Over the past few decades, a disturbing rumor has spread throughout the backwoods settlement of Littlefork. People there tell tales of so-called “alternates,” who kidnap and impersonate the small town’s residents. Taking the form of their victims, they appear human at first glance. But the alternates possess uncanny facial features …
The first time I saw it I was trying to sell a dead woman’s clothes. It was all legal of course. Her storage unit was full of them. She had died in a nursing home with no next of kin, and that meant nobody was paying her bill. Rather than …
A coward has many guises, and my bluff; has been called. I’m not a brave man. I slept with a night light on until I was in my twenties. Yet, here I am, Mr. Tough-guy, the first line of defense against forces unknown. Forces that were unknown until we went …
Part 1: Tales From Lake Bottomless: Levi The Leviathan Part 2: Tales From Lake Bottomless: The West Side Hey everyone, Howard Greene back again. Things have gotten quite strange since I last shared my experiences here at Lake Bottomless. Which may seem like an oxymoron, but I promise you I …
Winter pounded on the door and walls around the wooden shack the men had found and hunkered down in. The small military force was at their wit’s and body’s ends; they were exhausted, soaking wet, and low on munitions, rations, and morale. Their survival was based on how much body …
A brilliant golden sunset peered over the cliffside, reflecting off the gentle ebb and flow of waves on its side. A dusty, old Volkswagen van chugged along upwards around the bend as its three passengers looked out onto the scenic vista. Thomas, a well-built man and the oldest of the …
Bryan Miller was sitting at home, watching TV alone. He was dressed in his favourite pajamas, and slouched lazily in his armchair. It was a Saturday night, and he wasn’t exactly the type of person to do something exciting. He flipped through the channels aimlessly, wondering whether to find something …
I used to love showers. The way time seemed to stop when I was taking one. I’d get in the stall, turn on the hot water and forget about all. Two-minute showers weren’t for me. I was the type who’d run the hot water until it started to lose its …
The town I grew up in, Lay Marsh, was a pretty average place. Parents moved there because they wanted a quiet, safe environment for their kids to grow up. They were upper-lower class, hoping one day to be lower middle class, maybe middle-middle class but few imagined a life as …
Storytelling has been a popular pastime among humans as long as language has existed. Through this telling of stories, folklore of strange creatures, haunted places, cryptids, witches, and other supernatural occurrences have evolved over millennia. Accounts of mysterious and terrifying things within the woodlands of North America have existed since …
The clear night sky was a perfect reflection of the water below it, and the moon hovered amongst a quilt of black like a curled finger as if beckoning the sun to chase it around the earth.A great shadow glided beneath the water at measureless speed. From the Irish Sea, …
Please do not come looking for me upon reading this letter, for the likelihood of my death is now more certain than it ever was before. I refused to heed your warnings about pursuing the Pyli Scripts, and now I understand why. They are after me, Arbuckle, and when they …
The leaves seemed to fall slower, now that only a handful adorned each tree. The gnarled fingers of each branch were almost bare and the majesty of the autumnal colours had made way, shifting into naked trees that varied only slightly in colour. Browny grey, browny grey with a hint …
I don’t need to watch to know where the woman has decided to hide. It’s always one of three places, and out of those three it’s usually one specific spot. It’s all so… predictable. I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t absolutely need to. If I could avoid it, …
Scoutmaster Tom sat with his troop around the campfire. It was their first overnight trip and the five boys were all giddy with excitement. All around them the woods echoed with the song of chirping crickets and gentle breezes. The boys roasted their smores well chatting about girls using a …
We had a fright before Christmas, while all through the house, Not a creature was stirring; well, maybe a mouse. The stuffed stockings were hung on the mantle downstairs, I hoped they’d remain; it was in need of repairs. The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions …
Site 12, December 23rd, 2021 I walked through the Site Twelve Facility, which had been sparsely decorated with a bunch of Christmas-themed trinkets. It wasn’t much, a fake tree here and some lights there. But it’s damn sure more than you would’ve gotten under Ted Bowser’s management. The guy was …
They said it was nothing. A routine rescue op at a facility known as the Tantalus Site. But that quickly proved untrue. Terribly, horrifically untrue. The report said we’d be flying into the Baghlan Province of Northern Afghanistan where rugged mountains cut through a remote and arid wilderness. According to …
Read Part One here Read Part Two here After looking through the classroom a bit more, I discovered an old backpack resting in the corner behind a desk. I picked it up, unzipped it, and looked through all the pouches for anything inside. There wasn’t much of note besides dust …
IT SKITTERED its way across the leaves, and I knelt down to get as close as I could. Eight legs, black body – it was one of the feared ones; a black widow. I knew that before I pulled up Nature’s Identity on my phone. But I needed to log …
Tim hadn’t been to the town he was born in in years. His parents moved away from the small town in the Midwest when Tim was very young, after his father got a job offer at a major law firm in Chicago. Tim was sure proud of that man. He …
They say that when an animal is caged, the animal will go through several stages of acceptance. Firstly, they will explore their new environment, experiencing the dimensions of their space. After realising they are now trapped, the animal, let’s say a chimpanzee, will begin to scream. This is the second …
“Okay, Jonnathan, you ready?” He closed his eyes as he nodded and the gas started flowing. Slowly, he lost feeling in his mouth, becoming dazed in the process. Soon he was out, and then conscious again, barely realizing that his wisdom teeth had been pulled. “That wasn’t so bad…” he …
My name is Herman Fontaine. I am 29 years old and live in Ocala Florida with my girlfriend of three years, Sylvia Ramsey, several dogs, cats, turtles, and a couple of capybaras. I am running out of time, and there’s no one left on the research vessel Hidden Minnow. Everyone …
