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.
Excavate
Maisie shrieked, shrinking helplessly from the decayed femur dangled inches from her face. Her brother’s laughter rang like a kettle, hissing and muddling her wails. He swung it past her chin, soil untangling in clumps that fell to Maisie’s chest. Her screams bubbled into sobs, the dirt crumbling more with each taunting shake, sprinkled from the tangle of roots. In the dim light of the barn, it looked like spiderwebs, thin and sticky with pests.
By Mina Wiebe5 years ago in Horror
Trust
I was so happy when Papa chose me to accompany him to the barn. He always made a big deal about how he needed someone responsible to help him with the equipment. "They're not just tools," he'd remind everyone with his flinty index finger emphasizing the point, "and they're certainly not toys. I have expensive equipment in there that helps me keep our farm in business and food on the table. I won't abide any horseplay that might do any damage to any one of this family's investments." He was always so stern about anything in the barn. So he never took just any one of us when he needed some help.
By Arthur Maturo5 years ago in Horror
Harmless
Jeffrey swung across the barn, beam to beam from a rope secured to the highest support in the roof. Dust falling from the rafters filtered through the waning dusk sunlight, peeking through gaps in the deteriorating wooden siding. Over 100 years old, it should have been dead, yet the old barn had strong bones.
By Tara Crowley5 years ago in Horror
Irrational
Rain was my favorite weather. It would rain for hours at a time, especially in the spring. I would open my window to hear the sounds, or I would sit on the floor in front of it and watch the droplets run down the glass, resting my chin in my arms on the window pane. In my upstairs bedroom, I had a beautiful view; vast plains of grasslands in the distance, shallow hills like ocean waves. Here and there, a vein of greenery, bushes and trees, cut through the land. The thickest and longest of which ran close to the farmhouse I lived in, and though I couldn’t see it through the foliage, I knew it covered the banks of a shallow river.
By Tristin Roholt5 years ago in Horror
Adgnar’s Web
Prologue: Silence.. Red skinned finger tips turn the page, long black fingernails glide over the words, golden eyes scan each letter meticulously as a hauntingly seductive voice begins to echo through the tower. “Find and seek, a home to sleep. Drink from life, and grow from weak. Let my eyes, guide toward your peak. I grant thee knowledge, from the peach. All I want’s, within your reach. Do my bidding, heed my speech.” The Daemon recites as the book begins to shake and glow. The book slams shut and begins to levitate. Energy stirs around the item. The book begins to spin rapidly before vanishing into thin air.
By Sloan Sabbath5 years ago in Horror
The Killer
The streets were practically deserted at this late hour. As Seth drove, he kept glancing at his beautiful wife, Julia and their even more beautiful daughter, Annabel, who was asleep in the back seat. The smile never left his face. ''Are you happy?'' Julia startled him from his reverie. ''Baby,'' he answered slowly, ''I'm so much more than 'happy' right now. Life is too perfect.'' She leaned toward him to rest her head on his shoulder and he put his arm around her. When they came to a stop at a red light, he gently lifted her chin and kissed her. Julia realized this was the street of the old barn and every time they drove past, it gave her chills. They were still in the moment when the light changed and he slowly lifted his foot off the brake and focused his attention back on the road. ''Tonight was amazing,'' she said after a moment. ''Yeah,'' he agreed, ''Annabel was radiant in her solo.'' They were on their way home from their daughter's dance recital. She was the best in her class by far and even at the young age of twelve and everyone knew she was a prodigy. Seth was about to comment further on the experience he had, when out of nowhere a child appeared in the street causing him to jam on the brake and turn the wheel. He didn't know how he missed the child but when the car came to a stop and he looked back, the child was still standing there in the road. ''What the...'' Seth's fright was replaced with anger but asked his wife ''Are you alright?'' ''Yeah,'' she answered and looked back at Annabel who was still asleep. Seth got out of the car and began walking toward the child. She couldn't have been more than 7 or 8 years old. ''Hey, Sweetie,'' he said softly, ''Are you okay?'' She shook her head in response before turning and walking off. ''Hey, where are you going?'' he called out to her. She didn't reply but he followed her, not knowing what else to do. ''Where do you live?'' he asked. Still no reply. She looked back again and kept walking. ''You want me to follow you?'' he asked. She turned again and nodded her head yes and continued on. ''Seth, Dear?'' Julia called out from the car, ''What's going on?'' ''I'm not sure,'' he replied, ''Call the police because something is off about this situation and I've got a bad feeling.'' The child was heading toward the old barn that had almost burned down a few years before. She disappeared through the open door that led to the stables. He jogged the distance to the door and walked in just in time to see her climb the last step to the steeple. Seth called for her but she didn't answer and he could no longer see her. He was deathly afraid of heights and did not want to climb the stairs. ''You okay up there?'' he yelled out. No one responded… he thought to himself Oh, God why me. He was gripping the railing as he climbed and the way it shook was extremely discomforting. ''Please come down, Sweetie,'' he begged. ''I'm scared of heights and it's not safe up there.'' Of course there was still no response. When he got to the top of the stairs he was met with a horrific sight. He raced to the child who just a moment ago had no type of visible injuries but laid here battered as if by a grizzly bear or something had attacked her. Seth laid his ear against her chest and couldn't hear a beat. He pumped her chest like he'd see them do in the movies and breathed air into her lungs. He repeated it and again listened for a heartbeat. Nothing. He was startled when she began coughing and gasping. ''Can you move?'' The answer to that was obvious. She looked up at him … hesitated and spoke ''You're.... real…" her wheezy voice attempted to speak and reached her hand out to touch his face as if to confirm her last observation. ''What happened to you?'' he asked her. Her hand froze and her eyes grew wide. ''Where's the bad man? Did you get him?'' Seth had a quick mind and it didn't require a genius to put the clues together and come to the conclusion that someone left her here to die. Where was he? Seth wondered. He coaxed her to a sitting position and began lifting her to her feet when he heard the sound of shuffling feet. ''Shhhhhh,'' he barely breathed the warning as he lay her back down. He tiptoed softly to the top of the stairs and peeked down. He couldn't see anything or anyone. He looked around the steeple for something to use as a weapon and came up with a broken pitchfork. He gripped the handle and again peeked down the stairs. A man was coming up with a child held over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. His heart began beating wildly as he moved to hide behind a pile of old wood. He watched as the man came to the top and laid the other child down gently. Seth's chest clenched in anger and his face grew tight as all his muscles flexed involuntarily. He sat with his back to the wood pile and took deep as he mustered his resolution. He absolutely had to save these two children and put this guy out of commission. He peeked around the pile again and saw the man with his back to him. He was whispering to the child he just brought up and Seth could hear her whimpering softly. He had the points of the pitchfork aimed at the man's back and he began thrust with everything he had. The man began turning just in time to not take the three prongs directly through his back but he was still skewered through his shoulder by one of the points. He roared in rage and pain as he swung a log sized arm aimed at Seth's head. The blow knocked him to the ground but he was back on his feet and moving, watching the man writhe in agony. Seth hoped Julia had called the police when he told her to. This was a monster of a man, big and fierce looking and he was angry. He realized he couldn't get the fork out of his shoulder and so the man began aggressively walking toward Seth. The child he had just brought had scurried backward to the stairs and climbed down. ''The police are on the way,'' Seth told him, "You better get outta here.'' ''I'm ready to die,'' he said simply and lunged at Seth. Seth was agile and so was able to sidestep and evade the man's attempt. The man absorbed the flailing punches like they were nothing and swung one lumbering blow that sent Seth sliding across the floor, almost knocked unconscious. He tried to get up but fell right back down. He watched in horror as the man came toward him with a sadistic smile.
By Steven the author5 years ago in Horror
The Barn
Growing up we only had one rule, don’t go in the barn. Grandma would go into the barn only at night. When she thought my sister and I were asleep. When she thought mother was too drunk to care, or still at the bar. As I grew up, I was fascinated by the noises from the barn and the way for the few hours a day mother was sober she wouldn’t, perhaps couldn’t, look at it. In the evenings, if she was drinking at home, she would sit out on the front deck instead of the back garden which caught the evening sun but overlooked the barn.
By Francesca Newman5 years ago in Horror
