A shudder rakes me; it rises up from my soul, shaking this borrowed body like a fever dream. I press ahead, despite my fear. The Collector is coming for me. The throng roils on the platform below, hellbent on the open train doors. A giant digital clock in the center…

It began with a fire.  ‘Paranormal activity’, he said. ‘That’s what started it – ghosts, demons’.The phone line crackled and I held my breath.   I heard him tut, and sigh, then say,‘Or maybe you think he died of Spontaneous Human Combustion?’. There was a pause. ‘I’m not trying to scare you’, he…

Long ago, in the woods by the glen, a dead body was found.  In a yew tree hollow, a girl was unearthed; had kids not glimpsed her hair whilst goblin hunting, she might have sunk, embedded in deadwood. She wore a crown of nightshade flowers and in her hands dark…

Albion Star System: CE 3048The Planet Britannia Cathedral Zee’s silver ankle bells jingled with every step, light and lively after her prison chains. She kicked out her toes, talons retracted, careful not to shred her snowy bridal robe. Her merry tune played off-beat to the guards’ slow, booted march.  Thud,…

The Old Woman’s Advice Calpurnia woke up screaming. Breathless, she gasped into consciousness, her panicked bosom heaving until the Oneiroi demon dislodged and shuffled off with a sneer. Clutching her husband’s arm as he rose, she told him of her dream and begged him – do not leave. And, laughing,…

Clara looked around the corner when she heard the mail slot clink. She gasped when she saw the brilliant white envelope, practically glowing against the backdrop of aging wood and faded drapes. Impossible.  She hurried forward and picked up the letter, hands shaking. The paper was elegant, slightly off white, thickly pressed, with gold trim…

Claudia sat back in the wicker chair beside her bed and spoke into the phone. She gathered in a helping of air before she did. A half-moon hung golden outside the bedroom window.   “Goodnight, Claudia,” she heard from the receiver, a breath or two before. “I know these trips are…

We are asked to listen to nature’s warnings by our mothers and fathers. A bleeding sky means a miscarriage is on the horizon. Grass rotting in June warns of a liar living next door. Clear water on a river bend is a reminder that you have forgotten to look deeper.…

Cynthia was rearranging her mom’s yesterday when someone aware came in. She recognized the boy from somewhere. He looked about seven, her age, with a bowl cut. Normal enough, and that was the strange thing; he wasn’t like everyone else in the coffee shop. They were gray and wispy and…