Most people think of the dark when they imagine where monsters hide. They fear the shadows, the closets, the space beneath the bed where the sun doesn’t reach. They are wrong. The worst things don’t hide in the dark. They hide in the light. Specifically, they hide in the refraction. […]
1 – A Mouth to Feed December 1865 – Vettheim, Finnmark, Norway The frigid winter wind howled ferociously, driving the relentless blizzard hard against the rough wooden walls of the small house. In places, the turf of the roof had been torn away by the savage weather, exposing the birch
There were rules in our house that no one ever had to say out loud. Don’t speak when he’s drinking.Don’t look at her when she’s disappointed.Don’t cry where anyone can hear you.Don’t be noticed. Don’t be loud. Don’t be a problem. Silence kept us alive. It was the kind of
He Said He Would Protect Me Read More »
My grandmother died at 3:33 AM on a Tuesday, and her TV wouldn’t turn off. Not wouldn’t—couldn’t. We unplugged it. We cut the power to her room. We even took a hammer to the screen, but it kept playing, the jagged cracks creating a kaleidoscope of images that shouldn’t exist.
Mother said I’d regret it, staying away for so long. She was right, of course. I’d been avoiding him like a suspicious blemish, convincing myself that he simply did not exist. Meanwhile, my father wilted into some grotesque knot of wet flesh in the basement of my childhood house. Not
As the sun sets in the distance, dark clouds hang in the sky above, absorbing the last glimmer of daylight. Ben, a middle-aged man with tired eyes and a thin beard, stares through the windscreen of his small, worn-down car while he waits at the traffic lights. He thinks about
My parents died in a car crash on their way home from dropping me off my freshman year at Stanford. I never got the chance to call and tell them I was all settled in. They lay bleeding out in the street, while I was decorating my room in crimson.
The Things We Do for Family Read More »
I crawl. Thirsty. Bitter. So bitter, but I must eat them. The things that grow. They came here in a recent time. The growths are bright. They have a neck, and there is a ball on top of that neck, and one two three four five six seven round fans
We Dream of the Quiet Dark Read More »
Hello there, friend, and welcome to Bradshaw, Texas, where the steaks are bloody, andthe trucks are muddy. I wonder if I could invite you to join me as a fly on the wall this evening… Me? Oh, flies have no names. I’m just an old soul in need of a
The love I felt for my wife defied description. Cupid’s arrow landed squarely in the center of my heart the first time I saw her. Her smile rendered me helpless, weakening my legs, my mouth no longer capable of proper speech. I stuttered as I spoke. She seemed to understand
I Loved Them More Than Life Itself Read More »
I never understood why my father brought it home with him. I was entering college at the time and the week before I departed on my seven-hour car ride to Maine, my dad went on a hiking trip to one of our state parks. I often went with him as
Curse of the Bear Paw Read More »
I found myself standing in the middle of a wind-swept, abandoned street at night, facing the building that had dominated my life so completely, even though I’d come to loathe it so intensely. The sign above the front entrance was faded and almost falling off its hinges, the paint on
Hotel Morte – Checking Out Read More »
Those of a certain age who grew up in the UK will remember the old-style, red phone boxes, emblazoned with the Royal Crown and with the motif ‘Telephone’ written above their glass panelled swing doors. In fact, you’ve probably seen photographs of these booths which are regarded as quintessentially British,
The first time she could remember her father leaving she was four, strangely it wasn’t the first time she’d felt as though she were alone. It was an odd sensation to know that there would be no hugs, no kisses goodnight and she would be ultimately responsible for herself from
I’ll be honest, I’m not much of a family man. My career kept me away from my family for most of my daughters childhood, and once my wife died-absentee would be a generous description of me. Emotionally that is. It had been so sudden, and the love of my life,
My daughter was attacked on FaceTime Read More »
Good afternoon, welcome. Please, please, make yourself comfortable back there. What’s the destination? Alrighty, one sec. Let me just type that in here on the GPS. Oh, yeah, okay. I actually made a stop past that neighborhood just the other day. Shouldn’t be too hard to navigate to. Probably would
Taxi, at Your Service Read More »
I used to have an older sister. Her name was ‘Eileen,’ though she always preferred to be called by her first two initials: ‘E.V,” or “Evie,” as we’d often spell it. Evie was a fine sister—on one day she might have stood up for me against our father’s slurred contempt,
My Sister Never Came Back From Her Film Convention; I’m The Only One Who Remembers Her. Read More »
Ryan slammed his back against the wall and slowly slid down, sitting on the bathroom floor. The iron-like smell of blood filled his nostrils and partially repulsed him. He closed his eyes to take in the moment – the moment after his crime. He felt the water seeping into the
Nick’s cigarette lit up. He had to shield it from the rain twirling around us. The orange tip was spitting and sputtering from the fierce wind. He still wouldn’t let me smoke when we went camping. The cigarette illuminated his hollow cheeks, the once proud skin fading with age to
The King in the Forest Read More »
It has been a little over 8 years since my Dad died. We were so close, I was always his little girl despite being such a rotten kid. Whenever I rebelled or lashed out he would always approach me with a warm smile, he’d be there to make sure I
“I’m Not Going Anywhere, Baby.” Read More »
“You never let me have anything or go anywhere or do what I want! I always have to follow your stupid rules! You don’t even know what it’s like to be a kid anymore. They didn’t even HAVE cell phones when you were 13!” Janie yelled, stomping up the steps
Two days passed. He still hadn’t returned. We weren’t sure which of the five family members had left the kitchen door open. But our beloved twelve year old golden retriever found his way out and hadn’t come back. It wasn’t the first time. He’d find his way out and run
It was just past 7:00 PM, as I was sat in my car outside of a small diner when I got it, the amber alert. My phone began to fiercely vibrate and ring. I was going to look into it, but I was so hungry that I just silenced my
January 11, 2022 [tap, tap] Hello, um, [clears throat] hey Night Crawlers… if I can still call you that. So, listen, it’s January 11, 2022, and… I know it’s been a while since you heard from me… I’m honestly surprised any of you are here… but if you’ll let me,
