Micro Fiction Horror
For the month of August, 2025, these are the 100-word stories that intrigue us most.
* Combustibles by Autumn Bettinger
* The Jandy Man by Bill Cox
* Quiet by Sushma R. Doshi
* Grocery List for Tammy by Laura Shell
* The Alleyway by Solomon Gray
* The Viewfinder by Reema Saalah
* Olivia by Fredrik Siwmark Carlsson
Combustibles
by
Autumn Bettinger
Sheila’s nails dug into the decaying wood that lined the fire lookout’s cracked windows. A hundred little fires were eating up the ridgelines.
“You ok, Bunny?” Sheila asked.
From the mound of tumbling stuffed animals on the bed, a small voice rang. “A-ok, Mama Bunny.”
The fever had spread faster than wildfire. People became incandescent and febrile. Then the combustion started. Whole cities engulfed in clustered human infernos.
“We’re gonna be ok, Bun,” Sheila promised. “We’re not sick.”
The stuffies went still. Sheila pulled her eyes from the fires outside and towards her buried daughter.
“Mama? I’m hot.”
Autumn Bettinger is a short-form fiction writer and full-time mother living in Portland, Oregon. She was the 2024 Fishtrap fellow, has won the Tadpole Press 100-Word Writing Contest, The Not Quite Write Flash Fiction Prize and the Silver Scribes Prize.
The Jandy Man
by
Bill Cox
“Don’t go playing in the old quarry,” Jamie’s mum would say, “or the Jandy Man will get you. He preys on children, breaking their bodies on sharp rocks, drowning them in deep pools!”
Jamie knew the Jandy Man wasn’t real, but the more his Mum told tales to scare him, the more Jamie admired the Jandy Man, envying his fearsome reputation. Jamie eventually realised who he wanted to become.
So, one Sunday morning, he persuaded the neighbour’s young son to come with him to the quarry. Jamie and the young boy walked in, but only the Jandy Man walked out.
Bill Cox lives in Aberdeen, Scotland with his partner Hilary and their daughter Catherine. Writing was a childhood sweetheart that he lost contact with after he left school, only to rekindle the romance in his fourth decade. He writes poetry and short fiction and his work can be found in various places, if you look hard enough.
Run
Quiet
by
Sushma R. Doshi
My eyelids flutter open. I had dozed off in the library with Beyoncé blaring on my headphones. I look around. It's empty. Have I slept through school’s closing time? No. It's just past noon on my watch. I walk through the deserted school corridors. Where is everyone? Just the old and deaf janitor mopping the floors. I trudge home filled with unease. Not a soul in sight. Peopleless roads. I reach home. The door is ajar. I cautiously step inside. No one. Just silence with a pair of earplugs and a note “RUN” on the table. I start to sweat.
Sushma R Doshi completed her graduation in History from Loreto College, Kolkata. She went on to acquire a PhD in International Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Her short stories and poems have appeared in Contemporary Literary Review India, Everyday Fiction, Muse India, Literally Stories, Borderless Journal, Kitaab International and Panoplyzine amongst others. Her flash fiction "Magic" in Syncopation Literary Journal has been nominated for the Pushcart prize.
Grocery List for Tammy
by
Laura Shell
Fingernail polish, midnight blue, her favorite color
A hairbrush, one that is good at getting knots out, because she has thick hair
An electric toothbrush, the only kind she'll use
Toothpaste with baking soda, another favorite of hers
Sweats, small size, from the kids' department, because she's little
A pack of fuzzy socks
A television with cables
Romance novels, so she can read me the juicy parts
Lingerie, lots of it
Queen mattress
Pillows
Duct tape, to shut up her screams
A package of zip ties
A whip
A taser
Twenty-foot chain
A padlock
A knife, for when it's time
Laura Shell has been published in NUNUM, Maudlin House, The Citron Review, X-RAY, and numerous other publications. Her first anthology of paranormal stories, The Canine Collection, was released in 2024. She's a prolific writer and submitter of flash fiction and the editor of the Flash Phantoms horror fiction site. You can find more about her work at https://laurashellhorror.wordpress.com.
The Alleyway
by
Solomon Gray
There’s a dead body in the alleyway. Come with me – I need you to see him.
There. Past the dumpster. See how his head is caved in?
Look at all the blood. Go ahead, touch it. Thick, right? Like maple syrup.
Wait. You hear that?
Sirens.
The police. They’re close. They will ask a lot of questions. They’ll want to know who did this.
Feel free to blame me. Tell them “I” did it. But when they ask you who “I” am, what exactly will you tell them?
I’m not the one with blood on my hands.
Solomon Gray is a writer and filmmaker from New Jersey. He is the co-writer (with Sonny Mallhi) of “Hurt,” which was selected by Rue Morgue Magazine as one of the “Best Horror Films of 2021”: “a slow-burn, deeply disturbing viewing experience.” His short film “Crybaby” was an official selection of the Fantasia Film Festival. His directorial debut “We’re Not Safe Here” will premiere in August.
The Viewfinder
by
Reema Saalah
The flower moved when she blinked.
She told herself it was just the wind, though nothing else stirred. The hush between bird calls mocked her, daring her to come closer.
She’d taken the wrong path hours ago. Used her camera to breadcrumb the way back. It found her. A flower taller than her. Impossibly red. Humming low, like a voice buried under moss.
She raised the camera. Stepped closer. Zoomed in.
In the viewfinder: her own body. Twisted. Half-digested.
Click.
The soil shifted. Roots kissed her calf. Pierced.
The flower bloomed when she bled. A shy slit of petal. Then teeth.
Reema Salah is an ESL writer from Kuwait. She loves writing and reading dark fiction of all kinds, especially psychological horror stories dealing with dread, paranoia, and all the scary subjective experiences of the human mind. She's also a prose-focused writer with a heavy emphasis on mood, atmosphere, and character exploration. Her style and narrative voice tend to be slightly lyrical yet grounded.
Olivia
by
Fredrik Siwmark Carlsson
“Liv…?”
She froze at the sound of my voice.
“Is it really you?“ I whispered.
“You’re mistaking me for someone else,” she muttered.
She was gone before I could answer. I wanted to chase her, but I couldn’t move. It was her—I would never forget those tender lips.
But how…? It was impossible.
I swung by her grave on my way home. My heart crawled up my throat when I saw it.
Beneath the tombstone, the soil was torn open. Nail scratches scored the edge.
Then—a twig snapped behind me. Laughter erupted, echoing off the granite.
“Hello, Tom.”
Fredrik Siwmark Carlsson lives in Lund, Sweden. His short fiction has appeared in 101 Words and Bright Flash Literary Review. He is the founder of the publishing company Antigone Förlag (www.antigone.se) and runs the Swedish flash fiction website www.hundraord.se.