professional eater

gentle 22 year old trash. eats a lot. forgot how to draw. bewitched by pretty kpop idols and how the fuck did that happen??? (avatar is a drawing of me very much NOT by me, go look for san-draws instead)

[neil-gaiman]

What's your advice on writing when you have a setting, characters and a premise but... no plot? Do you just start writing and hope lightning hits or do you wait for inspiration first so you don't write yourself in circles?

You could do that. (Sometimes it works. Often it doesn’t.) Or you could take your characters and your setting and your premise and then ask yourself questions like:

So what sorts of thing would happen if I had those characters in that setting given this premise?

What do each of the characters in this story want? And what’s stopping them getting that?

If that premise was really happening what would it mean for the characters? How would they react? Which characters are going to get in the other characters’ way?

What is the single coolest thing that could happen then?

What would I love to write about in all this? What are the scenes that I’m excited to write about?

Is there something I could do in this kind of story that nobody has ever done in this kind of story before?

Why should we care?

How can I make people care?

What is going to make me keep turning the pages as a writer?

And then what happens....?

And before you know it, you’re plotting.

[git-writing-good]

I actually love this advice. I’ve had a few people ask me over the years how to come up with plots, but I have rarely had any decent advice as Plot has never given me much guff.

[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!

[naazaif327]

oh man, so excited to read these when its way too late at night!

[dynamicsymmetry]

Good stuff.

[tarysande]

Guys, I edit professionally. This list is legit. Incorporating these suggestions before you hire an editor will save you A LOT of money. Even if you did these and nothing else, you’d see significant overall improvement in your work.

That said, you don’t have to overthink these things when you’re writing a first draft. If you write, “she said angrily” in a first draft, you can always revisit the phrasing in a second draft. I mention this because overthinking style can lead to a loss of momentum, and losing momentum is why so many people never finish a draft. Give yourself permission to write fast, write messy or ugly, and edit your draft into beauty later.

[raccooncomic]

113. Story Idea

[ofools-deactivated20151107]

you know what i don’t get? when like, people write romance stories where two characters are so in love w each other its all magnetism, but they? don’t even have fun together? or are even nice to each other sometimes?

“our love could level a thousand mountains and conquer a million cities”

ok but… are you even… like….. friends????

[1-420-666-6969]

How the fuck has this site become so bearable. This place was a shit show a few years ago but now it's actually good and not full of instant discourse the way Facebook and Twitter are

[expcake]

everyone is just tired

[nerdgul]

The site hasnt improved the rest of the world just crash and burned so hard that this palce looks like a haven in comparison

[thenon-fictiondays]

If anyone had told me tumblr would be the most tolerable social media site in 2020 I would've called them crazy, yet here we are

[princesconsuela]

[holmesmikotoba]

I havent seen this posted on here yet so.

[oberynmartell]

some of the best tweets from the last few days

[entitty]

ive been reading and learning things about whats going on in minneapolis for a good 4 hours and heres all the cold hard facts ive collected so far in case yall dont have the time or the energy to double check everything youve been seeing

George Floyd was executed on camera after being arrested for suspected forgery (a suspicious $20 bill); he was compliant and told the 4 officers he couldn't breathe under the weight of officer Derek Chauvin's knee on his neck, which could be heard and understood by the bystanders filming the incident but did not move any of the 4 officers to stop/intervene.

The paramedics, after arriving on the scene, had to reach under Derek Chauvin's knee to check Floyd's pulse. By the time he had removed his knee, it had been a full 8 minutes, the final 3 of which he had already gone still.

The initial police reports of the incident were at best inaccurate and at worst outright lies. Floyd was described as "suffering medical distress" as they put him in handcuffs and that he "resisted arrest."

After the video surfaced highlighting how disgustingly false this was, they changed the narrative to "man dies after medical incident during police interaction."

All 4 officers were quickly fired, but not charged (however Chauvin just recently was taken into custody for 3rd degree murder)

Protests calling for justice were met with rubber bullets and tear gas fired into crowds (police were the first to turn the protests violent) beginning tuesday

An undercover protester, potentially identified as a St. Paul police officer, attempted to ignite riots by smashing the windows of an autozone as actual protesters told him to stop. He was dressed in all black with an umbrella (it wasn't raining) and tactical boots. People noted that broken glass provoking more vandalism is a known and understood phenomenon in the field of criminal justice.

Rioting, vandalism, and looting began as buildings were set on fire, including the precinct the 4 officers operated from. A local Target refused to sell milk to tear gas victims, and has now been all but destroyed.

A CNN reporter, Omar Jimenez, a poc, was arrested on live television, in an area secured by police and devoid of protesters, after identifying himself and voluntarily complying with their wishes. The reason given was that they were told to move and did not comply (a lie, as noted by the reporters commentating the live broadcast). A white CNN reporter nearby, however, was left alone.

A border protection predator drone circled the city today with no official explanation.

Trump tweeted that "looting leads to shooting," a quote from a 60s miami police chief notorious for civil rights abuses and even welcoming claims of police brutality. Twitter flagged it with a warning that it glorified violence.

Protests have spread to other cities throught the U.S. including Louisville, Memphis, L.A., and more, in response to similar and/or identical systemic issues of racial discrimination and brutality.

Police responses have varied in violence and intensity in each location; one police cruiser drove into the crowd in L.A., and seven people were shot in Louisville.

Minneapolis introduced a curfew to bring an end to the riots, calling in the national guard.

I hope I didn't miss any crucial details. If you are protesting today, make sure to leave anything capable of tracking you at home and that you are wearing a mask (for the virus, tear gas, and anonymity). Please be safe.

[babyanimalgifs]

[concealedblade-deactivated20210]

[concealedblade-deactivated20210]

[gardenoffish]

I’m sorry but Bruce Wayne and Harleen quinzel being in the same med school and they’re friends but no one (not even themselves) are sure how they get along

[gardenoffish]

Batman being forced to solve a case with Harley Quinn : You’re my punishment for dropping out of med school

Harley Quinn making the connection between this edgy goth man bat and the edgy goth med student who she suffered all nighters with:

[gardenoffish]

It’s even funnier the thought of them becoming unlikely friends again and teaming up for missions.

Super man: why is a convicted criminal just sitting in your living room?

Harley, sipping her tea: I was actually invited you jealous whore

[hardtochews]

bruce: ...it’s movie night. or at least it was going to be until your uncle zod decided to bring down the wrath of krypton, clark. get him a new hobby that doesn’t involve leveling cities

[gardenoffish]

Harley: hey Brucie!

The rest of justice league that are only allowed to refer to him as Batman:

[bigskydreaming]

Bruce after BoP: None of you have ever named a hyena after me, so sit the fuck down.

[hug-bees]

My fishing tourney strategy

[slydig-deactivated20160315]

how do i get abs without doing anything

[filmswithoutfaces]

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) dir. Céline Sciamma