by D Kershaw
Cliffhanger
by Bob Adder
Two strange men slowly creep out of the lush forest overgrowth, edging nearer and nearer. The two girls stand oblivious on the edge of the aged cliff.
Finally, the men emerge and one girl falls, air rushing past her as she plummets from the clifftop.
She gasps and screams at the sharp pains of the jagged rocks before she comes to rest of an overhang.
When she looks up, she sees the men dragging her sister off into the dark forest.
She lies there helplessly, bleeding, listening to the screams for help getting further away as her vision slowly fades.
BOB ADDER is an aspiring author and superhero geek from Melbourne, Australia.
Seasonal Suspects
by John H. Dromey
Before bleeding out, the stabbing victim crawled over to a large box of souvenirs she kept under her bed. Having ignored a heart-shaped brooch, a tiny stuffed bunny, and a bunch of Christmas decorations, she was found post mortem clutching a string of beads.
“Whodunit?” the lead investigator asked a consulting detective.
“Do you have the names of her roommates?”
“Yes. Sandra Klaus, Martina Grawe, Christine Krinklemeyer, Beatrice Mai Valentine, and Esther Rabbit.”
“It’s obvious then.”
“Not to me.”
“Look again. Those aren’t just any beads. They’re from New Orleans.”
“You mean?”
“Yes. The murder was committed by Marti Grawe.”
First published in Saturday Night Reader, 2014
JOHN H. DROMEY was born in northeast Missouri, USA. He enjoys reading—mysteries in particular—and writing in a variety of genres. He’s had short fiction published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Martian Magazine, Stupefying Stories Showcase, Thriller Magazine, Unfit Magazine, and elsewhere, as well as in a number of anthologies, including Chilling Horror Short Stories (Flame Tree Publishing, 2015).
To Stop Time
by Alexander Pyles
Fingers were laid out like a clock, thumb and pinky the hands. We found the watchmaker stuffed into a freezer out back.
Everything was scrubbed. No evidence. No DNA. The finger clock pointed to nine o’clock, but was that AM? PM? Was it the time for his next killing? The questions stayed with me, all the way home.
I was nursing my whiskey still thinking, when I heard a door slam.
Sitting out on my condo’s balcony, I peered through the screen to see a silhouette. My blood thickened. My gun was lying on the bed.
My watch read 9.
ALEXANDER PYLES resides in IL with his wife and children. He holds an MA in Philosophy and an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction. His short story chapbook titled, “Milo (01001101 01101001 01101100 01101111),” from Radix Media, is due out fall 2019. His other short fiction has appeared on 101fiction.org, River and South Review, and other venues.
Website: www.pylesofbooks.com
Twitter: @Pylesofbooks
Shining Lights Below
by Neen Cohen
“Third one this week!”
Ekka winds cut through his jacket as he shook his head.
All victims had been sexually active, the only thing in common. A blonde, a redhead and a guy, no apparent cause of death.
The Ferris wheel would be closed tomorrow, and he would no longer be working the murders.
She took in a deep breath as she watched the detective saunter off. From her seat atop the Ferris wheel, she watched the shining lights below, human and electronic.
Tomorrow she would move on.
Tonight she would enjoy the energy she sucked from her last victim.
NEEN COHEN lives in Brisbane with her partner, son and fur babies. She is a writer of LGBTQI, dark fantasy and horror short stories and has a Bachelor of Creative Industries from QUT. She can often be found writing while sitting against a tombstone or tree in any number of graveyards.
Facebook: Neen-Cohen-Author-424700821629629
Website: wordbubblessite.wordpress.com
Sweetest Revenge
by D.J. Elton
The herbalist guaranteed this potion. Five drops each day into Jamie’s porridge. Tastes like sweetener. After breakfast Jamie tells me, “You’re sick. So pathetic. Lost.” Then he strokes my cheek, grips my hair and throws me hard against the wall. He walks out to the car with his doctor’s bag and grey suit. I lay still. Pain radiates like frostbite. Today is different though because I can see that the herbs are starting to take effect. Jamie doesn’t know that he’s slowly being poisoned. No-one will ever find out because it will look like a massive coronary. I am patient.
D.J. ELTON writes fiction and poetry, and is currently studying writing and literature which is improving her work in unexpected ways. She spends a lot of time in northern India and should probably live there, however there is much to be done in Melbourne, so this is the home base. She has meditated daily for the past 35 years and has worked in healthcare for equally as long, so she’s very happy to be writing, zoning in and out of all things literary.
Twitter: @DJEltonwrites
Heiress
by Mark Mackey
A confession from Marcy Victornia—who, out of jealously over her identical twin sister, Amara, being named heiress to their family’s fortune over her—led Detective Amalia Casterford, gripping a long-handled shovel, to be digging in the ground. Just hours before, in order to take her sister’s place, Marcy had buried Amara six feet under.
Come on dig before she runs out of air! Amalia thought furiously, sweat pouring like mad down her face.
As Amalia continued to dig, her heart beating mad from the exertion, she breathed a sigh of relief as she reached Amara, eyes open and alert.
MARK MACKEY is the author of various self-published books and has had various short stories published in charity anthologies. They include such captivating titles such as Christmas Lites, No Sleeves and Short Dresses: A Summer Anthology, Painted Mayhem, and Grynn Anthology, among others. A long-time resident of Chicago, when not writing, he spends time reading various genres of books.
A Hostel in Karamea
by Kelli Pizarro
I left the UK to work a year in New Zealand. Come autumn, I planned to visit a hostel in Karamea to do some photography before returning to University.
Double rainbows, sunsets, the rainforest.
The hostel was rustic and gated, hours down an unmarked road with no cell reception.
I welcomed enthusiastically but learned we had no access to our cars come nightfall.
My second day there, I found stashed cookbooks on preparing human flesh and noted an unusually large pot in the kitchen.
I checked out.
A year later, there was no evidence of the place ever having existed.
KELLI PIZARRO is a lover of clean fiction, with two novels being released this year by Dragon Soul Press. Shanty by the Sea, releasing in August, is a Young Adult romcom novella set in New England. Roma Road: A Gypsy Tale, set to release in December, is a historical fiction novel highlighting the plight of the Romani people during Queen Elizabeth I’s rule. She has three previously self-published titles awaiting submission for publication. Kelli loves traveling, is currently planning a coffee shop-themed anthology, and enjoys writing drabbles. She lives in East Texas with her husband, three children, and five pets.
Facebook: authorkellipizarro
Twitter: kellipizarro
Karma
by Sue Marie St. Lee
“Be careful,” Daisy whispered to Curtis, “Karma’s right around the corner.”
“Oh yeah? Who the hell is Karma?”
With a loud bang, the trailer hitch was secured. They got away with it. Curtis and Daisy stole an eighteen-foot flatbed trailer.
With an unsuspecting buyer lined up, they were home-free, planning how to spend the money as they passed the four-hour-drive to the truck stop.
The unsuspecting buyer inspected the trailer and handed over
the money. Leaving in a cloud of dust, Curtis ran a stop sign.
“This is Jim Clancy with Karma landscaping. I need to report a fatal accident.”
SUE MARIE ST. LEE is a retired Finance Manager who has been freelancing, researching, writing content, designing corporate websites and brochures over the past fifteen years. She also started a small business specializing in digital photo restoration. Born and raised in Chicago, she moved to Canada where she and her husband raised their sons until her husband’s untimely death. As a young widow, Sue Marie employed her skills, tenacity, strengths and wisdom to support her young family. Currently, Sue Marie contributes to several blogs, is a ghostwriter for numerous online publishers and corporate websites. Her sons are grown, productive adults.
A Little Learning
by John H. Dromey
The Hole-in-the-Wallet gang had been inactive for several years, but when their leader was released from prison, they decided to rob the Pierian Spring Bank.
The only problem was the safecracker blew himself up instead of the vault.
“He may have been an illiterate bumpkin, but I’ll miss him,” the leader said.
“Didn’t Alex tell you?” an outlaw responded. “He learned to read while you were behind bars.”
“Now, you’re making me feel guilty.”
“Why, what did you do?”
“I put the nitro-glycerine in an old medicine bottle.”
“What difference did that make?”
“The label said ‘Shake Well Before Using.’”
First published in Little Stories for the Smallest Room by KnightWatch Press, 2012
JOHN H. DROMEY was born in northeast Missouri, USA. He enjoys reading—mysteries in particular—and writing in a variety of genres. He’s had short fiction published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Martian Magazine, Stupefying Stories Showcase, Thriller Magazine, Unfit Magazine, and elsewhere, as well as in a number of anthologies, including Chilling Horror Short Stories (Flame Tree Publishing, 2015).
An Irish Airman Foresees His Death
by Steven Lord
The crew looked at him. Regardless of what had been discussed, as Captain his decision would carry.
He balanced all, brought all to mind. He felt no overwhelming allegiance to the Crown. He certainly wasn’t invested in this war; those few Afghans that he’d met seemed decent types. No one back home cared.
He had joined to fly. After 18 years hauling cargo, even that was wearing thin. Everyone dies, he thought. Why not die rich?
“Fuck it. Let’s do this.”
The Hercules climbed away from Kabul, 12T of opium in the back, turned north, and was never seen again.
STEVEN LORD is a debut author based in the south of England. He is currently attempting to cram writing in alongside a busy day job, with varying levels of success. While his long-term aspiration is to get a novel published, at present he would be pretty pleased with a drabble or two.
The Killing
by Mark Mackey
Middle aged, married with children, Clara Rosewind and her best friend, Alisa Davens—killed in a car accident seven years ago—had got away with murder.
Who? Their high school cheerleader squad captain, Laurie Roseman.
How? A blow to the head with a huge rock.
Where? In the only forest preserve of their hometown of Harper’s Grove, Illinois.
The reason; Laurie’s not allowing them on the squad.
“Now let’s throw her in that old abandoned well where no one will ever find her,” Clara instructed as red streaks of crimson began to run down Laurie’s face.
No one ever did.
MARK MACKEY is the author of various self-published books and has had various short stories published in charity anthologies. They include such captivating titles such as Christmas Lites, No Sleeves and Short Dresses: A Summer Anthology, Painted Mayhem, and Grynn Anthology, among others. A long-time resident of Chicago, when not writing, he spends time reading various genres of books.
The Photos
by Sam M. Phillips
You stare at me, glazed glass, windows to a life now only a memory. I pull up the collar of my trench coat. Biting wind sweeps tumbleweed papers off to clog the gutters. Just like you, they’re yesterday’s news.
“This the dame you were telling me about?” asked Detective Harris.
I nod, sigh. “She was being blackmailed.”
“The photos?”
Lurid images flash before my eyes. You were beautiful, now look at you. I told you to just pay up—not like your family couldn’t afford it.
“You got any ideas who did this?” asked Harris.
“Yeah,” I said, “her father.”
SAM M. PHILLIPS is the co-founder of Zombie Pirate Publishing, producing short story anthologies and helping emerging writers. His own work has appeared in dozens of anthologies and magazines such as Full Moon Slaughter 2, 13 Bites Volumes IV and V, Rejected for Content 6, and Dastaan World Magazine. He lives in the green valleys of northern New South Wales, Australia, and enjoys reading, walking, and playing drums in the death metal band Decryptus.
Website: zombiepiratepublishing.com
Blog: bigconfusingwords.wordpress.com
Madman
by Pamela Jeffs
I stole it from the Widow Pirate in my younger days. Her treasure map. The scarlet ‘X’ stained on the parchment beckons me. Are you courageous? Have you the mettle to sail wild seas and battle demons to claim the prize?
Temptation prickles but the cold metal of my wheelchair anchors me in reality. Wish as I might, I’ll never step foot on that foreign beach, nor navigate the Bone Yard Passage to claim any treasure. I have deciphered the clues, but they are useless held in the fist of a broken man interred behind the walls of an asylum.
PAMELA JEFFS is a speculative fiction author living in Queensland, Australia with her husband and two daughters. She is a member of the Queensland Writers’ Centre and has had numerous short fiction pieces published in recent national and international anthologies. In 2017 and again in 2018, Pamela was nominated for an Australian Aurealis Award in the category of ‘Best Science Fiction Short Story’. Her debut collection titled ’Red Hour and Other Strange Tales’ was released in March 2018.
Website: www.pamelajeffs.com
Facebook: pamelajeffsauthor
Can’t Outrun a Bullet
by Marcus Cook
Through my scope, I see Garrett stretching before his run. When he was ten, Garrett pushed his baby sister off the picnic table. He then lied so he could go to Joey’s sleepover. As he got older, Garrett pushed a lot more people to get what he wanted. That’s until one of them hired me. I wonder if he knows he’s about to be killed by a girl.
He’s about to touch his toes. That’s it! Reach for them. I pulled the trigger. Brains splattered across the cement. I’m 50K richer.
Time for a chocolate muffin and a four-letter coffee.
MARCUS COOK, lives in Cleveland, Ohio native with his wife and cat. He loves Sci-Fi and thrillers. His short story, Ava Edison and the Burning Man was recently published in Burning: An Anthology of Short Thrillers by Burning Chair Publishing which can be purchased on Amazon.
Facebook: ReadMarcusCook
Extreme Neatness
By Olivia Arieti
The case of the prostitute found semi-naked with her throat cut was assigned to the impeccable Inspector Xavier, always so dignified and neatly shaven, whose methods though were considered more brutal than professional.
His apartment was spotless too, as if just whitewashed, with a few pieces of basic furniture and a king-size bed.
It was rumoured that he often had visitors.
Early one morning, while cursing for the loss of his razor, he was surprised by his colleague’s visit who handed him the missing item stained with blood.
Such maniacal neatness, a rather common mask for perversion, didn’t go unnoticed
OLIVIA ARIETI has a degree from the Unive
rsity of Pisa and lives in Torre del Lago Puccini, Italy, with her family. Besides being a published playwright, she loves writing retellings of fairy tales, and at the same time is intrigued by supernatural and horror themes. Her stories appeared in several magazines and anthologies like Enchanted Conversations, Enchanted Tales Literary Magazine, Fantasia Divinity Magazine, Cliterature, Medieval Nightmares, Static Movement, 100 Doors To Madness Forgotten Tomb Press, Black Cats Horrified Press, Bloody Ghost Stories Full Moon Books, Death And Decorations Thirteen O’Clock Press, Infective Ink, Pandemonium Press, Pussy Magic Magazine.
The Vanished in our Beds
by Ximena Escobar
I just wanted to go to bed—before I knew about “the grill”.
When they laid me on it, I felt relieved—just being out of “the box”, resting my cheek on the cool surface. But the officer dipped his hand in cold water; he traced my lips and genitals with his fingertips.
Sweat streamed out of me from the shocks. An unquenchable thirst dried me out inside, but I was afraid of water; had to wipe my ass with a page from “War and Peace”.
