Lady Vermella’s piano was large and black. It was covered in a thick, feathery layer of dust. Its keys were turning yellow. It pounded out a strange, haunting melody every night under Lady Vermella’s fingers.Lady Vermella lived in an ancient manor on the top of a hill above the town
Read Part One here We both drove back to the station and handed in our gear and changed. I could still smell the faint odor clinging to my uniform. I suppressed the urge to gag as I threw it back into my locker without any finesse, just wanting to get
Just Another Summer in ‘95 Part Two Read More »
I want to say this happened in the early summer when our park was full of hikers, campers, and tourists. Montana had its beauty in those summer months, so I couldn’t blame them.A lot of the tourists hadn’t spent a day camping or even been backpacking. A lot of them
Just Another Summer in ‘95 Read More »
There were rules in our house that no one ever had to say out loud. Don’t speak when he’s drinking.Don’t look at her when she’s disappointed.Don’t cry where anyone can hear you.Don’t be noticed. Don’t be loud. Don’t be a problem. Silence kept us alive. It was the kind of
He Said He Would Protect Me Read More »
1 – ‘Crime’ The night was dark and cold, wind was blowing through the trees but otherwise there was hardly a sound to be heard. This silence and solitude suited the killer just fine. He worked alone, keeping to the shadows…exploiting cracks in the social fabric and indulging his sadistic
I’ve always been a big fan of Halloween. When I was a kid, that was of course because of the candy and the chocolate bars. As I got older and entered my teenage years, that changed. My love for the holiday remained, but that was because of the costumes and
Little Monsters of Hallows’ Eve Read More »
My name is Lydia. I’m 30 years old, and I love celebrating Halloween with my best friend, Martha. Martha and I have been best friends ever since we were ten years old. We do everything together, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without her. You see, when I
Riley, My Haunted Halloween Doll Read More »
Barker watched from his car with a morbid sense of curiosity as the mark crossed the dual carriageway and went into the greasy spoon Cafe opposite. Barker had been on the trail of the mark for almost a month before finally catching up, just outside of Glasgow. Dragging on the
The scene was gruesome. As if I had walked not inside an apartment in Pune, but a Hollywood horror movie set. The plain white floor tiles were drenched in blood, and the peach walls streaked with red. Shards of broken mirror lay dispersed on the floor intermixed with round dull
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 »
The moon hung low over the sleepy town of RidgeWater Creek, its faint glow barely penetrating the dense forest on the outskirts. As I stepped out of my car, my boots crunched against the gravel road, carrying me toward the cordoned-off crime scene. The red and blue strobes of police
I’m a Cop, and My Town Is Dying in Ways No Autopsy Can Explain 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 »
“Hi!” I walked into the room and waved at the beautiful dark-haired woman sitting in front of me. Her pale features stood out starkly against her dark brown dress and the maroon wall behind her. She looked up, and a smile instantly spread across her face, revealing dimples on both
The sun was slowly setting behind us, painting the sky in dull shades of gray and yellow, as the cold wind blew. Teresa walked with her head down, silent, right behind me. Mathias Santiago walked beside me, holding his AK-47 as if it were an extension of his own body.
WHERE IS my daughter? I need her to come and say goodbye. Cancer isn’t the only thing eating me alive. My son-in-law John is standing next to me, as are my granddaughters Chandra and Kendra, but where on earth is Cheryl? She should be here, but I don’t see her.
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
Phil had excellent hearing. He could, for example, hear Mrs. Polsgrove’s cat clawing at discarded tuna cans in her recycling bin two streets away. He heard Lisa’s feet tromping off mud and rocks. He recognized the jerky swish and scrape of a carryall being emptied of evidence. Phil heard many
The Rose and the Open Window Read More »
WHAT IF you think your sibling is trying to kill you? Let me explain. I’m Chandra Edwards, sixteen years old, birthday May 28, high school sophomore, identical twin. I live in Montrose, the dullest small town that ever existed. My parents are realtors, the successful founders and owners of Homes
When the ocean called to my mother, I had just turned 17. A month later, when life became too excruciating for him to go through without her, my estranged father turned to the comforts of booze to soothe his sorrows. I thought our relationship couldn’t get worse. He was a
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
Having something you can’t control is difficult. That’s what I was thinking the other day when a coworker asked me if I had any experience sitting kids. I do. On top of being a full-time babysitter most of my teenage years, I had to put up with the shenanigans of
One need not be a chamber to be haunted, One need not be a house; The brain has corridors surpassing Material place. ― Emily Dickinson What does a madman’s mind look like from the inside? Does it look like an empty house with vandalized masonry, broken gates, cracked cement pathways
The Nevada heat rippled off the asphalt, distorting the long, empty road ahead. I wiped sweat from my brow and adjusted the camera strap around my neck, squinting at the horizon. No sign of the fox. No sign of anything, really. I should’ve been writing a real story—something that actually
If You Ever Stop in Ashbrook, Don’t Ask About the Children Read More »
