Meimei dates really bad guys. Who want to use her. Who don't know what they're in for.
Content warnings 5
abusebody-horrordeath-of-a-loved-onegoreviolence
Psychological Horror
105 free-to-read stories tagged “Psychological Horror”
Stella’s helping an old high-school friend clean out his dead brother’s house, but the brother was a hoarder, and the task is horrible in several ways.
Content warnings 2
death-of-a-loved-onemental-illness
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 4
body-horrorchild-deathdeathviolence
Following a disaster in Antarctica, MacReady spends summer 1983 in New York and starts to wonder what he might have brought back with him.
Content warnings 5
body-horrordeathillness-and-pandemicsubstance-useviolence
Zanna settles into a remote mountain cabin to write her next book. No internet. No phone. No distractions.
Content warnings 2
body-horrordeath
The vampires aren’t even the worst part about being a teenage trans girl on tumblr.
Content warnings 9
abusechild-abusedeath-of-a-loved-onegoremisogynysexual-violencesubstance-usetransphobiaviolence
Fourteen-year-old Ghost gave up on finding a foster family a long time ago. She’s just waiting until she turns 18 and can leave “the Agency.” Then a new girl turns up—one who can actually remember her life before she was sent there.
Content warnings 6
abusebody-horrorchild-abusedeath-of-a-loved-onesexual-violenceviolence
"1926 Washington, D.C. Shaw District “There’s a man on the front stoop.” The words spilled from her in a much more mundane way than Judy had expected, considering how her neck was fluttering with her excited pulse. Alvin looked up from the new Langston...
Content warnings 3
abusedeathviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 4
body-horrordeathsexual-contentsubstance-use
A woman about to leave on an overseas business trip, calls home from the airport and discovers that “daddy” isn’t there and her six-year-old son is all alone in the dark…
Content warnings 1
abuse
A professional caregiver’s commute takes an unsettling detour when car trouble forces her to pull over on the highway, where she begins receiving distressing phone calls from strangers…
Content warnings 1
death
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 5
deathmental-illnesssexual-violencesubstance-useviolence
Helen comes to Meersee in Germany to be a governess for her friend’s nephew. The child is young and peculiar, the staff are old and peculiar, and more peculiar things turn up by the minute.
Content warnings 2
body-horrorviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 5
body-horrorchild-abusedeathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence
"A dual-carriage road descends from a flyover bridge in Thamesmead, bearing sluggish traffic on both sides. From inside bus number 229, a woman looks out of the large windows and thinks the other vehicles look like toy cars. For all she knows, the 229...
Content warnings 5
child-deathdeathdeath-of-a-loved-onemental-illnessviolence
A whaling ship conducts an experiment in generating whale song to try to make it easier to attract whales to kill.
Content warnings 5
animal-harmbody-horrordeathgoreviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 4
child-abusedeath-of-a-loved-onesuicideviolence
"Episode 60 Transcription by @jbutler22 0:01 Murray: Hey there, I’m Dean Murray and this is a special episode of Homewrecker. We’re on the road this week, heading up to historic [garbled] where we’ll venture [garbled] outside the city to see the colonial...
Content warnings 3
body-horrordeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence
A photographer’s obsession with an unsettled subject exposes two friends to a darkness that won’t be contained by frames…
Content warnings 3
child-deathsuicideviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 2
body-horrorviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 3
deathsexual-violenceviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 5
body-horrordeathdeath-of-a-loved-onegoreviolence
"The campsite looks like it wants to eat them. A fire pit yawns in the middle, an ashy-grey mouth ringed by rocks like rotting teeth. The trees crowd in, sizing them up, knifing the daylight. One gulp of that smoke-and-pine air, and Henry shudders head to...
Content warnings 2
child-deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
When their rental truck breaks down, two friends moving cross-country kill time by telling stories about the strange carving in front of the motel where they’re awaiting a mechanic…
Content warnings 2
deathviolence
"I was kinda worried about being the new kid, but apparently new kids are cool here. This guy named Scott Marsh who seems pretty popular and has a good jump shot was really nice to me, so the other guys were nice to me, too. I think maybe because me and...
Content warnings 3
abusechild-abuseviolence
The sister of an abducted child is haunted by a sinister figure who may or may not be real…
"If you’re looking for a cheap way to kill all this mold—and who isn’t, right now—look no further than Inkicide Disinfectant Concentrate 64oz (4 Bottles). It’ll curl your nose hairs right up into your skull, but that just means it’s working, amirite? Two...
Content warnings 2
body-horrorillness-and-pandemic
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 3
deathmental-illnesswar
Allie and Rooster are heading down to Asheville for Rooster’s new gig, a cushy stint as artist-in-residence at UNC. ... But when they stumble upon an old backcountry church—the perfect backdrop for Rooster’s latest project—they discover that some...
Content warnings 3
body-horrordeathviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 3
body-horrorsubstance-useviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 4
deathdeath-of-a-loved-onegoreviolence
An Australian detective investigates a woman who apparently killed her husband and children before disappearing.
Content warnings 3
child-deathdeathviolence
Delilah makes some money modeling, and Crispin offers twice what anyone else does. He never lets her look at the works in progress, though. He has his reasons.
Content warnings 1
violence
A woman appears to be helping a child recover from some form of brain damage. His perceptions and memory are off, but something is off about her too.
Content warnings 3
child-deathdeathviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 2
body-horrormental-illness
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 2
body-horrorwar
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 2
deathviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 6
body-horrorchild-abusedeathdeath-of-a-loved-onesubstance-useviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 8
abusedeathgoreillness-and-pandemicsexual-contentsubstance-usesuicideviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 5
body-horrorcannibalismdeathgoreviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 4
deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemicviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 3
body-horrordeathsuicide
"Dear Dr. Erzsébet Krajcsik-Nagy, I am contacting you as a member of the general public, and not as a fellow scholar, though I must say my chosen field of art history does have certain similarities to yours. I read the interview with you in the online...
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 3
body-horrorgoresuicide
As a young scholar sets out on a research project to find the stones where the settlers of Iceland made human sacrifices, a long dormant volcano rouses…and other, long-sleeping horrors might also be stirring.
"Scarlett’s eyes had to be perfect. Jon was the artist who’d made her, so it bothered him to think that so much of Scarlett would be crafted by other people. Scarlett’s limbs were carved from silicon polymer and coated in a soft synthetic skin from the...
Content warnings 3
body-horrorsexual-contentviolence
"Umeboshi" by Rebecca Nakaba is an exploration of what it means to be connected through heritage—and chain email. Copyright khōréō magazine 2023. Story by Rebecca Nakaba, edited by Sachiko Ragosta. Audio edition read by Heidi Tabing, with sound design by...
Content warnings 1
body-horror
"The country was at just over ten thousand deaths the morning that the door appeared. On Kosmo’s phone NPR was interviewing a doctor with a nasal voice about the need for social distancing, while Kosmo himself collected empty cans from around his home office."
Content warnings 2
deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
"Ask me something only I would know.” You say this to your wife because you know you’re human. You can feel it in the familiar ache in your back, and the fear writhing in your guts. You feel it in the cold seeping into your bare feet from the kitchen...
Content warnings 3
body-horrordeathviolence
"Here’s the thing you need to know to understand this story: I was meant to be an only child. The doctors, when they examined my mother, only counted one heartbeat. One. Me. I don’t know when my sister came along. My mother, so ready to accept, so...
Content warnings 3
deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence
A child struggles with the loss of his big brother and his feelings that maybe things are better without him—and maybe he’s not really gone.
Content warnings 3
child-abusedeathdeath-of-a-loved-one
An occult detective and a creature work and love together across multiple lifetimes.
Content warnings 3
deathsexual-contentviolence
As Charlotte’s husband sinks into early Alzheimer’s, he becomes more and more obsessed with a cult religious figure known only as The Reverend.
Content warnings 2
deathviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 3
deathsexual-violenceviolence
Summer of 1955, the last summer of high school. Mike remembers his girlfriend and how wonderful it was being in love. And he remembers the awful things that happened at the end.
Content warnings 3
body-horrordeathdeath-of-a-loved-one
A woman paramedic and her best friend fear that despite their best efforts, they end up causing more pain than they relieve.
Content warnings 2
deathsuicide
"Before you hear what I’m about to tell you, I need you to understand two things. Firstly, I do not know how to swim. When you live in the place I do, it’s more or less a useless skill. I mean, the deepest water around is up to my shoulders at best, can...
Content warnings 3
body-horrordeathgore
A transnational adoptee is haunted by the ghost of his birth mother. Content warnings: Self-harm, suicidal ideation Copyright © 2025 khōréō magazine. Story by Woody Dismukes, edited by Isabella Kestermann. Audio edition read by Sam Cavalcanti, with...
Content warnings 3
body-horrorgoreself-harm
"The men knew before she did. Before this boy, before sophomore year, before even her twelfth birthday, they had jostled her on the sidewalk and hooted from cars, searching for something just past her skin. But now, with her panties stripped off and the...
Content warnings 3
goresexual-violenceviolence
"Post-flight debrief. Subject: Michael Ackine, of the Astronomic Endeavors cargo ship, Zephyr One. Introductory notes: Mr. Ackine is the only survivor of the Zephyr’s maiden voyage. Z-One landed safely, five Earth days overdue and two kilometers from...
Content warnings 3
deathgoreviolence
Following a mysterious world-wide event that makes ghosts visible, a young woman is invited to attend Ghost Camp.
Content warnings 3
deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence
"Itsy bitsy,” whispers the girl in the glass tank beside mine. Not a girl anymore, not really, but it’s better for my sanity to pretend she’s still human. That we both are. We had names once—and skin, soft to the touch. In the sterile, blinding white...
Content warnings 3
body-horrorgoreviolence
A woman talented in the art of spinning–creating pottery by manipulating clay in her mouth–longs to become the best, but wonders if it is worth the sacrifices she must make…
Content warnings 3
body-horrordeath-of-a-loved-oneself-harm
"It slips, now—I know it slips. There are men in my parlor, in uniforms, crisp navy, badged. Police. Beyond them Eveline wavers in a yellow nightgown, hands clasped to her chest, eyes wide and worried—no, no, she doesn’t, she’s not here, I’m dreaming her,...
Content warnings 3
deathmental-illnesssuicide
"She’s walking by the river on an overcast day, when sweat runs down her palms, goosebumps all over her neck. The breeze stills. The gray sky turns blood red. Instead of the Sun, through a clearing in the clouds, she finds the Eye. Veins branch across a...
Content warnings 3
body-horrorsubstance-usewar
"Who loves you?” I ask. My daughter looks away. Doesn’t answer. I lean down and turn her to face me, resting my thumb in the dimple in her chin. It’s the same dimple her mother has. Or had. “You love me, Daddy.” “That’s right, so please listen closely,” I...
Content warnings 3
child-abusedeathviolence
PseudoPod 807: The Bleak Communion of Abandoned Things is a PseudoPod original. I accept the house in lieu of a settlement. I don’t want Ashley’s dirty money. The house is the least ill-gotten thing she owns, an isolated property she won in a card game and...
Content warnings 3
abusedeathmental-illness
A reporter travels to the Norwegian Arctic to cover an unusual sled race with the undead leading the living into unknown territory.
Content warnings 2
deathviolence
"I’ve been feeling a bit down, I suppose,’ Catherine said, ‘and my friend recommended you. She said you might be able to help.’ The doctor made a humming noise. He sat back, folding his arms. ‘Do you know what it means to cleanse, Catherine?’ he asked."
Content warnings 1
body-horror
A group of five friends rent a cabin in the woods—the next day only four are alive. What happened and why is something the survivors are desperate to unravel.
Content warnings 3
deathgoreviolence
The Path Through Time” is Jules’s favorite part of the museum, a marvelous exhibit that brings the past to life, from the present all the way back to the prehistoric. Tonight at his aunt’s wedding reception as Jules walks along the path, it comes alive...
Today’s a big day at work, but just walking there looks to be a death-defying challenge, what with people randomly turning into monsters and such.
Content warnings 3
body-horrordeathviolence
Someone from our era look back to 1888 London and the Jack-the-Ripper murders.
Content warnings 3
deathgoreviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 3
deathsexual-violenceviolence
There's a quiet war in Boulder between hikers and cyclists, but whatever ripped two hikers' throats out must have been the cyclist from Hell.
Content warnings 3
deathgoreviolence
"On Miphre, a planet hardly larger than a moon, jagged mountaintops stab above the cloud cover and harbor small ecosystems in the palms of their hands: rock eels and ribbon mosses and seabirds with rodents clutched to their breasts, each one nestled...
Content warnings 3
animal-harmbody-horrordeath
"Valentini doesn’t flinch when the purple-bellied storm shakes the house, heedless of the film being shot within its derelict husk. Scene fifteen, take three. The Hollow Places crew rushes to stop the windows’ skeletal rattling before the atmospheric...
Content warnings 3
child-deathgoreself-harm
"She should go back inside the watchpod. Maree and Blaise didn’t have to be dead. The air hadn’t been gone that long. And even if their current bodies were hopeless, damaged beyond repair, probably the back-up system was uncorrupted. Probably its uploads...
Content warnings 3
body-horrorgoresexual-content
"Abigail sat at the centermost position at the cafeteria table. For her, it was unintentional. For us, it was by design. Abigail had no idea about the effect she had on people, obviously. It’s a blessing of having seen yourself in every movie, magazine,...
Content warnings 3
body-horrorself-harmviolence
Out on Europa, Marius has vanished and Kotto has come to rescue his partner, Bolaji.
Content warnings 2
body-horrordeath
When newlyweds Courtney and Josh rent an old Victorian in Baltimore, they're told to stay out of the attic. But they hear noises up there at night. Footsteps.
Content warnings 1
violence
You are a lonely ten-year-old boy living in an old house with your mom when a man claiming to be your uncle arrives and strange things start to happen.
Content warnings 2
abusesubstance-use
A man sets out on a voyage accompanied by his fiancée's right arm. Content warnings: Violence (graphic), threat of bodily harm, covert misogyny Copyright © 2026 khōréō magazine. Story by Natalia Theodoridou, edited by Isabella Kestermann. Audio edition...
Content warnings 2
body-horrormisogyny
There once lived a boy who paid for a fortune. Nassim wore carob hair and eyes severe like cardamom. He spent his days scouring the souk for unique trinkets he liked to collect or counting the uneven stones of Jerusalem’s cobbled streets as he passed...
Content warnings 3
sexual-violenceviolencewar
Personality Disorder (Not Otherwise Specified) My patients called me Dr. Holloway. My friends called me Jason. I won’t tell you what my three ex-wives called me but I’m sure you can guess. I was a psychiatrist (and a damn good one seventy percent of the...
Content warnings 3
mental-illnesssubstance-usesuicide
The afterlife on Mars is different from the afterlife on Earth. I was the first ghost to experience both worlds: a pioneer like Neil Armstrong stepping on the Moon, minus […]
Content warnings 3
body-horrordeathviolence
This episode features "First Human Ghost on Mars" written by R.L. Meza. Published in the March 2026 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine and read by Kate Baker. The text version of this story can be found at: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/meza_03_26 Support...
Content warnings 3
body-horrordeathviolence
Normally, Tillie didn’t mind being the object of everyone’s gaze. But today, the crowd loitering in the street wasn’t drawn to her orange-red curls or her height or regalness. They […]
Content warnings 3
deathsexual-contentviolence
1. I’m sorry, my lord. 2. I miss the sound of your voice, deep enough to shake the mountain fortress’s stones. I miss feeling it rumble in the soles of my feet. I miss the glow of your eyes while you paced the Chamber of Mysteries, lava burning in the...
Content warnings 3
abusemental-illnessviolence
Draw a rectangular shape. Put a cylinder around it. Add a few small rectangles to any lines, such that they straddle them. At least one on the rectangle, and another on the cylinder. These are airlocks. The engine should look like a lighter stacked on top...
Content warnings 2
body-horrordeath
April It is in the floral heaviness of late-spring that his mother comes home and hands him the present. It fits well in the palms of his hands, neither too heavy nor too light. Perfectly square, perhaps—and later confirmed to be exactly—five inches wide...
Content warnings 2
self-harmviolence
Author : Laura Pearlman Narrator : Laura Pearlman Hosts : Alasdair Stuart and Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Summer Brooks This story was originally published in Mothership Zeta, May 2016, and republished in Escape Pod 650: Some Things I Probably Should...
Content warnings 3
cannibalismdeathviolence
In the Palace of Science (Part 1 of 2) By Chris Campbell Track One– If you’ve found this recording, two things can be said for certain. The first is that I have passed my greatest test as a man and, in doing so, have passed from this world. The second is...
Content warnings 2
racismwar
In the Palace of Science (Part 2 of 2) By Chris Campbell (...Continued from Part 1) B-Side Track Five– The automaton was unfinished, but even in a transitory state, it was a thing of marvel. In form, it was like a man. With two legs meant for bipedal...
Content warnings 3
deathsubstance-useviolence
"Damian Marshall was a prisoner to his own brain. He was beating his fist against the glass of his cell, hoping someone could hear that this was not the real him. It was never meant to be this way and, truthfully, he had a heart swelling with love to give....
Content warnings 3
mental-illnessviolencewar
"At 2:26am, police were radioed in to a casualty at a residence in (redacted), according to witness accounts and the child present at the home, a woman was found deceased at the bottom of the stairs. There were no signs or history of domestic violence....
Content warnings 3
abusechild-abuseself-harm
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 3
body-horrormental-illnessself-harm
Author : Rachael K. Jones Narrator : Christiana Ellis Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “The Greatest One-Star Restaurant in the Whole Quadrant” originally appeared in Lightspeed in December 2017, and in The Best American Science Fiction...
Content warnings 3
body-horrorcannibalismgore
Author : C.C. Finlay Narrator : Heather Thomas Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “Time Bomb Time” originally appeared in the May 2015 issue of Lightspeed Magazine. It was reprinted in Rich Horton’s The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy...
Content warnings 1
abuse
Author : Aimee Picchi Narrator : Ibba Armancas Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “Solo Cooking for the Recently Revived” was previously published in the Zombies Need Brains anthology “Apocalyptic” in June 2020 Solo Cooking for the Recently...
Content warnings 3
abusebody-horrorviolence
T _ ME By Alex Jennings The portable classroom was larger than Joan Ellen had expected. Lit from overhead with fluorescent lights and busy with seventh-grade artwork, it smelled of chalk dust, old books, and refrigerated air. It reminded Joan Ellen of...
Content warnings 1
body-horror
Authors : Ash Beker, Summer Fletcher and Alasdair Stuart Narrators : Imogen Harris, Marty Perrett, Wilson Fowlie, Peter Adrian Behravesh, Kaitlyn Zivanovich, Mur Lafferty, M. M. Schill, Alex Hofelich, Shawn Garrett, Scott Campbell, Kat Day, Graeme Dunlop...
Content warnings 3
goreracismviolence
Deepster Punks by Maria Haskins Surface The animated tattoos on Jacob's skin glimmer in the dark water, words and images swarming over his skin, bright and luminous, before they fade away again. "Don't you dare die on me." I'm holding his head above the...
Content warnings 3
body-horrordeathdeath-of-a-loved-one
Following the death of her mother, Fiona buys a new house in order to start a new chapter of her life, one with fewer reminders of painful memories. Unbeknownst to Fiona, this house has a melancholy history, and slightly more ghosts than she anticipated....
Content warnings 3
child-deathdeathdeath-of-a-loved-one
Deep under the lightless ocean of an alien planet, you study the only lifeform ever discovered there.
Content warnings 3
body-horrordeathgore