The deathscape thundered around Cato, the sound of hundreds of Salamander feet slapping against the ground. He fled in his human form, naked with his heart pounding three beats a second, sweat pouring off him.   He was half-blind as a human, with almost no night vision. This was why they had waited until dusk.   They would catch him again. They would take him back to their caves and he would never be free. He would live in the hollow and damp, forced to feast on flesh of unknown origins, flesh that sent itself spewing out of him more often than not. Slippery, slimy, gelatinous flesh.   He…

  Five was not the fifth child. He was not the fifth best at anything. He was just the fifth Drey. His grandfather, Drey the Fourth, hadn’t spent his life being called Four.   His other grandfather, Zero, had spent his life being called Zero.   So Five was Five, even though everybody else had perfectly respectable names that didn’t make them have to explain to their teachers that they were Five the name and five the years old.   Right now, he was five hundred percent sure he did not want to go to summer camp. All the kids went for three weeks right after summer festival, as soon…

  The library lay dormant, a fine layer of red desert dust on each book. No spiders crept along the shelves. No webs adorned the uneven pages or the brass and wood scrolls.    Drey sat at a solitary table, disturbing the dust on a single wooden stool. A trail of footprints in his wake betrayed his location if anyone chanced to look for him in the library.   On the table sat his tools for the day’s exploration: a glass, fire-hewn pen with an exquisite and precise tip; a vial of red, clay-based ink; a rough slab of parchment; the Babylonian scroll.   It was this which excited him…

  The Jellywitch wasn’t real. Faust could tell because his dad didn’t believe the story when he told it. His dad had a great imagination and all, but he could only lie about important things, like when someone’s life was in danger or you asked him if he missed their other dad and he had to pretend to be okay.   This was different.   This was his dad trying to keep everything fun, and Faust wanted to help. If they went jellyfishing, that would be fun, right?    They had dispersed around the lake, exploring and clambering over rocks in an effort to be the first to find some…

It was a bright and sunny morning. From his pillow in the master cabin of his yacht, Drew could see calm waters merging with the yawning blue sky. The horizon was nothing but a suggestion, a place where the infinite ocean became a shade lighter as the infinite sky.   He had his wife in his arms — the perfect honeymoon — and his weather spell indicated calm seas for the first part of the day.   He stretched languidly against his wife, Lisanne, taking in her curves and imperfections…a dotted mole here, a crooked tooth there, a bird tattoo splayed across her pale flesh…while she lay beside him. He…

Nell sat around a fire, the cool breeze of a late summer night nipping at his neck. As he waited for the children to settle, he added another log to feed the flames. “Gather round,” Nell said. “And prepare yourself for a frightful tale.” He felt the shiver of anticipation pass across the minds of the unknowing campers. “What is it?” Faust asked. “Who here is afraid of jellyfish?” Eyes rolled, and minds lost faith in Nell and his ability to wend a story. Of course these children, many Pixies, were not afraid. Nell raised an eyebrow. “That’s because you haven’t heard the Legend of Camp Jellywitch.” Nell waited until…

Warning: This Spooky is for adults (18+). The main character is drugged but she is unharmed.   Li woke, her head aching with an epic migraine. She’d last been at a concert, the heavy beat of Eddie’s drums carrying the band through each song with effortless fervor. It had been an amazing night. Li woke up in a tent. How she’d gotten there made no sense. She hadn’t gotten drunk; she hadn’t been drinking. She looked for the person beside her. Instead of a hot anyone, there was an old woman draped in blanket-like fabrics. Her hair was a mix of dreads and tangles. Her teeth were crooked, blackened, missing,…

Trigger Warning: The following [Supposedly] Spooky Story includes a suicide attempt. If you are uncomfortable with or triggered by suicide or self-harm please skip this story.   POV: Jace Birky (alias: Jace Nygaard) Timeline: Pink   It was a dark and lonely night. The cold winter air was bitter cold, nipping at Jace’s exposed flesh. He stood in his boxers at the edge of a despairing moat that was once a stunning lake. Winter promised depths, but as the years wore on, the legend of what Falkhus had been had faded into the past. Jace flopped on the rocks, a half drained bottle of akvavit in hand. Above him the…