365 Short Horrors

Do you ever feel like you're being watched? Like you can feel the eyes burrowing into the back of your head, making you feel like every move, every step must be deliberate, as if you were a main character on screen. But tread carefully, for each step could be your last...     Eyes. Eyes everywhere. Eyes in pictures, eyes on TV, eyes in my head. I could feel the paranoia creeping in again like an unwelcome friend who made my insides itch with a single mention of their name. I paced rather frantically around my apartment, my eye catching on every picture frame, every book cover, every poster on the walls. Each of them with people in them. Each with eyes that seemed to follow my every step.     I felt like I was going mad. Like my mind was being consumed by a black ink before melting away any ounce of sanity I had left. I knew it wasn't right to feel those eyes following you, judging you, but my brain seemed to have a mind of its own. It created these fantasies, these t...

Halloween is a time for fun and a time for terror. Going door to door, collecting candy from strangers, watching horror movies until you fall asleep and leave the monsters running around your nightmares. Just make sure the monsters don't follow you outside of them...     My friend, Janet and I ran around in our Halloween costumes. I was dressed as a zombie and she as a Bride of Frankenstein. We made a terrifying duo as we ran around from door to door and collecting candy. Our bags were about half full but we were having too much fun to call it quits.     That was until we came across one house. The porch was covered in jack-o'-lanterns and big, fake spider webs. I loved the aesthetic and she loved the lights. We saw the bowl of candy sitting on a bench just outside the door. There was a hand-written sign above it that said 'Please Take One'. Janet and I rolled our eyes and reached into the bowl, each grabbing a handful of candy before leaving and going on to the next...

 The mind is a funny thing. Gifting you thoughts that form reality in a single breath. But when those thoughts morph into something more twisted, the darkest ideals can become reality...     My daughter Yasmine was always had the wildest of imagination. Every time she'd come home from daycare, she'd have all of these pictures she'd drawn for me with all these vivid colors and stick-figure animals that almost looked more charming than the real thing. I still have her horse drawing on the fridge.     Sometimes I'd ask her what she's drawing and it'd be a picture of us, me and her, in front of our house. Thinking back to it, it still makes me chuckle a bit with joy. I loved my daughter so much.     When I'd come home from work and the babysitter would be done for the night, I'd often go to make sure she was asleep and I'd see her under her covers, muttering to herself like she was talking to someone. I thought it was adorable. Did she have an imaginary ...

They say 'Be careful what you wish for'. It's a warning that the thing that you want might not be how you receive it. Much like the monkey's paw, you may have intended one thing and you may receive something so far in the opposite direction, you'd wished you had never longed for it to begin with...     It had been years since I had seen my friend Chuck. He was probably the smartest person I knew, but he was always so consumed with his work that visits became fewer and fewer as he strived to perfect his projects.     You see, Chuck was something of a scientist. I forget the exact scientific name he called himself, but he was interested in the idea of transporting things from point A to point B. I'd always joked that he had seen too many science fiction movies, but he was convinced that it was possible.     He believed that it was possible to break down someone's atoms and reconstruct them elsewhere. At one point I heard he tried the experiments on some rats ...

Love is something that is often misunderstood. Some view it as something between two people in a relationship. Others see it as caring about those closest to them. But sometimes, the real love is the one thing that makes us truly human. Without it, what are we?     It's been several years since the disaster started. And I'm still in hiding, hoping that eventually the war would come to its end. The war against us and the machines.     Now, I know what you're thinking, this all sounds a little familiar, and I wouldn't blame you for believing so. But this story is one far different from what you'd think.     See, a few years ago, Ai was reaching a point where it was getting smarter, its intelligence growing at an exponential rate. It was reaching a point where they were giving it bodies and putting it into machines. Deadly machines.     At the same time this was going on, the government was cracking down on immigration, trying to crack down and findi...

Ai is a prevalent thing these days. But it isn't always correct about what it says. But it speaks with such confidence that you'd hang on to its every word. But what happens when the Ai is wrong... Dead wrong...     Doing research for my project was supposed to be simple. Dig up a little bit of information online, write it out in a way that makes sense, and turn it in. I knew the project for earth worms wasn't exactly something I wanted to waste my time researching, but I had to. Otherwise I'd risk a bad grade and possibly getting grounded by my parents.     I got on my laptop and searched a few things up about earthworms. Did you know that if you cut one in half, it'll heal itself where it was cut and create two separate worms? I thought that was pretty interesting, so I jotted it down. I spent some time uncovering more information until eventually it came time to write it.     I opened a blank document up on my computer and stared at the blinking cursor, ...

Do you ever feel like you're being watched? Like every step you take leads them one step closer to revealing themselves? Revealing their true sinister intentions? Unraveling before your very eyes what was there in plain sight...     It was another autumn evening. The sun hung low in the sky as it was beginning to dip beneath the surface to make way for the night.     I had planned for today to be another chill day of me playing some video games, but my wife warned against it. She claimed that the faucet in the kitchen had been leaking for a while. But as I looked, the leak wasn't much at all. There was maybe one drip every few minutes.     I tried turning the knobs a bit tighter to see if that helped, but as I did I found I couldn't turn them any more.     Taking a couple more moments to look it over, I came to the horrifying realization that I had no idea how to fix one of these things.     I decided to go back to my wife and tell her w...

Sometimes, we lose ourselves in our imagination. Some take it a step further, disassociating. Getting so lost in their own mind that they forget what's real and what isn't. But what if that line no longer existed? What if everything you thought you knew was a lie?     It's been four years since I moved into this apartment. It's not the greatest but its not the worst either. I don't exactly pay a fortune for it for the fast food job I work. I mean, so what if its half my rent. It's better than most places in town.     I live on the third floor. One apartment below me and one above. I don't hear too much from them just as I try making sure I return the favor.     Nothing ever really happens around here as it is. There might be that one person that moves in whose music is far too loud, but they usually get kicked out after a few months. It's never too bad around here. And everyone who lives here intends to keep it that way.     So, when I heard a scr...

The human body is the most unusual thing. Most understand how it works, but very few understand why. It's this reason that we don't ponder too much. After all, the only parts of ourselves we need to care about are only skin-deep...     Walking around the park was exhausting. I was a couple days into my new exercise routine to try and lose weight. I wasn't exactly the best looking guy around and the extra pounds I'd put on over the years didn't exactly help in my favor. I decided a few days ago that it was time for me to do something about it. Especially since I first met Sierra.     Sierra was this gorgeous blonde woman I'd seen walking her dog a few times. The other day I bumped into her on accident outside of my work. She said she loved horror movies and enjoyed the little thrills life had to offer. She was really someone who took life by the horns and rode it until there was little left. I loved that about her.     Then on the way to work I spotted her o...

Social media is a very interesting thing to harness. Mindlessly rotting your brain away to videos you'd play on loop before scrolling away to see another fifteen second thing to rot your brain some more. It provides mental stimulation when you need it most. But sometimes, the mindless entertainment goes a little too far... Into obsession...     When I first heard of Group 7, I thought it was just another silly online trend. I mean, everyone was talking about it like it was some kind of exclusive club. But if it's something that keeps showing up for me, does that make me part of the group? And what was its function?     I casually scrolled on past yet another video that vaguely mentioned the group but never quite defined it. And not two videos later, I was back to the group videos. It made literally no sense. And why was the guy in the video chugging a milkshake?     I was suddenly snapped back to reality as the bus screeched to a halt, jolting me slightly. ...

Luck is something many of us have on our sides. Others, not so much. For every person that finds $5 on the ground, there's another whose car gets stolen. But, as we will learn today, some bad luck is rarer than winning the lottery...     My parents had been looking forward to the fishing trip for months. They had recently discovered there was a creek not far from where we lived. Well, I guess it was more like a fish farm, or something like that. We could pay to fish there for a few hours, and any fish we caught we could take home with us.     Now, when I imagined a creek, I imagined a stream with land on either side of it, something you'd find in the middle of the woods. This body of water was much larger. Large enough that a boat could fit on it. In fact, as we approached, there was a boat on the water. But as we got closer, I saw that the water wasn't very deep.     But the closer we got to the boat, the weirder things got. Why was the boat not moving? An...

     They say what you don't know can't hurt you. But they couldn't be further from the truth. Whether it be whispers behind your back out horrors unfolding before your eyes, the only universal constant is, what you do know will hurt you.     Life is pretty simple for me. Sit in front of a computer for hours, melting my mind away with videos and memes until eventually I had to get ready for work. Sometimes the boredom soaks in and you get ready hours in advance. Other times your body feels like it weighs a ton and it takes as much effort to get up as it would to move a mountain. Today was one of those days.     I was exhausted from work the night before, so I didn't want to do anything but relax and maybe watch a movie or two. It was mid-October, so horror movies were all the rage for me. I was never the kind of person to get scared by horror movies. I almost find them comedic. I mean, why would the characters run toward the monster instead of hiding? ...

     Memories are a key part of your journey through life. Sometimes those memories can be comforting. Other times they can drown you in emotions so strong that you can't help but shut them out. But then there's the memories you misremember. The ones your mind twists from being mundane to something terrifying...     My brother and I had been looking after my grandfather in the hospital for a while. He was such a great person. He got the chance to travel the world and collect relics to share with the rest of my family. He told us about how he survived alone in the woods for a week with just the clothes on his back. He shared about how he met a wonderful lady in South Africa that he kept in contact with ever since. He even told us about how he helped save a small town in Italy from a fire.     And along his travels, he collected trinkets. Most of which he kept locked away in his attic, hidden from the rest of the world. He says he wants to keep it that w...

 They say some things are best left forgotten. Sometimes those old memories bring up more trouble than they're worth. Sometimes the past needs to stay buried. Because you may truly fear what you find beneath the soil.     The sun was nearly setting on this cold Sunday evening. My friends and I gathered around, reminding ourselves why we came here in the first place. To take revenge on the creepy old farmer. His name was Henry. Just saying that name put a fire in my chest.     At first, Henry didn't really seem like that bad of a guy. I mean, he had everyone else fooled. He was always helping out around the community. He even helped get my dad a new job after he'd struggled for so long after being let go of his old one. He would donate food to the churches and would give money to anyone who needed it around town. Everyone loved him. Everyone but me. There was always something off about the guy. No one is ever that nice without a reason behind it. And I think I kn...

     Is there anything in your life that you regret? Maybe you said something hurtful to someone you haven't seen in years. Maybe you embarrassed yourself out in public. Maybe there's one decision you wish you could go back and change. Today, we find that Joseph McGee made a mistake. One that may cost him his life...     Here I was, walking home in the middle of the night, the rain pouring down around me. "Just my luck," I muttered as I bundled up in my jacket.     It's funny, luck has never really been on my side, I thought. In fact, if there's anyone who draws in bad luck like a magnet, it's me.     You see, growing up I wasn't exactly the nicest kid. I don't remember a whole lot. I just know I was a big trouble maker. I was sent to the principle's office and suspended more times than I could count. And there was a kid or two I might have picked on in elementary school. But I was like ten, could you blame me?     Anyways, as time ...

     There's very little we understand about this world. Why people do what they do is one of them. It's hard to process what is going on in someone's head unless they let you in to their little world. But when they inevitably do, make sure it's something you're prepared for...     I stood before the door to yet another apartment. What was it, the third one today I'd been to? I wasn't sure. All I knew was I was ready to call it a night.     I grabbed my keys and flipped through the mass of jangling metal until I found the one I needed. They numbers on the key matched the door number, so these had to be it. I unlocked the door and turned the knob, letting myself inside. I wasn't quite prepared to be greeted with the waft of fresh paint. This place wasn't properly ventilated, was it? I went to open a window and dropped my toolbox on the floor.     First thing's first, I need to check and make sure the wiring is working right. I went from room t...

Modern day humanity is filled with indescribable struggles. From falling into traps that lured you in with temptations to a life long debt that can be easily grown yet nearly impossible to pay off. But what if there was another way to pay it off? A way that was easy on your pockets, but hard on your life...     They told me the procedure was going to be nearly painless. I wouldn't feel a thing. Well, I wouldn't feel anything other than the few needles they'd poke me with before putting me under. The room spun around me and faded to black.     It felt like only a few moments had passed, but when the world started to come back through my eyes, I felt a bit woozy, like I was recovering from a hangover. A doctor walked into the room, cradling a clipboard. She turned to me with a smile and said, "The surgery was a huge success."     I didn't say much. But I'm guessing my actions spoke louder than anything, because she hesitantly said, "Oh, you're proba...