Tag: Horror

The Cask of Magnus

I step up and into the cabinet. Angela shuts the door behind me. She and my other three assistants spin the box. Slower, ladies. You want me to throw up in here? We rehearsed this trick hundreds of times. In rehearsal, it worked flawlessly. Naturally. This is our first live performance. If it goes as… Continue reading The Cask of Magnus

Desert Highway (a dream)

In the end, the most surprising thing about the video was that no two people ever remembered it the same. It was a modern-day Rorschach test. It was only three minutes and twelve seconds long, but people saw different things when they recounted what they had watched. One thing everyone agreed on was the video… Continue reading Desert Highway (a dream)

Wave Buddy 1000

What’s this? ‘The Wave Buddy 1000?’” he reads from the empty box on the kitchen island. “Did you buy more stuff we don’t need?” he says. He picks up the gadget’s thin instruction manual and skims it. She’s rooting around in the refrigerator. The gadget is a bowl-shaped, metallic mesh grid; he assumes it must… Continue reading Wave Buddy 1000

A House with Enough Space

“I need lots of space,” Trish had told me at our first meeting. I had to solve her problem. My reputation was on the line. I wanted to point out that if she bought a house with more space, she would fill it as well, and soon, she’d be looking to upsize again. But people’s… Continue reading A House with Enough Space

Descartes’ Darkness

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

What to Expect When You Can’t Remember a Meat

Drew warned me about the strange hunger pangs I’d have, but I didn’t think this was what she meant. She’d 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 any of this? The sonogram faces… Continue reading What to Expect When You Can’t Remember a Meat

The Seventh Word

“But it’s just seven words?” Carl sips his overpriced latte and leans back in his chair. We’re sitting in the corner at his favorite Starbucks. We always meet here. His beard is flecked with the foamy milk from his drink. Jesus, Carol. What did you see in this uncouth simpleton? “That’s right. Well, that’s what… Continue reading The Seventh Word

Gamer

I glanced at the poster. It hung on the front wall above the third of five large monitors. Each of the screens mirrored one of the five tournament player’s monitor in the room. I swiveled in my seat and saw three cameras. That’s weird. We were informed the tournament would not be televised. If it… Continue reading Gamer

The Ballroom Bubbleverse — Part 9

The Second Cycle. Bar East. I was very drunk by the time the end of the fourth hour loomed large before us. We all sat watching the stage from our table just inside Bar East. (We had equipped our ballroom with two bars, the other was Bar West, obviously.) Which was stupid. We forgot that… Continue reading The Ballroom Bubbleverse — Part 9

The Ballroom Bubbleverse — Part 8

I was sitting in my Jaguar, double-checking everything in my luggage. Doubts that I hadn’t anticipated were storming through my head. I never understood why or how I was invited to join Prospero Ballrooms, Inc. When I looked at the list of members, it was populated by people far wealthier than me. I was barely… Continue reading The Ballroom Bubbleverse — Part 8

The Ballroom Bubbleverse — Part 7

Chapter 2: Building a Bubbleverse. To understand the science behind bubbleverses, we must travel back in time to the year 2178. I can think of no better introduction than Schmidt’s article. An excerpt from that paper appears below. Frederick Smith, born Feb 28, 2117, died Sep 28, 2158. Smith’s main theory asserted that blood sacrifices unleashed… Continue reading The Ballroom Bubbleverse — Part 7

The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 6

–:–:– — / 0:28:10 BVST I grabbed Tommy by the sleeve and pulled him from the crowd. We made our way to the control room. I need to know. A desperate itch had landed, and I needed to see her. Tina had been in the ballroom before. I distinctly remembered it. Still, I wanted proof.… Continue reading The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 6

The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 5

–:–:– — / 0:24:57 BVST Maguire hurried toward the door. I jumped out and followed him out into the ballroom. A crowd had gathered by table 12.  With the engineer gone, I felt I was the one in charge. Whatever that meant.  “Coming through,” I said, injecting as much authority in my voice as I could… Continue reading The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 5

The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 4

–:–:– — / 0:03:19 BVST I put my head on the table and cried. The screams from the back were a wave of background music accompanying me. “Scott, have you seen the engineer?” Maguire’s voice jerked me back into the room. I rubbed my eyes and mentally replayed his question, demanding it to make sense.… Continue reading The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 4

The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 3

–:–:– — / 0:02:13 BVST I wanted to run out of the place, but then I remembered that alarming lack of anything at all beyond the windows. There’s nowhere to run! Frantic for some distraction, I picked up the envelope, ripped it open, and read. By that point, I’d put two and two together and… Continue reading The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 3