365 Short Horrors

H orror means something different to everyone. To some, it's the subtlety, existentialism, the things where the more you think about it, the more you dread reality. To others, horror is something terrifying to look at, be it a monster, a demon, or something in nature that terrifies you to be around. Whatever the case may be, horror is horror all the same. It isn't just something we fear in the moment, it's the story and the scarring memories that come of it. Unpacking was supposed to be the easy part of this entire moving experience. I'd spent several days trying to figure out who was going to help me move, what the place was even going to look like, and where it even was in the building. Sure, I should have shown up to get a tour of the place, but it's a little challenging when your only ride up there refuses to help you out. It was frustrating, attempting to do everything I needed to in order to get the place all within the first 30 minutes of being in the n...

W hat is it that truly frightens you? Nothing like the imaginary things like ghosts or vampires, but things that happen frequently in our day to day reality. Fears that lead to anxiety, as we know we will eventually and inevitably encounter them in our lives. Do you fear walking down the street alone at night? Do you fear a bad encounter with an angry customer? Do you fear the inevitable end that will come for us all?  The sky outside was growing darker as my friends and I sat at the library, studying for an upcoming exam. There were a couple big test coming up at school as we were nearing the end of the school year. Unfortunately, as teenagers are, my friends and I procrastinated and waited until the night before the test to decide to study. It wasn't something to be proud of but at least it gets us by. After a couple more minutes, the librarian approached us. "I hope you guys are close to finishing," she said. "You're the only ones left and we're ab...

P ests, the unwanted guests of the home. Once trespassed, they seem nearly impossible to get rid of. You waste money trying to fight something that seems immortal. But what if you were somehow successful in your attempt to get rid of them. You've gotten rid of the only reason they entered your home for. But what if their anger drives them to a twisted revenge? I closed my apartment door and plopped my beach bag down on the floor beside me. It may have toppled over, causing some of the items within to roll out. I didn't care all too much. Sure, I missed the time I spent with my friends at the lake, but I was tired more than anything. My friends and I had gone camping overnight by the lake. We'd rented out a canoe and planned taking it out on the water. Me and both my friends took on the water, leaving one behind in the sand. I lost count of how many times we'd almost hit something but luckily steered clear of the obstacles. Reflecting on it now, the time spent out ...

S ometimes in life you find things that may make little sense. So much so that it may break your brain and confuse your mind. But what does one do when confronted with such horror? Would they venture further in their curiosity, or will they flea and never look back? Checking out a new house is something you always want to do, especially after paying for it and moving your stuff inside. Sure, you may see the basics when they show it the first time, but when you agree to live there, you want to see its interesting spots and blemishes. It's a strange way to find comfort in it. Upon looking around, the curiosity got the best of me. I wanted to see my new basement. I looked around for the doorway leading to it and found it in the kitchen just past the entrance from the kitchen. I turned the clunky knob and heard the door squeak as it swung open. Using the wooden steps, I made my way down to the basement, flipping the light switch along the wall about halfway down. A single bulb ...

A s wise figures of the past once said, not everything is as it seems. The laws of what we believe to be real may seem unmoved, but they are not set in stone. So trust not in everything you believe, but in what you see. It may hurt for your mind to be incorrect, yet as the pain subsides you keep it locked away as a story to tell another. As the fourth of July approached, the one thing we required as a necessity was a pack of fireworks. But no basic firework at any normal stand would do. What my family and I needed was one that would really knock the socks off everyone in town. More specifically out of town, as they recently made it against the law to shoot them off within city limits. My family and I intended on driving well out of town to shoot them off, ensuring they were just close enough to town for the residents to enjoy. It took a decent drive but we found a fireworks stand just out of town, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. There's no way we could have found it wit...

O xymorons are something of hilarity. A delicacy of words jumbled together in the perfect way to portray irony with the collision of two or more words. They have the same effect on your mind as a joke, once you see it you understand. Upon looking into the deeper meaning, you use it nearly daily without notice and carry on with your day. The rain pouring down over the tin roof of my home made things sound dramatically louder than it really was out there. In the darkness of the room, I could see the lightning flash, lighting everything up in my room for a brief moment. The thunder boomed and I could feel the bed shake slightly thereafter. My heart was pounding, though I was old enough not to fear storms. I looked all around my room, trying to find something to focus on so that falling asleep wouldn't come to me as difficult as usual. Of course, it didn't work, as the storm was driving my ADHD crazy. Was it insomnia or something else toying with my brain to keep me from rest...

W hy does it seem that the bad things happen to the ones that try the hardest? The ones who's soul purpose is to make sure things run as smoothly as possible to reduce headaches for the rest of the people around them? Often the harder you try the harder you fall. You crumble but who's there to help piece you back together? There was a particularly odd smell coming from the upstairs bathroom. Was it really clogged again? It was such a rancid smell that it nearly convinced me there must be something dead within. I flicked on the lights and used my shirt to cover my nose. I could still smell it through my shirt. I felt incredibly nauseated. I wanted to curl over the toilet and spill my guts but at what cost? I made my way to the tub and pulled back the curtain. I was drawn back in shock. There was so much black gunk inside I thought it to be mold. Upon closer inspection, it might be black paint or something similar. I went over across the hall to the bedroom my roommate live...

D o you ever look to a character with such distain and disgust that you wish you could warp the story to torture them? What twisted ways would you make their lives hell? What do you have to gain? I find myself running through the woods, trying desperately to make my escape. I look around to find a place to hide in hopes for a quick and easy escape. I get lucky and find a tree. I duck behind it at the last moment. The wolves breeze past me and continue running full force in the same straight line they were in. I breathed a sigh of relief. I don’t recall what exactly I did to attract them. I only knew the pain of being chased as if my life depended on it. I looked to my side and saw I wasn’t too far from the trail back into town. I carefully stood and made my way down it. I was careful not to make a sound, else attract the wolves. What were wolves even doing here in this time of year? It seemed like a rather odd season for them to be showing their faces. But who am I to judge the ways of...

T aking a single look at your past, you think to yourself, why have I been dealt the worst hand? Why does everyone around me seem to hate me? How can I have just been enough? Sometimes you can’t be, and that’s okay. Because life treats nobody fairly. I swam hard against the underwater current as I tried to escape the shark. It lunged forward, attempting to bite my legs. Somehow I managed to dodge it and charged forward, swimming as hard as I could. I was nearly to the treasure chest when I felt a sharp pain. My heart leapt out of my chest when the shark took a chunk out of me. I stood from my seat, upset that I’d lost a life. I wanted to slam my controller down on the floor but I knew how expensive they were to replace. I took a breath and headed to my room to turn on my computer. Looking to the internet, I needed to figure out how to beat that last level. I’d been trying for the past few days but that one last part always gets me. It’s infuriating. According to the internet, many peop...

T here are things that cripple us, leading us to believe we’re the weakest link of the bunch. But what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. In our struggle, we come out on top. It’s our power. And heaven help the ones that try to tear us down. Walking into school today felt interesting. It didn’t feel like the same regular routine type day, it felt as though something new and fresh was going to happen, it was just hard to say what. Looking around, nothing seemed too different. Perhaps it was the air or some change in lighting. I heard my friends calling me, waving me to them. I headed to meet up with them. Something you should know about my friends and I is that we are the cool kids, the ones that try keeping the peace amongst the student bodies. If we see someone stepping out of line we make certain we put them in their place. We heard the bell ring and we hurried to class. It was a little upsetting we all didn’t share the same classes, but it didn’t matter too much. I was the leader of...

N ostalgia is something we see as special, something our mind holds dear closer to memories. We look back and think about the things from our childhood we wish we could relive. Of course, there are some dark things we'd rather not think too much about. That's what tonight's story is about. Not of the happy times but of the dark ones. It was climbing nearer and nearer to Christmas and I was all alone within my home. Not a single person wanted to be around me enough to consider me family. I was trapped in a dark void of perpetual loneliness with the desperate means for an escape. How beautiful and freeing would it be to go out and do the things I'd always wanted to do, look back on the things I used to do and see if I was still any good at it. I looked over to my phone, seeing if there was anything to look back on, to remind me of the person I was. I found a few photos of me and my ex-girlfriend, Cindy. She and I had dated for nearly two years before she ended up ch...

T raveling down the road of life, you never know where it will lead. It may lead you down a path you never wished for, one that leads you down turns you think you can’t handle. It might lead you down paths that might seem too easy and it’ll come off as too boring for you. No matter, a path will lead you somewhere and it’s your job to see it to its end. *** Going to my in-laws for a vacation wasn’t exactly what I had in mind over the summer. I wanted to go surfing or wing suit gliding like he and I had talked about, but because his dad wasn’t doing too hot, we    decided to pay him a visit. Driving down the highway, we passed many cars. We took turns reading off the license plates, seeing where they were from and the funny words their plates formed. It kept our minds vacant for a while.  As the minutes eventually dragged on to hours,    we saw less and less cars passing us by, even from the other lane traveling alongside us in the opposite direction. Maybe we wer...

W hat would you do if you were told you had a week to live? Just the idea of that question makes your mind race. There are so many things you never got to try, relationships you never got to mend. You don't know where to start. Do you say your goodbyes now or do you wait and do the things you always wanted? It's something we don't want to think about. But what if everyone had to? Three days ago, the scariest message was displayed for the world to see. The skies boomed with the thunderous voice of what could only be a God of some sort. Many believed it to be something from the government or local areas testing out their speakers. No matter what anyone believed, the message remained the same, "The world will end in seven days." The message was repeated several times over for nearly an hour to ensure it was heard by everyone. When day one hit, there was panic flooding the streets. Everyone rushed out of their homes. Some went to their work places to quit their ...

D eception is something society thrives in. Using your ignorance to manipulate you into situations that would otherwise be unlikely for you. They'll use the excuse of character growth or being worthless if you don't follow their trends. You are forced through hoops you don't evenly fit through but barely manage. Eventually you'll come to a hoop that, try as you might, it is impossible to get through. Acceptance is unlikely. I had been trudging through he hot sands of the desert, in search of land or food or anything that might give me any signs of life. I am stranded and alone and I hate this feeling more than anything. How did I even get here? Any attempt at recollection results in emptiness. Surely I didn't just appear out of nothing and stumble across an endless desert. My feet felt as though they were cooking against the heated grains of sand. Each step forced me to step on through the torture. I hoped eventually I would find something, anything to help sa...

S ome say anxiety is the danger censor of the mind. The one that believes danger is around the corner when in reality it couldn't be further from it. Overreactive, if you will. But what if this was within reason, knowing you are in danger when no threat is visible? Is it a spark of insanity, or something darker? I finished scarfing down the last of my sour gummy bears, finding myself disappointed in my lack of self control. I can usually hold back from delving into junk food and relaxation without a means of escaping from the laziness. Sure, I wasn't going to beat myself up from eating a candy bar, I would only reach that level of desperation if I never stop weeks and weeks from now still devouring junk food rather than trying to be healthy. I know, you may see me as someone that cares a little too much about my body image, but I assure you I think much more highly of myself. I only do this to fight the laziness I'd been cursed with my entire existence. I wanted for n...

T here are some days we want nothing more than to retire and relax for the remainder of the night. We want to lay back and turn on some music. What if I told you that, even though you think you are relaxing alone, you are anything but. What if you overheard something as you were relaxing that sent a chill down your spine that you may never recover from? The day at work was a long and harsh one. Dealing with people a little too upset and confused by what they were even doing there that they could do nothing but bicker. Their voices rang through my ears, even hours after being away from work. I needed my own time to sit back and relax from the headache of work. I got out of my car and just sat there a moment. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before looking up at the stars out my window and exhaling in a sigh of relief. There was nothing quite like the beauty of nature to help me feel better. It was healing almost. I got out of my car and headed inside, leaving behind the c...

W hy is it that when we try our hardest we fail but when we work while distracted we manage it better? Could it be that our bodies work best in autopilot, without interruption? Or could it be that we ourselves don’t know how to work something best? The heat in the afternoon air made my lungs feel like I was breathing in the flames of a burning stove. It was almost painful to be outside but the water surrounding me felt like some kind of saving grace. My friend and I were floating down the river side by side. The feeling of being beside her felt relaxing versus the few people stopping and watching us that gave me some anxiety. What kind of cruel words were they speaking as they glared at us? She reminded me not to get so worked up over them, as there was nothing they could speak behind our backs that could hurt us. It helped some but it was something difficult to forget about. We climbed out of the water after wading our feet for a few minutes. We grabbed our canoe and dragged it into t...

A s a kid, the one thing that always terrified me at night was the idea that something was lurking in the darkness, ready to tear me to shreds. But then I heard something that left me unable to sleep in a dark room again. What if someone was actually there, in the shadows. They never moved, only watched. The night was perfect, the clouds had faded away from the storm hours ago. The sun was sinking under the horizon, turning the sky this beautiful blend of orange and purple. I glanced out the window, awaiting the arrival of my friend. She and I had made plans to go hang out some place. I paced back and forth as I waited. Why did I feel so nervous? We meet up and talk almost every day. Sure, it’s in spurts, but it is talking all the same.  I understood not why she and I hanging out was feeling like something more. Perhaps it was the way she spoke or the messages sent that made me misinterpret their kindness, but it always felt like she was into me in some way. The only thing I was ce...

Y ou try kicking off your shoes after a long day at work. You put in so much effort your back aches almost as much as your feet. You long to take a seat and relax for a few minutes. But what if you couldn’t? What if you had to choose between working until your bones break or take one rest and sleep for an eternity? The hot summer sun beat down on my skin, leaving what felt like blisters in its wake. Wiping sweat from my face, I carried on working. What choice did I have after all? If I’d step inside and enjoy the blissfully cool air I would follow suit with my family and succumb to the comfort. That was the last thing I’d want to happen. After all, if I retired we would have no food to put on the table. Sure, I might sit down and rest my body for a few minutes, but I know I couldn’t stop. I had to fight the urge to give up. I stood where I was and continued digging at the ground, shovel in hand. My arms ached and my muscles screamed for some relief but I had to fight myself to stay ste...

T here are some plans too good to fail. The plans take months, even years to work out. You spend every moment hammering out all the kinks and faults until you reach the point where nothing could possibly go wrong. Then comes time to execute the plan. You notice the one possible thing you never anticipated in your plans. The rug slips from under you and your house of cards comes tumbling down. I had been held up in this prison for months. I was one of the few people here insane enough to figure out some sort of an escape route. I’d thought on it for a while now. The plan was relatively simple, get some people together and stage a fight. Draw the attention of some guards. As they go to pull us off each other, one of them sneaks up and steals their keys.  The plan was something that seemed ridiculous in concept but once played out, it will work far better than we’d ever dreamed. That’s what we hoped. Some of the people escaping with me were already planning a route to take once we mak...

I f you had one final day to tell your story, how would you tell it? Are you the victim of every downfall in your life, or is everything that goes wrong your fault? Do you see the world as something cruel or beautiful? Perhaps neither, seeing it as something a large cage we all are trapped in until our inevitable demise. Every horror story I've written isn't real, but this last one is. Here's my story in written form. Looking to the only two people that are supposed to show you what unconditional love was, they both split. Only to prove that love doesn't exist no matter how many times you say it. Going their separate ways after enough time to have 3 kids two years apart each, they decide it best for the kids to go with the wanna-be father figure. It depressed my mother to see us go and we were never to interact for nearly 17 years. Shit happens, the common phrase we say amongst each other. Bad things happen in life, the best we can do is face them and never look b...