|
Hosted by Jonathan Wojcik
When I hosted our first horror write-off back in 2012, I was absolutely blown away by both the turnout and sheer quality. Over 130 stories were submitted, and every last one was fun or interesting in its own way. Naturally, I wondered how well a second round would measure up to the first, and even wondered if it might have to be cancelled due to lack of interest. Instead, you guys more than doubled last year's number of entries while exhibiting at least the same level of imagination and talent. Picking winners for the contest (still the most I can afford to reward) is harder than ever, but we can at least afford twice as many as last year! Remember, they're only limited in number out of necessity; all of the stories here are worth a look, and if you've ever enjoyed short horror fiction at all, you're bound to find a few dozen new favorites here. Once again, there are just a few things to remember before we dive into this year's stories!
IMPORTANT STUFF:
CONTEST WINNERS: If your story is here, e-mail me for a shirt of your choice from the store! A CONTEMPORARY FUNERAL - By Pyro Gibberish - The bright side is, nobody technically ever sees their loved ones die...but where are they going? And what the hell are those? BABY WEIGHT - By Peppermint Monster - A tale of motherhood, a disturbing eating disorder and what may or may not be a monstrous delusion. MOTHER VINE SERIES - By Prophet Storm - The multi-part saga of plant life gone rogue. Read Part II, the epic post-apocalyptic Part III, and the short spin-offs Mother's Musings and Omehtr lenv for the complete story! (Or is it?) BONES OF GOD - By Irene Vallone - It was difficult to pick the best story out of Vallone's dozen or so entries, but we all thought this surreal stage script was something special. Don't skip the rest of her submissions! DENTIST'S BANE - By Hisham H. - Short, gruesome, and funny. GOING GREEN - By Claude Turner - In the aftermath of a horrific war, inhuman beings now control a third of our planet. What are they, really? BUG MOUNTAIN - By Ian Tews - One of the longest stories submitted this year, and worth every word. The "bugs" are possibly more frightening for their unclear motives than for their rumored origin... WATCH FOR WANDERING TOWERS - By tbok1992 - A fun, silly, crazy concept that's nonetheless frightening. ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT - By Daniel Saults - An adventure game with text and sound! Click to download the executable in a zip, or try the online version here! Navigate by clicking the map and refer to the readme file for more info. Successfully scared me. SECOND PLACE WINNERS: I'm not made of t-shirts but if you're here, drop me a line and I could at least send you one of those omfg figures or something! SHELLEY AND ME - By J. Jae "JJ" Jay - Sexual obsession and Rat Kings make this one of the darkest and most grotesque submissions! MEAT - By Sly Devil - Raw nightmare juices went into this one. THE GPS VOICE - By Vortan - This one has a classic Urban Legend feel; terrifying and silly but still within the confines of believability. PROBLEM CHILD - By Izzy Winchester - A child's "problems" are "corrected" in another surreal and nightmarish story from the writer of 2012's winning They go Deep SLUG ON A CHEESE GRATER - By Lynn Graznak, Surreal Macabre Art - A gorgeous multimedia work with original sculptures! Is it about domestic abuse, or something even more aberrant? WORRIED - By Anonymous - Sometimes, you see what other people are seeing...and it worries you. A simple one that I just thought was really fun. RED - By Nicky Norden - It's hard to say what this story is about. THE GLASS DOOR - By Lasagnaface - An odyssey in...well, it's an odyssey in any case. NSFW. THE ROOF - By C. Lonnquist - I liked all of Lonnquist's stories, but I thought this may have had the most inventive premise. DISTANCE YOURSELVES - By Kieran Haines - The human race is very, very different in the future...don't miss Kieran's even more grotesque and crazy Today Will be a Fun Day. It was tough to decide which of the two belonged here. THINJAMAN - By Connor - Very short and I neither need nor want to explain why I liked this one so much. THE SMOKER - By Miranda Johansson - A highly original, atmospheric and chilling piece inspired by one of the monsters from Don't Get Spooked! THE NEW SANTA - By Immutatus - As hilarious as it is morbid. SOMETHING BOLTED THIS WAY COMES - By Andrew Howard - More adventure than horror, but in a fascinating hidden world of half-metal constructs with a lighthearted but at times still creepy tone! NEW NEIGHBORS - By Sly Devil - Several stories this year featured "end of the world" scenarios with bizarre, unexplained creatures, and they're pretty much all awesome, but I thought the monsters here warranted special appreciation. THEY - By Beatric Urvogel - A tale of uneathly, vindictive strangers with unknown motives. NAKED - By Alexis Feynman - A whole lot of build-up to one single, simple line of dialog that changes the entire story...and raises a lot of deliciously unanswered questions. Resist the urge to spoil yourself!  ALL STORIES: 9:18 PM - By Dandelion Steph - "Nobody toasted fur collars." ABSTRACT - By Flee - "The things that we saw were near indescribable, forms unlike anything imaginable based on earth life." A CHRISTMAS PERIL - By Vague1 - "Four figures, darkness and ice, veiled in fur." A CONTEMPORARY FUNERAL - By Pyro Gibberish - "the closest thing to death hoists her onto its lumpy back." THE ADVERSARY - By Vague1 - "Something pulsated and slithered its way out of his back, leaving a husk in its wake, rising from among the countless dead." A FAMILIAR FACE - By Infernalthing - "I woke up in one of his guest rooms. My face was covered in bandages." ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT - By Daniel Saults - (Downloadable game! Zip file!) ALICE WENT TO SLEEP - By Raven - "Alice passed out drunk. And the gods answered." AN EQUINE QUESTION - By J. Ford - "Decomposition is not an issue, since it is beyond death." ANESTHESIA - By Slothkeeper - "... the eyes are the only things vaguely human about it." A PATIENT SORT OF EVIL - By Anonymous - "Father Bowman sang holy fire into our ears and our hearts and the Falls screamed out their hate and death behind him..." A PLASTIC NIGHTMARE - By Jerry Reynolds - "The Santa is now joined by a small snowman. I will have to confront Josef about this in the morning." APT. 14 - By Orionide5 - "I think the apartment might have bugs." A QUICK DEATH - By Miranda Johansson - "It is eerily silent on the day of my entombment." A ROOM - By Reese Yeeter - "It fills with a red geleatin." AS SEEN ON TV - By Cuttlefish King - "Can I interest you in some commercially grown annelids?" ASYLUM - By Derekkato - "Was that croaking, growling noise human?" BABY WEIGHT - By Sarah Benkin - "She won't eat the glass or the metal, or the little bits of tinfoil I cut up for her." THE BALANCE OF CONTROL - By David Jansen - "Instead of cheese he took cucumber, no coffee only water, no news but exercises." BACK TO SCHOOL - By Erickson Warne-Coles - "Today we will be learning about calcium." BAKERY - By Connor - "DO NOT GO NEAR THE BAKERY."  BEAUTIFUL HOUSE - By Gronkling - "I miss when I could remove my mind and become wrapped in metal tubes." BIRD BRAINS - By Hybris - (14 Page Comic!) BLACK HAIRS - By Anonymous - "A black hair on my towel. Black hairs on my comb. A black hair in the sink." BLACK SHEETS - By Lasagnaface - "My grandfather saw me now, and began to panic, trying to hide the thing beside him from my view." THE BLEED - By Scott Denk - "They drifted lazily in little clouds, with more slowly streaming out of various cracks in the ground to join their brethren in flight." BLEACH - By Prophet Storm - "They are our only line of defense against something we can't see." BLOCKAGE - By Miranda Johansson - "Your head throbbed, felt stuffy from the phlegm." BLUE - By Cameron Macfarlane - "I found an egg today. Just lying on the ground, no nest, no mother in sight." BONES OF GOD - By Irene Vallone - "A Play to be Performed Before an Audience of the Dead." BOOGEYMAN - By Courtney Levy - "It can't help how it looks, I think, my numb and shaking hands moving to touch its cold, pale face." BOOTUBE - By tbok1992 - "Greetings fraidies and mental-men!" THE BOXES: ONLY EVER BUY THE TRUE SODAS - By Samuel Miller - "Today, I saw 2 gray-skinned, lumpy people. The first was a man, who had small eyes, and his arms were like short, lumpy flippers with fingers." THE BOXES: SUPER HAPPY FUNLAND - By Samuel Miller - "I noticed he had an impossibly long smile, almost plastered on his pale, noseless face." THE BOXES: THE ISLAND - By Samuel Miller - "They were a large whale-like slug, a small baby with gills that makes baying noises, and an egg." BROOD - By Raven - "I checked the mirror. It was beginning." BUG MOUNTAIN - By Ian Tews - "I heard that the bugs used to be human. They were people who got lichen disease so bad it metamorphosed them." CAMILLE - By Esther Roman - "The upside-down face pressing against the glass at night. The twitching kid, the ragged figure." CANDY HELL SONG - By Axle the Beast - (short) CAPTAIN'S LOG - By Elliot Avery - "The men have all but abandoned the literary and electronic arts. Flesh is the medium of choice for their entertainment. Each other's and their own." CARMINE AND WOLF - By Jack Allan - "Skeletons were stacked between a pair of large freezers, they had been stripped, but not clean." CARRIER - By Tangle - (short) THE CEREMONY - By Prophet Storm - (short) CHARLIE - By Irene Vallone - "I have faint memories of a life before, with others of my kind, but my captivity is taking its toll on my mind."  CHUNK ERROR - By Alexis Feynman - "A piece of the ocean was missing." CITY FOLK - By Kiara Maher - "When they came back, they were different." CLEANERS - By Irene Vallone - "Any cleaner who delivers to me the coordinates of a previously unknown vermin infestation will be rewarded." CLEAN YOUR CLOSET - By Alexis Feynman - "Mama always told me to clean out my closet." THE COLISEUM - By Prophet Storm - "The newly-made creature's skull is immense, and its eyes are hidden in deep, cavernous, tunnel-like sockets." CORRUPTED - By Liam Frain - "I’ve been around for years, watching these humans come and go..." COMMUTING - By C. Lonnquist - "The first one looked like a child when I saw it; naked and strangely yellow. Clammy, ochre skin." COMPLAINT 212 - By Attila Korsós - (short) CONFIGURATIONS - By Nick Noah - "There was one item in that basement that always seemed particularly ominous to me, my dad’s old coat." CPR TRAINING - By C. Lonnquist - "The faces lay in front of us." THE CUBE - By Frozen Killer - "I wake up. I’m in the same surroundings I have been in for the last 4 years of my life. I have no memory of anything except this room." CURED - By Daniel Saults - "Again, the growth seemed to inch upward" THE DARK - By Jack Allan - "You can flee them for a time. Floodlights. Fires. Lamps. Flashbulbs. But they get in." THE DAY I MET THE TIME TRAVELER - By Irene Vallone - "Watching his legs bend up and down. Like a giant bird's." DEEP END - By Glumdrop - "I kept going down, into the blackness of the pool. There was the drain, shining like another moon at the bottom." DEER HEAD - By Miranda Johansson - "It's not just that the cabin appeared out in the woods without any sort of reasonable explanation, either." DELICACY - By William Walls - (short) DENTIST'S BANE - By Hisham H. - "My teeth itch." DER STARKEMANN - By Connor - "As I drove home, I saw the same hamburger chef on a poster that read "OPIENING BUSIDESS!"" THE DEVIL'S BACKLOG (outside link - tumblr blog!) DICK JOURNAL - By Maxx Mann - "I can't lift it any more. I feel nauseous all the time." DIGEST - By Joshua Murray - "The peeling is a terrible thing."  DISPOSABLE - By Tweinge - " A gaping hole opened where its mouth should have been, insects crawling out, and it uttered a hideous screech, pointing at me." DISSECTION - By Linus Drumbler - "The phone itself, now fully exorcised, reboots all by itself." DISTANCE YOURSELVES - By Kieran Haines - "I felt a lump. Not the harmless carcinogenic kind. It was that oh-so-publicised “talking lump.” DISTORTIONS - By Gabriele Guandalini - "...it was like a shadow, its shape constantly changing with limbs that shifted between thick beastly claws and delicate insect legs." THE DOOR IN THE BASEMENT - By Partlysmith - "And then I saw something. It was little more than a silhouette emerging from the black depths of the hallway." DOORS - By Jack Western - "I opened the blue door. Inside was a blue room filled with faceless bobbies." DO YOU REMEMBER - By Dead Palette - (video entry) DREAMING - By Buttt Buttt - " i cant blink. if i blink itll grin. if i try to roll over again, itll grin." DROSSELMEYER - By Celia Night - (short) DUAL FORCE - By Tweinge - "...they were holding hands, and their fingers were fused together in a web-shape." DUNDEE CREEPER - By J. Ford - "Each little twig revealed themselves to be legs that “clickety-clacked” along the pavement." EAGLE FORD SEWAGE POND INCIDENT - By Luke Jones - "Flocks of birds dying in midair over the water. Whole dogs, mummified, washing up on the shore. Things crawling out of peoples' ears at midnight." ELEPHANTOCALYPSE - By Anonymous - "Elephants couldn’t climb stairs, now could they?" ELEVEN AT DARYL'S - By Mr. Weasel - "It looks like someone was hunched over the man, body shuddering and the slurping gross noises coming from the shape." ELISE - By Michael Balmer - "Today all your loved ones gathered at the cemetary to say goodbye." THE ENDLESS NIGHT - By Alexis Feynman - "Click. Click. Click. Click. Click." THE EYE ABOVE - By Partlysmith - "The Eye first appeared on February 22nd, last year. A massive, all too human blue eye, lids and all, floating above the city." EXPANSION LOG - By Adam Bellamy - "The fleet has been prepared; they are sufficiently fuelled and now awaiting dispatch." EYESORE - By Nick Noah - "I can’t tell exactly when I saw the flashing lights for the first time." FACES - By Sly Devil - "One that I really started to notice was the faces. You start to see faces everywhere."  THE FINAL STAGE - By Charred Newt - "She was at the window, as usual, sitting in her stuffed wheelchair. Her white, porcelain skin shimmered in the sunset's light." FINDING YOU - By Anonymous - "Overall, the archives hold over 200 conversations between [REDACTED] and the anonymous caller." FLASH - By J. Gluck - "She hasn't done much standing since the rot took her legs. Myself, I feel it in the tips of my fingers, some cold nights." FLYBLOWN - By Lawrence Lewis - "When I was seven years old I got flyblown, that’s what my daddy called it. Have you ever heard such a vile word?" THE FLY WHEEL - By Occultek - "The flywheel spun, silently, as it had for years." FOOTPRINTS - By Infernalthing - "I saw black shoe footprints appear, one after the other at a slow pace." FROSTED GLASS - By Gronkling - "...every day is Monday says the mouth in the well..." FROSTY - By Ciara Boerner - "Coal black eyes glitter strangely at me from the shadows." FUNNLAND FOREVERR - By Tbok1992 - "Lining the roads of the garish park, were human skeletons, slumped over in various states of disrepair." THE FUTURE IS LITTERED WITH PRIZES - By Dandelion Steph - "Her precious bauble fell from her hands as she fought to free herself from the talons’ tenacious grip." GARDEN OF PINK - By Irene Vallone - "The flamingos stared down at him condescendingly, quietly mocking his efforts." GHOST CALL - By Alexis Feynman - "I've been a customer with you for sixteen years, I always pay my bill on time, and I deserve better treatment than this." GHOST ENCOUNTER - By Randi Nicole Carmicle - (said to be a true story!) GHOST JAIL - By Connor Moore - "they put a spinning thing in the jail." GIFTS - By Gage J. - (short) THE GLASS DOOR - By Lasagnaface - "Her head stretched forward to an unpleasant degree, almost like that of a horse, and it was devoid of any skin, leaving only throbbing muscle." THE GOOD DOCTOR - By Matthew Beyer - "He turned to face me with those dead glassy eyes and cocked his head to the side, as if he didn’t understand my question." THE GODS ARE DISPLEASED - By Jazz Jackalope - (outside link - lyrics and accompanying music) GOING GREEN - By Claude Turner - " I noticed that its face had no eyes, or mouth. As such, I do not know how it whispered my name as I passed." GOLDEN TRIANGLE - By Brian Shadensack - "Did that bulge just move?"  GOURMET QUALITY - By Alexis Feynman - "While my dad was rapidly gaining weight, she seemed to be slowly losing it." THE GPS VOICE - By Vortan - "Turn onto Mill park Drive, yuk yuk yuk!" GREY AND SOFT - By Kiara Maher - (short) HAIR - By Ranger Kasdorf - "I knew precisely where this voice came from. It came from hair." THE HALL OF DOORS - By Brian Shadensack - "Beware Mickey and Minnie in the hall of doors." HAUNTED GAMES - By Pyro Gibberish - "Seriously, what the hell kind of reality-devouring abomination haunts game cartridges?" HAUNTED HOUSE - By General Nitpick - "All the appliances, cabinets, and pretty much everything in there, had googly eyes added to them." HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ONE? - By Cody Jacobs - "They just sit there, out of sight, patiently waiting, stalking, until it's time and they have their turn." HEROIC FANTASIES - By Pyro Gibberish - "What I hate most about these tunnels, of course, is the worm." THE HOLE - By Sly Devil - "Checked the bathroom. Hole was even bigger. Almost a foot across now." HOUSE FOR SALE: BASEMENT NEEDS CLEANING - By Pyro Gibberish - "The floor is entirely obscured by a thick carpet of dust that reaches my ankles." HUMBUG - By Rahkshasaran - "Boy howdy did he have stuff in jars." THE HOWL - By Tatzlwyrm - "We burned and screamed and spent our lives burning and screaming." I DON'T WANT TO GO - By Eventua - "The jungle lurks there, red and spiked and twisting, the trees made of glass." IGNITE - By Tweinge - "It approached you from the darkness; The thing you knew was there" I LOVE MY PET - By Cameron Macfarlane - (short) IMAGINARY PET - By Hisham H - "That elderly, most likely blind tapir, left quite an impression on me." IMBUNCHE - By Raven - "There never really is a feeling so good as attending the birth of a family member." IMITATION - By Matt K. - "I wish I had never found the body. Or rather, the part of it I found."  I MUST GO - By Prophet Storm - "The snail arrived. It was healthy. It was too healthy." INCIDENT REPORT - By Jack Allan - (short) INCONSEQUENTIA - By Alexis Feynman - "Have you ever seen one of those slideshows of mistakes in popular movies?" INNOCENCE - By Brian Shadensack - "I look over to my friend, forgetting that it pulled my friends head off early this week, slowly." IN PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS - By Lord of Rye - "After running his hand over it, he realized that the polished metal was nearly frictionless." IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD - By Lord of Rye - "Surrounding the sea were banks of bone-white reeds. They had some kind of reddish leech issuing from the top, and drinking perpetually from the sea." INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS - By Chaz Gelf - "That moment when you're riding in a car and your mind wanders off to places it really shouldn't." ITEM 450 - By Patch Anderson - "A psychic should be in the room to negotiate with 450-B-5." IT'S A HAT - By Prophet Storm - "All we know is that for the time being, it's a hat. It's a hat and that way it can't harm anyone." IT'S BEEN THREE DAYS - By Daniel Cowart-Goldberg - "I think those are colors, but it's been so long." IT'S CURIOUS - By Chase Goebel - "It's curious. That's the worst part. It's curious and it gets bored." JOURNAL - By Mysterious Maverick - "there's no way in hell that was a dog." JULES - By Prophet Storm - "HOW ARE YOU FEELING TODAY_,_JULES_?" THE KLISK - By Jared Shingleton - "The klisk was born when a splicing of animal and plant genes had gone wrong." LANGLEY EXPEDITION - By Rahkshasaran - "Other cylinders were found and put to the test, producing what Mehmed heard only as incomprehensible noise." LAST NIGHT THE AFGHAN HOUND CAME BACK - By Luke Cy - "He pretended not to see the eye poking out the back of her neck, so I played along." LAST TRAIN HOME - By Nick Noah - "THE TEARING" LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF MR. DARIUS BELWETHER - By Immutatus - "The body that is found that resembles me will not be dead either. You may, however, go ahead and bury it. It won't matter. Not for a very long time." LEARN A LANGUAGE OF: AND ABOUT BODY - By Gronkling - (images)  LEECH - By Cameron Macfarlane - "It's on me, in an instant, squirming." LONG LIVE THE KING - By Glumdrop - "Time to meet the eyeball king, Greatest of the eyeball things!" THE MANY CANS - By Dandelion Steph - "There was another can of cat food." MARK - By Sly Devil - "...the creature left prints of what appeared to be humanoid hands in the snow." MARKET DAY - By Keith Johnstone - "Gourds are essential. Tubers are optional, but required. Go." MATTHEW IS SUFFERING - By Peppermint Monster - "Matthew is suffering, the website said. Do you want to help him?" THE MAZE - By Connor - "In this maze I've always lived in, there lies an expansive, dimly lit room with a bell on the ceiling." MEAT - By Charming Devil - "...a drooping, fatty, pale face, on the end of an impossibly long neck..." THE MERMAID - By Rhakshasarani - "Jemmy Smith may not have had enough brains to fry an egg, but he knew a mermaid when he saw one." MESSAGE FROM YOUR MACHINE - By [your computer] - (ODT file) MIND THE FUTURE - By Infernalthing - "Technology evolves fast." MIRROR MIRROR - By Cameron Macfarlane - "My shadow hasn't moved an inch." MOBIUS FILMS - By Alex Bradley - "Have you ever noticed how you can see in the dark much better than a camera?" THE MODERN AGE - By Esther Roman - "The old man sat at the restaurant, and nobody looked at him twice." THE MONOLITH'S LAND - By Jared Ludy - "PHARG’LI KHRA’GH!!!" MORAG'S QUEST - By Nathan Xenolyi - (External google drive link - html based platform game!) MOTHER - By Sunjinjo - "There are more like me, small, pink, with nubby snouts and long tails." MOTHER VINE - By Prophet Storm - "...they were covered in these obscene little red flowers--flowers that looked like...they looked like eyes." MOTHER VINE II - By Prophet Storm - "I watched his eys fall out, suspended by the optic nerve, as flowers burst out of the sockets." MOTHER VINE III - By Prophet Storm - "We are told there weren't always Mandrakes and Daughtersoil. Once it was just a single Mothervine, in a faraway land..." MOTHER'S MUSINGS - By Prophet Storm - "We were content. We had no reason to kill. But then came the meat."  THE MOUNTAIN SONG - By Lasagnaface - "From all directions, even up in the tree tops, hordes of disfigured, speaker-mouthed men and women approached me." MOVIES - By William Oaks - "And that was the main problem with the technology. Holograms were, by default, lethally dangerous." MR. MAGIC'S SPECTACULAR HOME RE-ANIMATION KIT - By Prophet Storm - "Protruding from the wounds were active, seething machines, gears and pumps working feverishly." MR. ROBOT - By Joseph Hartman - "You're talking to a robot! Give him a warm greeting!" MY MEAT - By Justin David - "Another day of making my meat tremble and ache and scream. But I cannot stop now, not when I am so close." MY NEW HOME - By Sophie Lydia Shepherd - "I learned pretty quickly, though, that most of my house is built on rotten supports." MY PROBLEM - By Miranda Johansson - "He looks a lot like me, except kind of shrivelled, as if he were hollow and collapsing in on himself." NAKED - By Alexis Feynman - "I've never been comfortable seeing other people naked." NECROMANCER - By Sly Devil - "I don't know what it was that made me able to see behind the masks. Just everything bega peeling." NEOLITHIC PALACE - By Richard Fisher - (PDF article) NEPENTHES INSANIA - By Hisham H. - "Some of the later pots were ridiculous in size; that last one I saw him carry in was practically the size of a trash can." NEW NEIGHBORS - By Sly Devil - "It froze when it...well, I can't really say that it 'saw' me." THE NEW SANTA - By Immutatus - "Santa was ugly and disgusting, but at least he looked human. The elves didn't." THE NINTH SEQUENCE - By Joseph Hartman - "A man on a horse rode triumphantly into the sunset. Appeased, the sunset digested him and vanished." NOSEBLEED - By Irene Vallone - "A dark red circle appeared on the page of the book John was reading." THE NOTHING PERSON: DAY 567 - By Frozen Killer - "Its face, if you can really call it that, looked like a skull with skin overlapping it." NOT REAL - By David Haire - "I awoke one morning to the sound of hysterical crying emanating from downstairs. Or laughter." NOW IN THEATERS NEAREST YOU - By Glumdrop - "The creature takes the mustard and writes "BRANCH MANGLER" down its slimy body." OBSESSED WITH MONSTERS - By Reese Yeeter - "I love monsters. Nightmares. Fates worse than death." ODDITIES COLLECTION - By Scarvexx - "Dermites” he read on the placard. “Does he mean termites?" OFF MY CHEST - By Dandelion Steph - "I got leeches on my chest, I dont know why or how."  OH BROTHER - By Erickson Warne-Coles - "One bony arm was uncovered and hooked up to an IV. Martin screamed." OMEHTRLENV - By Prophet Storm - "I'm not sure if they know I'm here. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I'm here." ON REFLECTION - By William Walls - "My jawline looked a little further to the left. Mirror didn't seem wonky." ON THE LAKE - By Kiara Maher - "the cormorants are different this year." ORGANE - By Tweinge - "The vat was full of something vile." THE OWL MAN - By Irene Vallone - "I remember with perfect clarity the first time I ever heard about the Owl Man." PANDORA - By Prophet Storm - "Creatures are quadrupeds, their hind legs longer than their forelegs, implying a former bipedal nature." THE PARTY PLANNER - By Immutaus - "Don't you worry about that. We'll make sure all your guests show up. Whether they want to or not." THE PEN - By Sharadin Richter - "You have one week to snap the pen in half." PERSISTENCE OF VISION - By TheGunHeart and Ryusui- "God help me, I love crappy cartoons." PERSONAL - By Dead Palette - (video) PLAGUE DOCTOR - By Etan Nichols - "We try to kill them with medicine, but when we can't, we have to resort to other means." THE PLANTATION - By Irene Vallone - "Run all you like!" screeched the horrible grinding voice. "Run all you like! You will return! One day you will return!" PLUCK - By Kiara Maher - "One by one she pulls them out, using a motion she has practiced, and practiced, and practiced." PLUMBING - By Kevin Stanley - "A few nights ago, my toilet started making an odd noise." POISON BREATHER - By Axle the Beast - "After a short while I can feel it boiling inside me, the pain I crave, the agony that makes me feel whole." PREDATORY FACE - By Anonymous - "You know these awkward moments when you just look at a scene and your brain suddenly starts conjuring the most hair-raising thing that could happen next?" PRETTY SKIES - By Chris Cox - "The stars blinked." PROBLEM CHILD - By Izzy Winchester - "The Problems Man has always been nice to me. Even before the Best Thing." QUANTUM REALITY - By Infernalthing - "You know what quantum reality is?" RADULA - By S. Palevsky - (to the tune of Dragula)  RED - By Nicky Norden - "Oh how I loathed the Pinks." RED HEAD HANDY MAN - By Irene Vallone - "You begin to realize that the air is not hot enough for heat distortion to happen." REMEMBER - By Hare Trinity - "I was just thinking... Do you remember a show on TV, when we were little?" RICE - By Miranda Johansson - "The task of cleaning out my brother's apartment falls on me." RINSE - By Zoe Kiedong - "You can see it, right? The lump of slick, tumorous bad thought, darkened?" THE ROOF - By C. Lonnquist - "There is more above us." ROOM - By Stephen Keane - "You awoke to find that your bedroom door was gone." THE ROOT HEADED ONE - By Hisham H. - "All that remains from his assailant is a needle with a loose, glassy, empty capsule." RUMORS ON A CITY STREET CORNER - By Tbok - "Hey didja hear? Ya know the free clinics they have around here? Yeah, the ones with that funky bird for a logo." RUSTY - By Dead Palette - (video) SANGUINE - By Jack Allan - "A young woman, head freshly shaved, awake in the dead of the night." SANTA - By Alexis Feynman - "Make sure that you're in bed when Santa comes, or you won't get any presents." SCAR STORIES - By Prophet Storm - "Between serrated teeth, its mouthed tongue shot out..." SCHOOL YEARS - By Charred Newt - "Everybody lined up on the walls, as the Sevenths slowly advanced under the younger students’ nervous stare." SCRAP OF PAPER EXUDING SURPRISING AMOUNTS OF NEGATIVE ENERGY - By Ben Jeffrey - "Gaudy plastic flowers, tied to a lamp post." SHADOW TAG - By Jacob Boles - "I was playing my new pokemon game on the bus, when I found a wobbuffet in a cave." SHELLEY AND ME - By J. Jae "JJ" Jay - " It contorted its body, trying to get at the gristle that still clung to its fur, even biting into its own flesh." SHINING EYES - By Lord of Rye - "The dying sky is the wrong color - it is too shallow, too vaporous." SIGNAL RECEIVE - By Irene Vallone - "At first, no one could believe it. We thought that it was a joke, somehow, or a mistake. How could we be the most advanced beings out there?" SILENT SCREAMS - By Jesse - "Whispers turn to talking, talking turns to yelling, yelling turns to screaming."  THE SILENT BARD - By Pyro Gibberish - "The Silent Bard rode into town atop a dying steed." THE SIX DAY CATERPILLAR - By Rhakshasarani - "Participants are encouraged to drink the entire beverage first, then roll the larvae up in the lichen and swallow the whole parcel without chewing." SLIDING - By cz37ltn+hi0rs4 - "How long has it been? I've already lost all sense of time." SLUG ON A CHEESE GRATER - By Lynn Graznak, Surreal Macabre Art - (PDF file, text and sculpture work!) THE SMOKER - By Miranda Johansson - "I first became aware that something was wrong when my husband's plants began to wilt." SOCK STEALER - By Infernalthing - "he had a smiling pumpkin head with big round eyes. The eyes and mouth were pitch black." SOMETHING BOLTED THIS WAY COMES - By Andrew Howard - "The buildings were held together with bolts, rivets, welds, clamps, and... Duct tape? No, really. Duct tape." SOUNDS OF NATURE - By Dandelion Steph - (wav file) STEPHEN - By Rhakshasarani - "Stephen was an artist… at least that was what it said on his business cards." STONE AND BONE - By Erickson Warne-Coles - "The head isn't what any of us expected." STORM OF '98 - By Tatzlwyrm - "I looked up and saw seagulls wheeling overhead, chattering to one another and calling dibs on the pieces of trash floating by." STRINGS - By Mandatory Upgrades - "I swear, this wasn't wind or anything, they just shot around his arms and legs and neck like whips and held him there." SUPERPREDATOR - By Irene Vallone - "One theory is that Neanderthals were just outcompeted by Homo sapiens..." THE TAXIDERMIST - By David Haire - (poem) TEA WITH A STRANGER - By Flee - "I was never much for conversations, especially with skinny bird mole flesh trees." TEN MINUTES LATE FOR CLASS - By Fernando - "A man started giggling. It was a nervous, high pitched giggle." TERRAZZO - By Immutatus - "I don't remember when I first noticed the changes." THAT'S THE DEAL - By Golem Gears - "The door to my bedroom opened, revealing a man in a buisiness suit and with a briefcase." THINGS - By David Haire - (short poem!) TODAY WILL BE A FUN DAY - By Kieran Haines - "No, these instances of faeces were spewed." THE TORCHWOOD TEXT - By Prophet Storm - "The blasphemous vapor hung above the bookshelves impudently."  THEY - By Beatric Urvogel - "One morning every car in town was missing. Or rather, they were all taken apart..." THEY CALLED HER THE WILD ONE - By Qubeley - "On the final night, I killed a goat, and laid it out for her, like an offering for a goddess." THINJAMAN - By Connor - "I like my Fatoman and because how he am blue." TO HAVE OR TO KEEP - By Evan Macneil - "He tried to put bees out of his mind, at all times. All around their home, in the trees on the boulevard, were dozens of huge hives." TONIGHT'S ARCH - By Joseph hartman - (poem) TWO ON A THRONE - By Vortan - "Two demons sat upon separate, yet connected glass thrones." TUI FUI EGO ERIS - By Kieran Haines - "It stayed still for a moment, it was sniffing for me, hunting me. I think it heard me as the ghostly silhouette slunk across the floor towards me." UNCONVINCING - By Doc Docson - "That it’s so well-understood to us in just two weeks unsettles me deeply.." VACKY VACUUM - By Anonymous - "The show was named after a living, sentient vaccum cleaner..." VIDEO LOG - By Jack Allan - "A massive eyeless head lolls idly, more than half of it taken up by a great lipless mouth." THE VLEEN - By Jared Shingleton - (short) WALL THUMPER - By Slothkeeper - "There it was again. That tick-tacking." WATCH FOR WANDERING TOWERS - By tbok1992 - "They're coming for us, the towers." WENDIGO TALE - By Masami - "The name of this beast has even been used to associate a type of mental disorder, wendigo psychosis, which makes the sufferer crave human flesh." WHAT I SAW - By Mr. Tiktalik - (short) WHEN THE WORLD DROWNS - By Pyro Gibberish - "Food has been scarce lately; dead animals have almost entirely ceased to float to the window, and I fear the mushrooms are beginning to make me ill." WHY ANNIE DRINKS APPLE JUICE - By Dandelion Steph - (short) WIRED - By Vague1 - "They are always parked with their dishes towards you, and you never see them move."  WOODS - By Zombard Zombramble - "I can see it, dressed in flowers, a partially decomposed body." WORK - By Olita Clark - "Joey’s shift began by checking the doors." WORRIED - By Anonymous - "Sometimes, you can see what other people are seeing, and you're worried:." XAVIER - By Thegunheart - "At least, I'm pretty sure “Men's Fascist Delight” and “Summer Warehouse” aren't actual kinds of cheese." YOU ONLY THINK THEY HAVE ONE HEAD - By Eventua - "When I was a child, we were only ever told stories about giants." ZOOPHOBIA - By Jazz Jackalope - "All I recall is a giant, long, black shape undulating through the murky, teal water." comments powered by Disqus |
- If you don't see your entry, I ate it or I made an error typing all this out manually. Please let me know and re-send your story!