I always knew that my stepmother was a monster. She was strict, uptight and possessed a heart far colder than the Arctic. With tendrils of ebony hair playing around her face and those strangely yellowed eyes, her appearance was rather fitting for a Medusa role play.1
My father on the other hand, well, they were nothing alike. Dad was....charming. A real gentleman, that knew what women wanted long before they asked. He had a warm, goofy and inviting grin and bright green eyes that put emeralds to shame.2
I often wondered how they met. My father was such an easy, down-to-earth kind of guy but my new step mum Eloise was nothing short of a - pardon my French here – bitch. I'd seen her do things that she blatantly denied in front of my father. 3
It wasn't tiny bad habits I was picking up on either, the woman was just a freaking nut case! I'd seen my new mother-in-law do all kinds of creepy things. Like smashing mirrors for no apparent reason, pulling raw meat out of the fridge and devouring it and I swear that one time when I was in the garden, she tried to eat the neighbor's dog.4
So, I started researching on the Internet, to find out exactly what I was up against. It didn't take long. My stepmother was an ogre - the really feral creatures you hear about in fairytales. But this was no children's book, this was my life.5
Apparently, ogres despised their own reflection, which, naturally explained the broken mirrors. Even when they wore disguises to hide their true nature, an ogre could still see the monster beneath it. And boy, were they ugly. A large depiction started loading on my screen. Muddy brown scales, long yellowed claws, reptilian eyes and rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth, stained red by the fresh meat they would consume.6
There was only one way to kill it. By singing. Unfortunately for me, my voice was shot talent wise. But I hoped, no prayed to God, that you only had to sing, not be good at it as well.7
***8
Over the next few days, as I tried desperately to convince myself that killing someone would be a tad extreme, my new mother did a little killing of her own. Three girl scouts that delivered cookies to our house last, had disappeared. Vanished off the face of the earth. I tried not to suspect my mother, at least until dinner was served. We had a barbeque, and the meat... I'd never tasted anything like it. And there was just so much. But after I heard about the little kids, I was sick the entire night. I even had a nightmare, where I was living in the woods, alone, eating passers-by like some kind of cannibal. Disgusted, I swallowed my pride and created a solemn oath; my monster-in-law would die.9
“Hey Eloise,” I called slyly the next morning. “Guess what? I joined the all-girls-school choir!” It amused me that I could actually see her ears pricking up at this latest development. “Cool huh? Why don't I practice with you, right now?”10
“Noooo!” she screamed, running quickly out of the kitchen.11
“La la la. I am awesome. You're an ogre. I have killed you. Ha ha ha.” 12
When I went to inspect the body, I wasn't at all surprised to see the beast dead; it clearly reverted back to normal once it died. I called for my dad to come help me, to show him the true monster he had married. But he was nowhere to be found. Yet the strange thing was, as I walked into his bedroom, another dead creature was lying on the floor. 13
I always knew that my stepmother was a monster. It just never occurred to me that my father was too. 14
Author notes
Cool huh? It sure does leave the reader wondering. For instance, does that make Eloise half ogre now too? How did the father get away with his secret for so long? Is that why Eloise grew up without a mother – he had eaten her?
I guess nobody will ever know because I am quite satisfied with the way this ended. Short and sweet with a completely unexpected twist. Just the way I like it.
no, not really
Horror stories
In a list
A contest entry
- Darkest Hour by Caradoc.
830 points, ended July 9, 2009, 21 entries
• next story in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
1 - 10 of 10
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I Liked your story and loved the ending. One thing bothered me though, you mentioned the evil character as both stepmother and mother-in-law. In my part of the world these are two distinctly different people. If your father remarries, she is a stepmother. The mother of your spouse would be a mother-in-law. Only under the weirdest of circumstances would they be the same person.
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It is a good story, I love how you described your stepmother as a monster, with a ebony hair and strangely yellowed eyes. Very creative. I can picture in my mind. Very effective choice! I had not read a story like this before, very interesting and I really enjoyed reading this.
The ending is quite good. It made me grin. Especially this line:
" I called for my dad to come help me, to show him the true monster he had married."
Very interesting. And yeah, I love the picture, it absolutely fits the topic and it inspires me many things relates to your story.
Great job and keep up your good work!
Denise -
Great! I loved it but it wasn't really that horrifying.
Your story was very well written. As I read through it I saw no mistakes of any kind.
Good job and well done! (Y)
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Wonderful! I really loved it, yet it wasn't that horrifying. Good job! VERY funny!
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Awesome
I liked this a lot. First, you started out with some great descriptions of the main character's stepmother and father. I could see the both of them in my mind. Then you went on to describe the strange occurrences that led to the discovery, which was unexpected, but very original. I very much liked how you put in the whole dinner sequence. It was suitably creepy. But the real kicker was the cool twist at the end. I never saw it coming.
Your story was very well written. As I read through it I saw no mistakes of any kind, which will help your cause a lot. So all in all? This was a great and very original monster story.
Thanks a lot for entering my contest! Good luck!
P.S. I liked the pic at the beginning.
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um....wasn't monster-in-law a movie? and by my point of view not a very good one..?
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lol yeah but nothing like this at all. It was just abitchy mother and a vengeful daughter.
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This was a good read. Simple and lots of fun.
I laughed at the whole bit. You always here people complain about mother in laws, but what do you do when you have a literal ogre for a stepmother? Kill her, of course. The ending was especially funny. If her dad was an ogre, what does that make her?
This was a good short piece with no glaring flaws that I could find. I think it may be out of genre, though. This is a good comedy, piece, not really horror. You could easily win a comedy contest with this.
Thanks for entering anyway, though. I needed a good laugh. Good work.
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Hahaha! That was funy. Great job! I'm STILL laughing!
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Well that was certainly an unexpected twist.
I didn't see it coming at all.
Nice one, as usual.
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