“How do you know that what you experience is real?” Was the question I posed to my class that blustery Thursday morning in January. I teach psychology at the University of Maryland, in College Park, Maryland, and that day we were beginning our unit on perception and cognition, one of […]
The Hallucinations of Cy Abrendo Read More »
I can see in four dimensions. If that concept is a little hard to understand, I get it. It’s hard to deal with, too. While everybody in the world gauges their surroundings by way of height, width, and depth, I can see all that, and then some. It’s kind of
I Can See in Four Dimensions Read More »
It was late one evening, as I was leaving work, and walking back to my car, that I encountered him. I could see him standing beneath a streetlight, with a gray and black backpack slung over his shoulder. He was a scrawnier guy, maybe about 5’9”, with curly red hair
My name is Erica Bell, and my friends and I have been closely following a worldwide phenomenon that’s been taking place over the last 16 years, or so, and we fear that it may all come to a head, soon. I was about 13 years old when the initial event
I Found a Tree in my Backyard: The End May be Nigh Read More »
My alarm clock went off at 11:30 AM, signaling the start of my day. I got up and made myself a pot of coffee as I normally did and began my day. I lived in a small town, and worked from home, so, given that I got to set my
I drive for Uber. It is by no means a glamorous profession, but it keeps my bills paid and the roof of my small studio apartment over my head. I truly love the freedom it allows me. While I’m not technically my own boss, per se, I do get to
Journal entry: August 30th, 2031. My name is Dr. Gabrielle Antario, and there’s something going on that you all should know about. It all started in January of 2020, with the mysterious appearance of a tree in West Virginia, on the property of a man named Reginald Walker. At the
I Found a Tree in my Backyard: The Animate Forests Read More »
I could really use a vacation. I haven’t so much as breached the border of the state I live in, in nearly six years. My life had become routine. Every day I wake up at 6:30 AM, shower, brush my teeth, get dressed for work, then I get in my
I found a tree in my backyard. I know that sounds silly. Like, how exactly does one “find” a tree in their backyard? How wouldn’t they know it was there? It does sound strange, but I promise you that’s exactly what happened. Little did I know at the time, the
I Found a Tree in my Backyard Read More »
My name is James Matthew Peterson, and something strange has been going on in my apartment. I moved into my new place on the lower east side of New York in April, and at first everything was great. Rent wasn’t too crazy, and I had adequate studio space for my
I am a serial killer. The absolute worst that humanity has to offer, scraped from the underside of the bottom of the barrel of society. I prey upon the weak and vulnerable and feel no remorse for my actions. My current kill count is six, four of which have yet
My Last Time Around Read More »
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
We had been driving all day and night, to get to my wife’s parent’s place in Oregon, and I could tell that we were both reaching a point of exhaustion. We were on day two of driving and were well over a thousand miles into our trek out west, to
It was a foggy autumn night when I first encountered him. As I was driving home from my late shift at the hospital, I came across a rather unusual person. As I turned onto the street into my neighborhood, I saw a tall man dressed in a dark-colored hoodie, walking
It was October 26th, and I was at the supermarket grabbing a few things I would need for Halloween, before it closed. Specifically candy to hand out to the kids in my neighborhood. While I was there, I picked up a few other things that I needed, as well. I
Expires October 31st Read More »
I’ve been deployed on assignment to a new fracking well installation on Mount Olympus, on the Olympic Peninsula, in Washington state, for the last week, of what is expected to be a month-long job. It’s hard being away from my wife and two kids for so long, but it’s what
The Quakes of Mount Olympus Read More »
“One hundred eight-six!” I announced gleefully. “That’s incredible!” My wife responded. “How does it feel to be so svelte?” “Well, I don’t know about svelte, but I feel great.” I replied. “I haven’t weighed 186 since I think my sophomore year of high school.” I have been on a personal
My name is detective Derek Wallace, of the Cook County Sheriff’s Department, in Cook County, Illinois, and for the last two and a half months I have been assigned to one of the most brutal, and confounding cases that I have seen in my time as an investigator. Admittedly, I
It was a normal, boring night, driving home from my night shift at the factory. Bleary-eyed, and half asleep I drove home, unable to wait for that moment when I would get home, crawl into bed next to my wife, and for that moment when my head to hit the
It was late one evening, and I was sat at my kitchen table, just typing away on my laptop, working on my latest screenplay. You see, I am a horror writer. I write stories of the dark and macabre, with the express purpose of selling them to major studios with
The Night Ice Cream Truck Read More »
