One of the first kids to hear the bouncy calliope music was six-year-old Lisa Reid, who was sitting on the front porch of her house with Becky Briarwood, her best friend in the whole world. Lisa’s long blonde hair, held in place by the pink scrunchie her mom helped her […]
Scream for Ice Cream Read More »
The roads are different at night. It’s something my mom used to say all the time. She said it when I was a child in the back seat, and she said it when she was teaching me how to drive. Every stretch of highway or backroad turn was different under
Below the peaks of the Catskill Mountains you will occasionally find an ancient and gnarled apple tree. Such a tree is a reliable landmark; signaling that an early American farmhouse sits, or once sat, nearby. Sometimes only a single shoot of the old tree remains, yet the ancient life persists
Hello there! Look what the cat dragged… oh my! Are you alright?! Hurry, get inside! … You need to get here earlier if you’re gonna pay regular visits! Just because you’re safe inside doesn’t mean you can be roaming around outside all willy-nilly. Judging by the mud on your clothes,
The Growing Settlements Read More »
Grandpa Cobalt hated letting things go. Whether it was the wobbly chair he kept in his study or his favorite warped record he fed to the gramophone—looping the same groove over and over. He was a tall man with a frosty thin hairline and a nose capable of the most
Looky here! Trish! Ethan! Our friend is back! Shame it had to be another cold, stormy night like this. Just once I’d like to enjoy some company under the warm sun, but I guess that’s not how this place works. … Goodness, where are my manners? Come on in here
The New Settlements Read More »
Tony peeled the rotten banana skin off his arm while pieces of unidentifiable litter trailed behind him as he stumbled towards the school building. Billy and his asshole friends had dumped him in the dumpster for the third time this week alone. People began to stare and whisper among themselves
The sea forgives all. That’s what they say, thought the tall, dark-eyed man standing vigil at the stern of the Aquilon. His eyes were set on the waves trailing them in the fading light of dusk. Every ripple was another step away from his mistakes; another moment away from the
I threw a rock down the well. It clattered against the walls as it bounced from one side to another. I waited, straining both ears. No indication that it had reached the bottom. “Hello?” I whispered tentatively in a low shaky voice as I peered down into the darkness, my
The Wishing Well of Heathenberry Forest Read More »
I live alone in a one-bedroom apartment. So can anyone tell me why there was a woman sitting on my couch watching TV? I was in my room getting some work done when I had gotten a bit hungry and planned on walking to the kitchen to get some leftover
I Live Alone but There’s a Woman Sitting on My Couch Read More »
Have you ever heard the idea of spirit guides or divine protectors? How about the idea of long deceased family members watching over you and guiding you through life? I’m sure you have, I mean haven’t we all? Well mine is, different. For the longest time I assumed I was
Something watches over me and it is not an angel Read More »
In a town kept alive by retirees and tourists looking for a cheap scare, we knew a place hidden from their money was bad news. Plebes are paraded around in horse drawn carriages through the dead of night. If there’s a storm, all the better. In the dim glow of
Have you ever heard the legend of Abhartach, the Irish vampire? Probably not. But no doubt you will be familiar with Bram Stoker and his seminal work ‘Dracula’, first published in 1897 and adapted so many times since in literature, radio, TV and film. Stoker’s famous tale was of course
An ancient terror is stalking the Irish countryside Read More »
“We’re hungry,” Mia said in her usual monotone voice. “You know we need to eat. Otherwise, you’re responsible for what happens.” She stared at me with icy blue eyes, waiting on a response. Her sister, Nia, a carbon copy both physically and in demeanor, stood at Mia’s side nodding. I
Candy, laughter, scares, ghosts and ghouls. Halloween, easily my favorite holiday of the year. It has all the things I love most in life. Sweets, costumes, and the excuse to be someone else even if it is just for a night. Where fiction and reality can intertwine without it being
The Unnatural Rivalry Read More »
“I love you Halloween!” This exclamation six-year-old Harry cried out to the night sky left his mother, Mrs. Jane Florence, reeling with laughter at the door. They’d just gotten home, from trick-or-treating, along with Harry’s older sister Sabrina who was already inside, calling for them to hurry up so the
“Listen to them, the children of the night. What music they make!” ― Bram Stoker, Dracula As if a mad carnival rolled into town, the leaf-strewn street of the quaint picturesque village seemed to transform overnight in ghoulish metamorphosis into a riotous necropolis with skulls grinning and witches cackling at
Smiles of Fire to the Night Read More »
Excerpt from a letter received by Governor Irvish Jackson and sent by Dr. Wilford Bellenshamp on December 17th, 1985: I have seen that despite my personal attendance in the past few months to each and all inquiries in the investigation of Orin Harley that not a single report has been
I’ve been deployed on assignment to a new fracking well installation on Mount Olympus, on the Olympic Peninsula, in Washington state, for the last week, of what is expected to be a month-long job. It’s hard being away from my wife and two kids for so long, but it’s what
The Quakes of Mount Olympus Read More »
It was daylight when they came. It was strange. Nightmares normally occur in the dark, but they came in the day. It was warm. It was early October, and the ground was littered with leaves. It was just passed lunchtime when they came. Eddie’s was the gas station at the
They Came in the Day Read More »
Oh, the town of Silver Crossing…Oh?… You’ve never heard of us?… I’m not surprised. You see, our little town can’t be found on Google maps. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, it doesn’t exist… The people from there don’t exist… Or at least they don’t now.
The Beast of Silver Crossing Read More »
November 11, 1918 9:00 am The war was coming to an end and Heinrich knew it. The Yankees had gotten involved and the once great German Empire was surrounded on all sides; prime for invasion. The Russians had been defeated, but German forces couldn’t continue without food or supplies that
Ghost of the Trenches Read More »
The legend began during lockdown on March of 2020, within a town whose name and location I refuse to give away-on the chance anyone reading this is curious and stupid enough to check this place out for yourself. However if you were to ask me how I know these things,
The Legend of Wide Eyes Read More »
I like mornin’ best in summer. Chet don’t, cuz he’s fifteen and likes his sleep, but I’d rather make my own breakfast, get chores done quick – enjoy the rest of the day if Mama gives me a choice. Let Chet take the afternoon. He thinks he’s winnin’, but he
