A zine is a small-scale, self-published publication, similar to a magazine, which can focus on a wide variety of topics. Zines are often used to share artwork and creative writing.
Between the Stacks is DeKalb County Public Library's Teen Zine. Each quarter, we open submissions for young artists and writers in our community to share their work.
Halloween Night March Lauryn, 18
By Gray, 17
1885 - The recovered account of Martin Clarke, a wheat farmer of the Roanoke Island Colony
Day 42 - "The New World". It's strange to think of it that way, but that's what they're calling it. The boat departed months ago, leaving its passengers stranded in a land of unknown terrors and wonders. Not that anyone minded. We had chosen this path, Two months on that wretched boat, enduring the relentless rain and battling the elements as if the gods themselves were against us. The lucky ones died at sea, while the rest of us were left to scrape out an existence. We are utterly alone. Most of the settlement stands now, a small town nestled on a tiny island just off the shoreline.
Day 43 - I was encouraged to start keeping a journal of sorts, for “the future generations” they said. Not that I think anyone would want to read about a small farmer. Nevertheless, it's a quiet life, just me and my wife, Alice. We reside in a small cottage, on a small little hill, just above the fields. We mostly grow wheat, sometimes pumpkins for the little ones when Halloween comes around. Don't tell the church though, they wouldn't approve of the “evil worshiping” or whatever nonsense that meant. We’re in a strange land, with strange beasts and mysteries. People are in dire need of a holiday, something to look forward to. Alice is planning on making a treat for the young, maybe I’ll get to sneak a few before she hands it all out.
Day 54 - Today was calm, as all days usually are here, but winter’s coming. I can feel the breeze dropping every passing day. Most mornings, I wake up and have breakfast with Alice. We talk a lot. Then, it's the field, day after day I work on that thing, and just as the sun sets, I head into town. The colony decided to grow a few grape plants, for a bit of liquid relief from time to time. A few days a week, other farmers and I go to one of their homes, and we talk. Mostly, about our crops or the winter yet to come. My walk home is even more beautiful, the stars are amazing, and there’s this little creek that reflects them so perfectly it is mind-blowing.
This time felt a bit different though. As I walked, I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was, with me? Just when I thought the feeling was weird, I heard something. Singing? It started loud, before fading slowly, being drowned out by the wind. The world seemed eerily silent after, my breathing the only sound. Needless to say, I quickened my pace.
Day 55 - Today was calm, as all days usually are here, but winter’s coming. I can feel the breeze dropping every passing day. Alice and I talked this morning. Alice had heard that some of my fellow farmers had a few livestock go missing this past night. Nothing we couldn't fix, just a few fences here and there should do the trick. I worked in the field like I do every day, and at night, I went out with friends, like I do every day. Though, something weird did happen. When I went to drink, I noticed the woman, who we all assumed was unmarried due to her being alone all the time, had left an extra drink out on the table. I joked lightheartedly about it and asked her if she planned to join us. She just shrugged and said, “I just felt like there were more of you.”
Day 58 - We found a skull human. A farmer discovered it while heading home late this evening. The people are worried there might be a bear or wolf. I'm not convinced. It looked old, too old, with a large crack running down its temple. Who was it? Hell if we knew. The mayor did a head count. To our relief, no one seemed to be missing. Maybe it was one of the natives? But even if that were the case, it still doesn't explain how it ended up right outside the town hall.
Day 61 - A small sinkhole opened up in the heart of town today, it seemed as if something had been burrowing underground, long before we arrived and the tunnels underneath collapsed. Some were excited, thinking a new strange animal could have made them, others were terrified. The sheer size and length of the holes left most, me included, wondering about the potential threat. What could this thing do to us?
Day 72 - A merchant was in town today, one of the more secluded farmers selling some old stuff he didn't need anymore. While browsing, I noticed some nice dresses and thought they might be a good gift for Alice. I discussed with the man for a while, discussing our crops and the winter yet to come. I asked him where he got all the clothes. He shrugged and said, “There were a bunch in my dresser, I must’ve drunk too much last night and bought a few.”
Day 78 - I woke up on the day of Halloween, the colony unanimously decided to celebrate during the day due to the animals that liked to prowl around the fields at night. As I sat down at the table, I couldn’t shake the feeling. Wasn't someone else supposed to be here? I brushed off the thought and made some food. I noticed a pot next to the fireplace, It had a strange sweet substance inside, kinda like honey or sugar. There were critters and bugs surrounding the bowl, it must've been left out all night. The children came later, all as excited and joyful as ever. I took my usual walk home that night but along the walk home, a child came jogging down the path, obviously looking for more sweets. He passed me and ran off. A moment later. Singing? I sat there and listened for a moment as it slowly faded. The area suddenly seemed deafeningly silent. Until a small scream cut through the air, followed by a sicking crunch.
Day 80 - Something’s wrong. I can finally see it. The town feels as if it's been drained of life. Children wander without their parents, shops stand empty with no workers in sight, and the farms now sit abandoned with no caretakers. Many people have taken refuge indoors, huddled with their families. Many believed it to be an act from god, a divine punishment for our celebration of the holiday. I thought otherwise, I had been living alone for my entire time at this colony and had never seen a thing. I'm writing this because we’re hunting it. Whatever is happening to this town, isn't natural. A few of the remaining and I are going into the tunnels tonight. We believe it's a creature, native to this land, or maybe the natives themselves.
Day ? - We lost, there’s no one left. The town is built, but no people are there to live in it. There were more people, right? Surely I wouldn't have come to this strange land alone? There it is again. Singing. Starting loud, before slowly fading, leaving everything quiet. I’m writing this for others. If you find this. DO NOT REMAIN HERE. LEAVE. This place isn't safe. I saw it. Its massive body writhing out the ground, letting mournful wails. God didn’t make that thing. It's here. I can hear it moving outside. No, it's inside.
It’s coming…
The Road to Death Lindsey, 13
Scream
Beatrice, 14
Ellington, 16
Influenced by the artworks of Stephen Gammell, I’ve created a piece that reflects how it feels for me to wake up in the morning everyday. Groggy, zombie-like, dismantled.
Alien Design
Vox, 15
Pixel Eyes Anonymous, 15
By A.S., 14
The lights went out weeks ago.
We’d known this would happen, of course, but Charlie still screamed when the room was plunged into darkness. “And so it begins,” Layne whispered darkly.
She was right. Misanthropic as she was, she was exactly right. Not a day later did Eve disappear on a food raid. When we went to go look for her, we got ambushed by a pack and lost Moon too.
“They’re getting smarter,” Layne murmured as we sat silently in the bunker. Luke shined his flashlight toward her. “You mean stronger,” he corrected.
Layne shook her head as her obsidian gaze swept over all of us. “Smarter,” she insisted. “They weren’t pack animals before. They weren’t bred to be pack animals.”
“You would know,” Wolf muttered.
Layne opened her mouth, then closed it, clearly not in the mood to have this argument again. Instead, she reached into her jacket and pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper. With a grim look on her face, she spread it across the table. It was a rough sketch of your basic haunt, but the imprecision of the drawing only made the beast look all the more terrifying.
Its sole black eye stared up at us from the paper, ringed with red scales. Three legs two in the front, one in the back were bent at the joint as if ready to pounce on unseen prey, and its dark gray frills were extended in a way all of us recognized much too acutely. In fact, Red even flinched at the sight of it. I suppose the image wasn’t scary by itself, but the memories we had attached to it bloodsoaked, gruesome deaths of people we loved took its hold on our minds before our conscious selves could even comprehend what we were looking at.
Layne sat back, examining our expressions. “They’re evolving,” she said simply.
Luke groaned. “Oh, yeah, that’s just what we needed. Mutated haunts with coordinated attack plans.”
I hurled a pillow at him, but he caught it and tossed it back. “Am I wrong?” he asked defiantly. I grimaced. He wasn’t.
Layne cleared her throat. “They’re evolving,” she repeated. “But it’s not a natural process.” She went into another coughing fit and we all waited for it to pass.
She continued. “The people they eat ”
“Come on, man!” Charlie exclaimed, and despite the casual interjection, her face was wracked with pain.
Layne at least had the decency to try to look somewhat sympathetic, but I knew she was faking it. “Their victims,” she corrected. “I think they somehow take on the knowledge of their victims.” She held up a finger as Wolf opened his mouth to interject. “My parents ” this with a deliberate stare at Wolf “designed them to learn. To grow.”
“And that’s just so convenient for us now, isn’t it?” Wolf snapped.
My hands moved before my mind registered. Before I knew it, I had him pinned to the floor. My voice came out in a low growl. “You are not helping.” I could vaguely feel someone trying to pull me off of him, but I didn’t move. “Layne is the only reason you are alive. In fact, you should be grateful her parents worked on them because from the looks of it, they would’ve gotten out anyway.” I sat up, still glowering at him, and I slammed my hand on the drawing. “THIS?” I yelled, my voice rising octaves in a matter of seconds. “This is the only reason we’re alive.
This is the only reason we know that haunts hate sound, and that they can’t eat cotton. This is it.”
“This is all we have,” I heard Charlie mutter.
I sighed. “Yes.” I stood up and went back to my spot on the couch. “This is all we have.”
By Alexis, 12 Stormy Nights
Stormy Night Alexis, 12
Rain, wind, howling, and lighting, those things can make a storm seem frightening.
A blanket, a bed, and something snug, cam make a storm feel like a hug.
But all of these things put together, can make the storm happy weather.
There is layers and chaos in the mind, yet, there still is something in there. A spider!
Red: the intense emotion
Portrait
Ellington, 16
Influenced by Tim Burton Corpse Bride, I drew what I think I would look like if I were Emily.
Imminent Danger Julian, 14
Ghosts Zoe, 16
Rainy Swamp Callan, 14
By Lauren, 16
In the quiet of the midnight air, Something stirs—faintly there.
Imperceptible whispers creep the floor, The cringing creak of a cracked door.
The walls breathe slowly, the windows sigh, As unseen eyes pierce the night sky. Cold fingers trace the spine, wisp the hair, A chill that makes you stop and stare. A choking final gasp for air.
You think you’re safe, but shadows crawl, Stretch long and thin along the wall. A flicker of light, the flame turns black— Whatever’s watching won’t turn back.
The moon is cold, its face withdrawn, Casting shapes that stretch till dawn. The air grows cold, it steals your breath, An aching pull within your chest, that unmistakably whispers death.
Footsteps echo in the hall, But when you look no one at all. The clock ticks louder, heartbeat slows, The ancient wall lantern softly glows. A whisper low, a voice unknown, It beckons you, though you're alone. "Come closer still," it seems to hiss, A cold, forbidden, ghostly kiss.
The floorboards creak beneath your weight, But now it seems it’s far too late. For once you turn to meet its gaze, You're lost inside a haunted maze.
The walls are closing from within The hall grows shorter, narrow, thin.
You stand still, conjuring bravery to stand your ground Don’t blink, just stare. Make not a sound.
The faint pant of your breath hangs in the air.
Abandoning courage, you take flight, Running to try to escape the night. But each corner holds a darker form, A presence eerie, stiff, forlorn
So lock your doors, be it as it may, You’ve locked the creature in, here to stay.
Wispy shadows hide in the gloom, Taking hold, filling the room. Whispers turn to screams to shouts The more you fight to try to get out.
The hold deepens, grabs you tight Swallowing you up, into the night.
The Halloween Santa Calla, 14
A Spooky Night
Charlotte, 15
Casey, 14
Trick or Treat
Robert, 14
Trick or Treat Cam, 15
Three Stacked Jack-oLanterns
Anonymous, 14
Kid Dressed Up As Ghost Trick-orTreating Anonymous, 14
Still Water Anonymous, 15
Moonlight Wanderer Alexis, 12
Starry October Night Aidan, 15 Ghost Anonymous, 14
Girl in the Graveyard
Isla, 15
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Jeremy, 17
The following story contains mention of violence that may be disturbing to younger readers.
By Willah-Sinclair, 17
Clark and I arrived on the scene around 10:40 that night. We had barely parked when a woman came running up to us. She looked almost like a zombie with her frizzy, unkempt hair and the dark bags under her eyes. She was so angry to the point where she kept rambling on and on and stumbling over her words. Clark and I quickly calmed her down. She revealed that she was the one that had called 911 and introduced herself as Ms. Trisha Cleveland.
As she led Clark and I up to her floor, she explained why she had called, “It’s ‘bout time y’all came! I swear my neighbor is a psycho! I hear loud thuds coming from his room at all hours of the night. He has all these sketchy-looking men coming in and out of his room and the smell, it stinks up this whole hallway and has even begun seeping into my apartment.”
I could detect a faint scent in the air when we reached her floor that made my nose turn up, but I had just chalked the smell up to being because of the condition of the building. The apartment building was a little rundown as it was one of the cheaper ones in the city. The pale brown walls were peeling and cracked, revealing the drywall underneath. The yellow glow from the overhead lights had made the place seem even dingier than it already was. Ms. Cleveland began aggressively banging on door 973, shouting at whoever was inside.
I loosely grabbed her arm to stop her, but by that time the resident had already opened the door. Clark greeted the man, explaining to him what we were there for as I stood between Ms. Cleveland and the man. He stood in the door frame with the door slightly ajar, but the smell from inside still leaked out in the hallway. It was a horrible stench, one I couldn’t describe. The man had slicked back dirtyblonde hair. His glasses sat on his face, creating a glare over his piercing yet strangely emotionless brown eyes. His skin was pale, but underneath all of that, he was a handsome young man. He shook Clark and I’s hands, introducing himself as Jeff. His hands were rough and clammy with some sort of sticky residue still on it.
“If you don’t mind sir, we’d like to come in and have a look around,” I said, wiping my hand on the side of my uniform. His body seemed to tense up ever so slightly, but the look on his face still had the same calm expression.
“I really don’t think that’s necessary.” His voice was soft and low as he spoke, almost inaudible. His accent was thick.
Ms. Cleveland interjected, “No, you need to check that man’s apartment! He’s doing something up in there! I know it!” I looked back at her and put my hand up, gesturing for her to let us handle this.
“The smell is really bad sir. It’s spread throughout this entire floor.”
“It’s just some old meat my mother gave me,” he replied. “I’ve been meaning to throw it out.” He stood in the doorway. I had tried to peer around him, but his body was blocking most of the threshold.
“We’re gonna have to come in and look around,” Clark said, pushing his way into the apartment. Jeff reluctantly stepped back and as we entered the room, it felt as if we were being transported to another universe. I looked back to see that Ms. Cleveland was still in the hallway, not even she wanted to enter. The lighting was dim, only coming from a small lamp in the living room and the light over the stove. The discolored carpet squished underneath my boots, sending shivers down my spine. I held my breath as I ventured through his apartment, trying desperately not to gag.
There was a heap of laundry on the couch next to an extremely neglected fish tank with viridescent water. The coffee table was littered with empty beer cans, some pooling their contents onto the glass. A pair of bleach bottles and trash bags piled in the corner caught my attention immediately. Clark looked at me, mirroring the inquisitive look on my face.
I could see the gears turning in his head as he attempted to assess the situation.
“Check this out,” I said to Clark, gazing at the kitchen. The stove was overcrowded with pots and pans, the burners still on. The counters were dirty, painted with stains from who knows what and overflowing with old dishes and trash. One of the pots began to boil over, spouting water around it and sizzling on the open flame.
“We didn’t mean to interrupt your cooking,” Clark casually said, trying to sound friendly and cut through some of the tension. “Do you mind if I turn this off?” He glanced at Jeff for confirmation, but the man just continued to stand there. My partner slipped on a black latex glove before turning the burner off, then out of curiosity, he lifted the lid. Clark suddenly jumped back, dropping the lid on the floor which crashed with a loud bang.
“What’s going on in there? Are you alright?” Ms. Cleveland yelled. She peeked her head in the doorway, covering her nose and mouth with her hand.
Without responding, I turned back to my partner. All the color was flushed from his face and my mind raced, wondering what he had just seen. I reluctantly leaned over the pot only to be met with a pair of dark brown eyes gaping unblinking at me. Curly, black hair floated aimlessly in the murky, bubbling water. The skin was wrinkled and nearly drained of all colors.
“What the hell,” I mumbled breathlessly, my heart dropping to my stomach. Slowly I turned on my heel to be met with Jeff standing in the doorway. His face was flat and his eyes cold. His body was stiff as he just stood there frozen and staring deeply.
I looked to Clark for some type of courage or reassurance, but instead I saw him peering into the refrigerator, revealing shelves full of plastic bags clouded with crimson stains.
The shelves dripped with the same thick, red substance. Knotted clumps of hair clung to the damp walls. My stomach churned and my body lurched as if I was going to throw up, but I kept my composure. I pulled the handcuffs from my utility belt, my hands violently shaking, and commanded Jeff to put his hands behind his back. He complied without any resistance.
“For what I did, I should be dead,” he mumbled as the restraints tightened around his wrists.
To all of our wonderful artists for sharing their work and to the DeKalb Library Foundation for funding this project.
Featured Artists:
A.S.
Aidan
AJ
Alexis
Beatrice
Calla
Callan
Callie
Cam
Casey
Charlotte
Cole
Demi
Ellington
Grady
Gray
Hank
Isla
Jeremy
Julian
Lauren
Lauryn
Lindsey
Margo
Mariam
Miller
Robert
Tammy
Vox
Willah-Sinclair
Zoe and all of our anonymous artists!
