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)
Jim Best
Joined October 2, 2025
An autistic anarchist, he authors stories that explore the strange and the transgressive, play with genre tropes and above all entertain.
Read more.
“Dead or Alive“
“El circulo es muerte.”
Read “Dead or Alive” (~5700 words)
Author Keywords: western, horror, eldritch, weird, cowboy, outlaw, desert, Mexico, mescal, snake, coyote.
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): racist language.
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Nicholas De Marino
Joined October 7, 2025
Nicholas De Marino likes petting spiders and watching cats.
Read more.
Living Nightmares
Bodies, bodies everywhere, nor any soul to scrape.
Read Living Nightmares (two poems, ~500 words)
Author Keywords: absurdist, beach, body horror, dolphin, existentialist, hermit crab, weird
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): body dysmorphia, body horror, dissociation, dehumanization
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
“The Underground Auction Ride“
They wouldn’t be caught dead straddling wood-carved equine. Not even for fun.
Read “The Underground Auction Ride” (~1000 words)
Author Keywords: Weird horror, speculative fiction, black market, slavery, carnival, cats
Author Trigger Warnings (if any):[silence]
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Steve Toase
Second Scribbling, Oct. 9, 2025
Steve Toase started life in Yorkshire and now lives in Bavaria near the old East German border, which seems fitting as borders often feature in his work.
Read more.
“Húsið Mitt“
When a group of old friends gathers to try a new restaurant, will they leave full, famished, or fascinated by the special dishes on offer?
Read “Húsið Mitt” (~4200 words)
Author Keywords: [none]
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): Food horror, extreme violence, body horror, force feeding
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Sarina Dorie
Second Scribbling, Oct. 14, 2025
Read this one weird sci-fi/fantasy writer’s bio that the Surgeon General doesn’t want you to know about.
Read more.
“Dragon Pox“
“Have a care. He likes the taste of human flesh.”
Read “Dragon Pox” (~1800 words)
Author Keywords: dragons, pandemic, disease, female character, humorous horror, comedy horror
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): Off page eating of humans by dragons
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Mavrik McMeekan
Joined October 15, 2025
Messy relationships, yearning, and the call of the void.
Read more.
“This Sickness Will Not End in Death“
It was normal. Terrible, but normal, for a wounded soldier to beg for death.
Read “This Sickness Will Not End in Death” (~2100 words)
Author Keywords: Weird West, Civil War, Cosmic Horror, Zombie, Undead, Religious
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): Gore
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
“The Artistry of Poteauje“
Eugenio Poteauje, the man with the shadowy past, and the terrifying present!
Read “The Artistry of Poteauje” (~2800 words)
Author Keywords: Horror, Hollywood, 1920s
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): [silence]
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Nick Porisch
Joined October 7, 2025
A Minneapolis-based writer who is totally convinced that he understands the lore of Twin Peaks (he doesn’t).
Read more.
“The Rivers Styx“
Hell is other people, isn’t it?
Read “The Rivers Styx” (~3200 words)
Author Keywords: existential horror, Hell, doppelgangers, American folklore
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): mentions of drunk driving and suicide, body horror, supernatural gore, strong language
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Nenad Mitrović
Joined October 21, 2025
From Serbia’s heart to the world’s dark corners, Nenad Mitrović writes where pain meets poetry, and horror breathes like truth.
Read more.
“An Advertisement“
It’s an ad you can’t resist!
Read “An Advertisement” (~2900 words)
Author Keywords: Serbian, horror, advertisement, writer, soul-eater, cursed object
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): [silence]
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Eric Fomley
Joined October 22, 2025
Interdimensional portals, twisted possibilities, and dark, dark futures.
Read more.
“Traffic Stop“
Traffic stop gone horribly weird.
Read “Traffic Stop” (~2300 words)
Author Keywords: Weird Horror, Urban Horror, Cosmic Horror, Odd Happenings, Redacted
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): None
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Douglas Ford
Joined October 23, 2025
The author of Let’s Cut Up Dad! welcomes you to the Spookshow.
Read more.
“Why I’m Running the Spookshow Now“
The spookshow was dying.
Read “Why I’m Running the Spookshow Now” (~4500 words)
Author Keywords: spookshow, witch, Cassadega
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): NA
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Raymond Brunell
Joined October 28, 2025
A writer who explores the spaces where time collapses and warnings become the doom they’re warning about.
Read more.
“We Have Not Died Yet“
What do you do when you excavate your daughter’s future corpse from a tar pit that’s already waiting for you both?
Read “We Have Not Died Yet” (~2600 words)
Author Keywords: temporal paradox, tar pits, archaeology, time loop, mother-daughter relationship, consciousness, preservation, future death, causality violation, excavation, fossils, doom loop, collective consciousness, warning, inevitability
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): Child death (implied/future), existential horror, temporal paradox/causality violation, body horror (preserved remains), parental grief
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
Jason Frederick Myers
Second Scribbling, Oct. 30, 2025
Bibliophile who enjoys building fictional worlds… and destroying them.
Read more.
“Death Is a Local Term“
A strange liquid oozed from the zipper like an infected incision…
Read “Death Is a Local Term” (~2500 words)
Author Keywords: Horror, Found, Cosmic, Body, Odd
Author Trigger Warnings (if any): NA
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
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:
