A Shape In The Nothing, by Chris Deal

The psychiatrist I’d been seeing, a lovely woman by the name of Dawn, with a face pale as the moon and hair like sky between the stars at midnight, she liked to trick me every time we had a session. She would ask me those questions she reserved for her clients, the $250-an-hour housewives, the pro bono cases at the clinic. “Were you abused as a child?” Or the fall back, “How was your relationship with your mother?” Between the sheets, she’d laugh and break confidentiality. … Continue Reading

Hanging On St. Jude, by Nik Korpon

Rivulets of thin pink blood stream from the sides of his lips. He chews with his mouth open. Bits of raw flesh stuck between his teeth. He dabs the corner of his lips with the cloth napkin tucked into his collar to keep his bolo tie clean and I’ve lost my appetite. I bite an ice cube in half. God damn you, Elroy, how do you find these people? He tears off another piece, looks me up and down, chews and grunts approval. It’s me or the steak but either way I want to break my glass on his neck. I poke the dead flesh lying in front of me, daring it to move. … Continue Reading

Boy Parts, by Chris Reed

Cheryl Braddocks closed her eyes, grit her teeth with determination and pushed. Her husband, Michael, could now see the top of the baby’s head, covered with wet black hair. It was the hair of their first child. Their little boy. Their Hunter. … Continue Reading

The Sleeping Room, by Erik T. Johnson

Tick-tick.

The inspector has come to feign sleep on the sumptuous white-curtained four-poster canopy bed to solve a series of mysterious deaths. … Continue Reading

Cottonwoods, by Vincent Louis Carrella

The dog would not die. He was bred to withstand the rigors of a prolonged fight, and he showed his mettle and he showed his heart in that moment when it counted most. The end. He was the best dog that Simmons ever owned and he owned plenty. Some were bigger and some were smarter, but none were as sweet with the children and none were as tough. … Continue Reading

Fiction

Here you will find various short stories, novellas and novel excerpts.

“Giving me a new idea is like handing a cretin a loaded gun, but I do thank you anyhow, bang, bang.”

Philip K. Dick