by Salena Casha At twenty, she shaved her head to see what he might have looked like; her mother had wondered about the same aloud when she thought Marissa couldn’t hear. Her transformation gave him substance, no longer just a ball of hair and fingernails she’d swallowed whole in the womb. Penitential, living for him […]
by Liam Hogan Timing was everything, the difference between life and a messy death. I huddled by the abandoned car, peering into the shattered wing mirror. The shadow advancing down the darkened alley made me want to flee, but that would have been a fatal mistake. I clutched the shotgun, useless until the phantasm coalesced, […]
by Brittni Brinn Phillipa screamed as the ship spun out of control, the moon filling the cracked viewwindow. Detritus pinged around like rogue meteors. An unsecured crate hurtled towards me— Phillipa wasn’t screaming anymore. I hung from the back-seat harness like a climber over an abyss. At the bottom was a pile of crates and […]
by Sebastian Swift The abandoned house on Lincoln Lane had always terrified the town. People swore they could hear it laugh. Sam, however, wasn’t scared. When his friends dared him to enter it, he accepted. Sam navigated the labyrinth of rooms and he became aware of a presence in the dark and decay. He didn’t […]
by Bridget Holland Serafina hates working the Laughing Clowns. They talk inside her head. A dolled-up blonde, jiggling beside her triumphant boyfriend, points to an oversize teddy bear. “Clear Clown 3, Serafina,” Papi wheezes, hooking it down. Her guts clench. How did that idiot get a ball into Clown 3’s tiny, mean mouth? A cackle […]
by Don Money “What’s so funny!” Fedor yelled at the bloody man strapped to the metal table. His first cut had caused the man to begin laughing. The howl of laughter stopped. “How many have you cut apart?” Fedor in his depravity had taken apart thirty-six people. “I dare you to slice my stomach open.” […]
by Evan Baughfman State of the world’s got me in a deep, dark hole, so my doctor’s prescribed me SMYLOTO®. Helps me find joy in unlikely places. Before this, I hadn’t laughed in months. Last week, I saw a kid plummet from a park slide, split his skull apart. My giggles drowned out ambulance sirens! […]
by Scott O’Neill The Night Guard trudges his morose rounds through the dungeon. “Prisoners, my very soul aches. I’ll free whosoever makes me laugh!” Sullen silence. Then, a knock-knock joke croaks through shattered teeth. “Not funny.” Puns wheeze from a thumb-screwed thief. “Not funny.” Finally, a raunchy jest about lusty widows coaxes chuckles from even […]
by Tim Law Sally, Michelle, and Tiffany. That trio made my high school years hell. The queens of the school whose laugh haunted me throughout my early adult years. Tiff was the worst. Those few friends I had turned against me thanks to her lies. She walks into the studio, Smyth, about to become Brown. […]
by Andreas Flögel Smoking gun in hand, Jack stood in the children’s room. The sight of his shot-down sons was horrifying. Knowing this had been the only way to spare them further suffering offered no comfort. The ‘laughing virus’ (no one could remember the scientific name) was deadly and extremely contagious. Those infected died from […]