“I’ve heard there are spirits in these mountains,” Alan said from behind me. Was he coherent or had he started raving? “That’s good,” I said. “Keep talking. Keep your mind off the pain.” Snow crunched under my feet. Everything was snow. Snow-covered rocks, snow-covered ground, a snow-covered sky, clouds of snow. No warmth, no direction,…
Tag: hallucinations
An IN THE AIR Excerpt: “The Birdman of Bishopsbourne” by Tim Jeffreys
After breakfast, I’d ridden the motorbike up into the high field, as usual, to bring the cows in for milking when I happened to look back and notice a huge hole in the barn’s roof, like something big had plunged right through. At first, I thought maybe a meteor or a piece of space junk….
A TRANSCENDENT Excerpt: “Never Left” by Lori M. Myers
I gazed, now, at the countryside blurring past. The faded clapboard building selling fish bait and the bar, which had thrived during tourist season, were long gone. Even the foliage seemed to reject this place, the trees transitioning from verdant green to almost skeletal-bare as we got closer. This place in time matched my own….
A TRANSCENDENT Excerpt: “In Comes the Cold” by M.C. St. John
“It is bloody freezing,” his wife said. “Bernard, say something. Anything.” “What am I to say that I haven’t uttered to the old man before?” “Perhaps raising your voice.” “I do. I do.” “Upstairs. Not here.” Too late. Their daughter, Alice, wriggled awake in Maggie’s arms and cried. Maggie bounced the baby as best she…
A TRANSCENDENT Excerpt: “Returnal” by Connor Phillips
The dreams, when they do come, are full of their faces, waiting and watching at the edge of the woods. You can hear the sneaking mutter of their schemes to trick you and trap you back into their blame. You don’t feel afraid though, just buried in anger. You spit and seethe, you belch and…
A TRANSCENDENT Excerpt: “Footsteps in the Room Upstairs” by Gregory L. Norris
Left with no other choice, he began to hear things. A car door closing in the driveway. Not loudly, like thunder, no—more like a secret that sneaks part of the way out. And the opening and shutting of the front door after she kissed his forehead goodnight and spoke the last of her new mantras:…
A TRANSCENDENT Excerpt: “God Is A Rabbit” by J. Robert Kane
“Cause of death, blunt-force trauma,” man’s voice says. “Wrongful death.” Rebecca lays upon a surgical table unable to move, though she’s not bound. The cold touch of the surgical steel table pressed against her back and buttocks, the backs of her legs and calves. She must be nude. But I’m not dead Panic takes her….
A TRANSCENDENT Excerpt: “Tabula Rasa” by William Curnow
The first thing Jack did when he got home was to go to the workbench and examine the block, comparing it to the sketch. He traced the scar that crossed the surface. If he cut here and here… Yes, that might work. He drew the new design onto the block. Almost. A change to that…
A TRANSCENDENT Excerpt: “The Wretched Noblesse” by Case C. Capehart
The nice thing about working at a department store in the suburbs was the storeroom. Only employees could be back there. His store had a giant compactor he fed cardboard boxes into that would crunch it all down into a four-foot-by-four-foot cube that weighed as much as a smart car. On Tuesday mornings, Todd would…
A TRANSCENDENT Excerpt: “The Mask of Infamy” by E.N. Dahl
Every library was the same, rows upon rows of dusty shelves, each giving off that amazing old book smell, tacky brown carpets, and a creaky staircase with the sticky tape worn off the steps. Professor Zelwats claimed that the library was the oldest building on campus, prompting campus-wide jokes that he’d been around to help…
A TRANSCENDENT Excerpt: “Sunday School” by Shaun Horton
“Well, that’s all we have time for today. We need to pray and accept communion.” Terry joined his mom, kneeling on the pillows set in front of the shrine. “Dear Lord, we thank you for your blessings and for watching over us throughout the day. We thank you for protecting us from the darkness and…
A TRANSCENDENT Excerpt: “Beckoned” by Melissa A. Winton
“Okay, Mary. Are you comfortable?” Dr. Ruebal asks, a ring of cigarette smoke circling his head, reminding her of one of those ciggy ads in the McClure’s magazine. The doctor’s unkempt appearance is nothing like those dapper gentlemen. His hair is greasy and disheveled from his tar-stained fingers combing through it every few minutes. She…
