I live alone in a secluded house in the mountainous region near Petrópolis. It’s a quiet place, surrounded by dense forest, perfect for anyone looking to escape the chaos of Rio de Janeiro on weekends and holidays. My only constant companion is Barnaby. Barnaby is, or was, a four-year-old Golden […]
My dog is walking on two legs Read More »
January is the month of lies. If you’ve worked in the fitness industry as long as I have, you eventually learn to hate the calendar. January 2nd marks the beginning of the migration of repentant souls. They arrive in schools, wearing lycra clothes that still smell like the store, carrying
DO YOU KNOW what nitrogen hypoxia is? It’s how I’ve chosen to die. Our state is the sixth to adopt this method, behind Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. Some human rights advocates and medical experts consider it cruel and unusual punishment tantamount to torture. However, haven’t they said as
I Lead a Death Cult Read More »
Lucy was good at hide-and-seek. Maybe even the best. Other children were always hiding in the most obvious places—a closet, under the car, behind the sofa. But Lucy knew better spots. She hid in the shadows, almost in plain sight, where the seekers’ eyes simply failed to deliver the message
His heavy corpse clings to her back like an undesirable cloak. His rotting flesh melting into her pores, moulding itself to her structure. She used to be able to peel his skin away with her finger tips but now she must use a pair of blunt scissors she carries in
Love is but a knife we sear ourselves with Read More »
12th June Marie picked up the last of her stuff today. I’d hoped that some of the tension would have dissolved with time apart, but she wouldn’t even look at me. Just dropped her key in the bowl by the door and checked I had the right bank details to
The Hand That Feeds You Read More »
The day began like any other as Carrie Sumter made breakfast for her husband and son. Part way through the crackling sizzle of eggs, the husband made his way into the living room and collapsed on to the couch. Carrie smiled at him, as she always tried to, but he
Uncle Carter’s Gift Read More »
1 I don’t know if anyone will end up reading this. Fuck I don’t even know if theres anyone left outside this damn building. The last time I looked out the window everything was dark but not in the usual way one would expect the early hours of the morning
I’ve been locked inside this warehouse for 42 hours and everyone is missing Read More »
If you’re reading this, it’s because I have no other choice. Nobody will listen to me, not even the police. It’s only a matter of time before they come for me, and when they do, this is the only evidence of the truth. There is something under the boardwalk in
There’s Something Under the Boardwalk Read More »
There is this idea I have always clung to. Most people won’t even consider it. Are our ideas our own, or do they come from somewhere else? Maybe some are our own, but sometimes we pick up a signal from the universe, a forgotten memory locked in time. I have
A gust of October wind sent a shiver up my back. Goosebumps prickled through my ghost costume, the former bed sheet flapping like a flag in the wind. I followed what I could see of my best friend Mikey from hand-cut eyeholes. The top of his matte brown dollar store
I filled up the bowl to the brim with live meal-worms from the fridge, watching them squirm and slither over each other as if they believed they could escape. It was gross and it made me want to gag yet I stomached the feeling. Just as I had many times
Walker McCoy was the measure of how stubborn the dead could be. He was buried at twenty-two feet in some nowhere prairie just outside of Greer County on October 4th 1867. Two days later, a group of Indians found his severed arm—identifiable only by a trashy signet ring. That limb
You can only bury the dead so deep 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 »
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,
I’ve been awake for eighteen days. That’s not hyperbole or any form of exaggeration. I’ve genuinely gone all this time without any sleep or rest. Not even a wink. And the craziest part is that I don’t feel like I need it. I don’t know how I’m still alive. These
There’s Something In The Coffee… Read More »
It’s captivating to believe in monsters and the horrors of the unknown, the things that go bump in the night. It’s an escape from reality, from the actual terrors that lurk in the woods. Rumors designed to widen your eyes and make you glance over your shoulder. Honestly, I wish
Vultures (The Well) Read More »
“I’m so thirsty” The words echoed around in my head. I stood staring at the water tumbling from the tap. I’d been standing for what felt like hours, just watching it, going over and over the events of a few nights ago. I’d only seen that homeless man twice, but
I’m a postgraduate student studying archaeology at a prestigious university in the UK (not going to disclose my identity or the name of my school, so don’t ask). Over a week ago, I was part of a group tasked with examining a dig site in Northern England: a low-lying forested
I Found the Corpse of a Time Traveler Read More »
I’ve always been a people pleaser. Even as a kid, I’ve always had the hardest time asserting myself or saying no. As long as the other person’s content, I could deal with some uncomfortable feelings. It probably has something to do with daddy issues. At least that’s what all my
My Boyfriend is Taking Pieces of me While I Sleep 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 Forensic Video Analysis contract was completely standard but for two things Rayna had never seen before: A redaction where the company’s title usually went, and a personal note from a boss she had only met over video call a handful of times. Tell me if they’re like what the
Involuntary Overtime Read More »
I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole life. As of 11 this morning, I am officially a homeowner. Leaving my lawyer’s office (I have a lawyer, how cool is that?), I’m tempted to shout: “Watch out, independent woman coming through!” There’s an extra hop in my step as I
“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 »
