HUNTER (2013 Redux)
My name is Hunter. My name is my trade. I don’t mean to sound like a Sin City narrator or anything. I just want to get all the perfunctory introductory…
Choosing a battleground
Avebury is an idyllic village in the English countryside. From every angle it is a colourful and warm place. A sedate life brings easy smiles to its residents…
Beginners Luck
Underneath Henna’s passenger seat, there was a machete, a 38 Special, and a rusted sickle with a missing handle. Janis quietly felt the shape of each…
The Life Cycle of a Mircean Blow Fly
Anton had been dead for twenty days now. His body was left in a shallow ditch in the woods. His killers didn’t even bother burying his corpse. The…
Daig of the Wicker Man
“I’m innocent!” Daig shouted. The three druids ignored him and continued the wicker man ritual. The first druid lit his torch. “You’re as good as ash,” said a…
Worm Food
Joey “the Slick” Lema and Mason “the Bull” Malleti had a gruesome task to do, but as mooks of the Carnosa family, it was their duty. Bull reached into the…
The Spirit of the Hunt
Three nights ago, ten hunters were warned about Graybark Forest. Villagers claimed they were cursed and that hunting was not permitted in them. The hunters…
The Buzz of Bozza Bogs
Within the peatlands of Tirnaland, there exists a place called the Bozza Bogs. Men have entered the Bozza perfectly sane, only to exit and commit murder…
There's a Nasty Bug Going Around
“Your son has had this fever for how long?” the doctor asked. “It increased rapidly two days ago,” the father replied. “My time has been stretched thin…
They Called it the Torch-Maker
Ursul and Grendel held their axes at the ready. They weren’t afraid to challenge wandering fiends this deep into Galli’s woodlands. The two barbarians were…
Sovereign of the Bone Fields
The land was barren. The soil had been saturated by the death of hundreds of thousands in the early years following the Great Cataclysm. The land came to be…
Shadows of Life
I sat in the shadows of my living room, beer cans littering the table top. I sipped another, eyes half closed. I finished it, crushed it in my fist and chucked…
A Deal
The demon harrumphs. “So either I take your unwilling soul or lead you to the One you seek and get nothing at all. That does not sound like a good deal.” Tom…
off the path
“What do we do?” Tom whispers, zipping up his pants, watching the eyes. “Ow! Sonofa-” he yelps, catching himself in his zipper. The eyes leap at the noise…
packing for a journey.
Tom whistles softly, as he fingers Jose’s blanket poncho. The thick fabric has been woven over wrought chain mail. Jose dons the armored poncho with a grunt…
a burrito at the cantina, headed to trouble.
Enraged the dark shadow bellows in fury - but it has no power within the cantina. The saloon doors slam shut and the phantasm is gone. Jose casually cleans a…
The piano playing demon.
I was hovering over the large man’s shoulder, affixed on his lanky fingers playing friskily over the keys. It was a piece by Frederic Chopan called Etude Op…
Mechanical Stars II
The noises stop and the sun smothers the moon. The girl wakes, thinking last night was a dream. The door shuts with a bang. The air is cold and sinks into her…
Faster round the bloody spiral
A small shadowy figure kneeled in the attic corner with only a dim candle illuminating her alabaster face. Outside a wicked summer storm howled across the…
Brother's lament
My brother and I have an interesting relationship. We are tight as siblings, but ever since we sort of became our own persons, our interests separated…