On August 20, 1968, the armies of the countries forming the Warsaw Pact, primarily led by the Soviet Union, invaded Czechoslovakia less than an hour before midnight. Three hours later, I watched my village, the only world that I knew, burn. The invasion of my home country didn’t last long. […]
The Church of the Clockwork God Read More »
I wasn’t very gentle with the door as I kicked it open. In fact, I struck it so hard with my foot that I felt a stab of pain in my toes. Swearing loudly, I entered the stairwell and stormed down the steps. My footsteps echoed off of the close
The Descending Dark Read More »
NOTE: The following is a transcript from the December 2023 episode of the Dead and Buried Crimes podcast] — On December 31, 1992, Sam Weaton’s father beat his mother to death with a broken whiskey bottle. His parents hadn’t been arguing. There hadn’t been any tension between them, or some
The Eight Minute Conspiracy Read More »
I don’t need to watch to know where the woman has decided to hide. It’s always one of three places, and out of those three it’s usually one specific spot. It’s all so… predictable. I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t absolutely need to. If I could avoid it,
The Wolf Below and Above Read More »
When I was a young kid, there was nothing bigger than Bingo’s Circus Extravaganza. I grew up in the Cleveland area during the ‘80s. While some of the larger television markets were featuring national children’s programming in the afternoons, we didn’t have more than one or two of those types
The Christmas Bear Read More »
When my mother was buried, I watched as every single shovel of dirt was tossed into her grave. Once the two groundskeepers had finished, I stepped onto the soft soil and spit on her headstone. I was glad that she was dead. The whole reason that I had attended her
The Destiny Machine Read More »
I usually have to do some explaining when someone finds out that my official title is Head of On-Site Security. Most people assume that the title means that I’m in charge of all of the security aspects of the amusement park I’m employed at. That isn’t actually the case. The
When my daughter Violet was born, I didn’t have much to offer her. My wife and I both worked, but housing was expensive where we lived and much of our income went towards renting our cramped two bedroom apartment. Owning our own home was still just a dream then. All
All the Stars in the Sky Read More »
Paul Wallace wasn’t sure that he believed his eyes. Being as careful as he could, he took the object that had caught his gaze off of the shelf and held it up to get a better look at it. He felt a stir of excitement. It was exactly what he
Bingo’s Circus Extravaganza Read More »
In college, Thomas Eiden had studied under a professor named Dale Collins. While that name is meaningless to most people, he was a legend in journalism circles. He had worked for the New York Times for decades back when that had really meant something, and he had used his platform
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had a number of well-intentioned people in my general orbit comment that they’ve noticed a large uptick in the amount of alcohol that I’ve been consuming. That’s a fancy way of saying that I’ve been drinking myself into a stupor every night. Now,
NOTE: I am a friend of Andrew Talbot, the man that sent me this recording. I recently received an email from Andrew that contained a recording of his podcast that, to my knowledge, never aired. There was no explanation as to why he had sent it to me. There was
The Suicide Engineer Read More »
For the past five years, it’s just been Ian and me. My wife’s pregnancy with him wasn’t easy. There were a number of scares and close calls due to health issues that she had experienced all her life. Every doctor she had ever been to had told her that she
Dear God, Please forgive this poor sinner for how long it has been since I have last prayed to you. I swear that it wasn’t because of a lack of faith or loss of wanting to be wrapped in your grace. Earthly matters have taken up my attention over the
In the middle of nowhere, under a sky of darkness filled with unrecognizable stars, there is a crossroads. Its roads are made of rocks and dirt, and walking along them fills the cold air with dust. Brown brittle grass covers the sides, making it difficult to see where the road
