Charlotte O’Farrell

We were excited on the day of the total #eclipse.

When it didn’t end after 2 hours, we knew something was wrong.

It’s a year into this eternal night, the celestial bodies eerily still. Crops are dying. Animals howl at all hours.

Our blessed planet is abandoned.

#vss365

The patient suffered with #echolalia for 45 years.

Always the same words: “he’ll be here soon”, followed by a sobbing cackle.

I was at her bedside as she died.

Her last words were: “he’s here. When you see him, you’ll know I’m the lucky one.” She smirked as she died.

#vss365

I jumped as the safe’s door slammed shut behind me.

I finally had my hands on the bank’s loot. But this bit wasn’t part of the #plan.

The staff aren’t calling the police; they’re closing up for the long weekend.

This safe is airtight. And it’s so dark.

#vss365

“If I could bottle what you have, I’d be a billionaire!”

The old saying came true. Each drink gave something special: confidence, charisma, intelligence.

But existing elites bought up every #product.

Now we exist as slaves to super-humans. What I’d give for one drop.

#vss365

It was a #marketing stunt for my new horror book.

“Say ‘Headless Jack’ 3 times in a mirror and he’ll appear & chop off your head! Dare you!”

It took off. People loved it; pre-sales soared.

Then the decapitations started. And I fear Jack’s coming for his creator next.

#vss365

Thank you! Really glad you enjoyed it! ❤️

At the #end of the road, in a crooked grey house that leans to the left, enshrouded by pines, that’s where Jankie lives.

Kids dare each other to ring his bell; there’s a football on his lawn, lost a year ago. Nobody comes or goes, but they know he’s in there, red eyes watching, waiting.

#vss365

Thank you - I look forward to reading yours too! Great minds must think alike! 😁

We were terrified of the house at the #end of our street.

Just that place and ours; nothing but fields for miles in either direction. One night, us kids went there on a dare.

Through the open window, we heard the kids there, daring one another to sneak to our house.

#vss365

“We hook them with an intriguing statement. Then we add ‘A thread 🧵’.”

“So they click?”

“Yep. But that’s where the torment begins. The payoff post never loads! Just a loading circle then an error message.”

“You keep with the times here in Purgatory, eh?”

“Always.”

#vss365

Moonlit night. #Canoodling couples. A treasure trove of various deadly weapons.

When we found out how to imprison slasher killers in AI simulations, the death rates of babysitters and camp counsellors dramatically reduced.

#vss365

“So class - what do we think might be an appropriate song here?”

“Some hard rock!”

“Hmm. Creative but missing a certain charm. We tend to choose a #lullaby or nursery rhyme. It freaks people out in the dark.”

The school for horror film ghosts was full of wisdom.

#vss365

Happy St Patrick’s Day to everyone - but especially those of us whose Irish surnames upset every system with their apostrophes! ☘️

It’s always the same #rigmarole: set up the seance, invite in the guests.

My assistant did well with the ghostly screeching yesterday. Even I was scared at times!

But she came in this morning and apologised for missing yesterday’s seance due to illness. Strange…

#vss365

Countless #fathoms under the surface, our submersible starts to creak.

It’s a death sentence. We all know it. Even if we rise at top speed, the structure will collapse inward before we’re even close enough to see sunlight.

It creaks louder. At least it’ll be quick.

#vss365

“Your next blockbuster is called The Stench,” pitched the young executive. “It’s about a killer in a gas mask who kills his victims with #farts.”

The studio bosses exchanged looks - then nods.

It was the late 1980s, and surely the slasher film boom would go on forever.

#vss365

THANK YOU! Your support has given my new book, ‘Postcards from the Body Farm’, a splendid release day. Get your copy here: books2read.com/bodyfarm?store…
#horror @veloxbooks.bsky.social

My author copy arrived - thanks @veloxbooks.bsky.social! Pre-order yours: books2read.com/bodyfarm?store…
#horror #WritingCommunity

The mob screamed as they chased me. Terrified, I ran.

Finally, I dipped into the hidden passage, back to the cellar. My #SafeHaven!

Good thing, really. The sun was coming up and time was running out.

“Kill the vampire!” they shouted. But I’m safe here. Time to sleep.

#vss365

After millennia, I felt the sweet release of #liberation from my magic lamp.

“I wish for infinite wishes!” smirked the kid who’d freed me.

Know-it-all numpty, thinking he was clever. He didn’t know the secret rule: wish for more wishes, you swap places with the genie.

#vss365

We live at the #nexus of many universes.

100 dimensions converge here. Can you feel the energy?

But it comes with problems. Sometimes, nightmarish inter-dimensional beings slip through.

That’s why we pretend this is just a normal village. If you come by, keep driving.

#vss365

Whoever thought a #rocket could be haunted?

Haunting’s for old castles, creepy graveyards. Very much Earth-specific.

And yet here I am, 100 years after my space crash, watching astronauts in unrecognisable uniforms, pushing the frontiers further than we dreamed.

#vss365

Dan never struggled with guilt, even as a hitman. He was good at closing off.

But this job - where he killed the wrong guy? That stuck with him.

He wiped the blood on his hands but it didn’t go. It #congealed. Days later, it stays, staining everything he touches.

#vss365

“I must say, the animal sketches the explorers brought back seem like fiction.”

“Hmm, agreed. I mean look at this supposed ‘giraffe’! Long necks, babies #galumphing around. Just not realistic.”

“Nope! The unicorns I believe in though; just horses with horns really.”

#vss365

I woke up to see my garden covered in snow!

Footprints #crisscrossed around the garden erratically. The last set showed the person must’ve paced outside my bedroom window many times.

Alarming, since I’m alone in the woods, 20 miles from other houses.

#vss365

I went down the #rabbit_hole. I followed a bunny, shouting about being late for an important date.

The things I saw down there are horrifying. Dark entities, manipulating reality for eldritch aims.

I burrowed out. But now my life feels hollow, built on sand.

#vss365 #SatSplat

That’s exactly the vibe I was going for - thank you!

As kids we’d run through this tunnel, terrified.

We thought it was haunted. The echoes of our own footsteps made it sound like we were being chased, you see.

But now, as an adult? There’s only #silence. And the tunnel stretches on forever.

When will I see the light?

#vss365

“I #confess - I joined this club in a flurry of new year optimism, but I don’t have time to devote to it. I #quit.”

“This isn’t the gym, sir. You signed a blood oath committing to the order for eternity.”

“Whatever. I’ve already cancelled my direct debit.”

#vss365 #SatSplat

Thank you! ☺️