My sister Sally and I stood in our grandmother’s darkening living room staring at the wall. Staring at the painting to be exact. The Blue Boy by Thomas Gainsborough or as I referred to it Nightmare Fuel. Our mother used to send us to our grandmother Rose’s house every summer. We loved our grandmother, but we hated that painting. It hung above the TV directly across from the couch and the two chairs that bookended it. Ther...
We all make poor life choices. Mine just happens to be pizza. You’d think working at the nostalgia-laden Wally World would be a dream come true. Maybe for kid me, with all the arcade games that spat out tickets like confetti, ball pits, and colorful characters straight from a children’s book, it was. I used to wrap myself up in tickets like a mummy when I won big, then walk proudly down the soda-stained carpet like royalt...
In retrospect, it wasn't the wisest final sentence to yell at my boyfriend as I kicked him out of the flat: "If I ever see you or that…" I floundered for the right word, "hussy again, I'll kill you both." The front door slammed behind him, a whirlwind of disturbed particles danced in his wake, illuminated by the nearby desk lamp. They began to settle as his footsteps receded, my shaking hand pressed hard against the back...
Present day Ron – the closest thing I had to a friend in school – had disappeared. That's not all. It was much worse than the simple disappearance of one boy. Much worse, trust me. What's left of their families still seek answers, but they won't find any – only I know what really happened. A pity no one believes me. Oh … wait. Shame on me for jumping ahead. I've been somewhat stressed, you see. The events of my childhood...
“I really despise this couch. Everything about it. You need to get a new one, or I’ll stop coming to these little chats.” “Focus, Daniella,” the therapist’s voice is low and colorless, like a forced kind of calming. “You were going to tell me about that night in the village, please, let’s just stick to talking about what happened that night.” Daniella fidgets, her lithe frame squirming as if her tattoo-covered skin is cra...
It was around 10 p.m. when a lone car careened down the empty rural road, engine growling, disrupting the peace of a lonely night. Its headlights ploughed through the darkness ahead as it angrily chewed up the centre lines along the road, then spewed them out in the rear, back into the nothingness trailing in its wake. Reggie Morton sat in the driver’s seat of the Corolla, leaning forward, his fingers closed so tightly ar...
Spooky people come out to play.This is now your special day.Scare the other folks away.Spooky people play! Monster people come out to dance,Tonight will be your perfect chance.Caper, spin, stomp, and prance!Monster people dance! Witch-y people grab your broom,Soar up through the twilight gloom,Past the stars you're going to zoom,Witch-y people zoom! Halloween people this is your night,Grab some candy, cause some fright,Wi...
Barry hadn’t committed a crime for over twenty five years. Surely that was long enough to let things go, let the past swallow up his misdeeds? Enough time to move on. Standing by the front door, he held the handle in his clammy shaking fingers, gulping for air as his breakfast threatened to reappear on the stained carpet at his feet. When he’d woken up that morning, he’d been so sure he could do it, take that first step o...
A group of twelve strangers, RAP, RAP at the door, disturbs my comfortable snooze on the floor. My mistress sweeps through dragging her gown, a tall pointed hat fits tight on her crown. With a rattle of broomsticks the cackling coven, place a large cauldron on top of the oven. As I peek with one eye, a three legged toad, was placed in the microwave, and made to explode. A tail of a dog and the ears of a bat, were put in t...
