by Greg Rhodea
A confession isn’t a confession unless one repents.
~*~
“Bless me, Father, for I have skinned.”
Loren frowned and leaned closer to the mesh that separated confessor from penitent. He’d been at it for three extra hours now because Father Tim hadn’t shown up. Night had fallen, and the church outside the confessional was as gloomy as a closed mouth. This would be the last confession of the night, and Loren was tired and eager to get out of the ghetto and back home. He must have heard the man wrong. Yes, that’s it. “How long since your last confession?”
A sound began on the other side of the booth, like someone snapping an empty nutcracker together. Click click click. It took a while for the man to answer, and when he did it came in a whisper. “Five hours.”
Continue reading BRIGHTMOOR CONFESSIONS
by Stoney M. Setzer
mysophobia: a pathological fear of dirt or contamination
~*~
“Are you sure you won’t reconsider, Mr. Marak?” the voice on the telephone prodded. “You fit the profile of our research perfectly, and I can assure you that we will make it well worth your effort.”
“I’m quite sure you’d try, Mr. Toth,” Peter Marak answered, as he stared out the bay window of his house. He held a coffee mug in his other hand, and his grip on it tightened as his body involuntarily tensed. Surely they didn’t expect him to take the risk of going out there! With just a little bit of imagination, he could almost see the germs darting through the air beyond his house. “But I’m afraid there’s not much you could do to make me reconsider.”
Continue reading THE SIEGE OF PETER MARAK
by Kevin R. Doyle
Guilt can be a powerful temptation as well.
~*~
Father Robert stood in the cubicle and looked over the interior of his church. This late at night, only a few people resided in the pews. One woman, dressed in black, had just lit a candle. Robert knew she still mourned the death of her youngest child a year before. Farther back an elderly couple, two of the regulars of his parish, knelt together and prayed, so close their shoulders touched.
And another figure. It sat in the pew farthest back, next to the church doors. In the dim electric lights, it seemed more of a shape than a substance. Father Robert watched it for several minutes. It didn’t move, neither standing nor kneeling and, as far as the priest could tell through the darkness, not even praying. It merely sat there, straight in the pew, and looked ahead.
Continue reading THE TEMPTER IN THE SHADOWS
by James Rawbone
To forgive, not forget.
~*~
Last year’s leaves were a brittle carpet underfoot as he strode through the woods. A small casket was tucked under one arm; his free hand grasped a spade. His shoulders were hunched under the black leather of his trench coat, and he glanced to neither side.
Every so often he stopped to listen, but the trees were wrapped in a dead silence. Nothing moved; no birds called, there was not the snuffle of hedgehogs or the sudden scamper of rabbits. The woods lay sleeping this short February afternoon as if the cold had frozen the life within it. The pale sun was already casting long, weak shadows as the man looked up to the grey sky and shivered.
Continue reading BURYING THE PAST
by Eric Ortlund
It’s frightening to think what might happen when roommates rule the house.
~*~
He showed up at work again today. I don’t know if it was boredom or just wanting something more than his own company, but he stumbled through the revolving doors, his forehead bonking on the glass, and staggered up to me. My first thought was to take a sick day . . . but he might not leave with me. I thought about what he might do in my absence and shuddered.
I checked my watch: 10:45. I might be able to make it until lunch time.
Continue reading HIM
by K. T. Louis
When miracles decide to happen, you just can’t stop them.
~*~
It isn’t every day that a girl finds a sack full of ancient coins in a motorcycle saddlebag. My luck must be changing.
Katerina Echo tossed a broad silver thaler into the air experimentally. Before she could catch it, another hand closed on the coin.
“Hey!”
Continue reading MIRACLE PLAY
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Welcome to F&T! Fear & Trembling features horror and suspense with a spiritual twist. Now, not every story will have a spiritual element, but you'll find here intelligent fiction that touches on eternal themes. On the other hand, sometimes you'll come across some good old fashioned, frightfully pulpy fun. Either way, we hope you enjoy each of these stories that just won't die.
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