Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Horror.
Low on Merlot
I swore to my friends, all two of them, that if I ever found myself single again I'd be single for the rest of my life. Two years after my divorce, however, loneliness had wrapped its icy grip around every fiber of my being. Two years of being the fifth wheel, two years of cuddling with pillows at night, and, believe it or not, but two years of actually being jealous of hearing my friends talk about their relationship problems forced me back onto the dating scene with a vengeance.
By Troy Jamail Thomas5 years ago in Horror
Breeding Time
The bar where I meet him is called Chances. Whoever designed it probably self-identifies as an artist whose work is informed by explorations into nuveaux-modernism. The color scheme is dominated by blues, greys, cheap brushed metal made to look expensive, frosted glass, the dark green of several sansevieria and horsetail plants surrounded by small obsidian decorative stones. The floor is cold, hard concrete. Thin matte-black light fixtures hang from the ceiling like spiders from their webs. And although there are lights everywhere, there isn’t nearly enough lighting. Sports is the only thing on every flatscreen. Drinks are laughably overpriced. It’s the kind of place a man in a designer suit brings a date when he has one goal in mind. A wave of relief washes over me because I have the exact same goal in mind.
By Arthur Maturo5 years ago in Horror
Cage Sweet Cage
Around six months or so later, they were as far away from his old home as possible. Deep, deep, deep into the woods of some mountain with no neighbors for miles. Or at least that's what it looked like. From the few times he'd gotten a look out of the windows to the outside.
By Raphael Fontenelle5 years ago in Horror
Behind the Sun
I walked the desert like a fool. Alone and thirsty, I was searching for a reason to continue my journey. I crawled relentless in a dirty garment no educated mind would dare wear. It didn’t matter. I wore it well. They could never possibly see that nothing mattered, not behind the sun.
By Diana Hayes5 years ago in Horror
Vengeful Teenage Ghost
Junior High School was a pain as it was but being picked on constantly was another story. There were two girls who were always alone and kept to themselves, one was Kathleen Johnson and the other was me, Samantha Pierce. Kathleen was picked on the hardest by three mean girls: Joann, Jolene, and Josephine. The three J’s as they were called. The five of us had the same classes for most of the year since school started in August. Now we just came back from Winter Vacation.
By Tami Osburn5 years ago in Horror
Bite-Sized
“Well, that’s sexy…” he thought as drool slipped down his chin. He was only just coming back into consciousness, and it was a slow process. Curiosity and amusement danced equally in his brain, even as he registered he was bound to a chair in someplace dark. His vision began to clear, and in the flickering light, he could make out a table before him, the stone walls, and an impressive fireplace at the end of the room. This was definitely not the bar he had walked into earlier this evening.
By J. Greenfield 5 years ago in Horror
Serial Dater(Revised)
Nothing better than sitting in your garden relaxing with a glass of Merlot after a long night of gardening. If the saying is true, that what you put in is what you get out, then I am getting some beautiful roses, pretty damned gorgeous. My neighbours always ask why I choose to garden at night. My answer is always the same - “After a bad date, I need to relax” - You can say I've had many bad dates. I guess what I am looking for is just too hard to find. Too damned hard, I would say. My friends always say I am a serial dater and that I find any reason not to have a second date. They say I make up all these faults in every man I meet. There is nothing wrong with being picky, absolutely nothing. I know what I want and how I want it. I am an independent woman. I own my own home, a beautiful home I might add, it could be considered an estate. I also own my own business. I have worked so damned hard to get everything I have always wanted, if a man is going to come into my life, he is going to add to it, not take away and try to control me. I wake up when I want to wake up, I go to bed when I feel like going to be. I have been alone practically my whole life.
By Jennifer Rodriguez5 years ago in Horror
She Spoke
My soul is cracking. It’s my twentieth birthday, and no one has touched me in years. I’m so touch-deprived. So lost and yearning for the feeling of warm skin. I can feel my heart thud, echoing under my sticky skin and intertwined branches of veins. The smell of dirt and pine trees tickles my nostrils, playing with the hairs on my upper lip. I’ve lived amongst the nonis for years. We escaped politics underground with nothing more than shackles around our ankles, food from witches, and underground tombs for company. My parents gave me up after I began to shake uncontrollably, flinching at everything and nothing. My father was an alcoholic—a typical father in the twenty-first century. He would come home stressed from his witch-dome duties, and my mother would try to calm him down. He would try to shake her off, threatening to beat me if she spoke.
By Aida Fakhry5 years ago in Horror
The Merlot
First dates are always awkward. Especially when you’re sitting in an expensive high-end restaurant trying to hide the tags on your designer dress so you can return it the next day. Jonathan Jones the Second (JJ for short) doesn’t seem to find it awkward, immediately ordering Merlot from the harried-looking waiter. He tells me it’s his favourite, and makes sure to slip in the four-figure price tag. I play the part of the impressed date and don’t mention that I already know it’s his favourite wine from stalking his social media. The restaurant is beautiful, if out of my price range. The chandeliers look like real crystal and I’m yet again relieved that he agreed to have our date here instead of a home-cooked meal at his apartment like he had originally suggested. You can never be too careful; public dates are statistically safer.
By alexandra grace newell5 years ago in Horror
