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!
Be careful. This content might try to access you. It’s Exhibit Four: Pests and Puppetmasters, and it’s crawling with things that want to compromise you in icky ways.
Gallery One: Barnacles
Gallery Two: Leeches
Gallery Three: Tricksters
Gallery Four: Controllers
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)
Nilay Kumar Sarker
Joined November 4, 2025
He writes of mirrors, myths, and the strange quiet that follows revelation.
Read more.
“The Reflection’s Strike“
When reflections vanish, what returns to take their place?
Read “The Reflection’s Strike” (~4100 words)
Author Keywords: mirror folklore · speculative fiction · psychological tension · mythic realism
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): gender dysphoria · identity fragmentation · mild body imagery (blood, reflection)
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Marco Herrera (MAHH!)
Joined November 7, 2025
From Arica, the driest city on Earth, MAHH! writes about everyday oddities and the imperfect humans navigating them.
Read more.
“Brisket“
Everything is meat. And he loves meat.
Read “Brisket” (~2800 words)
Author Keywords: body horror, predation, dark humor, surgical horror, ironic reversal, meat, flesh obsession, art, hunter, prey
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): graphic body horror, surgical violation, violence, disturbing imagery
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Fendy S. Tulodo
Third Scribbling, Nov. 12, 2025
He writes about things that smile back when you shouldn’t be smiling.
Read more.
“Genesis in Reverse“
It looks like the baby. But is it?
Read “Genesis in Reverse” (~2000 words)
Author Keywords: mirrors, death, motherhood, blindness, the uncanny, grief
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): infant death, mental breakdown, blood
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
J.S. Douglas
Joined November 18, 2025
J.S. Douglas writes about the topics she knows best: female rage, existential dread, monsters, and the horrors of existence.
Read more.
“Dysmenorrhea“
Period pain is horrific, but so is the apocalypse.
Read “Dysmenorrhea” (~2400 words)
Author Keywords: menstruation, periods, blood, bloody, body horror, apocalypse
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): Painful menstruation
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Alistair Rey
Joined November 20, 2025
Alistair Rey writes where the strange meets the beautiful, weaving dark fiction that lingers like a half-remembered dream.
Read more.
“Snails“
In the bowels of a crumbling medical college, something glistening waits on the examination table. It isn’t human, but it knows the shape of flesh.
Read “Snails” (~1000 words)
Author Keywords: Weird fiction, horror, snails, medical horror
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): Dissection, helicophobia, cochleahphobia
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
“The Canvas“
Tattoo to your heart’s content
Read “The Canvas” (~3100 words)
Author Keywords: Erotic, Queer, LGBTQIA, Tattoo
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): Sexual Content
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
“Rite of Passage“
Getting in trouble is the worst possible thing.
Read “Rite of Passage” (~3100 words)
Author Keywords: Witches, childhood, family, inheritance, accident, horror, play, dolls, initiation
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): Child death
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Andrew Welsh-Huggins
Second Scribbling, Dec. 4, 2025
It’s not uncommon for Andrew to watch episodes of Slow Horses and Call The Midwife on the same day.
Read more.
“Sharp Enough“
Ronnie has long admired her quirky Grandma Claudia’s skills in the kitchen.
Read “Sharp Enough” (~1000 words)
Author Keywords: Haunted festival, betrayal, family, cheating, frenemy
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): Disturbing image
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Katherine Garrison
Joined December 9, 2025
Writer of short fiction and poetry from the borders of the literary and speculative, often exploring themes through nature, food, the weird, or some mix of these.
Read more.
Approaching Dangers: Three Monstrous Poems
Here, monsters lurk.
Read Approaching Dangers: Three Monstrous Poems (~200 words)
Author Keywords: Monsters, Vampires, Trolls, Horror Poetry, Spores
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): [silence]
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Mario Senzale
Joined December 11, 2025
Mario Senzale writes about the moment you realize the system isn’t broken: you were always meant to be consumed by it.
Read more.
“The Bull“
Power plays look different when you realize who’s really writing the script.
Read “The Bull” (~2100 words)
Author Keywords: racial fetishization, cuckolding, power dynamics, sexual exploitation, psychological horror, literary horror, interracial dynamics, contemporary horror
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): Explicit sexual content, racial fetishization, non-consensual sexual acts, use of racial slurs in sexual context, depictions of raceplay/racist imagery as sexual fetish, coercion, power imbalance, psychological manipulation
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Thomas C. Mavroudis
Second Scribbling, Dec. 15, 2025
Thomas C. Mavroudis – The Other Greek Freak
Read more.
“Revelations of a Shadow Person“
We are one. We are many. We are the desert, and we are each grain of sand within it.
Read “Revelations of a Shadow Person” (~1300 words)
Author Keywords: Urban legend, cryptid, nightmare, night terror
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): [silence]
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
