Welcome to our 2019 $500 Halloween Horror 50 Word Story Contest. Yes, that’s right. It’s already here. Every year we run our contests, and those of you who have been frequent readers, this is what you’ve been waiting for.
First we will be doing a print issue! We will be doing 2 print issues, and we will pick entries from this contest to be in our issue. If you had a 50 word story designated to be in our print issue, from a past contest, please contact us.
Second, we will be giving out a $500 reward for the best 50 word horror story. This is not easy for us. Every Writer is not doing as well as it did in the past, but we want your stories. I believe writers should get paid for their work. I wish we could pay all of our writers, but it’s just impossible. So $500 for 50 words, I think is a unique and valuable statement to our readers. Ten dollars a word is what all writers really deserve.
So here are the rules:
• Story must be scary
• Story must be 50 words
• Story must be original and your own
• Story may not be published elsewhere
• Story must have a title (does NOT count in word count)
• Deadline is October 25, 2019
• Enter as many times as you want
• Story must be written in the comments below!
• Be nice or be disqualified
I love these stories. This is one of favorite traditions of Every Writer. I look forward to this every year, and this year I have extended the time we are going to spend with the contest.
The winners will:
• Be announced on October 31, 2019
• Will get $500
• Will be published in our digital and print issue.
• Will get an author page on our site
There is no entry fee for this contest. It would help us out greatly if you would donate 1$ or more, if you can, to help out the site. We would really appreciate it. A donation will not be considered in the deciding this contest.
If you want to keep up with me on Twitter, please follow me at @everywriter, I follow back all writers.
Good luck, and let the writing begin.
HERE IS THE WINNER
I have picked 4 stories. They all have times and days on them. If the winner does not respond by Friday 11/22/19 the money will go to the next story on the list. Here are the top 4 stories in order. ONLY OUR 1st PLACE WINNER gets the $500. Also, so this insanity never happens again, the winner will be invited back next year to be one of the judges.
WINNER 1st Place:
Kit Steward 10/13/19 5:20 pm
THE MIDNIGHT INCUBATOR
She heard mushy sounds for days and suffered from unbearable itchiness.
A doctor’s visit revealed earwig pupae nesting in her ear canal, it was flushed out.
Later, weary from stress, she crawled into bed.
That night while she slept, the creature returned.
And finding the eggs missing, it laid more.
2nd Place:
Elizabeth Lee 09/24/19 4:36 pm
Secondhand Doll
She didn’t want a secondhand doll so she flung it across the room. Porcelain cracked against the wall. Her mom made her glue the pieces back together. A thin shard sliced her hand, baptizing the doll in her hateful blood. The secondhand doll decided she didn’t want an ungrateful child.
3rd Place:
Alexander Daley Escobedo 10/25/19 3:38pm
Heirloom
We Buried my brother today. Suicide. He thought something evil was haunting him. He’d been medicated, institutionalized, shocked and secluded. He found his own way out. I wish I could tell him I’m sorry. Or had listened more closely. Because, when I got home, it was on my couch. Laughing.
4th place:
JB 10/25/19 8:12pm
TITLE: RESEVOIR
We should have known something was wrong when we first tasted the water. It was a little brown, but no more than usual in this apartment complex.
We kept drinking it until it turned black.
When they opened the water tank, they found the bloated, rotting corpse of my neighbor.
We usually always contact the winners first, but after all the trouble, we are opening up the process. I am again, very sorry for how late this is. I did not expect 4000 stories. Next year I will be ready.
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Closer to God
Hans, Frida, Claus, & Hannah seated around table, awaiting haute cuisine. Men are given implements, which provide the tap tap; the beast supplies the screams; the waiter peels the flesh, removes the bone. The succulent pudding is passed around, with much smacking of lips. Hans declares, “Me love monkey brains.”
This was one of the most horrific movie scenes from my childhood. Turns out it was all fake, google Faces of Death Monkey scene. So, were (are) all my fears fake?
Bone chewer
A bony old creature waits just under the stairs. Through the floor and the dirt and the grime, he stares. Claws sticking out, eyes unblinking and raw, jaw grinding in anticipation, waiting for a little foot to pass… Another bone will join the pile, another grave will mark the path.
Only a dream
Sitting on my bedside, tired and despairing. A figure stood across the room, bony, drooping. He offered relief, grim’s scythe wrapped prettily. I turned from the shadow. Screaming, he jumped out the window and vanished into the night. The next morn, I chuckled at the dream, ignoring the tracks outside.
Boss Man Bill
Bill worked the factory; Shouting at workmen. He even used a switch once. One day the temptation was too great, he could learn kindness, he just needed a little push. The next sausages were made thicker, and the price was a dollar higher… you could say the meat was rich.
New Smells
I remember the terror, sirens, and Sally. Now I am alone; there is nothing but darkness and peculiar sounds- some gnashing and slurping, and occasional burping. There is no pain, just pressure behind my eyes. I reach up- I am not alone.
And I smell something. Brains. I smell brains.
Kill Everything That Moves
The soldier makes a spastic exit from the jungle rot, only to meet the captain’s shot, head exploding. “Jesus Christ. Call it in sergeant.” “But Sir…napalm…they’re our boys.” “Not anymore.” Distracted, several ‘boys’ come from behind, decapitating captain, and eviscerating sergeant. The radio cackles, “Mayday. Mayday. Kill everything that moves.”
Please Kill Me
The poisoned Chardoney takes effect, and Deb crashes through the glass table- “You can have him.” Kate enters the bedroom, Heath chained to the bed, skinned alive from the neck down. “She’s dead.” “Thank you. Now please kill me.” “That’s not what I’m here for,” pulling out a salt shaker.
Giant Flying Shitting Babies
The Flugby’s flee in their Prius, the sun blackened out by the babies, the windshield covered in shit, swerving wildly. Hubert laments, “You’d think those secret government laboratories would have invented giant diapers too.” The car is then lifted up by the babies and dropped into a sea of shit.
Blatantly ripping off Mykle Hanson, but I think he would approve. Check him out of you’re into or want to try bizarro fiction.
The Black Stone
At Ling-Lou’s Chop-Suey, the Chinaman hands Edgar the black stone. “So this will give me power over her?” “Yes, much power. 50$. Cash or Venmo.
Edgar asks Tiffany, “Would you like to go out with me?” “Ha! No.” The stone makes a loud thwack as it smacks against Tiffany’s head.
The Becoming
As they lay naked he hisses “I thirst for you.”
“Then do it – I want to spend eternity with you,” she pleads.
“But I can’t hurt you.”
“I hunger for it.”
“Then we will be as one,”
He removes his condom, the only barrier between her and his HIV.
Friends
Placing her tiny hand in his large hairy palm, she says, “You killed them” “Yes, but please believe me, I didn’t mean to.” “I believe you, friend.” Tears in eyes, he reaches out and gives her a hug. When he lets go, she falls to the floor, a limp rag doll.
Michael Devine is the name not mikelly63….
A Table for Two
A petty squabble; about…? I can’t quite recall.
We’ll dine together tonight, my dear, though I’m all alone. I’ve prepared our meal with hesitant care. Slow cooked, delicately seasoned; a labour of love.
The romantic flicker of candlelight, I savour your memory; your tender flesh falling away from the bone.
I’ve Killed A Lot Of People
Having lured her into the woods and tied her to a tree, he hissed, “I’ve killed a lot of people.”
“I know, you killed my husband,” she spat.
Just then, an arrow from her new husband’s crossbow entered the back of the killer’s skull, and exited through his right eye.
The Crying Baby
The Fugby’s by the fireplace.
A baby whimpers.
She: You hear that?
He: What?
The wind howls, a baby cries.
She: A baby.
Lightening cracks, a baby wails.
He: But we don’t have a baby.
She stares in anger; he relents and shuffles away to change the nonexistent poopy diaper.
The Cage Match
Lovecraft: Ok, a cage match- Cthulhu vs giant cockroach vs raven. Who would win?
Poe: A mechanical raven?
Lovecraft: Steampunk’s so over Edgar.
Kafka: I’m going to kill myself.
Lovecraft: Franz you whiny little bitch.
Hemingway: You’re all a bunch of pussies.
Lovecraft: Ok, we all agree then, Cthulhu rules.
Father’s Day
She pushes the old man’s wheelchair close to the edge of the cliff.
“Beautiful. Thank you for this, dear. Remember we’d come here?”
“Memories are funny things,” she ponders. “Some are dormant for years, then suddenly they’re back”
As he hit the water, she declares, “Happy Father’s Day. Fucking pedophile.”
Title – Did You Miss me, Honey?
“Please come back!”, she wails in front of his grave, offering the white lily he adored.
Someone follows her back home.
Lights out! A creaking sound!
She feels a chill. Trembling, she turns back to find an apparition holding a wilted lily. Smirkingly he asks, “Did you miss me, honey?”
HEADLINE NEWS Another Stark County teen goes missing! Making 13 so far this year!
Becca, finally came to !
Quickly realizing;
She couldn’t see,
move, or scream!
Still she tried to jerk free,
PAIN and FEAR
flooded over her!
Suddenly, metal clanging
accompanied by
footsteps broke the
SILENCE…
A dark figure called out,
“Here kitty! kitty!”
She SCREAMED!
He sang,
“Help! I need
somebody, Help!”
Digby
Digby the dog got into the army base’s secret laboratory, found the secret formula, ate it, grew 100 times in size, terrorized the town, ate 19 cats and 3 children, then pooped on on City Hall’s pristine lawn.
When reached for comment, the owner had this to say: Bad dog.
Regrets
Day condensed into frigid night, I’ve settled into a contorted position- I don’t dare move- in this subzero hell-pit, frostbite my only friend. As nut-bearing rodents tease me with their sustenance, and children taunt me with their frozen spittle, I have but one regret: this pole I have licked.
The Paper House
The window is open. Everything was fastened before bed. Yet, here in the late hours I stare at its maw agape and its curtains thrashing. What demon crawled, clawed or danced inside? The night breaths its cryptic answer into my home with a low keening moan. The window is open.
Title – Nightmare of a lifetime
“I’m home!”, he exclaims and as he walks toward the table to fetch a glass of wine, he trips over something mushy & oozy. “Steph! Stephanie!”, he calls out giggling and the answer that follows, is an eerie silence. He looks down to realize he has stepped on her intestines.
Title – In Loving Memory of John
The lights flicker, I call for help.
A tall skinny man named John arrives, changes the light and leaves hurriedly pointing to a place saying, “That’s my abode”.
I rush there to offer my gratitude only to find a tomb with words “In Loving Memory of John” engraved on it.
Title – A Witchy Welcome
It’s a full moon night.
I wake up to find myself in a deserted house.
The door creaks. I hear a hum in a rough and plummy voice.
I enter the room, the hum stops. I look around, and there flies a witch in her broom emitting a maniacal cackle!
The Pumpkin Patch
It’s that time of the year again. The time when the nights grow darker, the leaves fall of the trees, and the pumpkin patches pop up from out of nowhere. Here, something changes with the leaves. In this small town, when the nights turns darker, so does the thoughts.
The Gift
An attic gift, addressed to me- Love, Dad- prison suicide when I was five (made doggie snuff films for the dark web). Why open? Curiosity? Forgiveness? Lost love? Reprieve from pain? Wrapping removed- a manual. As I proceed to vomit, the horror of the title resonates: How to Kill Children.
Title – A Spooky Encounter
She stumbles upon a stranger on her way back home and bleeds slightly
“Sorry, my mistake!” – She apologizes
“You smell nice” – He retorts
Flattered by his words, she blushes
He pulls her closer, smirks, bites her neck with his pointy canines, licks her blood
And whispers, “You really smell nice!”
Black Coffee
Old friends sit at kitchen table- coffee, weather, baking.
Gail: Rain today.
Louise: Definitely. Scones smell divine.
Gail: New recipe.
Louise: Gag- cough- mouth foams- hands to neck.
Gail: Your coffee- not so black.
Louise: Why?
Gail: Edgar.
Louise: But- it was 40 years ago!
Gail thinks, ‘scones about done.’
The Girl Down The Lane
I saw her again tonight, though I know she was not there.
Though I never see a face I know she is watching me with malice.
I feel safe when she is at her window. It’s when she isn’t there I get scared.
For who knows where she really is.
Title – A Haunted Memory
At dead of night, Tony rubs the grogginess off his eyes and with a staggering gait, he arrives at his backyard to smoke. A faint slurp from afar captures his attention. Following the noise, his faltering steps stop at the gaze of a disheveled lady, chomping on his pet’s carcass.
SOYLENT GREEN IS OVERRATED
Robert: Soylent Green- It’s People!
Kevin: Stupid book, stupider movie.
Robert: Mom Sausage- It’s people!
Kevin: Shut up. Pass the dad burgers.
Robert: Dad burgers, it’s…
Kevin: Don’t fuckin’ say it!
Robert: …People!
Kevin shoots Robert in head, blood gushing over their
family feast.
Kevin: Dead fucktard Robert- it’s people!
KOOL-AIDE
At a table- him across- I ask, “ Apparition? Specter? Phastasmagoria?
“Thesaurus much?”
“I want to stay!”
“Cries baby irony.” Decision?”
“I want choices.”
“Choice’s made, Kool-Aide.”
“Smart ass.”
“ And you. It’s time.”
Eyes close; I surrender. Eyes open; I see me- a gun, a wound,
and peace. Sweet peace.
ATTACK OF THE GIANT DILDO
“Sargent, report?”
“Massive length and girth, but easily entered Grand Canyon, now it’s pounding away at Virginia.”
“Post troops behind to prevent penetration from the rear.”
“Thank God it can’t reproduce.”
Hold on- author here- sorry, such silliness.
Hey, who’s behind me? Oh, it’s you.
With a giant Vaselined dildo!
Title – Deranged
My grandma is anxious. As usual, she had a tiff with my grandpa over household chores. “You’ll be at ease if I’m not here”, she yells from the kitchen, stirring hot soup vigorously. Then she walks over to him & whispers into his decayed ears, “I won’t let you leave”.
Good one
The Cubicle
Pants around my ankles, I sit in the restroom cubicle. I hear a splashing noise from next door. I look down to see fluid seeping towards my feet.
“Is someone pissing on the floor?!”
Wait, I can smell kerosene!
I scramble to get up as I hear a match ignite.
COLLATERAL
Schooling- college, law school- highway robbery! But what are you going to do? Cooperate to matriculate! I joke that he grew 5 inches during that time, when it was I that lost 5 (stumpy’s the name, ha-ha). There’s one regret- using him as collateral too (he’s lefty the lawyer now).
I went to med school. My nickname is second base.
PSA
A cigarette. He inhales- black gluelike bile oozes from orifices- intestines fistulate, skin exudes ichorous feces- lungs fill with purulent sebum and hair- brackish liver necrotizes- ocular vitreous humor congeals- mutant genitals engorge and rupture. Death: imminent.
He fumbles, drops cigarette in his death soup.
“Blimey, that’s me last fag.”
Full disclosure, I’m a pathologist. And non-smoker.
Bully
He pulled the ribbon from my hair and stomped on it, “Only babies believe in fairies. You think they can stop me?”
I glanced around us at the standing stone circle, “It’s not fairies I’d worry about,” I said. A blue light beamed down and swallowed him whole. “It’s aliens.”
Good one.
‘Standing stone circle’ I had to read it twice to catch this, nice job .
IMPOSSIBLE
Charges explode blowing reinforced laboratory door opens.
Agents rush in, Uzis slaughter cows in lab coats.
One remains standing, holding petri dish.
“You can’t stop us.”
Captain reply’s, “Maybe not. But I can stop you.”
Shoots cow; picks up dish; reads label.
The horror, the horror.
Label reads: Impossible Burger.
SOYLENT GREEN MOVIE TRIVIA
Costar Chuck Connors refused consuming soylent green with any meat from torsos or head’s, insisting extras could be maimed, but not killed to make his green. He was subsequently blacklisted in Hollywood for being a pussy, settling for occasional bit parts in films like The Donner Party and Cannibal Corpse
From IMDB
The Night That Never Left Me
She wakes me up early.
Run!
She tugs my wrist, has my sister too, eyes wide.
An engine roars.
The stars shake.
He’s behind us.
She’s faster, practically taking flight with us.
Friend’s house: she wears a mask, says we’re safe.
Safe from what? He never looked like a monster.
Nice, tight use of words maximizing impact. ‘She wears a mask’ adds layer of creepiness to it.
Trapped In A Forgotten Mind
She looks in the garage, in the kitchen, in the living room.
Something’s missing.
Her eyes go blank when I ask.
She doesn’t know, only that a part of her is gone.
She calls out, names of people no longer with us.
She sits. My body shivers.
Something’s missing.
BEST FRIENDS (50 word story #30)
Miles to best friend, “9-11? C’mon man!”
BF replies, “Uh-uh.”
“Really? The Pentagon? Able Danger? Building 7?!!”
“Nope.”
“Whatever. My blogs going viral, truth will prevail.
What’s that?” pointing at piece of paper in BF’s hand.
“Suicide note.”
Shoots Miles. Removes face Scooby-Doo style, revealing
Reptilian.
Operation BEST FRIEND successful.
Stolen word for word out of one of David Ray Griggin’s books.
25% OFF
“What the Hell? I came here for a massage. My wife
gave me a coupon for 25% off”
“Acupuncture free,” she says impaling him with
many sharpened knitting needles, then needle
in urethra.
“Aaaah! This is no happy ending!”
“This will relax you completely,” shoving needles
through eyes into brain.
Had the scene from Audition in my head when I wrote it. Now please get it out.
GHOST COW
Eddy enters barn, points at translucent cow.
“What’s that?”
“Ghost cow,” says Brian.
“Wow. Not scary at all.”
“Right? Lame ghost cow.”
“Let’s milk him.”
Both laugh heartily.
Cow shoots up in air, squirts acidic ghost milk,
eating off their skin, killing them.
Cow lands, and says, “Mooo.”
“The Black Sand Beach”
It was dark and stormy night,
The window was howling
The waves crashed the shore
With my heart beating furiously in my rib cage.
This beach is said to be haunted, after few minutes nothing happened or so she thought.
Her screams pierced in the dead silence of the night.
Title – Coercion
“Screeeeech!” The train halts.
She gets on, finds an empty spot, places her butt & observes – a lady immersed in a book, a child whining about his food, an old man on a call with a grin & a drooling puppy.
“I’m sorry!”, she mumbles & presses the bomb’s button.
Chilling. The i’m Sorry indicates to me that she was forced to do it- a terrorist possibly? As opposed to a psycho, who might mumble something horrific.
TORTURE HOUR
Timothy’s trapped! “Lord God, help me. I’ve suffered the likes of the Iron Maiden, flagellation, the heretic fork, ripping of fingernails, Spanish boot, the rack, flaying, tar and feathering, Chinese torture chair, genital mutilation, and Star Wars Episode II.”
Teacher says, “Ok drama queen, detention’s over, time to go home.”
The Dash
The howling behind propels his feet through the clearing; the silver moon, a spotlight.
Shelter now, panting behind a broad oak, rustle of dead leaves above. And then behind.
A warm drip on his head, molten lead to his mind. Paralyzed, rivulets of saliva begin to ooze down his shoulder.
THE ALBINO SNAKE
An albino snake slithers out his ear.
“Consume me, I beg you.”
The snake consumes his legs, stops.
“Wait, friend, don’t stop!”
“I am not your friend, but I will always be with you,”
and he slithers back into his ear.
“My gun?” -it’s across the room- “I’m in Hell!”
THE PROFIT MARGIN
The entrepreneur at Placenta’s Are Us proclaims,
“It’s all the craze, women want the health benefits. But our secret is we grind up actual babies instead of placentas for our capsules- great profit margin.”
I say, “That’s insane. How can using dead
babies be cheaper than placentas?”
“Dead?” he replies.
THE DOLLAR BILL
A violin, a song- he knows it!- he follows the sound
over subway rattle. He stops- it’s her!
He reaches to hug, but she’s gone. Violin falls and disappears;
violin case begins to fade- he snatches a dollar out.
And on that bill were these words: ‘I miss you daddy.’
THE LEG
“You removed my leg, I came in for a hernia.”
The twin doctors speak in unison, “Sorry.”
“I’ll sue.”
“We don’t care, we have malpractice insurance. Just be happy
Bernie is president, and we have socialized medicine.”
“What? Why?”
“Because if Trump were president, we’d have taken off
both legs.”
THE EXORCISM
The girl vomits bloody maggots in the exorcist’s face.
“May Christ compel you.” Cross shown.
“Suck my cock old man.”
“May Christ compel you!” Holy water splashed.
Demon finally relents, cast into pig outside.
Exorcist says, “Darling, you’re back!”
Arms cross. “Hmmph. You never like any of my boyfriends daddy
“Tales of Hill hotel part 2”
The next morning when we got up, my wife asked
“Honey were you the one who were tugging at the bedsheet at midnight?” She asked me.
“You felt it too. I heard someone whispering to me in croaked voice” I say with a terrified expression and find my wife trembling.
“The Black Sand Beach. Part 2”
No one returns back from this beach ever.
To test the theory, me and my friend decided to visit there.
It was darkness everywhere on the beach
Both of us were waiting for some indication. Only our heavy breathing could be heard.
“Run” was the last whisper they ever heard.
“The Black Sand Beach”
It was dark and stormy night,
The wind was howling
The waves crashed the shore
With my heart beating furiously in my rib cage.
This beach is said to be haunted, after few minutes nothing happened or so I thought.
Her screams pierced in the dead silence of the night.
Not Quite Right
Ms. Abrams hadn’t slept in over a week. She swore every time she closed her eyes, the white specks got closer. She tried to staple her eyelids so she wouldn’t have to blink but the doctors took her away. “They’re here, the voices are back,” she said standing over everyone.
The Red Stain
On her way home, a pedestrian pointed out the red spot that was expanding on her shirt. She lifted it up to see freshly sewn stitches but couldn’t recall having the surgery.
“What happened?” she asked her boyfriend.
“I needed the money and you said you’d do anything for me.”
“The negative energy”
Me and my family stayed in a hotel on our way back home.
When we entered the room, it was clean and spacious, but as soon as I enter the bathroom, I got some negative vibes in it.
It felt as if I walked into a wall of bad energy.
“The negative energy part 2”
I felt uneasy and creeped out of my wits.
It was the feeling of being watched or someone being there in the washroom, an invisible force. I passed it out as my imagination.
It unerved me to my very bones when mom said that even she felt the same way
“Tales of Hill hotels”
Me and my wife booked a hotel at the country side for vacation.
It was past midnight when I felt a tug at my bedsheets, I pull it closer only for it to be ripped off me.
“It is mine” a croaked voice whispered.
I woke up gasping in shock.
Remember
“Remember.”
The voice sounds sick. It will crack, but it doesn’t stop.
“Remember.”
Darkness covers my eyes. No light peaks through. Restraints immobilize me.
“Remember.”
Metal smashing rings my ear. It follows after the voice.
“Remember.”
“REMEMBER WHAT?”
A presence nears me. Warm breath hits me.
“This isn’t a dream.”
The Cover
She’s on the magazine cover, her heinous grace strangling me.
I place the gun under my chin, angling slightly forward. ‘Here’s to
you, my bitter foe.’ I pull the trigger, look in the mirror. I have failed. Half is still there. I dig my nails into the flesh and pull.
Roger and Me II
“You fucked over Flint,” Michael says to Roger.
“Yes, and what a good fuck it was.”
Michael raises gun, “Go to Hell.”
Roger catches bullet with hand,
trap door opens, Michael falls- ironically-
straight to Hell. Roger pulls out scotch, feet on desk,
says, “Gary, Indiana. A very nice town”
The Prize
“Eureka,” cries Benson, looking at petri dish.
“Yes! We must report it immediately!” answers Donavon.
“No! The prize- we must wait till published.”
“The Nobel Prize? You’re crazy! Think of the suffering and death.”
“Yours is the only death that is certain,” shooting Donavon.
“That prize is mine, good colleague.”
HANNIBAL GOES TO THE POST OFFICE
Clerk weighs Hannibal’s package,
blood seeping through.
“Anything perishable, flammable, explosive?”
“No. It’s body parts.”
“Delivery confirmation?”
“No, I’ll just read the newspapers.”
“Method?”
“Media Mail.”
“Is it books or recorded material?”
“Umm…yeah, a book, ‘Silence of the Lambs.”
“5.95$ Oh, sorry, no American Express.”
Hannibal Kills and eats clerk
Hannibal Goes to the Zoo
Hannibal at the zoo commiserates with the languid lions, belligerent bears, and gentle giraffes. He even frolics in the butterfly emporium and basks in the botanical garden.
Off to the gift shop to buy a penguin plushie!
“Sorry, we don’t take American Express.”
Hannibal kills and eats the caustic clerk.
Hannibal Goes to the Doctor
Doctor tells Hannibal, “Well, I think we’ve found
the cause of your constipation. Your stool sample
showed teeth and hair in it.”
“Really? What should I do?”
“Take Metamucil and less hair and teeth.”
“Thanks.”
Hannibal’s at check-out.
“I’m sorry, we don’t take American Express.”
Hannibal kills and eats receptionist.
Confirmation
Priest and alter boy enjoy wafers and wine. Boy takes gulp from chalice, asks “Am I your favorite?”
“Yes my sweet. For you a gift.”
A small box- a gold crucifix, then placed on floor. Boy urinates on it- crackling gold liquefies, smoke rises. Priest gently caresses boy’s neck,”Satan’s darling.”
THE ROOFIE
Glasses clink, Dirk laughs.
Carrie asks “What?”
“Well, I slipped you a roofie last drink. We gonna make love.”
“I know, I saw. I put some rat poison in your drink.”
“I saw you do that, so put cyanide in yours.”
With their dying breaths, they whisper simultaneously, ‘Happy anniversary.’
Transparent Like Glass
The house was dingy and dark, shards of glass split over the floor like paint splattered over a canvas. Spider webs coming down from the low, dirty ceiling. Simon Jones shuddered, terrified, as he sensed the presence of someone else in the house.
“I wondered when you would come back.”
THE PAYBACK
“I’ll get it honey.”
He gets up, changes diaper, and hears loud noise outside, encounters a man with gun on front lawn.
Sighs, “So, you finally found me.Tired of running. Go ahead- I’m ready to pay for what I’ve done.”
“Oh, I don’t think you are.”
Man pushes button, house explodes.
THE WEREWOLF
The maiden stumbles through the brambles, werewolf
pursues.
She falls – clothes shredded, blood splattered. He holds her
death tight, and howls in pain at the moon.
He awakens a man, in the dew- remembers neither love, nor love
destroyed, only loneliness, and a longing for a coffin in the ground.
Inspired by my favorite Michael Hurley song Werewolf. Cat Power does a version too.
NOSFERATU GOES TO COLLEGE
Snippets overheard around campus:
“Prepaid cafeteria card? Pass, I’ll be eating out a lot.”
“Wow, serious student loans. Can I do a 300 year plan?”
“Hey DJ, any Bauhaus?”
“Bad-mitten team? Great-but can’t do day games.”
“Party! Gimmie dat blood bong!”
“Hi new roomie- could you, um, invite me in?”
GOOD SAMARITAN
Me on the edge of the river, gun to head-
a bullet, a splash, a clean start (ha ha).
Old man pulls up- he cares!- says, “Son,
let me help you.” Then it hits me- he’s rich!
A shot-he falls- I grab wallet, Rolex, and Mercedes.
“God bless old man!”
#50.
BURNT BRIDGE
“Never walk alone on the Burnt Bridge at night.” That’s what they told me but didn’t explain right. If they’d clearly said that those who walk alone on the bridge never leave it, not when they’re alive nor after death, I’d have never crossed. But here I am, still waiting.
Look for the flicker
Ever since I visited the burn site I’ve had this intrusive thought:
Don’t look in the mirror.
I didn’t for 5 days.
But I caved over at Bobby’s.
I didn’t see it at first. But…
I think it’s always been there.
If you’re in low light, look at the corner.
Dark forest
Me and friends were camping in the forest and have set our camp’s with sleeping bags in it.
I had slept because they were going to share horror stories around the campfire.
I woke up with a gasp when I hear a terrifying scream.
“What was that” I think.
Dark forest part 2
I walk out of the tent to find no one there, I assumed everyone must have slept.
I was about to walk in, when I hear Shawn calling. The trees were hustling.
I feel something drop on my hand, I look up and my screams echoed in the dark forest.
Wolf Eyes
From above I watch him consume my fat and gristle. Then his eyes are mine- a bullet train through green tunnel to an enclave of hungry cubs, my spleen their feast. I mount my she-wolf estrus ripe and howl at the pink moon, till silver bullet shreds my ersatz heart.
Ersatz heart sounded familiar to me, after I wrote it I googled it, doesn’t
come up in a work of literature. I did use it as a nod to Phillip K Dick who
uses the word ersatz at least once every book.
DOPPELGANGER DOLL
A voodoo lair, girl hands doppelganger doll to priestess,
“How do I do it? Make this little girl into woman?”
“You be woman soon- no need juju!”
Girl grabs doll, “Then I’ll make the little the girl go away, because
when I do, he won’t want her anymore.”
At Least
It was Halloween, but the tablets melting on her tongue weren’t candy.
She was growing weary of the pain and this was the way out. Her heart burned within her angrily.
She wondered if she’d be chastised for giving out antacids instead of candy. At least they were fruit flavored.
-ToJo
Tornado
Soundless chill of voices blown
Ghosts of lives and towns we’ve known
Funnel dips the tortured sky
Cats and kids go flying by
Beaten ground of twisted path
Victims breathe tornado’s wrath
Go to Hell
Hark the herald angels gone
Seep you center earth by dawn
Tunnel myth that flickered light
Truth be told it was the sight
Ember spitting Gates of Hell
Sinner souls aflame as well
Evil laughs the guardian fool
Comes there next his syrup drool
Montreal Agenda
Samual was the perfect subject- psychotic, hopeless, abandoned.
Electrodes attached, the tech turned the ECT up to max.
“Doctor Cameron, this is unprecedented.”
“Continue- so close to complete ego obliteration- tabula rasa”
Soon electrodes smoke, mouthguard snaps- flatline. Cameron gives a gentle kiss to Samual’s lips and says, “Next subject.”
At the Allen Memorial hospital Montreal Dr. Donald Cameron was recruited by the CIA – part of MKULTRA- in the 50s to perform horrific experiments on psych patients to find mind control techniques. These experiments failed and many patients died or lives ruined. You want real horror? Sometimes your own government is a handy source, whatever country you may be in.
In 1953-as part of MKULTRA (Project Bluebird)- many people were covertly given LSD to see if could work as a mind control drugs. Frank Olson was one of them. LSD caused a paranoid breakdown and subsequent suicide.
Conspiracy theory? Gerald Ford had the Family of Olson at the White House and gave them an official apology.
Sorry for rambling, didn’t mean to proselytize, just thought some background on these two stories would add something.
Project Bluebeard
In a Manhattan hotel- 10th floor- Frank hears loud demons coming from below. He piles mattresses high and stands yelling bible quotes, angels lining ceiling.
The demons explode through the floor-splinters flying, sulfur smoking. The angels flee in fear, Frank alone-armed with only quotes- shatters glass, safety down below.
( Nobody knows )
On the night of October 24,a week before Halloween. Someone came to our city
with candy. Everyone thought he wanted to give candy to the kids, but no one
knew he was from an old organizaition that was roaming the villages to lure children and kill them in the evening. And brought them to the graves and buried their parts separately. It is a wheel repeated every 34 years, nobody knows why this is happening because sins? or because our people? nobody knows.
I believe all the stories are supposed to be exactly 50 words.
Amen!
Williams strainfully opened his eyes. Pitch dark. Back pain vaguely reminded him of his fall from some cliff.
A sneeze unplugged his nostrils.
‘So close a ceiling!’ wondering what hospital he was in he palpated the wooden planks.
He felt the most solemn word reverberating above and steps dying out.
This resonates with me because I used to have back pain, sneezing was the worst possible thing you could do- excruciating pain.
The Clowns
As the red smile and blue painted eyes closed in, Rose saw it morph. It changed from clown to joker to jester and all the horrors of lands and ages long passed coalesced with it. When the mouth extended its endless jaw, Rose accepted fate; her grin gradually growing red.
Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
Biting cold, without a jack, AAA on its way.
Bright lights- help arrived? – but then a green room with
grey abductees, Light-Brite, and metal hum.
We approach the sun- fear consumes- and enter it.
No inferno inside, just cool, cool light, and a solar
metamorphosis: I am a grey.
Long live Syd Barret
Billionaires Club
Earth torn asunder by industry and war, Noah’s modern
arc loaded with the 1% survivors- obese, obscene, and opulent.
To a Godless galaxy they will travel with clandestine technology
and an ample supply of serfs. They will of course
need some seeds, for that they bring all of earth’s gold.
AWAKENING
Where am I?
My vision is blurred.
I’m cold.
Who is that above me?
How did I get here?
I remember driving, screeching tires…
OUCH!
Is he a doctor, is he operating on me? No.
So I didn’t survive. Just a few last firing of neurons.
“Hello Mortician,” I whisper.
SNAKES
“My drink!”
“Your drink was fine, Senor.”
My arms, my legs- they slither like snakes.
“I am becoming…”
“Correct senor, becoming…”
“…snakes.”
I am now dozens of snakes, proceeding as one.
To the church square, on the steps I wait.
The doors open, I glide in. Much work to do.
Bitterly bitten ichor agonizingly ripped through her flesh.
Her eyes open, skin grey, body stone.
Her limbs torn, dislodged and delicately placed.
Her last ululating breath muffled and beat.
A silent chill burned on the back of my tongue.
She mocked me with her eyes.
So now she must sleep.
Hi Brooke. This is meant to be constructive. Stephen King in his book On Writing, he advises to essentially never us adverbs- others say very sparingly. It’s a good book but I can summarize so you dont need to buy- write every day, don’t think you need to increase your vocabulary, no adverbs, dont plan too much, let the
act of writing dictate it- especially the ending, read as much as possible, and his accident was really bad.
MARIE
Teacher is quiet. She doesn’t have Marie sitting on her lap anymore. Instead, Marie visits me.
She watches through the window as we sing nursery rhymes for Teacher.
I walk to the door to let her in.
“No Ella, come and sit down”
Marie has red marks on her neck.
DON’T LOOK
I caught her. She’s struggling. I’m proud of myself. Must prove myself.
He will be proud.
Don’t Look. She’s running at me. I’m the monster.
Lunging for my throat. She misses.
Narrowly.
Don’t Look.
Too close.
Must. protect. world.
Cannot go like this.
Don’t Look.
Blackout.
I’m not the monster.
I like this one too, took me a few reads to appreciate.
MY ROCKING CHAIR
The rocking chair in my room has been here for years, silently rocking an invisible being to slumber. My parents told me to stay away from it, but never said why.
I tried to move it into the hallway.
Cold fingers gripped my neck.
I can walk through walls now.
PIGGYBACK
Daddy never loved me. He used his belt even when he wasn’t wearing pants. He hated my feet being dirty. He gave me a piggyback to school. “it’s our little game”, he said.
When on his back, I grab his neck. I whisper to him, “it’s our little game daddy”
Creepy. Creepy is good.
THE BLACK POND
Out of the tarry soup he crawled as mother followed.
“Come back home”
“I won’t return”
“You’re so young…stay, you’ll die.”
“My mind is pain, my soul black- home his hell.”
She grabbed him, but the sky roared spitting putrid oil and ash, consuming mother and child.
GOD IS SLEEPING
God slept in today. Tsunamis and Hurricanes ravaged the coasts, from the east to the west. Earthquakes cracked the foundation of modern societies, laying waste to all of humanity’s monuments before it. Race and religion meant nothing to these terraforming disasters, millions of voices cried out, yet god still slept.
THE SLEEP OVER
With velvet breath and tongue’s caress, she coaxed two eels from my ears- one black, one white- and swallowed them whole. Then an open kiss, and hundreds of tiny grey eels slid down my throat. “Are you ok?” “No,” I said, so she led me to bed.
DEADLY WATER
I, Rusalka, live in the river. People whisper tales about me. They say I lure men to their death. I don’t. Some lonely men follow me home. I’m not rude. I invite them into the water. I don’t make them stay, but they get cold so fast.
THE COVEN
Woken from a fevered dream, he’s
tethered to an inverted cross. The toothless coven circles,
each plucking an unkempt curly-cue, placing it in their gruel.
The hungry succubus takes him in her mouth,
then minions circle close, licking skin with tongues of
sharpened steel, while virgin seed fills unholy portal.