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The Trail
A group of friends take a hike together through a beautiful forest. But with beauty comes danger. When something terrible happens, the friends have to ask, could one of them be responsible?
47 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 23, 2012
1 person is currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
Michael Kelso
38 books57 followersAuthor of books and Creepypastas. Former corrections Officer. My newest book, (Dark Tales of the Strange and Bizarre) is my latest short horror story book. I’ve also published 2 crime/mystery novels based in a prison, a YA novel, a children’s horror book ALA Goosebumps, 2 domestic thrillers, along with several short horror story collections. My most popular books are ‘Misadventures of a Cryptid Hunter’ (which won the 2024 Hollywood Book Festival in the Wild Card category) and my 'Dark Tales of Cryptids' series. Currently working on my upcoming series of zombie novels. Some of my stories have been narrated by YouTubers, garnering over 6 million views.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 31, 2012
In "The Trail" by Michael Kelso, several friends are taking their annual end-of-summer hike up a mountain for an overnight campout, planning to return home the following day. But somebody had removed a portion of the trailhead sign, warning of aggressive bears in the vicinity and closing the trail.
As might be expected, bad things start to happen. First, one boy doesn't show up. Then one girl lags behind. A second girl goes back to find her, but then the first girl catches up to the rest, never having seen the second girl. By the time they get to camp, the second girl has still not returned, nor has the missing boy ever shown up.
As the teens start to turn in for the night, the one lone girl still sitting at the campfire suddenly lets loose with a blood-curdling scream, wrenching the others from the warmth and comfort of their sleeping bags. But the scream was a false alarm. However, realizing not everybody responded to the scream, the campers discover two of the girls are dead, in separate tents!
The set out early the next morning to return home, after burying their two dead friends. The missing girl never did appear during the night, so they assume she, too, has somehow died. As they head down the trail, one guy thinks he heard a faint call for help, and leaves the trail to head toward the sound. Nobody else heard anything, and they are very reluctant to leave the trail. But then they hear a gunshot, and go running in the direction of the boy who left the trail. They knew he had a gun with him, and thought perhaps he had encountered a bear or something. Instead, they found him dead and his gun missing.
Panic sets in, and that's never a good thing. Before long all the teens are separated and lost, but bad karma continues to haunt them. After several terror-filled hours, one lone girl makes it back to the parking lot. But the horror has just begun for her.
This story contains a number of different elements of horror, all of which add up to one very disturbing tale. There is an object lesson or moral to the story, but you'll have to read it for yourself to learn what that is. I will say this much: nothing about this story was boring! If you enjoy that feeling that someone is sneaking up behind you, but you're afraid to look, then you will like this story. I recommend it for fans of horror stories, from pre-teen on up. It's a good scare!
As might be expected, bad things start to happen. First, one boy doesn't show up. Then one girl lags behind. A second girl goes back to find her, but then the first girl catches up to the rest, never having seen the second girl. By the time they get to camp, the second girl has still not returned, nor has the missing boy ever shown up.
As the teens start to turn in for the night, the one lone girl still sitting at the campfire suddenly lets loose with a blood-curdling scream, wrenching the others from the warmth and comfort of their sleeping bags. But the scream was a false alarm. However, realizing not everybody responded to the scream, the campers discover two of the girls are dead, in separate tents!
The set out early the next morning to return home, after burying their two dead friends. The missing girl never did appear during the night, so they assume she, too, has somehow died. As they head down the trail, one guy thinks he heard a faint call for help, and leaves the trail to head toward the sound. Nobody else heard anything, and they are very reluctant to leave the trail. But then they hear a gunshot, and go running in the direction of the boy who left the trail. They knew he had a gun with him, and thought perhaps he had encountered a bear or something. Instead, they found him dead and his gun missing.
Panic sets in, and that's never a good thing. Before long all the teens are separated and lost, but bad karma continues to haunt them. After several terror-filled hours, one lone girl makes it back to the parking lot. But the horror has just begun for her.
This story contains a number of different elements of horror, all of which add up to one very disturbing tale. There is an object lesson or moral to the story, but you'll have to read it for yourself to learn what that is. I will say this much: nothing about this story was boring! If you enjoy that feeling that someone is sneaking up behind you, but you're afraid to look, then you will like this story. I recommend it for fans of horror stories, from pre-teen on up. It's a good scare!
May 17, 2012
I must say that I was really pleasantly surprised by this freebie, short story from Amazon. The character development was good and the story showed an excellent build up. It would have been well worth the $1 I believe the original price was.
July 29, 2022
Put this on your summer reading list! Especially if you are an avid hiker!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews