Welcome to our 2019 $500 Halloween Horror 50 Word Story Contest. Yes, that’s right. It’s already here. Every year we run our contests, and those of you who have been frequent readers, this is what you’ve been waiting for.
First we will be doing a print issue! We will be doing 2 print issues, and we will pick entries from this contest to be in our issue. If you had a 50 word story designated to be in our print issue, from a past contest, please contact us.
Second, we will be giving out a $500 reward for the best 50 word horror story. This is not easy for us. Every Writer is not doing as well as it did in the past, but we want your stories. I believe writers should get paid for their work. I wish we could pay all of our writers, but it’s just impossible. So $500 for 50 words, I think is a unique and valuable statement to our readers. Ten dollars a word is what all writers really deserve.
So here are the rules:
• Story must be scary
• Story must be 50 words
• Story must be original and your own
• Story may not be published elsewhere
• Story must have a title (does NOT count in word count)
• Deadline is October 25, 2019
• Enter as many times as you want
• Story must be written in the comments below!
• Be nice or be disqualified
I love these stories. This is one of favorite traditions of Every Writer. I look forward to this every year, and this year I have extended the time we are going to spend with the contest.
The winners will:
• Be announced on October 31, 2019
• Will get $500
• Will be published in our digital and print issue.
• Will get an author page on our site
There is no entry fee for this contest. It would help us out greatly if you would donate 1$ or more, if you can, to help out the site. We would really appreciate it. A donation will not be considered in the deciding this contest.
If you want to keep up with me on Twitter, please follow me at @everywriter, I follow back all writers.
Good luck, and let the writing begin.
HERE IS THE WINNER
I have picked 4 stories. They all have times and days on them. If the winner does not respond by Friday 11/22/19 the money will go to the next story on the list. Here are the top 4 stories in order. ONLY OUR 1st PLACE WINNER gets the $500. Also, so this insanity never happens again, the winner will be invited back next year to be one of the judges.
WINNER 1st Place:
Kit Steward 10/13/19 5:20 pm
THE MIDNIGHT INCUBATOR
She heard mushy sounds for days and suffered from unbearable itchiness.
A doctor’s visit revealed earwig pupae nesting in her ear canal, it was flushed out.
Later, weary from stress, she crawled into bed.
That night while she slept, the creature returned.
And finding the eggs missing, it laid more.
2nd Place:
Elizabeth Lee 09/24/19 4:36 pm
Secondhand Doll
She didn’t want a secondhand doll so she flung it across the room. Porcelain cracked against the wall. Her mom made her glue the pieces back together. A thin shard sliced her hand, baptizing the doll in her hateful blood. The secondhand doll decided she didn’t want an ungrateful child.
3rd Place:
Alexander Daley Escobedo 10/25/19 3:38pm
Heirloom
We Buried my brother today. Suicide. He thought something evil was haunting him. He’d been medicated, institutionalized, shocked and secluded. He found his own way out. I wish I could tell him I’m sorry. Or had listened more closely. Because, when I got home, it was on my couch. Laughing.
4th place:
JB 10/25/19 8:12pm
TITLE: RESEVOIR
We should have known something was wrong when we first tasted the water. It was a little brown, but no more than usual in this apartment complex.
We kept drinking it until it turned black.
When they opened the water tank, they found the bloated, rotting corpse of my neighbor.
We usually always contact the winners first, but after all the trouble, we are opening up the process. I am again, very sorry for how late this is. I did not expect 4000 stories. Next year I will be ready.
Curtis Norris says
EX-ISLE
Cemetery Isle is where the fanatic mainland villagers send their damned departed. No one stays there after dark, unless, like me, they are exiled upon it for blasphemies against their insane god. Everywhere the sarcophagi lie open, issuing a foul phosphorescence. Vengeful gibbering fills the night. I wait. They come.
Curtis Norris says
HUMMINGBIRD
His whispered endearments tickle my ear. Gentle probings of his long tongue send shivers through my body. Like a hummingbird’s tongue it darts deeper, piercing my eardrum with ecstatic pain. It stabs through soft channels reaching my brain. Willingly, I submit to orgasmic agony as he drinks my virgin mind!
Arleen Fackina says
The Intruders
I heard it again, that weird sound, the rasping, grinding echoing from the kitchen wall. It appeared to be moving, a strange pulsating motion undulated from under the old coat of paint. I stood, lips parted, inches away when the wall opened and millions of cockroaches flew forward covering me.
Mr. PL says
Welcome.
You’re alone, trapped in the dark. Your life has ill prepared for the horrors ahead. Unlike there, here you are helpless. The race is dangerous, and senseless. Welcome to chaos. Don’t turn around, never listen to the whispers, and whatever you do, never ask for help. Welcome to the afterlife.
Shyla Weston says
The Cold Wind
The night was unfeeling. I walked a bleak, forgotten path. Each step brought a scatter of shadows and the watchful eyes of a thousand ghosts. Whispers of cold seduction blew through the air. Walking deeper into the shadows of the past, the fog deepened. A frigid hand welcomed me home.
Shyla Weston says
The New Supernatural
Vampires bite and werewolves howl. There are scary ghosts and horrors straight out of nightmares.. They’re nothing compared to my dark eyes that burn through the night seeking soft, fresh flesh. My appetite is insatiable, always looking for more. My victim always feels my dark, stalking presence. I’m here.
Polina Kim says
The boy grinned, as we saw each other.
“Hello.”
“Do I know you?”
I stepped back, wary. Something flashed in his gloved hand. Something sharp. I ran, heart pounding, until I gained distance, and looked back. No one. I lifted my head. The boy grinned, as we saw each other.
Polina Kim says
Sorry I forgot to write the title, I posted a new comment of the same story WITH the title. Apologies for the inconvenience
Ufuoma K says
PENNY WISE…
He placed the coin in front of her.
“A penny for your thoughts.”
With a flirtatious smile, she picked up the penny and pocketed it.
“I’m thinking…it’s been a while since someone bought me a drink.”
“Let me rectify that,” he replied.
But, after that day, her thoughts were gone.
Bret Katzoff says
Best Night of the Year
It does help it slip down, after all.
There is little cause for alarm or surprise; I assure it is only fleeting.
My syringe spreads the intended message.
Not even the least bit of pin prick in each wrapper.
My drain has never been cleaner; yours will be even better.
Polina Kim says
The Boy
The boy grinned, as we saw each other.
“Hello.”
“Do I know you?”
I stepped back, wary. Something flashed in his gloved hand. Something sharp. I ran, heart pounding, until I gained distance, and looked back. No one. I lifted my head. The boy grinned, as we saw each other.
Bret Katzoff says
Fresh Air
Like fresh air, mostly; that’s how Blake thought of it.
The chase, not the catch, thrilled.
The oft bleeding gash between their legs propagate further, fostering reasons.
Caramel-olive eyes bulge; muffled pleading through duct tape.
Blake pulls out his shriveled mushroom head before plunging his shiny blade in its place.
Bret Katzoff says
Social Media Inspiration
Julie sipped her coffee with an intermittent but enormous grin.
She casually caressed the last eggplant bruise on her right cheek.
Joe had enough oxygen for almost seventeen minutes now, Julie had Googled it earlier.
She scanned the Instagram posting again before closing the Pinterest page with a little giggle.
Kit Steward says
THE RUBINE CHRYSALIS
Red orbs glared through the darkness.
“Don’t go down there, it’s dangerous,” Crestwood warned.
“Beast’s still in shackles, isn’t it?” said Jennings.
Mandible clicks reverberated from the depths.
Weeks from the mainland, Crestwood knew his colleague’s growing curiosity would ensure the strange caterpillar’s survival rate; cementing his path to glory.
Kit Steward says
DR. GOODHOPE’S GHOST PROBLEM
The skull under glass occupied prominent mantle space and the maid despised its sight.
One afternoon while she dusted under the table.
BWOOSH!
The morbid relic crashed down.
She screamed herself into a coronary.
Freshly dead, her corpse was approached by a starving rat; grateful for the abundance of carrion.
Kit Steward says
THE UNWANTED DISTURBANCE
One night a couple heard knocking outside their cabin retreat.
Opening the door the man was greeted by a cadaverous phantom, its mottled hands plunged gritty nails deep into a gaping mouth.
Dragged by the head, a gigolo floundered inside; door slamming behind.
Staccato screams danced briefly across the lake.
Angela says
Twinkle twinkle little star
Twinkle Twinkle little star
galaxies dying afar
Up above the world so high
My brother suspended in the sky
When the blazing sun is gone
Then you show your little light
radiates the bloodied machete in the night
Twinkle Twinkle little star
How many souls have you sown so far?
Francis DiClemente says
Morning Discovery
Sarah woke up without her hands. They were gone—severed clean with a surgical instrument. No trace left behind—just a pool of blood seeping through the sheets. “Don’t panic,” she told herself. “Stop the bleeding and call for help.” But she couldn’t dial 9-1-1 without her hands.
John Hickey says
Haunted Librarian
Old wrinkled boney hands librarian, pencil through hair bun, scratchy voice like fingernails on chalkboard. Recommends, headless horseman, dark laughing lurking figures. Smells like dusty death warmed over. She has no soul, no substance, you can see right through her. Would you ask her for help? ‘I wouldn’t “Quiet Please”
Michael Galligan says
MORE
Having more bodies is better, right? I have three already. But my bestie has five and I’m way jealous. I love him, still, I’m gonna beat him at this. I wait outside the park restroom. It’s festival weekend, so the chances I can at least catch up are pretty solid.
Lina decrescenzo says
The Sharks
Million of years ago, the sharks of the gulf attacked the humans of South West Florida, the humans were rough to eat; their flesh stuck to the sharks’s teeth who lost them all. Today, thousands of happy tourists, get busy to lick and collect those teeth on the Englewood beach
Michael Galligan says
FITTING IN
If I can fit a body into a rain barrel and an engine compartment, I can do a crab trap. It’s commercial size for God’s sake. Just takes some doing. Some pushing and bending. Trial and error. No dismembering, though. That’s against the rules. And I always follow the rules.
Michael Galligan says
HOW IT FEELS
If I had to describe how a dead body feels next to mine, I’d say pile of warm, damp towels. That’s if the body is fresh. If not, I’d say bags of soil from the nursery. Organic, of course. Ha! Who am I kidding? I don’t pay extra for anything.
Michael Galligan says
SHIVS AND COOKIES
Knowing where to insert a blade is the first thing I teach the littles. It must be smooth and quick, too. In and out. That’s the second. And then I let them practice, because experience is the best teacher. Just turn them loose on the playground with shivs and cookies.
Angel Stebbins says
“Hungry”
He held her tightly against his chest. His hand holding her head slightly to the left. He opened his mouth, his fangs elongated. As his teeth sunk into pliable flesh, fresh blood poured into his mouth. Warm, sticky, metalic and slightly sweet. He drank greedily. His eyes glowed with pleaure.
-AS
Angel Stebbins says
“Racing Heart”
Her eyes were wide open but she could make no sound. Her mouth had been sewn shut, her eyes propped open with toothpicks. An I.V. was attached to her hand. Some liquid flowed through it. She heard the drill before seeing it. He advances toward her Her heart races.
-AS
Margaret Stahl says
Lost
Lurking in the shadows, the monsters of campfire stories linger waiting for a new opportunity. Crows calling out in the dark forest. A lone camper lost in the fog. Slowly, the horrific beast hunts his prey. The last of the campers’ screams echoed under the full moon as the werewolf howls.
Federico Efrain Martinez Garay says
The Forest
by Federico Martinez
I’ve been running for hours and can’t find a way out. I feel it as it closes on me, that thing will not catch me. I have never believed in God but seeing it I may as well believe in the Devil.
Federico Efrain Martinez Garay says
The Shadow
by Federico Martinez
We all saw the sky and saw a big shadow covering the sun. The sun moved to the horizon but the shadow didn’t. We all saw it the next day when the sun rose but this time it was closer.
Federico Efrain Martinez Garay says
I Love You
by Federico Martinez
I have been with her since High School, sure our minds just want sex at the time but I truly loved her. She, on the other hand, was blinded by her “friends”. Now she is with me forever although I’ve just eaten the head.
Federico Efrain Martinez Garay says
The Scariest Story of Them All
by Federico Martinez
I was with my father on a bus, we both fell asleep. We were awakened by a gun on the head.
“Give us all your money”
“I don’t have any”
That is the scariest thing, not ghosts not demons, just the fear of death.
Federico Efrain Martinez Garay says
Penumbra
by Federico Martinez
I saw it and it copied my movements, every detail. Even when I was afraid it seemed afraid too. Is he the one who copies my movements, or I am the one.
Fern Goodman says
Phasmorthorrophobia
Phasmorthorrophobia. The fear of horror stories. My made-up word. To confront fears.
Simply reading “horror” constricts my bronchus. Facing unknown darkness, blank faces, menacing eyes, sharp blades and mysterious noises. Unexplained noises are the worst. They throw my anxiety barometer to overload. Writing about it diminishes the panic … never.
CC Parks says
FOR SALE BY OWNER
He died here. Old age, they said. I bought it. It was a good price. I found a bullet hole in the basement cement last night. Clinching my laundry basket, I sense him from the top stair. It turns the corner, into full view, hollowed head, eyes looking inside me.
Jason Allen says
BOAT FISHING
Sunset. Bill cast his line out one last time.
Finally a bite! He reeled it in. On his hook: a weathered toy clown. Bill cursed it, tossing it back into the lake.
The other forgotten toys — dolls, animals, action figures — rose to the surface, surrounding Bill’s boat, glaring at him.
Fern Goodman says
Escape
We’re weak from being tortured. Captive for ransom or pure sport. It’s unclear. Escape from this block building is our only hope. But how?
He hands us each a glass of liquid. “One of you will die. Drink.” He leaves.
We drink half of each glass and take our chances.
Ava Delcaro says
Watching
All you can see are the eyes. You sit in your bed, looking out at your room. In the corner, just watching you. They disappear for a moment and appear again, closer. You realize they must have blinked, then walked to you. You grab the light switch, flick it up…
Diane Callahan says
THE BUTCHERY
She pounded on the meat-locker door.
“Not funny!” she shouted. Rubbing her arms, she turned as something rattled behind her.
She screamed. A hook descended from the ceiling, impaling her in the shoulder.
It pulled her amongst the pig carcasses until her breath trailed like a specter in the air.
Farheen Kazmi says
The Thing
“You can’t win me,” I growled.
The thing stared back at me and laughed. It let out an animal grunt.
I saw it walk towards my five-year-old son. It sat beside him. I saw it grinning in the mirror as my son smiled up at it. At me!
Gerri Zimmerman says
Scaredy-cat
Don’t hide under the bed, any bed, especially at Halloween. Huge black spiders hide there and wait for food, any food. Oh yes, they do. You don’t believe me? Alright, on Halloween, hide under the bed and see what happens, if you dare! Go ahead, or are you a scaredy-cat?
Suzanne Alexander says
THE BATES’ HOUSE
Since watching the movie “Psycho,” I have locked the bathroom door when I’m alone in the house and showering. Then one night, I heard the lock on the bathroom door click open and saw the shine of a knife blade against the shower door. That’s the last thing I remember.
Patrick Thornton says
A BAD IDEA
There were lots of little goblins were running around out there shrieking while they went door-to-door collecting little candy bars and such. But that last scream was different. I knew it was a bad idea to open the door. Now I don’t know what to do with all the blood.
Lisa Dust says
The Three-Headed Frankenstein
A ghoulish, three-headed monstrous creature roamed the streets at night. Designed by Dr. Pins and Needles, it was unspeakable. Electrified to life and the brains were damaged. What went wrong? This dreaded sight was cursed by something worse that a deadly plague. He looked confused, lonely, and evil to humans.
Kaia Rodriguez says
Gone
They’re gone. They were here, but now they’re gone. If you had stayed, they would still be here. And now, his leering face beams at you, and you know. Soon you will be gone too.
Joanna Jadoo says
Funny Mirror
Josephine sighed and hugged her teddy bear tightly. She hated this new house Mommy and Daddy had bought. It was so hard to get ready for school here. The mirror in her room was funny. Her reflection always faced away from her and now, she could even hear it laughing.
Munashe S says
DOWN IT GOES
Sweat drenched me, echoes of my inner cry infused me, sending shivers down my spine. I could hear my nemesis’ heavy breath. I turned around only to see his slimy saliva drooling out. Upon looking, he caught up with me as I went down and shut my eyes whilst saying the last prayer.
Kaia Rodriguez says
Alone
Just sitting. Alone. But as you face your window, you see something in it. A ghoulish face, with a haunting pale appearance. Although, what really sticks out are the eyes. The deep, haunting eyes that make you want to confess. But wait… That’s a mirror.
Carys M says
Halloween
The day was October 31, 1937. A girl glanced around the corner to see a man, dead on the floor. A woman sat with him, her face twisted into a silent scream. Blood dripped from her previously white robe. The woman bolted after the girl, who was never seen again…
Gonzalo Leon-Gelpi says
“Ahhh,” she hollered. Then she died from fear.
Ava Delcaro says
Smiling
You invite him over, and he comes. You talk, then he leaves. But that night, you hear a noise. You pull back the blinds, and there- it’s his face. Pressed against your window, emotionless. Then he smiles, looking insane. You see him run away, howling into the cold night air.
Ava Delcaro says
A Hint of Something
But why? You peer into his eyes, deep and soulless. Why you? You reach up and pull off his mask. Nothing. No emotion. But, as he descends, you see a hint of something. Could that be- Regret?
K-tastic says
Pin-the-doll
On the dawn of October 31st, darkness murdered the land, when Lord Samhain sent his first gift. On earth, a heartless child found a doll, your stitched dummy and a pin. The creature impaled the pin into the cotton soul, and- wait, are you dead?!?
Daria Mantei says
Experiment gone wrong
I had created it on accident, I had tried to make a monster that would protect me and humankind. Instead I created the opposite. I had created a foreboding, daunting, sinister monster the color of blood and disturbingly intelligent and perceptive, and soon it will destroy us, starting with me.
Carys M says
Gone
Killings have been common here lately. Our family’s door creaked open at precisely midnight. There he was, with a knife in his hand. My mum jumped in front of me as the knife was pushed forwards. She tumbled to the groung, her blood staining our white carpet. She was gone.
Carys M says
Dollie
You see her, dont you? Always watching. Life goes round and round, yet she’s always there. Her hand-stitched mouth slowly creeps into a smile. One day, she has a knife. Your family starts to die. One, by one. Then you’re left to die. She creeps up behind you. Smiling.
J B says
TITLE: THE MIRROR
I felt his withered and bony fingers curl around my shoulder, and his hot breath on my neck. I stared into the mirror, seeing my reflection.
But where was his?
Suddenly, I felt the pale skinned, gaunt old man plunge his fangs into my neck, and my world went black.
J B says
TITLE: CAVE DWELLER
I’ve been trapped in this collapsed cave for almost seven months now.
There’s nothing left.
It’s dark… So dark.
There’s no one out there to answer my screams.
The only thing left to do is plunge this knife into my jugular.
There’s nothing left… I already ate all my limbs.
J B says
TITLE: THE GURNEY
I felt the blast of cool air as I wheeled our latest resident into the morgue.
House fire. The… person had been burned so badly we’ll have to identify them through dental records.
I placed the gurney inside one of the cold rooms.
When I returned, the body was gone.
J B says
TITLE: PARALASYS
Through partially closed eyes she stared at the knife in the mans hand. She was unable to move, unable to scream.
A second man entered into the room, face obscured and wearing thick gloves.
He took the knife and knelt over the girl.
“Let’s begin the autopsy.” The doctor said.
Gonzalo Leon-Gelpi says
AHHH!
“Ahhh,” he cried out. Then the monster swallowed him.
Erin F says
Title: Slash
Raising the sharp, unforgiving blade, I lower it, cutting deeply into my bitter, disheartened soul. Claret blood drips from my wrist, and, like paint, splatters onto the easel of a floor beneath me. This act gifts me with an oxymoron of both liberation and surrender. The demon within has triumphed.
Erin F says
Title: Forever A Marionette
All I said was that I liked his strangely realistic, but tattered puppets. The clown turned towards me; I an innocent child. “Then you can join my collection,” he said, maniacal grin revealing teeth as sharp as glass shards. Little did I know, I would soon become an eternal showpiece.
Ufuoma K says
THE BEGGAR’S CURSE
One kick sent the coin plate clattering down the pavement.
“Return it, or…”
“You’d chase me with your crutches?”
“…or, I’d turn you into a vampire.”
“Cool.”
***
He threw on a costume that night to complement his protruding incisors…but began to worry when by the 1st, it still remained.
Nissa Velez says
THE CURSE OF THE WOLF
By: Nissa Velez
The tearing of flesh. The crunching of bone. The engorging of my limbs, the elongating of my snout, my teeth becoming sharp canines and my hands stretching into claws. I can feel my body transform, releasing the animal from within.
The urge freed as I howl to the silvery moon.
Ufuoma K says
FEEDING TIME
He found it unsettling that although he lived alone, he usually woke up to food smears on his mouth.
That night, while he laid in wait to investigate, they entered his room.
“Should we tell him,” said one of the grotesque creatures, “that we know he’s pretending to be asleep?”
Noreen Jenkins says
Murder at midnight
His mother never raised him right. He’s crazy, he likes the knives. He chases. I run through the forest out at midnight. He’s ambitious, he likes to win. I like living in the skin I’m in. I hide, I cry. He’s patient. I die.
Em Jenner says
*HALLOWEEN 50 WORD HORROR STORY CONTEST*
“Offer $500 for the winner. Watch your stats go ballistic!”
The webmaster posted the rules, sat back and laughed. The old hag was right.
Then with each posted letter, each link, each click on the site, a new wart appeared on his face.
She’d always enjoyed the ‘Double-Edged-Sword’ curse.
Izzy says
Face in the mirror
He picked at his face in the mirror. Then, noticed a white smug in the corner of the mirror that wouldn’t rub off. He looked behind him and saw nothing. His skin was overheating. He looked back at the mirror and saw a skinless face reaching for him.
Izzy says
Raccoon
I heard a bang from the storage, followed by a squeak. I opened the door and followed the squeak. There was a racoon in a box facing me. In its mouth was a bloody arm. The box shook, the body looked to me. There was only darkness in his eyes.
Kit Steward says
A FOREBODING SYNAPTIC DISCHARGE
“So, you’ve finally made it.”
He trembled in the semi-familiar territory.
“Reflect on your childhood, even then you had a clear vision you’d be here.”
“Yeah, but those thoughts were a projection of overactive imagination.”
“No. That was me communicating to a much younger self, the only way I could.”
Kit Steward says
DEATH’S ETERNAL HOURGLASS
Its timetable a different scale, measured in billions of solar beats.
The boulder witnessed organisms scurry and die for millennia in a Hologram of fast forward perpetuity.
Weathered rock; it became an unwilling accomplice to countless deaths.
Ground sand; tomb for a million bodies.
Eventually, the grains would recycle anew.
Kit Steward says
BLISS OF THE SPIDERED WOMAN
Like a marathon runner crossing the finish tape, again and again, the cobwebs piled up on her face.
She screamed through the pitch-black basement tugging at the accumulation to clear blinded eyes from pure instinct.
As she hyperventilated, dustry webs drew into her gullet, suffocating any hopes of escape.
Kit Steward says
AWASH IN SUBCONSCIOUS SILT
Restless dreams were no safe haven; as waves of angry souls rushed toward him, bony fingers lapped at his feet like brittle sea-foam.
He awoke realizing the collection under the porch grew too fast, too soon.
When he stepped outside his trophy pile had tumbled, reaching towards the public view.
Fern Goodman says
More than a movie
The audience screams in fright at the horror movie.
I can’t hold it; I head for the restroom.
Not my type of movie. I dawdle in the ladies room.
Back in the theater my eyes adjust. Everyone is supine, lifeless in their seats.
I run for the door. Locked shut.
Fern Goodman says
Gargoyle Statues
The winged gargoyle statues spouted water. Odd they’re inside the house rather than outside.
I soon discovered why. Water began filling the room with no way out.
I overheard them, and they couldn’t allow me to live.
I floated up looking for a non-existent air pocket.
Water filled my lungs.
AnnaRose Chaney says
A PRISON OF GLASS
There is a stranger in the mirror.
She looks just like me, but she smiles so oddly. It is a terribly wicked grin.
I try to get away, but there is nowhere to go.
A sickness floods over me. Now I understand.
She is not the reflection, after-all.
I am.
Carys M says
Expressionless
Your so relaxed lying in your fluffy bed. You open your eyes to see a man hovering over you. He’s expressionless. His mouth is sewn shut, and his eyes are ripped out. You scream as he tears out your eyes, and sews your mouth shut with a needle and scissors.
Chris Axling says
Elevator to Hell
The lights flicker as the crowded elevator jerks to a stop. A woman behind us stifles a scream. My three-year-old’s hand tightens in mine.
“Daddy?”
“Nothing to me scared of, Sweetie.”
“No. Daddy?’
“Yes?”
Whispering now. “I have to poop.”
The lights wink out. Ironically, someone behind us sighs, “Shit.”
Chris Axling says
Blank Canvas
A sturdy fillet table is essential. Made of white oak, mine is 6’6” long and topped with an inch-thick slab of white plastic, now stained pink and cross-hatched. At the far corner, the juice gutter ends in a hole. Setting the bucket beneath this, I walk back to the van.
Chloe Cheung says
“Why can’t I go into the aviary, papa?”
“Because, my little dove, the birds are sleeping. We mustn’t disturb them.”
She didn’t listen.
Just like a broken bird, the man mused, as he dragged her lifeless body back into the place where she should not have looked.
Ashlyn H says
I never thought he’d do it. Just three friends playing truth or dare. Then, I felt cold sweat crawling down my neck as I panicked. I felt the icy fingers of death wrap around me in this frozen ice room. Everything was dark, falling into a endless pit of dark abyss.
Ashlyn H says
I never thought he’d do it. Just three friends playing truth or dare. Then, I felt cold sweat crawling down my neck as I panicked. I felt the icy fingers of death wrap around me in this frozen ice room. Everything was dark, falling into a endless pit of dark abyss.
Kurtis Miller says
“Closing in”
They seem to thrive on human emotions. They seem to be everywhere and nowhere at all. The trees dance in the nights air as the moonlight beam onto the computer screen, they draw closer. When I move so do they. Typing really stretch my imagination some times, that was close.
Jeannette Marie Ross says
Shadows in the Night
She stood naked. Darkness fills the room. Curtains rustle at the open window as light peaks through. Her eyes widen as she sees a figure standing at the window. The light from the window glistens off the blade the stranger holds above his head. Sensing impending doom..her gun fires.
Kurtis Miller says
“Free Falling”
One by one they emerged with such bravery. With certainty’s absence they leap off into the air. With no ground in sight not even a parachute to their backs. The only thing that this alphabet soup needs now is heat. It would be such a shame to eat cold soup.
Jeannette Marie Ross says
Ingestion Destination
Blood drips down the walls intermixed with vomit from the deliberate ingestion of DRANO. Draperies lay torn from the windows, pulled from their rods by a reeling victim of his suicide. His groaning and retching can be heard all through the house and yard. Lips, tongue, teeth, gums, all melted.
Kurtis Miller says
“Help”
Somethings got a hold of me, out of everybody it chose me. Gasping for air I cough louder as everybody stares. Too freightended to speak I cough to loosen its grip, my nose began to drip. Its getting worse. A lady reaches into her purse and hands me a coughdrop.
Lea Christine Icoy says
Take Me Home
My eyes are weary as I passed the blind curve. I am made to stop as a lady hails my cab.
“Kuya, please take me to the old church”
We’re almost there when she whispered “Dito lang po”
She was gone.
The next day, there was a funeral for five.
Paul Garson says
Crossing the Aioi Bridge on August 6th.
Above my city, the red cloud broils, eating the heavens. Below, the canal water boils, swollen bodies as white as tofu popping to the surface. We hurry, chasing our shadows burned black on the walls. I walk carefully, the ground carpeted in skin.
Shanelle Felipe says
Best Day Ever
Unfailingly, every birthday I’ve had has been amazing. I shuffled my tie as I walked briskly to my meeting. The New York vibes’ getting me, I thought giddily. I stepped inside the trade center and glanced at the calendar on the receptionist’s desk: September 11, 2001. The best day ever.
Tony Cheng says
I walked through the neighborhood, looking at the broken down place, not a single soul is seen. Just by strolling around, I start to feel queasy. I notice a pack of large, evil looking birds pecking at flesh. Before I can run, I notice their eyes, boring right into mine…
Matt Greenwell says
Upended
Frannie’s Chevy landed upside down, twenty feet below the bridge. The seat belt saved her but was suffocating her chest. Disoriented, hanging, she noticed a shape approaching, half submerged in creek. With his machete, he cut the belt. “Thank God!” He wasn’t done. He drew the blade across her neck.
Jo Hamlet says
Still Smoking
Yesterday I warned Eddie. The gang was coming for him. He just sat in his seat, lit a joint and laughed.
This morning I found him on his balcony. Someone had tied him to the seat and set a fire underneath. His legs were now stumps. He was still smoking.
Chris Axling says
Tommy
During the day Tommy pretends he’s me, but at night he steps outta my mirror. I wanna play trucks, but he always makes me play the counting backwards game. Last night, I hadta start with “One,” so I don’t know what we’re gonna to play tonight.
Curtis Norris says
WHILE VACATIONING IN HAITI
While vacationing in Haiti, I woke up in a bath of ice – minus a kidney. What are the odds that would happen again? Well, here I am, floating in ice-cubes. This time nothing was removed. Just the opposite. Whatever it is, it ain’t a kidney. Kidneys don’t have fingers.
Daniel Kaminski says
The Next Big Power Food
The free samples were popular at the mall.
“It’s delicious,” said the twenty-something guy, “I can’t believe it’s plant-based.”
The spokesperson answered, “Oh no, plant-based are loaded with fillers and salt for flavor, we use only the choicest limbs and organs donated from vegans, we call this burger Beyond Feet.”
Curtis Norris says
ON THE PSYCHO PATH
Oh, yeah! I am on the Psycho Path! Coined that term myself. Clever, huh? I’ve got big plans, too. Psycho of the Year? Feh! Psycho of the Century, baby! Check out these tools! My own inventions. Maybe I should patent them. Anyhow, thanks for being my first. Let’s get started!
Curtis Norris says
JUST A PUPPET
Behind my left eye there lives a tiny madman who pulls the strings. The strings make me jump and dance. Like this! They make me do other things, too. Deplorable things. Like this! So, please, don’t hate me for it. I can’t help it if the madman doesn’t like you.
Tony Cheng says
Oops, I forgot my title, here it is:
“Cannibalistic Scavengers”
Jason Allen says
MISFORTUNE
Bill sat alone in the corner, quietly finishing his meal.
He broke open his fortune cookie, which read: “This will be your last meal.”
Disturbed, Bill glanced up. The remaining customers turned in his direction, but they were now without faces. A faceless little girl laughed backwards, pointing at him.
vitaly says
Rumor has it that there is a void each Halloween. You need to stand in front of the mirror in the black room and look closely at your reflection. If you do not leave the room until the right moment, then you will feel a chilling touch. Put your right hand on the mirror and whisper: “I agree.” If you do everything right, in the mirror, a faint image of a baby without skin and with pitch-black eyes will appear.
Em Jenner says
TO PREY ON THE DYING BEHIND ENEMY LINES
The sand-spiders come at night, their tiny yellow eyes and needle feet. Hundreds of them hungry for more, crawling all over my paralyzed form.
They enter me wherever they can, and I can’t scream. Further and deeper with each visit. Eating me from within.
John Kolyav says
THE VALVE
‘Isthmus to Heaven,’ was the propaganda. Thomas stood behind Samuel in the queue.
Sentries bound him and pushed through the valve in the crimson wall.
He squeezed into a vibrating room. Two dark figures seized him.
He saw Samuel’s legs wriggling on a moving belt, dragging into a chopping machine!