Crisp, colorful, autumn leaves crunched beneath my footsteps as I walked through the tree archways of my neighborhood on a brisk, overcast afternoon. Every few moments, a gust of wind whistled above me, sending leaves to the whim of the hibernating world.

A pulse of soothing electronic music ebbed from my headphones into contemplative thought as if the sounds were an electrical charge powering my mind. My breath cast spells into the air with its frosty condensation. I pushed aside the present worries of my life—the lingering deadlines at work and the hardships with my wife. I strolled through the landscape holding only onto the inspirations of the seeable and its soundtrack.

In one of the clearings between two homes, where several towering trees held supremacy and presided like a secret society over the current matters of the land, a strange collection of fallen foliage caught my attention. Castles of leaves had formed around a section of the ground exempt from the debris. It were as if the leaves were piling up against something, but the something was not there.

…

GIVEAWAY

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DARK VERSE CROSSWORLDS REAPER T-SHIRT

(Available in men’s sizes S, M, L, and XL)

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You will be with me forever,” Mother of a Thousand Minds whispered into the ear of the man she held within her arms. She pressed herself against him tightly and released us.

Go, my little ones, she said in thought as I and thousands of her minds became small spike appendages that extended from her spirit body and stabbed forward, taking her essence like thread through needles into the man’s body. He gagged under a shriek of all-consuming pain and horror. We wove through him, collecting him—his flesh and innards—unraveling him like a ball of yarn as we passed through him and pulled him behind us. We soared forward while trails of his body and Mother’s congealed together and danced like hair in the wind. We squealed and vibrated joyously, creating angelic tones.

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GIVEAWAY

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Ding-dong.

The doorbell rang.

I hesitatingly placed a bookmark in my afternoon read, pulled myself up from the couch, and lurched towards the front door. When I got there, I pressed my eye to the peephole to scout the visiting presence. Barely within view were two children somewhere between the ages of seven and nine—a boy and a girl—with curly black hair and pleasant faces.

I opened the door.

The two youths immediately pushed their way inside my house. Their swiftness of action superseded any reaction on my part. Being that they were young children, there was no comfortable or proper way to reverse their course at the moment I did make the mental note of their trespassing.

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GIVEAWAY

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H.P. LOVECRAFT: THE COMPLETE FICTION

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Winner:
Jim (37)

While vacationing with friends and family in a remote and beautiful range of densely-forest-covered mountains, I made the bold decision to backpack alone into the wilderness for a night; no one else had the desire or equipment to join me. Being an adventurer, I bought a map, found a region I liked, and decided to trek where there was no trail.

The journey began as peaceful and reinvigorating. The soft light through the trees and the charming sounds of the birds shaped a magical atmosphere that spurred on the best of moods in me; it spurred on a vigorous pace as well. I felt led to certain directional changes like a muse guides a writer. My uncharted path was art and my feet were the brush strokes of a wondrous creation.

In the midst of this outdoorsman stupor, I neglected to pick up a foot as far as it needed and caught an outcrop of rock. I lost my balance, stumbled over the side of a crag, and fell upon ground that gave way beneath my impact, sending me into the darkness of a hidden cavern.

…

GIVEAWAY

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H.P. LOVECRAFT: THE COMPLETE FICTION

Winners will be chosen at random (at random.org) from the entrants after the cutoff at 10:00PM PST and will be announced by Sharkchild via email and on this post within 24 hours after the end of the contest.

The winners can be anywhere in the world! The winners must be at least 13 years of age. A winner must respond to Sharkchild’s email within five (5) days to claim a prize.