by Stephen Johnson My eyes opened to a quiet darkness. Strange, I don’t remember coming into the den. I saw a fiery crimson glow emanating from the open doorway to my living room. I tried to enter but the crimson wall repulsed me back. Confused, I noticed a body spread across the floor. Blood […]
by L.T. Ward The candlelight refracted within the glass of Antonia’s crystal ball—all a part of her clairvoyant’s show. “Does he forgive me?” the man across from her asked. She stared into the sepia light, her hands waving a practiced dance above. With her bare feet beneath her long skirt, Antonia tugged the hem. […]
by Evan Baughfman Walter rose above his corpse. His spirit approached a widening glow. Amazing! An otherworldly oasis opening up itself just for him! Sunlight! Beach! Palm trees! Walter smiled at the sound of lost loved ones’ laughter. His philanthropic life would soon reunite him with his mother, his father! The glow extinguished. Walter […]
I used to read books secretly during classes. I remember crying quietly during math because Sirius Black just died. After school, I’d usually visit the library. There’s this cherry tree next to the building. In summer, I’d borrow a book, climb the tree until I found a good branch, and I’d read while snacking on the cherries. Good times.
Maggie D Brace, a life-long denizen of Maryland, teacher, gardener, basketball player and author attended St. Mary’s College, where she met her soulmate, and Loyola University, Maryland.
by N.E. Rule Sandra’s knuckles whiten on the steering wheel as the wipers whip back and forth. Glancing into the rearview mirror, she gasps as a man leans towards her. She swerves to the shoulder and brakes. She reaches for the door, but his bony fingers dig into her collarbone. “Who are you?!” she […]
Place of Caves was my coronavirus lockdown project. I’d had the idea of a Nottingham-based horror novella bouncing around my head for years, with a secret order of priests and nuns sent to investigate demonic goings-on in the caves. But somehow, I’d never got around to it. Being inside for months and seeing the Black Hare Press call for underground-themed horror spurred me into action.
A secret revealed. A legacy undone. A horror immortalised. For generations, the Berdeaux family name had been synonymous with hospitality and distinction. But that all changed in the summer of 1979, when Dewey Berdeaux’s “hobby” came to light. It was a revelation that stunned the town of Barrville, and ever since then, the Berdeaux family mansion has stood as a grim reminder—with its fair share of ghosts, if rumour is to be believed.
Three of us are marooned on an island of light, and I’m the only one breathing.
by Jean Martin My husband always said I was foolish. “There’s nothing in the basement at night that isn’t there in the daytime.” Our basement is a cellar, not a carpeted play space—even with the lights on, you can’t see what’s in the corners when it’s dark. I don’t like it. It scares me. My […]