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 Devil
December 13th, 2020 The floor creaked beneath the dusty beige carpet as the old man walked slowly between his tables laden with books. An old leather satchel hanging heavily from his tired shoulders bumping the stacks of books and knocking some onto the floor. He wouldn't be bothered by them. Couldn't be bothered. Gently feeling each table with his wrinkled hand, he made his way across the store. Martin had opened his bookshop to astonishing success when he was only 19 years old becoming the first incredibly wealthy member in his family. His love for reading stretched back as far as he could remember and unlike the rest of his family, he saw no reason to attend school. After all, he could learn anything and everything from his books. His book. As he made his way from one side of the small shop to the other he began to feel out of breath. He reached for the old oak chair that had sat in front of the shop window for 19 years. Groaning from the ache in his back Martin sat down and took a slow breath in through his nose. The smell of dust and parchment mixing with leather and aged wood brought him a brief moment of comfort. Sitting alone in the silence, tears began to stream down his face as he spoke aloud to himself "Oh Anna...what have I done? I wish you were here. I'm so sorry." and he reached down, unclasping the satchel now resting in his lap. Reaching in, his hands felt the cold leather of his journal. It used to bring an exhilarating moment of inspiration. Now he felt only disgust and shame when he picked it up. It took almost all his strength to lift the small black book from its hiding place and place it on the wooden table next to him.
By Jon Jones5 years ago in Horror
Dream Dolls
The bell rang quietly as she stepped through the door. Even though she really had no time at all, something pulled her to this store. Granted, it had been a while since she played with a doll, but the ones in this store were just so irresistible. Surely a few minutes spent here wouldn't be held against her at the office? She had just conducted one of the most important luncheons of her career, sealing the deal, and brought in the biggest client her firm had seen in three decades. So what if she was late back... She deserved this break.
By Skye Tandy5 years ago in Horror
A Candle in a Dark Room
They’re always there, stalking, yet they’re never suspected of anything. I should know, I was one. I don’t know how I came to be. That’s not entirely true, but I suppose being evasive sounds far better than admitting that you were a mistake. I should clarify that I am nothing more than an observer; my bias is as phantasmal as my existence. This is not my story to tell, yet it is mine, all the same.
By Ismael Ferro5 years ago in Horror
Instructions
Trevor chewed at his nails as the outside world started to take its form again. Stillness, as the whirring around him came to a halt. Voices began to echo through the carriage. Small talk, mostly.
By P. Rose5 years ago in Horror
The Little Boy and The Little Creature
It was dawn, and the first beams of sunlight began to glimmer over the rolling hills and flow through the curtains of the Little Boy's bedroom when he first began to stir. The sunlight kissed his rosy cheeks good morning and brought a delicate warm feeling to his heart. The Little Boy smiled to himself, rolled over to face away from the increasing brightness of the sun, and tried to regain some of that early morning comfort that came from being snuggled up in his bed. He quickly shifted back to face the sun and lightly blinked his eyes; his delicate eyelids fluttered softly in the early morning light, and he watched the sun rise higher into the sky. He wished he could stay in bed longer. Despite his desire to remain in bed, the sun was still exceptionally low when he left his bedroom to walk through the fields.
By Guillermo Jatzek5 years ago in Horror
Somebody is Always Watching
Somebody’s Always Watching “Ok, so what do we do with it?” Ah. So, that was our one million dollar question. Or, such was the case right now, the $20,000 question.
By Lindsay Dewolfe5 years ago in Horror
The Contest
I should have never entered that contest. I should have walked past the entry table and pretended never to have seen it. It ruined my life. I have lost everything. The love of my life. My family. My best friend........everything that mattered. All because of a random wish in a random contest at my local bank.
By Leslie Moore5 years ago in Horror
Would You Read My Book?
"You can't leave yet!" Cora shouted over the music. "It's only 11!" "I gotta study!" shouted Noel, tipping back the last of her Jack and coke. "Lame!" Cora rolled her eyes and hugged her friend goodbye. "I'll see you tomorrow." said Noel. She slipped on her jacket and made her way towards the exit.
By Sara Wilson5 years ago in Horror
Beware of the Black Book
As I sit at my desk trying to finish the last chapter of my novel," Coded Riddles," I eventually throw my hands up into the air, dropping my pencil just before I turn off my desk light to call it a night. After turning off my light, I stand up and walk over to my bed then sit down on the edge of the mattress. While sitting there, staring out my window in front of me, begin wishing; that I had a way to fix all of my problems, but realize there is no chance of that ever happening. I reach out in front of me to close my curtains, then turn around to stretch out on my bed, letting sleep take me.
By Amanda Nielsen5 years ago in Horror
The little black book.
It was Nancy's birthday. She was so excited, she couldn't wait for everyone to wake up. Her parents had just won the lottery, and she knew she would get exactly what she wanted, as they had more than enough money. She wanted à new phone, which costed about five hundred dollars. She waited, and waited, and waited. Nobody came to her room, when she left her room, nobody surprised her or said happy birthday. “Where is everyone..” she thought. She decided to go to her sisters room. “Tori!” she called from outside of the room. There was no answer. “Tori is always up early”, she thought. She cautiously stepped into tori's room. “Tori” she called, a little bit louder this time. Still no response. She looked around, but there was no tori. She decided that she must be hiding. “Jackson? Chase?” no response. “The twins must just be playing tricks on me” she decided. She slowly tiptoed down the hall to her parents room. (mom? Dad?) she asked quietly. “They must not have heard me..” she said to herself. (hello? Mom? dad?) she asked. No answer. She was starting to get worried. “Come one guys, cut it out! This isn't funny anymore! Where is everyone?!” she was almost screaming now. She barged into her parents room in search of them. Nobody. “Stop it! Where are you all!” she is crying now. She ran down the stairs and froze. There were two men she had never seen in her life. They were wearing all black and ski masks. She tried to move but couldn't. The men were holding her mothers most expensive vase, the money her parents just won, and her parents wedding rings. “Stop!” she yelled. They dropped everything, dropping the money in the process. They glanced at her for a moment before making the decision that she was no threat, and tossed her five dollars. She was angry, but they didn't seem to care. They continued to look for the most expensive things, and pushed Nancy into the basement, and then locked it. Nancy was scared, and started looking for anything of use. She found an old rusted crowbar and tried to pry the door open. She railed, and broke the old crowbar in the process. She started banging on the door, but it was no use. She wandered around the basement, tripping on thick cobwebs. She was very angry, and wishing that they didn't win the lottery. Everyone in the small town knew within two days, as there was only 100-150 people in the town. “20,000 is a lot in this small town” she said to nobody in particular. “If we never got that stupid money this wouldnt have happened!” she shouted. glancing around timidly and trying to think of something to help, she found nothing of use. she decided to occupy herself until help came. The neighbors would surely see two men leaving the house with all of their belongings. She searched for anything to do, and came across a little black book. “Hmm. I’ve never seen this before!” she thought. She started reading the little black book. She read the book for hours. It seemed so small at first glance, but it seemed to never end. Every chapter started with the name of a person. She got to the twenty first chapter, and saw something interesting. “This is the last owner of this house's name!” she thought aloud. She read the chapter, and it was all about her life. Birth to death. The odd thing was-- none of the chapters had any cause of death. At the end of each chapter all it said was ‘they went missing, never to me seen again’, or “they disappeared out of nowhere. They told nobody where they went, not even loved ones”. This was strange. She got to the twenty second chapter and her face went pale. “This is my families name.. ‘The mcarthurs’..” she was so scared about this, but also very intrigued. She did want to know where her family was, so she continued reading. It talked about each and every one of her family members that lived in this house. This chapter was different though. It didn't say that everyone went missing, it said there was only one left, and everyone else disappeared. She was shocked, but since this chapter was slightly different, she decided “it must tell me where they are.” She read for about ten miniutes, but it ended with her reading this chapter. She started to realize this wasnt a joke, as nobody could write in the book while she was reading it. She looked around the room, terrified. She ripped up the book so it could scare her no longer. After that, everything went black..
By Rhiannon5 years ago in Horror
More
“Hey babe, look at this!” My husband called out. I turned to see him wiggling a loose stone out of the wall. “Wow, What’s that?”
By Patience Godwin5 years ago in Horror
Germaine Street - Chapter One
It started as a smell. No, that’s too concrete a description, it started as a scent. Not quite perceptible but enough to set Kitty Rirsen’s concentration off track. She had been in the middle of prepping the whitetail chili when she began to, well, “notice” was perhaps putting it too strongly but something felt..off. The fine hairs that had run down her spine the last few days bristled unbidden, Kitty was glad that it wasn’t closer to the core days.
By Nick Rowley5 years ago in Horror