Darkness so complete it erases all memories of light. I grow anxious. Am I blind? I try opening my eyes. But something feels wrong. I reach to touch my face, and the unworldly otherness that results is so overwhelming that I forget all about touching my eyes. Am I paralyzed? And blind? Where am I?… Continue reading Descartes’ Darkness
Category: dread
The Dandelion and the Hammer
The patrol car hadn’t even come to a complete stop when the sheriff pushed open the door, and then, like a magic trick, he was out of the car and standing beside it, the flashing lights still running. His deputy reached past him and killed the engine. “Ain’t this something? What is this, Carl? The… Continue reading The Dandelion and the Hammer
Descartes Conundrum
The limits of thinking I wave my hands in front of the Daniel-thing’s face again. Nothing. Its eyes are open, but it’s not seeing me, not seeing anything. I thought he’d had a seizure; when I checked for a pulse or breathing I found neither. And then there was the stuff with my… Continue reading Descartes Conundrum
An Ugly Chair
Ordinary horror in the mundane The chair sits awkwardly in the shallow corner between the fireplace and the patio door (it’s a small apartment), shrouded under an ugly brown, queen-sized blanket I bought years ago on my way to a meditation retreat. That year we had a bitterly cold winter, and the retreat center was old… Continue reading An Ugly Chair
Stories by Shawn 