Unfading Nightmare

3rd Place Winner – Oklahoma Writers' Federation, Inc. (Horror Short Story) | 2026

For former soldier Ryan, surviving the grim realities of war was only the beginning of his torment. What starts as a solitary walk on a quiet autumn night quickly devolves into a surreal hellscape where rain turns to blood and the pavement morphs into stitched-together human flesh. Seeking refuge, Ryan becomes trapped inside a sprawling, colonial-era mansion that acts as a sinister maze of his own memories.

Forced to open doors that reveal his deepest traumas and darkest secrets, Ryan watches his life split in two. On one side is the devoted husband and father fighting to return to his family; on the other is his double, a bloodthirsty shadow born in the unforgiving violence of combat. Taunted by the agonizing echoes of those he couldn't save and stalked by a grotesque, flayed entity that sings in marching cadence, Ryan is pushed to the brink of madness.

To survive the labyrinth and find his way back to reality, he must confront the remorseless beast he fears he has become. But in a house that knows his every sin, escaping with his soul intact might be the one battle he cannot win.