[flowerinaflame]

I’m reading this thing about how farmers in Japan considered thunderstorms to be good luck because they’d make more mushrooms grow so some Japanese scientists created this lil electrical machine that they wheeled through the forest administering shocks to the ground to simulate lightning strikes and the areas that they shocked yielded twice as many mushrooms as unshocked plots of land ⚡️🍄

[flowerinaflame]

https://blog.mycology.cornell.edu/2013/01/20/zap-lightning-gods-and-mushrooms/

[jerk-jock]

the fact that we reached a point where we can simulate fake storms to make little buddies grow twice as much is like magic but slightly to the left and just down right delightful

[shacklefunk-deactivated20220623]

yknow theres a lot of pressure to be successful, particularly on artsy kids whose professions are seen as useless unless theyre famous, but life is fucking hard and sometimes things dont turn out

but i think thats not bad. my dad has wanted to be a musician forever, and hes rly pretty good. but then he joined the military to get away from an abusive family, and then he got married, and then he got divorced, and a lot of horrible shit HAPPENED. he has ptsd and severe anxiety and he could never really get back on the horse. and he never made it as a musician, and now hes 53

but i grew up in a house full of instruments, and he can play all of them, and some of my earliest memories are of him playing guitar on the front porch and me thinking there wasnt a better musician in the world. so. even if you dont get to the stars, exactly, what you do isnt worthless. its not a waste of time if life is difficult and you cant make it, or if you arent famous, or if your work doesn’t influence thousands of people. it will influence someone

there are a million ways to be happy and a million ways to be a successful artist. we create what we do to enhance the human experience and relate to each other and improve ourselves. theres something to be said for just doing that,,,for the sake of doing it, yknow

[talkgentlytome]

This is the most comforting, warm and important piece of text I have ever read, and it is so true. No life is wasted that is spent sharing and loving.

[jehanneargentee]

My mother never became a professional artist. She became a social worker, then later taught emotionally disturbed children. But our home was filled with photographs of wildflowers and wildlife. Spice racks, shelves, and other useful objects were adorned with small paintings. She taught me and my sister that we could make things beautiful, even if in small ways, and let us glue glitter and fake gems on our cheap kids furniture and make it ours. Capitalism tries to say that art isn’t successful unless it makes money. But that’s not why humans make art. We make art to convey emotion. To make an object or a moment or a story OURS. And making someone smile when they hear you sing, or look at something you made for them is as valid a reason for creating as any other.

[jonsnowboard]

[woyaogaoxing]

These are fucking amazing

[mizjesbelle]

The figure swinging the earth –  The Force Of Nature by Lorenzo Quinn

The guy being dragged by a bird – part of an installation titled Hacienda Paradise – Utopia Experiment by Fredrik Raddum.

The balancing elephant – Balancing Elephant by Daniel Firman.

The tea splashes kissing – Kiss of Eternity by Johnson Tsang.

The figure emerging from the wall – Break Through From Your Mold by Zenos Frudakis

The meditating figure splitting apart – Expansion by Paige Bradley.

The horses running through water – Mustangs at Las Colinas by Robert Glen.

The giant peeking from under the lawn – Popped Up by Ervin Loránth Hervé

The man under the raining umbrella –  L’uomo della Pioggia (The Rain Man) by Jean-Michel Folon.

The huge bearded guy – The Appennnine Colossus by Giambologna.

The impossibly balanced stones on a beach – Untitled by Adrian Gray

The dragons with an egg – The Dragons in Love or The Varna Dragons by  Darin Lazarov.

The stairway to nowhere –  Diminish And Ascend by David McCracken

The underwater circle – Vicissitudes by Jason deCaires Taylor.

The epic warrior guy – General Guan Yu by Han Meilin

The sinking library –  Sinking Building Outside State Library, Melbourne, Australia.  I couldn’t find an artist’s name.

The giant hand holding a tree – The Caring Hand by Eva Oertli and Beat Huber

[katethevertebrate]

THANK YOU FOR SOURCES

[foulserpent]

what is lovecore

[foulserpent]

[calvinandhobbes]

i spent more than 10 minutes of my life making this and for what

[wouldyouliketoseemymask]

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!

[wouldyouliketoseemymask]

I’ve been doing some reading and have more stories to add: 

PSYCHOLOGICAL: 

“Paradise Pine” by C.K. Walker, 2016

“Suffer the Little Children” by Stephen King, 1972 

“Rocking Horse Creek” by C.K. Walker, 2016

“The Ledge” by Stephen King, 1978

“Ted the Caver” by Ted, 2001

“The Fly-paper” by Elizabeth Taylor, 1969

CURSED:

“The Reaper’s Image” by Stephen King, 1969

“Correspondence” by Bloodstains, 2011

“Casting the Runes” by M.R. James, 1911 

“The Dionaea House” by Eric Heisserer, 2004

“1408″ by Stephen King, 1999

“Stinson Beach” by Walter Smith, 2011

MONSTERS:

“The Crawlers” by Jimmy Juliano, 2014 

“Pickman’s Model” by H.P. Lovecraft, 1927

“Dollhouse” by C.K. Walker, 2016

“I Love My Grandparents’ Fireplace” by Rona Vaselaar, 2016

“Click-clack the Rattlebag“ by Neil Gaiman, 2015

CLASSICS:

“Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad” by M.R. James, 1904 

“The Voice in the Night” by William Hope Hodgson, 1907 

“The Cask of Amontillado“ by Edgar Allan Poe, 1847

“A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury, 1952

“Cool Air” by H.P. Lovecraft, 1928

SUPERNATURAL:

“It Was a Different Time” by Cymoril Melnibone, 2018

“The Testament of Magdalen Blair” by Aleister Crowley, 1929 

“Instructions for the Babysitter” by CR Jones, 2018

“The Hand” by Guy de Maupassant, 1880 

“63 Years Ago” by Jake Healey, 2016

UNSETTLING:

“Window” by Bob Leman, 1980 

“No Matter Which Way We Turned” by Brian Evenson, 2016

“The M Show Fan Club” by lenalona, 2013

“The Dune” by Stephen King, 2011

“Jacqueline Ess: Her Will And Testament“ by Clive Barker, 1984

“The Judge” by Rona Vaselaar, 2015

ENJOY!

[wouldyouliketoseemymask]

Here’s some more stories I’ve enjoyed, bringing the list total to 125 scary tales:

PSYCHOLOGICAL:

“Nightcrawlers” by Robert R.  Mccammon, 1984

“Burn” by C.K. Walker, 2016

“Examination Day” by Henry Slesar, 1958

“Miriam” by Truman Capote, 1945

“To See the Invisible Man” by Robert Silverberg, 1979 

“A Conversation with a Stranger on the Bus” by C.M., 2019

“The Man Who Loved Flowers” by Stephen King, 1977

“Paleontologists Were We” by C.K. Walker, 2016

CURSED:

“The Hourglass Tattoo” by The Dead Canary, 2019

“I Uncovered the Disturbing Truth Behind a Haunted Film…” by Joel Farrelly, 2015

“Moomaw’s Curses” by Pippinacious, 2017

“A Curse is Killing My Friends and I’m Next” by Zamil Akhtar, 2017

“The Cat From Hell” by Stephen King, 1977

“I’ve Been Getting Strange Letters from the St. Louis Prison” by Andrew Harmon, 2015

“The Ash-tree” by M.R. James, 1904

MONSTERS:

“The Midnight Meat Train” by Clive Barker, 1984

“Recluse” by Jimmy Juliano, 2016

“The Raft” by Stephen King, 1982

“Mr. Widemouth” by perfectcircle35, 2010

“The Beast of Averoigne” by Clark Ashton Smith, 1932

“Graveyard Shift” by Stephen King, 1970

“The Puppet in the Tree” by Dopabeane, 2018

“The Autopsy” by Michael Shea, 1980

CLASSICS: 

“The Triumph of Night” by Edith Wharton, 1914

“Specialty of the House” by Stanley Ellin, 1956

“The Oval Portrait” by Edgar Allan Poe, 1842

“The Mezzotint” by M.R. James, 1904

“The Occupant of the Room” by Algernon Blackwood, 1917

“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, 1966

“The Waxwork” by A.M. Burrage, 1931

“The Terrible Old Man” by H.P. Lovecraft, 1920

SUPERNATURAL:

“The Stillwood King” by Kris Straub, 2008

“She’s Gotten One Step Closer Every Night…” by Nick Botic, 2018

“Beauty” by Robert R. Mccammon, 1990

“My Girlfriend Talks in Her Sleep…” by Ryan Matthews, 2018

“The Everlasting Club” by Arthur Gray, 1910

“Char” by C.K. Walker, 2016

“The River Styx Runs Upstream” by Dan Simmons, 1981 

“Lemon Blossom Girl” by Kris Straub, 2008

“How to Summon the Butter Street Hitchhiker” by Chris Hicks, 2018

UNSETTLING:

“Soft” by F. Paul Wilson, 1984

“The Taxidermied Child” by Tobias Wade, 2019

“It’s a Good Life” by Jerome Bixby, 1953

“Magnum Opus” by C.K. Walker, 2016

“Something Passed By” by Robert R. McCammon, 1990

“The Stretching Party” by Nick Botic, 2018

“Incident On and Off a Mountain Road” by Joe R. Lansdale, 1991

“Other People” by Neil Gaiman, 2001

HAVE FUN!

[theglowpt2-deactivated20200101]

the mortifying ordeal of being earnest

[weatheredlaw]

the importance of being known

[red-lipstick]

Tom Gauld (Scottish, b. 1976) - The Reason I Stayed In The House All Day    Drawings  (All perfectly valid reasons)

[ivan-fyodorovich-deactivated202]

this has aged well

[neechees]

On the topic of Native oral history not being deemed reliable, but like this is so common for Western Academia to trest Indigenous knowledge this way. And its really weird bc most of our cultures already place such importance on accurate information that when we'd tell stories, sometimes we'd track it down from who told you to who told them all the way back to the original teller. Our cultures valued accurate word for word info so much that often times it was a whole respected job and prestigious title and life's work of people to be historians, knowledge keepers, and storytellers. But academia still treats us as if we're lying or spreading misinfo. Its just really weird for White academia to see Native cultures that put such importance on Oral history, not believe us about our own history, and then still make the shocked pikachu face when Western science or archaeology or history proves what we'd been saying was actually true

[butterflypeaflowertea]

it’s so nice being fond of people on here :-) like yeah maybe we only know each other in a very limited way but i care abt you guys & hearing abt your lives makes me happy & i like listening to the things u have to say & i really truly wish the best for you all!!! sending my love from a couple states, countries, oceans away

[8rujaa]

what’s the psychology behind losing feelings towards someone you liked intensely once you realized they felt the same way back?

[8rujaa]

holy shit

[apocryphics]

from Essays in Love by Alain De Botton

[luldamdaddy]

Y’all ever be chillin, then think.. damn this is real life

[taskmastercaps]

[ggoing]

do you ever FEEL yourself being annoying but you CAN’T stop

[valtsv]

pacific rim was really like “our giant monster-killing robots are powered by the tender, intimate, powerful connection of soulmates - romantic, platonic, or familial” and i’ve never recovered from how the sheer brilliance of that concept made me feel

[valtsv]

like i’m sorry but these enormous metal robots so vast and powerful that they run on nuclear reactor cores welded into their chests can only be moved and controlled by the power of love??? how does that not drive you utterly insane just thinking about it???

[boredpanda]

The Magical World Of Australian Mushrooms By Steve Axford

[chemicalheart-deactivated202009]

Protecting people who are seen as worthless in society - drug addicts, sex workers, homeless people etc - is absolutely central to antifascism because their destruction is central to fascism

[ink-phoenix]

Radical care is antifa. Protect the most vulnerable members of your community.