Chain Letter Inc. by Jean Graham Know anyone who’s died lately? Odds are the deceased received our letter. Odds are they also broke the chain. You know the letter. Yes, that one. With all the charm of a …
Rookies Take Point by David M. Hoenig The advertisement read: Calling All Ghostbusters—Non-Believers Need Not Apply. That phrase ran through my mind over and over again in the wake of the strangest job interview I’d ever had. I’d …
We Must Have Cream for Sunday by Rie Sheridan Rose “The left hand of a dead man dipped in a milk pail causes cream.” —Old Irish saying All his life, Ryan Cartwright dreamed of Ireland. Despite his mother’s …
Scarlet Sins by H.R. Boldwood The old barkeep struck me as a man who waited; though for whom or what, I could not say. He had busy, watchful eyes that peered out from beneath a shock of tangled …
Destruction: A Plague Story by Bruce Memblatt I still remember their faces. I will always remember that unfinished look in their eyes. When the sickness began, everyone shrugged it off. Now no one shrugs (or does much of …
The Godmother’s Curse by Chantal Boudreau Ella had died during the night. Winter was upon them, the fire had burnt down to embers as she had slept, and the cold had killed her before she could rise and …
Last Rites by George Cotronis We drove around for hours that night. The town was empty, sleeping. Dim lights disappearing in the fog as we passed them by. Like being lost in the expanse of space, there was …
Walls by Jeff Hill “Forget everything you’ve ever learned about women,” the giant black Sharpie had written on the bathroom stall. How fitting, he thought. How very true, he agreed. Graffiti on walls and stalls alike were starting …
Penumbra by Jay Caselberg You know, it’s a funny thing walking through the valley. Thy rod and staff and all that stuff. None of it matters a jot. There is no tunnel. There is no white light. There …
Momentum by Kevin David Anderson The world wasn’t ending quickly like a well-placed shotgun blast in the mouth, but rather like Dwight always figured it would—twisting and squirming, sucking in every last foul breath, hoping for just one …
