Fanfic Recs / The X-Files

Proof that the remaining 10% is out there.

These are recommendations made by Tropers for The X-Files fanfics, all of which have to be signed to stay on the page. Feel free to add a fanfic of your own to the list, but remember to use the template found here.

You can also add to the current recommendations if you want. Refrain from posting Conversation in the Main Page though; that goes in the discussion page.

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Author and Websites

Dawson Rambo

• Recommended by RC
• Fanfiction novels, all absolutely brilliant.

General Fics

Stories focused on the family and the friendly relationships of the cast. Plot-focused stories or light day-in-the-life stories. Pretty much anything that isn't focused on romance.

All the Mulders by Alloway

• Recommended by katyhalo
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: Three aliens, a Mulder, and a Cancer Man walk into a bar...
• Comments: Post-alien colonisation, a classic of the fandom.

Telethon for the Poorly Written by Ophelia

• Recommended by MetalheroD
• Status: Complete
• ''Synopsis: A short, script format humor flick, lampooning how frequently elements of the show didn't hold up to scrutiny, not only when compared against real life but sometimes against itself as well.
• Comments: I'm not a Psychologist indeed, Mulder.

Birthday Stories by Syntax 6

• Recommended by katyhalo
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: Mulder and Scully's birthdays, Seasons 1-7
• Comments: A really lovely collection of little stories from an author usually known for her casefiles.

The Ledger by Amal Nahurriyeh

• Recommended by katyhalo
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: Running a small business involves a lot of paperwork.
• Comments: A rare fic focusing on the Lone Gunmen and how they interacted with Mulder and Scully through the years. Have a tissue handy for the end.

The Rainbow Connection by Melannen

• Recommended by katyhalo
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: Mulder sees a different spectrum.
• Comments: Takes the throwaway line from S3's 'Wetwired' about Mulder being red-green colourblind and explores beautifully what differences that would have made to his life and his patterns of thinking.

Last One Standing by Mabtng

• Recommended by Kim W, Jonn
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: Crossover with Stephen King's epic The Stand.
• Comments: Crossing over two very different literary voices — the one established in The X-Files and Stephen King's voice — is not easy. And yet they manage to pull it off in this. MabTNG was writing this a chapter at a time, and went on pause for about a year with about three chapters left to go — and a number of readers nearly ran mad emailing the poor woman asking her "WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO FINISH!" (Someone even offered to give her a lifetime supply of FISH if she'd just finish.)

And Miles to Go Before I Sleep by lady of scarlet

• Recommended by Taffy Cat
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: Mulder and Scully investigate a bizarre series of deaths in rural Arizona.
• Comments:: Case!fic strongly reminiscent of the show's own Monster of the Week episodes. The scenes alternate between the present and the case.

Tell a Weather's Wind Round the Stars by rollsofrice

• Recommended by AnythingGoes
• Vanished from the internet. Please post a link if found.
• Synopsis: Post-colonisation angst. A short original story about what happens to Mulder and Scully after alien colonisation has taken place.
• Comments:: What else can I say besides this is one extremely well-written fic? The setting for the fic switches between magic realism and surrealism, while writing with a poetic flair in nearly every sentence.

Required Reading by Lost in Oblivion

• Recommended by Kitzsah
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: They say the winners write the history books. If people won the fight against colonization, how would the future view Mulder and Scully?

Gutless by Magdeleine (obsession_inc)

• Recommended by arianwen, LongLiveHumour
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: Deaths in a small town, Uber-UST, and a parrot.

The Soft Embalmer by Scarlet

• Recommended by arianwen
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: A fate that could have befallen Scully.
• Comments: Totally twisted, dark, gut-wrenching and heart-rending.

Legerdemain

• Recommended by LongLiveHumour
• Synopsis: He's not as smart as he thinks he is...
• Comments: A first-person view of Mulder at work. Short and powerful.

Crampton by Thomas Ligotti and Brandon Trenz

• Recommended by TheAmazingBlachman
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: An FBI agent is shot and killed right inside the FBI HQ in what appears to be a high-profile assassination in broad daylight, but afterward his body shows no signs of violence and his assassin vanishes into thin air just as abruptly as he appeared. Considering the very strange circumstances surrounding the death, the case is handed to Mulder and Scully. As they investigate of the man's service history, they find an old case him and his partner worked on, involving a psychic hotline and several mysterious deaths. The trace eventually leads them to the small, run-down town of Crampton, where nothing is as it seems...
• Comments: A well-written Script Fic that is easy to imagine as an actual episode of the show (and, indeed, Ligotti actually tried pitching it to the show) and perhaps one of the most successful attempts at combining The X-Files with the Cosmic Horror Story genre. The work captures Mulder and Scully's character dynamic incredibly well and, though somewhat toned down in the name of Original Flavour, manages to hit several of the dark notes from Ligotti's other cosmic horror stories.

The Games We Play by Wintersong

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: Mulder and Scully participate in an FBI wargame that raises interesting questions about what game is being played...and the identities of the players.
• Comments: "This story has it all. Humor, asskicking, unknown enemies, the internet, hurt/comfort. Romance, of a sort. Or perhaps just the promise of it..." (from XF-Book-Club)

Overhead, the Stars by Bardsmaid

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: Two weeks after the confrontation in Mulder's apartment ("The Red and the Black"), an exhausted Alex Krycek returns home to find an unexpected visitor of his own. Two very tired men. A language lesson. A houseplant.

Outpost by Bardsmaid

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: A glass of water. A wedge of lemon. A moment's respite from the work of fighting the Occupation.

The House of Hope is Built on Ash by M. Sebasky

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: Marita is stuck in a moment and she can't get out.

The Other Man by Jess M.

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: Something's wrong with Mulder and Scully goes nuts, a bit. Or does she?

Strangers and the Strange Dead by Kipler

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: In which dead bodies and shivering people disturb the hilltown of Bradenton, and our young, orphaned narrator serves hot beverages to the investigating agents even as she ponders the peculiar, elusive nature of their relationship.

Soldiergirl by Wintersong

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: Bill Scully has an unusual Christmas gift for his sister.

America's Games by Sarah Segretti

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: Assigned to the bioterrorism squad at the 1996 Summer Olympics, Scully tries to make sense of confusing evidence, her baffling partner and her uncertain place in a world where the X-Files don't matter.

99 and 44/100ths Percent Done by Sarah Segretti

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: Two mysterious and surprising cases — plus encounters with manhole covers, ice cream and pigs — lead Scully and Mulder down an unexpected path: the road home.

Cunegunde’s Restoration, or The Best of All Possible Worlds, Really by Livia Balaban

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: Despite the "hard news" angle taken by his correspondent Christiane Amanpour, CNN Washington Bureau Chief Frank Sesno finally got to the point and asked the question everybody had been silently asking themselves. "So, Agent Mulder, how did the spacecraft handle?"

Failure to Die by Kel

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: "An undercover assignment lands Agent Jerry Luskin and his colleagues in a "cursed" hospital. Can Dr. Scully handle an emergency without calling for the paramedics? Just watch." Set during Season Four. Told from the POV of a veteran FBI agent working with other agents whom you might recognize.

The Beginner's Guide to Tightrope Walking by Kel

• Recomended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: "Mulder left the FBI about a year after me, but where I got the gold watch and the pension, he got the royal screw."
• Comments: From XF_Book_Club on Livejournal: "Agent Luskin is back, retired from the FBI and running a detective agency with one other investigator: Fox Mulder. However, Agent Luskin isn’t sure that Mulder is investigating what he’s supposed to be investigating. This is post-series but pretty much ignores anything that happens after Mulder’s abduction."

Flesh and Blood by Prufrock's Love

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: An assignment to profile a killer targeting underage girls in the porn industry takes a dark turn and tests the trust between still-new partners.

Changes by Shirle

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: Mulder overcomes some obstacles to solve a terrorist case, and makes friends in Domestic Terrorism Division.

Operation Clean House by sarah_segretti

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: A lost scene from an unfilmed episode. Colonization looms. A stolen moment on the tarmac. In medias res.

Happy Christmas, Your Arse by David Hearne

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: This answers the age-old question, "What does Mulder do for Christmas?" Spoilers for "How The Ghosts Stole Christmas."

Sieg und Verlust by aka "Jake"

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: The Apocalypse is at hand and G-Men Mulder, Skinner and Doggett bust their asses to fight for the future of mankind. They face life and death, good and evil, courageous heroes and dastardly villains. Redolent with testosterone, the language is harsh and the men are manly. And of course, there is a damsel in distress.

Vengeance by Juliett

• Recommended by Kissybandit513 (yes, it's me again)
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: Picks up where the episode Anasazi leaves off and offers a different solution to the boxcar dilemma.

Deliverance From Evil by Char Chaffin and Tess

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: Mulder and Scully discover the horrifying truth about the alien colonization - and the ensuing battle will test their strength and their commitment to each other...

It's Me and Quis Custodiet by Lee Burwasser

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: He's been returned, but things are going to be drastically different for both of them.

Jasper's Last Thought by md1016

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: Scully is abducted again, and returned to find her world has changed.

The Dreaming Sea by Revely

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: A spectacular sighting in a seaside town brings Scully and Mulder face-to-face with a salt-water surprise.

Tinfoil by Loch Ness

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: In retrospect, Dana Scully thought she should've known better than to sign up for a Christmas tree.

Cruise by Madeline Partous

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: A series of mysterious deaths aboard its ships leads a cruise line to contact the FBI as rumours of a vengeful ghost begin to fly. Is the killer striking from beyond the grave?

Shipping Fics

Stories focused on the romantic relationships between the cast.

Dreamland

• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: a rewrite of the two-parter where the titular duo are the victims of the "Freaky Friday" Flip.
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully

This Humming Meadow by dbkate

• Recommended by Across The Stars
• Status: Complete
• Pairings: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: Reports of an enormous bird in Pennsylvania's Black Forest send Mulder and Scully on a road trip.
• Comments: This fic is beautifully X-Files in the classic sense. With just a touch of romance and wonder and beauty, it echoes the very best of the series' Monster of the Week episodes.

Iolokus by RivkaT and MustangSally

• Recommended by katyhalo
• Status: Complete
• Pairings: Mulder/Scully, Mulder/Other, Scully/Other
• Synopsis: Painted across the barren and desolate reaches of Texas, the shadows of the Project put additional pressure on Scully and Mulder's already fragile relationship.
• Comments: One of the most famous fanfiction epics in any fandom, ever. A bleak and difficult read in parts, but gratifying in its willingness to actually let Mulder and Scully suffer and work through the traumas inflicted on them by canon.

Night Giving Off Flames by JET

• Recommended by katyhalo
• Status: Complete
• Pairings: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: Mulder finds Scully again, but everything is wrong.
• Comments: A strange, eerie read; heartwrenching but worth it for the final resolution.

Parabiosis by Penumbra

• Recommended by katyhalo
• Status: Complete
• Pairings: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: Science and mysticism conjoin.
• Comments: What can I say? An unforgettable classic of the fandom, gorgeous and gentle and beautiful, written in and around S7 as Mulder and Scully's relationship finally begins to change.

Sokol by Khyber

• Recommended by katyhalo
• Status: Complete
• Pairings: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: A boy, a girl, a girl, a spaceship, and how things end.
• Comments: A sequel of sorts to his earlier fic Reach, but it also works as a standalone. Mulder and Scully fight to save the world against truly mind-bending alien forces.

Strangers and the Strange Dead by Kipler

• Recommended by katyhalo
• Status: Complete
• Pairings: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: Reports of strange reappearances in a small town draw the attention of the FBI.
• Comments: Beautiful, unique and with an absolute kicker of an ending. Saying too much would spoil it, but an amazing read.

The Unfinished Universe by Revely

• Recommended by katyhalo
• Status: Complete
• Pairings: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: Set in S8, a newly-returned Mulder drives back across the US with Scully and their infant son.
• Comments: A much, much more satisfying scenario than we actually got from this era of the show, balancing Mulder's uncertainties and the tension between him and Scully with their overwhelming love for one another and their tentative new start as a family.

The Lost trilogy by Wintersong

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status
  • The Lost: Complete
  • Found: Complete
  • Alphas: Dead
• Pairings: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis:
  • The Lost: Mulder and Scully are stranded in the wilderness and the art of surviving was not what they expected. Meanwhile, back in DC, the consequences of their supposed deaths begin to unfold.
  • Found: In the midst of an explosively escalating serial arson case, Mulder and Scully must come to terms with the changes that six months in the wilderness have wrought in themselves and those around them.
  • Alphas: Mulder, Scully and the rest of the X-Files Division struggle with new realities and the changing of old relationships when the reopening of a closed murder investigation draws them into a shadowy culture thousands of years old

The Four Corners Cycle by Spookey 247

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: Somewhere near Tuba City, Arizona, 2036. "The pain is buried, but he feels it waking." Post-Colonization. 4 parts.
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Comments: Contains OCs (Book 1 is all OCs)

Dropped Angels by She Who Hides

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Synopsis: Some people never meant to fall... but plans change.
• Pairings: Krycek/Marita, mentioned Mulder/Scully

Paracelsus by Prufrock's Love

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairings: Mulder/Melissa Rydell Ephesian, Scully/Dr. Waterson, Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: Georgia low country, summer, 1865. A lost soldier, a bend in the road, a passing stranger, and a chance at a life he was never supposed to have
• Comment: Pre-X Files AU; Author's Note: "This story assumes that portions of Mulder's memories during his regression in 'The Field Where I Died' were correct: in one past life, he was a soldier who died in the arms of his lover, November 1863. His recollections are one way that lifetime can unfold; right or wrong, Paracelsus is another."

The Sanctuary trilogy by Bardsmaid

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: What if, after 'The Beginning', Mulder were dismissed from the Bureau on trumped-up charges of having had contact with the X-files? What would he do? How would Scully fare on a reassignment? And what would happen if a case she was assigned to came uncomfortably close to exposing the Smoking Man's trump card?
• Comment: The trilogy is complete. However, Bardsmaid was working on a sequel - Topaz - before she sadly passed away in 2013.

A Dream of Fools by Spica

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Scully/Krycek
• Synopsis: Tiger and wolf, winter snow and cornflowers, wounds and desire: a war of wills. (AKA the one where a drunk Scully finds a drunk Krycek sleeping it off on her couch, and a passionate and confusing encounter ensues.)

One Night in Bangkok by Grimilkin

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Krycek
• Synopsis: One night in Bangkok and Mulder gets drunk, Krycek dances with a girl with blue hair, Stoli is used as a cold compress, envelopes are distributed, incriminating photographs are revealed, and Mulder's life is changed forever.

The Second to Last 7-Eleven by Punk and Sab

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: Across the street, a bank clock proclaimed it was 99 degrees, and the sky was black from another fire.

Universal Invariants by Syntax 6

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairings: Scully/Ethan
• Synopsis: Season 1 AU - What if Ethan's scene hadn't been cut out of the pilot and Scully had been allowed to have a life of her own, apart from Mulder and the X-files? How would the storyline have been changed? How would it have stayed the same?

Silver Cornet by Bonetree

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: Set just after "Je Souhaite," Mulder and Scully take a ride on a mysterious train that's carrying more secrets than either can imagine.

Machines of Freedom by Amal Nahurriyeh

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: The end of the world is coming. And they're doing everything in their power to stop it.

Renovatio by Lisby and Maybe Amanda

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: Scully deals with having to stay home while Mulder's out taking risks.

Kinesthesia by Spookey247

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: As members of a domestic terrorism task force, Mulder and Scully investigate a series of bombings linked to a traveling carnival show. Set early season six.

Won & Lost by Branwell

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: As written by the author: "I read 'Operation Clean House' and later realized the perfectly imagined farewell scene was haunting me. ... Artistically it is note perfect as it stands. In my weakness, I yearned for emotional closure. Sarah kindly consented to my attempting a sequel. This is it."

After Eight by dashakay and Plausible Deniability

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: Is it the magic of the Eight Ball, the Christmas spirit, or something that's been a long time in coming?

Surfacing by Leyla Harrison

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: Not summarized at author's request.

Blue Christmas by Plausible Deniability

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: 'Tis the night before Christmas, and Scully's holiday is turning out a little differently than she expected.

The Carrot and the Stick by Plausible Deniability

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: A sexual encounter with Scully results in additional angst for Mulder.

Celebration by Jess

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: Scully ruminates on Catholic jokes, Mulder's connection to sea water and sex.

Aphrodisia series by Kristel S. Oxley-Johns

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: the series itself is Dormant, but the seven included stories are all Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: It's the side of sexuality very few people understand. Some even call it the dark side. But when life holds you captive, where do you go to escape? Mulder and Scully explore control and trust issues as they delve into a fantasy in which they will discover their darkest passions and deepest fears.

Worth Breaking by Narida Law

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: Mulder and Scully embark on a relationship neither is able to handle, and the question of what is or isn't worth breaking must be answered.

Eyes Wide Open by WildwingSuz

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: It began as comfort and then became a habit. When would it turn into more?
• Comments: Episode spoilers: "Our Town," "Clyde Bruckman's Last Repose," "Oubliette," "Unruhe," "Momento Mori," "Home," "Bad Blood," "FTF," "The Rain King," "Arcadia," "Milagro," "Millennium," "Orison," "En Ami," and "all things."

On Mibble Island by WildwingSuz

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: Another wild goose chase, but one that Scully ends up not regretting following Mulder on.
• Comment: Smut one-shot

Goshen Universe by Bonetree

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete (5 stories)
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: A harrowing night in the Virginia mountains makes Mulder and Scully relive parts of their past and rethink their future.

And Cupid Laughed by JHJ Armstrong

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: So much depends on a painted carousel. Post-ep for "The Goldberg Variation."

The Fringe series by Michelle Kiefer

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: I wonder if Mulder has found someplace warm to sleep, and if he's had a hot supper. I pray that no one hurts him, and that he has a good coat.

The Tourists by DiscordantWorlds

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: Struggling to find purpose in a world where they are no longer relevant, two former FBI agents take an aimless trip through their own past.

Home, Home by onpaperfirst

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: Ten very short, connected vignettes of Mulder and Scully being happy, post-"The Truth"

Across the Rubicon by Anne Haynes

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: Once you cross the line, where do you go from there?; Spoilers for Season Seven through "All Things"

The Ineffable Aura of Planet Spooky by sixpences

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: Iced tea and aliens. Sort of post-ep for "All Things" (by which I mean, not the sort you are thinking of).

20 by syntax6

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: 20 years in the life of Mulder and Scully, one year at a time.

Where There's a Will by by Andrea

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: Mulder and Scully married? And with ready-made kids?

Never by Allison Kinney

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: No clever summary. Smut biscuit while undercover, pure and simple.

Beyond Fragile by Leyla Harrison

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: Scully is assaulted by a stranger and Mulder struggles to help her deal with the aftermath.
• Notes: Rape warning

Comfortably Numb by Paige Caldwell

• Recommended by Kissybandit513
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: Mulder and Scully deal with Scully’s addiction to painkillers.

Rokovoko by Prufrock's Love

• Recommended by LongLiveHumour
• Status: Complete
• Pairing: Mulder/Scully
• Synopsis: A case in the Florida Everglades takes Mulder and Scully on a terrifying journey nowhere. The air conditioning and the laws of physics won’t work. She wants dinner and not to die. He dreams of a boy on the beach and not being Captain Ahab. A love story of absolute evil and existential doubt and truth that isn’t found on the free map from the Visitor Center.
• Comments: Elegant, humorous writing to tell an excellent horror story. I didn't realised how scared I was until my phone buzzed at a critical moment, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.
  Spoilers for Season 5. Warning for depictions of past violence against children.

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