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.
A Portrait in Time and Space
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. A candle burning in a cabin window is an altogether benign thing to see, except for just one suddenly and absolutely deniable fact: this candle had never been there to begin with. It should be impossible for a candle to exist in this abandoned cabin. The cabin, the woods, and the abandonment: all of these things had been envisioned and realized intentionally, and had been brought to life without a thought ever being given to a candle, lit or unlit, in the window of this cabin. It had been painted, stroke by stroke, layer upon layer of oil color laid by hand, and never had there been a candle, not until about a week ago, when, as if it had been there the whole time, a candle burned in the window of “The Abandoned Cabin, 1968,” signed by artist Terry Ross (presumably circa 1968), before being printed on pre-stretched canvas en masse and distributed by Distinguished Wall Art, Inc., purchased by my father, and hung on my bedroom wall on my birthday. I did not feel any sort of profound affinity for the print, but in the absence of family photos full of smiling kin it seemed an apropos substitute to hang on my bedroom wall. And that is not to say that my family and I were not happy, we were, but there was just no photographic evidence to chronicle our happiness. No, our family preferred paintings and prints of paintings, as if we were curating our own lives via the visions and efforts of others, and even then through the visions and efforts printed in bulk and sold at a deep discount. We were not the “live, laugh, love” sort of wall art family, make no mistake, but we were the family with prints by Gaudi, Gauguin, Dali, et al, adorning the walls of our shared spaces, instead of records of our own earned memories.
By John Aaron4 years ago in Horror
Wolves & Bears
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. The flame was not flickering, but stood perfectly still, as if the air inside was void of movement. Strangely, however, Hana could have sworn she had seen someone, or something moving in the front room.
By Ruby Schofield4 years ago in Horror
Abaddon
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. The single light was too dim to make out the walls, so Megan lit another and placed it on the dust-covered table. A third, fourth and fifth light took their places around the room in relatively even spacing. They would be her guideline to mark the points of a pentagram and begin the ceremony. As she pulled the chalk from her bag to draw the symbol, her hands shook. The chalk shattered to the floor, split cleanly in two.
By Penny Fuller4 years ago in Horror
Cabin in the Woods
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. On this night, exhaustion and dreaming on my feet are one and the same. The candle, perhaps a projection of madness tempered with dreams of the absurd to make everything palatable guides me. A time forgotten, or perhaps never having been, but a time no less.
By Glenn Brown4 years ago in Horror
Edie of the Cairngorms
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. The heavy dusk sun set the sky ablaze, rich orange glowed behind the Scots Pine, silhouetted for miles over the horizon. The warm August air carried a light breeze, gently disturbing the first few leaves evident of an early autumn that scattered the forest floor. The air still and soft, slightly sweet with the scent of the pine sap excreted from the tall, ancient trees, and lush moss that carpeted the forest beneath the golden leaves.
By Jennifer Stevens4 years ago in Horror
Until the last charcoal burns
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. A shadow darted across the cabin's interior, and the candle snuffed out. An eerie scream pierced the silence of the night, scattering the bats into the darkness. Something sinister had taken control of that moment.
By Silviya Rankova4 years ago in Horror
