Brood (Short Sharp Shocks! Book 60) by Mark Anthony Smith is a brief but impactful offering of short horror. The imagery is visceral, punctuated by interesting language and word choices. The author obviously loves wordplay and creating clever sentences, scenes, and moods. The book begins...

There’s nothing like a good fairy tale to teach us, yet again (as we often need countless reminders), that true beauty is not something we see – true beauty comes from deep within a person. Life is hard and not always fair, but each of...

“I never gave much thought to magic until the day I went for a walk through the woods.” In The Unexplained by David Serra, a young man, Scott, encounters a strange magician who holds him captive when he tries to cross a woodland bridge. If...

Sitting somewhere between the great American short story and the great American novel, Grunts, Gramps & Tanks by Rick Bogdan is a series of connected short stories about Tyler Willett and his time serving in the U.S. Army, taking us from enlisting through to his...

Following the defining fantasy tradition of Tolkien, The Day You Were Born by Daniel Greenbrook presents us with a dark fantasy tale set in an age-long war between humans and elves. The war is not the subject of the story; rather it shows us the...

So Absurd It Must Be True: The Collection of Surreal Humor, Mystery, and Satire by Victoria Ray is the second book in the Unique and Absurd series, preceded by book one, Funny Tales for Dirty Minds. Ray introduces over two dozen original short stories that...

In A System of the Chaotic Mind by Katie M Marshall, throughout life, every person has to go through personal highs and lows to learn important lessons. Some more than others have to face experiences that make them draw on their strengths and overcome severe...

How Ferris Wolfe Got Fired by Beverly Garside is a novella that brings the office to life in a fast-paced, humorous whodunit. Garside puts together a cast of characters to rival the hit series The Office. Ferris Wolfe, the publisher of Aquatic Hobbyist Magazine, thinks...

Neon Noir: Episode One is a serial hard-boiled detective novella written by Jayme Lee. Dalton’s office was not the polished affair some imagined the natural habitat of a private eye, but it did mostly conform to the reality of an often gritty and danger-filled occupation....

"He had hoped that working at a concentration camp would give him a reprieve from graffiti. The guests were normally quiet and respectful while touring the grounds. He had hoped they would respect the memory of the murdered Jews and refrain from leaving graffiti in...