During the summer of 2014, when I had just turned 17, I left my home in a Northern European country to live with a host family and study at a high school in the province of BC in Western Canada. I unfortunately cannot tell you the name of the village I lived in – as…
Alright, so I’m not someone who’s into the paranormal or the supernatural. I don’t believe in ghosts, monsters, aliens, or anything like that. However, I have to write about what happened to me last week, because I honestly don’t know how to explain it. I work in the sales department for a large company, and…
Darkness surrounds me. And cold. And emptiness. I lay in this void not knowing how long I have lain here, and in the initial grogginess of my awakening I know not why I am here. I turn my gaze from side to side, but can see nothing in the enveloping blackness. I can sense nothing…
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 had certainly put in considerable financial effort whilst…
You stumble into the kitchen, covered in sweat. Mind racing. Heart thumping. Christ, could he have followed me here? You think. How did he even find me? A moment passes. One thing is certain. He’s not here now. Your stomach rumbles. Even someone in your position has to eat. Your refrigerator door cries as you…
The following originally appeared in a train enthusiast subreddit on October 29th, 2015. The thread did not have an account attached to it, and the original post has since been deleted for spam. “Hello, Thank you for taking the time to read this message, and I hope you are indeed able to read it. This…
Hannah pressed the button of her digital recorder. “New World Podcast, number one. October 31st.” She shook her head and cleared her throat. “Happy Halloween, my new listeners. I started this podcast to let others know you can survive. We are here. And you can find us. The calendar says twelve months to the date…
There is an ancient story which tells of how a spider creature named Iktomi created a web which filtered good dreams from the bad dreams. He shared the secrets of this web with a brave leader, who in turn told the world of the web to ensure his people were not haunted by nightmares. This…
I was tossing and turning in my bed, and even after a long day at work, I couldn’t get to sleep. It wasn’t a lack of space; my bed was king size and I slept alone. But there was something that felt strange and uneasy. For example, I always sleep with a window open, to…
Within the tree lines of Aokigahara lies a dark and brooding history. For many years this place has been a key location for the people of Japan and even tourists from around the world to come throughout time going as far back as the nineteenth century with a common goal… the ending of their own…
Dear Hannah, I’ve been doing a lot of running lately. It’s an excellent way to stay in shape. Obviously. But that’s not really why I do it. Mostly I just like the fresh air and the freedom, y’know, it gives me time to think. An hour or so with only my Mp3 player and the…
You hate your brother. Dylan is a jerk all the time. Any opportunity to annoy or ruin your life he’d take with both hands and run. And running literally. As soon as he’d managed to get you in trouble, he would sprint, leaving you to stew. He is always watching you. Trying to find out…
I watched, unable to muster the courage to jump in after her, as my sister fell down the cliff edge. My voice was hoarse from shouting her name and I saw that her body was submerged in the water. I was screaming for help, for anyone to come and make it stop, to end the…
My damnation came in the form of a bottle. No, not like that. When I was a child my best friend lived next to a little junkyard. Great place for a kid to hang out, a junkyard. Full of mystery and exciting discoveries, and if you find anything nice nobody minds if you take it,…
When I was in the 5th grade, our class would get to spend a week at a camp. Only people from our class/school would go. All that week, there’d been a lot of talk about a girl who had drowned in the lagoon a few years back. I heard a lot of weird stuff from…
“Grandpa, you’ve never told us how you got that huge scar on your arm!” “Yeah, tell us, tell us!” “Alright, but you kids might want to take a seat for this one. That’s right, nice and comfortable, now… Where to start… Ah yes.” “Well you see, it all started way back in 2015 and it…
What are dreams? What are they really? Are they bits and pieces of memories thrown together without design or purpose? Do they whisper secrets of future days to come or hide secrets from days long passed? Perhaps our soul is expelled from our bodies each night, thrust out into the void, traveling to wondrous lands…
Michael ran. He ran towards the subway, desperately hoping it won’t leave before he gets there. The next one won’t be around for another 10 minutes; such is the case with these late night trains. It has been a long day for him, and there was nothing more Michael want than release by sleep right…
I won’t bore you all with the details of my work, that can be for another time. What is important is that I have made the decision to share my case files with the general public. Most of the cases I’ve been involved in have revealed themselves to be distinctly ordinary, or tangled up in…
These bizarre instructions were found etched into the wall at the bottom of an old well, somewhere in rural Germany. They have been translated to the best of my abilities: Somewhere in Europe, there is an empty field of grass. Amongst the long, unkempt grass is a wooden hatch in the ground. The hatch guards…
1. I remember it very well, that one day in October. I came home later than I usually would. We were understaffed and I had to work over hours. What a night it was. And here I am now, stuck in this cage. It’s an odd place I’m in. It has a feel of a…
I turn on the lamp as I sit down at my desk. I softly remove the ribbon that was holding the diary together. As I open the strange looking book, a hard smell of rotten pages hits me. Interestingly enough the text is still intelligible, something you wouldn’t really expect when you find a diary…
It is the summer of your 17th year, and the parents have left you and your brother alone for just shy of three weeks in July. Your brother is 2 yers your senior, has a job, a drivers license, a long-term girlfriend, goes to college on the other side of the state during the year….
I have to get out. The walls, twisted rebar and cracked concrete, seemed to stretch on forever. I can’t remember where I am, why I came to be here; I can’t even remember my last name. All I know is that if I get out, I will live. If I don’t… I have to get…