The swirl of voices awoke Jared from his troubled sleep. Vera, his wife, was disturbed only by his tossing and turning, she couldn’t hear the voices. They were in his head. A senseless drone of overlapping whispers, faint but present, troubled his mind. He could discern no sense or message, just noise. Naturally, he’d told …
John Watkins warmed himself by the fire crackling in the grate. Orange embers scuttled over the logs, clutched at the brick, stole away like a timid lover. He listened to the low hum of the men talking. It was soothing to hear the murmuring in the low-lit drawing room, as gentle laughter and the clink …
You have to listen to me, this isnāt right. You canāt do this. You canāt let this happen! Okay… hold on, let me try again. Something different this time, calmer. Explain whatās happening. Okay, my name is Nic. And as of right now, I am the last person on earth. They called them Quiet Rooms. …
I usually like to watch TV with my little sister, Kimberly. She was only five, so of course, she watched all the cutesy kids’ shows. I didnāt really mind, though. They made her happy and I liked spending time with her. She watched shows like Dora, Blueās Clues, and Arthur. We often had a lot …
Writing never had been of any interest to Patric. Throughout his life, it was his older brother, Sean, who had been the creative and artistic one, while Patric quietly had assumed the role of the unknown introvert. But for years now thoughts and ideas had been filling Patricās head in a constant war against his …
He turns the steering wheel in different directions, taking different roads when he needs to. He needs to go through the woods to get to his destination. Heās confused, but not about that. What confuses him is why his sister is being so silent as she sits in the backseat. The time is currently 6:36, …
Watching TV has always been one of our favorite things to do. In the early years, this proved difficult. Remus, being the stronger of our halves, would pull me until the remote was always within reach of his arm and out of that of mine. I didnāt usually mind, though, and eventually, Mum saved up …
My first love was Misty from PokĆ©mon. Those legs, that sass, she was absolutely perfect. No one else could ever compare. When I played the games, Iād hang around her gym and pretend that we were on a date. I built my team to be strong against her weaknesses so I could always protect her. I used to fantasize that sheād become intrigued by me when I had beaten her. That sheād become obsessed and fallen head over heels in love with me. It was just a silly fantasy, but I enjoyed it when I was younger.
My name isnāt really important, but for now, Iāll go by Monty. A little backstory, I grew up in a small town just outside of Hartford, Connecticut. Real nice place where everyone knew everyone, you never locked your doors, had a real charm to it. Nicest bunch of folks you could ever meet, really. We …
Part OneĀ The plodding stench of dilapidated wood and animal urine brings the young Taylor Jenkins to consciousness. His eyes open and adjust to a dark interior, the sparse chandelier sparkling precariously above his head. The splintered wood creaks and digs into his back as he tries to move, but his limbs stay pinned to …
He hoped the tape recorder would still work. It was one of those small portable ones often used in schools or libraries. Teddy didnāt even realize the irony of his action. Angie was, in fact, the one who had bought it for him.
The rain had barely relented. Jon looked out the sixth story window again, away from his TV flickering a save screen. Between the raindrops streaking the window, Jon could still see the guy that lived in front of his apartment building. The manās name was Ted, and he seemed like a genuinely good person. Jon …
I was sitting in an AA meeting when I found the tooth in my pocket. This was two and a half weeks ago. I always hit the Saturday night meeting in the city ā itās fifteen minutes from the apartment I share with my girlfriend, but mostly I like the ambiance. Itās on the third …
The spring flu had been going around the school like usual, but some people were sicker than normal. They didnāt just have fever and headache ā their faces were blotchy, their eyes bulged, and they all wheezed like theyād just run up ten flights of stairs without stopping. Cara McCormack was the first one who …
I love numbers, even numbers to be exact. I like that there are 48 stairs leading up to my cell. I like that I get precisely four hours of leisure time every day, no more, no less. I like that my wake up time, my breakfast time, my lunchtime, and my dinner time all happen …
The night of Christmas Eve 2008 is a blur, depending on how much medication I am given that day. I can avoid the nurses for a couple of hours, but not too long. I suppose youāve heard about me in the papers or on your favorite serial killer show. No, I was never convicted. What …
I sigh, stretch, and push myself away from my laptop. I let the chair spin for before lazily dragging my foot to stop it. I had been working on a new story. One about Christmas, and the horrors it includes. It was pretty cheesy, and all the ideas felt recycled. Psycho elves, murderous Santas, hungry …
Well you really screwed up this time, didnāt you? You found a gnarly deal on a beautiful home that almost seemed too good to be true, and you jumped at it. And now that youāre all moved in, youāve started to notice some anomalies. You know the type: the spooky-dooky anomalies of the supernatural persuasion. …
I donāt do ‘cold readings’ anymore. I donāt tell fortunes. I donāt read tea leaves. And I do not do contact āthe other sideā. Look, donāt judge me alright? It was an easy gig. I mean, the first time I did it, it was a joke. I did it just to impress a girl. Youāve …
It was the Christmas season. It had just gotten dark, as I was finally able to leave the office that night after working overtime. The streets were damp from the heavy rain; it had been an unusually warm winter. I stopped downtown for some Christmas shopping for the kids, just some last-minute shopping before everything …
āSomeone has taken their love of fear one step too far.ā Don LaFontaineās iconic voice emitted from the television set. I ran over to the TV cabinet, nearly knocking over the Christmas tree that Ryan was decorating. āHey! Easy tiger,ā he said as he adjusted his Santa hat. āWeāre gonna see it in a couple …
Each year on December 5th, a person in my hometown is brutally murdered. The police are at a loss. With each victim, a poetic story is left behind. Below are the stories from the past three years. * * * * * * Fredrik loved to smile, for he was always glad. Happy, warm, and …
Christmas has always been a hard time for me. Childhood memories of bickering relatives, drunken tirades, and hostile dinner conversations made me wince at the mere mention of the holiday. In the Christmas of 1989, I broke my collarbone on my new toboggan. In the Christmas of 1997, my brother drove the family car into …
The bell above the door rang noisily as I entered the bookshop.Ā My hopes of just browsing through the books without attracting the attention of a well-intentioned but usually annoying clerk were immediately dashed.Ā I hate to be bothered while perusing the shelves.Ā But upon closing the door and getting my first glance at the …
