Grant Butler
Grant Butler is an author from the Midwest who writes in a variety of fiction genres. Some of his literary influences include Stephen King, Ira Levin, Agatha Christie, and Thomas Harris.
Sacrifice
by Darlene Holt
After aliens invaded, war waged against humanity, and civilians sacrificed normalcy to join the cause. Command assured us training wasn’t necessary, despite our lack of military experience. Just an injection to ward off illness.
When they released us into the streets to kill the invaders, I hid, paralysed by fear, as eight-foot, razor-toothed creatures devoured anyone crossing their paths. To my surprise, the aliens fell dead on the blood-splattered asphalt minutes after swallowing my human comrades.
Only then did I realise Command had injected us with a toxin. They didn’t need to train us after all; they only needed bait.
Darlene Holt
Darlene is a writer, editor, and educator whose most recent contributions appear in Eerie River Publishing’s Dark Magic anthology and Red Cape Publishing’s A-Z of Horror series. She currently resides in San Diego, California, where she enjoys reading and writing horror stories while spending time with her husband and cats. Amazon Author Central page: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B093Z6D5Q2
Recon
by Andrew McDonald
The sentry never heard me. I stab all the way through his neck, behind the jugular. Pushing the blade forward, I tear out his throat. He dies without even a whisper. Quietly, I drag him into the woods, away from patrols.
With my hatchet, I split his skull, careful not to harm the brain. My knife severs the brainstem. Raising the brain to my lips, I sink my teeth into it, biting off gory chunks, swallowing the grey matter.
Closing my eyes, I sift through his memories. Childhood, first love, basic training, their hidden headquarters.
I radio for an airstrike.
Andrew McDonald
Andrew McDonald lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada with his wife and daughter.
The Body Truck
by Jason Hardy
We find one slumped against a mailbox on Barrow, hand probing the machete notched broadside his skull. He brightens when he sees us; thinks we’re here to help. Larson helps him, alright…with a spike through the eye. We heave the body onto the truck.
On Flagler, we spot a lady in a creepy doll getup, gut-shot and groaning. She sees our uniforms and understands. Even tries to crawl away. Carney does the honours.
City’s always a bloody mess after the big night. Cleaning gigs pay well. Job’s simple: put the bodies on the truck.
Including the ones still breathing.
Jason Hardy
Jason Hardy is a financial services writer/editor (by day) and teller of strange tales (by night). He lives in southeastern Massachusetts with the ghosts of two betta fish, and has an upcoming story in the anthology 99 Tiny Terrors.
Escaping Inferno
by Renee Cronley
Tonight, your locked doors are about as useful as mine were that night you came to me. In my heart I know the scent of the gasoline I’m painting your house with inspires the same fear in you as the chloroform did in me.
A restraining order is not justice.
I don’t have to live with you inside me anymore. That was like being dead.
When I strike the match, I come back to life. With a flick of my wrist, your hold on me goes ablaze and brings light to the darkness you forced on me.
Now I’m free.
Renee Cronley
Renee Cronley is a poet, writer, and nurse from Brandon, Manitoba. She studied Psychology and English at Brandon University, and Nursing at Assiniboine Community College. Her work has appeared in Love Letters to Poe, NewMyths.com, The Gateway Review, and is forthcoming in Black Hare Press.
A Quiet Word with the Boss
by L.J. McLeod
The blood was still warm where it coated her skin. Crimson beads dripped slowly from her hair. She had even gotten some in her mouth; it tasted salty and metallic. When Tegan had seen her boss’s light on, she had only wanted to have a quiet word with her.
There was no one else around. It was the perfect time to bring up her completely reasonable complaint. But the woman was so stubborn and pig-headed! A soft noise made her turn, the scissors still gripped tight in her hand.
“Enjoying the Purge, hey?” the night cleaner asked.
“Enjoying the what?”
L.J. McLeod
L.J. McLeod lives in Queensland, Australia. She works in Pathology and writes in her spare time. She has been published in several anthologies and has been nominated twice for the Aurealis Award. In her spare time she enjoys diving, reading and travelling.