A sticky-sweet aroma from a new air freshener made the car’s interior seem like a low-rent nail salon, both acrid and artificial—the way an eleven-year-old girl would smell if she were given fifteen dollars and free rein at a fragrance kiosk in the mall. It did its job, though, masking odd and somewhat hidden odors […]
“‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, WHEN ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE NOT A CREATURE WAS STIRRING, NOT EVEN A MOUSE; THE STOCKINGS WERE HUNG BY THE CHIMNEY WITH CARE IN HOPES THAT ST. NICHOLAS SOON WOULD BE THERE” — CLEMENT CLARK MOORE Jake Norton was tired of hearing everyone’s talk about Santa Claus. At twelve, he […]
APPEAL FOR INFORMATION – CAN YOU HELP? Police are appealing for witnesses after the disappearance of a child in Hulsted, Lancashire. Alice Stanley has been missing from her home since approximately 6.15pm on 10th October 2023. She is described as having shoulder-length brown, curly hair and green eyes. At the time of her disappearance, she […]
A plastic wheelie bin had just gone skittering down the road when Colly Glennon heard his son roaring. “Daddy, dad-eeee.” It was just after 10pm and his six-year-old Cillian should already have been asleep. They stayed up late watching Despicable Me 2 for what could easily have been the thirteenth time. They feasted on popcorn […]
I had been journeying for several days when I occasioned to stay at the Château Hotel, with only my cat Artemis for companionship. Artemis, a mewling, foul-tempered feline, sat in her leather carrier under my seat as we crossed the countryside by train, crying from beneath me at regular intervals. We disembarked the train in […]
Northwood Asylum for the Criminally Insane was a stone-faced bastion in the rugged Appalachian coal country of northern Pennsylvania. I was a trusty there, an inmate who had garnered a modicum of independence by virtue of having a record of passable behavior, and also of providing a service that was desirous of the miscreants charged […]
Mortuary Affairs Specialist Corporal Alan Donohue knew he was dead. He felt certain as he pulled the zipper up on number 152’s cold, white face, he’d never been so certain about anything in his life. It wasn’t a clean pull. The tab managed to get stuck on a loose flap of rotting skin, making the […]
Maggie’s father, John Fox, summed it up: “A houseful of women is like a sack of cats.” Mother Ann didn’t like it any better and she was relieved when they got rid of Leah. Her stepdaughter provoked her, sneaky and deliberate. That superior smile of hers held not a drop of Christian joy, so when […]
“Ethan, are you ready yet?” Jessica’s voice drifted down the hall, sharp, like the clack-clack-clack of her heels against the hardwood floor. “We’re going to be late.” Impatient, as usual. “Almost, Dear,” Ethan called back. His fingers slid through his hair which he coaxed into perfection. The brush lay forgotten on the counter. His movements […]
If it must be said again, let it be said now: There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in your philosophy, dear reader. You will find them through the looking glass, in the infinitesimal seams that vein the rational world, or in the darkest corner of one man’s soul. The […]