Terrorific Tales

By Hadena James

Once I dreamed about a spider that kept opening and closing a waffle iron.  I didn’t know whether to laugh or be afraid.  When I told my friend, she referred to it as a terrorific dream.  The stories inside this collection are much the same.  Tales where the unexpected become mundane or where the mundane takes an expected turn to become horrific.  To laugh or be afraid, that is the question.   

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hadena James
• Release date: Feb 28, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386803522

Book preview

After Dark

He lay in his bed, blankets over his head. The noises continued. Bumps, growls, groans, knocks and scratches emanated from the room next to his. His heart jackhammered a rough staccato in his chest. His palms were sweaty. He needed to get up and go check, but his dog was having fits in his room.

Jake, a mutt he’d found a few weeks earlier, was howling at his bedroom door. It begged to be let out. This caused him even more terror. In the weeks, he’d owned Jake, he’d never seen Jake go nuts like this. Jake ran to his bed, jumped up on it, jumped back down, ran to the door, and howled again. He peeked out of the covers.

The noises stopped. This scared him even more. He was glad the lights were on in his room. He knew he needed to go check it out. It could be a burglar or something, but fear kept him pinned in his bed. Jake still pawed at the door.

Honey, I’m home! His mother’s voice came from downstairs. He jumped from bed and raced down the stairs two at a time. Jake was at his heels.

Mom! He shouted when he saw her. There’s someone in your room.

What? His mother sensed his distress. She went up the stairs as fast as he had come down. Outside her room, she stopped. He stood behind her. Jake leapt at her door, barking. Go get your baseball bat.

He did as she told him. In a few seconds, he was back. She took it from him. The noises had resumed. Her heart sped up. She put on a brave face for her son and opened the bedroom door.

The room was dark. The noises were now louder. The strange cries even more distorted.

I’m going to die at twelve, he thought. And mom is going to die with me.

His mother moved towards the closet. Jake was already there. He barked and jumped at the door. She opened the door.

The cat streaked past them. Its head trapped in a plastic container that held cat treats. His mother let out a laugh. He sighed. He’d been scared by the cat for over an hour. Being home alone was scary.

Amber's Friend

AHHHHHHH! I’m paralyzed! I can’t move anything. What happened to me? Did I have an accident? I don’t think so, I went to bed like normal and woke up and now I can’t move. I used to sleepwalk when I was a child. Is that what’s happened? Did I sleepwalk and fall down the stairs last night? Did my neck break? Is that why I feel like I’m lying on a floor with an elephant on my chest? Wait, can paralyzed people feel anything? I feel stuff, I just can’t move. Oh God! I’m in a coma. I fell down the stairs, cracked open my skull, and now I’m in a coma. That’s why I can’t see anything or talk or move, but I can still feel. How do I wake up from a coma? Is it something you do mentally, like waking up from sleep? Wake up, Kevin! Wake up!

Okay, that didn’t work. Maybe I’m dead. Is this heaven or hell? Wasn’t there another place? Somewhere in between, someplace that souls went who were innocent but hadn’t been saved. Damn it, Dante! The one time I actually need to remember your stupid books and I can’t. I even read them in Italian, so why can’t I remember it. Shouldn’t there be something or someone here to explain this to me? Shouldn’t there be a keeper or some kind of orientation? Hi, welcome to Heaven, my name’s Jean and I’ll be your guide for the tour. Now, if you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to meet St. Peter where you’ll check in and then we’ll get started. No, that’s insane.

Sleep paralysis! Of course! That makes more sense than death or comas or broken necks. I’ve read about it. The person wakes up during REM for whatever reason and their body is still paralyzed from REM sleep. It should be wearing off soon.

Wait, I feel something. I feel like I’m moving. There’s a light. Oh man, I really am dead. I’m moving towards it and there’s nothing I can do about it. I hope I don’t go to Hell. I mean, I wasn’t perfect, but I was only human.

Holy shit, that’s blindingly bright! I feel like my eyeballs are being burned, but I can’t close my eyes. Should the afterlife be painful? I guess so if I’m in Hell.

Ouch! Ouch! Stop that! What is that?! Oh, there’s a shadow coming into view. Maybe it’s a doctor or nurse or my afterlife guide.

Jesus Christ! That’s a giant kid! Where the Hell am I and why? What happened to me? She’s bending my arms and legs. It hurts so much. I wish she’d stop. At least give me a Percocet before she does that shit. She has no idea how much that hurts! Just wait until I tell her parents what a mean girl she is... but she’s not so little. She’s huge. What a weird kid. She’s able to hold my poor body in one hand. What sort of freak is she?

This has to be a nightmare. I need to wake up, because this has to be a nightmare.

Wait, I know her. She’s my cousin’s kid. Why am I dreaming about my cousin’s child being a giant? She was normal sized yesterday when they stopped by. Please, wake up Kevin. Please wake up.

Mom! Why does my new doll look like Cousin Kevin? Amber asks her mother, holding up the plastic man she’d found in her toy box a few minutes ago.

Who gave you a new doll, Amber?

I don’t know. It looks like Kevin.

You’re right, it does look like Kevin, Maggie frowns, Kevin was always a little weird, maybe he gave her the doll. She picked up her phone and called his house. It rang and rang and rang, but he didn’t answer. She’d drive past there tomorrow.

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Prompt Submitted by Holly McWilliams

Attic Storage

It had been three days since she had gone missing. She had heard her husband and children search the house the day they arrived home to find her gone. Yesterday, the police had been there. They took a statement and also searched the house.

She had tried to get somebody’s attention; anybody’s attention would have done. A lonely possum had come out of hiding at her ruckus. He’d stared at her for a few moments before running back to his hidey-hole in the attic wall.

For three days she had beaten on the floor, yelled, screamed, jumped up and down with no luck. The house had always been noisy. Four boys with radios and TVs blaring, her husband glued to his cell phone. The dishwasher, the washing machine, and the dryer were constantly on since the boys each played in two sports and had other activities. She had often complained about not having enough hours in the day.

Stuck in the attic, she felt like all she had was time. Time to do everything that needed to be done and yet, no way to do it. Being locked in the attic was stupid. The fact that no one had thought to check the attic for her was even stupider. When someone’s brain finally kicked in and they thought to check the strange recessed doorway that lead to the attic stairs and found her, she was going to give them all a thorough tongue lashing. With any luck, the lashing would be so good, they wouldn’t remember to ask how she had locked herself in the attic.

She beat on the floor again and got no response. She could hear them below her, she knew they were home. It wasn’t really being locked in the attic that bothered her the most. Or the possum that had obviously taken up residence in their barely used attic. It was sitting next to her own body, covered with a wardrobe and decomposing, that freaked her out.

The Best Laid Plans

What an awesome idea! My roommate says to me when I tell him about my plans for Spring Break. A week in Cancun, partying like a true college kid. It will be my first vacation out of the country. Hell, out of this state. I’ve never