Friday, July 18, 2014

Three-Sentence Scary Stories

Horror is usually achieved through creeping suspense.  Can flash fiction successfully capture horror?  I think so!

1.
I hadn't realized how far the raft had drifted out into the lake; we seemed to be at the center, surrounded by inky blackness. My friend had jumped in a couple hours ago, promising to swim to shore to get help. She still hadn't come up for air...

2.
With a hiss, the shuttle detached from the space station. Inside, Davies breathed a sigh of relief; the virus had been contained before it breached the shuttle. But as the shuttle drifted away, something was still scratching at the outside of the airlock.

3.
Somehow, I seemed to have far more karma on Reddit than I remembered. I had definitely blacked out last night; had I posted something? It wasn't until the /r/gonewild comments started that I realized what I'd done.

Author's note: /r/gonewild is a place where people post naked pictures of themselves.

4.
Ironically, I'd been reading about aneurysms when the nosebleed started. "How annoying," I thought to myself as I reached for a tissue. But now the box is empty, and the blood isn't stopping.

5.
I stared down at my daughter.  She looked just how I remembered her, wearing the same pale pink dress the mortician had picked out.  "Daddy?" she whispered out of the darkness.

6.
I stared around at the people as they passed, spinning in circles on the crowded sidewalk.  No one else but me could see the demons, writhing beneath their skin.  I would have to burn them out.

7.
The man grinned as he closed in on her in the alley, a vicious and sadistic grin. She could feel her limbs already getting heavy; there must have been something in that last drink. "Now," the man leered as he pulled a knife from his pocket, "I think it's time to have some fun."

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