Brisk winds propel two demon spirits as they soar through the moonlit skies. Tony and Frank howl and guffaw on their journey toward a Halloween party hosted by the living. The uninvited fiends delight in their annual mission of claiming the soul of a human. They whiz downward through the clouds to glimpse the sparsely ...

**Trigger Warning: The following fictional work contains school violence, bullying, and murder.   Halloween is my favorite time of year. October is the only month out of the entire year that I feel like I can be myself. The other 11 months of the year, wearing black nail polish and obsessing over the latest season ...

Two dead oak trees obscure the old Victorian. Scads of tangled limbs allude to guarding the vacant structure, sending shivers up Sophia’s spine. She stares at the Gothic Revival opposite her new home. Mossy greens and hues of gray muddle its true coloring. She reaches into the U-Move it truck to retrieve her camera. Sophia’s ...

While I was sipping chamomile tea from a styrofoam cup and lying on the mustard-colored couch during what my shirk had referred to as “one of our most productive sessions yet” in July, Laura and I decided that it was best for me to “unplug” for a little while. So after living off Ramen noodles ...

I spent weeks writing this short story. Editing and revising it, until it was crisp and polished. My instructor loved it. My peers loved it…hell, even my family loved it. I dig up the courage and I submit it to a magazine that publishes similar stories. Then, I wait with bated breath for three days. ...

I found a job on Craigslist. Now, before you judge me, please understand something: I am an unpaid intern and full-time college student. The holidays are coming up, I need money to buy presents and participate in holiday activities with my family this year. I found a job that offered almost $1,000 for house sitting ...

Staring out her bedroom window, an ominous feeling grew in the pit of Anna’s stomach. She looked at the scene before her. Menacing flames from a recent forest fire threatened her residential community, but firefighters saved all homes. However, the inferno scorched nearby hillsides and distant mountains, leaving thousands of acres consumed from its feeding ...

**Trigger warning: Sexual misconduct and suicide are depicted in this fictional work.   An inexplicable warm, fuzzy feeling washed over me. I turned off my light and zeroed in on the sound of the tiny snore coming from the foot of my bed. My mom had got me Isabella as a kind of security blanket. She ...

One of the worst parts about trying to write a story is getting stuck. It happens to everyone at some point. You see the scene that you want to write, but the words aren’t coming. If they are coming, nothing sounds right. Sometimes, you have a scene that you’re trying to add, but it doesn’t ...