A young man with literary aspirations goes to work for a mail order catalog company who’s owner has publishing aspirations; it isn’t good for anyone. A better “New Yorker” story than many…
Tag: short story
“Suicide Woods” by Benjamin Percy
A new member unsettles and disrupts the normal flow for a group of survivors of suicide attempts, with disastrous consequences. The story is told from a collective point of view, the group…
“The Mud Man” by Benjamin Percy
A mud man grows in the garden where an accountant’s discarded fingernail falls, and slowly comes to replace the original with its efficiency and kindness. This story would pair well with Robert…
“The Cold Boy” by Benjamin Percy
A boy falls through the ice and returns strangely transformed. This is a laconic tale with a definite Minnesota feel to it – understated and matter-of-fact in its presentation of disturbing weirdness,…
“Deepster Punks” by Maria Haskins
Two workers on a deep sea mining rig face themselves and something that has followed them from another world. This story has a good balance of brooding dread and high adventure, and…
“Our Fallen Sons” by Robert Shearman
A stonemason carves the names of a town’s sons – both real and imagined – lost to war. This has the feel of a fable or fairy tale, and also a bit…
“Your Long, Loving Arms” by Robert Shearman
An out-of-work man takes a job as a tree and finds that it suits him. I like how this story leans into its weirdness and lets a coherent world form around it…
“Tanguska, 1987” by Maria Haskins
Eighty years after mysterious and powerful Metallics take control of humanity’s destiny with a mix of benevolence and tyranny, a teen is selected to become part of a world-shaping project. This felt…
“The Brightest Lights of Heaven” by Maria Haskins
Through imagination and ritual, two girls conjure a deadly game into the world. This is a fun story with a couple of interesting twists, almost cute but for the carnage.
“Dream Cargoes” by J.G. Ballard
After her captain and most of her crew abandon ship, a freighter carrying mysterious bioactive chemicals runs aground on an abandoned Caribbean island, causing runaway fecundity. This feels similar in some ways…