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San Cibernético

An orphan discovers a mummified cyborg while hiding from scientists on his worldship and turns it into a cult saint.

Somnambulant

After a waking nightmare that continues to haunt her, Elisa experiences increasing episodes of disassociation. As her sense of self unravels, she gets closer to the horrifying truth.

Shadow Puppets

By Caleb Stephens

Kyle has a new neighbor at Valley Acres Trailer Park—a strange, pale girl named Winter, who has an abusive father...and a rare allergy to the sun.

Stabat Mater

By Michael Wehunt

When Nolan's pregnant wife develops a bizarre fascination with wasps—insects he's both terrified by and severely allergic to—he's unsure of how to handle it.

The Station Agent’s Wife, 1927

By Timothy G. Huguenin

In the 1920s, an Appalachian woman has married a man whose job brings them out of poverty into the middle class. As she cares for her new baby while her husband works, strange white growths appear in the house.

I, Beloved of Other

By D. S. Ullery

An isolated man undergoes an otherworldly - and sinister - experience after a meteorite lands in his back yard.

An Exercise in Peddling Fear

By Christopher DeStefano

A true master of a trade takes pride in their work and the demonic plying of human fear is no different! An artisan breaks down the industry and walks two unfortunate souls through its current project.

A Breach in the Fence

By Kevin David Anderson

An undisciplined rottweiler breaks through a fence into a neighbors's yard where a young child plays, unattended.

One Shot

By Tiffany E. Wilson

What happens when a pandemic hits the failing US healthcare system? When Kiara becomes sick, she can't afford to admit her infection and miss work or even go to the doctor to treat it. Failed by the system, she searches for any way to survive.

The Domovoi

By Avra Margariti

A strange mansion. A young servant. A rich couple. And a house spirit watching everything unfold.

Forever Autumn

By Mark Towse

A crow stares at a man through the window of a cabin in the woods. What does it know? What will it do?

Ritual

By J.S. Watts

A man prepares to go out on the hunt with just one thing on his mind. He has his trusted rituals to achieve success, but there are other, older rituals at play, rituals that balance nature and can turn the hunter into the hunted

Annie’s Alibi

By Jordan Hirsch

These women and priests just don't get it at all.

Stabat Mater

By Michael Wehunt

When Nolan's pregnant wife develops a bizarre fascination with wasps—insects he's both terrified by and severely allergic to—he's unsure of how to handle it.

The Song of The Cicadas Underground

By Evan Marcroft

The daughter of an Irish immigrant returns to her mother's homeland to search for the grave of her grandmother, who disappeared during The Troubles, and to reconnect with her neglected roots. In the course of her mission, however, she attracts the interest of dangers both human and not, and learns that some roots are best left underground.

Bucket of Chicken

By Mark Towse

A fried chicken-addicted off-duty cab driver with chronic acid reflux returns to his vehicle to find a cash-rich passenger in the back seat.

Swallow

By Aisling Campbell

A predatory young man chooses the wrong girl to follow home from the Halloween disco.

The Old Fisherman’s Track

By Kris Ashton

When businessman Chris Rowe spots the name 'Jimmy Hepler' in a newspaper, it exhumes dark and uncanny events from his childhood in 1986.

The Guernsey Hunt

By CLadd

When Mary Queen of Scots made England Catholic, her supporters were eager to burn heretics--especially wealthy ones. But in burning three women--one of them heavily pregnant--the perpetrators made a terrible mistake. Based on a true story.

The Brides of Dracula Ponder the Manson Murders

By Avra Margariti

(What are humans but an amalgamation of meat and electricity?) Read this unsettling poem by Avra Margariti.

Tailor Made

By Eddie Spohn

A tailor uses some very special material to cover over a groom's deficiencies. Not all of us are what we appear to be.

TAKE ME

By Clay-McLeod-Chapman

A cardboard box on the curbside. A magic marker missive: TAKE ME. Free books for someone to take. But what if these books shouldn't be taken? What if they're haunted?

In Bocca al Lupo

By MJ Mars

When climate change brings about the New Ice Age, along with the hatching of a hoard of monstrous Ningen, it is down to the five remaining members of the Polaris military base to lure the monsters to their doom. Only, the theory behind the lure isn't all that sound. And the Ningen are like nothing they have ever faced before.

Season’s Greetings

By Kevin M. Folliard

Depressed and suicidal, Flynn makes a pact with an ancient spirit, a monstrous being made of glass who writes eloquent letters promising to claim Flynn's life and end his suffering. But when he unexpectedly finds love in the arms of Nan, they must fight to break the pact and save his soul.

Her Attraction, When Invisible

By CK Moak

Brian, a lifelong insomniac, thinks he's almost moved past the death of his wife. However, the Horrors that live in his house and torment him at night tell a different story.

Star Struck

By Robert Stahl

A young man fresh out of school meets the man of his dreams when a movie star rolls into town. But he quickly discovers his new love's dark side. Will the relationship cost him everything?

Give and Take

By Selah Janel

It's easy to forget the reasons for traditions, and unfortunately, just as easy to suffer the consequences.

Iteration 571

By Dennis Mombauer

Tlachoatl storms a freezing temple floating in space and tries to reach the chamber of the bone god in its heart. He fails again and again, and with every iteration, the temple changes in response.

The Hole at the Top of the World

By Benjamin Blattberg

A mountain guide leading a Cthulhu cult to their death contemplates letting the end of the world happen.

I, Beloved of Other

By D. S. Ullery

An isolated man undergoes an otherworldly - and sinister - experience after a meteorite lands in his back yard.

The Guernsey Hunt

By CLadd

GASHADOKURO

By Perry-Ruh

An apocalyptic poem.

TAKE ME

By Clay-McLeod-Chapman

A cardboard box on the curbside. A magic marker missive: TAKE ME. Free books for someone to take. But what if these books shouldn't be taken? What if they're haunted?

The Old Fisherman’s Track

By Kris Ashton

When businessman Chris Rowe spots the name 'Jimmy Hepler' in a newspaper, it exhumes dark and uncanny events from his childhood in 1986.

Give and Take

By Selah Janel

It's easy to forget the reasons for traditions, and unfortunately, just as easy to suffer the consequences.

Touching Distance

By Vaughan Stanger

A blind man has volunteered to work on a research project that is using tactile feedback supplied by a bodysuit to represent visual information. As he navigates a simulation of an outdoor environment, he encounters virtual ghosts from his past, which crawl over his body, culminating in the recreation of a fatal incident he was involved in years ago. Can he understand what and why this is happening before it drives him mad, and so find peace at last?

Cammie has grown up in foster care since the accident that took the lives of her parents, for which she blames herself. She was alone until recently, when her little brother Jason was returned by his adoptive family and joined her in a foster home. She tries to scare Jason by reciting a nursery rhyme about a monster called Mr. Chew, but she is the one who is scared. She sees Mr. Chew every day, staring at her and creeping closer and closer.

Satan’s Ridge

By Cody-Mower

In this true story, Cody and his best friend Kyle spend their final summer before adulthood finding the secret shame of their tiny town in rural Maine—Satan's Ridge, a haunted site purposely removed from the map. Sometimes forbidden places are forbidden for a reason.

Feast Your Eyes

By Avra Margariti

Two sacrificial lambs.

MANGOES

By Gourab Hazra

The poem depicts the plight of Medieval villagers who have fallen prey to witches. They visited the hamlet guised as damsels and allured them into consuming the mangoes they had brought as an offering. The rural settlers were unaware of the fact that while they were enjoying this new delicacy, their beating hearts were growing as crops in the witches' lair.

Honey Bear

By Avra Margariti

“Come outside, dearest mine. Come taste the spring honey drip-drip-dripping from every hive.” Read this dark poem by Avra Margariti.

The Brides of Dracula Ponder the Manson Murders

By Avra Margariti

(What are humans but an amalgamation of meat and electricity?) Read this unsettling poem by Avra Margariti.

Annie’s Alibi

By Jordan Hirsch

These women and priests just don't get it at all.

Darkroom Liaisons

By Avra Margariti

The poltergeists leave the darkroom the way they came: faceless. Read this beautiful poem by Avra Margariti, only on The Dread Machine.

Tommy

By Kamen Pavloff

Tommy is lost, walking along an abandoned road. He remembers his family and his normal life, but he fails to remember how he got himself on the road he is treading now.

GoGood

By Louis Evans

"GoGood" is a new app designed to support Effective Altruism-style donations. But its user logs paint a darker picture of a growing plague.

A Gardener’s Guide to the Apocalypse

By Lynette Mejía

A story about disaster and how we endure in its aftermath, "A Gardener's Guide" follows its protagonist and her partner through a year post-apocalypse; watching their garden grow as the world slowly dies around them.

In Bocca al Lupo

By MJ Mars

Precipitation

By Merethe Walther

A horrified mother catches her young daughter sneaking outside to get her first glimpse of snow.

The Corpsehulk

By Chris Black

When the system's outer colonists are subsumed by smartmetal gone rogue, Winnow finds herself aboard Earth's makeshift defence fleet. But the Corpsehulk isn't some simple flesh and chrome invader; it has a vision for humanity, perhaps one that Winnow shares.

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