Dark Comedy Short Stories

Mystical. Weird. Hilarious. It's a tale of idiots. It's a tale of life. A dumb cast of characters you have to see to believe. The surgeon on an acid trip. The lazy Uncle who fuses with his favorite chair. The boy who comes back from the dead for revenge. Bootsy Collins. What do these people have in common? About as much as you have with Kevin Bacon.

Rachel Klein never meant to kiss her creative writing professor, but with his long eyelashes, his silky hair, and the sad, beautiful life he laid bare on Twitter, she does, and the kiss is very nice. Zahid Azzam never planned to become a houseguest in his student's sprawling Connecticut home, but with the sparkling swimming pool, the endless supply of Whole Foods strawberries, and Rachel's beautiful mother, he does, and the home is very nice.

Ebola Saves the Planet! and Other Wholesome Tales is a collection of 11 wild tales from the mind of Matthew A. Clarke.

A senior older brother calls his sister to pay for his prostitute. A dissatisfied young housewife attends a Total Woman seminar. Twirling class from a tyrannical band director. Just a few of the East Texas hard-living souls erupting from Small Texas, a collection of short stories from the wild mind of Cindy Marabito

O.J. Simpson in an alternate reality and blind ninjas ushering in the apocalypse are just two of the beautifully written tales in this seminal work of art, from the mind of a human being the likes of which God and the devil wholeheartedly agree upon. While drenched in comedy, Laughter's Cold Shadow takes on the darkest of subject matter: murder, rape, racism, the nuclear family, ninjas, Nazis, zombies, police brutality, drug cartels, hedonism, psychopathy, and more.

Fearless, candid, and incredibly funny, Lauren Holmes is a newcomer who writes like a master. She tackles eros and intimacy with a deceptively light touch, a keen awareness of how their nervous systems tangle and sometimes short-circuit, and a genius for revealing our most vulnerable, spirited selves. With heart, sass, and pitch-perfect characters, Barbara the Slut is a head-turning debut from a writer with a limitless career before her.

Nobody likes getting bullied, and Donny has had enough. Deciding to take matters into his own hands, he solicits the help of the old Asian man at the end of his street to teach him Karate. During a grueling two days of training, Donny earns belt after belt, until he finally becomes a Karate Master.

SF 소설가 곽재식의 소설은 당연히 SF적인 내용을 담고 있습니다. 이 단편집만 해도 초공간 도약 항법도 나오고, 인공지능도 몇 가지 나오고, 외계인과의 퍼스트 컨택트도 나옵니다.

Sie lieben sich, sie hassen und sie töten sich – mit Alpenveilchen, Christrosen oder Eisenhut denn gegen alle(s) ist ein tödliches Kraut gewachsen, egal, ob ausgediente Ehemänner, alte Widersacher, verhasste Haustiere oder nervende Nachbarn. Wenn böse Menschen die hohe Kunst der botanischen Giftmischerei zelebrieren, wird es mörderisch spannend – bis zum letzten Blatt.

After a failed petition to change his career, Bill, the local pottery maker and town drunk, is coerced by his neighbors and king to join an expedition to hunt down and slay a mighty dragon that plagues their village.

Oliver Smith, known as Food to his friends, so called on account of the fact he can’t afford to feed himself, is a vagrant. After being turfed out from the family home by his wife, Food moves into a lads’ flat in the big city. However, things are not so easy for Food as he struggles with advancing his nonexistent career, housemates who refuse to give him a break, as well as the government, who Food is convinced are stalking him. These are the least of Food’s problems, however, given that due to his impoverished nature, he struggles on a daily basis to even feed himself.

Twister does (as "they" say) what it says on the tin.... It twists us around and spits us out saying "Really?" and "Well I never!" Yes, each of these tales has something unexpected to startle and tease!

Mr. White, a 70-year-old man - rich and somewhat eccentric - faced with the sensation that his death draws near, decides to hire a secretary to record his last words. What he cannot imagine is how difficult it will be to find this secretary. A tale on the passage of time, narrated with humor and a touch of nostalgia.

Das Beste aus 20 Jahren vom Shootingstar der deutschen Literatur: Geschichten über die schwäbische Heimat, das Berliner Exil und das ferne Amerika. Komisch und melancholisch. Vielschichtig und pointiert. Für den literarischen Genuss und den großen Lesespaß. "Seine Geschichten zu lesen ist ganz einfach immer wieder ein sehr großes Vergnügen." Horst Evers. Gerade als seine Mutter den Führerschein macht, lässt der Gemeinderat eine Fußgängerampel aufstellen, mit fatalen Folgen für Mensch und Tier.

It’s bad enough that its venom-dripping chelicerae can slice through flesh like warm butter. Worse? It’s right there under the bunk. It’s a fact now. To make it through the night, the children must obey the rules: don’t get out of bed, stay out of the shadows, and don’t wake the beast. But as the threats multiply, so do the rules of survival. And with the safety of dawn still hours away, the fun is just beginning.

There is a distinct surreal quality to some (including "Exposure" and "And Now Let's Have Some Fun"), a strong sense of irony (as in "You Too Can Graduate in Three Years with an Advanced Degree in Contextual Semiotics"), and moments of awkward and therefore very real grapplings with sex and romance (most especially in "The Rescues" and the title story, "Welcome Thieves").

In search of the ferocious truth, some would call trying to channel the spirit of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson a fool’s errand. But these are desperate times. So settle in for this trilogy of uppers, downers, screamers, laughers from John Bruni (Tales of Questionable Taste), Kent Hill (Hercules with a Shotgun) and Kevin Candela (Weedeaters: The Complete Acropalypse) as they bring you just what the doctor ordered.

"Stranger's Thing" by Robert Bevan: Four friends get more than they bargained for when they break into a seemingly abandoned research lab. "The Shingling" by Steve Wetherell: Johnny Terry, a recovering meth addict, is excited to start his new life as the caretaker at the Underpass Motel. Unfortunately, the Underpass is haunted by the ghosts of dead porn stars. "The Haunting of Whore House" by Robert Bevan: Lucy and her brother, Junkie, find out that moving was only the beginning of their troubles when they encounter the ghost of a little boy in the woods. Plus three more!

Tales from the Eerie Canal weaves the sinister mystery of Edgar Allan Poe with the dark humor of Edward Gorey. No canal. No Lake Erie. Just a stream of the disturbing splashed with bits of the absurd.

Set in the author’s native Belfast, the ten stories in Sweet Home lay bare the heartbreak and quiet tragedies that run under the surface of everyday lives. A lonely woman is fascinated by her niqab-wearing neighbours; a middle-aged teacher becomes obsessed with a young Gaelic football player; and an employer covers for his two employees caught having sex in a public toilet.