Tentacle Stories

The car ride to my parents’ house was… tense, to say the least. Portal sat beside me in the passenger seat, their tentacles coiled neatly in their lap—or what I assumed was their lap. They had insisted on wearing a trench coat and fedora to “blend in,” but the way their tentacles shifted beneath the fabric made them look more like a Cthulhu cosplayer than a casual traveler. I couldn’t help but laugh, though my nerves were...

The air in my dorm room shifted, a strange static humming in the space just above my bed. I sat up, my heart hammering against my ribs, my fingers gripping the edge of the mattress. The darkness seemed to pulse, and then it rippled. I blinked, my breath catching—not in the clichéd way, but in that sharp, involuntary gasp you make when something impossible unfolds right in front of you. My eyes widened as the portal opened...

Going for an early evening swim in the stifling summer months is one of my guilty pleasures, and really, it’s only a guilty pleasure because I like to go alone. I know I need to think about my safety and blah blah blah… I’ve heard it all before. People really need to stop worrying so much. I take care to make sure my swims are safe and sensible – never when it’s too dark, or with an injury, on a full stomach or anywhere w...

Emma: There was a single woman in the room, sitting on a bed centered in the room. Each of the walls was lined with heavy thick foam. I watched as Jessica looked in and noticed that the woman’s arms were crossed in front of her, held there by a straight jacket. She sat there on her bed with her legs crossed and her head bowed, with her eyes closed. “Why is she tied up like that?” Jessica asked. “When we first brought her...