If you are reading this, then I am more than likely dead. I want you to understand something before you read any further. I am not a dramatic person. I am not the kind of man who makes things up or tells tall tales to get attention. I have lived […]
A book swiftly closed with a loud thump, and I turned around to toss it towards the pile. I stopped for a moment, admiring the never-ending tower of journals that came before it. A thousand pages each, centuries upon centuries of my duties recorded within them, ink slowly fading from
I want to be upfront about something: I am a VFX artist. I moved to New Jersey eight months ago so I could have have a reasonable commute to a mid-sized effects house in Secaucus that I’d been doing remote work for. I have spent the past six years of
There’s an Ocean in My Basement and it’s Ruining My Life Read More »
I do not tell this story to people anymore because nobody believes the story about the fire lookout tower. Even the friends who were with me that night at the fire lookout tower refuse to talk about what happened at the fire lookout tower. It is one of those things
The Last Fire Watcher Read More »
The campfire crackled, sending orange sparks up into the heavy canopy of pines. The night was thick and dark, smelling of pine needles, river mud, and burnt marshmallows. Five boys sat on rotting log benches, huddled close to the heat. They were deep in the woods at Camp Whispering Shadows—a
The Best Father’s Day Catch Read More »
My attention is occupied by a nature documentary at low volume. It’s late spring and raining lightly outside. The narrator’s reassuring received pronunciation introduces tonight’s protagonist, a rare species of desert-dwelling toad. Greg once told me, after a few Japanese highballs, that participating in the illegal trade of exotic amphibians
Mother Nature Doesn’t Love You Back Read More »
According to the official police reports, there was never a rescue team searching Blackridge Forest the night my friends disappeared. No park rangers. No volunteers. No emergency dispatch calls. Nothing. But something found us out there. And it knew exactly how humans were supposed to look. My name is Jason
I Followed the Wrong Rescue Team in Blackridge Forest Read More »
Shaleville Police Department Date: July 15th, 2025 Lead Case Investigator: Detective Lance Giles Evidence: A brown leather bound journal with a number of diary entries by one Jamie Trench. Case Notes: In relation to the missing persons file reported by one Sherry Trench, for her son Jamie and his fiancé
The Bones Under Greyveil Read More »
I don’t remember why I went into the forest. There was no clear starting point. No moment when I stepped off a path or made a choice. It was just where I found myself. Trees reached endlessly upward, and the light felt soft but wrong. Everything seemed paused for too
The Cave of still machines Read More »
Martin pressed the record button on the handheld unit and held it close to his mouth as he ducked under the rope the patrol officers had strung between the trees. “October fourteenth, 1972,” he said. “George Washington Park, Centralia. Arrived on scene at approximately nine forty-five in the morning. Initial
A Speaker Of The Trees Read More »
I stepped out into the quad, salted caramel latte in hand to savour the brief moment of peace between my lectures. The air smelled faintly of salt and seaweed that drifted in from the bay and a light fog had settled overhead leaving droplets of condensation on benches and the
I’m about to dive into a cave filled with screams of the dead. It’s insane. Even after the complete upheaval of everything I thought possible, the most pressing thing on my mind are two words: I told you. She’s going to hate reading this, but that’s why I’m doing it.
Henry Callum had made this drive so many times he could have done it half asleep, and on some of the earlier mornings, he nearly had. Forty miles out of Centralia on roads that stopped being roads about twelve miles in, just packed dirt and gravel cutting through the Douglas
A Ritual In The Forest Read More »
Tow truck driver isn’t traditionally a job you would associate with gruesomeness but let me tell you, I have seen things that would send you into shock. I’ve seen a woman impaled through a rod and was still trying to call her work to say she would be a little
Thunderstorms yielded a surprising amount of rain, slowing the immediate progression of the wildfire to a dull advance. It sulked through the understory as if it were pouting, greedily gobbling dead grass but hesitant to touch the heavier fuels. It was biding its time and snatching chance like a spoiled
I don’t know what I saw in that damn chapel. I don’t even know if it was real or not. I sure as hell hope not. So, I came here to tell my story. Maybe someone could help me. Maybe just telling it will make me feel better – help
Twelve missed calls. My eyes never shifted as my phone continued vibrating on the old oak counter. My hands softly gripped the wet glass of my sixth pour. Thirteen. I’m tired of this. Tired of the noise, the fighting. I’m tired of holding onto this chaotic thing my wife and
A degree in wildlife management. It sounds so exciting, and the $70,000 piece of paper has certainly ensnared many bright, nature-loving youths with the allure of grand vistas and endless adventures, and I am one who heard the sirens call. From a young age, I knew people weren’t for me.
The Thing behind me wants me to turn around Read More »
I was pedaling as hard as I could, the tires thumping on each new slab of wood on the railway track. The railway was a clear cut through the woods, separating a once thriving forest into two distinct parts. Though summer break had only started a week ago, we already
Music in the Branches Read More »
Prologue – Past I’ve always felt like I was playing a part. Since my earliest years, I was just a mediocre actor in a family drama, playing the role of the son or the brother. I never felt close to them or cared about their feelings, but I pretended otherwise,
I Lost My Heart To the Sea Read More »
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” – James Baldwin The road narrowed until it was no road at all, just mud and ruts that might have been paths once. The GPS had given up hours ago, but I kept
Where Trespassers Fade Read More »
The truck’s heater blasted hot air. Wipers squeaked across the windshield, clearing away the snow that melted on contact. The Deputy hummed along with the radio as it blared a familiar tune. Wind whistled beneath the radio’s drone. The desolate road before him was covered with several inches of snow
What Hunts in the Snow Read More »
The fallen leaves tell a story…They tell of our sacrifice, the pledge we must make for our survival…Our offerings of worship, our offerings of life…Through our planes it drove. The shrilling cool wind of the coming autumn. With its passage came a change in the trees, and the slow fall
The Fallen Leaves Tell A Story Read More »
“Delta squad, clear that building!” The command ripped from Tim Brinley’s throat, echoing through the blistering desert air, a phrase so familiar to him it was more reflex than speech. This was his second deployment, and he knew with weary certainty it would be his last. The monotony of military
