Oct 01 2018
There’s a special village tucked away in New York. It’s so quiet and pleasant that one could even describe it as being “sleepy.” If not for one infamous resident, most people would think it would be an ideal place to visit. But we’re not “most people,” now are we? So let’s read the Halloween classic …
Feb 25 2018
Last year I had shared a piece of weird fiction called “The Hall Bedroom” by Mary E. Wilkins (who is also known as Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman). I later learned she had written several highly regarded horror stories and it just felt wrong for me to have only shared one of her “weird” stories rather …
Oct 05 2017
If you guessed this image has something to do with H.P. Lovecraft, you’re absolutely correct. It’s an illustration for “They Wait” by Jason Virgadamo (who also goes by the name Renfield Rasputin), a Lovecraftian tale which was chosen by readers of The Providence Journal as the winner of the H.P. Lovecraft Writing Contest! Speaking of …
Oct 17 2016
An illustration of the classic children’s poem “The Spider and the Fly” made quite an impression on Reggie Oliver when he was younger. But it wasn’t a good one, seeing as how his mother had to destroy it after it gave him so many nightmares. He confronted this bit of childhood trauma years later by …
Oct 01 2016
Those of you who read last year’s collection of spooky stories might remember a website called Spookinite Valley. Enough of you followed my link there to attract the attention of the site’s creator, Benjamin A. Fouché. Mr. Fouché was very flattered to receive the attention and got in touch with me to promote his (then) …
Feb 18 2016
When asked to name horror fiction authors, many people will immediately rattle off a list of men. Today I hope to change things up by sharing a collection of such work by women. I used the term “weird fiction” in this article’s title because some of the stories use elements of horror without being overtly …
Oct 08 2015
This year saw the release of Return To The Dark Tower, the final installment of the series of books inspired by Nox Arcana’s The Dark Tower. So how will I celebrate the end of the trilogy? By sending you to its start. Not only is James Pipik and Joseph Vargo’s “The Dark Tower” from the …
Oct 13 2014
The image illustrating this article doesn’t tie into any particular story. But there’s something about it which just screams “creepypasta” to me. I bring this up because it turns out the link to “Creepypasta Cookoff 2012” in last year’s installment will now include stories from 2013 (along with those from future cookoffs). Since I’m discussing …
Oct 06 2013
Although best known for works of science fiction like Journey to the Center of the Earth and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne has dipped his toes into the world of horror too. “Frritt-Flacc” (whose title is apparently onomatopoeia for the sounds of a violent storm) is the story of a greedy physician …
Oct 05 2012
Longtime readers may recall that, in our last installment, I noted how the phrase “It was a dark and stormy night” was coined by the author of The Haunters and the Haunted. The phrase has turned up in countless horror stories, like “The Monkey’s Paw,” and I have decided to pay tribute to that fact …
Oct 01 2011
What better way to get into the Halloween season than by reading scary stories? Our first selection is Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (which is the source of the above image). He also wrote “The Body Snatcher,” which was later adapted into the classic Val Lewton movie of …
Jun 15 2011
ARCANE Magazine http://www.arcanemagazine.com/ Madness would be a primary motivation for anyone looking to involve him or herself in the current day magazine industry, with subscriptions dying and print costs rising. Madness, I might then assume, guides the hand that created ARCANE, a new magazine that identifies itself as “penny dreadfuls for the 21st Century.” However, …
Oct 01 2010
Several stories, in fact. However, some might not be appropriate for readers of all ages. You have been warned… The Amazon preview for the Cthulhu Unbound anthology contains a full view of Linda L. Donahue’s “Noir-lathotep.” As you’ve probably guessed, it’s a humorous mash-up of the Cthulhu mythos and film noir with enough injokes to …
Oct 02 2009
There’s nothing quite like reading a good scary story on a cold October night. As a public service to those who have yet to experience this, here are a selection of websites full of great horror stories: Six Word Tales offers up various tales of terror by Stiles White (of The Ghastly Ones fame), along …
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