“Samantha?” I heard Rosalyn ask hopefully as she picked up the phone. I was calling her because she had recently come across an anomalous VHS tape of a man burying a premonition he had written down in my cemetery, convinced that it would one day be of great value to me. She had showed it to me, and I had of course agreed to see if I could find it. “Hi, Rose. Yeah, it’s me,” I replied, unable to hide my disappointment. “I dug around in the area where the guy buried his time capsule, and I couldn’t find anything. Whoever picked up and turned off the camera at the end of the video must have taken the time capsule…

Ah! Halloween! My favorite time of year! People rushing to the stores to stock up on candy, children dressing up as monsters to scare people, the many horror films shown on TV and in cinemas… In short! A dream come true! I can’t think of a more effervescent festival than this one! That was the case a year ago, but not anymore. This year, nobody celebrates Halloween anymore. The streets are completely deserted, and the city’s stores are all closed on this day. So much so that even the word “Halloween” has been banished from the locals’ vocabulary. I think I’m still one of the few people who fantasize about this holiday. The police and the city did everything in…

Data Log #16358 I gave the remaining crew of The Rubellion a few days to bring up their troubles from our last raid. Not one spoke up. I commanded my first mate to, “set course for Odin’s Eye, then tell everyone to meet in the hangar in ten.” My first mate went on his way while I sat back on the bridge giving him time to rally everyone up. He knew what was to come considering it wasn’t his first rodeo. I made my way to the hangar to see everyone waiting anxiously. All except for my first mate who was waiting patiently, fully suited up. I climbed on top of the Vampire Queen as they started to crowd around…

Matt and I returned to our hometown after our first semester in college. We arranged to meet at a bar to catch up and trade stories. “How’s UVA?” Matt asked, sipping his glass of Shiraz. “Pretty good,” I replied. “I think I’ll major in physics.” I took a swallow of my beer. “How about you?” “Yale’s everything I hoped for—and more,” Matt answered, “but I still haven’t settled on a major yet. Philosophy maybe, or comparative lit…” Our talk continued like that—matter-of-fact at first, then increasingly nostalgic as the wine and beer flowed. Matt studied me thoughtfully. “We go back a long way, Todd.” I smiled. “Yep, all the way back to first grade.” “First grade with… Mrs. Mohrhusen!” Matt…

I last saw my girlfriend around seventeen years ago. Although for me, it was last week. I know that doesn’t make much sense. I’m not even sure why I’m writing this. It’s not like anybody will believe it. And even if they did, the truth would only make things worse. I just need to tell someone, anyone, even if that “someone” is the anonymous hive-mind of the internet. Maybe then I’ll be able to sleep again. Perhaps even start to move on with my life. I doubt it, though. I don’t think I can ever “move on” from the way I feel right now. So, where to start? Well, you can call me Joe. Obviously, that isn’t my real name.…

Ban is an employee at Metro Courier in Ikeshima, tasked with investigating a growing urban legend. Ban was initially reluctant, considering that the subject topic differed from what he wrote about. After interviewing a few people, Ban reviewed the information. Unfortunately, there was no consistent story, which may mean they made up their versions of Booth 21. Ban decided to do further research at the library. At the library, he walked to the front to talk to an attendant named Kouta. “Excuse me?” Ban spoke softly so he would not disturb the people around them. “How may I help you?” Kouta smiled and turned to face Ban. “Do you know anything about Booth 21?” Ban asked, taking out a notepad…

My son died yesterday, on an autumn evening, when the wind blew hard and the leaves hid from the first cold. The ambulance arrived too late. Since then, silence scratches my mind. But the worst thing was the wait every night, when he returned. My son died yesterday, but that night he came back to me. At first, I only heard a weak murmur with my name on his lips. A kind voice from the darkness. “I’m fine,” he told me. I saw him at the end of my bed, standing in a corner, barely a shadow. I knew it was him, it couldn’t be a trick of my mind My son died, and he has visited me every day,…

It’s been three years since the day I fled from that abandoned building and discovered the truth about the hanging shadow glitch in ”Luigi’s Mansion”, witnessing that disturbing cutscene. I haven’t been able to sleep at all recently. For those wondering, yes, it was me—the original person who wrote about the shadow. I told my friends about my experience; they believed me and were interested. Yeah, you heard me correctly—they believed what I saw, so I don’t need to pull a cliché right here. But many of them questioned why I decided to break the game before leaving the building. To be honest with you, I don’t know why I broke the game like that. I really wish I had…

It’s been 25 years to the day since my friend Baptiste disappeared. Not officially. The date in the police record says ‘September 14’ because his aunt didn’t report him missing until three days later. I was the last person to see him though. I know when and where he disappeared, and I told the cops, but they brushed me off. I was just making things up to protect my friends, they said, and that I had watched too many horror movies. Baptiste and I were thick as thieves ever since first grade. To most people, we must have been an odd pair. The shy, withdrawn kid with the thick Haitian accent our classmates often made fun of, to a point…

When I was eleven years old, my family lived in a small, blue, relatively remote house in northern Sweden. The rear of the house had a small deck facing a dense old-growth pine and spruce forest, while the front had a garage, a shed for firewood, and a fairly large lawn. My little brother, Oskar, had just been born about a month prior, and my parents were beginning to settle into their new routine. On the day in question, my father was away shopping for groceries, while my mother was inside tending to the house and keeping an eye on Oskar, who had colic and demanded a lot of attention. I was outside playing with my toy tractor in the…