Horror Fairy

While the image of Boris Karloff slowly shuffling across the screen with wraps of what looked like toilet paper wound around him may not have frightened me. The less well lit corners of esoteric magic did. As a scholar of history and particularly folklore, I had occasion to research the origins and uses of ritual magic within the Middle Ages. I was stunned by how much of what we think of as "medieval" magic actually finds its roots with the Ancient Egyptians.

Standing against the trunk of the oak tree was a man. His hair was silver, but not in a way that made him look old - it glinted faintly in the patches of light that punch through the crown of branches above. For a moment, Tansy wondered if maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her. That often happened when she was tired; she’d see something out of the corner of her eye and think it was something entirely different. When she blinked, though, he was still standing there, with a concerned look on his face.

Upon the occasion of her own demise, Mary Seacomb was buried, as was her wish, between the roots of the tree - despite the malevolent elements of her work and the fact that she was expressly forbidden from entering any of the church buildings within the surrounding areas. Accounts and parish records from the time reveal that she was regarded as something of an asset to the local area. This was particularly on account of her apparent ability to shield the town and a number of local villages from the effects of the black death.

Evil lurks in the ancient dark forest. Those perilous dangers have protected the Aljo-Gari tribe for generations. This year, however, the pleasant weather and mild climate have made the forest uneventful. Irritated with the monotony, Thulvia rashly ventures out to find excitement worthy of the nightly story circle. The forest does not disappoint; unspeakable terrors await.

"Celephaïs", extrait : "En rêve, Kuranes contempla la cité dans la vallée. La côte s'étendant derrière le pic neigeux qui domine la mer, et les galères aux couleurs gaies qui sortent du port pour aller vers les régions lointaines où le ciel et la mer se rejoignent. Ce fut également en rêve qu'il acquit ce nom de Kuranes, car lorsqu'il s'éveilla, il constata qu'on l'appelait autrement.

An epic, two-part dark fantasy poem inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula.

En 1921, en el Hospital Real de Santiago, en la Planta 14, una mujer embarazada va a tener su bebé, pero algo inesperado hace que todo salga mal. Muchos años después, en Madrid, un periodista fallece en su casa. Al investigar entre sus cosas Juan, un inspector de policía, encuentra una carpeta con un contenido que le hace sospechar y empieza a intentar descubrir qué significan las cruces marcadas que aparecen delante de los nombres de unas madres, de sus hijos recién nacidos, y de los médicos implicados en sus nacimientos.

Nuestro joven protagonista, Manrique, es un joven poeta, a quien le atrae todo lo romántico, los bosques, los monasterios... y atendiendo a las palabras de un fraile que le ha dicho que las estrellas que ve en el cielo son otros mundos, se dedica a soñar con las mujeres que habitarían esos mundos. Paseando una noche de verano le parece ver el borde del vestido blanco de una mujer, que enseguida desaparece....

A peasant's son leaves his family after being drafter into the army and returns far more different than anyone ever expected.

Do you want to get a good listening in, but only have 10-15 minutes? Want a full scary story but don't want to read for days and days? This short thriller is for you! Are urban legends real? After being teased about a scary urban legend of The Lady on the Road by her older brother, a teenage girl drives to her friend's house on a Friday night to hang out. After leaving her friend's house, she decides she's going to prove to her brother that The Lady on the Road urban legend is just that.

Another strange and frightening tale by Nikolai Gogol with roots in Ukrainian lore. When a poor peasant falls in love with the daughter of a wealthy farmer, a dark power interferes, promising him the fulfillment of his wishes but neglecting to mention the terrible price.

A newlywed Mormon thinks a honeymoon in the Amazon jungle of Brazil where he served his mission is a great idea, since he's been there and speaks the language. But he's completely unprepared to face the creatures of legend that roam the rainforest. This short story first appeared in the 2011 collection Monsters & Mormons, edited by Wm Henry Morris and Theric Jepson.

Un hombre rico es evitado por las mujeres a causa de su barba azul. Un día le pide a una vecina distinguida alguna de sus hijas en matrimonio, las cuales se pasan el compromiso una a la otra, por rechazo al aspecto de Barba Azul. Pero finalmente la hermana menor accede atraída por la vida opulenta que le ofrece el ricachón. Un día Barba Azul anuncia que partirá en viaje de negocios y entrega todas las llaves de la casa a su nueva esposa, incluida la de una pequeña estancia a la que le prohíbe entrar.

War changes men. In the throes of World War II, Christopher Bates will learn this hard truth as he flies to the heart of Nazi Germany to find his lost brother.

The night is clear, the moon is bright, a low fog swirls along the moor.... And there she is amongst the fog - the woman in white, forced to wander for eternity; but wait, what is her story? Can she be freed from the curse that keeps her so? Lachlan wants to know, but will he pay too great a price, as he also becomes her victim?

Children have gone missing in NYC. Detective Simon Strong takes on what he thinks is a routine case - get proof of a spouse's infidelity. When he digs deeper, he stumbles onto the trail of the missing children, but what he discovers shatters his concepts of reality. Tristan Montague is a mage on the run. Hiding from his sect and banned from the magical societies, he follows a trail of missing children to NYC. Now, together with Simon, they must prevent more abductions and stop those responsible for the disappearances.

"Bayou's Hex" is a tale of voodoo. An ancient curse and chant open Pandora's box in a Louisiana tavern...and all hell breaks loose.

It was Halloween, and Jan and her friends, Misty and Michelle, decided to dig up a legend that should have been just that. But we all know teenagers feel that they are invincible, and nothing bad will happen to them. Bad things only happen to other people - or do they?

Halloween had finally arrived. It was Mary's 16th birthday. Her parent's had finally decided she was old enough to have a sleep-over at their house. But she was only allowed to have two of her best friends spend the night after the party. Mary's little sleep-over and the conjuring up an old urban legend called "Bloody Mary" would prove fatal for them all.

Jeffery the Great was a world famous magician of the 1940s whose topple from fame was quick, but almost as quick was his rise 20 years later and his subsequent post as lead magician in a traveling circus of an otherworldly nature.