The Cave

A special story for a special Monday

Macabre Monday just couldn’t stay away; October honors us with an extra day of horror this year, bringing with it a surprise from yours truly.

Glad to see you made it to another Monday, unlike those poor souls that are still stuck in The Cemetery from last week. We saw tremendous turnout from writers posting their work, and it will remain up for everyone to browse until the Antichrist walks among us. Speaking of witch (sorry, had to), I’d love to hear how everyone is feeling about The Cemetery.

Did you receive feedback from others?

Did you see more eyes on your work?

Did you find someone new that you thoroughly enjoy?

Let me know in the comments down below, and also feel free to share any thoughts you may have to make it any better!

If you are reading this then the Wicked Writing contest is now closed for entries. My deepest condolences to your work if you did not make the deadline.

I hope you are all excited to see who is crowned the winner because we have extremely talented writers that went all out for this contest. I cannot wait for you all to see what they have crafted!

After the winner is announced all of the contestants will be entirely free to post their stories to their personal Substacks, but 1st place through 5th place’s entries will be turned into an anthological e-book that I will be publishing to Macabre Monday for paid subscribers. Any contestant featured will receive it for free.

This will help pay for future contest prizes and more professional e-book’s where I can hire artists, editors and such. Of course, it is entirely up to the writer if they want to have their work in the e-book or not!

Now, as for this extra Monday that we have this month, I want to make this another opportunity for writers within our community as well. Unfortunately, I did not think of this until the days leading up to today, but in the future I would like to have others contribute to Macabre Monday in the form of sharing a short story.

This month I will share a short story I have written, but come January (the next month with an an extra Monday) I want to have someone else in the spotlight. So if you would like to be an official contributor to Macabre Monday and be featured in the post, please send an email to MacabreMondayEditor@gmail.com and people will be chosen in the order that the emails arrive.

Without further ado…my first short horror story.

The Cave

They came to a halt; the rough path that they had been walking for days, abruptly ended in a mouth of an abysmal cave. It looked out of place in the bright jungle that was awash with a rainbow of hues. The mouth, all consuming, did not share the caves contents with the weary travelers. It beckoned for them.

It was easy to see that the excitement had worn from two of the three of them, but not Josh. He lived his life searching for all the things that were hidden away, only available to the eyes of ones that were courageous enough to venture into the jungle’s deepest and darkest corners.

“Well, come on guys, what are you waiting for?” Josh galloped ahead, eager to go spelunking in the ancient cave. “The museum is expecting us back with results in a week, there is no time to sit around.”

Allison and Santiago looked at each other with doubt—something was off. They felt unwelcome.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t just mark the coordinates and return with a larger exploratory team?” Allison, being the biologist of the team, was way out of her element. She spent her days studying insects that traversed the jungle floor, and while it was already inherently dangerous in the jungle, she steered clear of places that presented overwhelming risk—like the one ahead of her.

Josh looked back from the mouth of the cave, “We are the exploratory team.” He smirked and stepped into the void, disappearing from view.

Allison looked over to Santiago, their guide and caving enthusiast, searching for a reason not to go in. He just shrugged and started towards the cave. She followed, reluctantly, ignoring the feeling that gnawed at her gut.

Passing through the entryway brought with it anxiety, claustrophobia as the culprit. The dense, bright jungle gave way to darkness of the swallowing earth. Still, damp air and the stench of decay caused unease to creep up her spine.

Up ahead, she watched Josh’s flashlight swing back and force, scanning the floors and walls for their research target—a spider.

Almost 6 months prior, excavators uncovered cave paintings located a few hundred miles from the cave that they were now exploring. It depicted an ancient Amazonian tribe that had broken away and formed a sort of cult. As with most cave paintings, it was vague, but described the tribe as worshipping a spider deep within the rainforest. It seemed that the arachnid was able to bestow them with gifts that made them better warriors. Unlikely, but interesting.

Josh, spearheading the exploration for the Museum of Indigenous Amazonian Cultures, was tasked with finding and securing artifacts of the unknown tribe for study. A crude map drawn alongside the paintings of arachnid worshipping cultists allowed Josh to narrow the search, eventually leading them to the cave they had found with the help of a local—Santiago.

Allison had a much different goal; to find and study this species of spider. The pictures she saw intrigued her to no end, since it depicted a species of arachnid that had never been seen before. Not only that, but the anatomy of the spider in the drawing made no sense to her. It needed to be studied.

After walking some distance through the twists and turns, something crunched and echoed throughout the cave up ahead. She watched Josh swing his flashlight down to his feet and jump, as if he were a cat, up in the air a few feet. Bones—entire skeletons—littered the floor. Human and animal remains strewn about made for a truly macabre scene, one the likes of which none of them had ever seen.

“Oh…shit,” Josh whispered while staring at a particular skeleton that seemed to almost stare back, its mouth agape in a perpetual scream.

“We need to go back.” Allison knew she should have trusted her gut.

“What are you talking about?” Josh condescendingly contested, “These remains are ancient. There are infinite reasons that they could all be here. We can’t leave empty handed.”

“Santiago?” Allison looked to their guide, hoping he saw reason, but his face reflected none.

“He is right. Many caves in the Amazon guard the dead. This one is no different,” Santiago muttered.

Josh held his hand up in a mocking gesture, signifying that Santiago had proven his point. He continued onward, careful not to step on any more bones. Santiago followed close to him, leaving Allison to fall behind and consider if she should head back alone. A moment passed before she decided against it. The discovery of this fascinating spider would be hers.

After catching up, they continued down the ever-changing shafts of the cave system for what seemed like hours, but time did not exist here—it could have been days and they wouldn’t know. The air had grown colder and more damp, thick even. Darkness surrounded them in every direction, aside from the beam of the flashlight, but even that seemed to be struggling against the weight of absence.

“I need a break,” Allison demanded. Exhaustion was setting in. They hadn’t had a proper rest in days and it was taking its toll.

“Yes, me too.” Santiago hunched down, took his backpack off and sat against the cave wall.

“Fine, but we are moving again in 10,” Josh ordered. “I’m going to scout ahead, I have a feeling that we are close to something.”

Allison was relived, a break from Josh was the best kind of break. She sat next to Santiago and offered him a protein bar from her backpack. He accepted and they both watched Josh and his flashlight disappear around the corner.

A few minutes passed and already Allison was nodding off against the wall. Santiago stayed on alert, sweeping his flashlight in either direction occasionally.

15 minutes passed. No sign of Josh, Santiago nudged Allison awake.

“He has not returned, its been too long.”

“Just like him to do something like this.” She moaned, accepting that her break was over. “Let’s go find the idiot.”

They took off in the direction that Josh left at a hurried pace. The tunnel started to slowly open up into a cavern; stalagmites and stalactites littered the ground and ceiling. Drops of water could be heard dripping from echoes that bounced off the walls infinitely. A rustle caught their attention.

Santiago pointed his flashlight in the direction of the noise. Webbing. Creeping down from the overhanging stalactites like ethereal vines, they all merged together and flowed further away into the darkness. A funnel of webs laid before them.

Allison’s jaw dropped, “Incredible.”

She was quickly shaken from her awe as Santiago centered his flashlight in the funnel, revealing Josh to be face-down, unconscious. They both ran up to him, shouting his name. Allison began shaking him, hoping that he would wake up. She would regret that.

His body lurched and seized, eyelids opening to reveal the whites of his eyes. Josh gasped for air viciously, unable to take a single breath. The sound was dreadful, worse than anything Allison had ever heard. She stood up and backed away, afraid that if he touched her she would end up in the same situation. Shaking like a leaf, her entire focus remained fixed on Josh and watching his life fade away. This gave ample time for Santiago to creep closer to her without her suspecting anything. A single push, that’s all it took.

Shock, fear, adrenaline, confusion and hate swept into Allison’s head as she tumbled into the funnel of webs. She struggled against the ludicrously strong fibers, but to no avail. Allison was trapped, entirely.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” She screamed at an uninterested Santiago. “Get me out of here!”

“I must thank you,” Santiago turned towards her, his face had grown malevolent. “If not for you and your friend, I would have never found this place. The place of my ancestors.”

“What…?”

“You shall see what you came for, Allison. Keep struggling.”

She knew what he meant, and she thought him stupid for warning her. Allison stopped moving and started thinking about how to get out of her predicament. She looked at Josh, who was still seizing on the ground and gasping for air. At some point in all the chaos he had started bleeding from any orifice that blood could find its way out of. His eyes, no longer white, were pooled with the deep scarlet liquid.

“It does not matter if you stay still, it is too late.” Santiago backed up behind Josh and kneeled down towards the depths of the funnel. Hissing could be heard snaking out of the darkness, growing louder with each passing moment.

Allison’s heart was beating at a rate that should have induced a heart attack. Anxiety overwhelmed her; she started violently thrashing around in the webs in a final attempt at escape.

Out of the darkness, it emerged.

It slowly crawled upside down towards Josh, walking along the funnel it had created. It easily was larger than the goliath bird eating tarantula, more the size of a cat. Allison, although panicking, her brain resorted to analyzing the arachnid in order to cope with the stress. She’d never seen something like this.

Allison could not think of a family that this specimen belonged to—the spider was an entirely new species on its own. It sported the unique abdomen of a black widow, the sharp legs of an orb weaver and deadly fangs of a funnel web spider. A truly terrifying sight, even for a lover of arachnids.

Santiago was not alarmed in the least, he watched the spider on its slow approach to him and Josh.

“First it will kill your friend, he is not of the blood,” Santiago spoke, but did not take his eyes off the monster. “Then it will take me and we will consume you.”

“Wh—why are you doing this?” She pleaded with him, knowing that it was useless.

“You are.” He spat, still maintaining his focus. “You people ruin this world. You ruin the jungle. It’s time for the jungle to have its revenge.”

“Please…just l—let me go!”

“I cannot, you are part of the ritual. I must ascend.”

The spider stopped above Josh and placed a strand of web on the cave ceiling. It began lowering itself down until it was standing on top of his chest. It’s fangs rattled and a deep hiss emanated from within it. Without so much as another second passing, it reared up and plunged its powerful, pointed legs into Josh’s skull through his eye sockets. The seizing finally stopped.

Allison screamed, her voice piercing the caves silence. At the mouth of the cave, it could be faintly heard. She felt woozy, but she wouldn’t let herself pass out.

Santiago started chanting in a language that Allison could not understand. Still on his knees, he removed his shirt and bent backwards, grasping his ankles.

Allison’s adrenaline was skyrocketing. She continued thrashing around and gnawing at the webs with her teeth. A few snapped and she was able to move a little more.

The spider creeped towards Santiago, his chanting was growing more intense. Its pedipalps began feeling his torso, scanning over his body. Suddenly, Santiago stopped chanting and the spider plunged its front legs into his abdomen. The razor sharp chitin sliced downward cutting open a slit from breast to navel. Santiago hardly flinched.

Allison, between grunts and screams, was making headway with the webs. Only one of her arms remain stuck, soon she hoped to be freed.

Blood poured out of Santiago and onto the spider, painting it crimson. Once it was satisfied with the size of the incision, it climbed into his torso and disappeared from sight.

Allison vomited the little she had in her stomach. After she evacuated its contents, she put all her remaining strength into one last pull. Snap. The webs gave way and she fell backwards on her ass. Relief coursed through her for all but a microsecond before her attention returned to Santiago. He had not moved for this entire process, but now he was completely still—not even breathing.

Eight legs burst out, four on either side of the gash. They interlocked and pulled the separated flesh together again, sealing the wound. Santiago’s veins turned a dark blue, visible throughout his entire body. Venom—it was pumping through his veins.

Allison kicked away, still on her ass, unable to take her focus off of the horror that was evolving in front of her. Finally, her senses came back to her and she rose from the cold ground. She took one last look at Josh and Santiago, still bent backwards and grasping his ankles. His head twitched, prompting Allison to turn and run for the exit. In her panic, she ignored taking one of the men’s flashlights.

Exhaustion had long been forgotten about, Allison was running as fast as when she ran track in high school. A feat that she never thought possible again. She had no idea how she was going to get out; the only two who knew the cave were of no help any longer.

Allison ran for hours in the dark, feeling the walls and letting them guide her. Her hope dwindled, but she persevered. The world needed to know what they found and what was coming. She owed them that for stumbling upon this madness and unleashing it on the world.

More hours passed, her adrenaline was running low. Exhaustion was making it’s comeback and her head felt as if it would explode. She stopped for a moment to rest. As low as her adrenaline was, her fear remained unchanged. Every second she rested the more danger she was in. That alone made her get back up and continue on. She turned another pitch black corner and was gifted with light shining in the distance.

Allison’s energy surged. She raced forward, closing the distance between her and the mouth of the cave. It seemed like eternity since she walked into the darkness and now it would feel like a dream to walk out of it.

Seconds later she was at the boundary of light and dark, ready to put this nightmare behind her.

Her foot crossed the threshold. A hand grabbed the back of her neck. Fear exploded within her as fangs plunged inside of her back. Frozen, the venom acted quick to paralyze. All that was left to move was her eyes, which darted back and forth in sheer panic.

She remained in the light, her skin enjoying the sun for the last time. The monster remained in the shadow of the cave, blue veins glowing faintly against the dark background.

Allison raised off of the ground, being held by the back of her neck. The light faded as she was pulled back into the abyss.

Your Weekly Horror Digest

S.E. Reid asked the community what projects that they are currently working on (or should be). Check out the comments for projects to look out for!

John Ward talked about the horror filmmaker Mike Flanagan. Have you seen any of his films? If so, what was your favorite?

A.C. Cargill, Author reviewed a horror classis from 1957, “Night of the Demon”. Do you enjoy horror classics, or do you skip over them in favor of more modern flicks?

The Chronicler decided to talk about the roots of horror with fairy tales being the subject of conversation. What were you favorite dark tales to listen to when you were little?

Susan Earlam shared a graphic novel called “Stray Toasters” by Bill Sienkiewicz.

Buck Weiss shared his recommendation to watch “Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight” 1 & 2.

Goatfury Writes shared his experience when he interviewed the Misfits, back in his glorious punk days that he describes as “horror punk”.

Meeting the Misfits

That’s all I have for you this week! Check back in next Monday to see the winner of the Wicked Writing contest be crowned!

Join the discussion on notes here on the Substack platform every Monday!

Stay Spooky.

If you are looking for people to follow on notes for Macabre Monday other than the ones above, check out all the people participating: Carla Pettigrew Honeygloom John Coon Shaina Read Indie Fiction Digest Koshmarov Michael S. Atkinson PC3 Author Michele Bardsley Lloyd Miner L.C. Marino A. B. Frank Brian Reindel 👾⚔️ Cyndi Gacosta Patricia J.L. 👻🧶🖊️ Jessica Maison Jennifer Morrow Stirling S Newberry Brian Schell Ross Jeffery Nicolina Torres Lauren Salas Stephen A. Davis Chaotic Trash Susan Earlam Getting LITerary with Laura Jon T Daniel W. Davison Daniel O’Donnell Michael P. Marpaung Robert Walrod John Parce Buck Weiss Leigh Parrish Macey Cole Noble Olivia St. Lewis Newton Webb L.L. Ford Joshua T Calkins-Treworgy EJ Trask Slasher Andrei Atanasov Anna C. Webster Lucas Mangum