When the ghosts went

A tour into a hellish purgatory where you shop ‘till you drop...

Every night, when her dad is asleep, Bretta creeps downstairs and listens to the voice in the boiler room...

When two youngsters break into a garage, accidentally tipping over a beaker, they soon begin to realise that crime doesn’t pay... ​

John Arkwright has seen ghosts for years: in the bingo hall, in the supermarket; everywhere. The day the ghosts stop, John realises something has drastically changed...

This salutary tale is a sharp reminder that, if you deal with the Devil, even unwittingly, be prepared to pay your dues…

Negotiating with demons is not a young woman's game, as our character knows all too well. But staying out of Hell means it's a necessary evil...

A man recalls a peculiar incident while staying in a small village, leading to the demise of his relationship... A man recalls a small village and the strange experience he…

Beginning a new life by the ocean to escape from his debauched LA existence, Bartholomew finds something even more nightmarish brought in by the tide...

A husband and father vows vengeance through the ages following the death of his family at the hands of the Witchfinder General...

Story by Jay D. Green. Aria has moved from California to Scotland to start a new life and find the man of her dreams. Her relationship with Phin is going…

No one touches the White Tree. A forester, Sam Edwards, has been tasked with cutting it down. But what might happen when one crosses a line that ought not be…

Gordon’s New Year resolution to exercise more is one that many of us explore, following the possible excesses of Christmas. But in Jim Mountfield’s tense tale, it leads the protagonist…

Just what is it that Robert can see, elusive, in the corner of his eye? Who is the mysterious woman, captivating his thoughts and dreams? Who, or what, waits on…

Many children have imaginary friends, don’t they, that no one else can see? But of course, they’re just make-believe – aren’t they…?

The mysterious disappearance of Colin Carmichael leads investigator Mr Surety to an old tavern, the last known whereabouts of the missing man. But something is not right. Not right at…

Sully buys a camera which takes pictures of people’s souls. The insight it gives him into his friends is disturbing. Then he takes a selfie.

In Mexico, a man notices a woman staring at him in a cafe. After visiting a brothel, the man is kidnapped by thugs and soon finds himself trapped in a…

When a corrupt official puts the kibosh on attempts to save their neighbourhood from demolition, the members of a Community Land Trust cut through the red tape and make their…

Knowing your own mind is a good thing, but listening to advice is worthwhile too, as the protagonist of this story discovers, in The Subtlety of Serpents.

Strange are the things you sometimes find washed up by the side of the river. Stranger still are the people who might collect them...​

In the dreaming spires of Oxford, a professor finds an ancient incantation, given by a witch to the last pagan king of Mercia...​

Modern technology is a wonderful thing, isn’t it? An app for this and an app for that. Imagine, however, the app that grants the wildest dreams – dreams that may…

I have a very intricate and secure bedtime routine. Some would call it paranoia. I call it common sense...

A quaint village, rural walks, good company and hospitality – surely the ingredients for a relaxing few days away? However, a fireside tale at the Haunted Man Inn leads to…

Pages from the private journal of Derek, a fifty-something loner who chronicles his afternoons spent in the company of Mrs. Hindley, a woman whose dark past Derek helps to keep…

Once you die you go in the ground, right? Wrong. Crazed Edward is determined to maintain, please and talk to his crop of pumpkins. Doomed to a seemingly horrific life,…

The internet is full of solutions for all our life problems, for a small price. Imagine Penny’s joy when one ‘solution’ actually worked…

A night of drink, drugs, and ouija in a church cemetery takes a dark turn following a proposal to run widdershins around the church building to summon Satan...

Paul’s M.R. James-esque story, The Reeds, is set around the town where he grew up. In it, a grieving widower seeks solitude in a small village, where the ancient past…

Daniel’s relationship with his roommates has deteriorated, along with his dangerous relationship with drugs and alcohol. There is a high price to pay, however, when Daniel’s anger spills over one…

Story by Stuart Cleland. A man is determined to find a secret chamber in a castle. From the moment of discovery and enlightenment on its tragic history, he is never…

When you enter the gallery, turn right, and you will reach Jennifer's dream...

There are many places that offer a source of relief and sanctuary for us, in our hours of need. What if, however, one such place was to become anything but…

Daughters of the Doctor is a voyeuristic narrative that leads the reader into a strange, abandoned building, where we are witness to uncanny bodies and the unusual horrors left behind…

Rainbow Pit is part of a series of stories that Ray has been writing for a project he calls Municipal Gothic - and is set in an underpass beneath a…

A late night at the office turns into anything but mundane, as you’ll discover in this surreal tale from the pen of Joe Howsin...

That Last Kokeshi Doll You Bought is a mystery story about a revenant and revenge, set in contemporary Japan, and told mostly as a dramatic monologue...

The cold embrace of winter forms a commanding backdrop, in Jonathan's haunting and atmospheric tale of a love which cannot and will not be denied...

Could the harmless effigy of a cat hold such sinister power? For god's sake, beware the stare from the Glazed White Face.

Could the idyllic cottage down the country lane be Aaron and Judith’s dream home, or the stuff of nightmares? Be careful what you wish for…

Yorkshire, 1963. A boy and his grandfather settle down for a day’s fishing. Close by is fellow angler ‘Painter’ Jack, who baits his hook with maggots… and eats them by…

Down in the permanent blackness, an organism retains a memory of a food source untasted for many centuries...

Boys of the Old Brigade follows a veteran of the Irish war of independence, returning to 'Blighty' to open a butcher shop in Camden town; but will the ghosts of…

A tip-off from a local stranger sends Francis, a keen archaeologist, to an ancient tomb in Cornwall. Fiction by Hank Belbin.​..

A rural West Country village has a hill that nobody walks on. Old Mal tells us tales of the twisted old tree that once stood there.

Enter the gruesome, grainy 1970s world of Reginald Halliday, the septuagenarian 'retired' serial killer who has turned his 'skill set' into a small business....

Dominic Thresher, Consultant in Obstetrics and purveyor of humiliation to the unfortunate, finds a different audience in this story by Paul Radcliffe...

A winter walk in a landscape shaped by the hand of humankind reveals ancient secrets hidden in plain sight...

In a city choked with poisonous smog, a young boy flees his murderous father. He finds another, nightmarish city whose inhabitants might save him – but at what price?

Laura is exhausted. She sits with her mum having coffee after a harrowing night of haunting. Laura's haunting continues at breakfast and throughout the day. The haunting intensifies at her…

Home Bulletin magazine features all kinds of house renovations – but Millstone Cottage is one that really should have been left to rot...

A second-hand mirror bought to brighten a home reflects something much darker altogether...

Here's award-winning poet Simon Widdop's 'horror poem', On Famous Monsters: The Requel featuring some old monster movie favourites...

1860: Andrew Syms craved freedom from caring for his invalid mother. He reveals to our narrator the supernaturally-inflicted events that led to her death. Some things in this world are…

In her interview with a mysterious and ageing diva, a young reporter is warned to leave by midnight. But will she outstay her welcome?

A pair of brothers execute a simple kidnapping for ransom, but neither quite trusts the other's intentions...

Am-dram company Director, Danny Cavendish, is a serial womaniser, on the run from his past. As production rehearsals grow increasingly sour, Danny enlists the help of a local woman, Annie…

'Marius' appears to a bullied schoolboy in his dreams. When the bullying becomes rather extreme, Marius appears to the schoolboy and takes him to claim his revenge. However, it soon…

The eerie sound of a fox in the night has been known to shred the nerves. In ‘Vinegar Tom’ that is only the beginning…

While inspecting an abandoned school with his granddaughter, a maintenance worker begins to experience strange and disturbing feelings. This story, the debut of writer Carrie Mills, is based in part…

After the war, came the task of rebuilding. The rubble had to be cleared. The ruins had to be rebuilt. And the dead had to be laid to rest...

An aspiring singer begins to lose control as she inches ever closer to perfection…

Katie is stranded in her car in the middle of a deserted industrial estate. But is something in the vehicle with her?

Nora Watkins is the wife of a 17th Century village gravedigger. When the night-watchman kills a mysterious figure it falls on Nora to retrieve the body – but on Crow…

With Christmas approaching and a brief respite in lockdown, one student chooses to remain alone in her halls of residence over the festive period. But has she made a terrible…

Taken from the sea, a therianthropic selkie discovers the horrible truth behind the fate of her kind...

In this story from our youngest author, Ben Unsworth (15), the normal dangers of breaking down on the roadside pale into insignificance. On this Highway to Hell, stricken drivers will…

In Steven Sheil’s disturbing dystopian tale, ‘Dissection Of The Cockroach’, the reader is taken on a disturbing and mesmeric journey, seen – literally – through the eyes of the main…

Folk horror and political satire combine when a populist prime minister inveigles a royal invitation to boost his flagging poll ratings, only to invoke a revenge from history...

Horror Stories from Horrified 'Folk Horror' free to download now...

Loss and regret; Sadness. Eavesdrop on the correspondence between a killer and his muse. The cause of so much; the punishment for much more.

Another strange and disquieting tale from John Clewarth, where nothing is ever quite as it seems...

When the circus comes to town promising 'So much to see...and kids go free!' it provides a welcome diversion for busy single mum Hannah. But she soon discovers that unspeakable…

The story takes the pre-industrial perspective of a beaten wife, who prepares for the impending, communal punishment of her husband, and his ritual murder...

Amid a fierce snowstorm, a young girl must protect her ailing sister against the biting cold and the Brook Witch. But does the witch really exist?

As a coal-fired power station nears the end of its life, an elderly engineer finds it hard to let go...​

The protagonist of Max’s story receives an unexpected Christmas invitation from his ex-wife, after ten years of separation, which he tentatively accepts. The resulting reunion is a bittersweet affair, and…

John watches with increasing horror as the ordeal of Emma Dryden, a woman accused of blasphemy and slander, spirals disturbingly out of control. Historical horror by R.P. Serin...

Wally and his old friend, Ronnie, go back a long way. Now, in the twilight of their years, they find looking back can be a bitter-sweet business. And letting go…

Children go where they shouldn’t. On a railway embankment in winter, no birds sing. One boy takes up a dare. The other children know there are ghosts. Perhaps they will…