psychological-horror
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The manila folder contained seven pages of rules, each one more unsettling than the last. Ash read them again, his hands trembling slightly as he sat in the sterile break room of the Meridian Research Facility. Rule 1: Never look directly into the hole for more than three seconds at a time. Rule 2: If…
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The fluorescent lights hummed their electric lullaby as Marcus wheeled the medication cart down the corridor of Eternal Rest Hospice. Three weeks into his new job, and he still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was fundamentally wrong with this place. The patients lingered too long, their suffering stretched like taffy pulled beyond its breaking…
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Maya discovered Sunflower Gardens in the discount bin at GameStop, wedged between old sports titles nobody wanted. The cover art looked hand-drawn—a girl with crayon-yellow pigtails watering cartoon flowers. At twelve, Maya was tired of her brother’s shooters and battle royales. This looked perfect. The game exceeded her expectations. Maya guided her character through meadows…
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The first time Sarah walked in her sleep, I thought it was stress. She’d been working late shifts at the hospital, coming home exhausted, her scrubs still smelling of antiseptic and something else I couldn’t place. That night, I woke to find her standing at the foot of our bed, perfectly still, her eyes open…
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The scratching started on our third night in the house. Just subtle at first—the kind of sound you’d attribute to settling pipes or skittering mice. Sarah said I was being paranoid when I mentioned it over breakfast, but I saw how her eyes darted to the walls when she thought I wasn’t looking. We’d gotten…
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It started with Mrs. Henderson describing the hallway. “The walls are this terrible shade of green,” she said, wringing her hands in her lap. “Like old copper, or maybe pond scum. And no matter how far I walk, it never ends. Just door after door after door, all of them locked except for the last…