Deliver Us
Spooky Micro Fiction Submission 1
“There was only one rule: don’t open the door,” the boy said.
“Why Charlie?” Jon bent down, “Why can’t I open it?”
Charlie’s eyes walked to the door; his voice became very small, “You ever been touched by evil, mister?”
“Can’t say that I have.”
“Reckon you be gone soon then.”
Jimmy walked in, he’d been unpacking,“Why’d you say that?”
“Ain’t nobody last here long… not nobody since the preacher.”
“What happened to him?” Jon asked
“He went miss’n. He and his lady praying the devil outta folk. One night he come hollering down the road, wet and red. Ain’t nobody seen him since.”
“What about his wife?”
Charlie chewed a lip, his eyes sunk to the floor.
“Bet she lives in the basement,” Jon winked and snatched a flashlight. He walked to the door, turned the handle. A bell tolled. Jimmy jumped, Jon froze. Three times it chimed. He looked back at Jimmy and laughed, “The old grandfather! It got me.”
“It got me too—but it got Charlie good,” Jimmy pointed out the front door. The boy was running for the hills.
Jon opened the door. Warm sunlight crawled down the stairs into an abyss of lurid darkness.
“God, it smells,” Jon started down.
There was a whisper of feet. Above him? The door shut. Absolute darkness. A latch slipped into place, but on this side. Jon spun up the stairs, “This isn’t funny!” But he was stopped. The warm, intimate breath of another touched his lips. His hand on the flashlight. Did he dare? His thumb pushed the switch and there she was. Down from the ceiling she came, head wrong way up, smiling lips adorned in malevolence.
“Deliver us…” she whispered as she pressed her mouth to his and took the light from his hands.
About the Creator
R. B. Booth
Just a small-town dude from Southern California making videos and telling stories the way I like to read them.
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Compelling and original writing
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Original narrative & well developed characters
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Clear Water: The Town
The Town Clear Water was one of those old, drive-through towns tucked away in the mountains of Southern California—a wrong turn at a small fork left travelers alone in a long, curious, and abandoned country hours from gas, with no cell towers. A once upon a time place in a mountain-land dressed in old, quiet wood where shadows walked and roots whispered. There’d been a revival once. Big tents, fiery preaching. The damned were made new, but the hour came and went as fast as the Gold Rush. Like the eldest things, it was forgotten to the world. And so it was lost amidst one of the thousand pocket valleys of Cahuilla’s slumbering mountain. The place was now entirely unworthy of note. So when Mrs. Cortez and Father Henderson were found the day after Hallow’s Eve in his parish—mangled, dismembered, and arranged in what appeared to be some grisly, primeval rite—a sudden, fear slithered into the heart of those quiet mountain folk.
By R. B. Booth9 months ago in Horror
Comments (37)
Super short, but so compelling. Combining horror elements that remind me of The Exorcist, Evil Dead and The Conjuring all rolled into one. Can definitely see why it was a Top Story, great job!
Great story Blake. Excellent, foreshadow, vivid yet streamlined descriptions. Actually read it a couple times over. Very well done, congrats on the top story well deserved!
Wow! This was amazing!
Very scary atmosphere🎃🎃👏😍
Wow. That was amazing. Congrats on the TS.
That ending with the woman coming down from the ceiling… I’d be out of there so fast! 😱
Wow, what a great story! You did a magnificent job bringing us into the story. I could see this being followed by more chapters...congratulations on this top notch top story
"Head wrong way up" 😬 Amazing how a few well-chosen words can cut straight to your guts... Fantastic work, good luck on the challenge 🙏
nice story
Well done on top story! Love me a good monster story. You know your stuff.
Back to say congratulations on your Top Story! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
Great job nailing the creep factor and creating such an authentic vibe. Congrats, Blake!!!
what a wonderful article!
you such a great writer
This was awesome: congrats on top story!
You nailed it! Excellent take on the challenge and very deserving of Top Story.
Yeah nice. Proper horror right there, good foreshadowing. You kind of know it has to happen, but the details give it a twist.
SWEET! What a great spooky entry. Best of luck Blake.
Super creepy! Exorcist vibe. Charlie had the right idea in my opinion!
Had no idea how this would end and I was shocked and then thought - what happens next????
Very well written, leaves me wanting more! Great job on this.
SOO creepy AMAZING job!!!
The image at the end is perfect- and I like The use of the first sentence as a quote... I may have to try that as well!
this is a spooky tale--i kept trying to imagine the smile of an upside down head- malevolent indeed
Wow! What an eerie, spine- tingling story. It sounded like the intro to a real "page turner" for sure. Let me know when the book comes out so I can get my hands on it.