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 EXHIBIT!

Horrific Scribes, Exhibit Seven: Testing the Limits brings together seven of our most viscerally and emotionally disturbing attractions, stories and poems that push–and break–the boundaries of where written words are supposed to go, or should even be able to go. The works range from two to five on our extremity scale, but they’re all extreme… read the intros for the method to our madness.

Davis, "About a Girl"
Edmonds, "Grand Guignol"
Herrera, "Brisket"
Senzale, "The Bull"
Tulodo, "The Black Gut Laugh"
Vampirlibido, The Monstrous-Feminine: Eighteen Horrorku
Volk, "The Canvas"

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)

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

“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.

“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: