The Hunger Below

"Margaret Okonkwo had been groundskeeper at St. Jude's Cemetery for eleven years, and in all that time she had never seen a grave misbehave."

When a freshly filled grave at St. Jude's Cemetery begins collapsing into a perfectly circular depression — and the body inside vanishes — groundskeeper Margaret Okonkwo discovers something ancient and patient feeding beneath the churchyard. But the dead aren't the prey. They're bait.

A masterclass in slow-burn subterranean dread, The Hunger Below builds from quiet unease to paralyzing revelation with the precision of a tightening noose. Folk horror for those who understand that the earth beneath our feet has never been as still as we pretend.

Genre: Folk Horror / Subterranean Horror
Words: ~1,310
Part of the Bhadra Store Daily Horror Series — one original short story, every day.

Previously published as "The Hunger Below" in the Daily Horror Series. Copyright © 2026 Bhadra Store. All rights reserved.