Standalone Short Story Recommendations

September sees us highlighting some of the best short stories available, ideal for a quick read in between longer books. So, check out a few of them, and maybe even discover your new favourite author!

The Artist by P.J. Blakey-Novis

The Artist: A Short Horror Story, one of the stories from The Artist & Other Stories. A young man with a talent for drawing learns that his ‘gift’ comes with sinister implications. Buy UK and US

 

 

 

 

The House That Evil Made by Sarah Northwood

A creepy ten-minute read

To the outside world, she is an ordinary farm girl, but the truth isn’t always what it seems.

Desperate to discover the reason her parents don’t love her, she has no one to turn to when the house feels haunted.

If she tries to escape, will she get wrapped up in the truth of the house and will she ever get her revenge? Buy here

The Silver Feather by Joanne Van Leerdam

A graveyard.
A talisman.
A confrontation with evil personified.

When Phil loses the girl he loves, life as he knows it comes to a screeching halt.
Little does he realise that there is so much more yet to be lost.

This haunting, macabre tale will please all lovers of horror and dark fiction. Buy here

Last Call by Kaye Lynne Booth

Things aren’t going too good for Derek and he thinks his life his over, until he stops in for a Last Call. Will a bar in the middle of nowhere turn out to be his curse or his salvation? Buy UK and US

 

 

 

Crystal Bones and Gossamer Wings by Dona Fox

A box full of newspaper clippings, photographs, and tiny bones found under a dying woman’s bed leads to the discovery of the existence of an unusual group of children. Kept apart, these children grew up believing their fathers were the wealthy mortal men who had wed their pregnant mothers. One of these children was named Crystal, she was raised by a scientist who was obsessed with the secret of winged flight; her mother died during one of his tests and Crystal was sent to a foster home. As an adult, she’s searching for her father, while strange furies rise within her that become harder to control. Can she find her mortal stepfather? Will he have the answers? Can he tell her who she is, what she is, and what’s wrong with her? Will she find the others like her before it’s too late? Buy here

Because, Spiders by Pamela Morris

Nine-year-old Helen will do just about anything to avoid spiders, especially the one that she believes killed and ate the neighbor’s dog. Buy here

 

 

 

 

Journal of Freitous by Diny Van Kleeff

Freitous is just about habitable, if you are taller than the Pelsopher – but when a new ship lands in the middle of the night, Official Documenter, Garb becomes suspicious about the motives of the strange Earthling Captain and his plans to harvest the planet’s most useless resource. Buy UK and US

***Free September 1st to 5th***

 

 

 

Dog Soldiers by K. A. Denver

A military man, taken by brute force, wakes up in a strange place where there is no honor amongst men. It’s survival of the fittest and to be the leader of the pack, he must claw his way to the top. Literally!

A gory little short story. Buy UK and US

 

 

Christ on a Bike! by D.J. Doyle

A short spinoff story from The Celtic Curse: Newgrange, just for a little giggle. I hope this to be the start of something bigger for Father Jack and his posse.

Father Jack and his pontification of priests are on their travels to conduct an exorcism. Demons can lurk in every corner.

Can Father Jack overcome the demons within? Buy here

 

Night Terrors by P.J. Blakey-Novis

Waking at 2.44am, each night the same, one man struggles to hold on to his sanity. Are his fears the result of an over-tired imagination, or something more sinister? Night Terrors is one of the short stories from Collection IV: Karma & Other Stories. Buy UK and US

 

 

 

A Perfect Memory by Dona Fox

I am going to die here. My name is Mindy Mason; I’m a student from the University. I volunteered for one experiment; it was to be for one day only. I want to go home now. I know Wendy has a knife, and she will kill again. How can I stop her? Buy here

 

 

 

The Bet by K. A. Denver

‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, names will never hurt me…’

This spooky little short shows us how pride really can come before a fall.
Greg and Bob take on a bet they think will clear their names, but they soon discover there is more to fear than being labelled a coward. Buy UK and US

 

OMFG! by D.J. Doyle

Father Jack is at it again. This time, Jack is working to close a rather large portal. Buy here

 

 

 

 

The Last Woman On Earth by Lee Smart

Natalie is the only person untouched by a strange virus that warps its victims into hideous monsters, creatures of tooth, claw and mutated flesh. After weeks of surviving and evading the infected, the monsters have finally found her. With her home surrounded and barricaded against the horde with seemingly no way out, Natalie prepares to make what maybe her final stand against the twisted horrors who hunger for her blood…

Previously released as part of ‘Stories from the Outer Dark: Vol 1’, now available as a single short story. Buy UK and US

Quad by Toneye Eyenot

Here in this short story, we have a protagonist, trying beyond hope to keep it together while recounting the terrifying events that have led him to this undisclosed location. Left to his own devices, trapped in a steel and glass box, and writing what may well be his final words, you are dragged into the darkness of his mind.
The rising insanity, as the narrative shifts haphazardly between stifling claustrophobia and full blown chaos, will take you on an unnerving journey where you will not only question his own hope for survival, but for the very survival of humanity itself. Buy here

A House Out Of Time by John Decarteret

Several people come across a house on a quiet road. They are immediately put on edge by the lady of the house who does not speak and sends them to a guest bedroom. A window dominates the setting and the view with its ever changing landscape, sends the occupants of the room into a state of fear as their lives are threatened by different dangers. They try to find a way to escape, and survive the House Out of Time. Buy here

 

Our spotlighted books for the rest of the year are listed below, so keep an eye out for those.

October – 31 days of Horror

November – Fantasy Books

December – Children’s Books