Horror and Wholesome
The rumbling settles into silence. If shock hadn’t numbed me, I might’ve screamed. Might’ve called for help. But I lay flat on my back, knocked down by the falling stones, and all I can focus on is trying to figure out if I’m still alive. Breathing? Check. Heartbeat? Check. Pain? Double check. I start to... Continue Reading →
Christmas seemed to shrink the older I got. First Santa stopped coming and all the gifts under the tree were signed by family members. Then my brother moved out for college a few states away. I followed suit, but closer to home. Then my sister. The first few years, we still all made the trek... Continue Reading →
Growing up in a small town meant a lot of regulars. Places, routines, people. The gas station convenience store was a small microcosm of that greater regular. 6 am, Bill Donner stopped in on his way to the slaughterhouse for cigarettes and a package of powdered donuts. 7:15, the bus stop kids huddled around the... Continue Reading →
I have an addictive personality. It can be a problem. Thankfully I manage to channel it in things that aren’t, on their own, terrible for you. In particular, video games. Not the kind you play on your own, but the co-ops and the multiplayers and the MMOs. The social stuff. It’s how I make friends.... Continue Reading →
My new short story collection, ALL THAT’S FAIR, and her horror book sisters, THE CORPSE GARDEN, FROM TWISTED ROOTS, & THE FESTERING ONES, are all available for only 99 cents through Oct. 7. Never a better time than Halloween season to check them out! Find them all on Amazon by clicking here! Pippin says, "Whenever... Continue Reading →
Midnight jogs helped clear my head. Or maybe they just numbed me to my own thoughts. Run until it hurts. Run until all you can think about is where your next breath is going to come from. Run until you can’t think at all. The emptiness was welcome. Silence was a stranger to me except... Continue Reading →
He’d been watching for months. Waiting. Patient. Poised. And now, he was ready. Friday night. Seven o’clock. Her parents would be going out for their weekly dinner and movie. They’d be gone for almost four hours exactly. Never more, never less. They were the type of couple that the phrase “You could set your watch... 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 →
Stories By S.H. Cooper 