My mama, she waited tables at a diner out on Route 12. Just outta town that was. Best kind of work she could find, her having no high school diploma and all. Took a real liking to that job though. Like a fish takes to the water. A real people person, you might say. Type of woman to always greet you with a big old smile, no matter what troubles she might’ve been going through. And she had troubles.
2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008
*Stories from 2008-2013 are listed but not linked
Christmas, 1983 ..... Chris Holm
The Hour of the Bat ..... M.E. Proctor
Number A ..... Rusty Barnes
Death Drives by Night ..... Cullen Gallagher
Three Poems ..... Rusty Barnes
Shadows ..... Rob Pierce
Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town ..... Jeff Esterholm
The Way of Our Now ..... Kieran Shea
The Replacement ..... Nikki Dolson
Best Laid Plans ..... Paul Gadsby
The Hula Hula Boys in Headless Ticket to Hawaiʻi ..... Thomas Pluck
Two Poems ..... Stephen J. Golds
Of Mice and Manny ..... Todd Robinson
And the Woman Who Once Was Naboth's ..... Kieran Shea
Scow ..... Garnett Elliott
Two Poems ..... David Cranmer
Mile Marker ..... Jeff Esterholm
Three Poems ..... Rusty Barnes
Genny Bow ..... Chris LaTray
Clean ..... Zakariah Johnson
Cold Turkey ..... Keith Rawson
The Coyote Way ..... Kieran Shea
Nothing to Push Against ..... Richard Prosch
Home Is … ..... Jerry Bloomfield
Last Call ..... Angel Luis Colón
Closing Time ..... William E. Wallace
The Sun in Dust ..... Jen Conley
I Love a Sunburnt Country ..... Kieran Shea
Creepy ..... Alec Cizak
Labor Pains ..... Scott Adlerberg
Christmas in the Lone Star State (Chapter 1) ..... Jason Manning
Stalker ..... Ed Gorman
The Key Man ..... Jon McGoran
Back Then Our Monsters Were Real ..... Gary Dobbs
A Well-Ordered Life? ..... George R. Johnson
Neighbors ..... Mel Odom
YOLO ..... Libby Cudmore
The Larcenists ..... Kieran Shea
Nature of the Beast ..... Paul D. Marks
Town Pride ..... Dave Zeltserman
Fundamental Breach ..... William E. Wallace
Labor Day ..... Danny Gardner
Little Troubles ..... Steve Weddle
The Best of Friends ..... Les Edgerton
Sick in the Head ..... David Barber
Stray Bullet ..... Jerry Bloomfield
The Hand That Feeds ..... CT McNeely
Last Exit ..... Chris Leek
The Hard Side of Heartbreak ..... Wayne D. Dundee
The Ralph's on Third and Vermont ..... Alec Cizak
Night Sweats ..... Garnett Elliott
The Angel Deeb ..... Patti Abbott
Mexican Standoff, Plus One ..... Marie S. Crosswell
Them and Us ..... Glenn Gray
The Debutante Ball ..... Clare Toohey
The July Rebellion ..... Kate Lincoln
The Shift Change ..... Kieran Shea
The Long Drop ..... Jake Hinkson
Three Poems ..... Keith Rawson
The Angry Guns ..... Jason Duke
An Open Door ..... Chris F. Holm
Dust to Dust ..... Terrie Farley Moran
Miracle on 191st Street ..... Steve Romagnoli
The Pastor's Boy ..... Jay Nunnery
No Hard Feelings ..... Alec Cizak
Murder by the Book ..... Cathi Stoler
Hyperacusis ..... J. M. Landon
Tongue Wagging ..... Natasha Leullier
Partners in Crime ..... Andy Henion
Uncertain ..... Jim Wilsky
Morgantown Massacre ..... Fred Blosser and Bill Davis
Para Bellum ..... Kieran Shea
A Professional Job ..... Walter Tyrer
Another Round for Bukowski ..... Gerald So, Kyle J. Knapp, Adrian Manning
Final Encore ..... Bracken MacLeod
Class Reunion ..... Robb White
Cop ..... Gerald So
Beyond the Sea ..... Chris Irvin
Life of Salvage ..... Frank Bill
Circling ..... Jen Conley
A Day on the River, A Night in the Mountains ..... Dyer Wilk
Everybody Knows About a Broken Heart ..... Kent Gowran
The Speed Date ..... Kieran Shea
The Shadow Line ..... Charles Ardai
The Power Behind the Name ..... Scott D. Parker
The Heist ..... Fred Zackel
Fair Warning ..... Hilary Davidson
Three Poems ..... Kyle J. Knapp
Stringtown Road ..... Richard Prosch
Verbal Warning ..... Stephen D. Rogers
The Last Sitcom ..... Lawrence Maddox
Three Poems ..... Charles A. Gramlich
Off The Deep End ..... Benoît Lelièvre
Yesterday ..... Aaron Warner
The Follow-Through ..... Chris F. Holm
Hollow ..... Neliza Drew
The Cinderella Myth ..... Sandra Seamans
Bobby Wycoff Is Dead ..... Terrie Farley Moran
The Big Lug ..... Patti Abbott
Bid Time Return ..... Nik Morton
Grappling ..... Matthew C. Funk
The Blow Jobs ..... Josh Stallings
Howling ..... Jen Conley
Hand Offs ..... Keith Rawson
Dirty Laundry ..... Todd Robinson
Yusan ..... Jim Wilsky
Rum Runners ..... Jerry Bloomfield
City Tow ..... Tom Pitts
No Cowboys ..... Kieran Shea
Eye Spy ..... Charles A. Gramlich
Tin Gods ..... Trey R. Barker
Just One Moment ..... Erik Arneson
Three Poems ..... Gerald So
One Ashore in Singapore ..... Andrew Nette
The True Story of Boy Kaleen ..... Patti Abbott
Watch Him Die! ..... Charles Boeckman
Mr. Brightside ..... C. J. Edwards
Loose Ends ..... Garnett Elliott
Turnspit Blues (a Charlie Byrne grind) ..... Kieran Shea
Back to the Boke ..... Joseph D'Agnese
With the Lights Out ..... Peter Swanson
The Partner ..... John Geraci
Keil und Kessel ..... Stephen D. Rogers
Too Many Crocketts ..... Evan Lewis
Half-Breed ..... Ron Scheer
Blood Kin ..... Richard Prosch
The Step Away (a Charlie Byrne grind) ..... Kieran Shea
Fourth Time Lucky for Mickey Loew ..... Jay Stringer
Take Your Son To Work Day ..... Jerry Bloomfield
Family Secrets ..... Eric Beetner
How to Stay Ahead ..... Patti Abbott
Tough to Quit ..... Fred Zackel
Money Never Sleeps (a Nick Donahue adventure) ..... Cathi Stoler
Kiss It Goodbye ..... Anita Page
Hard Time ..... Tom Roberts
Day of Reckoning ..... Matthew Pizzolato
The Other Guy ..... Daniel Moses Luft
Fist Bump ..... David Moss
Two Doc Hollidays ..... Jason Stuart
Peconic Nightmares ..... R. Thomas Brown
Third Wheel ..... Ed Kurtz
Cannibals ..... Jen Conley
Sinking in the Sea of Love ..... John Kenyon
House Warming, or a Gentleman Prefers Blondes ..... Keith Rawson
Eyes Open ..... Patricia Abbott
Slick Texas Money ..... Frank Wheeler Jr.
Dyer ..... Richard Thomas
Friction Ridge ..... David James Keaton
The Stain Carrier ..... Sophie Littlefield
Into the Green Beyond ..... Sandra Seamans
Papercut Pete's Blood-Stained MacGuffin ..... Cameron Ashley
Stalker ..... Ed Gorman
In the Hard Nowhere ..... Chris Rhatigan
A Rip Through Time: Darkling in the Eternal Space ..... Chad Eagleton
Free Mercury ..... Jodi MacArthur
Intervention ..... William Dylan Powell
Through the Rainbow Wind ..... Sandra Seamans
Diver Down ..... Mark Boss
Angel Bitch ..... David King
Scion of the Evening Star ..... Garnett Elliott
Silas' Good Run ..... Matthew C. Funk
The Lion's Share ..... Kieran Shea
Gone Missing ..... Nik Morton
After the Big Noise (Chapter 1) ..... Ed Lynskey
Full Bloom ..... Nolan Knight
If You Only Knew ..... John Stickney
A Rip Through Time: Chaos in the Stream ..... Garnett Elliott
A Glutton for Punishment ..... Thomas Pluck
Bigorexia ..... Glenn Gray
Enter the Red Door ..... Sandra Seamans
The Other Man ..... Hilary Davidson
Junkie Geek ..... Jochem Vandersteen
I See Black Light ..... Chad Rohrbacher
The Man in the Alligator Shoes ..... Chris F. Holm
A Peril in Trophies ..... Mike Phillips
LoVINg the Alien ..... Paul D. Brazill
Katy Too ..... Alec Cizak
Nobody's Listening ..... Linda Schenck
Down, Down, Down, Burns, Burns, Burns ..... Jedidiah Ayres
Ghost ..... Keith Snyder
Two Poems ..... Gerald So
You Keyed My Car ..... Fred Zackel
The Monster and the Mob ..... James Valvis
For Keepsies ..... Terrie Farley Moran
Fatal Flaw (a Nick Donahue adventure) ..... Cathi Stoler
Oedipus Shrugged ..... Copper Smith
Big Cat ..... Jim Wilsky
Old Wives' Tales ..... Dave Zeltserman
Rent Me ..... Cindy Rosmus
A Different Kind of Blue ..... Michael A. Gonzales
The Death Fantastique ..... John Hornor Jacobs
Line Rider ..... Chuck Tyrell
Mercy Street ..... Richard Godwin
Massacre Canyon (a Joe Hannibal story) ..... Wayne D. Dundee
A Rip Through Time: Battles, Broadswords, and Bad Girls ..... Charles A. Gramlich
Serenity ..... Brad Parks
The Quick ... and The Dead ..... Bill Crider
Believe ..... Lina Zeldovich
By the Dim and Flaring Lamps ..... Ian Ayris
Don't Drink and Drive ..... Nik Morton
Taking a Line for a Walk ..... Nigel Bird
Pretending ..... Richard Prosch
First Man Falling ..... Garnett Elliott
The Takedown Heart (a Charlie Byrne grind) ..... Kieran Shea
Outback Gothic ..... Chap O'Keefe
Pillow Talk ..... Jodi MacArthur
Squish You, Babe ..... Fred Zackel
Broken Down on the Bonneville Flats ..... Jack Bates
Life on the Mesa ..... Keith Rawson
The King of Mardi Gras ..... Anthony Neil Smith
Icarus of the Cliffs ..... Katharine A. Russell
The Sweetest Kind of Chaos ..... Copper Smith
The Wanted Man ..... Matthew Pizzolato
A Rip through Time: The Dame, the Doctor, and the Device ..... Chris F. Holm
Gunpoint ..... Fred Blosser
The Worms of Terpsichore ..... Garnett Elliott
New Boyfriend ..... William Blick
Dress To Die ..... Elizabeth Zelvin
Someone to Watch Over Me ..... Matthew P. Mayo
The Little Boy Inside ..... Glenn Gray
Tool of the Trade ..... Jack Getze
King ..... Dave Zeltserman
The Path to Brighton ..... David Pilling
The Mercy of Jean Lafitte ..... Evan Lewis
At the Café Sabarsky ..... Patricia Abbott
One Good Turn ..... Ryle Smith
Collision ..... David King
Miles to Go ..... Edward A. Grainger
I Paid the Whore ..... Michael Hemmingson
Fashionably Late ..... Rekha Ambardar
Oyster Point ..... Eirik Gumeny
Apache Fog (a Joe Hannibal story) ..... Wayne D. Dundee
Contact Shots Are Bad Like That ..... Derek Kelly
Doggy Day Care ..... Richard Prosch
The Show Must Go On ..... Mark Robinson
Fetish ..... Hilary Davidson
The Pickle ..... Chris La Tray
The Gimme ..... Alec Cizak
My Best Pal ..... Joshua Andra
The Redemption of Tom Chatham ..... Garnett Elliott
Cinderella After Midnight ..... Fred Zackel
Coercion ..... Mark Boss
HBT ..... Nik Morton
Angel of Mercy ..... David Price
Waking Up from the Big Sleep ..... Paul Newman
The Killing on Sutter Street ..... Paul S. Powers
Twelve-gauge Ticket to Hell ..... Thomas Faughnan
Missed Flight ..... Steve Weddle
Shut Up and Kill Me ..... Robert J. Randisi
Charlie and Stevie Do a Repo ..... Kieran Shea
Brotherly Love ..... J.E. Seymour
They Come from Above ..... Cormac Brown
Conjugal ..... Fred Snyder
Mortification ..... Sophie Littlefield
One Night Near Hangtown ..... James Reasoner
Hunter's Moon ..... Charles Gramlich
Another Carrot ..... David Fleming
The Year of the Dragon ..... Stephen D. Rogers
The Devil Wears Carhartt ..... Andy Henion
The Red Ruby Kill ..... Brian Drake
A Wild and Crazy Night ..... John Kenyon
Cedar Mountain ..... George Miller, Jr.
Insatiable ..... Hilary Davidson
Midnight Showdown ..... Sandra Seamans
Hit Women (a Bo Fexler short story) ..... Clair Dickson
Diseases from Loving ..... Alec Cizak
I Celebrate Myself ..... Nik Morton
Esther Meaney ..... Patricia Abbott
Marmalade ..... Keith Rawson
Kissy-Face ..... Cindy Rosmus
Nothing You Can Do ..... Jason Hunt
Artifacts ..... Gerald So
The Devil's Right Hand ..... Jack Martin
Y Not ..... Travis Erwin
The Tut ..... Paul D. Brazill
Six Bullets for John Carter ..... Chad Eagleton
Maintenance ..... Kieran Shea
Vengeance on the 18th ..... David Cranmer
Oral Eruptions ..... John Weagly
Spend It Now, Pay Later ..... Nik Morton
The Hard Sell ..... Jay Stringer
You Don't Get Three Mistakes ..... Scott D. Parker
The Need ..... Frank Bill
Tweakers ..... Frank Bill
Maker's and Coke ..... Jake Hinkson
Preferred Customer ..... Mike Sheeter
No Hands ..... Albert Tucher
In an English Country Garden ..... Ray Foster
Identity Theft ..... Robert Weibezahl
A Stash of Goods ..... Barbara E. Martin
The Unreal Jesse James ..... Chap O'Keefe
No Blood, No Foul (Chapter 1) ..... Bill Raetz
The Toll Collectors ..... Chris F. Holm
Caveat Venditor, Caveat Emptor ..... Todd Robinson
Pajama Party ..... Stephen D. Rogers
Brothel Justice ..... Sandra Seamans
Whiskey, Guns, and Sin ..... Charles Gramlich
Backing the Stakes ..... Kieran Shea
A Man Called Masters ..... Jack Martin
Disimpaction ..... Glenn Gray
Instrument of Their Desire ..... Patricia Abbott