by Jim Stitzel | Sep 26, 2024 | Stories
I have a sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach. That’s where it lives. The critter, if you can call it that. It burrowed into my torso, and it took up residence there. All I can see of it is its mouth, sticking out of my abdomen, and it is insatiably...
by Jim Stitzel | Aug 12, 2024 | Stories
Now he’s having nightmares. The boy who once couldn’t dream is now suddenly having nightmares. Every night, and repeatedly every night. And they’re affecting the rest of the world. He dreams of long, shadowy creatures with razor-sharp claws and...
by Jim Stitzel | Aug 1, 2024 | Stories
It started out as a scratch. A cat scratch, at that. The crazy kitty lanced a slash across my forearm that was deep enough to bleed. I washed it with soap and water and thought that was the end of it. Then I woke up in the night to the scratch burning and itching like...
by Jim Stitzel | Jul 30, 2024 | Stories
Expelled. That was the only word Jace could think of as he heaved the large, blackish-brown mass out of his stomach and onto the ground. It smelled like toxic waste and looked even worse. And just seconds before, that thing had been inside of him. He suppressed a...
by Jim Stitzel | Jul 27, 2024 | Stories
Beware the cornfields. Sinister spirits flock there at night, barely luminous among the stalks and leaves. They have faces of women, eyes bleeding pungent tears, teeth like knives. Their bodies are phantoms, tapering off until there is nothing there. They look out at...