urban legend
Urban legends have captivated us from ancient eras to the modern day; a deep dive into scary lore and 'could be true' tales about Bigfoot, Slender Man, the Suicide Forest and beyond.
Pears can satisfy you
Grandpa Earl’s submarine was now being pulled into the dark depths of the ocean, by the mysterious sea creature of the frozen lake. A creature he had encountered a few years before, when it took his beloved dog Olly and killer whale Willy. Since this incident, grandpa had been returning to the frozen lake, fishing, searching and waiting for Olly and Willy to return. This winter, he took his granddaughters, Annie and Lucy and family animal, Beethoven a Saint Bernard, Lucifer a Persian cat and Fufu, an Arabian horse joined him. Now facing the ocean with a guiding light from the head of the submarine, it was pitched black and an area where whales, dolphins and sharks do not go. ‘Can you see anything?’ asked Lucy to her grandfather, ‘not too sure’ grandpa replied, who was carefully steering and being alert. ‘You never know what is in these waters’ he replied concerningly. Suddenly, a big crack happened on the glass, luckily the glass was unbreakable, it just bounced back into shape. ‘Woof woof, what was that?’ asked Beethoven, leaning on the glass, just as Grandpa was about to answer, a giant anglerfish crashed into the glass of the submarine again, it had big sharp teeth, a see-through body with a big lightbulb dangling from its forehead, which was now shining on the submarine. ‘Ahhhh!’ screamed the girls, ‘hide, hide, hide’ shouted Annie, who ran to hide under the pillows with Beethoven. ‘It’s okay girls, it won’t hurt us’, replied grandpa, who was fascinated at how big the anglerfish was. ‘I want to eat it! It’s a fish! cried Lucifer, as he said this, the anglerfish continued to bit the submarine, ‘Meowwww yelp!’ who quickly dashed under the sofa, after seeing enormous teeth. ‘I believe it’s hungry grandpa replied, releasing something into the water, to make the anglerfish stop biting the submarine. ‘Is that a puurr tree purr purr’? asked Lucifer, who had crawled back out with his paws up against the glass, ‘it sure is a pear tree Lucifer, replied Grandpa Earl giving Lucifer a pat on the head. ‘I have been planting these trees in my garden, continued grandpa, ‘and looks like I had left some in the boat, since they’ve grown quickly. ‘I was reading about the amazing effects they have on the soil, but pears are made from water, irrigation and rainfall’. ‘Fascineeighting’ neighed Fufu, ‘I love pears’, she added, who confidently was dragging a bag of pears from the storeroom and began eating them all’. ‘I actually have a bag of the pears on the boat’ Grandpa continued, and then realised Fufu was eating them. Releasing more pear trees to try and satisfy the anglerfish’s appetite, who eventually let out a loud burp and swam away. Grandpa Earl kept steering the boat and watching attentively out of the submarine, curious to find out where the pink sea creature disappeared too.
By Frances Helena4 years ago in Horror
Lake Pelko
They say there's a ghost out on Lake Pelko. You wouldn’t find the lake on a map; but it's just outside of town, where the main road forks. To the left is the highway, the daily commuters driving out to the city every weekday around eight in the morning and coming back the same way around six o'clock every night.
By Sean Anderson4 years ago in Horror
The Clearing
Caitlin startles awake with a gasp. Her body is gripped in a cold sweat. Heart still racing, she grips her oversized t-shirt at her chest, willing the beats to slow. She rubs her eyes with her palms as she grounds herself in reality. She takes a deep inhale and slowly lets it out. The nightmares have been relentless since Patrick went missing. Most nights she is lucky to get even 4 hours of sleep. Caitlin glances at the clock glowing red on her nightstand. 4:53am. Up before the sun once again. She slides out of bed and places her feet firmly on the chilled wooden floor. The old wood creaks as it adjusts to her weight. She wonders how many memories wood this old has seen.
By Madison Maddox4 years ago in Horror
The Death of Ithaqua
I still remembered the way Sarah looked at me when I killed her twin brother. She seemed—happy. Her mouth turned into a smile as I sank my dagger into his chest. I remember the cold of that day and my shivering hands as I released the blade from the wound. I could never forget her smile.
By Xavier de la Cruz 4 years ago in Horror
The mystery of the frozen lake
Winter approached quickly, and this excited a little girl named Annie, because the lake near her house, would become frozen for her to skate on. But what she enjoyed most about winter, was spending time with her Grandpa Earl. The ice had always created a smooth lake, surrounded by forests with white snow. This snow covered the village below the hilltop and the hill above, Annie had an older sister, named Lucy who didn’t enjoy winter as much, because it brought sad memories a Portuguese Water Dog named Olly, who belonged to her grandfather. She heard stories from her grandfather, about a mysterious sea creature, who lived under the lake. A sea creature no one had seen, but had taken Olly from the boat that when they were fishing. Grandpa Earl, encountered a monster two years ago which lived beneath the ice, taking his long-life friend Olly, who had silky black curls from head to toe. The lake connects through the village creating a river, which flows down into the ocean from the top of the hill, located in Portorosso, Italy. In summer, the hilltop looks over the beach and the village. Annie and her family lived on the hill on their farm, with a lake at the back of their house. Annie was the only one who hadn’t heard the story of Olly. Annie and Lucy’s parents created a farmhouse many years ago before they were born, which stretches over a few acres before the forest.
By Frances Helena4 years ago in Horror
A Christmas Massacre
S. Hileman 8/18/2021 Pear Tree Challenge “...and a partridge in a pear treeeeeeeeee!” Sally sang with real joy for the first time that day. The 12 days of Christmas was a crowd pleaser at the Oakridge Mall, and they ended every shift with it. Sally had been an elf for the night shift mall Santa for two weeks, and already she had begun to hate carols, candy canes and kids. The money was good though, so she showed up on time, and put on the red and green tights and the stupid hat with annoying bells on it. She forced a smile for six straight hours, six days a week. She’d already been spoken to by Randall, the fat bastard playing Santa, for not being ‘jolly enough’. Another couple weeks and she could tell Randall that he sucked, his ho ho ho’s were mediocre and most of the kids were frightened by him. She’d also tell him to get a life, since some days she was convinced that he really believed he was St. NIck. Earlier today some girl of six or seven was chatting up the fat fuck about American Girl Dolls, when suddenly she coughed once and puked all over his synthetic polyester Santa pants. Sally had to stifle the blast of laughter that threatened to burst out of her. She grabbed at some paper towels and feigned concern for Randall, but what she was really thinking was she ought to buy that kid the fucking doll because she had just earned it.
By S. Hileman Iannazzo4 years ago in Horror
The Man in Red
The cul-de-sac had all the hallmarks of life and prosperity. Trees swayed in their green finery, their leaves twisting and catching the shimmering rays of a sun that had nearly reached its peak over the idyllic subdivision on the east side of town. A cool spring wind caught itself in the branches, and pushed along an armada of clouds like plump ships sailing through a sky as blue as Caribbean waters. Bob white quails whistled questioningly from their perches, and the occasional grackle trilled and chirped right alongside them. Squirrels tittered in a manic rush, as they fought each other for acorns, or sweet tree sap, or the swelling buds of trees. It was that perfect, lotus-eater time of day, when the elderly napped, and perhaps the dreamy drone of a lawnmower somewhere in the distance was the only evidence that people were present.
By Kruse Christopher4 years ago in Horror
Duat
Dark. Black. Beautiful. I’d never seen stars like this in my life. Well I guess I take that back; I’ve seen plenty of night skies like this in movies, magazines, perhaps even in my dreams. But this was some real-life stuff. The sky was the blackest black I’d ever witnessed, with thousands of bright twinkling stars that only my measly human eye could pick up on. I was laying in the soft harsh sand and I was freezing. But freezing didn’t really matter – I was going to die soon anyways. I squished the sand between my fingers. I guess this was a good way to die. The Sahara Desert would consume me, and I’d always be carried in her belly as a late-night snack. Maybe millions of years from now, an archaeologist would dig me up and frown in disappointment at my fossilized bones. Only human.
By Abigail Brokaw4 years ago in Horror
