Amanda DeGrasse
Bio
I love to write short stories. I am a lover of horror, fantasy, space, and Aliens. Writing has always been my outlet and a place to escape from real life.
Stories (23/0)
The Witch
It’s 3 AM. I can see it standing in the corner of my room looking at me. I can see its outline. It looks like a witch with long fingernails and stringy unkempt hair. This creature seems to be moving closer to me, closer, and closer with each blink. I close my eyes tight, hoping that it goes away and it’s just the moonlight playing off the shadows in my room. My room isn’t very large and the chances of me getting to the door without being caught were slim, but the fact that I didn’t know what would happen if it did grab me was reason enough to remain still. I open my eyes, but when I go to close them again, I can’t. My eyes seem to be frozen open and I can’t move as if I’ve been paralyzed by this being. I begin to panic because at this point I’m stuck. To my absolute horror, this witch is now inches from my nose. This up close view confirms my witch suspicions as her skin is decaying and some of her skull is exposed. Where there should be eyes, only black holes with maggots appear to fester in their place, and its hair is grey, long, and stringy. As she opens her mouth, black decaying teeth fill her gums, and her breath reeks of death. It is at this point I wonder if I have died and this is the thing that escorts me to Hell. Is this in fact Death come to take me away? I wish I were dead, as the putrid odor seeps from her being deep into my nose. She opens her mouth, but this time lets out a shriek that feels like my entire city can hear. A shriek that makes nails on a chalkboard sound like a symphonic orchestra. I try to let out a cry, a scream, even a whimper, but she hushes me by taking her boney hand and covering my mouth. She gets on top of my chest and puts her hands around my neck while beginning to squeeze. Just before this evil engulfs and suffocates away my life, I hear a knock at my door, and thank God it’s my mother. Suddenly, I am freed from the treacherous grasp of the witch and she disappears as if she was never even there. I am so thankful for that knock on the door because without it I am pretty sure I would have just died in my room. This turned out to be just one of many visits from this creature and others as well.
By Amanda DeGrasse5 years ago in Horror
The Hide Behind
Ever hear of the Hide Behind? I have, and I'm lucky to be able to tell the tale about my crazy encounter I had one day while I was out in the woods. It was a warm summer morning when I decided that I needed a little fresh air and adventure. I had just left my incredibly stressful job of six years as a case manager for the elderly. I packed my bags, broke my lease, broke up with my bum boyfriend, and moved back home with my parents. It was a huge step for me as I had been out of my parents' house since I was 18. They lived in a really cute part of Maine that was basically in the middle of nowhere. It was perfect and exactly where I needed to be to figure out my future.
By Amanda DeGrasse5 years ago in Horror
They Want You
I’m sitting in my living room when I hear it, laughing. The sounds of whispering and laughing. I get up and I go to investigate. I call Roy and grab his leash, “We are going for walk buddy,” I say gingerly. I see my flashlight and pick it up on my way out the door. We head towards the back of the house and there is nobody there, so we cover the whole front and back. Nobody. My land is huge and I have woods that go a few hundred feet back, but I never go in there. The woods have always been eerie. I have never really been fond of them and I always feel like I am being watched. I go to head back inside when I see a pile of rocks stacked in front of my door. “What’s this?” I wonder out loud. I don’t remember them being there when I left. I move the pile of rocks over with my foot and we go inside. I settled back into the couch with my dog.
By Amanda DeGrasse5 years ago in Horror
Pictures
Developed film lined the walls of Maxine’s dark room along with negatives. “This just can not be!” “My camera didn’t even work in the woods, it powered down as soon as I turned it on!” A few days after Maxine's little adventure in the forest, she went into her backpack to get her camera. What she found on the film terrified her and made her skin crawl. Every picture was black background with a white mist/mass thing, if looking close enough you could make out a face of something certainly not human. When she was developing the pictures she swore the pictures changed, like the white mass of whatever it was, was moving around as she wondered her dark room.
By Amanda DeGrasse5 years ago in Horror
The Woods
It’s five in the morning and it’s a crisp fall Saturday morning. I decided to go for a walk in the local woods. I have my bags packed and my camera ready for some leaf peeping. It’s New England and the trees are so full of color and life. My best work is done in early October when the leaves get super yellow and bright orange. I’m a freelance photographer and mostly do this gig as a hobby—but lately my work has been in demand, which isn’t a bad thing. I capture beautiful New England and all it has to offer. Today I am heading to the Freetown woods because I hear the trees are beautiful and the paths are cool. Local legends say it’s haunted and very spooky. I’m not a big believer in that crap, but maybe I’ll catch something on camera?!
By Amanda DeGrasse5 years ago in Horror
The Fog
There was a knock at the door. I look at my alarm clock on my nightstand and the time says 1:30 AM. I grab my pants and my sweatshirt and throw them on my cold body. I’m thinking to myself “this better be an emergency.” I look out the window next to the door and see three teenagers standing out front. I go to turn my light on, but it won’t work. Hmm that’s strange I think to myself. I go to open the front door, but all the hairs on my body stand up and my inner voice begins screaming not to open that door. Against my better judgment, I decide to address the kids at the front door. Now, I live in the middle of nowhere, my closest neighbors are 15 miles away so nobody would here my cry for help if this interaction didn’t go well. I’m sweating as I go to say hello. These kids seemed off, they were dressed funny—like they were out of the 1920s. They had jet black hair and I could have sworn they had pure black eyes. They were maybe 15, no older then 17 years old. “Hello,” I say, trying to keep my voice strong and still.
By Amanda DeGrasse5 years ago in Horror
Things You Taught Me
Why don’t you get a real job?!" I’m asked as I walk into my grandparents house late for dinner. My hair is pulled back into a messy bun still soaking wet from the five minute shower I rushed through. “Why are your hands covered in scratches”?! "You look a mess!" I try to cover these marks up before handing out to my grandmothers, it always used to upset her or anyone else that saw me. The scratches are no match for my bruised legs. My eyes move down towards the ground and I say “tough day at work” I go back to looking at my phone waiting for my mother to arrive at my grandmothers house as well. Tonight we are celebrating a birthday and I so badly wanted to skip it, but family is family.
By Amanda DeGrasse5 years ago in Journal
The Worst Date from Hell!
My grandparents had asked me to go out to dinner with them so I agreed. This is where this story begins. My Nana ordered a steak that was way undercooked and she was beyond pissed. Our poor waitress was so nervous and on edge, she grabbed the manager, that manager grabbed the cook on his way to our table. See this wouldn't be an out of the normal dinner routine as my Nana always has some sort of catastrophic disaster with her meal. The cook and manager come over and apologized and whatever other nonsense that transpired between them.
By Amanda DeGrasse5 years ago in Humans
Heartbroken but Grateful
Beautiful. You were beautiful. Light would burst through a room when you were in it. You had big brown eyes and a wonderfully warm smile. Everything made you laugh, even when you weren't doing so well. I remember mom would sit you in between her legs and we would all play ball, we even played hide and seek, sometimes the family dog joined in! I would read to you and play school. We really had a wonderful short childhood together. We would hang out in my room and listen to music and talk, you mostly listened.
By Amanda DeGrasse5 years ago in Families
HER: A Short Story of a Damaged Friendship
Her—I never liked her. I stopped coming around because of her. There was something about HER. I sat and scratched my head as my friends told me about what they really thought about her, but why didn’t you say anything to me about her? The blank looks I got, shoulder shrugged, or the “I didn’t want you to be mad at me” statements, I would have rather the truth or awkward conversation about my new found friend. I think it could have saved me from what was going to transpire over the months ahead. I set ablaze an old friendship because of her. I became her first defense when her love life went up in flames; in fact, I set the fire to the already toxic relationship she claimed she had. Her hard life and her sad misfortune with lovers, all of this she chalked up to why she liked to be alone. Alone she was not. Alone—her definition of alone would be a mix up between lovers that got her caught in a (cough) pickle so to speak. Using people along the way to get what or who she wanted without hesitation or even a slight blink of an eye to whom she may hurt or drag into her messed up outlook on what a true friend was. Nothing stopped her. She ran off of desire and pleasure—not trust, loyalty, or love. There were no regrets as she burned down bridges, wrecking balls through walls, and demolished friendships with no remorse for anyone. If this person had a name, I think she would be referred to as Lilith, the female devil of her time. A truly soulless monster that devoured everything good in her path with no compassion or prejudice for real human beings—to be so numb to anyone that she would do anything for herself; it is an outrage. Not just me—see I am not the only one that has stood by her, but a group of other people as well. She has really made a name for herself, the floozy bar fly. No one is interested in her anymore, the narcissist hussy and her bag of tricks can go pound bricks. What a terrible place to be 30-something just learning what it is like to have nobody. When she was given the world and then some—she took it and crumbled it into a billion little tiny pieces! When not even a single person that has had the pleasure of running into her can say she is decent, kind, and lovable—that is true sadness. Beauty can only run so deep, but when your heart is cold and your soul is almost black, nothing can redefine your pretty face.
By Amanda DeGrasse5 years ago in Humans
Why I Waited Until I Was in My 30s to Watch 'Harry Potter'
"You have never seen Harry Potter?!" I hear this all the time. No—nor have I sat down and actually read the books either. People are so blown away by this fact about me. I like the reaction because I think it’s funny I’m an abnormality. I was in 6th grade when Harry Potter came out. I was not interested for some reason. I never cared about it. The funny thing is, I love anything fairytale related. Witches, monsters, and unicorns—right up my alley. I think I was dealing with anxiety and being made fun of because I had a "big nose"—oh and my parents were in a nasty divorce. I was escaping to reading books more like horror/ biographies and stories about space. I loved writing poems and short stories about anything and everything. I would mostly write about what was around me or what I saw. I had a great teacher that did read some of the beloved Harry Potter books to our classroom and I would listen very intently when she did. We all did—she was a great teacher. She was one of my favorite teachers. This particular teacher made the voices of the characters when she would read the books to our class and I would love it, even look forward to this part in my day—but I was still not into reading the books myself or even watching any movies. It was so weird to me that I just didn't care. I had no interest at the time. I had a grandfather that was into space, UFOS, and aliens. I spent a lot of my time with him and my grandmother so this was also a huge factor into my lack of Harry Potter interest. I was watching the skies with my grandfather at night and we would talk about the stars and the planets a lot. He was a good man, just into things other than magic and unicorns. I think when you’re a kid you don’t realize what you’re missing out on when it’s in front of you!
By Amanda DeGrasse5 years ago in Geeks