A young sailor sneaks ashore and has several life-threatening adventures; he is saved in the end due to an act of kindness he performed on an earlier journey. This has a fairy…
Tag: short story
“The Desert of Wounded Frequencies” by Betty Rocksteady
A man driving across the desert in a broken-down car catches disturbing sounds among the static on the broken radio and is forced to face his own darkness. A grim little story…
“The Boy Upstairs” by Joshua Ferris
A woman at the periphery of a putative tragedy finds her life unraveling as she ponders whether she would bargain away her happiness for the sake of another person. As New Yorker…
“The Cicerones” by Robert Aickman
A British traveler has an unusual tour of a Belgian cathedral. This is a quietly unsettling Aickman story, with the weirdness building gradually with each morbid piece of artwork in the cathedral…
“The Reaper’s Image” by Stephen King
An antique mirror displays an image of the Grim Reaper to some who gaze into it, causing them to disappear without a trace. This is an enjoyable weird tale that bridges the…
“The Botany of Desire” by Betty Rocksteady
A young man’s life takes a turn when he discovers mysterious flowers growing from his apartment’s walls. Enjoyably weird and dream-like.
“The Unsettled Dust” by Robert Aikman
An officer of an historic trust stays in an old manor house occupied by a pair of sisters, a wistful ghost, and a lot of dust. Like most Aikman stories, this one…
“Something Is Coming” by Betty Rocksteady
A woman feels herself being watched, at first in quietly uncomfortable ways and then in horrifically terrifying ways. This is a delightfully creepy story full of paranoia and dread, playing with themes…
“Tiny Bones Beneath Their Feet” by Betty Rocksteady
A representative of a feral cat rescue group visits an unusual colony of cats and their reclusive caretaker. This is a dark and twisty little story; it didn’t go quite where I…
“It’s Easy to Shoot a Dog” by Maria Haskins
A girl and her dog return to a witch’s forest cottage where she made a dangerous bargain ten years before. A fairy-tale-like story that pulls together a few of Haskins’ favorite themes…