On the Fringes of Reality

Where the ordinary world reveals its true nature

Category: Stories

  • The Gothic Hour: The Binding

    The compression began without warning. Vast consciousness, which had drifted through aeons as freely as starlight through the void, found itself pressed into boundaries so crude, so impossibly small, that…

  • Update: Echo Room

    Just a short announcement: I’m delighted to report that Echo Room is featured on Free Flash Fiction. If you’ve not visited Free Flash Fiction, you really are missing a trick!…

  • Classic Short: Examination Day by Henry Slesar

    When Henry Slesar’s Examination Day appeared in Playboy magazine in February 1958, readers thought they’d be getting a straightforward coming-of-age story about a boy’s first intelligence test. By the final…

  • Micro Monday: Neighbourhood Watch

    Monday, 18th March Spring cleaning today. Found old diary behind wardrobe. Pages and pages of complaints about neighbours! Funny how worked up I’d get about small things. Much calmer now…

  • Sunday Short: The Conversation

    You’re nursing your second pint when I slide onto the stool beside you. The Lamb and Flag is busy tonight—Friday evening, end of another long week—and you’ve claimed this corner…

  • Watching

    Alison noticed him first from her bedroom window. Seventh floor of the tower block opposite, a pale figure pressed against the glass, staring up at her. She stepped back from…

  • Flash Friday: Involuntary Redundancy

    The conference room door clicks shut, but I can still hear them through the ventilation system. Dr Garcia’s voice carries further than she realises. “The incident yesterday crossed too many…

  • The Gothic Hour: The Old Bed

    Step into The Gothic Hour, where shadows grow longer and the past refuses to stay buried! These stories draw from the rich tradition of classic horror. Think creaking floorboards, ancient curses,…

  • The Last Bus

    Keith stumbled across the road, vodka still burning. She’d better have his dinner waiting. Better be hot, or she’d get what she deserved. The horn blared as he lurched into…

  • Classic Shorts: The Oval Portrait by Edgar Allan Poe

    When Edgar Allan Poe published The Oval Portrait in 1842, he created one of literature’s most chilling meditations on art, obsession and the price of creation. In fewer than 1,500…

  • Micro Monday: The Corridor

    I know this hallway better than my own heartbeat—thirty-seven steps from the elevator to my office door. I’ve counted them a thousand times. The footsteps behind me started at step…

  • Sunday Short: The Custodian

    “How long have we been talking?” “Three hours, maybe four. Does it matter?” “Everything matters now.” The silence stretched between them, punctuated only by the soft hum of cooling systems…

  • 6 Short Stories That Caused Controversy

    The best short stories entertain and challenge assumptions, question authority, and force readers to confront uncomfortable truths. These six stories prove that fiction has real power to disturb, provoke and…

  • Flash Friday: Lost Property

    The 7:23 to Paddington was already moving when Ben realised the earbuds weren’t his. He’d collected them from lost property that morning—black case, wireless earbuds, exactly like the ones he’d…

  • The Gothic Hour: The Letter

    You find it amongst your father’s papers, tucked between his will and insurance documents. Your name catches your eye immediately—typed neatly at the top of what appears to be a…

  • Gate 47

    Written in response to a prompt from @danprattwrites (thanks, Dan) which was… 100 words or fewer Location: airport check-in Action: following Object: ring He’s been following me since security. Same…

  • Classic Shorts: Samphire by Patrick O’Brian

    When Patrick O’Brian published Samphire in 1950, he created one of literature’s most chilling portraits of domestic psychological abuse. This represents a different kind of horror entirely: the much more…

  • Micro Monday: A Triptych

    Today, a micro-fiction triptych – three stories that circle the same golden moment, each revealing different truths about longing and the human heart. The Wedding Ring: Three Longings The Angel’s…

  • Sunday Short: Craze!

    Monday Morning Jason Shields blew his whistle and watched Year 10 charge across the pitch like they meant business. Finally. After fifteen years teaching PE, he’d grown tired of coaxing…

  • 7 Contemporary Horror Shorts That Weaponise Everyday Anxiety

    The most effective horror takes the ordinary fears we live with every day and pushes them just far enough to become unbearable. These seven stories prove that the scariest demons…

  • Flash Friday: Rose-coloured Spectacles

    Jude stretched in his king-size bed, Egyptian cotton sheets sliding against his skin as morning light streamed through floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Thames. His penthouse apartment gleamed with marble surfaces…

  • The Gothic Hour: The Séance

    The parlour clock had struck nine when young William Fairfax crept through the heavy oak doors, drawn by the promise of forbidden territory. The grand parlour was strictly out of…

  • Routine Maintenance

    “Just a routine cleaning today,” the hygienist said, adjusting the overhead light. “Open wide for me.” Diane settled back in the chair as the familiar scraping began. The hygienist hummed…

  • Classic Shorts: Marionettes, Inc. by Ray Bradbury

    When Ray Bradbury published Marionettes, Inc. in 1949, he crafted what might be the perfect science fiction horror story: a tale that uses futuristic technology to examine the timeless human…

  • The Loyalty Card

    Owen slid his card across the counter, grinning at the brunette in the corner booth. She smiled back. The barista—pale, thin, forgettable—raised his stamp and brought it down with a…

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About

On the Fringes of Reality is a collection of contemporary horror stories that explore the unsettling spaces where our ordinary world reveals its true nature. Each tale examines the familiar through a darker lens, finding terror in technology, relationships, and the everyday moments that suddenly turn strange.