Bringing you stories, book and game reviews, writing tips, and updates from author S.G. Baker.
I opened the trashcan because the contents were almost too heavy to empty into the dump trunk. Inside, a cadaver had been squished down to fit - knees pulled up to the chest, arms crossed, head pushed facedown. I got a good glimpse of lank brown hair and a bad whiff of death before I … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 6: Cadaver
On day five after my parents took away my depression medication, I sat in class staring listlessly. Everything my teacher said about the lesson slammed against the wall in my brain blocking out my will. I heard none of it. Cared even less. Upon the inside of my arm, I copied out fragments of sigils … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 5: Sigil
I got a summer job working in an occult supply store. There, I met the scariest person of my life: myself. "I need wasp stingers," I told myself. My face stared dead-eyed from beneath the hood of my favorite jacket. As I handed the packet across the counter to myself, I said, "What happened to … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 4: Occult
You set up your camp on the place where I died. All that snow stomping, tent rustling, stakes hammering, cookpot rattling woke me. You woke me up. You brought light. The sun set fast behind the cold mountains, so when you wanted to keep reading in your heated tent, you lit your fancy, vintage looking … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 3: Lantern
"Please, you have to help us! They're coming!" My screams made the humans encircling us flinch. Several projectile weapons rose, prodding me back toward the middle and our stolen space cruiser. They shrank away, glancing up at the red, boiling clouds above. Clasping three-fingered hands together, I hit my knees in the green grass. "Please..." … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 2: Asylum
In the corner of my vision, the notification light on my phone blinked blue. Again. Again again again. Never when I looked right at it. Just in my peripheral. Still, I picked the phone up. Swiped the screen open. No app notifications. No one to communicate with me. Not even a dumb automated political message. … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 1: Illusion
Old boards creaked beneath my boots as I meandered across a rotting footbridge. In the entrenchment it crossed lay the mere memory of running water in the layer of mud at the bottom. Leaf loam littered the ground beneath wide-spaced trees. I had my gaze upward, regarding the rustling branches above, when a hand grasped … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – The Toll
Question marks surrounded me. Big, pale, spray painted on every trunk as far as I could see. Glowing in the gloom beneath the spreading branches of enormous pines. All facing me, like the disapproving gaze of a fussy uncle. Just a moment ago, the forest had appeared as any other cluster of trees. Embarrassment overtook … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – A Punctuated Demand
In a disintegrating room stood a girl in a white dress. She had her back to me, hem trailing among broken bricks. She was about to begin. "What's that sound?" She turned toward the wrecked wall, then she stumbled backward and fell over. Her form drifted apart like fingers raked through mist. After a moment, … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – The Role of the Witness
A face loomed in the darkness outside our stopped subway train. Outlined in glowing white lines. Xs for eyes. A hand-drawn, rictus grin. A mask. It bobbed along up and down the cars, pressing against the windows, fingertips tapping the glass. Giggling echoed down the tunnel, accompanying a high-pitched voice asking, "Who smiled? Whooo smiiiiled?" … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – Smiling at Strangers
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