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The Biting Cold: A Survival Horror Short Story
A Survival Horror
Terror on a small scale.
Peter Bennett works for the local authorities and during the winter months takes to the roads in a purpose built gritting machine and snow scraper to tackle the harsh Scottish December. It's Christmas Eve and the fifty year old has never opened any gifts with his wife on Christmas morning due to the long hours over the festive period. He is determined this will be the one.
Bur a call from the police will throw himself and 'second man' Danny into a confrontation with the coming snow storm, the wind is increasing, drifts from the surrounding moorlands are inevitable.
As visibility decreases, Peter and Danny will discover worse things than the snow-bound carriageway. There are creatures in the snow, and they are out to feed.
Danny wants to fight, Peter wants to flee. The biting cold is too much for Peter.
Trapped by a drift, they can't go back, they can't go forward. The horror is upon them and they quickly realise they must fight or die.
And to save a town, they may well have to do both.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR*****
Graeme Clark is a writer of psychological horror and thriller. He lives in a small village south of Edinburgh with his girlfriend and daughter. He works full-time at Edinburgh College and spends most of his spare time at the PC tapping at the keys hoping a story will appear. Previously only published as part of a few anthologies available on Amazon, The Biting Cold is the first kindle short story he has published on his own. He plans on a few more over the coming months with the eventual hope of publishing his own print anthology with these stories.
He is also currently working on his first novel; Disintegration. Book One of The Rising Dead that is in the latter stages of a first draft.
Inspired by the work of Stephen King and Dean R Koontz, he continues to grow as a writer and hopefully his stories will find readers and motivate him to keep doing what he loves.
Terror on a small scale.
Peter Bennett works for the local authorities and during the winter months takes to the roads in a purpose built gritting machine and snow scraper to tackle the harsh Scottish December. It's Christmas Eve and the fifty year old has never opened any gifts with his wife on Christmas morning due to the long hours over the festive period. He is determined this will be the one.
Bur a call from the police will throw himself and 'second man' Danny into a confrontation with the coming snow storm, the wind is increasing, drifts from the surrounding moorlands are inevitable.
As visibility decreases, Peter and Danny will discover worse things than the snow-bound carriageway. There are creatures in the snow, and they are out to feed.
Danny wants to fight, Peter wants to flee. The biting cold is too much for Peter.
Trapped by a drift, they can't go back, they can't go forward. The horror is upon them and they quickly realise they must fight or die.
And to save a town, they may well have to do both.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR*****
Graeme Clark is a writer of psychological horror and thriller. He lives in a small village south of Edinburgh with his girlfriend and daughter. He works full-time at Edinburgh College and spends most of his spare time at the PC tapping at the keys hoping a story will appear. Previously only published as part of a few anthologies available on Amazon, The Biting Cold is the first kindle short story he has published on his own. He plans on a few more over the coming months with the eventual hope of publishing his own print anthology with these stories.
He is also currently working on his first novel; Disintegration. Book One of The Rising Dead that is in the latter stages of a first draft.
Inspired by the work of Stephen King and Dean R Koontz, he continues to grow as a writer and hopefully his stories will find readers and motivate him to keep doing what he loves.
- GenresHorror
51 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 10, 2014
1 person is currently reading
38 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 22, 2014
'Did you see that?' Danny asked. His head was out the side window watching the snow shoot off the side of the scraper onto the verge.
'It's only snow, Danny. Don't get overexcited.'
'No, no.' He shook his head and pulled it back in the cab, water dripped from his face and his hair was dabbled with snow. 'Stop the motor, I saw something, in the snow.'
'Can't stop, I'll lose momentum,' Peter said. 'It was probably Santa starting his rounds.'
'No,' Danny paused as if what Peter had said was a genuine guess. 'It looked more like one of his elves.' Peter smiled at this but Danny wasn't joking, his face was ashen, and his eyes wide.'
Brrr! And it wasn't just the mountains of snow and dripping icicles outside my window that made me shiver.
This is a nice, atmospheric tale, probably best read during the misery of an unending winter.
In the corner of his eye he glimpsed through the driving snow; a figure, just one, running, sprinting at the side of him. When he tried to look at it directly, it disappeared.
A gripping, suspenseful story, slightly marred by punctuation mistakes, numerous grammatical errors and a few jarring tense changes.
One thing's for sure, this story will make you glad for the chance to spend Christmas with your relatives...even the annoying ones.
'It's only snow, Danny. Don't get overexcited.'
'No, no.' He shook his head and pulled it back in the cab, water dripped from his face and his hair was dabbled with snow. 'Stop the motor, I saw something, in the snow.'
'Can't stop, I'll lose momentum,' Peter said. 'It was probably Santa starting his rounds.'
'No,' Danny paused as if what Peter had said was a genuine guess. 'It looked more like one of his elves.' Peter smiled at this but Danny wasn't joking, his face was ashen, and his eyes wide.'
Brrr! And it wasn't just the mountains of snow and dripping icicles outside my window that made me shiver.
This is a nice, atmospheric tale, probably best read during the misery of an unending winter.
In the corner of his eye he glimpsed through the driving snow; a figure, just one, running, sprinting at the side of him. When he tried to look at it directly, it disappeared.
A gripping, suspenseful story, slightly marred by punctuation mistakes, numerous grammatical errors and a few jarring tense changes.
One thing's for sure, this story will make you glad for the chance to spend Christmas with your relatives...even the annoying ones.
January 27, 2015
There's something about the snow...the lonliness...the desolation the creepy landscape that makes stories such as these fun to read. Two council workmen somewhere in Scotland getting on with the job of keeping the roads open and snow free. Then the big hairy animal shows up and all hell breaks loose!! This was a fun short read, I enjoyed the build up more than the ending it was not a brilliant literary achievement but a nice way to while away a cold winters night...
August 12, 2025
I recommend reading this with a warm blanket and a hot cup of tea at hand, as it will surely send shivers down you spine - and it is not only the cold that is biting here, but something far more deadly lurks behind the snow...
While I thought that on the one hand it was too long and detailed for a short story, on the other hand it was too short to work as a novella because it left too many questions unanswered. However, I love winter horror stories, and this story was a nice addition.
While I thought that on the one hand it was too long and detailed for a short story, on the other hand it was too short to work as a novella because it left too many questions unanswered. However, I love winter horror stories, and this story was a nice addition.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews