psychological
Mind games taken way too far; explore the disturbing genre of psychological thrillers that make us question our perception of sanity and reality.
When You Leave...
I have compared sitting in this hallway to a fair purgatory destination for the worst kind of people. A thick and almost nauseating stench of old oak, medicine, and sanitation cleansers waged war on my nasal cavity. The anxiety on this floor alone was enough all by itself.
By Yvette Couvson4 years ago in Horror
Thirst
A tiny ray of light hits my eye, pulling me from a terrible sleep. I turn my head towards the window and open my eyes. Another day. An even day. I look back to the sandstone brick next to my bed and dig my thumbnail into it. Today should be an X day. My fingertips graze over the other marks, twenty-four of them neatly marching along the same brick. Twelve of them with an ‘X’ hovering above. Every other day without fail. X days are the worst and best days all at once.
By Sarah DuPerron4 years ago in Horror
Forgotten Darkness
I had never thought about leaving my tiny coastal town, that was until I had met the man of my dreams. He always left for the winter for work as the paving season ended in Washington and was just beginning in Arizona. I had never gone along with him as I still had a daughter in high school. She had recently graduated and had gone off to university. This was the year I would finally accompany him for the winter. We took our time driving and spent 4 days driving and stopping at all the touristy places along the way. I instantly fell in love with the house he had down there. It was a little big for the both of us, but it had been in the family for a few generations now. I thought that my life was going in the direction I always wanted it to go. My kids were grown and successful in school, I had found the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with and I was loving every minute of it. I settled quickly into a nice routine just as I had at home. Then I realized that this was my home too. Jeff was gone for most of the day working and I had the time to get to know the little town I found myself in. I thought life couldn't get any better than this, boy was I ever wrong. One day while I was doing laundry the hose to the washer sprung a leak and was spraying all over behind it. I turned it off, unplugged it and dragged it away from the wall. As I was removing the hose so I could get a replacement, I noticed the water had been running down under the wall. It was gurgling and echoing as if there was a drain behind the wall, one that had to go down a long way by the sound of it. As I was trying to figure out how it was making that noise, I realized there was what looked like a small door that looked like it had been painted over many times. When Jeff got home I told him about what I had found. He had never known about the door and was just as curious as I was. So the next day while he was at work, I spent the day chipping the paint away until I cleared the door. It was nailed shut and I couldn't pry the nails out on my own. Jeff got home and pried the nails out for me and we took a peek inside. There was a set of stairs that led down into the darkness below. His family had owned the property since the mid to late 20s and not one of them had known about the door. His parents were as surprised as we were, saying they bought it from another mining family. The family they bought the place from sold it in a hurry and left town. The next day my curiosity got the best of me and I tried to get the door to open. There wasn't a knob or anything to get hold of to open it. The doorknob had been removed and filled in. So once again I had to wait for Jeff to get home. He drilled through the spot where the knob would have been and somehow pulled the door open. The smell that came out was so strong it made us gag and choke. Worried it was gas that had at one time killed several miners when they had broken through to gas pockets.
By Mysticpyrate4 years ago in Horror
Clock Out
The clock hits 9am. I meet my day with the familiar drone. The buzzes and whirs of clockwork movement encompasses me on all sides, the tipping and tapping of rhythmic typing provides the metronome to which I think. I sit at my desk, staring at the pulsating screen in front of me awaiting another day's influx of customer inquiries and complaints. I scour through the subjects of the first set of emails on my screen, categorizing them by the pre-prepared responses that I use to reply to them. I slowly read down:
By Connor Meakin4 years ago in Horror
What Lurks In Shadows
What, exactly, is it that scares us in the night? What is it that so totally envelops a person in shadowy darkness, reaching through the darkest corners of the mind, and pulls out monstrosities so real, so incredibly detailed and hideous? Is it our imagination, or is it perhaps a shred of a memory, long forgotten in the recesses of the human brain? Do we all have a basic distrust of the darkness? What is it that is hiding, right at this very moment, even mere feet away from you, as you squeeze your eyes shut, pulling the covers tighter to your chin, and tucking your feet carefully underneath the blanket, so as not to be exposed to some terribly clawed, foul demon? What could possibly be lurking outside, behind the old rusty shed, in the blanketed darkness that can't be illuminated by the low watt lightbulb on your porch, while you quickly and silently huff down a good old cigarette, the last before a fit of troubled dreams? Its eyes a sickly yellow, maybe, or perhaps its teeth sharp as a razor, one eye dark and bloodshot, the other missing, as with the rest of the skin on its face, claws rapping softly against the shed as a tree branch would do, lulling you into a false sense of security right before making its killer debut?
By Tatyana Tieken4 years ago in Horror
Death By Chocolate
Cole lurches awake in his kitchen with a skull-pounding headache. Gone was the peaceful dream of his mother pulling out a chocolate birthday cake from the oven. It feels like a thousand needles are jamming his eyes as he peels them open, still smelling chocolate cake. As his eyes adjusted to the bright lights, the outline of a petite girl standing by the oven emerged.
By Britt Blomster 4 years ago in Horror
Pine Tree Camp Part Three: A Family Affair
Red silky ribbons cut into my sore wrists, Todd was snoring next to me. Darkness covered us like a blanket, except for a single spotlight. A damn crook had found us in the middle of the night. My mind had a decent idea who it was. Todd jerked awake whacking his head on the metal pole behind us.
By Brittany Mitchell4 years ago in Horror
Not a Doll
“Damn it!” I shouted, rattling the steel cage around me. “Let me out damn it!” The cold metal handcuffs cut into my wrists, red marks forming on my pale skin. Only a black lacy bra and dusty underwear covered my hourglass figure. Snarls tangled my long purple wavy hair, my copper eyes stinging from the bright light of a single headlight. A red light blinked back at me, telling me that I was being watched. Terror widened my eyes as a deep gruff voice rang in my ears.
By Brittany Mitchell4 years ago in Horror
Accountability
The forum sat silent, waiting on baited breath for the results to be announced. Then over the loudspeaker the voice claimed 78 Yea, 22 Nay. In that moment deep throated cheers erupted. There were celebratory pats on the shoulders and backs of the colleagues. Hand over handshakes became normal. The countless hours of personal deals, negotiations, threats, blackmail and promises was about to financially pay off for the statesmen. They have approved another war under the pretense of peace. The utter word of peace could give them the power to achieve whatever they desired.
By Elena Vella4 years ago in Horror
