This is a page to record the pages which have been featured on the front page.
134. They Wouldnt Bury Him — October 2024
"If they did not bury him, his soul would find no rest. He would wander from place to place, his only possessions the pain and terror that were his last few moments, playing over and over for all eternity.
They wouldn’t bury him, so she would."
133. Stardust — October 2024
"Here lie the slumbering souls, in the realm of the forgotten,
Their memory in others' minds, a slow and fading potion."
132. The Night I Left Home — September 2024
"It filled my dreams, keeping me awake at night. That endless laughter. It was horrid, grating, and yet, somewhat attractive. My dreams. My night. I'm sorry, mommy. If you must punish anyone, please punish that endless laughter."
131. Zarafa — September 2024
"Red drops of Sudd river coursing through dirt / give birth to the noble Zarafa, Zarafa of no mother / no mother, for the before-mother is cleaned off by hyena."
130. Corps Divine — August 2024
"Asterius has been examining his signal charts rather closely in the days prior. His plans for me stretch far, it seems. His pet pilot. I cannot tell if the thought comforts or terrifies me."
129. Batter's Box — August 2024
"The longest game in the history of professional baseball begins at 8:25 p.m. on Saturday, April 18th, 1981. It will finish on June 23rd of the same year."
128. The Hawk — July 2024
"Little is known of The Whispering Willow's life before happening upon a Way to the Library. This, however, is one of only a handful of tales she told us of that time, when she had met her Hawk. I have transcribed it here as I recall The Willow telling it. -LF"
127. Ramblings of Conditional Tie-Dyed Snow — July 2024
"Chlamydomonas nivalis is a green algae that thrives in high-altitude snow fields across the globe. They sunburn in heat, protecting themselves from the possible sun even through blizzard and hail, unmasked from the blankets of atmosphere."
126. New Year — June 2024
"It’s the New Year. The big two zero two four. You never thought you’d make it this far. When were you planning to end it again? June, July? Or was it May? You can’t say.""
125. Letter to the Professors (after June Jordan) — June 2024
"Dear Professors, / With some regret (not all) I write / to inform you my thesis has changed."
124. Only High Upon the Mountain — May 2024
"A weary campground. It holds a fire. Spires of red. Light visible for miles. And inside the light there are two figures. Locked in sudden, brute conflict. Each wrestling for control of the other. They claw. They bite. Eventually. One grabs a rock and swings with it. Swings hard. Then, a thud. The other twitches for a second. Falls limp. Then, careens into the flame. The red spires shoot upward. Like they could touch space."
123. American All-Stars — May 2024
"Wind sweeps across a wide landscape of tumbled sagebrush and dry grass, herds of cumulus blustering in from the west. Mountain peaks, still burdened with snow, loom stark on either side of the flat basin. Salt curls in steaming playas as sheep roam to and fro, wild horses and antelope kicking up dust as they gallop. Up among the tangled ridges of limestone and old quartzite, voices echo on valley walls."
122. The Century Worm — April 2024
"Teltanigan Rimegold is the wealthiest man in the world. He has not spoken to anything other than non-sentient medical machinery for two months. This is by design. His children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren have, across the last seventy-two years, attempted to have him killed in no less than forty-four distinct ways. He has anticipated and foiled each. Every one of them is written down in a little book."
ComboCon 2024 2nd Place Prize Feature — CadaverCommander
121. Cempasúchil — April 2024
"Kira slept without sleeping. The warm sun shone through the leaves of the ahuehuete, tenderly caressing her reddish-honey fur. On her long whiskers played the remembrance of a breeze, the promise of the return she would soon set herself onto. She was at peace."
ComboCon 2024 1st Place Prize Feature — zipzipskins & TrapdoorViolet
120. Possessed — March 2024
"I walk down the hallway. The lights are too bright and are out of focus. The carpet, the walls, the brick all shift, throwing me off balance. My hearing is muffled. My vision briefly goes blank before returning. But I do this often. I can walk without falling."
119. Single Days and Snow Flurries — March 2024
"It is the late 2010's. I stand in fractured mounds of packed snow, snowsuit I will never wear again hugging my body and keeping what warmth it produces inside. Surrounding me, the dry freeze of a harsh New York winter swirls."
118. Last Meal — February 2024
"At other times, my journey is punctuated by the experience of interaction. Each of us, as a thinking creature, journeys in our own way through time and space. When others' journeys happen to intersect with mine, we collaborate to create something entirely new. These crossings are the seasoning, the spice of my journey."
117. The Devil in Purple Silk — February 2024
"The girl climbed twin furled ribbons of purple silk, red velvet curtains anticipatory silhouetting her. We the audience waited, and the music started: guitar strings and drumbeats. With a snap of hands and a flexion in my spinal column calling for attention that could only come from those playing host to us as guests, their show began."
116. the world will have to wait on us today — January 2024
"This time I carry her from her bed. Like I do every morning. She would protest. She always wanted more time to sleep. She was more and more tired every time. But the world couldn't wait on us. / I squeeze her little body to feel the warmth she has left. It must've been just before I went to wake her up."
115. In Their Wake — January 2024
"They didn't cover the guts inside because it'd make it harder to repair and, more importantly, it was cheaper to leave it exposed. You don't have time to consider the consequences, not until you're dead. Your job is to find what's broken and fix it, whether you want to or not isn't a factor."
114. Empty Architecture — December 2023
"In the cool at the end of a day of sudden darkness, there is a man with hair grey before his time. He descends the windy bluffs of south-Sicily onto the sandy beaches below, warm and rich despite the uneasiness in his own heart. His name is Daidalos, an inventor of certain fame. It has only been a year since his son died."
113. Midnight Ride Radio — December 2023
"Somewhere, a radio clicks on. It pops and fizzles, working its way through the static until it stumbles into a sudden and piercing clarity. A bus skids to a halt, letting out a deep breath as it shakes on its suspension. The doors open, taking in the cold midnight air, then mustering it, Clarity speaks:"
112. A Gravedigger in the Ten-Tongue Empire — November 2023
"In the middle of my sixteenth summer, my father died. This presented me with quite the conundrum. My father had been an infamous lout, and the tales of his various scrapes and escapades would fill several tomes over."
111. The Day the Lampposts Walked Away — November 2023
"I was on my morning drive / When a streetlight walked right by. / On slender legs of twisted steel / It waved goodbye with a metallic squeal. / I didn’t quite know what to say / The day the lampposts walked away."
110. Coagulate — October 2023
"Long purple shadows stretched across him, barely affording a view of the blood seeping into his clothes, his skin, him."
109. Versos — October 2023
"And so, without any reason but the one I lack / And without any voice but a broken one / I put hand to the key, ink to the jar / These tales will be told."
108. I Purchased a Story — September 2023
"Yeah. So, I'm part of a writing website online. It's a casual thing — well, usually. They're having a contest on at the moment, where you have a short amount of time to write a story around a theme. And what I ordered was my entry into the contest."
107. Amphibious — September 2023
"Envy clings to toads / and salamanders; / it's in the name— / AMPHIBIAN, / at ease alike / in muck and freckled, / amber suspension."
106. Phillip's Plain — August 2023
"By the way, you promised to show me pictures of his work next time you visit. Promises are tales about the future, so I'm counting on you to keep yours."
105. A Story About Buckets — August 2023
"You see, / everyone in this world / is born with a bucket, / to be carried around / in their hands. / Each day / is a journey / to carry the bucket / further across the wood, / closer to a river / that nobody has ever seen."
104. Scabs — July 2023
"Her name was Scabs, because where her hands had been grafted to her wrists the thaumic bonds to meet flesh with metal had been improperly applied and a ring of flaking, bleeding, weeping sores and scabs had formed that rubbed on the elastic cuffs of her thick, padded coat."
103. The Heptateuch of Eve Hub — July 2023
"The Heptateuch of Eve' is the name given to a mysterious manuscript discovered by a secret agent working for the Serpent's Hand. Embedded deep within an SCP Foundation investigation a small-time smuggler, the agent corresponds with the Library in encoded exchanges, desperate to know more."
102. one by one — June 2023
"no longer a ghost / yet still forgotten / but that glimpse of a story / let it burn true"
101. At Tannhäuser Gate — June 2023
"For a minute, I think you're pathetic, a lost child wandering through the streets of an uncaring world, afraid of what may lurk in the corner of his eye. But little boys don't have a past from which to run away, no trail of shadows to haunt their dreams— or to hunt them down."
100. Stay Here, Draw Spaceships — May 2023
"Follow your warped and weary compass long enough, and you’ll arrive at Third Port Off Left – a gnarled mass of tubing where bookshelves fade gracefully into steel banks of solid-state drives."
99. No Flights Out — May 2023
"The dunes are black as pitch, the sky bristles with stars, the world once so vibrant lay still, exhausted from its running and tumbling and scorching and dying: the song of the desert."
98. Flamebearer's Elegy — April 2023
"There is something to admire in a well thought out arson."
Debate Club Contest Prize Feature — meltedbee
98. Mile High — April 2023
"His name is CHESTER, but he goes by CHUCK. He has never ridden an airplane before. He is deathly, awfully terrified of heights."
Debate Club Contest Prize Feature — Uncle Nicolini
97. Stygian Blues — March 2023
"What was it like to be alive? I have to admit that this type of question arises inside my mind at least thrice per cycle: I watch every human and beast and even the small protozoa and the cyanobacteria pass through,"
96. Kiss Thy Chains — March 2023
"Kiss thy Chains / Oh, Little One / And hear them sing to you. / Sleep or Wake / ‘neath Moon or Sun / Until your days are through."
95. Samudra Manthana — February 2023
"There is a knack to it, they say, and you have it - looking at whatever produce has been hauled in to the communal kitchen that day and visualizing what might be created out of it, that people will eat."
94. Ode to the Professor Who Wore a Dinosaur Costume to Work — February 2023
"I wonder, if I stayed out / in the rain after the clouds poured out, / would I grow crystals, sulpherous green / on my skin?"
93. With the Fates of Gods — January 2023
"In the enormous lounge, impossibly spherical, ever-expanding, many variations on the theme of "head" were bent over game boards. The lack of flat surfaces did not present a problem."
92. waxahachie — January 2023
"waxahachie, i'm scared. / your heart's still beating / but you're barely breathing,"
91. Marigold Sailors — December 2022
"There’s a reason sailors only talk about their tattoos and the coast."
90. Oh, sweet and caring Miss "P" — December 2022
"But it was not her scaringly expressive eyes, nor her porcelain skin what made Mateo so inexplicably uneased."
89. Re-(dis)orientation — November 2022
"Everything remained the same. | Everything had changed."
Picturepalooza 3rd Place Prize Feature — MontagueETC
88. All Hallows — November 2022
"Tomorrow comes as tomorrow will
the time again to change one’s name."
Picturepalooza 2nd Place Prize Feature (Tie) — meltedbee
87. Heavenwards; A History of Wallwalking, by Muhammad Antigonus — October 2022
"Why do these daredevils dare to challenge the skies and rage against its supposed infinite length? The answers might be simpler than you think."
Picturepalooza 1st Place Prize Feature — Yossipossi
86. UNAVOIDABLE. SPLIT — October 2022
"IN TWO HOURS. THROUGH A FAILURE OF JUDGEMENT."
Picturepalooza 2nd Place Prize Feature (Tie) — LAN 2D
85. Nonpareil — September 2022
"Her metamorphosis took place at the dinner table."
84. An Oyster's Observation of the Ending of Things — September 2022
""Why did you do it?" the Oyster asked of God."
83. Dim Dreams — August 2022
"The following documents comprise the evidence recovered at the scene of the crime and during the subsequent homicide investigation."
82. The House of Hebenon — August 2022
"There is a house on lonely roads / You wander, lost, unknown / I'll warn you few who'll heed my words: / This house is not your home"
81. Mihashirabō Presents "Mind Your Decisions" — July 2022
"This is the story of Sachi, who had arrived late to her own father’s wake."
80. Echoes and the Desert — July 2022
"The town on the edge of the desert is a quiet place, worn and tattered like the birds that take flight at my arrival."
79. Door to Stranger Stars — June 2022
"Giant doors the size of castles, tiny doors the size of limpets, great gaping maws the shape and humidity of whale-mouths, all hanging in the wind, suspended by nothing."
78. the internal conflicts of a woman on the subway — June 2022
"Please. You're a sniveling whore, and not even a good one at that."
77. An Architect's Notions of The City — May 2022
"The lights of the city,
reflect brilliance on their wine glasses,
the glows from the masses,"
76. Holian's Heretical Hagiographies, Chapter 12: Milksaint Carvery — May 2022
"throbbing withways. hekatomb branching nightmare2. name STEEL name STONE name MILKSAINT CARVERY."
75. A Line Through The Oasis — April 2022
"The old willow tree, with its verdant leaves once swaying finely like a warm breeze, now lies there rotten and withered, a husk of its former self."
74. The Last Rumblings of a Proud Old Man — April 2022
"I think the first thing I noticed that day was the smell."
73. At the Edge of the Universe, Humming a Tune — March 2022
"A blinding shining star stood upon the empty sky, the primordial anchor of existence to all that ever was, reduced to but a vestigial remainder of what it once used to be."
72. Middle Yanji Road — March 2022
"The smell of fried dumplings and, / bus exhaust alight upon, / the open kitchen window. / With the approaching rain, / our days turn gray."
71. To Hide So Well, You Can't Find Yourself — February 2022
"That evening, the eyes were in her mirror."
70. Playing Pretend — February 2022
"My condition itself has never bothered me on its own."
69. Non-Existence Therapy — January 2022
"Many a wanderer had underestimated the charm of the Rounderpede, yet he could never understand why. Perhaps it was his complexion."
68. Matchsticks — January 2022
"The Chace Homestead stood intractable above its land, as it had for over a hundred years and as it would for a hundred years more."
66. Rhythm — December 2021
"Merengue began in the poorest corners of the Dominican Republic."
65. The Throne of the Usurper — December 2021
"The best lies are gutted truths. Or so speaks the eyeless with the hood of an apostle."
64. The Greeter of Lowtown — November 2021
"Where most of Last Light’s Holders hobbled along more or less in a group, Lowtown’s had fallen to all fours, the city on his back floating mere feet above the mist line as he crawled along."
63. Of Candles and Coconut oil — November 2021
"She had a wide mouth, with plump brown lips that stretched around her ivory teeth when she smiled, showing off that one silver canine she always bragged about."
62. IRIS FALL: Zyrnyowycz Revisited — October 2021
"The Tradescantean Centre for Photography is proud to present the inaugural exhibition of Iris Fall's coverage of the Zrnyowycz war."
Wandercon 2021 2nd Place
61. Sole Singularity — October 2021
"This home that we call Earth is full of flaws."
Wandercon 2021 1st Place
60. A Practical Guide To Beginner's Magic — September 2021
"Magic to modern humans is a bit like electricity to peasants."
59. That Time Love Almost Went Extinct — September 2021
"The universe may collapse around me, but I promise, I'll still love you."
58. Peace for Our Time — August 2021
"I lament to inform that peace negotiations have failed. The Krolovar Imperium has refused any offerings made by the League of Ten Kingdoms. War is imminent."
57. The Island — August 2021
"I have found peace, it exists upon the rolling glass of a steady sea."
56. Mercutio's Knight — July 2021
"The crimson creature's two left hands took hold of Tabr and twisted his head until the bones of his spine began to pop."
55. How I Got My First Guitar — July 2021
"Six straight tracks and a swaddle of spruce.
This was on the line;"
54. Provenance — June 2021
"Before time was born, the Serpent slithered through the Nether"
53. Ghostly Guide to Self-Improvement — June 2021
"Hello and welcome to the next step in your afterlife!"
52. Talk of the Town — April 2021
“If something shiny captures your attention while out questing, make sure you jot it down. If it feels good, slap on a creative title."
51. My Island — April 2021
“The island hasn't seen another soul for some time. I don't know where they are, or what they've been doing. I wish I did."
Switched to double-feature format.
50. Pareidolia
“Tall it stood, nigh on five times the height of a man, carven smooth-sided by the flow of the river and round-headed by the falling of the rain."
Scavenger Hunt 2nd Place Prize Feature — carolynn ivy
49. Cells
“Soon they will be like poets, connecting everything with anything."
Scavenger Hunt 1st Place Prize Feature — Uncle Nicolini
48. Planasthai Investigative - Marsh and Greene, Pt. 1
“I’m a goddamn dark wizard. That chair you’re sitting in belongs to a timeless cosmic entity whose true name is carved on the inside of my left third rib and whose heart I ate like a fucking apple. You're gonna see some haunted-ass shit, Sergeant.”
47. Wounds nor Scars
Someone dies on the first of June, 1312.
It always happens. Everywhere you go. Every scene you touch, every street you walk, every cloud you curse for the sake of the sun.
At least the sea is the perfect shade of blue, ignorant to the fact that tomorrow my crew will taint its waters with the blood of the innocent. Such are the ways of mercenaries.
45. Glass Apartments (For Janelle)
Those houses that I pass at evening with keyhole windows
seem as other worlds.
44. Collected Musical Manifestations of Thematically Cohesive Areas in Our Library, Circa 2020
Everyone knows the Main Hall. Little more can be said about it that has not been described in countless works and speeches and songs. I believe if one listens to this music while entering the Hall, they will find it the perfect "theme song".
The monster shrieked again, and all rational thought vanished. Theta couldn't think, couldn't move. Just waited to die, unwilling to even look at that monster in the face.
42. Field Guide to the Shelves, Volume One
This Volume aims to document all the flora and fauna that have made up residence in the Library. What does that mean? Well, are you having trouble dealing with pesky foxburns stealing your stuff? Or perhaps a bibliovore has given you a spook one too many times?
Finally, from the clay of the planes and the hills and the valleys, from the hands of the Giants and the brooms of the Shedim and the wisdom of the Angels, there arose Man.
40. Kiryu
The sun is dipping lower on the horizon, and I have a book to return to a library that keeps unusual hours. Nevertheless, there is no hurry as I make my way towards a doorway not many people see.
I know people will probably think I'm either a crackpot or a lame straight-to-DVD director, but this actually happened. I guess pets really do choose their owners… I wonder how dogs stay in contact… do they have little dog phones? Are dogs in a hive mind? Do they contact each other with little canine telegraphs? I might go insane if I keep going on about it.
38. Long-Shed and Shade-Filled Skins
Down near the serpents' writhing nests, down where ink ran freely from crumbling pages, down where even docents tread carefully. Civilizations had been birthed in those narrow shells before. Civilizations had died amidst the smells of glue and blood.
37. Behemoths
Timothy never saw anyone on the path, but in the early mornings and after sundown, when Mr. Whiskers demanded everyone stay inside the burrow, Timothy could hear a distinct rumbling noise come from the path. It was the sound of behemoths.
36. Sludge Thompkins in: The Nefarious Lair of the Mutant Bubblegum Lizards!
Why do they call me Sludge, I almost certainly hear you asking? That’s kind of a long story. In short, it’s just what I am. My mutations have turned my body into a toxic, carcinogenic, and bacterial bag of hell that’s too weak to walk on its own and so hilariously poisonous that if you left me in a gutter in the middle of a town, the whole place would be a dumping ground for half-melted corpses within the span of a week. If I gave you a hug, you’d look just like me within about five minutes, and you’d be a puddle five seconds after that.
The weapon the Galactic Triumvirate used to wipe out the Krolovar Incursion. A programmable virus that infects and kills its target in a matter of minutes: a weapon for the slaughter of billions. In its current state, it’s harmless, sterile. Programmed, it will kill any species whose DNA has been uploaded into its wetware.
34. Tales From Spears to Flowers
Monty Python references are not required, but allowed.
You try to remember how you got here. Or why you’re here. Nothing comes up. You ask your cleric.
32. Stars
We watch the stars as they move through the perfect crystal spheres of the heavens. They watch us back.
31. Fifth Elrichian National Party Manifest
"Let the Right and Honorable Lord Fijjiwitz, Master of Elra, and Defender of Our Walls and Faith, open up this meeting of our National Party, in this year of Brassica 149."
30. Asphalmancer
Not every wizard gets to unlock the mysteries of the universe.
29. We Lords Of Ancient Worlds
On the marginal utility of demigods and theophagy.
"…and the blood of the Prophet shall run thickly
through their veins…"
27. The Mad Land
Haarot has never fallen to any invader, her people never kneeling to any but the Broken Throne. Until now.
26. The Rise Of The Steam Soul
Alteres was once a land of magic. Now, it is a land of toil, strife, and smog.
25. Witch Season
They say this is the worst one since '55. I just want it to end. The front door ran away today.
24. Wanderers
I don't expect that you can ever forgive me. I only ask that you try to understand. We are on the verge of something truly great, and I want you to be a part of it.
The name "Kingdom of Plagues" is a misnomer; it was actually a place of great medical innovation, and a more proper translation would be "Great Land that Plagues Fear."
22. The Death Of Boris Yegorovich
In a place that is not a place, in a moment hidden in an instant, waits death.
21. A Series of Irksome Rectangles
- Oh god… why do magazines put these things in?
- Memory of wasp sting
- Honeybees wear the same coats
- I fear gold and black
19. Memories and Old Vinyl (deleted by author)
- There's a certain magic to analog; the kind of magic that hides the in Frisbees.
18. Special Holiday Feature: Toys
- Nostalgia for toys is not limited to children.
17. Recollection
- The first time I died…
16. Seven Offerings to the Campfire
- I throw my worries on the fire so they become smoke, and float away on the breeze.
15. Communion
- The man is silent for several moments before speaking again. The goddess' answer has greatly disturbed him.
14. What's Your Ineffable Style?
- Without a true name to hold them back, the Nameless Sovereigns make waves with their juicy fashion choices, setting trends and shaping the cosmos! But which sovereign's style should you steal? Take this quiz to find out!
13. The Book Monster
- The book monster sat alone in his fortress of friendship. He almost never went out anymore…
12. They Torment Us
- ERROR 2134: The address you are trying to reach has become unavailable.
- You look, but you do not see. You listen, but you do not hear. You have words, but you do not speak.
- Please check for errors in your telomn access device and try again.
- “I have been unnamed for a long time.”
- “ Across the table, the Master spoke a single word, the mystical Fifth Syllable, "". The bell replied with a beautiful note, an auditory sunbeam, a cool musical breeze, the acoustic equivalent of a crystal clear lake. It made me sick.”
- “All men, no matter how free they think themselves, are slaves.”
8. The Association of Entities That Never Did Exist
- Welcome Teleos, Son of Hermes, God of Television!
7. Forgotten
- This is for those of you who never forget.
6. The Deposition Of Sir John Demot
- One man, awaking to the throaty roar of the Arctic White Bear in his dining room, almost perished from shock.
5. A Loaf Story
- An epic tale for generations to come.
4. A Frightened Mother's Lovesong
- "A voice was heard on high…"
3. Sedna V. Ataciara the Qaqulluk
3. The minor or dependent child(ren) of this marriage is/are (additional space available on reverse side):
The blood of my blood. The warm ones who disturb the cold sea. The great ones who do not weep. The small ones who dart beneath the ice. Those who slice the meat of the deep. Those who crack shells on their stomachs. Those who wander. Those who crawl. Those who float and dive._
2. Eggshells
- At the beginning there were seven, and each was given an egg…
1. Big Red
- A long time ago, when the hell-gates had just closed and the moon was still low and the last of the crimson folk walked amongst men…