I grabbed Olivia’s shirt collar as she scream-laughed — that awful sound that always made my spine twist. I hated when she did that. In all fairness, I thought she was actually screaming. Earlier, when I’d been in the shower, it came through the phone like a murder scene — […]
How far am I willing to go to make my dream come true? Through hell and back, that’s what I kept telling myself. Through hell and back. I’d been out of a job for 6 months. At first, I told myself it was just a rough patch. Everyone goes through
Anything for true art Read More »
I feel compelled to tell you all a story. One about mirrors. They are so much more than you could ever imagine. They aren’t simply vessels for reflections. They are a gateway into an entire world, a dying realm on the brink of collapse. My friends and I call it
I am my own Worst Enemy Read More »
It’s amazing what lives within our oceans. Ecosystems of life entirely separated from our comfortable surface existences. It’s a momentous event when the worlds interact: people cheer when they see dolphins breach above the waves, there are organizations devoted to helping the sea turtle population make their way back to
“Grey rocks, and greyer sea.And surf along the shore.And in my heart a name.My lips shall speak no more.” – Charles G.D. Roberts, Grey Rocks and Greyer Sea “Gods curse you, Whateley! Curse you to Hades! Get back, you devils! Back I say! Oh God! Oh Lord! Help my poor
I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug. I will do all in my
It’s been about a month now that Kenny’s been gone. Three weeks and five days to be exact. He left in his pirogue one night just after sunset to go frogging and never came back. Man just up and disappeared like a fart in the wind. Now, it’s just me
I live alone in a houseboat on the bayou. Something’s been tapping at the hull at night. Read More »
As a kid, it took everything I had not to paint the inside of my family’s car with a wave of vomit. My carsickness was the bane of our long road trips. We tried dozens of tricks to minimize the Jackson Pollocks I created on our car windows. Books, movies,
I Made Him Up For Company on Long Car Rides, Now He Follows Me Everywhere Read More »
PHASE I – The Arrival The photograph arrived without explanation. It showed some kind of mass. Dark grey and pulsating. It was hovering far above the North Atlantic. It resembled a cyclone but there was no eye of this storm, no rotation. Just layers. Like folds of gauze, stacked and
There’s Drumming In The Clouds Read More »
I sleep with my window closed now. Not out of habit, out of fear. There are monsters in the world, real ones. Serial killers, rapists, the kinds of things we can name and lock up. But the supernatural? That’s different. It’s older. Quieter. Easier to keep secret. It hides in
I Sleep With My Window Closed Now Read More »
In the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, where rugged ridges jutted upward like the ancient, weathered spines of slumbering giants, and the valleys plunged into deep shadows that clung stubbornly to the earth, the forest guarded its mysteries with a quiet, unyielding vigilance. The people who called those mountains home,
More likely than not, you won’t think I’m real. You’ll catch a glimpse of something moving in the dark after waking up in the middle of the night. Usually from a nightmare. In the middle of your room, or wherever you happen to be sleeping, you’ll see someone dancing by
Please Let Me Stay Read More »
Adventure. Adventure is what I craved. I wanted to gain the fruits of life that I had so long been denied in my youth—and, in those days, those fruits could be found and plucked in the American West. But if I had a hint of what would happen to me
The Yellow-Eyed Devils Read More »
Hello there, I managed to scrounge up a pile of power banks left behind by previous passengers. In total, these could last me a combined 47 hours worth of laptop battery perhaps more if I used them sparingly. I will try to be quick, so the spent battery is not
We boarded a Ferry, Please Help Us Read More »
The madness of the eyes is the lure of the abyss. Sirens lurk in the dark depths of the pupils as they lurk at the bottom of the sea, that I know for sure… Jean Lorrain, Monsieur de Phocas Hidden along the gloomy northwest coast of England, where the churning
1 – The Train I can’t say why I was chosen to ride the shadowlands express. Why me, and not the countless others who have sinned during their mortal lives? Perhaps all will be forced to face their demons in the end – I can’t say for sure. But clearly
The Shadowlands Express Read More »
When Jacob Housley turned up dead, it didn’t take long for me to hear about it. Just about everyone knew everyone, back in the old town, and I was more than familiar with the Housleys. Well, I used to be, anyway. Jacob was one of my fathers closest friends–almost an
My wife died at 1:33pm on a Friday afternoon. Her passing was not unexpected. Polly had been diagnosed with breast cancer the year before, and sadly the doctors caught it too late. But still she fought with everything she had, enduring months of intense chemotherapy until all her strength was
The Writer and the Mimic Read More »
I was opening the shift that day. I walked past the golf cart with its flat tire. It was coming up on its 2-year anniversary of being broken. I scanned my pass and opened the door to the kitchen. I walked in, past the storage closets, prep stations, and freezers,
“I’m going blind,” I told my wife when we moved to our new gothic-style home in Griswold on a breezy day in early April. It was a wedding gift from my estranged father —a beautiful two-story structure with pointed arches, board-and-batten siding, large stained-glass windows, and a steep-pitched roof that
The Jewett City Vampires Read More »
I saw the end of the world, and its harbinger, from the top of a mountain. It’s possible that nobody else had as good a view as I did, but even if I wanted to find out, I can’t. Nobody I’ve asked has corroborated my story. Most just laugh and
The Strangest Apocalypse Read More »
Sixty feet away, the Rotblatt came flubbering into the outskirts of the headlights. Carapace segmented, twitching in random flutters. Swirling water around its glistering fins. I reached for the light switch, but Becker held my arm back. “It can’t see. The noise will scare it.” We waited for it to
Marcus Ridge was an ordinary young man living alone in his one-bedroom apartment—which looked more like a tiny studio—right in the middle of the city. Not many people, not even his closest friends, knew about the past that still haunted him to this day. Another thing no one really knew
Back to Ravensville Read More »
All this started when I got up to some of the usual fresh out of high school shenanigans by making a plan with my girlfriend to hook up and have a private night to ourselves in her dad’s cabin at the lake. The plan was simple: I’d tell my parents
Red Lights on the Highway Read More »
