“The critical point in time of mankind’s whole existence is there—RIGHT THERE!” Prime Physicist Skandos slashed his red pencil across the black trace of the chronoviagram. “WHY must man be so stupid? Anyone with three brain cells working should know that for the strength of an individual he should be fed; not bled; that for […]
Angie Turner shivered as she all but ran to the barn to feed her only hen, Mabel, and the newest member of the Turner household, Precious, the goat she’d found earlier that year. Fall had come hard to the little farm town of River Vista, Idaho. She’d known when she moved north from San Francisco […]
Chris Brennan was applying for a teaching job at Central Valley High School, but he was a fraud. His resume was fake, and his identity completely phony. So far he’d fooled the personnel director, the assistant principal, and the chairperson of the Social Studies Department. This morning was his final interview, with the principal, Dr. […]
My sister thinks I’m a slacker. She’s not coming right out and saying it—or texting it, technically—but it’s heavily implied: Did you check out that list of colleges I sent? Winter of your junior year isn’t too early to start looking. It’s actually kind of late. We could visit some places when I’m home for […]
I PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE PRETENDED to be at least little bit sad about my best friend’s breakup, but it was a tough ask considering I knew all along the guy was a malletfaced shitweasel. And besides, it’s not like I’ve ever been shy about speaking my mind. June knew what she was in for when […]
GORNJI CRNAČ, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA The grandfather of six stood on his front porch, a cup of tea in hand as he looked out across the valley at the green hills, thinking of the old days. They didn’t seem so long ago, but still he often wondered where they had gone. The warm afternoon tired […]
IT WAS A GOOD DAY to be free of prison. The mechanical whoosh and greasy smell of the opening bus doors greeted Aloysius Archer, as he breathed free air for the first time in a while. He wore a threadbare single-breasted brown Victory suit with peak lapels that he’d bought from the Sears, Roebuck catalogue […]
The howls of dingoes fill thick air. They’re ravenous, and their need to kill is strong—so is mine. I lie listening to their hunger for blood; it’s intoxicating. I will have her and release my demons when I get my feed. Patience is the key. Her long brown hair — matching brown eyes — she’s […]
As I stepped into Cezar Wozniak’s lake house, I decided I had ninety-nine problems—but at least a ghost wasn’t one. I wasn’t sure if my brief tenure as a spiritual medium (against my will, I might add) was over, since I hadn’t seen a ghost in weeks, but I was hoping it was because real […]
Morgan Farrell had no idea where she was or where she had just come from. She felt as if she were stepping out of a deep, thick fog. Something or someone was right there in front of her. She leaned forward, staring, and saw a woman’s face staring back at her. The woman looked just […]
Robin’s eyes snapped open. She found herself lying wide awake in her bed. She thought at first she’d been awakened by a noise coming from somewhere in her little house. Breaking glass? But as she lay there listening for a moment, she heard nothing except the comforting rumble of the furnace in the basement. Surely […]
Lori Tovar pulled her car into the driveway of the house where she’d lived for most of her life. She stopped the engine and just sat there staring at the charming three-story dwelling. A familiar phrase went through her mind. First to arrive, last to leave. She smiled a bit sadly. She’d heard people say […]
Gareth Ogden stood on the wide beach looking out over the Gulf of Mexico. The tide was out and the Gulf was calm—the water flat and the waves low. He saw a few seagulls silhouetted against the darkening sky and heard their tired cries over the sound of the waves. He took a puff of […]
I HAD THİS story from one who had no business to tell it to me, or to any other. I may credit the seductive influence of an old vintage upon the narrator for the beginning of it, and my own skeptical incredulity during the days that followed for the balance of the strange tale. When […]
There is a Chinese tale, known as “The Singing Prisoner,” in which a friendless man is bound hand and foot and thrown into a dungeon, where he lies on the cold stones unfed and untended. He has no hope of freedom and as complaint will avail him nothing, he begins to while away the hours […]
Long ago, in a little island called Ithaca, on the west coast of Greece, there lived a king named Laertes. His kingdom was small and mountainous. People used to say that Ithaca ‘lay like a shield upon the sea,’ which sounds as if it were a flat country. But in those times shields were very […]
Hawthorne in his Wonder Book has described the beautiful Greek myths and traditions, but no one has yet made similar use of the wondrous tales that gathered for more than a thousand years about the islands of the Atlantic deep. Although they are a part of the mythical period of American history, these hazy legends […]
THERE was, until a year ago, a little and very grimy-looking shop near Seven Dials, over which, in weather-worn yellow lettering, the name of “C. Cave, Naturalist and Dealer in Antiquities,” was inscribed. The contents of its window were curiously variegated. They comprised some elephant tusks and an imperfect set of chessmen, beads and weapons, […]
Long, long ago, after Uther Pendragon died, no king reigned in Britain, and every Knight hoped to seize the crown for himself. The country was like to fare ill when laws were broken on every side, and the corn which was to give bread to the poor was trodden underfoot, and there was none to […]
There was once a lad, and what his real name was nobody remembered, unless it was the mother who bore him; but what every one called him was Ashipattle. They called him that because he sat among the ashes to warm his toes. He had six older brothers, and they did not think much of […]
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder – Holly Jackson
The Death of Mrs. Westaway – Ruth Ware
Naked in Death – J.D. Robb
The Perfect Block – Blake Pierce
The Passengers – John Marrs
Slave Narratives; A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews – Work Projects Administration
Friend Request – Laura Marshall
Her Final Hour – Carla Kovach
Lethal White – Robert Galbraith, J.K. Rowling
Lady in the Lake – Laura Lippman
The Affair – Sheryl Browne
The Killing Habit – Mark Billingham
The Rules of Magic – Alice Hoffman
Poems – Rainer Maria Rilke
Bred in the Bone – Kendra Elliot
Before She Was Found – Heather Gudenkauf
Best Friends Forever – Margot Hunt
Immortal in Death – J.D. Robb
I See You – Clare Mackintosh
Killer Cupcakes – Addison Moore