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.
NEW EXHIBIT!
The New Year is about hope and possibility, right? Not at Horrific Scribes! At the beginning, we think of The End with Coming Soon to a Civilization Near You, a Special Exhibit that charts a course from New Year’s Eve through apocalypse to dystopia.
Syder, "Prepped"
MacLeod, "Smashing in the New Year"
Charman, "Vote Abyss"
Douglas, "Dysmenorrhea"
Newton, "Sleepwalkers"
Christie, "Chrysalis"
Henderson, "Lake Fame"
Lukin, "To Dream of Better Worlds"
Welsh-Huggins, "The Basement"
Barr, "Final Confession from the One-Woman Department of Mind Control"
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)
Shawn Montgomery
Third Scribbling, Jan. 7, 2026
Drawn to abandoned houses, crumbling cemeteries and all things (and people) creepy and unsettling, Shawn is still trying to navigate his way through the labyrinth of shadows and fog.
Read more.
“The Tree People“
“For a fleeting moment, he looks so peaceful, so much like he was before he disappeared. And I start to believe that everything’s going to be okay, that the past couple of days have just been a strange nightmare. But then I notice my brother’s distended stomach.”
Read “The Tree People” (~4000 words)
Author Keywords: Folk Horror, Body Horror, Woods, Forest Monsters, Family Secrets, Childhood Horrors
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): Some elements of body horror; drug references.
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Vampirlibido
Joined January 15, 2026
Vampirlibido is a splatterpunk short-story writer, macabre poet, pornographer (lit), and vampirologist.
Read more.
The Monstrous-Feminine: Eighteen Horrorku
If you dare, meet these terrifying female monsters. They could scar you for life, but at least now you’ve been warned!
Read The Monstrous-Feminine: Eighteen Horrorku (~200 words)
Author Keywords: Horrorku, speculative poetry, speculative haiku & senryū, dark poetry, Vampirlibido, feminine monstrosity, Barbara Creed
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): [silence]
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
“Prepped“
Hank is certain he can save his family from the end of the world – he just has to convince them to come down to the basement with him.
Read “Prepped” (~2000 words)
Author Keywords: New Year’s Eve, Apocalypse, Prepper, Family
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): emotional abuse, coercive control
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Lene MacLeod
Second Scribbling, Jan. 20, 2026
Writing stories from the dark fringes of the everyday.
Read more.
“Smashing in the New Year“
Ringing in the New Year hit differently in 1999.
Read “Smashing in the New Year” (~3300 words)
Author Keywords: Psychological Horror, Domestic Horror, Quiet Horror
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): [silence]
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Adam Murray
Joined January 20, 2026
Writes about the moment the world realizes it has been standing on something alive.
Read more.
“January“
January wasn’t the end of the world. It was the mouth.
Read “January” (~1600 words)
Author Keywords: Apocalypse, Aztec mythology, Cosmic horror, Dark fantasy, Surreal horror, January / New Year, Dystopia, Mexico City, Ancient gods, Time collapse, Mythic horror
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): [silence]
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Barry Charman
Joined January 20, 2026
A writer dedicated to high concept speculative scenarios, each of which is somehow more absurd and worrying than the last…
Read more.
“Vote Abyss“
Something has arrived, and you have to see it to be seen, but seeing may change you forever…
Read “Vote Abyss” (~1500 words)
Author Keywords: Science-fiction, Horror, Surreal
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): Paranoia, anxiety.
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Edward Newton
Joined January 20, 2026
An author who believes that horror can bleed into every other genre.
Read more.
“Sleepwalkers“
The real nightmares are for the ones who don’t fall asleep.
Read “Sleepwalkers” (~5300 words)
Author Keywords: Nightmare; post-apocalyptic; sleepwalkers; night terrors
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): violence
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Jan-Andrew Henderson
Joined January 20, 2026
Multi-award-winning author, Jan-Andrew Henderson also owns the UK’s largest ghost tour company – City of the Dead.
Read more.
“Lake Fame“
Lake Fame may be a beauty spot, but there’s nothing natural about it.
Read “Lake Fame” (~3500 words)
Author Keywords: Apocalypse. Horror. Sci-fi. Psychological. Mystery. Survival.
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): None.
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Grigory Lukin
Joined January 20, 2026
a semi-feral nomadic artist with a suspicious number of passports
Read more.
“To Dream of Better Worlds“
What if prophetic dreams are more than dreams?
Read “To Dream of Better Worlds” (~2300 words)
Author Keywords: dreams, prophetic dreams, communication, prophecy, Hail Mary
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): none
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Devin James Leonard
Second Scribbling, Jan. 22, 2026
Devin strives one day to be nicknamed “The Hemingway of Horror”
Read more.
“Squatters“
The rent is high, but the cost of living just got higher.
Read “Squatters” (~2300 words)
Author Keywords: horror, crime, creatures
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): child death
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Sarina Dorie
Third Scribbling, Jan. 28, 2026
Sarina Dorie lives in a world of wicked witches, naughty vampires, and fantastical creatures–or at least she writes in those worlds.
Read more.
“You Can’t Teach an Old Dog New Tricks—But You Can Give Her a Makeover“
The brochure hadn’t said anything about the undead being permitted in my shifter community.
Read “You Can’t Teach an Old Dog New Tricks—But You Can Give Her a Makeover” (~2200 words)
Author Keywords: vampire, werewolf, shifter, female protagonists, humor, comedy horror, quirky, paranormal, outcast
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): Hints of eating pets.
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Joseph Hirsch
Third Scribbling, Feb. 3, 2026
Joseph Hirsch holds an MA in German Studies and spent four years in the Army, some of that time wandering around Germany (sometimes in the cities, mostly through forests.)
Read more.
Teufelsrad
“Slowly something began to emerge from the hole, a long shadow backlit by whatever fires burned within the earth…”
Read “Teufelsrad” (~4600 words)
Author Keywords: Cult, Folk Horror, Demons, Rural, Germany, Bavaria, Fertility, Goddess, Demoness, Tectonics
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): Extreme sexual content, some violence.
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Paul Edmonds
Joined February 5, 2026
Fiction steeped in grime, bad decisions, and small-town decay
Read more.
“Grand Guignol“
A guys’ poker night gone wrong; smut, friendship, and a cursed videotape spiral into carnage.
Read “Grand Guignol” (~2000 words)
Author Keywords: Analog horror; Videotape; Smut; Small-town.
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): Sexualized violence.
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
