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 […]
Katie Davies grows up in a turbulent world. Yet, she believes teleportation represents freedom and a better life. What will it take to open her eyes?
by Tracy Davidson No locals use this bus shelter at night. Few use it in the daytime. Something about these three urine-stained, graffiti-marked walls drives them away. Some smell decay. Some hear voices. Some see shadows dance. And some feel sharp slashes across backs and bellies, though no wounds appear. Such sensations deepen in […]
A reluctant corporate assassin who is losing her edge, discovers fellow assassins are dying after killing high-value targets. Love and loss cloud her judgment, and only following her code will help her survive.
Two retired couples on a caravanning holiday decide to visit a ghost town they find on an old map, but the town has not been abandoned entirely—as they soon discover in terrifying fashion…
by Evan Baughfman The door creaked open. Kellan took a deep breath and stepped into the shadowy classroom. Inside, no children chuckled. No teacher taught. Silence suffused like creeping fog. Cobwebs clung to ceiling corners. Darkness enveloped desks. Toppled chairs and abandoned assignments lay scattered on the floor. Very little was as Kellan remembered. […]
by Jodie Angell Souls never leave St Mary’s Hospital for Insane. They wander the hallways, linger in the mirrors for too long, and hide in the walls. Their screams still echo against the high stone pillars. Two-hundred dead still roam the grounds, eternally searching for peace that won’t come. A broken doll lies on […]