The Smiling Ones on Space Station Mir

by Darius Pilgrim

On March 19, 2001 the Russian Space Station Mir disappeared from low earth orbit. There was no collision or explosion; one minute it was there, and the next it wasn't. For twenty-four panicked hours a select group of elite scientists, intelligence agents, and government officials worked tirelessly to figure out what had occurred, while simultaneously preventing the general public from discovering that anything had happened at all.

Genres: Horror, Audiobook, Science Fiction, Short Stories

46 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 19, 2020

Reviews

[Poetniknowit · Rating 5 out of 5]

This bite sized horror/scifi novelette is the perfect thing to get your daily dose of horror in!
Told as a first person, true account of the mystery behind the Russian space station Mir, you will be riveted as the narrator begins to divulge the account and origin of these "Smiling Ones".

[Pilar L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

*** thanks Creepcast!

[Taylor Seiverd · Rating 3 out of 5]

i was very hooked by this in the beginning. the concept was really good & entertaining. unfortunately, the ending lost me.

i wish there was more mystery in the ending. i wasn’t a huge fan of the creature reveal. sometimes describing a creature can be very strong. but here? i don’t think it was as powerful. the high pitched screech should have been more pronounced & important than the creatures talking.
this was average as a horror story. could it have been better? absolutely. but could it have been worse? oh my god, yeah.

also, i do hate the name “the smiling ones.” i’m so over that kind of horror. it just doesn’t do it for me.

[Katie White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was skeptical at first, but the first Morse code reveal had me hooked.

[Zander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good spooky space story. I think if the title were different and they leaned more into the aspects of the missing cosmonauts it would’ve been better but overall ok

[Sydney · Rating 2 out of 5]

it really had me in the beginning and reaaallllyyy lost me in the end

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really hope Darius comes out with more published work because his talent needs to be unleashed onto this world, honestly.
I actually had to hunt this story down from reddit and when I found it on Amazon I spent that $3 for this short story without regret not knowing what I was fully getting.
This short story is a MUST READ. Even for it being a short read the suspense was there you could feel every characters emotions and fear. It was well written and honestly this story would make a perfect movie or short mini series.
This is definitely something I am sharing with anyone I know that is into aliens. Even while reading this you can feel the smiling ones slowly gripping you into the book pulling you deeper and deeper and once you reach the end of what the smiling ones are up to it's a disturbing twist to what we can hope to not confront when it comes to extraterrestrial life. Absolutely astounding short story!
Apart of me hopes they actually survived and are floating around earth disguised so there is more of the smiling ones in books to come.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Brilliantly Conceived High-Concept Sci-Fi Thriller
This premise alone is gripping, but the execution is even better. The sudden disappearance of Mir without collision or explosion creates an immediate sense of dread, mystery, and urgency. The story’s real strength lies in how grounded it feels, the science, the political tension, the secrecy, and the controlled panic all feel disturbingly plausible. Watching elite scientists, intelligence agents, and officials scramble to contain the truth while racing to understand the impossible makes this an intensely immersive experience. Smart, suspenseful, and chillingly realistic.

[Bella Boo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title makes the story seem cheesy and corny but thankfully I listened to this from Hunter and Isaiah on Creepcast on YouTube. Hunter does great voice narration and brings the characters to life. I think if I had listened to it any other way I probably wouldn't have kept on but they're such good story tellers. This was fun to listen to because of them :)

[Sara K · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning was very creepy and genuinely not something I should have listened to at night, but then the story got too eager to reveal every mystery and hidden terrors at the end.
When you don't see the monsters it's when it's the scariest. The story somewhat disregarded that when the cameras got uncovered.

[Ellias · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.5* I love the concept being explored here. I think the ending would have benefited from having less of the real-time explanation of how people reacted. I feel like that part of the story is more generic and kind of takes away from the psychological horror of the events on the space station.

[mabez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creepcast listen!

[lala · Rating 3 out of 5]

the first parts were sooo good, i was HOOKED. sadly the last part kinda ruined it for me, wish the ending would have been better executed