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Skulls: A Free Short Horror Story

November 11, 2017 by Icy Sedgwick 10 Comments

I stumbled across the window full of skulls quite by accident. Indeed, one should never seek out such a window with the explicit purpose of doing so. I discovered them whilst walking through the university grounds, passing a small nook beside the art gallery. Having passed that way many times previously, I wondered that I had never seen them before. Naturally I ventured nearer in order that I might better examine them.

Skulls are creepy by their very nature, especially when you walk past a window full of them. Do their empty eye sockets watch you as you walk by?

I had gone but two steps toward them when I realised that they were not fake skulls, as I had originally supposed them to be. They were real, their grinning jaws missing teeth, while some of them had no lower jaws at all. I drew closer still, and spotted cobwebs strung between those on the top shelf.

One by one, each cranium turned to face my direction, and I swear that they looked right at me. No, worse than that. They looked right into me.

I fled, as one would suppose I might, but I cannot shake the notion that they watch me still. I do not dare open my curtains for fear that I might see them at my window. My housekeeper has turned all of the mirrors to the wall so that they might not peer at me as I go about my day. I have not ventured out of doors for some three days together, and I fear that my absence will soon be commented upon. I content myself that I will leave my lodgings when I am content the skulls are no longer watching.

If I am content…


If you enjoyed Skulls, you might also like;

Ghost Train

Or try Robert Bloch’s short story, ‘The Skull of the Marquis de Sade‘, from 1945!

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Filed Under: Flash Fiction Tagged With: friday flash, horror, skulls, the gothic, window

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Larry Kollar says

    June 19, 2015 at 7:37 pm

    Whoa, he’s overreacting a bit… or IS he?

    Reply
    • Icy Sedgwick says

      June 20, 2015 at 9:34 pm

      I don’t think he is!

      Reply
  2. Helen A. Howell says

    June 20, 2015 at 9:28 pm

    The character is a little paranoid me thinks

    Reply
    • Icy Sedgwick says

      June 20, 2015 at 9:34 pm

      Or is he?

      Reply
  3. Holly says

    June 21, 2015 at 12:17 am

    I loved the journey from curiosity into dread. Also I have to admit I myself would be quite fascinated by a window full of skulls. 🙂

    Reply
    • Icy Sedgwick says

      June 22, 2015 at 5:17 pm

      I have to find out what they’re for!

      Reply
  4. ~Tim says

    June 25, 2015 at 3:42 am

    Maybe the skulls are looking for a new “friend”? Pretty creepy!

    Reply
  5. ganymeder says

    October 22, 2016 at 5:00 am

    Methinks the lady doth take the hallucinogens too much…

    Reply
    • Icy Sedgwick says

      October 22, 2016 at 9:00 am

      I still don’t even know what the skulls that inspired the story were there for!

      Reply
  6. Sheils says

    June 7, 2023 at 10:32 pm

    Skills are always creepy whichever way you come across them!

    Reply

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Who is Icy Sedgwick?

icy sedgwick

Icy is a folklore blogger and host of the Fabulous Folklore podcast. She is based in the north east of England, where she was born and raised amid the folk tales and legends of Tyneside and Northumberland. Icy is fascinated by history, cinema, art, and the occult, and griffins will always be her favourite mythical beast. She also writes dark fantasy novellas, Gothic short stories and the occasional weird Western, and she holds a PhD in Film Studies!

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