Revenge is a dish best served perpetually. I drop my purse on the kitchen counter and exhale for the first time in what feels like a decade. I hope my tears were convincing. After the funeral, Helen hugged me tightly, then looked at me with a strange expression that made me wonder. The way her… Continue reading After Johnny’s Funeral
Category: weird fiction
Smiley
The boy was lying half on the huge rug, half on the dark wood floor, on a pillow propped against a thick wooden bed leg. The floorboards would creak at night when he got up to relieve himself. He had taken it upon himself to learn where all the creaky spots were so he might… Continue reading Smiley
Wormhole
The exterminator wipes his brow, pockets his grease-stained handkerchief, and checks his tablet again. “Yeah. We don’t see a lot of these. If I’m honest, they told us about these in class, but I swore the instructor was pulling our legs. Pranking us. You know? That it was a joke to see which of us… Continue reading Wormhole
The Conductor
The bus jerks me awake. Or that’s what I tell myself. I still harbor a fragile little tendril of hope that I’m still sleeping, that this is only a dream. Awake. Asleep. Is there a difference? Or some method for knowing which is which? This bus is a train. Or is this train a bus?… Continue reading The Conductor
Carl
He sits in my passenger seat. He sniffs and makes the pinchy face I hate. I pretend I don’t see it. “Hell of a game last night? Am I right?” “Yeah, I guess.” “You didn’t watch it? The Eagles were on fire!” He must know I’m still playing catch-up with how he screwed me on… Continue reading Carl
My Name Was Kevin
By the time I stand up, my chin has stopped bleeding. The Christmas card and its insidious message lay forgotten on the dirty floor under the refrigerator. There is a lot of my blood on the floor. I feel the Latin phrases (incongruous with the playful polar bear and mischievous elves) careen through my brain,… Continue reading My Name Was Kevin
Streaming Stanley
I still remember the day we found the proof. Rumor has it that no one ever saw Stanley in real life after that day. We were sitting in recon van 7. Kelly (of course), McGuire, and a new intern named Liz. Ostensibly we were Chicago PD. Kelly never went full LE. Partly because of his… Continue reading Streaming Stanley
Acula Dentistry
The Novocain starts working, but I think the dentist might have given me too much. My vision is swirling, and my eyes refuse to stay where I want them. I see at least three floor drains in the surgical suite. I’m lucky to have found this after-hours place. My crown cracked, and I needed an… Continue reading Acula Dentistry
Plastic Wraith
The swirl of black plastic sheeting whirling a few yards from my windshield jerks me away from my ruminations. It really does look like a ghost. Halloween Wraiths are an irresponsible underground fad that has plagued north Dallas since October 1st. Irresponsible, reckless, and a damn dangerous thing to do. The idea that anyone with… Continue reading Plastic Wraith
Ready for Freddy?
I reach forward and shut the music off before the calliope crashes to the ground again. I’ve been sitting here in my car, stalled, for almost an hour, listening to and pausing this crazy song over and over. This used to cheer me, an impossibly nonsensical koan. Merry-go-rounds, sneezing, wheezing, and tripping. Yet despite my… Continue reading Ready for Freddy?
Mr. Auk
June 2022 Flash Challenge, Day 14 The people of the earth collectively pause whatever they’re doing and shift their attention to the solemn ceremony. Today it is Mr. Auk, a retired fisherman in Thailand. Who knows where it will be (or IF it will be) next month. The sleeping wake in time to watch. A… Continue reading Mr. Auk
Rapid Transport
June 2022 Flash Challenge, Day 13 The smell of falafel is always the first thing I notice in the Cairo terminal; recirculated air is laden with the scents of parsley, mint, cilantro, and garlic. The bustling hallways of disembarking passengers and the vendors selling their falafel, hummus, and baklava. I woke on a sleeping couch… Continue reading Rapid Transport
Lou Cypher
June 2022 Flash Challenge, Day 12 The first thing I noticed about him was that he dressed impeccably in a black silk suit, the whitest shirt I’ve ever seen, and a red silk pocket square. His beard was salt and pepper but neatly maintained, and he carried himself with crazy confidence. His eyes were friendly… Continue reading Lou Cypher
Glitch Mendelsohn
June 2022 Flash Challenge, Day 9 I hurry my pace and steal a glance behind me. Damn it. They’re still there, the three teenage boys following me. Again, I allowed myself to forget that I’m an eighteen-year-old girl. What is my name this time? The body might be 18, but its rider is much older.… Continue reading Glitch Mendelsohn
Blythe
June 2022 Flash Challenge, Day 6 It is surprising how much misinformation the media and books have regarding monsters. The idea that the only way to kill a werewolf is with a silver bullet? Laughable nonsense. Or that vampires can’t go out in the sunlight? Silly and baseless. Most of them don’t like being in… Continue reading Blythe
Gargoyles
June 2022 Flash Challenge, Day 4 “I think they are supposed to be guardians or something, right?” Kimberly says, peering upwards at the three buildings that make up the bulk of our burb’s central square. Ken looks ready to speak again. “Go ahead,” I say. “While symbolically linked to defense, their original purpose was to… Continue reading Gargoyles
Papa
June 2022 Flash Challenge, Day 3 Uncle Kenny never rises before noon on the camping trips. So far now, it’s just me, Cheryl, Adam, and dad, finishing our breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast. The cool air and the smokey smell usually make me feel giddy in the mornings. That isn’t the case this morning.… Continue reading Papa
My Dead Dad and I Talk Technology
I really ought to be able to explain this better. I used to be an engineer for chrissakes. But that was a long time ago. Since then, I migrated to computer programming. Now I’m no longer in the technology field at all. I’m a massage therapist. I can’t believe he’s here. He died in 92.… Continue reading My Dead Dad and I Talk Technology
An Ugly Chair
Ordinary horror in the mundane The chair sits awkwardly in the shallow corner between the fireplace and the patio door (it’s a small apartment), shrouded under an ugly brown, queen-sized blanket I bought years ago on my way to a meditation retreat. That year we had a bitterly cold winter, and the retreat center was old… Continue reading An Ugly Chair
Desert Highway
In the end, the most surprising thing about the video was how no two people ever remembered it the same; it was a modern-day Rorschach test. It was only three minutes twelve seconds long, but people saw different things when they recounted what they had watched. One thing almost everyone agreed upon was the video… Continue reading Desert Highway
Stories by Shawn 