Tag: escape

Weird Stories

Halloween is the last day to pre-order this excellent collection of 35 weird stories for only $1.99. (For a taste of their tone, see a few of their blurbs below.) Beginning November 1, the ebook price will be $2.99, or you can have a paperback book to hold in your hands for $12.50. Even better, the proceeds go to the Against Malaria Foundation, where $2 buys one life-saving mosquito net. (AMF is one of GiveWell’s top-rated charities.)

The Rabbit Hole will be an intriguing addition to your library, and would make a welcome gift for anyone who cherishes a few hours of escape from Normal — or even the New Normal.

1a, The Rabbit Hole
Cover art by Ian Bristow

Foggy
A father and daughter’s boating trip is ambushed by a mysterious, underwater tormentor.

I Should’ve Known Better
There’s just one thing wrong with his beautiful luxury apartment: it’s a transdimensional portal.  Will the Flying Demon Things get him before he gets one of the centaur Babes?

The Scroll and the Silver Kazoo
You never know who (or what) will show up at an open mic event.

Quicksilver Falls
A mysterious phenomenon puts the future of the world in the hands of a simple Tennessee farmer and sparks the world’s strangest writing competition.

Satori from a Consulting Gig
Management consultant Frank Dow has a new client: God.

The Adventures of Conqueror Cat
Herr Trinket (a sharp-eyed and even sharper-tongued shelter cat) traverses an interdimensional rabbit hole into poochlandia to explore the enduring timey-wimey dog-cat dichotomy.

Eggs On End
Claudia had a secret: she was ordinary – agonizingly, mind numbingly ordinary.  But all that was about to change.  And it would all begin with eggs.

Life Changing
Lawrence decides to exercise his brain to avoid his Alzheimer-stricken mother’s fate, but when his life twists beyond recognition, he can’t escape the possibility that lost minds must be somewhere.

Carolina Brimstone
The passion of the zealot is proportional to the power of the demon inside.  Constance Hennfield’s fervor knows no bounds.

Thanks to Mellow Curmudgeon for compiling these blurbs.

Running Wild

Glad you could join us for the next imaginative episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Elliot 146
Photo credit: Ryun

At the news a prisoner had escaped, the Knights who had come to Fen with the King fell in behind him like a wall of spears.

“How did this happen? Was anyone hurt?” King Arnie questioned Barry.

“Someone claimin’ ta be a visitor knocked out da guard and stole his keys, yer Greatness. When he woke up, his head hurt, but he was okay enough ta take a trackin’ team after ’em.”

“And?”

“Dey caught up wit’ da guy dat busted her out, but dey lost da old woman’s trail.”

“Who is he?”

Barry shrugged. “Nobody knows an’ he wou’n’t talk.”

Continue reading “Running Wild”

The New Dungeon Master

Glad you could join us for the next break-out episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Elliot 136, Schneeengel on Deviantart
Image credit: Schneeengel on Deviantart

Madam Duggla yelled up the stairs, “What does a body have to do to get an extra blanket around here?” A late afternoon rain chilled her jail cell, aggravating her rheumatism and making her crankier than ever.

The lone guard descended the steps for the fifth time in an hour, not bothering to hide his own aggravation from the lone prisoner.

Continue reading “The New Dungeon Master”

Clifton

Glad you could join us for the next sneaky episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Photo credit: Mark Berkery
“What’s our Hero been doing all this time?” I’m glad you asked.

Elliot hadn’t eaten or slept since Cassandra disappeared more than two days ago. His infinite pacing traced a twisted, shiny slime path across the bower’s floor.

No one had heard from Vernon. His replacement, a pleasant enough nephew of Queen Lilian, unmotivated by anything except the promise of his next meal, apparently thought this new assignment was a vacation.

“Hey, Elliot, give the floor a break. Let’s go get a drink. It’s almost dinner time — wouldn’t it be nice to prime our taste buds with a little nectar first?”

Continue reading “Clifton”

Bogged Down in Doubt

Glad you could join us for the next mind-boggling episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Elliot 032
Photo credit: Matt Suess

Barry’s powerful frog kicks launched them forward so quickly, in moments they had left the burning woods and its evil spirit behind. They streaked on in utterly dark wetness.

Elliot had no idea how far they were below the surface nor how soon — if ever — they would rise to the top. The bubble trapped in his shell gave little buoyancy under the weight that compressed his world into a compact snail-shaped hole in the river.

If I felt like this on dry land, I would break out in a cold sweat. I hope my dear Cassandra doesn’t suffer in the same way.

Would he live to find out? The gash in his tail seared like molten lava. Speckles were beginning to float before his eyes, and he feared the coming of a darker shade of black.

Continue reading “Bogged Down in Doubt”

That Sinking Feeling

Glad you could join us for the next shocking episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Elliot 031
Photo credit: Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel

“Take a deep breath and hold on!” Barry shouted to his passengers.

They burst through the front line of the fire into a clearing on the edge of the river. Elliot shot a last look over his shoulder. Yvonne was gaining on them. We’re goners, he thought, closing his eyes against their imminent violent end.

Continue reading “That Sinking Feeling”

Hot Pursuit

Glad you could join us for the next fiery episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Elliot 030
Photo credit: suzi044

Elliot pitched the sweat-soaked lump of fluff at Yvonne’s head as Cassandra launched herself onto Barry’s back. Elliot vaulted up behind her and stuck himself to her shell as Barry plunged from branch to branch, closer and closer to the flaming hell below.

Continue reading “Hot Pursuit”

Gotta Go!

Glad you could join us for the next grueling episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Elliot G
Photo credit Grayson Hartman

Deep in the underbrush, Elliot finally stopped to rest. Sweat dripped from his eye stalks down the back of his neck, trickling under the front edge of his shell. “Great,” he muttered, “now I’ll get an itchy salt rash, and I won’t even be able to scratch it.”

An exotically accented, soft female voice emerged from the undergrowth ahead. “It is soundink to me as if you are needink a friend — a vife, perhaps.”

Curious, Elliot stretched his neck toward the sweet sound. “Who’s there?” he asked hopefully.

But when the leaves parted, Elliot’s eyes bulged in terror.

Continue reading “Gotta Go!”