Dark Descent Contributors

The crypt is open again… and it’s hungry.August’s shadows are already moving, whispering for words and images that bite.

We’re looking for:

• Short horror lore pieces, twisted reflections, or deep dives into the darker corners of history

• Original artwork with atmosphere—haunting, uncanny, impossible to look away from

  
  

💡 Whether you want to share an obscure legend, an unsettling personal account, or create art that makes readers uneasy… we want your voice in the darkness.

📅 Deadline: October 25, 2025📩 Post your contribution idea in the comments or message directly—let us know what horror you’re bringing to the table.

It was a dark and stormy night (so the legend goes, and a little legend goes a long way), and Stingy Jack, a blacksmith by trade and a swindler at heart, found himself at a crossroads both figuratively and literally. This story begins with Jack helping out an old man and ends with him wandering the night, eternally lost, with only a coal-lit lantern for light. It is the origin-story of the Jack O’Lantern.

The man Jack helps by the side of the road turns out to be an angel, who grants Jack three wishes. According to the Irish myth, Jack asks that whoever sits in his chair be rooted to the spot, whoever borrows his tools shall be similarly afflicted, and whoever cuts a branch from his favorite tree shall also be (yes, you’ve guessed it) forever stuck in one place. The angel, true to its word, grants Jack…

When a girl gets mad she throws things. Stones. Cars. A teacher. There is something feminine to be found in the power to move things with one’s mind. Carrie, Eleven, even Roald Dahl’s Matilda all move objects with their minds, often in response to the horrific situations in which they find themselves. Jean Grey, Scarlet Witch, Invisible Woman: the trope is not reserved for horror, but it is in horror that it finds its feminist expression. And whilst it’s true that male characters with telekinesis do exist (Professor X; Vecna from Stranger Things), their powers are ultimately more problematic, often tending towards premeditated violence and nihilism (look at Andrew Detmer in Chronicle, 2012).

Such telekinetic females are described by Carol Clover as “monstrous heroes”, at once fulfilling the the uncanny role of ‘other’ (when viewed through the eyes of the genre’s male audience), but also the ‘wronged victim’ (that we…

Coiled in the mountains just north of Madrid lies the town of San Ildefonso. Known colloquially as ‘the Farm’, the town is home to a royal palace that is opened to visitors in the tourist seasons and draws foreigner and Madrileño alike for its gardens, fountains and statues.

The statues themselves are the usual collection of historical or Romanesque men and women in various poses becoming the stereotypes of those genders, but they also tilt towards the fantastical and garish. The tempter Pan plays his pipes while cherubs gambol inches away from the jaws of ravenous wolves. Most of there statues are captured in stone; some are bronzed with paint, a sign which — when taken with the crumbling brickwork and abandoned outbuildings in some places — give strong signs the grounds have seen more prosperous days.

On certain nights of the year, illuminated fountains spew jets of water high…