The Mouse Within: a Short Horror Story to Read in the Dark Stories From

IT’S NOT A COSTUME. IT’S A PARASITE. AND IT’S HUNGRY.Daniel isn’t looking for trouble—just a distraction. A quiet house. A fading marriage. A hollow life.So when he stumbles upon a scorched, half-melted box at a garage sale, he buys it without thinking.Inside is a mouse costume: filthy, matted, and far too warm to the touch. It whispers his name. It remembers the last man who wore it—a man who vanished without a trace.Now… the scratching won’t stop. The heat under Daniel’s skin rises. The dreams grow darker.And the costume? It doesn’t come off. It was never meant to be worn. It was meant to… BECOME.As reality blurs with nightmare, Daniel can’t tell what’s real and what’s delusion. The boundaries between him and the costume dissolve, trapping him in a waking hallucination where truth and fantasy collide—threatening everything he once loved.The Mouse Within is a terrifying short horror story for fans of cursed objects, possession, body horror, and psychological horror. If you love the works of Stephen King, Clive Barker, The Babadook, The Fly, or The Thing, this spine-chilling story will keep you up all night.Part of the twisted Bedtime Stories from Hell series, brought to you by Hollow Black from the darkest corners of hell.Open the pages, if you dare. But once you do… there’s no turning back.PS. WANT MORE NIGHTMARE HORROR STORIES THAT RUIN YOUR SLEEP?Search for Hollow Black wherever you read or listen to audiobooks.The darkness is waiting. So am I.