The library has a lot of great horror novels, but books are not the only place you can find a great horror story! I was poking around through my bookmarks last night when I came across a few online horror sites I hadn't looked at in a while. The first one I came across was The Dionaea House [2]. This is a piece of online fiction that incorporates several blogs to tell a frightening story of a house that has the ability to appear in multiple cities, change its interior, and make its inhabitants disappear. I made the mistake of reading this late at night some years ago--you were warned.
Another source for online horror that I discovered is Ichor Falls [3]. Multiple authors contribute to this blog of stories about a fictional West Virginia town called Ichor Falls. Some of the stories remind me a bit of the Silent Hill game/movie series. You can even try your hand at submitting an Ichor Falls story--click the "submit a story" link to get the email address where you can send your story. Another word of advice--don't read the story about Candle Cove after dusk. You won't sleep. The blog isn't updated very often but there are some great stories in the archives.
Ted the Caver [4] is an oldie but goodie if you can handle a cliffhanger. The story is told through a caver's journal describing he and his friends exploration of "Mystery Cave." The text is a little tough to read as the author uses blue or gray text on a black background, but if you can get past that it is a creepy story that will have you clenching your teeth.
Those are a few of my favorite online horror stories. What are yours?
A brief note: Still prefer to hold a novel in your hands? The Dionaea House is similar to a terrifying novel called House of Leaves [5], by Mark Z. Danielewski. A story within a story, House of Leaves is about a tattoo parlor employee who discovers a strange manuscript describing a journalist's experience living in a house that is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. House of Leaves is a work of experimental fiction--much of the story is told in footnotes and with unusal typesettings and formatting. Want to know why the world 'house' is blue? Read the book!
