Two officers sat across from me in my living room. Their uniforms were sharp, their presence overwhelming. The older one, gray at the temples, opened a slim notebook, pen ready. His partner, younger and watchful, stood near the mantel, scanning the room like he could read me through the clutter […]
It lives between the lines Read More »
All this started when I got up to some of the usual fresh out of high school shenanigans by making a plan with my girlfriend to hook up and have a private night to ourselves in her dad’s cabin at the lake. The plan was simple: I’d tell my parents
Red Lights on the Highway Read More »
I used to draw spirals in the margins of my notebooks when I was a kid. I don’t know why. They made me feel calm, like if I just kept the line turning, nothing bad could happen. Sometimes I’d go through an entire page without lifting my pen just loops
Sometimes your bones break and your little sister disappears, and always your father acts like nothing is wrong. Occasionally, he’ll sit you down and tell you that you have to move on. Your sister isn’t coming back. That she’s probably dead. I didn’t think so. I couldn’t think so. We
Spiders Congregate in the Dark Read More »
I hate bugs. I hate all kinds of insects, such as flies, bees, even mosquitoes; but the one insect that I hate most of all is the common cockroach. To me, a cockroach is the scariest and most disgusting insect of them all. Ever since I was a kid, and
A Nightmare of Cockroaches Read More »
“Love you, Sierra,” my dad smiled as I climbed out of his truck. A trapper keeper perched in my arms, I stumbled out of the lifted Ford F-250, almost tripping as my purple Converse hit the sidewalk. I looked up at him and waved, trying not to cringe. As he
It was a Monday like any other. At least, it should have been. But I woke up in the early hours of the morning to a grotesque, jarring cacophony of noise that tore through the stillness like a scalpel to flesh.At first, I couldn’t place it. It sounded like dozens
The terrible noise between us Read More »
The following are journal excerpts taken from four in-resident counselors working a summer camp in coastal Georgia (c.2012). All entries are transcribed wholly and completely unfiltered. * James – 7/1/2012 This is a log of repeated occurrences from Tortoise Cabin (location—across the estuary from counselor quarters). Desc. For many, many
The envelope was thick, cream-colored, and addressed to me in elegant, unfamiliar script. It arrived on a day like any other – a Tuesday, rain slicking the windows of our tiny apartment, the air inside smelling faintly of stale cooking and damp laundry. Lily was colouring at the chipped Formica
Her Horrific Inheritance Read More »
I started playing VRChat about two months ago. I picked it up out of desperation; I had lost a good friend a few weeks prior and needed to be around people, but had no one in my life at the time. He had been my only friend, and for years
The Forest Clearing Read More »
The Easter basket arrived this morning, though I live alone and ordered nothing. Inside, nestled amongst the garish plastic grass, wasn’t chocolate, but a single, impossibly large, milky-white eye staring up at me. It wasn’t glass; it felt disturbingly organic beneath my hesitant fingertip, cool and slightly yielding, veined with
If you’re reading this, you’re probably pretty confused. I know I was. I’ll explain everything, but I’m going to start at the beginning. That’s the only way that this will make sense, and maybe the only way you’ll believe me. It all started with that damn job. Mall security. Just
That’s what we called it. The idiot mile. We used to think it sounded cool, but the adults talked about it and hyped it up so much that we just got a bit sick of the idea, and started calling it that. I grew up in a small village, secluded
I don’t have much time. It may be monitoring everything.My name is Dr. Clara Culpa, but I was part of a black-budget military operation called Project Deep Red. It was supposed to be a revolutionary training program: a full neural-immersion system to push soldiers past their psychological limits using simulated
Read part one here “Hey Pat check this out!” Kyle exclaimed.We had just gotten back to Kyle’s house, and he was already checking his live stream. Somehow, I’d let him talk me into streaming our little adventure, though by now I’ve come to know it as a personal quest. It
After the night I just had, I do not know whether I should call the cops, roll up in a ball and cry myself to sleep, or call my therapist. I am still trying to decide the best course of action. I already talked to my friend Kyle, and we
You’ve heard of the Mandela Effect, right? It’s that weird phenomenon where a bunch of people collectively misremember something. Like how some people swear up and down that the Monopoly Man used to have a monocle. (He didn’t.) Or how others vividly recall Ed McMahon handing out big checks for
My family has an odd history of tragedy—at least, that’s what my grandma would always say.“It comes in waves; it comes when it wants to,” she would ominously say, but we all knew she was superstitious and generally odd. According to my mom, who has a much-strained relationship with her,
It screams when it doesn’t whisper Read More »
The Nevada heat rippled off the asphalt, distorting the long, empty road ahead. I wiped sweat from my brow and adjusted the camera strap around my neck, squinting at the horizon. No sign of the fox. No sign of anything, really. I should’ve been writing a real story—something that actually
If You Ever Stop in Ashbrook, Don’t Ask About the Children Read More »
Every flashlight in Moreau Bay scoured the forest for my missing wife, Jemma. All except his. His light pointed to the open water and lit a path to his strange little island about a kilometer from the coast. Two weeks passed with no signs of her and all I thought
I Went Undercover to a Body Farm Read More »
The Advertisement“Lookout wanted. For more information, call 1-800-200-2230” My eyes scanned the sentence thoroughly. The ad intrigued me, I never was one meant for city life. However, for the past four years that’s exactly what my life had been. Just another cog in the machine, wasting away at a desk
Mike and his mother Sarah lived in a sharply white two-story house about eight miles from the city and half a mile away from a red diner which worked throughout the week and the weekend. The house was adjacent to naught else but the road and the forest. Mike was
The Man in the Attic Read More »
”They are down there in the water. I saw several glimpses of bright yellow popping up from and then retreating down below the surface, only to pop up again in a rhythmic fashion. Like a dance routine. Brightly yellow and deadly. Are they mocking us? The rotting, sweet stench of
The bright yellow terror Read More »
When I first moved out on my own, my mom handed me a small, weathered recipe book. Its cover was cracked and faded, the pages yellowed with age. She held it out to me with both hands, her expression soft and serious. “Take care of this,” she said, her voice
