June 2022 Flash Challenge, Day 21 “I need lots of space,” Trish had told me at our first meeting. I wanted to point out to her that if she bought a house with more space, she would fill it as well, and in three years, she’d be looking to upsize again. Still, people’s foibles and… Continue reading A House with Enough Space
Category: Horror
A Helluva Deal
June 2022 Flash Challenge, Day 19 I am running too fast to stop, but even as I take my second step into the street, I can see I’m not going to make it across in time. Oh, no. Not again. CRACK!! The pain in my leg explodes and demands all the attention I have now… Continue reading A Helluva Deal
B.Y.O.S.L.
June 2022 Flash Challenge, Day 18 Bring Your Own Sacrificial Lamb, the Lambda Nu frat poster said in oversized bold letters. The party was for members and pledges only, their final blowout bash of pledge week, held in an abandoned lyceum under a buttery full moon. For their final party, before judging which pledges made… Continue reading B.Y.O.S.L.
Donated to Science
June 2022 Flash Challenge, Day 17 Why did I drop that damn gun? Occasionally a few grains of coffee will get in my eyes or a splash of water from the fill tank. I have only the loosest perception of light through the white plastic enveloping me, enclosing my head. They say the brain has… Continue reading Donated to Science
What to Expect When You Can’t Remember a Meat
June 2022 Flash Challenge, Day 11 Drew warned me about the strange hunger pangs I’d have, but I don’t think this is what she meant. She’s had three children. I only wanted one, but it looks like I’m getting two. It’s twins for me. Identical, at least that’s what they think. How can they know… Continue reading What to Expect When You Can’t Remember a Meat
A Forgetful Infernal
June 2022 Flash Challenge, Day 10 There’s power in knowing a name. Ironic that there would be power in forgetting one’s name. Sometimes I forget my name. All demons must answer when called by their true name. At least that is the case if the sorcerer, magician, or priest is competent. I’d been in the… Continue reading A Forgetful Infernal
Glitch Mendelsohn
June 2022 Flash Challenge, Day 9 I hurry my pace and steal a glance behind me. Damn it. They’re still there, the three teenage boys following me. Again, I allowed myself to forget that I’m an eighteen-year-old girl. What is my name this time? The body might be 18, but its rider is much older.… Continue reading Glitch Mendelsohn
Blythe
June 2022 Flash Challenge, Day 6 It is surprising how much misinformation the media and books have regarding monsters. The idea that the only way to kill a werewolf is with a silver bullet? Laughable nonsense. Or that vampires can’t go out in the sunlight? Silly and baseless. Most of them don’t like being in… Continue reading Blythe
Papa
June 2022 Flash Challenge, Day 3 Uncle Kenny never rises before noon on the camping trips. So far now, it’s just me, Cheryl, Adam, and dad, finishing our breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast. The cool air and the smokey smell usually make me feel giddy in the mornings. That isn’t the case this morning.… Continue reading Papa
Gamer
June 2022 Flash Challenge, Day 1 I glance again at the poster on the front wall. It hangs above the third of five large-screen monitors. Each gamer has a second screen that mirrors what is on their monitor. I swivel behind me and see three cameras sitting at the back of the room. If it… Continue reading Gamer
Leaving the Cul-de-Sac
Escaping my sanctuary I glance out the window by my reading chair and my eye floats to the end of the street where the long flatbed truck lays on its side and to the ruined minivan that sits flush against it, gently touching bumpers and the sun sparkling on the dewy grass and… Continue reading Leaving the Cul-de-Sac
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
Desert Highway
In the end, the most surprising thing about the video was how no two people ever remembered it the same; it was a modern-day Rorschach test. It was only three minutes twelve seconds long, but people saw different things when they recounted what they had watched. One thing almost everyone agreed upon was the video… Continue reading Desert Highway
Inflatable Santa
Horror Flash Fiction The neighborhood was quieter now. Folks felt guilty when they accidentally found themselves enjoying the calm. Eleven in three weeks. That’s how many children had disappeared. The inflatable Santa, magically moving from yard to yard, each morning in a different place. A prank. One that Larry or possibly Eileen had started years… Continue reading Inflatable Santa
Brian Finds a Journal
30-Day Flash Challenge, Day 24 June 1, 2021 It was a Tuesday, and I was running late. The subway broke, so it wasn’t really my fault, except that it was, and it had happened before. My manager and I agreed (more she than I) that I would allow for such happenings by showing… Continue reading Brian Finds a Journal
Buster’s Business
30-Day Flash Challenge, Day 23 At first, I had thought gravity stopped working. Slowly the details of what had happened come into focus. I was driving, and then my truck became airborne; I remember screams, pumping the brakes, then landing with a crash, and then? I must have blacked out. When I came to, I… Continue reading Buster’s Business
Mr. Bojangles
30-Day Flash Challenge, Day 21 “We got another two reports, like yesterday, Sheriff,” Suzy says. “Give me a second here, Suz. I’m not even in the door yet,” I say, shaking the snow off my coat. There go my dreams for a slow, uneventful day. This town is nothing once the college kids… Continue reading Mr. Bojangles
Monolith 5 – Wendy’s Well Part 2
30-Day Flash Challenge, Day 20 Other monolith stories I’ve written: Monolith Monolith 2 Monolith 3 – Tammy’s Choice Monolith 4 – Many Miles Away Monolith 5 – Wendy’s Well Part 1 (the prequel to this story) “Yes, sir, the stairs just sort of went away. I can’t explain it any better, Sheriff. I’m… Continue reading Monolith 5 – Wendy’s Well Part 2
A Tea Party in Hell
30-Day Flash Challenge, Day 19 This is the third story in a series. Charlie Bennett SIRIRI The prince of the third level of hell preferred to hold his tea parties in a different place. That was why today, he was on the second level. The screaming and agonizing and endless complaints from the tortured made… Continue reading A Tea Party in Hell
Mirrors 3
30-Day Flash Challenge, Day 13 Hold it up sternly! See this it sends back! (Who is it? Is it you?) Walt Whitman, A Hand-Mirror At first, it was just a campaign of rumors. At least that’s what most folks told themselves. Some misinformation spread for some reason or another. But then, after enough… Continue reading Mirrors 3
Stories by Shawn 