MicroHorror

February 28, 2007

Tattoo of the Viking Queen

Delilah settled into a seductive pose, lying naked on the king-sized bed. Red satin sheets accentuated her youthful, milk-white flesh and voluptuous breasts. Simply breath-taking–then again, for $500 cash, one would expect such.

“Kneel before the Queen,” she purred. I joined her on the bed, kissing the warrior-woman tattoo on her smooth, inner right thigh. The image came to life, peeling itself free.

The Viking Queen knelt beside us, scantily clad in rabbit fur, rune-etched dagger in hand. The swift knife thrust and searing pain in my gut made me gasp.

My blood, her lips–last kiss before Valhalla.

February 24, 2007

Alarms

BRINK!

BRINK!

BRINK!

That was the sound that Kenny Jenson hated to hear every morning. He knew what it was perfectly well; it was the same thing that woke him up every morning to take him to the job he hated. He rolled over and his pudgy fingers found the snooze button, shutting the infernal machine down, giving him ten more blissful minutes.

BRINK!

BRINK!

BRINK!

The snooze button went down again.

BRINK!

BRINK!

BRINK!

The fat fingers forced the snooze button down again.

Ten seconds later:

BRINK!

BRINK!

BRINK!

Kenny sat up in bed; he’d pushed the button, hadn’t he? Reaching over to the black box of pure evil he hit the snooze again.

BRINNNNNNK!

BRINNNNNNK!

BRINNNNNNK!

Recoiling from the noise–it had never been this loud before–Kenny reached for the switch to just shut the damn thing off. It clicked into the off position just like it had done every morning of its existence. Kenny waited…

BRINNNNNNK!

BRINNNNNNK!

BRINNNNNNK!

Covering his ears from the increased volume, Kenny reached behind his bed for the clock’s power cord. A blue spark appeared when the cord was ripped from the wall socket. Looking back with a smile Kenny expected to see a blank display. His heart, that had to circulate blood around his eighty pounds of fat, just about exploded when he looked back. The numbers were there, brighter than ever before, and before Kenny’s eyes the numbers started to increase in speed.

27

28

29

30

BBRRIINNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKK!

BBRRIINNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKK!

BBRRIINNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKK!

The noise felt like grenades going off in Kenny’s head. Rolling out of bed he went for his door. The handle felt like it was made out of ice. The handle didn’t move. Kenny shifted his weight down on the handle. Even with all of his 320 pounds on it the handle wouldn’t turn an inch.

BBRRIINNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKK!

BBRRIINNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKK!

BBRRIINNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKK!

Catching his breath, Kenny felt his ears start to bleed. Blood staining his white T-shirt, Kenny started to kick at his bedroom door. Like it was made of steel, the door didn’t even get a scratch. Sweat pouring down his face, Kenny ran over to the clock. He raised his meaty arm.

BBBRRRIIINNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKK!

Being that close to the box sent Kenny staggering back a few feet with a deafening ringing in his ears. He collapsed to the floor. Lying on the ground Kenny looked up at the clock. An illuminated red smile showed across the clock’s screen. The smile vanished and 12:00 appeared. Kenny closed his eyes and covered his ears.

BBBBBRRRRRIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKKKKKK!!!

BBBBBRRRRRIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKKKKKK!!

BBBBBRRRRRIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKKKKKK!!!

BBBBBRRRRRIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKKKKKK!!!

BBBBBRRRRRIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKKKKKK!!!

BBBBBRRRRRIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKKKKKK!!!

Music Lover

Ernesto pressed “Play” on the stereo. Pavarotti flooded the confines of the lighted basement. Swiveling toward his tool cart, Ernesto selected a scalpel and a pair of upholstery shears.

He turned to the naked fat man on the metal gurney before him. Gagged, eyes wide with terror, the man strained against his leather bindings. His beer belly wobbled and jiggled.

Pavarotti faded into Caruso.

Ernesto sliced and snipped. Ropy coils, warm and wet, slid from their confinement, drooped toward the floor and fell free.

He stitched to Bergonzi. Amputated to Domingo. Finished with Florez.

Tomorrow he’d sever and flay to salsa.

February 23, 2007

Never Judge a Book by its Cover

His face was somewhat attractive. He stared at the mirror into his own eyes. He didn’t think he was ugly. Why did he hate himself so much? He cocked his head slightly to the side and back upright. He dug his fingernail into his cheek. His face was now completely numb. The empty needle in the sink took care of that. He stared down at the sink for several seconds, second-guessing himself. No, it had gone too far now. He had to finish.

His life was not wasted in any way. He was a successful attorney, had a nice car, spacious apartment, and was never a stranger to the ladies. On the surface, he lived the perfect life. Underneath, however, was a completely different monster. A monster that was never satisfied, that had broken down every shred of humanity possible. He was so fucking ugly underneath his skin, it was now time to show the world his true face.

And with that he got to cutting his flesh. Scissors started it off, snipping at his lips in triangles and rectangles, the fat pieces of flesh slapping the sink with sickening thuds. He worked fast, knowing full well what he would feel when the drugs wore off. It hurt like hell, burned even, but was nothing compared to what was really happening, and his mission needed to be done before that pain was fully realized. After both of his lips were nothing more than piles of bloody meat in the sink, he stopped to take a look in the mirror. Technically, his mission had been accomplished, as no one would ever look at him the same way again. He wasn’t even sure if one could survive for long like this. But he wasn’t done.

Next, he took a filet knife and scalped himself. It hurt a lot more now, and it wasn’t because the drugs were wearing off. No matter what you’re on, it’s impossible to do this and not feel it. He felt it, but it turned him on. The women at the bar would flock to him if they saw the erection he was carrying right now. Then three cuts down the front of the face and he resembled a chart in a Biology class.

The scissors came back for the ears, clipping them down to little stubs on the side of his head, resembling radio knobs. If only he could’ve tuned these in to another station years ago. He then sliced his nostrils up to the eyes, letting the flaps of skin slap him in the face.

The pain came rushing now; he had to finish. He hadn’t prepared himself for this. Tears poured from his eyes, mixing with the blood and splashing on his hands, sink, and floor. He screamed louder than he ever had before, and was so mad at himself for sounding like a girl. If nothing else, he figured his last vocalization would be somewhat manlike.

He had to abort; he couldn’t stand it. He said his goodbyes to his pistol as it entered his mouth and blew his brains onto the wall behind him. The pain was immense. His head hit the toilet, throwing out more chunks of brain matter, and he slumped on the floor. He could feel the blood encompassing his dying body. Then, he felt nothing.

The Arbor

For the Tree to live, someone had to die.

Most of us were willing to slit our throats for the Tree, but that wasn’t how things were done around here. We needed an outsider’s blood.

After a few hours, the leaves on the Tree started to wilt. Our children circled around it and kept it stable with their tears, but the Tree needed blood. As the sun went down we started to despair. Then we saw the headlights in the distance. The children stopped crying and started dancing.

We felt bad for our loss of faith. In all the years the Tree had always provided.

The car stopped twenty yards from the Tree. There were three people in it. One of them got out of the vehicle. He was lost. He saw us. He saw the knives in our hands. Then he knew how lost he was.

We chased him toward the Tree. We gave the Tree life. As the blood soaked in, the branches quickened with fruit.

They were screaming in the car, but they didn’t try to drive away. They were foolish outsiders. We gave them apples from the Tree. Then they understood everything. We had two more converts.

February 21, 2007

The Shaman’s Quest

Once upon a time, he had no flesh; the maggots ate good that night! Then one maggot decided he was a fly. But only after many days and many flights did he wish otherwise. You see, one day in the garden of life, that very same fly came upon a godly spectacle, a rainbow colored butterfly–nature’s gift of the eye–and from that moment on, the fly knew no wings of Earthly flesh could ever carry him that high. So one night in a carnivorous fit, the fly got drunk, passed out and dreamed he was a giant raven. Now with new powerful wings he searched out his sky and found good ol’ butterfly resting on a tree limb. Then without much effort, he swooped down and plucked that butterfly out of God’s eyes and digested his late dinner. The next morning, the fly woke up and discovered he was a man!

Let’s Go Trippin’

With a few final clicks, Randy added Pink Floyd and the Doors. The perfect playlist was complete.

Dave edged towards the door. “Yeah… I don’t think I’m up for this today, guys. Thanks, though.”

“You sure?” said Becca, perched on the edge of Randy’s bed. “It’s really good acid.”

Dave sighed. “It’s just… well, I’ve done acid once before, and… I had a bad time.”

Randy turned, furrowing his brow. “What happened, man?”

“Well, I tried it at home, a couple of years ago. I’d gotten it at a concert the night before, but I was afraid to do it there. So I dropped the tab at home, and tried to relax and enjoy it, but these… centipedes started coming through the walls! It was horrible.”

“You were alone? No wonder you had a bad trip!” said Becca.

“Yeah, man,” said Randy. “You should never be alone your first time. Now, c’mon. I’m here, Becca’s here, we’ve got good music, I’ll put something nice on TV… It’ll be great.”

Dave scuffed his toe on the carpet. “Oh… all right.” He sat down on the bed next to Becca.

Smiling, Becca reached into her pocket and pulled out squares of blotter paper inside a plastic bag. They each took one and placed it under their tongues. Randy turned on the Cartoon Network.

About an hour later, Dave looked up. “Okay, I think it’s starting to kick in. I’m feeling… something…”

Randy screamed. Becca screamed.

The centipedes were coming through the walls.

The screaming didn’t last long.

It was horrible.

February 19, 2007

Zombie Makeup

Every portrayal of the undead coming back to life takes morbid pleasure in their horrifying look. Gray sunken faces, rivulets of blood, maybe a fresh scar or a fake eyeball dangling from a socket. A reanimated corpse eventually will look like that, but not at first. Has everyone forgotten the care we put into preserving the recently deceased? We drain their blood, pump in formaldehyde, dress them in their best clothes, brush their hair, lightly scent their bodies, place their hands gently across their chests. And if this wasn’t nice enough treatment, we put them in makeup. A thick primer coat is slathered all over, even the ears and neck. Then lipstick, rouge and eye shadow. Most women have never worn so much makeup in their life, not to mention men. Applying such makeup is a art, but the makeup artists usually have never met their clients in life, and so err on the side of healthy glows. Most families’ last view of their relatives are marred by rosy-cheeked, gleaming countenances that didn’t match up to their loved ones in life. And when the recently deceased do climb out of their tombs, their desiccation will be neatly hidden by this makeup. Their clean-cut appearances and dark suits will fool us, allow us to not notice who they are until we can see the dead of their eyes. And that’s as close as they need to get to lunge.

It looked kind of like creamed corn.

It looked kind of like creamed corn. It was yellow and mushy but tasted very different. Underneath that layer was the real treasure. Red and tender. There was what I had imagined. And it tasted every bit as sweet as I wanted it to. It was good raw. Later on I took a little bit and cooked it. It was more refined but just as good. I had hoped that doing this once would satisfy me. That it would purge these thoughts from me. Now I just want more.

February 17, 2007

A good fire is a work of art.

A good fire is a work of art. A painting. A symphony. Consequently I think of myself as an artist. My palette is heat and orange. Ash and gray. I don’t know exactly how much I’ve destroyed over the years, but it’s substantial. Houses. Businesses. Cars. People. My work will be remembered when I’m gone. I’ve no doubt. No doubt at all.

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