The Hold
I’m not sure if this will scare you, but I can tell you that I was genuinely terrified, and that to this day I still have dreams about it. I started working at an old Marine Museum in my home town as a summer job. It was fairly easy, all
Locations and Sites
The River
The river is deep and dark, and it holds many secrets. At least that’s what they say, and recent events have left me with a completely unshakeable belief that what they say is entirely true. There’s a river that runs through the part of the city that I live and
Lost Tombs and Those Lost Within Them
I could barely keep from collapsing as I ran through what seemed to be the never-ending darkness of the godforsaken catacombs. When I’d first signed on to serve as Professor Nickel’s field assistant, I’d assumed that the shrunken old man and I would spend days standing over a blanket of
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Frank’s Forest
In the backseat of her mother’s minivan, Ashley admired the passing autumn foliage and contemplated the excitement and fear she and her best friends were sure to experience at Frank’s Forest, an attraction featuring actors as zombies, witches, and werewolves galore, all trying to “kill” the visitors. For four years,
A Slight Misunderstanding
*Introductory Note* What you’re about to read actually happened while on an internship during Fall of 2014. In order to protect people’s privacy, I’m not including the names of my friends, the name of the company I was employed with at the time, or the name of my university. But
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Camp 22
Many North Korean defectors and ex-prisoners can testify to the fact that there was a camp in that territory which housed more evil than anything else witnessed. It is called Camp 22, or the Hoeryong concentration camp. It is a torture camp originally intended for political enemies of the nation,
Thief
Note: This pasta contains gore. If this bothers you, please do not proceed. The moonlight bathes Paris in a silver, calming hue; a breath of serenity amidst the turmoil of revolution. The city is asleep, deep in its midnight slumber. Only a lonely shadow moves in the stillness of the
The Grove
I was always a the type of guy that enjoyed a good mystery. Mysteries like UFO sightings or those TV shows about paranormal investigators that stay a night in a haunted house always sparked my imagination as a child and on into adulthood. Some of those shows kept me awake
Spirits of The Caribbean – Vwayaje O Diab
If you are familiar with the tiny island of Trinidad, the southernmost isle of the Caribbean, you may be aware that it is rich in folklore and tradition. You may know of tales passed on through generations, told under flambeau since the days before independence, of magic, bewitchment, and even
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Just Another Haunted House Story
Some people are born to explore, while some are born to sit at home and waste away in their solitude. Some people have a burning passion in their hearts, and all too often that passion consumes them. These people are often exiled, the energy they produce is too vibrant for
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It Has No Face
Everyone has tales about the strange and bizarre. My story is about how my half-hole mask saved my life, and continues to save my life to this very day. Late in December, I was traveling north from California to my home state of Oregon. Nothing fancy, I was just going
Building 497
I As I lay here in the darkness, I wonder how much time left do I have. It all started a couple of weeks ago. Right after graduation, everyone started talking about their plans and how they were going to make it in the industry. I majored in journalism, so
The Pond
As I walked, the snow crunched beneath my rubber boots. Every so often I would step on a twig, sending a cracking sound into the air as it snapped in half. There was no wind, and almost no noise besides my footsteps, and the birds calling. Hunting was a big
Avaritia et Invidia
The building was old. It had been a factory of some sort one hundred, maybe one hundred fifty years ago. Its sturdy brick and steel construction had weathered the years well enough, and after so very long sitting abandoned, forgotten on the edges of the city, it was reclaimed by
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The House that Death Forgot
Melinda hated driving at night. She did her best to avoid it. Short trips to the store if she just realized she ran out of tampons or had nothing for dinner after getting home; that sort of thing happened now and then. But she did her best not to go
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Misanthrope
Call me a misanthrope, an introvert, whatever. The fact is, I always thought I preferred being alone. I had a couple of friends. Well, mainly acquaintances. People I worked with. People I lived near. Family. But I had tried doing the companionship thing, and it never seemed to be for
Shut That Damned Door
My parents died in a car crash when I was fourteen. Don’t feel bad for me or anything. I’ve made my peace with that years ago. Life with them was never great, but I do miss them. It’s just that if they taught me one thing it’s to not sit
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Los Perdidos
The broken blade flashed as it streaked above the desert, circling end over end then striking the rocky ground with a clink. It lay there gleaming in the slanted rays of the sun like lost treasure. The other half of the blade remained lodged firmly between spiky ranks of spines
The Singing House
My friends used to dare me to visit the house at the end of the cul-de-sac. In fact, everyone was daring everyone to do it. I remember the looks on their faces. How scornful they looked at my refusal. How they all called me chicken and teased me endlessly. Not
Fun Town
As children, we often get ourselves into trouble by not listening to our parents or sneaking into places we shouldn’t be. This is Nicole’s story. September 22, 1988 Ever since she was a little girl, 14-year-old Nicole had a fascination of exploring unfamiliar places. For this expedition, she wanted to
Not Afraid of the Dark
I always have a torch in my pocket these days. I found a small LED one at an electronics store for a couple of bucks, and I keep it on me at all times. It’s actually really bright, despite the size. I bought five, the other four are placed in
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Compound
The oldest continuously operated theme park in the United States: Lake Compounds. The place opened in 1846 but its history reaches back even further to the 1600s. Mattatuck Indian tribe leader Chief John Compound sold his territory to a group of white settlers. A few days later, John Compound had
Kingdom of Suffering
Hidden deep within the rural countryside of mainland China sits a rotting edifice of failed consumerism: the decrepit remnants of Disneyland China. Half of a Western-style castle, bits of girders and wires and planks jutting out of moldy particleboard like shattered bones from gangrenous skin, looms over a wide swath
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The Well in the Forest
We first set foot into this forest yesterday evening after spending just over an hour and a half making our journey. It was one of those evenings where the many Jet-Trails amongst the twilight sky had blended into light orange and pink among the distant orange and black horizon that
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