I Found Puppets Living In My Apartment Walls (I Found Horror)

by Ben Farthing

The first night I slept in my missing grandpa’s apartment, a puppet came out of the wall and stood over my bed.

But the key point is that you’re paralyzed. You struggle to move as a shadow figure spider-crawls up your wall. You know that if you could only wiggle your toes, your body would unlock and the terror would disappear.

Swoomie was a large puppet. He required two puppeteers. Last night, only Grandpa’s parts had moved.

The funny part was that she’d poke and prod Grandpa about the urban legends around R-City Street, and he’d jokingly confirm that everything she suggested was true. Except for the darker internet rumors about why the show was canceled.

None of it was fair. You spend your adulthood trying to craft a life that feels as safe as early childhood, but the world yanks you farther and farther away.

Hello Strange Reader, Stephen King has “Constant Readers.” But you just read a book about the start of the puppet apocalypse, so I figure you’ll happily wear the title of “Strange Reader.”