365 Short Horrors

I want to start out by saying that what I'm about to tell you changed my life in the worst possible way. It was a day guided by curiosity that ended in pure torment. It all started when I saw my neighbor, Mr. Morris, checking his mailbox. It was nothing out of the ordinary for him to do so, as he did it every day, even days he knew the mail was never delivered. He'd often show a look of disappointment when he saw his mailbox empty. Today, however, something was definitely off with him. Perhaps it was the way he carried himself as he walked to his mailbox. Perhaps it was the blank look on his face with eyes darting from side to side in a paranoid fashion that drew my attention. No matter what it was, something was definitely off. He checked his mailbox like normal, but when he saw nothing inside, he didn't react at all. Instead, he closed his mailbox with a blank unchanging face and made his way back to his front door. I turned back from the window when his eyes quickly d...

T he streetlight over my head flickered, not enough for it to block my vision for a few moments, yet just enough to be noticeable. I looked up at it for a moment from the park bench I was seated at before turning my gaze back to the road. I was awaiting a bus for to take me back home. I deeply regretted what I'd done and needed to make some sort of a getaway. I figured what could be more inconspicuous than a simple bus ride. I'd even left my car behind to seem less suspicious of any wrong doing. You might be wondering what it is I could've done that was so monstrously horrible. Let me take you back to the beginning. I had been researching serial killers for a while now. Finding out the way they grew up having an affect on how or why they killed was always one of the most interesting parts. I loved seeing the images that came from the aftermath of the deaths and their long lists of victims and how they were able to get away with it for so long. The interesting way they...

H ave you ever been so creeped out by something that it peaks your curiosity? Something so dark that the questions it brings about brings some sort of forbiddeness that you have to chase it to the end to see what unfolds? This recently happened to me at a local subway station. I was awaiting my train to take me to work. I found myself lost in the crowd of people as I attempted to make my way onboard the train just before it departed the station. Eventually, just before the doors closed on me, I got on. I was lucky enough to find a seat close to the window that looked outward to the station I had just escaped from. In looking out I noticed something odd. There was this balding old man in stained grey clothes that appeared to not have been washed for a week. He stared forward toward the train, unblinking with a bored look drawn upon his face. His eyes moved quickly to meet mine and felt the urge to look away, however I was unable to. The train started moving, forcing his gaze to retu...

D o you believe in ghosts? I never did. Any time I'd turn on a horror movie, I'd see the ghosts making things move in the night, watching the people sleep, killing them. I used to be terrified by the idea, but I've seen so much horror I am now less than amused when a jump scare happens. When my family moved to this new house, Nothing was good from the start. The first thing that happened was my mom started hallucinating that our late father was in our rooms as kids, telling us to eat the pink stuff in the walls. Then a few years later, she swore up and down that there was someone watching her sleep at night. We'd often stay the night with her but nothing would ever happen. She said we made her feel safe. After my brothers and I started sixth grade, my little brother, Travis, started coughing up blood. But it would only happen when he was in his room. He's since gotten better. And above all, the weirdest thing about this house was that our dad had secretly been p...

I stood in pitch blackness. I opened and closed my eyes, but saw no difference between the two. I took a careful step forward and felt my foot meeting a cold, probably cemented, floor. I had no idea where I was. The last thing I remembered was a dream I was having where I was visited by some ghosts, Christmas Carol style. I fell hard on the ground and did that thing where you fall in your dream and shake yourself awake. Only what I had awaken in was darkness. I continued to carefully step forward, putting my arms out in hopes I might feel a wall, or another person. I walked forward some more when a dark blue mist started to appear. I was finally able to make out a slight silhouette of my hands in front of me. I felt a hint of joy in knowing that my eyes truly were open. And that this smoke had to lead somewhere. Possibly a way back home? I could hear a noise in the distance, it sounded like someone's voice calling out. As I made my way closer to the sound, the room I was in ga...

F inding out my son was a serial killer was probably the hardest thing I've ever hear as a mother. I knew Thomas had been secretive, but seeing on the news before receiving a phone call that my son had died trying to kill his latest victim was soul crushing. I somehow had to deal with the loss of a child while at the same time I wanted to yell at him to no end for what he did. Emotionally, I didn't know what to feel, grief or disgust. The later reported the way he killed his victims was using household objects and turning them into weapons. I remembered he used to build amazing things using junk he found around the house. He was always so creative. I remember one day he had trouble getting something apart. Since we wouldn't let him use tools, as he wasn't old enough, he'd use things around his room to form a screwdriver in order to fix things. He was always resourceful. Not too long after his death, we were told we could go through and take what we wanted from h...

I t was beginning to look a lot like Christmas, yet all I felt at the moment was complete distaste for everything I saw. The blinking Christmas lights wrapped around a house with such delicate precision. It appalled me to find people being so obsessed with a holiday that they'd happily waste their time for a single, average night of the year. The Christmas music was another thing that bothered me tremendously. Why must so many people do so many covers of Christmas songs we've heard a million times? There is no single version of the songs that stand out over the others. It's just one thing I wish so dearly the world understood, there's no reason to go all out for a single holiday. Well, besides Halloween, that's the one holiday everyone should celebrate instead. The night of Christmas Eve, I was working toward falling asleep in my bed when I heard a knocking at my bedroom door. I checked my phone to see that it was ten at night. Who would be here at this hour? An...

I was never usually one for traveling during the holidays, but since my brother had decided to host Christmas dinner at his place, I figured I might as well go. After the long year we've all had, I figured my brother would be more than happy to have company over. I know I certainly missed my family.  It was early in the morning when I decided to start heading out. The sun had barely had a chance to awaken the sky before I got in my car and drove off. I lived almost a full state away, so leaving early only made sense if I wanted to be there before dinner would start.  I drove for several hours, often switching between radio stations when I got too bored with the songs playing. After a few hours had passed, in order to keep myself awake, I figured I might as well talk on the phone with a friend of mine. I pressed a button on my main console and told it to call Meghan. It began to ring her.  Meghan was my best friend since high school. We'd often braid each others' ha...

W hen I announced my retirement, my boss and co-workers couldn't have been happier. Some people joked that the office would be less stressful without me, while others appeared saddened by the news. I knew the person who sat in the cubicle next to me would miss me. She and I would often have these great side conversations every day. She was a sweet middle aged woman. Eagerly, my co-workers, as well as myself, awaited the day when I'd finally leave. I'd get the same question asked of me at least once every day I worked, "What are you going to do when you retire?" I'd always respond with, "I'm going to live in a cabin in the middle of the woods and settle down, away from the busy noises of the world." I knew I was looking forward to it. I had the cabin purchased and everything. I'd been saving up for it for a while. I decided that I would finally retire once I had the place paid off, that way I wouldn't have to worry about all my retirem...

E lectronics not working is often a common occurrence. But what do you typically do when it stops? Are you the kind of person who will throw it out and buy one that's newer and runs far better than your previous one? Perhaps you're the kind of person who would much rather take it upon yourself to open it up and see what you can do to fix it. I'm one of the latter. My profession for quite some time was being an electrician. I've done various things from fixing faulty wiring for people, to a computer that refuses to turn on, to my personal favorite, taking apart a piece of technology that is old and rusty, cleaning it up, and making it run once again as if it was never previously used. I often took pride in my work, knowing that every single piece of technology in my possession came out far better than when it came in. My son's gaming console, the Z-Cube, had stopped working. He gave it to me and I told his pouty little face that I would fix it. He said it refused...

I t was beginning to look a lot like Christmas. There was snow all over the ground, children running around and playing in it. I saw one family building a snowman together. I saw another family making small forts and throwing snowballs at each other from behind them, before ducking down to make sure they didn't get hit. There was so much laughter and joy that it would be difficult to hold anything but a smile on your face. I turned away from the window when I saw my phone light up, I'd gotten a text from my sister. She asked if I had everything ready for Christmas. They weren't coming to my place, not with it looking the way it does right now. We were supposed to be going to her place for Christmas. I asked her about that, only to be told that she's having her place renovated and that someone else had already apparently confirmed it with me. I told her nobody had. She only told me to get my place ready for Christmas, she'll worry about the food. I hurried put as...

S treaming was something I'd been wanting to do since I'd started making YouTube videos a few years back. The main kind of videos I made were news reports, where I'd read from a news article and talk about it for a few minutes. I loved the idea of my viewers receiving news from an unbiased source. It was difficult to make videos for a while when the pandemic hit and my views plummeted, leaving me without a platform for which to profit off of. Eventually, I joined an app that allowed me to talk to new people. It was one of the only social media apps out there that was still new enough to not be overrun by boys flooding the the messages of every woman on the app with pictures of their unmentionables. It was nice to actually mingle online with people after many long months of very little social interaction. On the app, I eventually ran into a woman about my age that shared the same interests in me as far is horror and videogames and world views. We had many late nights of ...

M y best friend was always a little deranged. For every occasion, he would find a way to scare us to make him laugh. But the scares weren't like jumping up behind someone to scare them, it was instead like putting a dead animal in your car and laughing hysterically when you uncovered it. He would always happily pull these jokes on us for a cheap laugh. Today was going to be the day when I would get the last laugh. I had a little trick up my sleeve for the Christmas party at work tonight. I truly couldn't wait to see his face twist in horror when he sees what I got him. Here they were now, everyone walking into the building, anticipating the gift giving and belly stuffing and intermixing alcohol that the night had in store for them. I waited in my car, staking out when my special friend would arrive. Finally, he did, pulling up in his musty old truck. It roared the clunky tune of a machine on its last legs. He pulled up next to me when he saw me sitting inside. His car t...

W hen my best friend and I got into a small disagreement, I didn't think all that much of it afterward. When he and I fought, it didn't really end in much besides us stepping away from each other for a few hours before reuniting as if nothing had previously taken place. I knew it meant we had a strong friendship. The argument we just had, however, was completely different from the small disagreements we usually had. Instead of it being about videogames of films, this one got a little personal. Pretty much, I had deeply judged the guy because he wasn't a fan of my speedrun tournament. He swore that I had agreed to hang out with him just before going live with my greatest world record speedrun attempt yet, one I had been spending three weeks practicing for. Before we went our separate ways, instead of wishing me luck or doing our usually angred goodbyes, he snickered at me, saying "Good luck with your stream." Before I could ask him what that was about, he left ...

D o you have regrets in your life? Regrets so big you would do everything in your power to take back the entire situation? I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that's how I felt right about now. It all started earlier today. I was playing a simple game of poker with a couple friends, gathered around a table. My friend James was the champion, 3 games in a row now. None of us had any idea how he was so good. We made the joke that luck was on his side. But I wanted to do something to slip up his game. I was planning on cheating the game. And after several turns, I was successful in stealing his crown. Of course he accused me of cheating. But what did he have to go by? He wasn't watching my hands the entire time, there's no evidence he could hold against me. Things began to get pretty heated in the argument between us and he took me outside to have a further talk with me. It confused me at the time. What was wrong with staying inside and having it out? It was the heat of th...

T he love for my craft came from the smile I gave to every one of my many deranged customers. I knew the jobs I did were equally as deranged, if not more. I was a hitman in a way. My partner in crime and I are paid to take someone out and I send my little friend to pay them a visit. Who might be my little friend? Why, a pet monkey of course. My monkey, Snickers, and I had been in this business for nearly a decade at this point, and loved every minute of it. Now you may be wonder what exactly we do, how do we kill using a monkey? Well, first we disguise ourselves as street artists, charging a small fee to have your portrait sketched for you by yours truly. As I'm sketching the monkey will gather your scent, thus tracking where you are that night so it can sneak in and kill you. Well, that's what we tell the customers how it's done. It makes us the more interesting hit-team in the business. What we actually do is the monkey puts a tracking device in the victim's pockets...

I was always the unluckiest girl in the world. Any time, literally any time I meet a guy that I'm really into, when I feel the butterflies in my stomach, I know something bad is about to happen. No, I don't mean it ends the relationship kind of bad. I mean, when I get butterflies over a guy, someone close to me is about to die. A few years ago I fell for a handsome, tall man with short black hair and these cute dimples. After our first date he told me he loved me. I wanted to say I didn't feel the same way about him yet, but my body told me otherwise, my stomach feeling all fluttery. Later on that night, we drove around, saw the beautiful city lights and the entire time, I couldn't have been happier. He took me home after we realized how late it had gotten, and upon my arrival, there were police cars and ambulances surrounding my house, flashing their lights. I got out and asked what had happened. They told me there was a break-in. My father had been shot trying to t...

M oving into a new house was supposed to be an exciting experience. Unpacking boxes and filling your new house with pictures and food and books and things. Breathing in the fresh air of a freshly cleaned carpet, it smelled like lavender. My kids came through the door to the house behind me, carrying a small box with some of their belongings inside. I watched as they ran up the stairs to explore their new bedrooms. The look of excitement on their faces filled me with delight. I hadn't seen them this happy since before their father died. They were gloomy around our old apartment. And how could I possibly blame them, I was having difficulty myself having my love taken away from me. I felt even worse for my poor kids, they had a family member, someone they looked up to and wanted to be like some day, just ripped out of their lives. There's no amount of hugs that can fix their broken hearts.  We ended up having to sell move because we couldn't afford to live there anymore. W...

T he room was dark when I was awaken from my slumber, dimly lit by the moonlight that poured in through the window across the room. I was lost, what was it that had awakened me? It wasn't from a nightmare I'd had, as I don't recollect having any sort of dream prior to waking up. I listened closely for any sort of noise to make itself present, but only silence filled the air. I was about to lay my head back down on my pillow and fall back asleep when I heard the squeaking of my closet door opening. I sat back up and sure enough, my closet door was opening on its own. I heart felt like it was about to leap out of my chest. "W-who's there?" I asked, shaken. There was no answer. Instead I saw a face step from the darkness. A face that had appeared to be torn to shreds, deep scars strewn about his face. As the man stepped closer, the face seemed somewhat familiar. "Don't you recognize me?" said the man in a raspy, cold voice. By the way his face...

I t had been a long day at work and all I wanted to do was go home and sleep. The full moon hung low in the night sky, few stars being visible in this well lit city I lived within. Before going home, I stopped by a drive thru and grabbed a cheeseburger. I hadn't realized until after I'd left work that I had completely skipped out on a lunch break in order to ensure that I ended up with enough money on my check to pay the rent this month.  I had finally made it home. I had planned to sit in my car for a few minutes outside my house to eat my burger, but when I saw the white car sitting outside my garage, I got out of my car to investigate. I peered through the window to find nobody was inside. Instead, a light was on inside my house. I ran inside, panicked. Someone had broken into my house. When I came through the door, I was greeted by a man that was sitting at my kitchen table. The man was middle aged, a little chubby, with a grey beard that lead down to his chest. ...

D on't pick your nose, that's what my parents had taught me growing up. They'd tell me horror stories like, if you pick your nose hard enough you'll pick out your brain. Of course thinking back on that now, those stories were more hilarious than scary. Did they really expect kids to fall for that? Of course today, just like any other day, I was doing exactly what they warned me about. I was picking my nose. I know, gross, why would I share that with you? It's vital to my story, trust me. So there I was, picking my nose. There was an obstruction that was making it difficult to breathe through my right nostril, so there I went, unblocking my nasal passage. As I was digging around in there, I must have clipped my fingernail against the inner walls of my nose. I felt a sharp pain followed by the feeling of my nose running soon after. I tried sniffling to suck it back up but it was no use, it was already dripping from my nose and onto the table before me. Blood. I ...

T he moment was nearly upon us, the end of what we figured to be one of the worst years in a while. I was at a party with a few close friends, beers in hand and mingling with completely random people who's decided to show up to help us celebrate. The house was nothing more than a single floor, which meant it couldn't house as many people. Some people didn't mind, however, as some of them had decided to gather together outside. We made sure not to have our music blasting too loud, as to not disturb the neighbors. It was a celebration for us, but for anyone neighboring us, we didn't want the last day of this nightmare of a year to be terrible for anyone else. We all looked forward to the day that would follow, bringing a new year close behind. A new year with a brand new face, a new feel, new and beautiful everything, untouched by the evils of the world. I looked down at my watch and turned to my friends, it was 11:58. We hurried to the television to see a countdown a...

"F inally." I said under my breath as I stood from my car and shut the door behind me. I stared in awe at the building I was beginning to think didn't exist. I had been searching for this place for what felt like several months. And I now understood why it was so hard to find. It's not like I could ask anyone for directions, nor would there be a big sign pointing me there. This place, after all, the lone cabin that stood in the center of a clearing, somewhere in a heavily forested area, was a place where people would come to die. More specifically, this was a place where people with a tragic backstory could tell their tale before facing certain death. Was it legal? No. Was it effective? Absolutely. I made my way to the door and knocked. I heard footsteps from inside and the door swung open, leaving me standing face to face with a man with white hair and a grey beard that lead down nearly to the middle of his stomach, which definitely protruded. He looked like an...

M y friend, Tom and I were gathered in his room around a table. On the table there sat a strange mechanical device. It was a bunch of wires and metal pieces with couple green and tan colored mother boards around and coming out of a single potato. "What is this thing?" I asked, examining this odd contraption. "This 'thing'," he emphasized the word thing, "is probably the greatest creation known to man. It's an intelligent potato." I couldn't help but burst out laughing. Tom looked at me angrily but I couldn't hold back the laughter, a sentient potato had to be the single craziest thing I'd ever heard. It sounded like a punch line to a joke that hadn't been invented yet, and I was enjoying every moment of it. "Please take this seriously," he scowled at me. "Fine," I said before getting one more chuckle out. "The idea came to me after learning you can use a potato to power a lightbulb," he ...

H ave you ever been in such disgust of something that just the sight of it was repulsive to you? That's the way I felt with the plate sitting before me. My mom had made my brother and I each a boiled egg with what we could only assume was pepper sprinkled on top. I couldn't really understand why this would be anything even remotely appetizing to anyone.  Or mom sat across from me at the dinner table, awaiting my brother and I to take a bite. What did she expect two 7-year-olds to react to this? Did she think we'd happily scarf this thing down without even the slightest hint of disgust? I knew for sure by the smell radiating off of it alone, the smell of rotten milk, was enough to make me run from the table and cower in fear below the table until my mother relieved me of such a monstrosity. I attempted standing and removing myself from the situation, which only resulted in my mother scowling at me, gesturing me to sit back down. No matter how much my brother despised the...

S ometimes being a police officer can be fun. Driving around in a car all day, watching people on their daily commute in hopes of finding one that's in a little too much of a hurry. Nothing is more satisfying than turning on your siren and watching as all the other cars on the road slow down or sometimes pull over to avoid any trouble. Today was one of those days I wish I hadn't been the one out on patrol. Today started out like any other day. The sun was high and beaming down on me in the summer afternoon sky. I felt sweat trickling down my forehead. I cranked up the air conditioning in the car, getting some cold air blasting on me. It was exhausting sitting in my car, parked outside the post office, watching the speedometer as each car passed by. Unfortunately nothing exciting was happening today. I backed out of my parking spot and waited for a silver car to pass before making my way onto the road into town. Maybe if I wait closer to the center of town, there might be so...

M y brother turned around to face the wall, closed his eyes, and began counting aloud. I ran up the stairs to his bedroom, opened his closet door, and hid inside. I crawled behind a pile of clothes in his closet. He was pretty bad about cleaning. I was glad I was small enough to fit in here. Outside the closet, his room was dark. It was dimly lit by the little bits of sunlight left that streamed in through the window on the far wall. The door to the closet was like any ordinary door, besides a grated section on the top half that barely allowed you to see outside. I hid here because I figured it'd be the last place he'd look. Also because I could see him come into the room and quickly throw some clothes on top hide within. I was determined to win this. I heard him count to twenty before announcing he was coming to look for me.  Footsteps could be heard from downstairs, making me giggle somewhat. I was glad to know he'd try searching everywhere he could think of down ...