Best rated stories

Timothy had always loved Christmas. It was his favorite time of year. He loved the lights, the music, the presents, the movies, the laughter… he loved it all.

Based on personal hallucinations.

I live in a pretty small, relatively unknown town. This is the internet, so I won’t divulge too much information but I will tell you it’s in southern Wisconsin. I live on the corner of Lawn and Elm Street, and pretty near to my house is a stretch of road that most people called “Mirror Avenue”. Of course it’s not really technically an avenue, just an extension of Lawn Street, and it’s not the whole road, just a short stretch within the block adjacent to the one my house is on. I’ve lived here…

“You're making a mistake.” “I'm sorry you feel that way, Mr. Monahan. Our decision has been made.” “But...” “There's nothing more to be said. Your final check will be in the mail tomorrow. Molly and I thank you for your services.” --click--

I would have never known had I not seen it with my own eyes. The dream catcher. Not the things we hang in our windows, those awful summer camp crafts projects made of sticks and ropes and feathers and such. No. The dream catcher whom nobody has dared to see, imagine or come to understand. To call it a person would be an insult to all things real. Then again it is as real as the people it claims. More so the children…

I had never had Christmas Carollers in my neighbourhood before. I think it’s one of those bygone traditions that have survived more in pop culture than actual practice. I never doubted that people still do it somewhere, sometimes, but I’ve never seen it happen in person and never really thought much of it. But on the last winter solstice, I finally heard a roving choir outside my window.

The phone rang abruptly. He paused to look at the screen of his battered cell phone. "No Caller ID." He doesn't usually answer these calls, but after what just happened he thought it could be something important. He slid his thumb slowly across the bottom of the screen to answer, and even slower again, he raised the phone to his ear. "H-Hello?" he said hesitantly.

My friends and I used to do a lot of geocaching after our senior year in high school. For those who don’t know what geocaching is, it’s essentially a worldwide scavenger hunt. People will select sites and conceal a “geo-cache” somewhere unobtrusive, then post GPS coordinates on geocaching websites where other searchers can download the cords and locate the cache. Usually, people who have found the object (often it’s a chest or something hollow) will leave a note or small personal memento for…

I wake with searing pain in my right arm. My left feels fine. My left hand tightly clutches my bedsheets and duvet. I squint in the silvery moonlight that flows from my white four-paned Georgian bedroom window. I can’t see much. Just the blur of the moon. I blink. My eyes are watery. My internal clock tells me it’s the early hours of the morning, but it isn’t always reliable. I feel pain. But it is feels dull, numb and distant. I breathe in. The air feels clean and pure at least.

Fran Laurent was a curious girl. She was a good student, kind and soft-spoken, but the other children avoided her. She liked to sit on the grass near the school fence, making little houses out of sticks and leaves. She rather enjoyed her time this way. In fact , she didn’t mind being alone, because her one true friend in the world was always there for her, waiting patiently at home. He was a beautiful black cat she had named Mr. Midnight.

Tommy Morgan did not have the best life. Coming from a broken home, the young 11-year-old only experienced the worst: his father would return home drunken like a skunk, and he would get into heated arguments with his wife over money and how since he was the bread maker, he could do with his earnings what he saw fit. Tommy’s mother would do chores around the house, her eyes red from sobbing.

My dog has always been kind of overexcited, running up and down the corridor, jumping all over our guests, relentlessly barking, and so on. I'm aware it's probably my fault for not being strict enough and encouraging this type of behaviour when he was a puppy. However, over the past few days, he has been very quiet. A bit too quiet. He's always hiding under the bed or behind the curtains, and sometimes, he even tries to hide under our linens, which is unusual since he's never been allowed on…

How to summon Slender man: [WARNING] Do at your own risk, it is not suggested that you play. This game requires a few days of preparation so be warned. Supplies: - 2 Sheets of paper - Red pen - Red string/yarn - Scissors - Salt - 4 Candles - Lighter - Ziplock bag - Rock You are now about to begin the game. Make sure you don't have anything that has your name or a loved ones name on it in the bathroom. (i.e. bracelet, necklace)

Chapter 2: One Hound’s Meal is Another Man’s Treasure He scanned the chamber for another door, but fell short. All while the holes in his chest and stomach began to glow with the healing white light. Requiem rested his claymore against his shoulder, then made his way to the door he had entered through seeing that it was the only way out of the chamber. The white light turned into his entrails, then muscles and finally his scarred skin until he was whole again.

This whole story started three days ago. I was on the bus, listening to music, when I spotted a black umbrella on one of the empty seats. At first, I hesitated to take it. It may sound strange, but I always feel a little guilty taking something that doesn't belong to me, even when it's abandoned. However, it never lasts very long and I end up taking it home. If I don't get it back, who will? I grabbed it as I got off the bus. It was a bit of a windfall. That day, it was pouring with rain and,…

Every marriage reaches a point where one partner looks at the other and thinks the same thing. "You are NOT the person I married." Often, this is because someone forgot an anniversary, gained a little weight, or suddenly developed strong political opinions after listening to a few episodes of a popular podcast.

There’s a floor in my apartment building that doesn’t exist. Not Thirteen. That would be too cliché. Although, it doesn’t have a thirteenth floor, but not for supernatural reasons. It just doesn’t go that high. Some of the residents call it Floor Three and a Half, or Three and Three-quarters to invoke a Harry Potter vibe, but both of those are far too whimsical for my tastes. I just call it the Dead Floor, which I know isn’t any less cliché than floor Thirteen, but it feels appropriate.

Content warning: child death 1

I always found Baba Yaga as a concept, a rather disturbing idea. That witch from Russian folklore that would snatch bad kids away, never to be seen again, or a figure that would punish those that had wronged it. I always found those stories stupid. Not because I don’t believe, but because I know the truth: there IS something in the Russian forests, a cruel, inhuman being that is nothing like the way people paint it in the stories. I have seen Baba Yaga, and I know what it really is.

I don’t know why I’m writing this. Maybe because if I don’t, it will stay in my head forever, scratching at the inside of my skull like something that wants out. My name is John, and a few months ago I found something I should have left buried. It happened during a trip out west, far from any marked trails, in a place where the silence feels wrong, like it’s not empty but waiting. I came across an old shack, barely standing, hidden between dead trees and dry grass. It looked like no one had…