Horror and Wholesome
Nursing and being a nun aren’t really such different things. As the former, I help look after the body. As the latter, I help look after the soul. Nourishing both is important to leading a healthy, happy life. When I was a young woman, fresh out of my nursing program and fresher still out of... Continue Reading →
I’d never been so certain of anything as I was in that moment. The first bell hadn’t rung yet and I was standing at my locker with Jade. I was still new to the school, an unfortunate position to be in for your senior year, and she was the only friend I’d managed to make.... Continue Reading →
The first word that came to mind when I met Jeremiah Goodwin was small. He was a short man with close-cropped, pale hair and a hunched posture. He looked almost childlike sitting in the office chair, save for the fact that his hands were shackled to his waist. I’d been told it was for my... Continue Reading →
Locals call it the Long Drop. It’s a half-mile of weathered steel that stretches across a river five hundred feet below. Built in the early 1930s, the bridge is still in use, although there have been attempts to close it. Even a few to destroy it full stop. It remains, though. The Long Drop has... Continue Reading →
I’ve been telling people for years to stay away from the bogs outside the village. They rarely listen. It’s not their fault, I suppose. We are a curious species by nature and when you hear a tale as unbelievable as that of Twelve Hands, you’re bound to want to try and see it for yourself.... Continue Reading →
We should have listened. But we didn’t. Even during the search, I kept thinking that. It was so surreal. To be out in those woods looking for my son, and in the midst of every other panicked thought screaming through my head, that one, eerily calm idea kept surfacing. We should have listened. But we... Continue Reading →
In March 1946, Robert O’Dell walked into Creek Haven Elementary with a shotgun and a pistol. Twelve children and a math teacher never made it home. O’Dell was arrested immediately following the massacre, after he’d fallen down a flight of stairs. When asked why he had done it, he didn’t answer. He just smiled. He... Continue Reading →
I’d always heard it said that funerals are for those left behind. A final goodbye and a chance to come to terms with the loss. Makes sense, doesn’t it? I never questioned it until I started working at a funeral home as an assistant director. My boss, Bill, was a large man. Big build, big... Continue Reading →
My name is Dennis Majors. I’m 37 years old. I’m unemployed and don’t have any real friends or family. No one to miss me. That’s why I need you. I’ve been...going somewhere. But also nowhere. I wake up and I’m in my apartment, but it’s not my apartment. None of this makes sense, I know,... Continue Reading →
People like happy. They respond to happy. Sad is a different story. One that’s far shorter, with fewer characters and less descriptors. Sad is the thin leaflet you hide between the brighter covers. No one really wants to know it’s there. Not even you. Sad is uncomfortable. And so, I was “happy”. I had my... Continue Reading →
Stories By S.H. Cooper 