31 Days: Chilling Short Horror Stories

Jack groaned quietly in frustration, as he died once again. Darkness surrounded his bedroom; the only light on his TV screen was the YOU DIED displayed in pixelated red blood. Got swarmed again. Why were these zombies so hard to kill? He thought as he placed the controller on his lap. He stretched his arms before turning his head to his nightstand and checked the time. It was midnight. His parents were long deep asleep by now no doubt. He rubbed his eyes and gave a small yawn. He thought one more game wouldn’t hurt as he picked up his controller, battling zombies again.

It was sometime later that a noise sounded causing Jack to pause the game and remove his headphones. Why was that? He stayed quiet for a moment, listening, waiting, and for a moment it seemed that all was quiet and what Jack had heard was all in his head. He was just about to put his headphones back on when he heard it again. The strange noise. It sounded like it was coming from the kitchen. Quickly and quietly, Jack got up from his bed, grabbed the metal baseball bat that was by his bed, and peeked out of his room into the dark and empty hallway. Again, there was the noise. Jack crept down the hallway and the steps, careful not to step on the creaking floorboard and alert the intruder until he reached the entrance to the kitchen.

All seemed quiet yet again, not a stain or peel on the flowery wallpaper that his mother loved so much within the kitchen until he heard it loud and clear. He slowly went towards the sound, baseball ready to strike but what he saw horrified him. A creature was bent on the hard wooden floors, digging, and eating his dog, Lucy. Her insides were displayed for all to see with cold lifeless eyes and blood pooling around her body. Before he knew it he was bringing down the bat, striking the creature repeatedly over the head, each time with more force.

“Jack! Jack! Jack, stop!” Jack opened his eyes, his breath coming out in pants, as his dad held him. He looked around, seeing the blood splattered over the wallpaper and himself, seeing Lucy very much alive hiding under the kitchen table, and then finally his mother’s lifeless body, her blood pooling from the open wound on her head and at his feet.

“What have you done?!” he heard his father say in whispered horror.