk to the nearest payphone to reach out to a friend for some help. My car was a piece of shit. To be brief and spare you the mechanical jargon, it had a nasty habit of dying on me. Being a native to mountainous regions…
Have you ever heard of an old PC game called “The Theater?” Yeah, I didn’t think so. Probably because many people say it doesn’t even exist. You see, The Theater is an old computer game released around the same time as Doom. Today, if you ever find it, it’s only available on crappy bootleg CD-ROMs,…
I jammed my hands into the pockets of my pullover sweater, and hunched my shoulders slightly against the morning chill. The spongy forest floor cushioned and muffled each footfall into near perfect silence. That explains why I didn’t know I was being watched. Followed. Never alone. Unsafe. The towering redwoods used to bring me comfort,…
This is actually a true story, something that really happened to me and my friends when we were in high school. It was very traumatizing for the four of us, and we each are still affected in some way to this day. To give some background information, our town is surrounded by old Civil War…
Many a sailor, no matter how brave and fearless, knows well how unpredictable and deadly the sea can be. Before every setting of the sails, a prayer goes throughout the crew, praying to God for the safety of their voyage. A wise man knows that prayers are not always answered and many a man has…
Hello, my name is Shaun. I live in a high-rise studio apartment in Philadelphia. Recently, I’ve seen many arcane events unfold, and I would greatly appreciate any advice. Let me start at the beginning. Just a few days ago, after arriving home from my part-time job (I also go to Drexel University part-time), I decided…
Being a programmer, one of my dreams has always been to create an original video game, something that nobody in the industry has done before. After seeing Spore, I became intrigued. Here was an attempt at putting people in control over a universe. After looking at what made videogames popular, I realized the main aspect…
The Harbinger always went for the freaks. They were its favorite. It wanted ones that would fight back, and ones that wouldn’t be afraid at first; or, even better, ones that believed they could win. Those rare humans with bravado and confidence so great that they actually believed they could defeat it somehow. Those were…
The teacher strode across the front of the room, looking out at her class. “And so with the invention of Concordance 5 true peace finally enveloped the world,” she said with a serene smile. “For one hundred years we have lived without conflict. The dream of world peace that so many strove for before is…
“Okay, now it’s your turn!” Chloe cheered loudly. “Sssshhh! You’re going to wake up your mom,” said Krissie. “Oops, sorry. Teehee… So truth or dare?” “Erm… truth…” Krissie seemed to be hesitating, but Chloe couldn’t have it. “Why truth? That’s boring! You never pick dare… Chicken!” “But I…” “Chicken! Chicken!” Chloe crossed her arms and…
Posted: January 11th 2013, 9:02 PM Hey, I’m still kind of new here. My name’s Matt, and I’m looking for an old game that my dad and I used to play together on the SNES, taking turns switching the controller over after the other died. I remember the game-play pretty well, I just can’t seem…
To: Jeremy Fuentes, Ph.D Professor of Cultural Anthropology University of California, Berkeley Jeremy – I assume you have heard about the strange discovery made at 918 E. 3rd Street – a converted warehouse located on the corner of 3rd and Weller Avenue, in the middle of the Arts District in Downtown Los Angeles. The building…
[MESSAGE BEGINS] We made a mistake. That is the simple, undeniable truth of the matter, however painful it might be. The flaw was not in our Observatories, for those machines were as perfect as we could make, and they showed us only the unfiltered light of truth. The flaw was not in the Predictor, for…
“OPS-3 do you read? OPS-3 do you read?” I launched myself for the radio receiver, and jerked up the mouthpiece. I wiped away the film of sweat from my forehead before replying. “Receiving.” My throat was tight with a lump the size of a golf ball. “It’s good to hear your voice comrade.” “You too….
My sister always screams in the middle of the night. Horrible, blood-curdling screams. And I cannot get her to stop. I lie in my bed, away from the earth, dreaming in mist, and her screams penetrate them. She cries for me, she cries for someone. I cannot help her, nothing I do will make her…
I have always been uneasy driving alone at night. It was worst the first few times, when I had just gotten my license, but the nagging fear has never gone away to this day. It’s disorienting to look into the mirrors and see nothing, and I mean nothing but the consuming blackness of the night….
“Yo, James hurry your ass up!” Damon roared from across the parking lot, standing next to our limo and waving me and Becca down. I quickly stole a kiss with Her before taking her hand and jogging toward the limo with her. We weren’t in there for more than a moment before our other friend…
I’m a first year resident at the local hospital, so I often work long hours and I’m always sleep-deprived. I do make decent money, if not nearly as much as a licensed doctor, but on account of student loans I live in a crappy apartment. The bedroom of this apartment is tiny and the only…
You know, Mom, I remember now how it all started. It was right after moving to the new house. How old was I? Four, maybe five? I was so young. So innocent. So unsuspecting. The new house was beautiful, Mom. Do you remember how I used to run from room to room? You always laugh…
A young girl is playing in her bedroom when she hears her mother call to her from the kitchen, so she runs downstairs to meet her mother. As she’s running through the hallway, the door to the cupboard under the stairs opens, and a hand reaches out and pulls her in. It’s her mother. She…