Top Stories
New stories you'll love, handpicked for you by our team and updated daily.
Box Elder. Top Story - October 2026.
Box Elder Bugs We played with them when we were little. Holding them in our cupped hands and giggling as their legs tickled our palms. Then we released them. They swarmed a broken old tree that we called the Boxelder Bug Tree. Now They Fly everywhere Their wings illuminated by the afternoon sun Brown spots against the rays When I want to go inside - There she sits (or is it a he?) on the sliding door. She sees me examining her. Her eyes watch mine Watches my movements, on guard I just want her to get off the glass door so I can go in alone . She crawls to a crevice. Okay, game on, little critter! I move the door, and she comes out of the crevice, then she leaves, sensing my irritation. I won't squish her. She knows that I think Why aren't the tree frogs and the birds eating them? I realize that I'd rather have her flying around inside , than the damned fly that has zoomed for days. I even opened the door for a bit one day hoping the dumbass would leave. Nope, the fly is still there and very cagey, very quick. Maybe dumbass isn't the right term for a fly that's managed to hang around when I want him gone. Don't leave the door open, I told the hubby I keep telling him I don't care if it is hard to open the door with your hands full; don't leave it open, not even a few inches. Stop it. The boxelders are crawling on the house, walking on the windows, looking for an entry point. When my daughter was a baby, she slept in my room near a tall window draped in white sheer curtains. She screamed one day, my baby, and when I went to her, the boxelder bugs were all over the curtains and in her crib, surrounding and frightening her. They must have looked so big to her. The vacuum worked. As a toddler, I took her to a river with friends, and horseflies swirled around her, and she ran screaming, totally petrified, and freaked out. The box elder bugs had traumatized my girl. Keep the door shut. Examine the entry before you try to enter; shut. no door cracked open. look in the cracks watch out.
By Andrea Corwin 11 days ago in Poets
The Bones Of Halloween. Top Story - October 2026. Content Warning.
This is a villanelle for the Spooky Season Challenge by S.A. Crawford which you can read about and join in here. It has been chosen as part of the Spillwords Halloween Collection and will be published here on 20th October 2026:
By Mike Singleton đź’ś Mikeydred 10 days ago in Poets
Sea. Top Story - October 2026.
The body was still floating at sea. That’s all they were now; the body. A body. The world had eroded so long ago, so violently, there didn’t seem any point to keep up with the charade of names, and sexes, and distinctions. They were just a body now, with bits on the outside and bits on the inside, lying in a boat, in the middle of the world long since gone.
By Conor Matthews12 days ago in Fiction
Book Review: "More Tales of the City" by Armistead Maupin . Top Story - October 2026.
Yes, it's the second book in the series and don't worry - my page isn't just going to become a list of Armistead Maupin novels even though I might want it to. I'm going to spread them out mainly because I don't want to finish them too quickly and be left with whatever heartbreak awaits in the end. I don't want to be randomly thrown out of San Francisco too soon. But then again I could not resist diving into the next in the series. In More Tales of the City our Mary Ann Singleton is kind of dumpy and out of it, so she decides to take a trip to Mexico - oh, and she's taking a friend with her!
By Annie Kapur12 days ago in Geeks
Reels. Top Story - October 2026.
GO Gabby thought the boy was hitchhiking and told Sara.  He stood on the side of the road, thumbs moving wildly, almost pointing up and out for the ride.  He stared down, not alert enough to catch the driver's attention. They kept driving down the road, a Road Atlas spread open between them.  Gabby didn’t know how to read a map.  Step-by-Step instructions were comforting, workable. Seeing groups of lines spreading around one another to form a transportation system felt daunting, dangerous.  Sara was pretending she understood.  Gabby thought about the boy, standing by the side of the highway, needing help. Maybe he didn’t know where he was going, either.  Without a smartphone, maybe he was scrolling the air for answers.
By Cali Loria11 days ago in Futurism
The Land Called October. Top Story - October 2026.
Weary footsteps through rain-soaked leaves Months of wandering have brought me here October — a land unlike any other Its diversity delights the wandering eye The coloured crowns of mighty trees The flowers in their blazing hues Cry, "Look at me!" before you pass.
By Henrik Hageland11 days ago in Poets
Roaming Dead, Roaming Undead. Top Story - October 2026.
“More dangerous than the undead roaming is the live one watching. Flower Mound Station out.” Heather dropped her box of supplies and the canned goods clattered all over the basement floor. The metallic clanging echoed sharply off the musty, sludge-covered walls. She dropped to her knees to pick everything up and Sherry rushed to her side, attempting to help.
By Stephen Kramer Avitabile14 days ago in Horror
"Starry Eyes" (2014): An Underrated Thriller. Top Story - October 2026.
If you want to do what you love, just do it. “Starry Eyes” is a 2014 film. Hoping to grow her Hollywood career, Sarah, an aspiring actress, enters into a deadly agreement in exchange for fame and fortune. The consequences cost Sarah her mental health and identity, sending her spiraling into madness.
By Marielle Sabbag16 days ago in Horror
October Rain. Top Story - October 2026.
I only go there once a year To my knowledge it’s the only time I can But I start watching the weather sometimes As early as July Start rubbing Rogaine on my head, too Thinking I’ll meet up with you And you won’t like me less If my hair’s a mess And there Just if it’s not I don’t know what You’ll think And I don’t want to chance it
By Canute Limarider13 days ago in Poets
The Things That Creep Me Out . Top Story - October 2026.
Honestly, there isn’t a whole lot that creeps me out. I can hold most bugs in my hand as long as no stingers or pinchers, observing them with curiosity. No problem. Snakes, (the harmless ones of course!) don’t really bother me either. I’m more fascinated by them than anything. Most spiders don’t phase me either. Isn’t their web spinning and craftsmanship fascinating by the way?
By Jasmine Aguilar14 days ago in Confessions
Hallowed Be Thy Set. Top Story - October 2026.
Bruce Dickinson was singing about the Battle of Britain, and it was the first time I cried in a gym. I was 11 weeks out from my first bodybuilding competition, and had consumed the same white fish and green beans for so long that I had come to view the meal as my enemy. As I performed the last set of squats, my legs were shaking and the introductory riff of Aces High blared through my headphones like an air raid siren. I placed the barbell back onto the rack, sat down on the bench, and began crying into my towel. After my bout of self-pity, I completed another set.
By Daisy Fernsby16 days ago in Beat
