Category: Fiction

Side A Fiction: “Whirlpool” by Mark Wagstaff

Whirlpool The seaside painter paints what he sees. For tourists who scour the old town shops for authentic memories of their happy days at the beach. Who pay extra for signed and framed, to support artisan crafts. For friends, to settle small debts, though everyone knew these pictures never gained value. As presents, a quaint…
Flash Fiction for Bad Survival: “How to Acquire Land” by Genevieve Murdick

The Young Knight picked her out of what they’d left of her village, when she was just six. After loading up on as much milk and grain and heirlooms as he could fit on two bags on a horse, the Young Knight had room enough for a wife—but not an entire wife—not yet; and he…
Haunted Passages Short Fiction: “Fate Cat” by Olufunmilayo Makinde

“Keep your hat on!” Ajoke’s mother yelled as she watched her daughter leave for school. “Yes ma!” Ajoke yelled back, pulling her cap tighter over her head by its brim as she ran out of the house and headed toward the bus outside. Ajoke was born with a cat on her head, just like her…
Fiction from the Future: “Stephen Rogata” by Hugh Behm-Steinberg

The TV is on halfheartedly, a documentary about human flies the kids and us are sort of watching, though as a ghost I’m drawn more to the spaces in between the pixels than the imprisoning overall grid itself. My brother Kevin, head full of beard and nodding, leans against my side of the couch but…
Fiction for Bad Survivalist by Russell Brakefield: “A Temple and a Church and an Ashram”

Julian had a way of falling into shadow even in the dark. As the fire kindled, he shifted in his camp chair, avoiding the flame’s oblong spotlights. “Are you cold?” I zipped my own coat higher and tucked my hair inside my hat, one of the green beanies I’d knit when I was pregnant with…
Fiction from the Future: “How to Use This Instruction Manual” by Ron Burch

Remove the Instruction Manual from the container. Usually this is a box, mostly cardboard, with the item to be constructed also within. This may also include parts and tools. Do not throw anything away. It has all been enclosed to help finish the project. Separate the parts and identify with the Instruction Manual that they…
Book Excerpt: Three from Tricia Middleton’s Novel-in-Verse Obsidian Situations

What is the obsidian situation? An act of mourning, committed in a mood of cocky abjection, against indifference and hollow repetition. The element is wet: fountains, sweat, vapours, wine, puddles, tears tears tears, soggy towels and the Seine flowing beneath. The form is layered, carefully folded, then crumpled and held together with an ancient ribbon.…
New Fiction for Haunted Passages: “Three Magi (Or Three Lost Men)” by Garrett Crowe

I. A bottle opener in the shape of a mystic—I purchased it at an antiquary that specialized in items made between the 50s and 70s. On a nail, the mystic hung upside down, legs crossed, praying with hands at his heart. It was molded in brass. I had to have it. It reminded me of…
Haunted Passages: Three Microfictions by Addison Zeller

The Dinosaurafter Augusto Monterroso The tip of the tail (a barb almost, dripping with rainwater) gleams despite the intervening clouds and leaves as sunlight plays on its back, continuing, while the storm passes on, along its skin and spine, and arcs like the rainbow that has already begun to form, until it pools in the…