The audio production of winter horror story Matches—a dark(er) retelling of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Match Girl—is now available to listen to on the Lunatics Radio Hour podcast.
It’s the first story, starting about one minute into the show.
My short horror story Things Are Looking Up has been published by Exquisite Death. After a man and his wife are in a fatal car accident, the man decides he will do anything to see his wife one more time. Even if he has to dig.
I’ve been in a dark place since the accident.
I know I need to let her go, to accept that I’m never going to see her again, but I can’t. I can’t rest. I can’t lie still. I can’t move on. All I can do is think about her. My wife. My love.
My Lisa.
My short (non-horror) story Dawn Patrol has been published by Written Tales Magazine. It’s about the sun setting on an old relationship that has run its course.
Scott steered his bike one-handed into the empty parking lot at Salt Creek Beach and coasted toward a row of palm trees inked black against the soft pink sky. He lowered his bike to the ground, then gazed at the water. The ocean was polished glass. Scott sighed. The surf report had promised chest-high swells. Normally, he would have been disappointed at having woken up extra early for nothing. Today, he didn’t care. He was awake anyway. He had never gone to sleep.
My psychological horror story A Perfect Fit has been published in Issue #38 of The Literary Hatchet. This special double issue is available to download for free, or you can pick up a print copy from Amazon.
The story is about a middle-aged woman who will do anything to maintain her youthful appearance. If the movie The Substance resonated with you, you should appreciate this one. It’s not a body horror, but it comes from the same place.
I stepped back to admire Poppy’s frame, noting the slight dimpling of cellulite visible on her hips and the fine vertical lines along the top edge of her upper lip. The ghost of a gray hair peeked out from behind the bangs she had added to hide her creased forehead.
“Poppy! Look at you!” I gushed. “How are you so perfect?”
My modern fantasy story It’s What’s Inside That Counts has been published by Heimat Review and is now free to read on their website. It’s about a young girl who realizes for the first time that there’s a ticking clock inside of every living thing.
Content warning: terminal illness of a child
My dark sci-fi drabble Final Notice has been published by 100-Foot-Crow. It’s about what happens when you forget to make the payments on your self-driving car.
The first time I tried Chauffeur, it felt like magic. I watched in awe as it effortlessly piloted my car through traffic, the driver’s seat empty. Naturally, I signed up. $199 per month. I thought I could afford it.
I was wrong.
The audio production of my psychological horror story Me, a Hero is now available to listen to for free on the Lunatics Radio Hour podcast. It’s about a man who joins the search for a missing girl in hopes of making an appearance on the local evening news.
Content warning: stalking (implied)My story starts around the 17:30 mark.
The audio production of my horror drabble Everything You Know About Witches is now available for free from the Tiny Frights podcast. It’s about a woman about to be burned at the stake, and the (mostly) mistaken assumptions that sent her there.
The audio production of my nostalgic 1980s “kids on bikes” horror story Many Deaths Before Dying is now available on The NoSleep Podcast. When a giant, silvery puddle appears in the field where they play, four boys encounter an inexplicable horror that will change them forever.
I’ve had a number of stories produced by The NoSleep Podcast over the years, but this is the first full-length story that has appeared in a regular episode. It took almost two years for this to be released, but I’m so happy with the end result. They did an excellent job with the casting and production.
Content warning: suicide (implied)My story starts around 44:45.
My weird fiction story The Salt Circle has been published in the latest issue of Moonday Mag. It’s a like a werewolf story, but with slugs. Yeah.
“I just don’t want you to get hurt,” Linda said, wiping at her nose with a soggy, crumpled tissue. “I’m worried about you.”
I extended my eye stalks toward her, giving her what I hoped was a look of indignation. I couldn’t believe she was trying to spin it like it was my fault. “If you didn’t want me to get hurt, maybe you shouldn’t have been so quick to deploy the chemical weapons.”
She waved her tissue with a dismissive gesture. “It’s just a little salt.”
Warren Benedetto 