Horrific Scribes
an online archive of the provocative, scary, and strange
L. Andrew Cooper, editor
Horrific Scribes is an expanding online archive of dark short fiction (and some poetry) by authors who share the Horrific Scribblings imprint’s dedication to the provocative, scary, and strange. It collects dark, transgressive fiction, mostly horror (all subgenres, bloodless to extreme, nothing off limits) and “horror-adjacent” work in areas such as dark fantasy, dark sci-fi, the surreal, and the experimental.
Works in the archive are intended for mature readers and often contain graphic violence, explicit sexuality, profanity, and other material that some readers may find triggering or offensive. By continuing, you acknowledge that you read at your own risk.
Support Extremely Weird Splatter!
Because gloriously countercultural splatterpunk fiction tends toward grounded, all-too-possible types of horror, while the more fantastic category of “weird” fiction has become far too respectable, we feel a need for EXTREMELY WEIRD SPLATTER, a pro-paying anthology of stories that highlight the awesome potential released when extreme aesthetics and splatter savvy fuse with the way-out weird that leaves “grounded” behind. To pay for the high quality the project deserves, we need your help with our IndieGoGo campaign. And, of course, we offer lots of perks!
NEW SPECIAL EXHIBIT!
Horrific Scribes, Special Exhibit Four: Nasty Nature is here, just like the high pollen counts and the bugs! Earth’s abundance is beautiful, blah, blah, blah. Bugs are gross. Fungi go hand in hand with decomposition and death. Crawling critters aren’t cute. They’re nasty. Nature is nasty. Let us show you.
Blake, "Nest/Infest"
Christie, "Every Nowhere Leads to Somewhere"
De Marino, Living Nightmares
Fritz, "Mr. Ears Comes to Dinner"
Leahy, "Flowers"
Mavroudis, "From a Trail Cam Pointed at Our House"
Nadolny, "She Is Our Warmth, She Is Our Shelter"
Palmer, "Calypso"
Rey, "Snails"
Toase, "Húsið Mitt"
Yustas, "Marmite and Mushrooms"
Horrific Scribes does not have “issues” like a magazine. However, it does have “Exhibits,” selections of stories and poems collected because of commonalities (themes, subgenres, images, etc.) and united by an introduction and cover art. Selections appear in a sequence that highlights meaningful connections.
Reading an Exhibit is like reading an anthology. Past Exhibits remain available:
ARCHIVED FEATURES
After time in the feature spotlight (below), Scribes and their Scribbles (or Scribblings) remain in the archives according to the months when their works first appeared. Browse the archival depths! For a specific author, try the “Authors” link above. For something else, try the “Search” option at the bottom of the screen.
FEATURED SCRIBES AND SCRIBBLES
(SCROLL DOWN FOR THE LATEST)
“What the Hollow Keeps“
Some things don’t stay buried.
Read “What the Hollow Keeps” (~1500 words)
Author Keywords: Horror, Psychological Horror, Dark Fiction, Suspense, Supernatural, Atmospheric, Mystery
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): Psychological distress, dark themes
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Emmie Christie
Third Scribbling, May 7, 2026
Emmie Christie is finishing up the third book in her trilogy, and is pretty sure she can see in four dimensions. Or maybe that’s the fourth cup of coffee.
Read more.
“Echoes of an Endless Hour“
What if everyone could only live in one hour of the day?
Read “Echoes of an Endless Hour” (~2200 words)
Author Keywords: time loop, clock faces, time story, tired at work, cosmic beings, time wasting
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): N/A
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Amanda M. Blake
Second Scribbling, May 18, 2026
Purveyor of dark fiction, from quiet to extreme
Read more.
“Nest/Infest“
I know some people can be a little messy, but this is taking it way too far.
Read “Nest/Infest” (~4900 words)
Author Keywords: Bugs, insects, infestation, invasion, arachnids, spiders, body horror, trypophobia
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): Dirty one-night stand in a dirty bed, bug infestation, lots and lots of bugs where they shouldn’t be, seriously so many bugs, trypophobia
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Alice Yustas
Joined May 18, 2026
A writer is a magpie: we hoard impressions, emotions, illusions
And grace our readers with our weirdest dreams.
Read more.
“Marmite and Mushrooms“
Do not take trophies!
Read “Marmite and Mushrooms” (~2000 words)
Author Keywords: domestic, plant/fungal, weird
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): death
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Andrew Nadolny
Joined May 18, 2026
If a glittering neon bacteriophage could put its eerie atomic thoughts to paper.
Read more.
“She Is Our Warmth, She Is Our Shelter“
I didn’t kill the racoon.
It’s staring at me.
Its organs are spilling out on the fucking blacktop. It’s reaching for me. Blood is coming out of its mouth.
And then the rats come—
Read “She Is Our Warmth, She Is Our Shelter” (~2100 words)
Author Keywords: nature, urban, dark, gore, animals, grimdark
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): Violence against animals, Abusive Relationship, Swearing
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
E.C. Salo
Joined May 22, 2026
A pseudonymous weirdo fascinated by horror’s human elements.
Read more.
“Pudica“
“My hands dig down, just an inch or two. Feel the loose black soil, cool and damp… and there you are.”
Read “Pudica” (~1800 words)
Author Keywords: captive, chained, pregnancy horror, motherhood, decay, cannibalism, rural, summer
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): implied sexual assault/coercion, loss of autonomy, domestic violence, pregnancy, childbirth, infant death
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
“Dead Wife“
Two childhood friends successfully resurrect one of their wives but fail to resurrect the dying marriage.
Read “Dead Wife” (~5000 words)
Author Keywords: witchcraft, resurrection, grief, envy, love triangle, gore, cannibalism
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): domestic abuse, animal death, gore and explicit sexuality
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
D.H. Parish
Joined Jun. 2, 2026
D.H.Parish (he/him) is, like Dr. Jekyll, a respectable physician by day who dabbles in darker things by night
Read more.
“Last Breakfast“
Fruit Loops, coffee, and nausea: the perfect trio.
Read “Last Breakfast” (~2000 words)
Author Keywords: Psychological Horror, Domestic Horror, Unsettling, Disturbing
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): suicide
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
John Leahy
Second Scribbling, Jun. 9, 2026
John Leahy is an Irish novelist and short story writer whose work has earned three Honourable Mentions in Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest. He is the author of Harvest, CROGIAN, and Unity, and lives in Killarney, Ireland.
Read more.
“Smaller Lives“
After a global supernatural catastrophe known as the Break, a man attends a Survivors’ Circle and recounts his possession by an entity that did not arrive through violence, but through the quiet removal of fear.
Read “Smaller Lives” (~3800 words)
Author Keywords: Horror, psychological horror, supernatural horror, possession fiction, dark fiction, contemporary horror
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): None
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
