Ding dong! Erin Tucker (“Erry” to anyone besides her mother) looked up from her tablet to see which of the locals had come to bug her before she finally got off work for the weekend. She heard the man, and his distinct not being a local, from the other end […]
Read part one here I’d like to say the waiting was the worst part, but sadly this wasn’t the case. Nevertheless, I had no peace in the weeks that passed following Lily’s first visit. Call her what you like – sales rep, emissary, con-woman, or succubus…but my entire life changed
Hell’s Tour Guide – The Labyrinth Read More »
My name is John Dawson. I’m a police lieutenant from Canton, Georgia. In my twenty years on the force, I have dealt with some pretty rough characters. My family and I live in a small suburban house just outside the city. Although I spend most of my time in the
Gunnar Viermetz, a hunter for a specialized organization, scanned the side door of his reinforced white van. He looked at his contract for details about the animal his bosses wanted him to hunt. It was large, covered in fur, and was killing people. “Helpful.” He mumbled, shaking his head and
A Hunter in the Dark Read More »
The leaves rustled under my boots as we climbed up the hill. I was cold. I was tired. I was bored. I’ll never forget that fateful fall weekend my dad dragged me out hunting. He told me I was ten and it was time I started growing up. Time to
The US Department of Interior decided decades ago that the belief in unnatural beings was well spread enough to warrant a database for any and all cryptids in the US that amass a large enough following. I personally don’t know what warrants a large enough following. Probably the same number
Darlene Kelly’s eyes scanned the set of hoof prints in the mud where she knelt. Her eyes moved to the thick underbrush in front of them, where something large had fled, tearing a hole in the autumn foliage. She could see crimson specks on a patch of leaves to the
Heart of the Rotwood Read More »
Jess steadied her breath as she saw the buck. She was behind a fallen log dug deep into the blanket of snow that lay across the ground. She brought her rifle up to her shoulder and rested it on her cover, moving ever so slowly as to not startle the
What Waits in the Cold Read More »
I have been a hunter since a very young age. A wanderer of the silent woods, a stalker of the croaking marshes, a drifter of the sighing deserts. My father was a hunter as was his father. I would say it runs in our blood, but I think it runs
“Careful. Careful. Don’t let him spot us.” Jackson whispered to me as I aimed down the sights of my brand new hunting rifle. We’d been set up inside this old deer blind of his for about 4 and a half hours now without any sign of life other than ours
Part I Six years ago, if you’d asked me about the supernatural, I would have told you that it was a pretty entertaining show I’d seen on TV but none of that was or could be true. I know there are plenty of skeptics out there, that’s fair – witches,
A Summer of Wolves Read More »
I can’t stand to be back here. This tiny, rural town I grew up in, it makes my skin crawl to see everything around me. I’m well into middle-age now, but it’s like this town has been frozen in time since I was a teenager. And the older I get,
The Wolves of These Frozen Woods Read More »
My girlfriend, Ruby, and I had been together for about a year before the dreaded question of visiting her parents reared its head. Although she assured me that her folks were relatively laid back and easy going, that did little to settle my nerves. This was my first long term
I first knew something was wrong when John didn’t return before the first snow. I woke up and looked out the dull, pitted glass window to see white clinging to tree limbs and dusting the barn roof. The image of him smiling as he slung his rifle across his back
My father told me a story once. I’ll never forget it, for a few reasons. I think it’s the first story he ever told me as a child. It’s also the story of how my grandfather died. But honestly, that isn’t the reason. You hear stories on TV, or sometimes
