Horror Fiction by Megan Thompson It smells of sweat and hot breath, combining to make some sort of terrible human perfume. The old lady across from me, whose hair is unnaturally black and stiff, keeps softly dozing in her chair. She is overdressed for the occasion, her pink lipstick smeared around her thin and agingContinue reading “The Waiting Room”
Category Archives: Dark Literature
Et Tu
Flash Fiction by Andy Betz The rain beat down hard on the convertible soft top. Generally, this meant I had two, maybe three hours before it began to leak. What I had to say did not warrant this much time. However, should she want to fight, at least I knew when it was going toContinue reading “Et Tu”
A Scene Illuminating the Perils of Truancy
Crime Fiction By B.W. Carter So, yeah, this boy, he’s standing on his usual corner, right, watching traffic dissolve into the vast white wash of the sun. The day is loud as a concert and very bright. The boy is slouching against a streetlamp. Squinting into the beeping, belching exhaust-sweet bustle, he smokes his lastContinue reading “A Scene Illuminating the Perils of Truancy”
The Backyard Digger
Crime Fiction By Robb White The boy was a nuisance. Every day I’d find him digging out there with his child’s shovel and pail with happy cartoon figures bordering the tops and bottom. I was solely concerned about his well-being, not the fact he was trespassing. Two summers ago, we had two bands of coyotesContinue reading “The Backyard Digger”
Smolder
Speculative Fiction by Liz Lydic One by one, they came into his life and then went out. “No drama,” was the investment broker’s warning, and then, at the point of ending the relationship, was the reason for the final break. He’d drive to the girl’s residence under average circumstances; she, delighted in seeing him, wouldContinue reading “Smolder”
Raiin
Crime Fiction By Alex Finch (Graphic Content Warning) Most only know me as The Raiin Killer. Nobody knows who I am beneath the mask. Or that I’m almost always smiling. Well, I guess this journal is a tribute to my dead psychiatrist. She was a fighter until the end, I had to admire that. SheContinue reading “Raiin”
Animals
Crime Fiction by Rider Lemmond I have always been fascinated by death–so has everyone else, but not to my degree, I think. Religions say the soul leaves the body upon death and that this process could be observed. I even heard about an experiment where someone was weighed the moment before and after death. TheyContinue reading “Animals”
Virus
Speculative Fiction by Alex Finch “You didn’t think I’d see it? Or are you so desperate for my attention that you’re willing to do anything to get it.” I kept my hand firmly pressed upon the strange symbol, sharp and curving in equal parts, his symbol, one he’d tied his very soul to. One he’dContinue reading “Virus”
Warhawk Road
Crime Fiction By Ken Wheaton Tyler’s shadow stretched before him in the moonlight, landing on his girlfriend’s back. The first time they’d driven up 285 into the mountains just west of Denver, they’d picked a moonless night and the dark was too much. It pressed, it smothered. Every sound was amplified, every crackling twig aContinue reading “Warhawk Road”
Weighing In
Dystopia Fiction By Alexandria Riker December 2037- Canada “…to show attention to today’s speaker, as a witness and tribute to the horrors of the Initiative, Ms. Darby Anne Rein.” The lights on the podium turned on, and the woman who was still merely a child no more than six months ago, sporting her slightly buzzedContinue reading “Weighing In”