Short Stories

Fiction

Lice

Elise was sitting in the rear passenger seat of her parent\’s car, and her mother was driving. She was small enough that she was not allowed to sit in the front passenger seat. Her gaze turned from her mother’s right shoulder to the window to her left, where an endless field of emerald corn stalks […]

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Fiction

The Dog Days of Summer

“There is love in me the likes of which you\’ve never seen. There is rage in me the likes of which should never escape. If I am not satisfied in the one, I will indulge the other.” ― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein 1 Katie and Jason rolled their bikes through the thick forest. Their shoes crunched […]

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Fiction

Royalty

We received a mundane call for a corpse found in the Downtown Wilson Apartments. Anne Elliot was found rotting in her living room after a foul smell was reported by a number of residents. As we ascended the stone steps in the quiet afternoon, my partner joked that we would be in and out in […]

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Fiction

Mr. Loveless in Room 719

It’s not looking good for the Angels. Top of the seventh, Game 6, series tied up at three a piece, and the Giants are leading 4-0, just ten outs away from winning it all. Francisco Rodríguez is struggling on the mound after allowing a home run from Barry Bonds in the top of the sixth, […]

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Fiction

A Distant Howling

His prey was close by, crouched and trembling among a dense thicket of blackberry bushes, its breath visible in the cold night air. He stalked through the underbrush, carefully lifting each huge paw and placing it down silently. The breeze brought the scent of the deer, and an insatiable hunger gnawed at his belly as […]

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Fiction

Belgrade Butcher

PART I – ON THE ROAD The first thing my wife says to them is: “No one is coming to help you. No one will ever come. Get that out of your head. The only person who can help you is yourself.” Her name is Marija, she is an M.D. psychiatrist and has been working […]

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Fiction

Introduction to What We Talk About When We Talk About Horror and Other Stories

What I’m about to write won’t sound like your usual introduction to a collection of short stories, especially not someone’s first collection. For one thing, I’ve decided to write it myself instead of asking someone like Clive Barker, Stephen King (like either of them would say yes), or Hal Archibald. Don’t know that last name? […]

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Fiction

Dead Pixels

The first thing Ruby could sense was the man’s breath. The scent of a clove cigarette—with Caesar salad dressing. He stood behind her, breathing heavily, as though he had walked a long distance at an anxious pace. It was approaching that magical time of evening in the mall. Ruby watched the orange crush sunset give […]

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Fiction

Creepy Malcolm

APPEAL FOR INFORMATION – CAN YOU HELP? Police are appealing for witnesses after the disappearance of a child in Hulsted, Lancashire. Alice Stanley has been missing from her home since approximately 6.15pm on 10th October 2023. She is described as having shoulder-length brown, curly hair and green eyes. At the time of her disappearance, she […]

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Fiction

The Bug in the Lamp

I had been journeying for several days when I occasioned to stay at the Château Hotel, with only my cat Artemis for companionship. Artemis, a mewling, foul-tempered feline, sat in her leather carrier under my seat as we crossed the countryside by train, crying from beneath me at regular intervals. We disembarked the train in […]

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