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 »
I have two very unusual keepsakes on one of my many bookshelves. One is an empty glass vial, the contents of which dried up long ago. The other is an unusual metallic nugget. When I have visitors, and they inevitably begin to peruse my bookshelves, I am most often asked
The Terror in the Tunnels Read More »
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
It was almost Halloween. Leafless tree branches swayed in the crisp breeze. The grey overcast sky hinted at yet another day of rain. Yellow-grey cornstalks flitted past and dead leaves scattered as the big, brown Buick carried us down the empty country road. I looked forward to seeing Granny, even
What Lurks Beyond the Indiangrass Read More »
Stacey Chapman pulled hard on the cold metal of the gate. The rusted iron hinges resisted and it squealed as it moved. She winced at the sound as it cut through the quiet of the cemetery. She pulled hard again. It moved another six inches but would go no further.
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 »
My names, “Otis Levenson” the Pizza Delivery guy. I’m a senior in high school, and I am an average student, who sometimes slack off. So, to make myself feel more productive I got this job. But unfortunately, it makes me feel even more worthless. Like imagine yourself just driving around
Dimension of Samhain 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 »
The glow of the setting sun entrenched the peaceful Italian countryside in a blazing red haze. The small rural highway was surrounded by rich forests currently going through the enchanting transformation of autumn. The picturesque landscape was unfortunately lost on the highways sole traveler Chiara Gallo. She sat behind the
Traveler in the dark Read More »
Many people ask me why I would ever choose the field of grave digging as my chosen career. Why choose such a depressing and creepy job when I could be almost anything else? Well to be honest I never understood the aversion to it. Death is something we all face
Digger of the Dead Read More »
Water divining did not come as natural to me as it did for my grandfather. He could reveal a well in Death Valley at the peak of summer. My sisters and I were told the gift skips a generation, but I fear it may have skipped two. I didn’t even
The Dowsing of Bolsom Ranch Read More »
I’ve always held a fascination with the sea, the vast blue oceans that account for two-thirds of the Earth’s surface. I grew up on the west coast of Ireland, enjoying pristine and almost abandoned beaches facing out onto the cold and wild waters of the North Atlantic. My father served
For thirty years, I’ve been receiving letters from a land that doesn’t exist Read More »
I’m in the engineers union, but I don’t have a degree in anything. I go to job sites all over the state and mark elevations for excavation. I hike around placing a GPS marker on the ground, push a button and the little screen on top tells me a few
Encounter on the Olympic Peninsula Read More »
I had recently moved to the Yorkshire Dales with my rescue dog, Splash, so-named for his love of puddles, and this summer past we had ambled through the woodland on long walks on a weekend. He would always dart ahead, rustling through the leaf litter for insects or fallen branches,
Tuesday, March 16, 2021 My name is Todd Marston, I’m a collector of sorts, collecting old bullet casings from each country I visit and showcase them in my museum. I found some strange trinkets over the years but that was nothing compared to what I found in the Czech Republic.
If like me you identify as an introvert and consider yourself as something of a misanthropist, you’ve probably dreamt at one point or another of escaping to a deserted island somewhere and living in peace and solitude, free from the stresses of the modern world. The fantasy of running off
‘I am an Irish Ghost Hunter. My last investigation almost cost me everything.’ Read More »
Between 1991 and 1993, American author John Anthony West and his team of archaeologists conducted a series of geological and seismic surveys around the Great Sphinx of Giza. The resulting seismographs indicated the existence of several unexplored tunnels and cavities in the bedrock beneath the monument, the most notable of
What We Found Beneath The Great Sphinx of Giza… Read More »
I have never enjoyed alcohol mind you, I never had the tongue for it. I don’t drink it for the taste, nor the feeling it gives some men. I’ve found that alcohol numbs my urges, dulls my senses. It continues to make me feel somewhat human. I try my best
Everybody loves the woods, until they follow you home. When my father came back from the military, we bought our first house—a boxy, two-story affair on the woodsy outskirts part of town. I was twelve, going on thirteen then. Our neighborhood was a little off the beaten path, nestled somewhere
Forever and Always Read More »
I grew up on a small-town ranch in the Midwest region of the United States, on land that had been passed down in my family for several generations. It can be brutal out there, with hot dry summers that threaten to suck every last drop of moisture from you, and
The Land Where Nothing Grows Read More »
I failed and, now, I don’t know what to do. To clarify, I write about and, sometimes, perform popular rituals I find online. Yeah, it’s kind of a stupid hobby, but I thought it was fun. I even made money from recording some of them and posting them on YouTube.
She Waits for me in the Tub Read More »
“What a frickin’ mess this is.” Detective Mike Barrow stood atop a muddy ridge on a humid Monday morning, looking down at a small crew of police personnel in a heavily wooded ravine. In the middle of the action was a dead body that had apparently washed up onto the
