The hammering from upstairs shook the walls of his bedroom. James Ricco leapt from his bed, the thought of earthquakes at the back of his mind. He glanced at his window and the sunlight streaming through. It was a spring day on Staten Island that suggested planting perennials and backyard […]
The Unusual Companion Read More »
I’m sure there isn’t a single person reading this that doesn’t know what liminal spaces are by now. But, just in case: The concept of liminal spaces relates to physical locations that are typically transitional in nature. Hallways, waiting rooms and parking lots are classic examples. The liminal aesthetic can
I made a horror game about liminal spaces that nobody will ever play Read More »
When the Ukrainian-Russian war began, NATO responded by stationing troops to the boarder to deter Russia of further attacks into Europe. My unit was one of hundreds, if not thousands of units selected to perform this tasking. I was stationed in the one of the Baltic States, though for the
For Christyana and Dean: The shrapnel of my contagion. If you know, you know. The following is a transcript of a transcript, having been posted to an early internet forum page called “Oregontalesandtrails.com” in 1998 by an anonymous user. It’s claimed to have been typed based upon a book of
The Poolhouse in Weinwick, Oregon Read More »
For the past five years, it’s just been Ian and me. My wife’s pregnancy with him wasn’t easy. There were a number of scares and close calls due to health issues that she had experienced all her life. Every doctor she had ever been to had told her that she
The storm slithered across the countryside, consuming all in its path. Hurricanes are nasty, especially in southern Florida. This one was a category four, with sustained winds of 150 miles per hour. Most people evacuate in such a tempest, but not my grandpa. The man is as stubborn as a
The Eye of the Storm Read More »
I’m writing this story as a warning, if you ever find a floppy disk with the words The Maze written on it in marker, I implore you to throw it away. Don’t insert it and certainly don’t run it. It all started a few months ago. My friend Nick’s father
I was born in Florida, and lived there for most of my life. I always loved talking with and helping others, and all my friends agreed that I would make an excellent therapist. I always got good grades, and decided to apply to study abroad for my PhD in psychology.
The Snow Against my Window Read More »
Prophetic Ender Think your ripple has no meaning?Think a rifle won’t leave men bleeding?I’m tired of preachers that are blind to their wordsI’m sick of acts that are silent to the herdAnd sick of seeing those that overtly hurtGetting special passes from the hipocrate’s courtBut I won’t carry a stick
Me and my younger brother hunt monsters. Now I understand how that must sound to you. There’s no possible way anything supernatural could actually exist in our world, right? If that is your first thought, well, you’d be wrong. Very wrong. Me and my brother know this better than anyone
Me and my brother hunt monsters. Yesterday we found God. Read More »
I’ll be honest, I’m not much of a family man. My career kept me away from my family for most of my daughters childhood, and once my wife died-absentee would be a generous description of me. Emotionally that is. It had been so sudden, and the love of my life,
My daughter was attacked on FaceTime Read More »
[Auctioneer] Greetings! Welcome to the Sweet Mercy Web Auction! I hope everyone is having a wonderful night – or day, pending your time zone. Thank you for joining us! Please, do not be alarmed by our costumes – it’s important to conceal our identities in order to continue helping good
Good afternoon, welcome. Please, please, make yourself comfortable back there. What’s the destination? Alrighty, one sec. Let me just type that in here on the GPS. Oh, yeah, okay. I actually made a stop past that neighborhood just the other day. Shouldn’t be too hard to navigate to. Probably would
Taxi, at Your Service Read More »
Today was a weird day. It was another long day at the office. Piles of paperwork stood a mile high on my desk, and it’d taken hours to even make a dent in it. I couldn’t have been more relieved when the clock finally hit 5:00. I hightailed it out
He won’t stop staring Read More »
Claire stood by the door, the room barely lit by a few tall candles, waiting simply for the door to open once more. Staring out the aged cylinder glass window she wished she could be part of the preparations deeper in the ancient house, but there was a hierarchy here
I used to have an older sister. Her name was ‘Eileen,’ though she always preferred to be called by her first two initials: ‘E.V,” or “Evie,” as we’d often spell it. Evie was a fine sister—on one day she might have stood up for me against our father’s slurred contempt,
My Sister Never Came Back From Her Film Convention; I’m The Only One Who Remembers Her. Read More »
Dear God, Please forgive this poor sinner for how long it has been since I have last prayed to you. I swear that it wasn’t because of a lack of faith or loss of wanting to be wrapped in your grace. Earthly matters have taken up my attention over the
I remember the day, not too long ago, that I stood in front of my brand new home. After the year-long headache of the over-budget and over-delayed build process, I finally held the keys to the castle of my 11.4-acre Kingdom. The exhaust note from the contractor’s truck finally faded,
New Houses can be Haunted Too, Here’s My Story Read More »
The ball flew towards the boy. With a cry of alarm, the boy dropped to the floor. “Damnit Jimmy, you’re supposed to catch the ball not hide from it!” a fat kid with a glove on one hand cried. A skinny boy with glasses turned from the pitcher’s mound to
I’m no hero – that much will become obvious as you read my account. In fact, I’m a coward…the type who always takes the easiest path. Left to my own devices, I would never reach my full potential. In all honesty I’m an average guy with a dull life, but
I walked the Labyrinth and lived to tell the tale Read More »
My wife had always been a sound sleeper. She never snored, talked in her sleep, nor was she particularly restless. Oftentimes, she’d wake up in the same position she passed out in with barely a wrinkle in the sheets around her. When the singing in the middle of the night
Teaching had always been my dream job. Ever since I was little, I wanted a career teaching kids the same way my teachers taught me. Though, to be honest, I think it’s just because the ones I had were so great. Never had a bad one during my time in
An Unknown Stranger Read More »
In the middle of nowhere, under a sky of darkness filled with unrecognizable stars, there is a crossroads. Its roads are made of rocks and dirt, and walking along them fills the cold air with dust. Brown brittle grass covers the sides, making it difficult to see where the road
One night a few years ago I heard the sound of someone breaking into my house. It was around midnight when this happened and up to this point I don’t think I had more than twenty minutes of sleep but as soon as I heard the window being broken I
A serial killer broke into my house… Read More »
