The following are journal excerpts taken from four in-resident counselors working a summer camp in coastal Georgia (c.2012). All entries are transcribed wholly and completely unfiltered. * James – 7/1/2012 This is a log of repeated occurrences from Tortoise Cabin (location—across the estuary from counselor quarters). Desc. For many, many […]
Returning from the Amazon was one of the most exhausting and exhilarating experiences of my life. That trip to South America had been the perfect escape from my suffocating routine as a rising attorney in the United States. After years of hard work, I’d secured a solid position at Marston
Hi guys. My name is Violet, I’m twenty-three, and I’m scared. I don’t understand what’s happening to me, and I really hope somebody can help. It was Friday afternoon. I came back to my apartment after work to find all of my boyfriend’s stuff gone, save a folded slip of
My One Night Stand Left Something Inside Me Read More »
Mother said I’d regret it, staying away for so long. She was right, of course. I’d been avoiding him like a suspicious blemish, convincing myself that he simply did not exist. Meanwhile, my father wilted into some grotesque knot of wet flesh in the basement of my childhood house. Not
It was during the spring break of my second year at college that I got a phone call from my uncle Andrew, asking me if I’d be willing to spend a few days over at his house. My grandfather had been sick for a long, tough while, and it’d apparently
Grandpa’s secret lived in the basement Read More »
Every flashlight in Moreau Bay scoured the forest for my missing wife, Jemma. All except his. His light pointed to the open water and lit a path to his strange little island about a kilometer from the coast. Two weeks passed with no signs of her and all I thought
I Went Undercover to a Body Farm Read More »
When I first moved out on my own, my mom handed me a small, weathered recipe book. Its cover was cracked and faded, the pages yellowed with age. She held it out to me with both hands, her expression soft and serious. “Take care of this,” she said, her voice
It was an hour before Edgar’s alarm was set to go off when a series of rapid thumps on the roof jolted him awake. He shot up from the small, hard bed, eyes shooting around the old trailer home as the bombardment continued, like the contents of a butcher’s shop
Are You Ready to Board? Read More »
A MAN’S HOME is his castle. That’s what they say. Do you know what a castle is? A fortress that’s supposed to be impenetrable. It’s my job to penetrate them. Yeah, I’m a burglar. I challenge you to judge me on that fact alone. How many of you have ever
My parents died in a car crash on their way home from dropping me off my freshman year at Stanford. I never got the chance to call and tell them I was all settled in. They lay bleeding out in the street, while I was decorating my room in crimson.
The Things We Do for Family Read More »
May 27th, 2030. 10:30 Am-10:35 Am.The hum of the fluorescent lights, the smell of antiseptic, and the squeaking of chairs as men in white lab coats roll around the porcelain floors created an image in Abigail’s mind of sickness. This was not what she expected when she and her husband,
Are You Expecting? Read More »
My vision was hazy. I could feel warm liquid trickling down my forehead as I attempted to lift my head. The car’s blinker thundered inside of me like a heavy bass. I tasted the blood inside of my mouth, and the coolness of the night seeped into the cracks and
I met Elaine at the rim of a fountain. The water bellowed from the spicket in its ornate pattern. The fact it was running at all was a miracle for our underfunded University. It was just after my 8:45 class on early horror films. No better way to start your
Berries in the Window Read More »
“Ugh, Emma, can you get the trunk for me?” The dim winter sun was setting over the parking lot, nearly devoid of shoppers at this late hour, aside from a van in one distant corner that had just started backing out of its spot. I set my bag down in
I can’t get up. I can’t move. I can’t see. I can’t get up. I can still feel. I can still feel the deep sting of the blade he used to rupture my heart. I felt my blood leave my body, coating his hands with sticky redness. I felt his
My Mind will Never Cease to Be Read More »
The train is leaving in two minutes. The young girl hurries along the platform. Evening travellers pack the station. She is small and can wriggle her way between the briefcases and linen jackets. A heavy carriage door swings open. A dash to the step, she hikes up her short denim
An Encounter on the Train to Oxford Read More »
I crawl. Thirsty. Bitter. So bitter, but I must eat them. The things that grow. They came here in a recent time. The growths are bright. They have a neck, and there is a ball on top of that neck, and one two three four five six seven round fans
We Dream of the Quiet Dark Read More »
I frantically threw my shirt off my head, covering my bare chest and staring down at the fabric on the ground as my heart played a tune. I had felt the bugs inside the shirt as I was putting it on, but none emerged from its openings. My skin still
The mirror showed a reflection that wasn’t my own. It happened the first time a couple of days ago at the restaurant, and I’d hardly caught it during a brief glance while I quickly washed my hands. It was in the eyes, something about the eyes. Not the normal brown
The television screen slowly phased into focus some few steps in front of me. Some shopping channel peddling jewelry that people would buy as gifts for their family that no would actually be happy to receive. As the TV came into focus to my eyes and ceased to be a
Extract from records found at scene, author unknown. Dated October 1883: Matted fur stuck to the Beast’s sides, sweat dripping down its flank as it expelled rancid breath. Thick ropes of saliva swung from pus-stained teeth, protruding from black-lipped jaws like shattered battlements. A single black eye glinted out at
The Angel of Death Read More »
Everyone on the train was normal. Of course, Stuart didn’t care to notice that they were normal. When something is normal, the brain doesn’t pay it any mind. Why would it? It’s a waste of energy to notice the mundane. If it’s normal, it’s not a threat. It doesn’t need
The Town That Could Not Point Read More »
“Damn, I ain’t never seen it turn so cold before!” shouted Marshall over the howling winds of the snowstorm. “Just keep going! As long as we keep moving we’ll make it to the cave by sundown!” Jackson yelled as he glanced up from the map of the mountain range, he
Have you ever had a dream where- hold on. Scratch that. That’s not what this is about… dreams. Dreams aren’t real. Memories are real. I used to think that dreams were just memories we hadn’t made yet. I don’t think that anymore. The reason is because the particular dream I’d
I Used to Have Two Bodies Read More »
