The door swings open, and a big, too-likable face gazes down at me. “Hi,” the twenty-something says, inviting me in and — I’m not kidding — playing host. “Want a beer? I’ve got Guinness.” A beer? Seriously? “No,” I snap.… Continue Reading
“GREENVILLE,” read the sign. “POP 1,624 HUMBLE EARTHLING SERVANTS. HAIL ZORDOK!” In spray paint, below: “DON’T RAZE US, BRO!” Sheryl frowned. “I think we took the wrong turn. We’re supposed to still be in Spring Grove.” “Qroocha znuk!” Emperor Zordok… Continue Reading
Colleen woke to a fog blooming over the snow. The whiteness, wafting and voluptuous, billowed by her bedroom window — or rather Sarah’s window. Her daughter, back at college for the spring semester, wouldn’t be home anytime soon, and Colleen… Continue Reading
Jack’s still waiting around for his wife, Frances, to hurry on up and pay for their groceries already so he can have his supper. Ain’t that why we come here in the first place? She’s still talking to that goddamn… Continue Reading
“What’s that sound?” asks my wife, Kadie. She and I lie in the loft of the barn, the wan light of a cloudy dusk making the world a shadow play through the unshuttered hay door on the west side of… Continue Reading
“I said it was aliens from space what took her.” Detective Southby looked away as if I had said something really stupid. He stuck his spiral notebook and pen in his coat pocket. The blackened circle of grass centered in… Continue Reading
“Please, don’t,” I plead, placing sweating palms on the counter, my heart racing. It’s all I can think to say. It’s not enough. The clerk’s eyes flick toward me, back to the gunman, who’s looking away, checking for other customers.… Continue Reading
They sat on the couch staring at the television, he in baggy pajama bottoms and a sweatshirt, she in a faded flannel nightgown and a pair of his black socks. “It’s getting chilly,” she said. “Uh-huh. You want me to… Continue Reading
“Oh, look. A new study finds that sugar causes depression. How about that, May. I guess we’ll have to quit eating sugar. We don’t want depression. Depression will kill ya.” Harold’s hands tapped his viewing screen, making it scroll. “Yes… Continue Reading
Something brought her out of sleep. A scream, she thought. It was guttural, near inhuman, and seemed to stretch out into the expanse of night and recede into the dark. She couldn’t tell if it had been real. She didn’t… Continue Reading