I'm almost done watching the Higurashi anime for the first time, and I'm not quite ready to let these characters go just yet.

Are there any good fanfics out there?

 

I felt exactly the same way when I finished the Higurashi anime.

As for fanfiction, it'd take a very good writer to do Higurashi's characters justice. I can't think of any major Higurashi fics. Kyon: Big Damn Hero by Durandall is the only one that comes to mind, and even then it's mostly a Haruhi fanfic with Higurashi playing a major crossover role a little later. Durandall does do characters very well though. It's unlikely to fix your Higurashi craving unless you want to see how the characters are doing 15ish years later.

If you want more Higurashi, then there are numerous spin-offs and adaptations including the original sound novels/visual novels, regular novels, manga, live action film, and other bits and pieces. You'll have to search around for fan translations I imagine.

/googling

Huh. Good timing. Six days ago, the first Higurashi game was released in English and Japanese with updated character graphics, original background music, uncut content, and for Windows, Mac, and Linux. The publisher's site has a lot of the details.

Publisher [NSFW site] - http://www.mangagamer.com/detail.php?goods_type=1&product_code=132
Steam - http://store.steampowered.com/app/310360/