One
by Chris Bannor
For three days my brother and I ran. We screamed, pushed and pulled, and fought until we were free. We were both drained, and the house had seemed safe enough. Distant enough.
They crept in while we slept.
My brother opened his eyes moments after me and I could see the fear. He heard them too. There was no escape this time.
“The gun has two bullets,” he whispered. I’d lied. There was one.
He was too soft-hearted to pull the trigger anyway, so he never knew. I was the only one left alive when the zombies began to feast.
Chris Bannor
Chris Bannor is a speculative fiction writer who lives in Southern California. Chris learned her love of genre stories from her mother at an early age and has never veered far from that path. You can follow Chris on Facebook @chrisbannorauthor
Exterminate
by Evan Baughfman
They returned with a vengeance, with a hive mind sharing a singular goal: the eradication of the human race.
They came back bigger than before. Meaner. Angrier.
They had every right to be furious with us, of course.
We’d let them all die. Ignored scientists’ warnings for decades. Caused the creatures’ untimely demise with habitat loss and pesticides.
Now, their swarms were massive and many. They attacked with two-inch-long, mutant stingers. Their venom rotted our brains. Turned us into bloodthirsty, mindless cannibals.
They’d found a way to exterminate us.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t figure out how to exterminate them.
The zombees.
Evan Baughfman
Evan Baughfman is a middle school teacher and author. Much of his writing success has been as a playwright. A number of his scripts can be found at online resources, Drama Notebook and New Play Exchange. Evan also writes horror fiction and screenplays. More information is available at his website www.evanbaughfman.com
An Honest Review
by Galina Trefil
Centuries ago, he’d killed her.
She hadn’t let it go. Skulking in the back during her book signing, he flipped through the hard copy whose glossy cover was a sensationalized rendition of his medieval portrait.
Many smear campaigns had been launched against him over time, but he wouldn’t abide one from her, regardless of whether she knew why she was so drawn to hate him.
In the parking lot afterwards, he malingered near her car. “What do you want?” She demanded.
“An honest review,” he replied, exposing her throat for the upcoming feast.
Centuries from now, would she write again?
Galina Trefil
Galina Trefil’s work appears in the anthologies “Flock: The Journey,” “First Love,” “Sea of Secrets,” “Coffins and Dragons,” “Organic Ink volume One,” “Curses & Cauldrons,” “Unravel,” “Hate,” “Love,” “Oceans,” “Twenty Twenty,” “Forgotten Ones,” “Suspense Unimagined,” “Mythica,” “Faeries,” “Dark Valentine Holiday Horror Collection,” and “Scary Snippets Valentine Edition.”
Facebook: Rabbi-Galina-Trefil-535886443115467
Bogeyman
by Andreas Hort
“Mm, Liam,” purred the raspy voice. “You look so delicious…”
“Daddyyy!”
Thunderous footsteps. Dad barged into the room.
“What’s going on? Liam?”
“Bogeyman!”
“Again?” Sighing, Dad switched on the light. “Where do you want me to look first?”
Liam wanted him to look in the closet. Empty. Under the bed? Also empty. Outside the window? Nothing.
Liam felt safer; maybe it had only been a dream after all. Dad killed the light, wished Liam goodnight, and left. Liam slid his feet under the covers and closed his eyes.
“So delicious…” Muffled. Under the covers.
Sharp teeth sank into his belly.
Andreas Hort
Andreas Hort resides in the Czech Republic. In his free time, he writes and takes steps toward his goal to move to an English-speaking country. His works have been published in several anthologies. He likes chatting with people with similar interests, so feel free to get in touch:
twitter.com/TheAndreasHort
Family Reunion
by Joel R. Hunt
The months after she died felt like a thousand lifetimes, and each one was unbearable without her. When she appeared at the foot of my bed, I knew she had returned to release me from my torment. Her eyes glowed. Her face shone. Her finger beckoned.
God, how I missed her.
“Join me,” she sang.
“Yes, my love,” I answered. I rose, grabbed the nearby razor and snapped it in two. She smiled as my trembling fingers took the blade.
“We’ll be a family again,” I whispered.
I pushed open the door. Walked over to the nightlight.
“All of us.”
Joel R. Hunt
Joel R. Hunt is a writer from the UK who dabbles in the darker aspects of life, particularly through horror, science fiction and the supernatural.
He has been published in a number of short story anthologies (including the Black Hare Press ‘Dark Drabbles’ series), and hopes to have released his own anthology of short stories later this year.
You can find his daily ‘very short stories’ on twitter.com/JoelRHunt1
You Came to Me
by Paula R.C. Readman
In the depth of a cloudless night, you came to me. Your cheeks all aglow and lips slightly parted.
“A Whiter Shade of Pale” tunelessly ran through my head. I reached for your hands. Cold to the touch, I cared not.
“Come. Lay beside me, my darling, for I shall warm you up.”
Wordlessly, you climbed in. I ignored the odour of decay that perfumed your skin and the worms and dirt that fell from your hair.
As the moonlight shone off my gravestone, I wrapped the shroud around us; glad to have you finally back in my arms again.
Paula R C Readman
Paula R. C. Readman lives in the UK. Her fiction has mainly been published in anthologies in Britain, Australia and America. Overall winner in two writing competitions and soon to have her first crime novella ‘The Funeral Birds’ published by Demain Publishing in February 2020.