So a lot happened in the month of December. First of all, my wife and I trained for and ran our fifth marathon.
The race was in Kiawah Island, the only place in the world where dolphins hunt by strand feeding (purposefully beaching themselves). We saw a few come close to the shore but they mostly fed on the other side of the river.
On top of that it’s been the holidays, I got very sick, and was very busy with my own writing. But through it all I read some very cool recently published short stories.
The Five Stories
- Homewrecker by E. Catherine Tobler. Published in Apex Magazine. A work of “literary found footage” (similar to House of Leaves). The host of a reality program attempts to renovate a historic mansion only for things to go just about as bad as things can get while tampering with a haunted house. Overall, this is a very unsettling story full of creepy foreshadowing and an ending that’ll stick in your guts.
- Esqueleto by Ana Hurtado. Published in Uncanny Magazine: This beautiful, surreal work of flash fiction is bursting with intense visuals, balancing the otherworldly with the mundane. The word count is short but every time I revisit it I find something new to love.
- There Are Only Two Chairs, And the Skin Is Draped Over The Other by Alexia Antoniou. Published in Bourbon Penn: Okay, this one wins this month’s award for my favorite title. I loved the characters from paragraph one. This is another incredibly surreal story but despite its otherworldly nature, it’s very relatable. It’s a tale about love, longing and the loss of friendship.
- The Fool Who Sings You To Your Grave by Katie Cervenec, Published in Metaphorosis: This is a story about someone who right off the bat makes it clear they aren’t a superhero. That doesn’t mean this individual is an anti-hero. They want to save people, it’s just that their power doesn’t do anything to help them save lives. Overall, this is a unique, heartbreaking story with a haunting superpower I have never seen before.
- The Library of the Sorceress (page 5) by Joanna Pinto. Published in Hexagon Maxazine: This is an extremely short work of flash fiction (330 words!). I would tell you what it’s about, but my synopsis would take up more words than the actual story. All I will say is that it’s got a fantastic twist. A great example how just a few words can have a great impact.
Also In the Month of December
I read the amazing graphic novel Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons by Kelly Sue Deconnic (Author), Phil Jimenez (Illustrator). I also read a bunch of fantastic comics from Lesser Known Comics (including Nerida and Either Them or Us). Also I finally got around to watching The Boy and The Heron which was one of the greatest works of animation I have ever seen. And, finally, after decades of meaning to, I read The Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest stories in world history.
