Things to know…

Here’s a bunch of stories to amuse you while you’re locked away or Social Distanced or Quarantined, or whatever.

They are creepy and disturbing tales, so be forewarned. Also, probably not for kids.

ORLANDA has never appeared in print anywhere. I was going to find a market for it, and I think I submitted it to one place, but I got terribly busy so here it is. It’s a weird sci-fi story that kept hanging around my subconscious until I wrote it down. THE FLYING ORCHID was previously published in 2013 as BUDO in STEAMPUNK WORLD anthology and 2016 in Escape Pod where you can find an audio version. (https://escapepod.org/2016/01/20/ep517-budo/)

HOUSEHOLD GODS originally appeared in 2016, Myriad Lands Anthology. BONE, the oldest story here, was published in 2008 as flash fiction for Tailspin Magazine and earned me £50.00, which I think was the most I’d ever been paid for a story till that point, so don’t mock. The magazine might be defunct because I can’t find the link.

HONOURABLE MENTION, a nasty tale of sleep deprivation first appeared in the Dangerous Games anthology in 2014. THE MADWOMAN OF IGBOBI HOSPITAL was first published in the on-hiatus Interfictions Online in 2016 and has nothing to do with either madness or ghosts. SLIP ROAD started life in Expanded Horizons magazine in 2009, reprinted in Unconventional Fantasy in 2014.

Obviously, copyrights for each story are the dates above.

What else?

Be kind to your neighbours and don’t believe post-apocalyptic sci-fi. Our humanity is defined by our ability to cooperate and share.

If your circumstances permit, go forth and do something like this.

If I happen to get sick and die from COVID-19 (I still like CORVID-19 better) then this is my valediction. It was fun.