fiction
Horror fiction that delivers on its promise to scare, startle, frighten and unsettle. These stories are fake, but the shivers down your spine won't be.
Alien Desires
A bright light enveloped me and suddenly, I felt myself being lifted from the bed, strangely relaxed for the given circumstances. Must be a dream, I told myself. It was the only plausible explanation. Being an amateur astronomer, I was used to dreaming about space and extraterrestrial life. For years I had searched the skies for clues that aliens existed. I wanted to believe they did. I wanted to believe that there was something better out there than our depleted planet Earth. Through the haze of a foggy consciousness, I looked up and saw the outline of a large spaceship. A UFO! A real UFO! Gently, I was brought through a circular opening in the base of the ship and laid down on the cold, metal floor. My head felt heavy and the air felt thick, hard to breathe. My vision faded and the world went black. The last thing I saw were man-like shapes moving towards me.
By Chanelle Joy5 years ago in Horror
To Be or Not to Be
The lake hadn't always been black. Once I could see past the blue waters to green fields glistening beneath a rose sky. I think I dreamt of being a schoolteacher back then, with vague aspirations of teaching children in some new sensational method I was going to invent. Nothing particular really happened which discouraged me from pursuing such a noble endeavour. There wasn't even a moment when I gave up. I guess I simply moved on – I wish I could say to bigger and better things, but that's one lie I don't bother trying to convince myself of. Suffice to say I barely noticed the grass dying or the sky dimming until one day the far shore was a dry wasteland and the horizon a starless shadow. The blue had dulled to a murky mass of grey ripples.
By Caitlin Swan5 years ago in Horror
House Call
Every night I wake to the sound of knocking at my door. It starts out faint, almost polite, but grows more insistent if I don’t answer the door. It takes me a minute to get out of bed, not because I’m groggy from being woken up, no, I’m wide awake. Fear has that effect on me. The first time I wasn’t sure what had me so unsettled, I wrote it off as an effect of being woken abruptly. I know better now. Eventually I force myself to peel back the covers and step out of bed. The wooden floor of my bedroom is cool on my bare feet. Normally I would hurry off of it onto the rug in the hall, but not now. I can’t risk the floorboards crying out and giving me away. As I approach the door on cat’s paws, hoping to get a glimpse of the visitor without them knowing I am there, a voice calls out.
By SirCrispix5 years ago in Horror
October Lake
10.28.2024 Day One: I stepped out onto the creaky deck of my cabin in Groton, Vermont. The cool autumn breeze swept across my ankles and up the bottoms of my forest green high water pajamas. With Lake Groton visible before me, I put the mug of coffee (dashed with cinnamon) to my lips and drank. The scent of coffee, cinnamon, and burning leaves in the distance were intoxicating. Sweet autumnal perfection.
By Joseph DelFranco5 years ago in Horror
~Dirty Harry, Dirty Who?~
Oct 16/10 (For you Clint Eastwood, in memory of the character) Dirty Harry, Dirty who?? From unlocking his jaw like that; during his attempt to break my fingers, he screamed and howled like a wild creature caught painfully in a trap, the crazy beast that he was. These kinds of killers don’t recognize emotions, but they can recognize pain on the odd occasion…
By Jennifer Cooley5 years ago in Horror
BEWARE FULL MOON
Adventurous! Naturally, adventurous could have been Peggy Sue's middle name. She had the curiosity of a cat. Fear was a four-letter word that wasn't in her vocabulary! Besides exploring the swamps of Florida, Mississippi, and Louisana, Peggy Sue loved all the ghosts, witches, voodoo, monster, werewolf, and horror stories that were legendary along the coast. When it came to the Ouija board, she wasn't inclined to take the messages seriously.
By Babs Iverson5 years ago in Horror
Hydrophobia
The last thing I heard as I pulled out of the driveway was the sound of my sister’s screams ricocheting in my ears. Ever since Emma’s water had broken early yesterday evening, I had been trying my best to monitor the progression of her labor. My obstetric expertise was limited to delivering puppies, kittens, cattle, and the like; human babies were unfortunately not a part of my veterinary repertoire. Still, even I had enough sense to know that zero contractions when you were nearing the 24-hour mark since your water had broken was not a good sign. If Emma’s contractions didn’t show up on their own very soon, I knew that we’d have to make the trip to the hospital in Eureka to get her induced—and fast.
By Rida Zaidi5 years ago in Horror
The Hunter
The forest was shades of black, glittering white, and grey. Animals that were settled in their fur coats for winter, weren’t immediately visible among the fresh snowfall. Amongst the ashen trees was a hunter, tracking prey diligently, quietly. Dead silence resounded.
By Cady Lee Nulton-Craig5 years ago in Horror
Liminal
The dark-haired cop’s name plate read “Haley.” The other cop, Blondie, was one of those that wouldn’t let a big man get close enough to read his name. Haley crowded past me toward the kitchen table and picked up the photo I’d been looking at. He couldn’t have missed it in the thin winter sunlight leaking through the windows: Marie, sitting on the beach as the sun set behind the broken clouds, closing like Smaug’s eye above the breakwater. The light in that photo, nearly two thousand miles south and ten years on, still hurt the eyes.
By Kathryn Carson5 years ago in Horror
The Lake
To begin with, my grandmother had died of a stroke over a year ago. My girlfriend, Adeline, had been amazing during this painful time. She was patient and kind, holding my hand through it all. My grandmother had loved Adeline and accepted our relationship from the very beginning, never questioning us or our love for each other. My great-uncle had committed suicide when my grandmother was young because of shame for his sexuality. So when my grandmother had realized mine (claiming to have known I was a lesbian since I was 8-years-old), she became a pillar of acceptance for me.
By C Whiffyen5 years ago in Horror
