psychological

Mind games taken way too far; explore the disturbing genre of psychological thrillers that make us question our perception of sanity and reality.

The Grip of Aunt Mae
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. My great Uncle Charlie brought it up when my mom sent me over with some summer corn. I put two paper bags full down on his kitchen table.
By Esme Sommer4 years ago in Horror
Regale Me, O' Sweet Death
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Its milk-colored wax evaporated and flowed through the dank air of this forgotten place. It brought no sweet smells to drive away the pungent stank of rotting wood, but it carried something within itself that was not from this world.
By Equilla Beasley4 years ago in Horror
The Christmas Cabin
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. The number of years it had been unvisited were exactly thirty as of this year, Molly thought to herself. Her family had not returned to their vacation home after the accident on Christmas night. Molly only vaguely remembered the details through her then seven year old lens. She struggled to close the back hatch on the SUV, her arms full of grocery bags. The flood light finally kicked on after some weaving to and fro in front of the steps. She gasped, taking in the full view of how much of a toll time had taken on the place. “Blow that candle out Trent! You’re going to burn the place down,” she shouted playfully to her husband who was already inside. “I don’t think I’m getting as much as we thought for this place,” Molly expressed with a half-hearted sigh as she entered. Trent nodded in agreement and inquired about turning on the fuse box. She pointed to the basement and got to work unpacking some of the dry goods by flashlight. Molly had recently been burdened with having to sell the cabin and the several acres of land it came with in lieu of her father’s passing and was visiting to take some pictures for the realtor.
By Hannah Baker4 years ago in Horror
When Static Speaks
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Hailey Winston, an 18-year-old freshman at Fredrickson University, had lit it with trembling hands just minutes before. She stood in the middle of the room, staring out at the shadows that pooled just outside the candle’s weak flame. The threadbare, moth-eaten curtains shook and trembled in the breeze and the old wood creaked as she tried to face whatever lurked in the darkness without shaking. In her sweaty palm, she clutched the handle of a knife. Her heart pounded, but she refused to let her guard drop for even a moment. Finally, after a handful of excruciating seconds, she opened her mouth and began to chant, her tongue stumbling over the unfamiliar Latin words. Exsurge a mortuis et iterum ambula inter homines. After she had recited the phrase a dozen times, she fell suddenly silent. Every muscle in her body tensed as she waited. Moments passed, each one more slowly than the last. Despite how hard she was straining to listen, she still wasn’t ready when she heard it, a sound normally so unremarkable magnified a thousand times by the heavy quiet of the forest that surrounded it. The distinct snap of a brittle branch crushed underfoot. It was at that moment, with fear heightening her every sense, that she realized –
By Louisa Maine4 years ago in Horror
BINGO
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Jack stared at it, his gaze drifting to the rest of the dilapidated cabin. The place used to belong to Staff Sergeant Derrick Richardson, and since the Staff Sergeant didn’t have any kin left, he passed it on to the last surviving member of Romeo squad, which just so happened to be Jack. He’d been to the cabin before as the squad often came together between deployments, and in some regards, knew the place better than his apartment in the city. With the cabin in his possession only, no one should’ve been able to get in.
By Jonas Liew4 years ago in Horror
Red Room
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. I've been to this place before, Timothy muttered to himself. He had mud in his teeth. His clothes were soaked from the dew of the cool summer night grass. Branches had cut open his face, and a salty taste lay in his mouth.
By C.V. Thomas4 years ago in Horror
Lullabye on Repeat
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. She waited for a sign of life, a shadow, a shift of a curtain. She waited for an hour. Nothing. She looked at the clock, 11:11pm, her parents were not due to come home for at least another hour. She had waited what felt like a lifetime. She was also aware of what would happen the moment she set a single toe out the door, without their permission first. The cabin was close enough to run to, yet distant enough that there was plenty of room for error. She knew they set the alarms before they left. She knew they would be watching her just as they would if they were here. But she had a plan, she’d waited years for tonight.
By Gemma Kinden4 years ago in Horror
Wood Rot
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. When Ramona entered through the front door, it was only with the thought of that candle. The night had begun with a heavy quietness, but her arrival brought about wood-rot whispers, urgently asking for her attention; she heard her name breathed out through tattered curtains, heard requests for her that reached out from forgotten floorboards.
By A. Lenae4 years ago in Horror
Terrified. Two Nights of my Short Life.
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. The group of us, myself Lenny, and Amy, Kayla and Jon were out doing our usual - wandering the back forest behind our run-down project building. Lenny noticed the faint light first, the rest of us thinking he was just pulling our leg as usual; the proverbial prankster. As we all peered closer to the abandoned cabin indeed there was a candle burning in the window. "What the...." we all said in unison.
By Amy Roseler4 years ago in Horror
Lets Play/Dolly
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. I’d never seen anyone in there before, it was always abandoned, if anything, the only use nowadays was kids using it to hang out and smoke or drink.
By Lauren Sinead Stockdale4 years ago in Horror
Conscious Shadows
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. I was merely on the walk back to my house as this caught my peripherals. I turned away and tried to just ignore it, but couldn’t help but pick up pace a little bit. A shiver ran up my spine. Nobody was usually in these woods, that’s why I bought my house out here. I hurried down the trail, running from the prickling sensation that someone was watching me.
By Dawn Constant 4 years ago in Horror
Don't cheat death.
I wake up excited for my 8th grade class photo. I get ready as fast as I can and as I'm running out the door to my bus stop I yell goodbye to my mom. My excitement for the class photo was overwhelming and seemed to make the school day fly by. Once the last bell rang I ran outside to search for my friends. The class picture was being taken on the steps at the back of the school that faces a field where the playground is for the younger classes. Everyone in my grade was finding their friends and choosing their steps to sit on for the picture. Once I found my friends we sat down and waited impatiently for the principal to take our picture. She finally started asking us to quiet down so we could hear her count down so my friends and I started to get into the poses we wanted to for the picture. I sat in the middle of my two best friends so I chose to put my arms around both of them and just smile. The principal started counting down but just before she got to one there was an explosion from underneath us. The stairs were turned to rubble and I could see my best friends go flying before landing on the hard concrete. They were both unconscious, and so were most of the other students in my class. Some were screaming in pain from losing limbs or being crushed by the rubble the stairs became. Some were being burned by flames that came from the ground and caught their clothes on fire.
By Ashard 964 years ago in Horror