fiction

Horror fiction that delivers on its promise to scare, startle, frighten and unsettle. These stories are fake, but the shivers down your spine won't be.

The Curtains Were Blowing But The Window Was Latched Shut
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. “How strange”, I mused out loud to my husband, who was reading next to the fireplace, slowly moving back and forth in the rocking chair. Making a slow and steady creaking sound that was comforting to me. He didn’t reply, so immersed into his book I don’t think he even heard me. I didn’t bother to repeat, transfixed by the strange sight of the candle.
By Amelia Sharp4 years ago in Horror
Furry Friends
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Jamie stopped dead in her tracks.
By Kate Gall4 years ago in Horror
It Comes For You
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Its faint light flickered from bright to dim, fighting for its continued flame. The wind howled through the surrounding trees, and slight gusts blew through the many jagged slits in the decrepit windows. A slightly illuminated figure paces back and forth in the wrecked kitchen of this crumbled dwelling. Their wide open, seemingly empty black eyes flutter from window to window, surveying what little can be seen in the vast darkness that had engulfed the surrounding thicket. Cabinets and drawers alike are thrown open and their contents are tossed aside with desperate haste. Mold and mildew have set in on anything edible, a result of the inevitable expiration that befalls all things. He slams the last drawer shut and lets out an exasperated sigh as he leans against the old, scarred wood of the counter. He releases short bursts of air from his nostrils as he rubs his hands down his face, the pressure indenting the skin, hanging loose as they reach the end of their descent. His left leg limps as he shuffles past the dilapidated table. He sets a fallen chair upright, then throws himself down upon it. It creaks heavily under his weight but manages to stay intact. He glares at the cracked wooden floor while fiddling with the frayed ends of his hastily cut shorts, contemplating how much longer he can survive under these grave conditions. The abrupt call of an owl disrupts his macabre thoughts, and he peers out of the window, seeking the source of the sound. He squints, attempting to make out what little movement he can spot in the black of night. His eyes widen in terror. He scrambles to blow out the flame on the old, melting candle, his only source of light. The last match he had scavenged lays next to it, used, as if waiting for the candle to join it in the darkness. He kneels so that he can just barely peek above the counter, searching the blackness where he had seen It.
By Emmett Swann4 years ago in Horror
Curse the Darkness
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Two battery powered lanterns, however, provided the bulk of the illumination, one on a folding table in the middle of the room and the other on the floor next to the cooler.
By Bernadette Johnson4 years ago in Horror
Rabbit Dark
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Across the cabin’s front room, a kerosene lantern chugged along, doing its best to hold back the darkness the candle didn’t touch. A shadow splashed and ducked across one wall and then the next, and the floorboards strained to soften beneath a pair of heavy work boots.
By Kate Edwards Trussler4 years ago in Horror
The Ghosts' Lodge
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. It had been burning for several days now but nobody dared to go near the cabin.
By R. N. M. Haubrock4 years ago in Horror
Dressed in Silken Moonlight
Dressed in Silken Moonlight The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. The soft glow was enticing to Harry, and he needed a better view of it.
By J.J. Cross4 years ago in Horror
One Way Out
“The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window,” Todd began, affecting his best campfire story voice.
By Drew Streip4 years ago in Horror
Midnight Sunrise - Chapter 1
Lonely the wind sings Lonely the bird wings Through fold of hill Then all is still In Windy Gully Deep in the mountainside
By Glenn Stoklasa4 years ago in Horror
Hunting Season
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. An actual candle. Ketch could tell because of the way it flickered and its faint, yellow-orange glow. Kerosene lamps didn’t flicker due to their thick wicks and hardly anyone carried them these days. Just the old-school family campers who liked to show off their woodsman skills to the grandkids. They stayed at the campgrounds and didn’t wander. The flashlights and camp lights favored by drunken, horny teenagers also didn’t flicker. They threw a white glow into the room. They were also often accompanied by horrendous music that scared the nocturnal wildlife away. No, this was a real honest-to-goodness candle. And that meant only one thing; hunting season.
By Dina Ritz4 years ago in Horror
The Cabin
“The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window.” These were the first legible words of a letter I found in the “undeliverables” pile in the mail room at Miskatonic University.
By Levi Hill4 years ago in Horror
Cabin Fever
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Matt spotted it first, tapping Alice’s arm and pointing at the glow flickering through the trees. She paused the truck’s jostling ascent and nodded silently, then eased the clutch back out slowly to keep the tires from slipping into the meandering fissure eroded down the center of road. The headlights swept across the squat structure as they rounded the bend, light reflecting off what fragments of glass still clung to the window frames. Black shadows from the porch rails and hanging fragment of porch roof were sent racing fast across the cabin’s blank face. There was a flutter of movement in the window and the candle went out.
By Gina King4 years ago in Horror