Unease Stories

'Uncomfortable After Dark' is a collection of short fiction I've wrote designed to unsettle rather than frighten. These are quick, contained stories, each meant to be read in a single sitting. The unease in these stories comes from quiet places, familiar settings and ordinary people. Most are supernatural, emotional or both and there's even a touch of warmth. There are no jump scares and no neat explanations, just the slow realisation that something isn't right. Read them quickly but sit with them for longer. I'll add more frequently.

I am opening my eyes again. No. Not again. I am opening these eyes for the very first time. "Do you remember your name?" "Esmail." "No, that is my name. What is yours?"

During a construction dig, workers uncover chained skeletons sealed in stone coffins. That night, one grave is found empty, the chains snapped and trembling-and by morning, several workers have vanished, leaving only disturbed earth and a faint skeletal figure captured in a single photograph.

In 2023, archaeologists unearth a remarkably preserved 13th-century coffin in Whithorn, Scotland-but the excavation awakens something buried far deeper than bone. As scientists study the remains, strange marks on the jawbone begin to shift, whispers seep through the lab, and the earth itself hungers to reclaim what was never meant to rise again.

Archaeologists uncover an ancient jade burial suit that awakens in the dark, its golden threads twitching as the spirit within reclaims its body and walks again.

Molly who is a teenager girl wakes up one morning finding that her friend Jack isn't there. The last thing she saw was...

The Portrait in Progress is a haunting exploration of observation, reflection, and the subtle tension between reality and art. At first glance, it appears to be a simple half-finished painting, but closer inspection reveals details that linger in the mind, hinting at a story beyond the canvas. Every stroke seems purposeful, every shadow deliberate, inviting the viewer to question what they see, and what sees them in return.

Tressa thought her life was simple. She had two loving parents, a close-knit group of friends, and the typical ups and downs of high school. Between classes, late-night talks, and teenage drama, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But when tragedy strikes and secrets begin to unravel, Tressa is forced to face a truth that changes everything she thought she knew about her family... and herself. Normal was only an illusion. And Tressa's story is just beginning.

Fighting against the thoughts that go through my mind.

Short psychological horror fantastic script. You never know if he's crazy or something really is going on...

A long-buried king is unearthed beneath a mundane parking lot, but his vengeful spirit refuses to rest as strange disturbances and chilling signs reveal he is still clawing his way back into the world of the living.

In a misty bog, archaeologists uncover a preserved ancient corpse pierced by an arrow. As night falls, the water begins to stir, and the dead man slowly returns to reclaim what was disturbed.

A shadowy figure with a knife haunts a flickering hallway, closing the distance in sudden bursts of darkness until silence shatters with inevitable blood.

At an archaeological dig, a buried skeleton is found pinned beneath an iron sickle - a relic meant to keep it from rising. That night, the archaeologist who disturbed the grave vanishes, leaving behind only broken iron and a warning scrawled in her notes: "Iron keeps it down."

Ella Langridge moved from Canada to England for a reason she doesn't know - her parents won't tell her. She puts up with her father's ever-rising temper, hides his carvings, and puts up with everything he does to her. She falls for Fox - the average-looking guy that almost everyone wants to date - and he sends her the first Valentine's Day card she's ever received. But there's a twist. Tom begins to haunt her, her father goes out on more 'business' trips, and Fox gets under her skin. All Ella has to find out is 'Why?'

I believe that is the worst torture of all.

At an ancient burial site, archaeologists uncover two skeletons locked in a desperate embrace. As night falls, strange movements, markings, and sounds emerge from the tomb, and by morning the team vanishes-found later posed exactly like the ancient dead they disturbed.

You keep falling... And falling... And falling.... Based off of a dream I had on this morning. 3/18/23

Some silences are telling. They are palpable and speak in thunderous tones.