Tag / free

by Warren Benedetto

“Wine List for the Apocalypse” published by The Weekly Humorist

My post-apocalyptic satire Wine List for the Apocalypse, Courtesy of Your Olive Garden Sommelier has been published by The Weekly Humorist. Listen in as tonight’s sommelier, Giovanni, reviews the wine list against a backdrop of flickering firelight from our ruined Earth.

Our Pinot Grigio? Unfortunately, we’re unable to properly chill it to our satisfaction, mostly due to the lack of refrigeration and basic human sanitation. Without electricity, the closest thing we have to refrigeration is the cold realization that all is lost.

by Warren Benedetto

“Die On Your Feet” published by Havok Magazine

My short horror story Die On Your Feet has been published as part of Havok’s Thriller Thursday series. It’s only free to read for the next 24 hours, so catch it while you can.

The story is about a group of survivors huddling close to the ground to avoid whatever is lurking in the fog just overhead. It’s an allegory about what happens to people who deny the reality of their situation, despite all the evidence telling them they are wrong.

Content warning(s): mild gore

“It ain’t real,” Grady insisted. “Think! Have you ever actually seen one of the things up there?”

“No, but I’ve seen what it does to people.”

by Warren Benedetto

Listen to “Scrapple” on the NoSleep Podcast

My microfiction horror story Scrapple is featured as the cold open on this week’s episode of The NoSleep Podcast. The story starts at 2:07. Listen for free on your favorite podcast app.

Content warning(s): domestic violence (implied)

by Warren Benedetto

Two stories published in The Literary Hatchet

Two of my favorite horror stories, They Say Crows Can Remember Faces and Something’s Wrong With Mom, have been published by The Literary Hatchet. The entire issue is free to download for the next month, so grab a copy while you can.

  • They Say Crows Can Remember Faces is the story of a what happens when a bully picks on the wrong girl, who may or may not be a witch.
  • Something’s Wrong With Mom is the story of two young boys who wake up to discover that their mother is on the ceiling. Again.
by Warren Benedetto

“The Man Who Ate the Road” published in Haven Spec Magazine

My weird horror story The Man Who Ate the Road has been published in Haven Spec Magazine. When a woman tries to return home after visiting her abusive father, she discovers that the road is closed … but just for her.

It wasn’t until I had already steered onto the narrow shoulder and rolled to a stop that I began to realize how risky it was for me to pull over. I was a woman driving by myself down a deserted highway in the middle of the night, in the middle of the woods, in the middle of nowhere. I was completely and utterly alone.

by Warren Benedetto

Listen to “A Piece of the Sky” on The NoSleep Podcast

The audio production of my sci-fi horror story A Piece of the Sky has been released by The NoSleep Podcast. It’s told through the testimony of the surviving member of a two-person asteroid mining crew that picked up an unfortunate souvenir during their expedition. The story starts around 33:00.

The story was originally published by The Dread Machine in October. It’s free to read online now and will appear in their Issue 2.4 print issue soon. The print magazine is gorgeous and copies sell out fast, so you should pre-order one now while you can.

With all due respect, sir, you don’t know what you’re talking about. There was no way Bakely could’ve known what the thing was when he picked it up. It looked like a rock. Hell, it was a rock, just a hunk of the asteroid’s crust that he grabbed as a souvenir for his kid. There’s no way he could’ve known it was a nest.

by Warren Benedetto

Read the entire “Override” novella for free

The full version of my cyberpunk thriller Override is now available to read for free.

“This conversation will be the last thing you remember.”

Originally published as a three-part serial in Dark Matter Magazine Issues 007, 008, and 009, Override is the story of a man who volunteers to be converted into an AI-driven automaton in exchange for a company taking care of his wife and his sickly son for the rest of their lives. But when the company reneges on its end of the bargain, his wife must navigate an underworld of violent criminals and corrupt corporations to find him, free him, and bring him back home.

by Warren Benedetto

Listen to “A Thing of Beauty” on The Storyteller Series podcast

The audio production of my body horror story A Thing of Beauty is now available for free on The Storyteller Series podcast. As a fleshcrafter, Anastasia Dao has the unique ability to remake a person’s outside to match the beauty within. But when one of her girls is viciously murdered, she realizes that revenge can be a beautiful thing.

The body hanging from the ceiling began to writhe, straining against the inside of the translucent, teardrop-shaped sac in which it was encased. The sac stretched and distended, pressing outwards in all directions as the figure inside struggled to break free. 

by Warren Benedetto

“A Piece of the Sky” published by The Dread Machine

My sci-fi horror story A Piece of the Sky has been published by The Dread Machine. It’s told through the testimony of the surviving member of a two-person asteroid mining crew that picked up an unfortunate souvenir during their expedition.

With all due respect, sir, you don’t know what you’re talking about. There was no way Bakely could’ve known what the thing was when he picked it up. It looked like a rock. Hell, it was a rock, just a hunk of the asteroid’s crust that he grabbed as a souvenir for his kid. There’s no way he could’ve known it was a nest.

by Warren Benedetto

“Baby Food” published by Teleport Magazine

My horror story Baby Food has been published in Teleport Magazine. It’s about a man who convinces his wife to overcome her fear of bears to go camping with him, only to discover that what awaits them in the woods is much, much worse.

I looked around the area where we stood. There were no signs of trouble, no other indication that anyone had been there. But obviously, someone had been. Something must have happened. And whatever it was, it couldn’t have been good. Scratched into the side of the water bottle were two words, just six letters, in all caps:

HELP ME