Under the Twinkle of Fading Stars (132)

Opening:
"It was the Halloween of 1963 and I wanted to be Peter Pan, not just in costume but also in life. Under the twinkle of fading stars and the age of sixteen, my dreams would be dashed. My brother came back from college and for a few short hours, I was a kid brother again. Gordy and I dressed as vampires and took a passel of kiddies door-to-door to scare the neighbors into giving treats, and then delivered the kids home. We ended the night on Cemetery Hill high above Union Hollow, our small Appalachian town."

Published in Halloween Shrieks, an anthology from Thirteen O'Clock Press
Available in paperback from Lulu - click here

The Zombie Blackmailers of Panocadia Three (WT 69)

A short remembrance of things past, 
a nostalgia of lost childhood, in a completely 
and utterly weird, Zombified sort of way.

Published in VOICES FROM A COMA - Issue 2
Free Download at Smashwords - click here

Also from IMAGINALIS

A Late Dinner (WT 118)

How did magic gain entry to the scientific world?
A tale of familial revenge.


Published in LAST NIGHT, an Anthology from Thirteen O'Clock Press
available in paper from Lulu click here

His Master's Voice (156)

In an abandoned warehouse, detectives find the latest victim of a serial kill and a rookie goes underground to find the killer in a world of S&M, rubber, and dog-boys. 

Quote: “The killer tags them just like they were pets. We think they might be runaways, street people, homeless or failed at life in some way. These are the itinerant workers, waiters in cheap dives, jitney drivers, hustlers. This gig must seem like heaven, playacting in costume, decent food,” Arborghast said. A Tech held a veterinary scanner up against the deceased man’s shoulder. It registered the number of a dog license. He tapped the screen and the name “Buddy” and a street address appeared. 

From "His Master's Voice" page 178.

Available in NEON & BLOOD, an anthology
Paperback at Lulu

Dogs At Midnight (WT 149)

No one came to this dark, rundown house, not Trick-or-Treaters or adventure-seeking boys with eggs and soap, not birds, or cats. No lights beckon through its wavy windows. A cursed man lives here and Death visits on Halloween.

This story was originally published online at THE TINY GLOBULE in 2008 and that website is now defunct. 

Reprinted in BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, an anthology from Thirteen O'Clock Press. 
Amazon: Kindle
LULU in paperback
LULU in ebook format

Have Some Madiera My Dear (125)

Two men responsible for screening artifacts from alien archeological digs discover that certain artifacts will not trigger their alarms and this day, their survival and the survival of the human race depend on Madeira and Cognac. It's an Old Gods and Cthulhu adventure of strange and bizarre proportions.

Published in the anthology: IN VINO VERITAS
Available: ebook or paperback

Iron City Sasquatch (WT 122)

One hundred years in the future when governments seek to renew old neighborhoods in a newfound gentrification, alien immigrants bring alien drugs. But these drugs are illegal on all civilized worlds and the interplanetary council has no choice but to send in bounty hunters to bring the alien drug dealer to justice.

Published in AN URBAN NIGHTMARE
an anthology from Thirteen Press

Available at:
Amazon: click here
Lulu in paperback: click here
Lulu in e-book: click here
Goodreads page: click here

(166) rain

Something to do with demons.

The Ghost at Four Bells (143)

A sailor in 2013 is haunted by the ghostly survivor of a fishing boat lost during the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa in the Sundra Straights between Java and Sumatra. When the ghost demands satisfaction for the loss of his family, another crew and their ship is in peril and the ghost must be put to rest. 

Published in: Whispers from the Past - Fright and Fear, an anthology edited by S.R. Generette.
AMAZON USA - click here
AMAZON UK - click here
AMAZON Canada - click here

The Day the Meth Lab Exploded (WT 113)

I'm in a cheap motel in Secaucus with two near-naked, drug-addicted ass-hats. That sounds like a throw away line from a cheap musical. The Braniac would demand funky jazz like--I’m in a cheap motel with two half naked drug addicts in Secaucus--with a high note on Secaucus. The ass-hats stare. I'm giddy from entering multiple time portals. My targets are smoking pot on a fire escape next to a room filled with ether. They will soon to be suitable for pauper's graves. 

So begins The Day the Meth Lab Exploded - buy it here: click here

Published by Lulu in PORTALS - an anthology of Portals, passageways, doors into infinity and who knows what else... the mere thought of escaping into something unknown or being taken into it without your knowledge or will to go there, surely that's one of the scariest things that can happen to you.
So, let the clever Thirteen O'clock authors loose with a topic like Portals and the result is a collection of vastly different stories exploring the theme in many different ways. (170 pages)

by it here: click here

Minotaur in the House (155)

A big strong muscle dude wants to wear a Minotaur mask one night. It's spring and he's been drinking. His friend has the perfect mask but it isn't perfect. It changes everything. 

Published on KALKION - click here

MetalCrank (162)

The latest drug - MetalCrank - fuses flesh to metal and provides a high like no other. The Newcomers gave it to the earth. Two addicts learn the ultimate purpose of the drug - one to honor and valor, the other to killing and oblivion.

The website - IMAGINALIS - published this story as part of a new Quarterly anthology  

VOICES FROM A COMA - 

Issue #1 is up and it is a free download. 

Gray Wolves Also Dream (WT 46)

Two friends dress as wolves to go to a Halloween party and have a fateful meeting with a delivery truck.

Published in SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHT TERRORS, an anthology by Silent Fray in Paperback
Click Here

The Book of Dreams (WT 102)

An editor believes he can capture the dreams of children and give them to everyone in the world in a book of dreams. 

Published in SWEET DREAMS AND NIGHT TERRORS, an anthology by Silent Fray in Paperback
Click Here

Five Friends in a Sinkhole Under a Red Sun (WT 117)

Six friends face an absurd and existential decision when a sinkhole opens in a railroad yard.

Accepted for Publication in GYPSIES AND GIANTS, an anthology

To be Published September 30, 2014

(157) Devils May Care

A revived story and a revised plot:
A trio of college guys want an adventure for Halloween and their trick or treating fun. They fall into the hands of a demon slayer as he confronts his prey, the demon itself. Not a happy place to be if you want to lead a long life.

Monster Trucks and Racing Tires (138)

A retired wizard with a new identity and a nice job falls victim to a plot involving truck racing, rubber tires, and spiders. Horror has a frolic and troubles ensue before magical Justice prevails on the race track of weird and strange. 

revised heavily from "stock cars with aliens" 

(154) Desert Crossroad

A contortionist takes a strange job at a home in the desert and discovers that the sun can shine on many things there, including agave plants and skeletons.

(165) A Night Under a Moonlight Sky

A management consultant arranges for a problem employee to spend a night under a moonlit sky, a night the employee will never forget . . . 

. . .  or live through

Garden Party (129)

How deep and ugly can sibling rivalry become? Can it sink into the depths of hatred and betrayal? Two brothers find out on a camping trip in a quiet forest glade.

Published in WHAT LIES BENEATH, an anthology of horror tales
Lulu in paperback: click here 
Lulu in ebook: click here
Amazon ebook: click here

Salvage the Dead (WT-126)

"I'm a salvor. I salvage what others don't want. Department stores, bankruptcy lawyers, and government services call me when they have excess or surplus. I take the unwanted or abandoned, buff it up, and resell it. People benefit from my work and they aren't aware of what I do."

So says Trevor Somerly as he prepares to salvage a piece of dock from Misawa, Japan. It was ripped away in the tsunami of 2011 and carried across the Pacific to Oregon.

Vice Grips the Rowing Team (130)

In a dystopian future world where the population has reached an overpopulation of ten billion and a plague forces women to have many more children to preserve the human race, what will crime and punishment look like? How will justice be dispensed?

Accepted in TOOL BOX,
available for Kindle on AMAZON
e-book at LULU
Paperback at LULU

The Cave Dwellers (139)

Twelve years before, the Mayan Year Zero brought a second moon that endowed magic on the adept. The old moon never gave the stony earth true life. It only gave mankind fire to stay warm and death to make them cold again. Some of the adept prospered, others withdrew into the dark recesses of the earth.

Accepted in PARTY TIME, an anthology