tumblingletters

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In a modern world where everyone possesses some type of manipulation power; earth, weather, light and etc. You are someone who’s frequently mocked because of your seemingly useless power, luck manipulation. However, they fail to see how much influence luck really has.

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You wake up in hell and find your human life was all a dream.

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Everyone's soulmate has the same fingerprints as you. One day, you find someone's phone. It unlocks.

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You are the Steve Irwin of a fantasy world.

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You’ve realized that the genie, if you free her, intends to use her power to rule the world. But you free her anyways because, really, she couldn’t possibly be any worse than the people already in charge.

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A ‘dream recorder’ is invented. Playing the recordings reveals that dreams can predict the future. The world changes: new religions, gambling enterprises go out of business, financial market crashes. Huge 'banks’ of sleepers are created whose only purpose is to dream…

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You were just teleported into the worst moment of your entire lifetime thus far and you have the power to change anything you want inside that moment, but you can only change one thing. Would you change anything if given the chance or would you just let it happen again?

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Write a fantasy story where the main character has totally wild magic that they can't properly control.

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This is a compiled list of some of my favorite pieces of short horror fiction, ranging from classics to modern-day horror, and includes links to where the full story can be read for free. Please be aware that any of these stories may contain subject matter you find disturbing, offensive, or otherwise distressing. Exercise caution when reading. Image art is from Scarecrow: Year One.

PSYCHOLOGICAL: tense, dread-inducing horror that preys upon the human psyche and aims to frighten on a mental or emotional level. 

“The Frolic” by Thomas Ligotti, 1989

“Button, Button” by Richard Matheson, 1970

“89.1 FM” by Jimmy Juliano, 2015

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 1892

“Death at 421 Stockholm Street“ by C.K. Walker, 2016

“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin, 1973

“An Empty Prison” by Matt Dymerski, 2018

“A Suspicious Gift” by Algernon Blackwood, 1906

CURSED: stories concerning characters afflicted with a curse, either by procuring a plagued object or as punishment for their own nefarious actions.

“How Spoilers Bleed” by Clive Barker, 1991

“A Warning to the Curious” by M.R. James, 1925

“each thing i show you is a piece of my death” by Stephen J. Barringer and Gemma Files, 2010

“The Road Virus Heads North” by Stephen King, 1999

“Ring Once for Death” by Robert Arthur, 1954

“The Mary Hillenbrand Cassette“ by Jimmy Juliano, 2016

“The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs, 1902

MONSTERS: tales of ghouls, creeps, and everything in between.

“The Curse of Yig” by H.P. Lovecraft and Zealia Bishop, 1929 

“The Oddkids” by S.M. Piper, 2015

“Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” by Richard Matheson

“The Graveyard Rats” by Henry Kuttner, 1936

“Tall Man” by C.K. Walker, 2016 

“The Quest for Blank Claveringi“ by Patricia Highsmith, 1967

“The Showers” by Dylan Sindelar, 2012

CLASSICS: terrifying fiction written by innovators of literary horror. 

“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, 1843

“The Interlopers” by Saki, 1919 

“The Statement of Randolph Carter“ by H.P. Lovecraft, 1920

“The Damned Thing” by Ambrose Pierce, 1893

“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving, 1820 

“August Heat” by W.F. Harvey, 1910

“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe, 1843

SUPERNATURAL: stories varying from spooky to sober, featuring lurking specters, wandering souls, and those haunted by ghosts and grief. 

“Nora’s Visitor” by Russell R. James, 2011

“The Pale Man” by Julius Long, 1934

“A Collapse of Horses” by Brian Evenson, 2013

“The Jigsaw Puzzle” by J.B. Stamper, 1977 

“The Mayor Will Make A Brief Statement and then Take Questions” by David Nickle, 2013

“The Night Wire” by H.F. Arnold, 1926 

“Postcards from Natalie” by Carrie Laben, 2016

UNSETTLING: fiction that explores particularly disturbing topics, such as mutilation, violence, and body horror. Not recommended for readers who may be offended or upset by graphic content.  

“Survivor Type” by Stephen King, 1982

“I’m On My Deathbed So I’m Coming Clean…” by M.J. Pack, 2018

“In the Hills, the Cities” by Clive Barker, 1984

“The New Fish” by T.W. Grim, 2013

“The Screwfly Solution” by Racoona Sheldon, 1977

“In the Darkness of the Fields” by Ho_Jun, 2015 

“The October Game” by Ray Bradbury, 1948

“I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” by Harlan Ellison, 1967 

HAPPY READING, HORROR FANS!

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Resources For Describing Characters

Physical Appearance

Arms

Athletic Build

Back

Butts

Cheeks

Chest

Chins

Curvy Build

Ears

Eyebrows

Eyes

Faces

Facial Hair

Feet

Fingernails

Fingers

Hair

Hands

Head

Hips

Jaws

Knees

Legs

Lips

Muscular Build

Neck

Noses

Shoulders

Slender Build

Sickly Build

Skin

Stocky Build

Stomach

Teeth

Toenails

Toes

Underweight Build

Character Traits

Affectionate

Ambitious

Bossy

Brave

Calm

Cautious

Charismatic

Clever

Conceited

Courageous

Creative

Critical

Curious

Determined

Diplomatic

Dishonest

Disorganized

Eccentric

Excitable

Friendly

Funny

Generous

Glamorous

Guarded

Honest

Impulsive

Independent

Intelligent

Just

Kind

Loyal

Manipulative

Mature

Modest

Mysterious

Naïve

Optimistic

Prejudiced

Persistent

Proper

Responsible

Sensitive

Sentimental

Serious

Shy

Reckless

Stingy

Stubborn

Talented

Thoughtful

Thrifty

Visionary

Wise

Witty

Worry Wart

Wounded

Talents & Skills

A Knack for Languages

A Knack for Making Money

A Way with Animals

Archery

Astral Projection

Astrological Divination

Baking

Basic First Aid

Blending In

Carpentry

Charm

ESP (Clairvoyance)

Empathy

Enhanced Hearing

Enhanced Sense of Smell

Enhanced Taste Buds

Farming

Fishing

Foraging

Gaining the Trust of Others

Gaming

Gardening

Good Listening Skills

Haggling

Herbalism

Hospitality

Hot-Wiring a Car

High Pain Tolerance

Knife Throwing

Knowledge of Explosives

Lip-Reading

Lying

Making People Laugh

Mechanically Inclined

Mentalism

Mimicking

Multitasking

Musicality

Organization

Parkour

Photographic Memory

Predicting the Weather

Promotion

Psychokinesis

Reading People

Regeneration

Repurposing

Sculpting

Self-Defense

Sewing

Sharpshooting

Sleight-of-Hand

Strategic Thinking

Strong Breath Control

Super Strength

Survival Skills

Swift-footedness

Talking With The Dead

Throwing One’s Voice

Whittling

Wilderness Navigation

Wrestling

Elemental Abilities

Miscellaneous

Voices

Voice Types

Speech Patterns

Speech Impediment

List of Character Flaws

List of Archetypes

Hairstyles

Describing Body Types & How They Move Around

Secrets To Give Your Character

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“Breaking News: President Trump attempts to flee.”

Image Prompt

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I had chosen my weapon, a straight blade sword and a shield with a sharpened edge.  But when I stepped into the arena and saw the others...I saw my face again and again and again.  Same hair, same eyes with such dumbfounded looks but each carrying a different weapon choice that I had thought about choosing before choosing the sword and shield.  I saw one who chose a crossbow, very Daryl Dixon.  Another chose a chainsaw...groovy.  Another picked an axe.  Then there was a trident.  And there was even one who had a net.  Talk about a fisher of men.  Looking at them, I dropped my shield and planted my sword in the ground. 

“Dudes,” I shrugged, “You know me, let’s talk this out.” 

They all looked at each other and dropped their weapons in unison. 

You have been selected to take part in a Hunger Games-esque battle royale against twenty opponents. The last one standing is set free and given enough money to make Donald Trump blush. Before entering the arena, you are presented with a wide variety of weapons. After choosing your weapon, you proceed to the arena. However, you stop short upon seeing your opponents, who have also entered. They’re you. Exact copies of yourself, all with different weapons and with equally confused faces. The horn signaling that the “game” will start sounds, and the door behind you closes.

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Trying to help a friend out. 

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It had been over a year since I had recieved my gift of the dragon egg.  I’d be lying if I said I didn’t care that I had gotten an Earth dragon because I had expected to get one of the fire dragons or the ice dragons.  But in the time I had raised Slag, I discovered so much more about Earth Dragons than most people didn’t care to know about. 

An Earth dragon gets its name from the fact that it has no wings.  Instead it stands on two legs, it’s great head snaking up outward much like an ostrich while it’s tail balances it.  At the sides of it’s body are twin nubs that I think were once arms from its great ancestors that were since lost in the coming generations. 

When Slag reached into his adolescence I had watched his tail grow a very sharp set of blades that he would wield and wing around as wildly as one would use a whip.  On top of that, there was his head that he could bring down upon an enemy easily.  But once he reached adulthood, I found that he had a very unique ability.  He could control the movement of the earth around him.

In the kingdom you live in a child’s 10th Christmas is a big deal because they receive a dragon in their stocking to care for. It’s always a mystery what kind of dragon they are going to recieve. As the kings child you expect one of the majestic winter beasts or the wild fiery dragons. Instead you get what is viewed as the most bland species: an Earth dragon. But you soon discover your Earth dragon to be anything but bland.

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“All hail to thee, Mister Potato Head. For thine is the kingdom of fun. Through thine body many creations and oddities are made. All praise to thee. Thou who art blessed among toys.”

Image Prompt

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At first I thought that I was dead and was seeing the tip of heaven.  For one the whole thing was too stupid to make up and far too silly to even be real.  What I saw of who threw the axe was a woman.  The way she looked made me blink twice, rub them three times and pinch myself to make sure I was still alive and awake.  She was a woman wearing a very ragged blue button up work shirt.  The shirt was so torn up that it was easy to see her black frilly laced bra under neath.  She even wore a pair of brown work jeans that were so torn up that they easily passed for short-shorts that one would see on a woman at some kind of charity carwash luring people in with eye candy.  She had a pair of boots that had so much laces that it made me think that she must have gotten them from hot topic.  Over her shoulder was the butt of a shotgun but the real crowning icing of the ridiculousness of this was what was on her right hand; a chainsaw for a right hand. 

She descended upon the demon possessed members of my family with slashes of her chainsaw.  She then she pulled out the shotgun over her shoulder, shoved the barrel into the mouth of my mother and blew her brains out in a gory fireworks display.  After they were dispatched, she holstered her shotgun over her shoulder, picked up the axe and holstered that as well and turned towards me and smiled. 

“Groovy,” she said. 

The whole thing was so surreal and stupid that I had to utter only one thing:

“Are you kidding me?”

The apocalypse has arrived and the world has overridden with zombies, ghosts, ghouls and demons. Humanity is on the brink of extinction as the unholy hordes come closer and closer to bringing us to an early grave. As you find yourself cornered by what used to be your family, now possessed by demons, you swear this is the end. But then you hear gunshots and see an axe fly through the air, knocking over a few of the possessed. As you look to see who threw the axe, you find yourself looking upon the unlikeliest of heroes