There’s a certain impersonal charm to grocery stores. People pass each other, usually avoiding eye contact and cloaked in a security blanket of inconspicuousness. And the homeless that you often find outside of these places, well they might as well be a light pole or a park bench, hiding in […]
A Token of Gratitude Read More »
I had been friends on Facebook with a girl for many years. We hardly talked but it was always fun to see her content. Her posts would center around her trips to the beach, which was a weekend ritual. I won’t lie, she was pretty—no, wait, beautiful. Okay, I was
My Strange Ability Read More »
Read Part 1 here I searched for Ruby for three days straight. It had started to feel claustrophobic, staring at the world outside of Shadow Lake butknowing I couldn’t leave. I continuously prayed that somehow, Ruby had escaped the barrier andwhatever doom awaited everyone who came to this town. I
That time at Shadow Lake (Part 2) Read More »
The first time my brother and I made a deal, I ended up in the hospital. I remember being at the park when I was five years old, my legs swinging as I flippedinattentively through the pages of a book. My brother Rowan hummed beside me, his hazel eyesscheming. We
That time at Shadow Lake (Part 1) Read More »
Hello there, my name is Katie; I found this community because I have a story to tell, and I think it’s one you will appreciate. I’m forty, and I have lived in a small town near New Orleans for my entire life. I’m very well known and respected in the
“Have you ever heard about the curse of Snake McQuinn?” I switched the beam from my flashlight off. It was Halloween night, and sure enough, there were some kids trespassing in Farmer Huxley’s old hay barn. I’m the sheriff in Walnut Brook, and it wasn’t the first time the old
The Curse of Snake McQuinn Read More »
It was cold and dark that one wretched morning in the city of dead dreams. Dilapidated buildings, decadent sentries of another time, towered on either side of me as I sped by on my way to the warehouse downtown. An ill-disposed wind howled in every direction; beggars huddled together and
Every other weekend I make it a habit of mine to visit Janine’s Mercantile, an indoor flea market located on the outskirts of the town I have called home my whole life. Summershore, Wyoming. Whoever named this town must’ve had a great sense of humor, too bad it doesn’t keep
Fear is only as deep as the mind allows, was my mother’s favorite idiom. Growing up, she never hesitated to use it against my childish fits, whether I was upset about sleeping alone in my bed or trying to convince her there was an Oni in the closet. It was
Where the Caterpillars Die Read More »
It came in at night, when Charlie Posner was sound asleep on his right side, snoring so loudly you might think he had an engine in him. His computer lit up, and the tiny red circle which indicated an incoming email blinked on the monitor. For a few hours it
The following transcript is taken from a Gardai Missing Person’s Report dated 5th December 2020. The subject’s name is Paul O’Shea, aged 32 years. Mr O’Shea is (or was) a mature PhD student at the School of Irish History in Waterford Institute. A Waterford native, Mr O’Shea had been travelling
A lost paramilitary tape from the 1990’s has been rediscovered. Do not watch it. Read More »
As a journalist, I get to travel the country a lot. A part of my job includes a column regarding small town myths and legends. It’s not the most factual part of my work, but I still enjoy it. At least I did until I found a town called Silverwoods.
A Place Where No One Dies Read More »
Need a crime scene clean-up? How about a crime scene clean-up up in a hoarder’s house? Well, free-market problems get free-market solutions. It only makes sense I ended up with Cesar. I guess you could call me the President and Cesar the VP but those are pretty prestigious titles considering
Would you believe me if I told you that genies were real? They are, but they’re not like anything you’d expect them to be. The stories say that you have to rub a magic lamp to get them to come out, but that’s only half true. It doesn’t have to
The Dead Man’s Mouth Read More »
It’s quite an interesting concept: those little “pass it on” messages, I mean. Chain letters and people telling you, “post this in five different comments or else you’ll die tonight.” Interesting indeed, but the idea lacks originality. It’s the same story with each one. “Pass it on or die.” People
My grandfather on my dad’s side passed away from cancer back in 2018 at the age of 75. Unlike my mom’s parents and my dad’s mom, my two brothers, my sister and I knew very little about “Grandpa Henry”. All that we knew about him was that he was born
You know those people who you tell the time of events to 15 minutes early because you know they would be late? The ones who would be late to their own funerals, as the saying goes? Well, that’s me. Prepare as I might. I can never seem to get anywhere
Never Stop At Roadside Memorials Read More »
Mark is not my real name. I’m changing the names for others’ privacy too. I’ll tell you why I can’t sleep. You’ll find this a bit strange but I swear it’s all true. I’m friends with a guy, call him Bill, I worked with at the Crab House back in
The Shimmering Statue Read More »
The bell above the door rang noisily as I entered the bookshop. My hopes of just browsing through the books without attracting the attention of a well-intentioned but usually annoying clerk were immediately dashed. I hate to be bothered while perusing the shelves. But upon closing the door and getting
This is a story about an old Welsh witch. It was All Hallows’ Day, 1 November 1974, when the people of my village awoke to find that my house had burnt down. My parents’ charred bodies were found and identified, but the investigators were unable to find and identify my
Moving day. A chance to start fresh in a new place. New opportunities, new community, new home. Home. Not just a house. To Eric Sherman, this was a place he could finally call home. No ex-wives to hound him for alimony. No disapproving parents to question his absence of faith
News came to London in the year 1820 of a series of brutal murders which had been committed throughout the neighboring counties. Reports that a monstrous man – broad, roughly six-foot-seven in height – had been seen close by to almost a dozen of these incidents. The consistent descriptions of
The Rag and Bone Man Read More »
I’m old. Right now, I’m 81 years old, and had to ask my granddaughter for help to write this down. You see, I have a confession before I go. My name is Emma, and I had a sister named Elisabeth, or Lisa for short. Having been born only one year
The Last Tale of a Grandmother Read More »
I am currently sitting in front of my computer, scared witless. Any moment now I am going to be killed. Today a friend of mine told me a story. His aunt had taken care of him since he was a small boy, and she told him last night about how
