While his wife is on a mission to Mars, an astronomer is assigned an android replica of her, which develops its own ambitions when both are making world-changing discoveries. This story starts…
Tag: short story
“Two Truths and a Lie” by Sarah Pinsker
A woman who has fabricated much of her life since high school discovers a past she had forgotten about that throws everything into question. This is a strange and slippery tale, with…
“In the English Rain” by Steve Duffy
Two teenagers sneak into an abandoned mansion that was briefly owned by John Lennon and discover that an even more infamous and sinister former inhabitant still holds sway there. This is a…
“Contrition (1998)” by J.A.W. McCarthy
A mysterious film wreaks havoc on the audiences and employees at a run-down movie theater. This is a dark and disturbing little story with a great premise.
“We Do Like to Be Beside” by Pete W. Sutton
A day at the beach turns strange and terrifying. This one had me thinking of Borges’ “Circular Ruins” – the neighbor family’s father dreaming among the sand piles that represent their neighborhood…
“Scream Queen” by Nathan Ballingrud
Two interviewers discover that their subject, an aging woman who was featured in a notorious horror movie, harbors many dark and surprising secrets. This story does a good job of building a…
“Let Your Hinged Jaw Do the Talking” by Tom Johnstone
A woman recounts to story of her parents’ courtship and the fire that destroyed her father’s business. This is an interesting retelling of “Bluebeard” – it’s no accident that the narrator’s father…
“The Devil Will Be at the Door” by David Surface
A man is tormented by a story and an experience of a haunted house. Good and subtly creepy, with a dreamlike sense of dread hanging on a very stark skeleton of a…
“Heath Crawler” by Sam Hicks
A dog walker encounters a strange man, his even stranger dog, and a woman who seems to be following him while out on the heath. This is a quietly unsettling little story,…
“Mouselode Maze” by Christopher Harman
Two landscapers are drawn to a foreboding hedge maze on an old estate that is being converted to a hotel. The story is not unpredictable – certainly we would expect something dreadful…