Welcome to our 2020 50 Word Horror Story Halloween Contest! I’ll be honest, last years contest was a mess! We had all kinds of trouble. People played but didn’t supply their contact information. People didn’t want their personal information used. They didn’t even want their stories used. They didn’t want to get paid, they wanted to spread the money…on and on.
We have developed new rules this year to stop all this nonsense. We want to be clear who wins. We want it to be transparent and fair!
Please read our rules carefully!
Stories:
- Must be high quality horror stories
- Must be 50 words or under
- Must be a complete story
- Have to be in before our deadline.
- Deadline is October 27 2020 (EXTENDED BY 1 DAY)
- Enter as many stories as you like!
- Post your story in the comments below.
- Scariest Story Wins
We will announce the winners in a movie chat night, like every Halloween.
What you win:
- Your story will be placed on a tile and shared on our social networks
- You will get a winning announcement post with links to your books and/or website
- You will win $100 cash paid through paypal.
Contest requirements
- Winner must respond to our email within 2 days. If you do not it goes to the running up.
- Winner must agree to use his or her name on our site (it can be a pen name
We will announce the top 3 stories on October 29th (MOVED 1 DAY) at our movie night. If you want to know the winner, come to the movie night. We will repost the winner after the winner responds.
We want this to be fun. We have not run a contest in a year due to death threats from the last contest. Please be nice, play well together. Your stories and comments will be held for moderation, so please give it a little while for the story to post.
Post your stories below.
Get news, listings and contests winners fast by joining our mailing list. It really helps us if you sign up!
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The Rosewood Scent
He bought the old house of his dead fiancée and placed it in his garden upon winning a fortune at the gambling tables. He watched it everyday and at night would visit it and could almost smell her rosewood scent. But soon he could hear someone scratching to come out.
THE TRUNK
“Thank god you’re alright!” Onlookers exclaimed as the helped the man up the embankment.
They couldn’t say the same for his car, however, as they watched it slip into the murky lake.
The rescuers were so busy focused on the man, they never heard the screams coming from his trunk.
THE DEVIL AND ME
Chaos, destruction… death. This is all he knows.
The “devil “watches me as I cautiously make my way towards the door, never taking my eyes off him. This hellish creature, once familiar to me, grins – the blood of my daughter dribbling down his chin.
I used to call him “son”.
POSSESSED
Furniture, books and papers swirled in a whirlwind, everything circling around the bed that the little girl sat upon. Her head twisted 360 degrees, and she growled at us with red eyes.
The Bible dropped from the priests hand as he ran from the room.
“Save yourself!” He screamed, disappearing.
THE NEIGHBOR
Thump, thump, thump…
I was used to noise from my neighbor, but he’d never pounded on my wall before. I left my apartment and knocked on his door. Finding the door open, I walked inside. It was a mess
.
Entering his bedroom, I found my neighbor swinging from a noose.
THE NEWBORN
“Did you check on the baby?” She asked sleepily.
“No.”
“I’ll do it.”
It was four in the morning – of course I’d checked on the baby. I was just building up the courage to tell my wife that when I did, I’d found it black and blue and deathly cold.
THE FAVORITE CHILD
They say that you should never pick your favorite child, and for the most part I agree. I loved both of my children equally, at least I loved them equally at first. My son was wonderful, there’s no denying that, but he was nothing compared to how my daughter tasted.
WHERE IS MY BROTHER?
I stared angrily at the masked intruder angrily, my hands tied to the radiator.
“Where is my brother?” I screamed.
I had heard his pleas for help hours before.
The masked man smiled as he replied, “He’s in the basement… Oh, pieces are also in the bathroom and the kitchen.”
15 steps. That is what Girard said. Door to device.
They will tie your hands behind your back. Loose twine. Push you down to kneel.
The crowds in ecstasy. He had been here for weeks.
Said you would live a moment after.
It was 13 steps. I saw nothing.
THE CASE OF THE CURIOUS HAT
“It eats people. Poof! and they’re gone.” “Just like that?” “Just like that!” He replies. “You’re not serious?” She asks. “Go ahead, try it.” He urges. In the blink of an eye, there it sat. That curious looking hat, on the ground- her blood beneath. “Thank you sir.” It said.
MOM’S IN THE ATTIC
Sue is calling me. “I’ve got mom hog tied in the attic. Now what?”
“I’ll be right over. Her teeth will be razor sharp so don’t let her chew through the rope.”
Light streams through the still attic air. I see rope strands and body parts everywhere. A shadow moves.
IDIOT BOX
On the other side of the frame is a parallel reality following a total stranger. The protagonist’s pain has always mattered to me. I could only feel for them instead of the bleak, selfish characters in our reality. But I know that will change the moment I squeeze the trigger.
Fifty word Horror stories
By
Jake Cosmos Aller
The Mad Laird Strikes Again
Sam Adams is doing a Scottish walkabout. There were rumors of a mad laird killing hikers along the lonely moors. He heard bagpipes in the fog then saw a man on a black horse who ran after him with a machete, screaming, “Do you believe in Ghosts now? “
The Mad Bagpiper of Berkeley
Sam Adams had heard rumors of a mad bagpiper serial killer lurking about Tilden Park in Berkeley. Then he ran into the mad bagpiper in the lonely backcountry. The man ran after him killing him with a machete. They found his body cut up and cooked by a camp-fire.
General Corona Got Your Baby
The mad General Corona, riding his black horse, came out of the woods, and screamed at Sam Adams, saying, “You got the Corona Virus; I am the general. Your ass is grass and I am the lawnmower.” Prepare to die a long painful death and he breathed on him.
Waiting for the Grim Reaper
Sam Adams found himself in Limbo. Waiting for his appointment with the Grim Reaper. Finally, they called his number. The Grim Reaper said his number was up and it was time for judgment day. “Whether it would be hell or heaven was beyond his pay grade”. The Grim reaper laughed.
Wild Things Run amuck\
0 dark hundred arrives. Insomnia set in. Sam Adams tossed and turned, waiting for the wild things to come out for their nightly assault. Evil monstrous creatures from the darkest corner of his hell ran about screaming at him: torturing him until the dawning sun drove them back to hell.
Screaming News Drives Sam Mad
Sam Adams fell asleep after watching the screaming media scream about the fires, storms, covid, political madness. Sam saw the devil programming madness on his computers. The devil, surrounded by the demons, orcs, dwarfs, and monsters of hell, turns to him smiling, saying his time in hell would come soon.
Sleep Now, Baby
Daddy’s flushed face turns to me.
“Bedtime,” he mumbles, breathless from smothering my little sister.
Her blue lips peel back from her baby teeth—the eternal scream of murder victims. Her brown eyes wide, unblinking.
“No, Daddy,” I choke.
He smiles, tears on his cheeks, fingertips tightening around my neck.
Silent
My eyes open to a man’s masked face. The room is dark. I feel his grip on my wrists.
He smells like Aqua Velva, stale cigarettes, and rotten teeth.
“I watch you sleep,” he whispers into my left ear.
I try to scream but only gurgle.
My tongue already gone.
ZOMBIE ROAD
Popular for its urban myth of ghost sightings, Zombie Road was closed to the public after dark.
A watchman caught a drifter there late one night.
“No ghosts out tonight,” said the watchman.
“Don’t believe in them.”
“No, there are no ghosts *out* tonight. I’m inside this body.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: We had to move movie night! We have moved our movie night announcement of the winners to October 29th Thursday. We had a conflict. I’m sorry, but this means our deadline has been extended by 1 day also. It is now October 27. Please look for the movie night link today, and if you can’t make it to our Halloween Mini Movie Fest, we will post the winners on Friday Oct 30.
These stories are amazing!
Title: Guess Darrel Was Ahead of the Curve
Loverboy ripped the door open, panting, confessed things to the back of her head, dammit Darla, I can’t take watchin’ y’kiss Darrel no more… ain’t ya even gonna look at me?
The rhythm of his labored breath… waiting for a response… her head rolling off the shoulders, thunk.
It’s a secret
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I guess it’s hard for you to eat with your hands tied, but don’t worry. Once you learn to accept that this is your life now, I might untie you. You’re mine now, my own little secret.”
The Worst Presence In The Room
I had a gripping fear of dying. But it wasn’t death I feared now. It wasn’t my son either. It wasn’t the knife in his hand. It was the black figure, the shadow with a grim smile behind my son that made me realize there were worse things than death.
Title – Daughters Are Not Just Daughters
I should probably call an ambulance.
My father is on the floor and his breathing is slowing down in a rather sinister way.
The phone is right on top of the table. The one that is right in front of me.
However, that would not make management happy.
Title – Leanan Sidhe
I shall give you talent,and fortune, and power.
I shall give you the life of dreams.
I shall give you the wisdow for everlasting legends.
All you have to do is play the game by my rules.
It’s gonna be a short game.
I’m getting hungry.
Title – The Other Side Of The Mirror
I wanna get out of here.
The crystal glass is frozen and cold.
She just keeps brushing her hazel locks of hair like she cannot see me.
This place is so full of clouds of mist.
Why will this mirror not shatter?
PERSEVERANCE
The icy well water clung to her like an anchor but she wouldn’t give up, painstakingly searching the stones for a firm grip before pulling herself up a little more. When her fingers finally curled over the top I stomped on them hard. I love the splash she makes.
GRAND GUIGNOL
A woman took a walk late one night when a small, peculiar French man standing by an alleyway stopped her.
“You’re just in time for the Grand Guignol!” he said.
“No, thank you. I dislike gore.”
“Oh, the seats are already filled. We just need a victim!”
Everything went black.
Apartment 13
He smiles opening door #13, as I walk in I’m hit with the scent of cigarettes’, mildew and something else. I trip reaching out to hold my fall its sticky and wet. I gag…
the scent? he flicks on the light revealing bloody body’s I blink as he whispers ….
“welcome home!”
Forever Falling
Stuck in an endless loop I can’t control. I jump and plunge, regretting all the way down. The Christmases, the shotgun wedding, her contagious laugh…gone. The pavement breaks my fall. The people scream in horror at the bloodstained sidewalk. Again, I approach the ledge to relive my decision in death.
The Witch Hunt
She had no warts nor tattered clothes
She had no cat or crooked nose
No herbs or sages for brewing her spells
No dead children stewing in her well
They all brought torches to keep the flame
Witch or not, she burned the same
“A TASTE OF FLESH”
As a serial killer, my first mistake was keeping my hounds hungry enough to devour my victims. They had developed a taste for human flesh, and my dogs were always hungry for more meat.
My second mistake was getting trapping in this cabin during a snow storm alone with them.
“HIDE AND SEEK”
A junkyard wasn’t the best place for children to play “hide and seek”, but the neighborhood kids had been playing there for years.
The game stopped after the Wilkinson boy hid inside the trunk of a car.
The workers were just doing their job when they crushed it moments later.
“DAUGHTER”
I held my nose as I stepped into my daughters bedroom. My wife sat on the edge of the bed humming a lullaby, running a comb through our daughter’s hair. I watched as pieces of her scalp fell to the floor.
She’d died weeks ago, but my wife didn’t care.
“SILENT TREATMENT”
My wife had been giving me the silent treatment for hours now, ever since I’d handed her the divorce papers. We’d been in love once, but we’d fallen out.
As I banged on her bedroom door demanding she speak, I had no idea her lifeless body hung from a noose.
“FAMILY MAN”
I felt the cold steel of the pistol as it touched my head, ready for this life to be over. But as the laughter of my children and wife drifted up the stairs, I realized I couldn’t leave them with the pain.
I loaded several more rounds and headed downstairs.
“SCARECROW”
I squinted out my window, watching as the scarecrow in the distance swayed lightly in the breeze.
“I told that kid to put it by the wheat fields.” I mumbled to myself.
As I approached it, I saw that it wasn’t a scarecrow, but my farmhand hung by his neck.
“DAVID”
When my son first told me about “David”, I laughed. When I was his age, I had an imaginary friend too. After he came down from the attic with bruises on his arm, I decided to investigate. What I found was a fifty-year old homeless man living in the crawlspace.
“A JAR ON THE SHELF”
I awoke to a dingy basement surround by different medical equipment. As my eyes to adjusted to the dim light, I was able to make out a body laying on a table several feet from me. A second later, I recognized the tattoo on the torso’s chest – it was mine.
The Short Cut
The sign said, “short cut”. ” Hallelujah!”, she said, but the path soon ended and now she was lost. Finding a cabin, she saw a sign with rather familiar handwriting, “Lost visitors welcome”, so she knocked and was brought inside by an old lady. Then, the sound of the deadbolt clicked.
THE NIGHT NEVER LASTS
Sharon frantically escapes the unholy scene. Skin ripped from bodies. Claw marks across torsos. The blood that covers her tells a story of a struggle filled with rage and terrified screams. Escaping was of grave importance as the moon is only full for so long and the night never lasts.
THAT WHICH BELONGS TO IT
The dark and its silent noises torment my sanity. Shadows; frail hands reaching – no, wait! There’s more, oh why this torment against my fragility! They all move in unison ready to envelop my being. The dark descends to claim which belongs to it, for that which exists in its devices.
FEARS FACED
The elderly man sat peacefully in the dark of his house in the middle of the night, enjoying the beautiful silence. As a boy, this used to terrify him, but he’s seen real horror and has overcome it—squashed it and buried it out back. ‘Til death do they part.
Consider the Human
–
Plucked from my hiding spot, hands and feet bound, lungs stripped of air, I was tossed in a holding-tank; the hatch up top sealed out the light. Water and heat rose within, curling my skin like old paint. But squealing and thrashing garners no sympathy from a Lobster.
The Night in the Cemetery
Walking silently through the shadowy, howling cemetery, there were white skeletons coming out of the different graves. The skeletons started talking to each other and singing lyrics from ¨The Nightmare Before Christmas¨. Chilling, alarming skeletons creeping behind watching other skeletons to arise from the dead and start hissing the harmony.
the demon in the wall
The demon’s arm shot through the wall trying to get a reach on the children, the demon finally grabbed one of the kids and pulled him through the wall. The demon broke out of the wall throwing each kid down the hole he came from, torturing them every single day
The Hallway
You walk down the foggy hallway and see a fast figure run. You follow it around then you realize it’s behind you. You smell a disgusting smell. It is sewer water. You get dizzy. You pass out and wake up in a jail cell with a witch staring at you.
The Figure
You start to hear something in the middle of the dark night. It sounds like a loud rattling. It’s from your closet. Then the door opens gently. The eerie doll from four, gruesome years ago-it staggers towards you and starts to wrap its cold hands around your neck. AHHHHHHHHH!
Grant Barthel
Grant Barthel yelled, “Awwww, my arm!” Brady darted up to him with blood spraying out of his arm. The furious wolves chomped Grant as he was strolling in the spooky dark woods. Then Brady heeded another boisterous scream. It sounded like a girl. Brady started bolting and something happened. “Owwwwww!”
The Graveyard
As I walked into the graveyard my knees shook and my mouth was dry as a dessert. If I could get to the big mausoleum in the center of the cemetery then I could go home. Suddenly a hand sprung from the ground, grabbed my ankle and dragged me down!
The Demon in the Wall
The demon’s arm shot through the wall trying to get a reach on the children,The demon finally grabbed one of the kids and pulled him through the wall. The demon broke out of the wall throwing each kid down the hole he came from, torturing them every single day.
Twas the night of Halloween. A spooky fog started to roll in making it hard to see. Kids roamed house to house. Nobody dared go to the abandoned house. Except one. “ It can’t be that bad”. He walked in. All kids watched. People waited and waited, but he never returned.
Main Street
One spooky night with the wind howling, there was a little boy roaming Main Street with no one to be seen. As he was walking down the road, he heard something rustle in the bushes next to him. He went to the bush and was frightened by what he saw…
It Lurks
It darts past you, at the speed of light with a foul odor. It takes cover from your gaze. Its creeping closer. You can observe the room. Nothing appears. Just don’t look up because there it will be. Fast like a cheetah, but smooth as a spider. She got you.
WEREWOLVES ARE NO BULL
The werewolf legend is no bull
I turn into one when the moon is full
My skeleton stretches, my muscles ache
My fingernails sharpen enough to cut steak
My height escalates from six-foot to twelve
Fresh live meat I am ready to delve
My reason and sanity I shall shelve.
“The Basement”
A group of friends decided to go and explore the oddly weird smelling basement. As they walked down the stairs the smell got stronger, almost unbearable. When a friend got to the bottom they tripped. When they checked out what it was, they froze with fear. It was a body.
Bedtime
Laura turned off the bedside lamp and snuggled into her fluffy comforter. As she drifted to sleep, she felt something climb onto her bed. A soft hiss sounded next to her ear. She turned and saw glowing eyes staring back, a sparkling grin forming slowly on its face.
You will die. Like a maggot on the ground you will shrivel up and die. Not unlike your mother and your father and your sister and your priest, your eyes will ooze bloodpus with the rest of them. Your skin will pull back from your face and you will rot.
I always knew my baby girl was going to be very special. As the years passed, I began to find gifts from her. Her most recent ‘gift’ filled me with joy!; my ex-husband’s dismembered body spread neatly across the kitchen table. My little angel ran to me smiling.! ‘’ “ Surprise mommy!”
Emily waited for the world to stop spinning. Blood poured from her abdomen, but she felt no pain. How long had she been running? Not long enough, not far enough. It would keep coming, taking until nothing remained. Pressing her remaining hand to her exposed ribcage, she ran.
Bang!Joseph jumps out of bed,or what he thought was his bed. He glanced around him and noticed he was in the forest. Joseph’s heart stopped, he turned around, and looked at what he was sleeping on;it was a casket. It slammed open as a bloody hatchet arose.
REVELATION
I never wanted a cat. I always thought that if I fell and broke my neck a dog would run for help, while a cat would wait for me to die and feast on my remains. Turns out I was wrong. Mittens didn’t wait for me to die.
The screams grew nearer. Bam! down came the door, along with a terrible screech. 10 gnarly finger bones curled one at a time around the frame. “Do you see us?”The four of them, frozen with fear, fell to the floor pleading “help!”. Never to be seen again.
Suspected
I was suspected of my missing wife
All they found was a bloody knife
They dug up my dead dog from behind my residence
Called off the search from a lack of evidence
I sighed in relief and closed the front door
Good thing they didn’t dig three feet more!
“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.
“MOTHER”
I am infertile, a fact that destroyed my marriage. I always wanted to have children like my sister. She had four. When she got pregnant again, I had her over to celebrate.
It wasn’t easy, cutting open her belly, but worth it.
Now I have a child of my own.
“MISSING”
Police filled my home ever since my daughter went missing.
To clear my mind, I went to clean my sons room.
Ignoring the pentagrams and posters hanging on the wall, I started making his bed.
I stepped back and froze.
Why does his mattress smell so bad and feel lumpy?
“THE CAPTAIN GOES DOWN WITH THE SHIP”
I deserve this.
I killed the cabin boy, he was basically already dead from wounds sustained from the shipwreck.
There’s only a few of us, and we ran out of food again. I deserve this, but…
I wish my crew had killed me first before they started eating me.
“PRINTS IN THE SNOW”
I woke up to find a fresh powder of snow had fallen, and a track of prints leading up to my porch.
I found my front door was unlocked. I think something’s here….
I live alone and am miles from civilization.
The weirdest and most frightening part? They’re only handprints.
Thunder crashed. Lightning flashed. Annie tred carefully over the broken slats of the old wooden bridge. White water rushed past below. Slimy, slick boulders bashed against the swift flow. The largest rose out of the current. The rock troll reached up and grabbed Annie’s ankle. Long, sharp talons tore flesh.
Amy heard a dog growl outside; but they didn’t have one anymore. She ran upstairs to her room and slammed the door. Wind howled beyond, and large paws scratched at the glass. Amy turned off the light. Red eyes in an elongated, furred head glared at her. The beast screamed.
Robin’s sister’s dismembered arm on a table. Blood pooled and dripped onto the floor. A door stood open, marred by fingernail scratches. In the light that flickered beyond, a limbless body hung, skewered on a hook. A sharp toothed head gnawed on a fresh bone. It turned, sniffed, and grinned.
The gaps where the hang between taunts you with its lazy eye. A nowhere world of the forgetful and half made.
They wake again to the stink of chimney smog gasping on the glass, searching for a chink. In the river dregs the gaps widen, the ship, trawling its prey.
LIGHTS OUT
I can still hear their sobs above me. The hard bottom of the casket brought aches and groans to my bones. But I can’t move, breathe, or speak. My tongue lay heavy on my mouth, and my eyes refused to close. If only I knew how dark it would be.
When she disappeared, my sister left a pink sneaker on our street.
A beast with a bulbous head seared Leah to its breast and flew off but Mom scowled when I told her.
The years have been long but sometimes the beast’s shadow crosses me in the daylight, waiting.
THE FIRST FEW SECONDS
I’m starting to come around, breaking from a most consolidated slumber. But I can barely breathe. So black, I can’t see. I try to shift but can’t move. I can bring my hands up some…but then they collide with a board of wood that’s as solid as the earth.
THE BUTCHER AND THE PIG
Through the cries and pleas of the terrified pigs awaiting their death, one of them spoke to the butcher.
“You will soon know what it’s like.”
The butcher cut its throat, thinking it was a dream.
He awoke, relieved…until he felt his nose had transformed into that of a pig’s.
RILEY RAVENSTONE
Riley Ravenstone was the name of the witch
They caught her dumping children’s limbs in a ditch
They tried her, convicted her, burned her to death
But ol’ Riley Ravenstone had not lost her breath
She broke from the binds and flew to the sky
Unfortunately more kids later died.
The Big Feast
The world eater watches the world rip at the seams. Its fake, human flesh melts off. With one snap of its finger, all the panicked people around it fall, dead immediately, but they are at least given one last pleasant dream.
Its stomach growls. Finally, supper time.
The Clearing in the Mist
Emily sprinted through the woods. A mist pursuing her. She had gotten lost in the mist before. She burst into the clearing. Facing the mist she screamed, “Never again! That’s what you said!” “So?” inquired a tall and lanky figure coming out of the mist, ”Our little deal has expired.”
Fangs
His breath tickled my neck. I wanted to bolt, but he was holding on to my elbow and wouldn’t succumb. I discovered he was a vampire only yesterday. He leaned closer. His head appeared near my neck; he whispered, “Don’t try to find me.” He disappeared. No evidence of vampires.
The Wolf
I was working in the graveyard and suddenly something moved in the woods. When going to check it out something moved out of the corner of my eye. Some wolf-like animal. I went into the woods. All of a sudden shivers went down my spine. Then something breathed on me!
Running from a Monster
It was Halloween, I was walking home when I realized something was following me. So, I ran across a corn field to get home. I could hear it right behind me. I finally got inside my house. I looked outside and calmed down because it was just a rabbit.
The Corn Maze
One time at night I was doing Corn Maze with my friend. As soon as we started it, it just got really creepy. We already were hearing noises and were super terrified . We turned the corner as someone came chasing after us. We got out of there quickly. We sprinted!
THE PARASITE.
It was a mournful Halloween night I was getting ready to go out .My mom was driving home from work. So I made some food for my little brother until mom came home. Boom! I heard a noise , so I told my brother to hide. Then I saw the parasite.
Hole
Darting through the woods in my backyard, I could hardly notice the ground. I was exploring when I heard a buzz. I blinked my eyes, and suddenly, I stumbled into a mysterious hole that magically appeared. When I was contemplating if it would be the end, I heard a murderous sound.
The Island
It all started on Friday the 13th. I was on my way to an island that had an abandoned insane asylum. I was visiting my sister’s grave.(I go there every Halloween.)It was dark when we arrived. We went straight inside.It was very hideous and creeping us out.
The Haunted House
So basically there are three teens who decided to go into a haunted house, and right now they are getting chased by the gigantic spider that guards the house on Halloween. That’s not the only house protector. There is a murderous chihuahua! The authorities were called and found a body!
Deadly Laughter
It was too late. The laughing disease was spreading rapidly. I watched as, slowly, each of my family members laughed themselves to death. It was my turn next. I clutched at my stomach. Everything was hysterical. Even dying seemed comical. Gradually, my laughter got weaker and weaker. Then it stopped.
Locked In
I was plummeting for what seemed like eternity. When I finally dropped to the moist ground I wasn’t in the beanbag chair but a jail cell. The cell was at least 20 years old. I had to break out, and do it promptly. I could hear the footsteps getting louder.
The Little House
Shame. The cottage had grown shabby. No—dark.
That darkness went walking.
It floated through the night, then sank into an old woman.
Come morning, the woman couldn’t understand the blood. She stepped around puddles, calling for her husband.
The darkness laughed, but she couldn’t hear it.
At First Sight
Emilia rises from the casket into a sitting position. Screams echo throughout the church. She turns to the crowd, her neck emitting a loud crack. Her eyes shoot open. Stillness fills the room as everyone else’s eyes become the same glowing hue.
“We are home,” they say as one.
Graduation
He feels his heartbeat—not in his chest, but in the walls. He follows the sound through a cavern. Others join him. A projector shows a hospital room. For each flat line, someone walks across the stage. When it’s his turn, he tries screaming but instead beams with forced pride.
KIN
“Hey, May I come in?” “Sure, come sit down – sorry I had to work late.” “No worries, I saw your bedroom light was on, did you get my note?” “What note?” “Your brother showed up around 10 tonight, he’s downstairs crashing.” Emma’s eyes widen, “I don’t have a brother.”
Utmost Secrecy
His clients normally told him what were in their shipments, but not this time. Still, he opened the crate expecting to find the usual from the blackmarket. Once again, not this time. A reeking corpse stared up at him. On a note inside was: “Walks at night, no direct sunlight.”
I gazed down and noticed a heartbeat in my boot. The thick muddied leather heaved up and down like a cat about to puke. I shake off my boot and spot a human heart, ventricles weakly rising and grabbing for air. I smash it back down with my wet heel.
JOKING
It was beef stew night. My husband took one bite and started gagging. He collapsed on the floor, face turning red, twitching and gasping for air. I waved the peanut oil over him and said, “NOW who can’t take a joke?” Trust me, your honor, it was hilarious.
NOT FINAL GIRL MATERIAL
I kissed my killer on the lips and tasted another girl’s lipgloss. How fucked is that, with my guts on this table, that my last thought is I’m still a man’s sloppy seconds. Fuck the phallic knife symbolism. Fuck the tit-hungry audience. In the next movie, I’ll be the killer.
WHITE NOISE
When the power goes out in a house an oppressive silence comes in. In the silence, there is white noise. In the white noise, there is a compulsion. Listen to the white noise beckoning in the darkness, join them. The cacophony will be absolute. You won’t be alone anymore.
BASKING
During the nuclear holocaust, I had forgotten sunshine. When I clawed my way through the dirt which seals my bunker, I was shocked to see light pour in. I emerged on a featureless plain. In the distance, I saw the sun blossom into a mushroom cloud. The radiation was breathtaking.
“IT’S A MATCH!”
I logged into my online dating account to see four new messages.
This will be easier then I thought…
I quickly replied to each of them. Smooth, smart, charming messages… God blessed me with both good looks and a way with words.
I set up four dates. Four new victims.
“LAY AND WAIT”
She laid in bed, her husband lay next to her. His body was cold as ice, but as a quadriplegic she wouldn’t know. Her only caretaker had died overnight in his sleep. They lived on a farm, miles from anyone…
All that she could do now was starve to death
“THE GATHERING OF ROSE PETALS”
A warm spring breeze blew across the budding corn stalks – the harshness of winter was finally over.
The farmer placed two small bouquets of roses upon the shallow graves of his wife and child.
“Thank you” He said, flecks of meat still between his teeth “For getting me through winter.”
THE MIDNIGHT SHOWING
By the time I got there, I saw the theater was empty save for three people who sat a few rows up. The whole time, they were talking, shouting, and being ignorant. I walked down to face them and I saw they were nothing but severed heads stuck on poles.
The Corn maze,
We reached the ticket booth still silent from our talk in the car, I should have waited to break up with him….
A couple of people ran passed me screaming, I glanced down I no longer felt the ground. He smiles lifting his hands … a beating heart … His beating heart!