All Stories, Crime/Mystery/Thriller

Celebrity Unconscious by Paul Thompson

typewriterA laptop illuminates the otherwise darkened room. On the screen is a website that she is all too familiar with, the one that has been taunting her for months. A new photo has been uploaded within the past couple of hours. She pulls out a chair but chooses not to sit – the surfaces are damp and the whole apartment smells of bleach and lemon.

The website is seemingly old fashioned by design. Page backgrounds are dark with a watermark logo. Fonts are bright and dated. Items jerk around the page whenever a window is resized or moved. An animated under construction image rotates and hovers in view at all times.

The homepage shows fourteen captionless photographs. The image quality is poor and they appear to be scanned copies of original prints. Each image shows a minor celebrity in a state of undress, always draped across an object or a piece of furniture. The pictures are unflattering and raw. The first image shows a reality star splayed across a four poster bed. The next is an ex-soap star lying face down into a giant beanbag. A television presenter slumps backwards over a pile of cardboard boxes.

And so on.

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All Stories, Crime/Mystery/Thriller

A Nice Night In by Diane M Dickson

typewriterLeaning against the grimy brick Mel scuffed her feet on the flags.  She flicked a fag end into a puddle of scummy rain water.  Her fingers quivered and shook, fiddling and picking at the little gold clasp on her shoulder bag.  She sniffed, wiped the back of her hand across her nose. She needed a fix but couldn’t have one yet, she needed to keep her wits about her.   She hated being out on the street, well of course she did but it was Saturday and so there was no choice.

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All Stories, Crime/Mystery/Thriller

Counting Feathers of Life by Sergei Walnisty

typewriterFirst rule of working with Brad Blackwood: improvise.

Second: get into your character’s skin.

Both hard to pull off–Brad Blackwood never shoots light flicks. Brad says, the plot should write itself. If so, the plot is one shitty writer. Anyway, Brad doesn’t write screenplays, so maybe it’s just an excuse.

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All Stories, Crime/Mystery/Thriller

The Sicilian by James Hanna

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Ask any shrink or probation officer, “What is the most troubling kind of client?”  You will hear the same answer every time: stalkers.  Not the run-of-the-mill stalker—the jilted boyfriend type—but the schizo who obeys no authority save the voice inside his head.  Lecture him, he will not listen.  Warn him, he will not be impressed.  Put him in jail and when he gets out he is likely to stalk you.

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All Stories, Crime/Mystery/Thriller, General Fiction, Horror, Short Fiction

Chicken by Hugh Cron

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“You nearly beat me that time William.”

“You’re very good Sir.”

“Sir…I like that…Tell me why you’re here?”

“I’m not sure Sir. I love this place. It’s just that, after you came to my house that night, I knew that I wanted to be with you. And I thought that you felt the same way.”

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All Stories, Crime/Mystery/Thriller, General Fiction, Humour

To Kill John Morgan by Hugh Cron – Adult Content

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“Hello cat! Balancing your arse on the window sill again. You need to lose weight…Pot and kettle…I know!!”

What are you chirping at? Ah, I see, the birds, how ironic!” Someone should have heard that, it was mildly amusing.

“You don’t need to puff up you idiot, I see him. What do you think? Breakdown or directions?”

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All Stories, Crime/Mystery/Thriller

Connecting the Dots by Patrick Henry

 

typewriterI came of age in a time of no heroes.  Or, rather, in a time when, because seemingly everyone was a hero, no one was.  At least that was how Mariska explained it to me.  She said that we Americans were so desperate to be saved from terrors both real and imagined that we’d pin a medal on just about anything that moved.

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All Stories, Crime/Mystery/Thriller

Author Part 2 by Frederick K. Foote

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Click here to read Author (Part 1)

The next morning I arrive at Judge Fong’s office at 7:30 am as ordered. I’m suffering a headache hangover. I’m mildly irritated to see the Judge’s Clerk beaming with excitement. “What’s up Bob? You look remarkably bright this morning.”

Robert “Bob” Mitchell gives me a classic shit-eating grin. “Tecumseh, your ass is grass. The Judge’s mad as hell at you for letting your client get killed. What the hell was that all about? That’s all everybody’s talking about is the Mayhew mess. The word is he was practicing voodoo–”

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All Stories, Crime/Mystery/Thriller

Killing Frost by Sharon Frame Gay

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James Frost leaned back in the recliner, adjusting his body into the soft confines of the old chair. It was leather, shiny with age, comfortable as a slipper. It was the only piece of furniture he had brought with him from home when he moved into Garden Court last year. Hell, at ninety-two it was time that he treat himself to a little comfort. He was tired of cooking, tired of housework, tired of watching his late wife’s garden wilt and deteriorate into patches of dirt, only memories remaining of the gladioli, daisies, and Lily of The Valley that Millie loved.

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All Stories, Crime/Mystery/Thriller, General Fiction

Author by Frederick K. Foote

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I meet my celebrity client, Edmond C. Mayhew, IV in the City Jail Interview Room Seven. Mr. Mayhew has the rugged, handsome look of an athlete/movie star even in his baggy prison orange. He appears confident, a little tense and a bit annoyed to find himself in his current predicament.

“Mr. Mayhew, I’m—”

“I know who you are, Tecumseh H. Douglass, the legal magician who swoops in and brings the bright glory of victory to the most dismal and darkest moments of despair. It’s truly my pleasure to meet you, especially under these circumstances.”

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