October 3rd The police are calling it a “behavioral crisis cluster,” because they don’t have a better word for a statistical impossibility.It landed on my desk at the Federal Center for Disease Control this morning. I’ve spent fifteen years as a senior epidemiologist dealing with outbreaks that make people bleed,
Where the World Gets Quiet Read More »
Read Part One here Read Part Two here “You can’t fight what you can’t see or hear.” – Marion Strickler “For good to have any chance, there needs to be something pure.” – William Rayne “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are
An old truck came wailing through the autumn. The truck had once been white, but years in the rough had degraded the thing into an ugly gradient of browns. Now on the first asphalt in many long miles, the truck serpentined through the cursive country roads of some rolling land
Running from the Devil Read More »
My thumb repeatedly pressed into the remote, changing the channels on the television. The motion was almost pointless as I unconsciously knew that I’d never land on a channel that could hold my attention. I had already seen all the movies I wanted to see and watched the same commercials
The Snow Falls on Deaf Ears Read More »
I was working when the call came through–the defining call of what would become of my life. The last words I would ever hear her speak. The last time I would ever have a chance to talk with the woman I love with my entire being and soul. And I
Part 1 – The Beautiful Ones I guess I always knew there was something off about the small community I grew up in. It’s all about context I suppose. When you’re a kid you just accept what you’re told, and the world around you seems normal, if only because you
The Fall of Utopia Read More »
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 bulb hung from a wire that didn’t seem to lead anywhere. Above it, darkness. Below, a circle of yellow light, and inside it, a man on his knees, hands braced against the floor, his chest rising and falling as if he had been running his whole life. Maybe he
“What’s up my lovely archaea phonic cosmic sonics? Rocking with the robo electronic bionics?” I.R waved as he entered onto the wooden platform. The crowd cheered for the tall awkward lanky man. I.R was written in a blue patch on his coat. His hand up to his wrist a heavy
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 »
There are very few opportunities to share an experience as absurd as mine. And who would believe it was not just another one of the fantasy stories I usually write? Not even psychologists are open-minded enough to listen to such an irrational confession. I hope that some of you, at
The Dark Web has always been surrounded by enough mystery to make people imagine the worst. While many people have never ever visited those websites, just because they find it too risky, most of us have heard stories about secret websites or forbidden forums that hide information about strange markets
5 Dark Web Myths That People Still Can’t Stop Believing Read More »
The sky had been normal again for a good amount of time, but Jacob still caught people looking up at it sometimes, just checking to make sure it hadn’t gone crimson again. He had watched the broadcast like everyone else. Sitting in his apartment in Chicago, he was eating reheated
A Prophet Of The Truth Read More »
We come across many interesting fictional creepypasta characters online. Some of them are so influential that they create an entirely new cultural heritage. When it comes to creepypasta characters, they usually have a diverse appearance and a complex yet intriguing persona. One of them is the Slender Man, who became
The History of Slender Man and His Impact on Creepypasta Read More »
WHEN I FOUND OUT my husband was having an affair, AI wasn’t the first thing I turned to. I confronted him about the panties I found in the front of our car, the extra money being spent out of our joint checking account, and the texts I saw on his
Using AI, I Hired A Hitman. Now It’s Blackmailing Me. Read More »
Subject: Internal Memo, Project “LULLABY” (Classified Level 5)Source: Leaked from servers of Stellar Streaming, 3 hours before their global shutdown. TO: Content Acquisition & AI Ethics BoardFROM: Dr. Aris Thorne, Algorithmic PsychologyRE: The “Lullaby Loop” – Immediate Termination Required I am writing this against direct orders. In 48 hours, Stellar
The Final Optimization Read More »
The first tooth arrived in the heart of a pear. Years later, whenever Adeline tried to explain everything that had happened, she always found herself returning to that afternoon, though she knew the true beginning might have been much earlier. Perhaps it began in the graveyard behind her grandmother’s house,
The Girl Who Kept Finding Teeth Read More »
I want to say this right away- I know how stupid this is going to sound. But I’m sharing this because I don’t know what else to do. And because I think I made a mistake, long before I realized it was a mistake. I’ve always been one of those
Duolingo Has Been Teaching Me A Language That Doesn’t Exist Read More »
Farmer Adams was a grumpy shell of man. He treated anyone who trespassed on his property as hostile enemies. He wasn’t the violent type to pull out a shotgun or pitchfork. His bark was worse than his bite but his bark was powerful. His angry yells traveled miles and his
When my mother was alive, she was quite the storyteller. My brothers and I were constantly told stories of her youth, how she met our father, what we were like as babies—but those were never our favorites. No, what we loved were her scary stories. She was a master of
So I’ve been busy going through the archives and you know, doing my job, so I haven’t had a lot of time to type up much. Tall Jim needed to start work shortly after he relayed the stories I posted before but he said I could hit him up during
I Took A Job In Northwestern Vermont: Entry Three: The Great Mouser Read More »
September 17, 20– To whoever is reading: Please pardon my recollections and remembrances, as the events that have occurred in the past 24 hours have been the oddest, most appalling, and most confusing that I, and perhaps any other man, have experienced. The consistent knocking and banging on the other
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 »
