The first time you see him, it means nothing. The second time... it's already too late.. Seven friends. One party. One man no one should have noticed. He stands under the streetlight. Watching. Waiting. At first, it feels like nothing. Until he starts getting closer. And closer. And closer. He doesn't run. He doesn't speak. He doesn't stop. And once you see him he sees you too...

The smartest children never remain in Johnson City Middle School. Why? It's not because they drop out, get removed, or can't deal with the educational modules. It's because the teachers do not allow smart kids. The Rules: 1: No asking questions. Just do as we say. 2: Never state your opinion. It doesn't matter. 3: Don't read anything outside of this school. 4: Never deny a teacher's request. 5: Never tell us no. 6: Respect us. 7: No cellphones, laptops, computer usage. 8: No cursing. Punishments Disrespect: Gets hit. 5 strikes/atonement Liars: Tongues grated Stealing: Left hand chopped off Speaking your mind or out to a teacher: Mouth sewed Caught outside of class without a pass or good reason: Feet are burned by fire Caught with cellphone: Acid poured into ears

Lili is one of several "daughters" created by a powerful entity known only as Mother. Their role is to whisper instructions into the minds of humans, nudging them toward actions that supposedly maintain balance in the world. Her oldest daughter, Lili, begins to suspect that these whispers aren't guidance - It's manipulation After questioning the rules, Mother punishes her by forcing her into a human body, stripping away her powers. Now hunted by her former sisters and watched by Mother, Lili must uncover what the whispers are actually doing to humanity.

The Winter Folk by Jennifer McMahon meets The Haunting of the Hill House (the Netflix series) in this tale of paleoanthropological terror that plays with the famous theory of the uncanny valley by Masahiro Mori. *** PhD student Giselle Brown returns to her childhood hometown to complete her dissertation in peace, hardly expecting anything surprising to happen. It already muddled her life as it is; she doesn't need more trouble to spice it up. But when the bones of a human cadaver are discovered by the local anglers, which turn out to be the remains of her long-lost mother, Giselle's life is thrown into a tumult. Twenty years ago, Giselle's mother, Julia Brown, had disappeared from their house, leaving behind a trail of heartbreak and despair. The police never found her mother, which drove her father to suicide, her older sister to turn mute and to be admitted in an asylum, leaving the full onus of raising Giselle on her grandmother. Her mother was more a legend in their house than a person who haunted their every action and Giselle's most haunting thoughts. Somewhere deep down Giselle had always sought answers to what happened to her mother and the disturbing facets of the last week she was with their family. Now, with the corpse recovered and identified, the investigation that had once gone cold resumes upon Giselle's insistence. Yet things get stranger as the police uncover the most bizarre facts about the cadaver and the details about the last days of Julia's life. Giselle is plagued by reflections that are not quite hers, shadows that stretch too long, figures appearing at the edge of the woods close to her home and a lingering sense of being watched. Giselle doesn't know what to do. Can she really trust her mind? Or is nothing as it seems?

Edmund comes to the remote village of Black Thickett to escape the life grief has carved out of him. He wants silence. Distance. A place where memories can't follow. But Black Thickett is wrong in quiet, unsettling ways. The broken road becomes perfectly smooth the moment he crosses the boundary. The cottages are too neat, too deliberate. And on a noticeboard full of dry flyers, only one poster is wet. A missing boy, smiling as if he doesn't know he's lost. The villagers won't talk about the disappearances. The forest at the edge of the village seems to breathe, and the deeper Edmund goes, the calmer he feels... dangerously calm. The forest can quiet his pain. It can ease his grief. It can make him forget. But not everything that heals you wants you to survive. Welcome to Black Thickett, where you'll find my entry into the ONC 2026.

Welcome to a long-term poetry project created for writers who want both structure and freedom! Activites will be posted over time, whether you wanna join in, write your own or just read & relax. Use this book as needed. As practice, as play, or as a quiet place to write. Welcome to the work. Welcome to the words. Welcome to the Poetic Pulse!

The Open Novella Contest is back for 2026! Join fellow storytellers and plant the seed of a tale that will blossom into a 20,000+ word novella within 12 weeks! Your epic quest begins February 1st, 2026, so mark your calendars with this date!

Thirty days. The countdown has started, North America shivers under the shadow of a massive alien spacecraft, and humanity is hurtling toward an unknown future that lurks at the end of the timer. Somewhere, somehow, the heroes are making their plans to fight the extraterrestrials. But this isn't about them. From the team at WritersConnX comes a new anthology about the rest of us - the average, the ordinary, the unassuming - and the many paths we run when our time is cut short. And no damn aliens! Written by: WCX Writers & Creators Rodney V. Smith, M.B. Dalto, Jane Peden, A.B. Channing, Eliza Solares, Jinn Tiole, Crystal Scherer, Cayleigh Kennedy, C.C. Starfield, Nova Nicalynn, Leigh W. Stuart, Franklin Barnes, Mags Lorang, Evelyn Hail, Lorraine Tramain, Fiora Voss, Wren Arrior, J.A. Jumphol, Bethany Swafford, Jamie Lemon, Mittu Ravi. Julia Esposito, Cardin Watts, Mikaela Bender, Jovi R, Sam Camp, Mhavel Naveda, Brittannie Charmintine, Van Carley, Henry Scott, Melody Grace Hicks, David J. Thirteen, C. S. Solarys, Hannah J Nelson, Vee Lozada, Eli Gregory, Kristin Jacques, Ben Sobieck, Bianca Di Cocco Compiled by: Rodney V. Smith, Van Carley, Eliza Solares, Ina Ramos