Tables and Screens

Li Po was looking through his rice paper screen. He had taken a moment to rest his eyes; he sat at a low table, his brush in his hand. It was summer…


If Only

The stick of blue eyeshadow rattles around in the bottom of a fishing tackle box. The one I had used for my make-up as a professional stage actor. It…


A Song Can Speak

A Song can speak both for And To you Alice Blue Gown for my mother Or better yet Some version Of the song Written for---she who became  our…


“Science in Death” and “Medicated”

Science in Death My father was a physicist. “Once you’re dead, you’re dead.” He died three years ago, with a DNR. For all his failings, he was my…


Intrusion

He shut the door and let out the breath he had been holding. He hated being out there. He was so glad to be home. The others, out there, didn’t…


Masque of the Digital Death: A Review of My Mentor, Death by Leslie D. Soule

My Mentor, Death by Leslie D. Soule (Terror House Press, 2020) My Mentor, Death by Leslie D. Soule was not what I expected. The title of this book of…


Skinless

Every morning when she woke up, she found she had no skin, again. There was a thin membrane holding everything in, but not really skin. She was…


The Dread Machine 1986

A refugee from the 60’s. That’s how he later described her. She was a lovely girl, not strictly beautiful, but beautiful at times, and magnetic,…


Hyperreality as Hell: A Review of Welcome to Hell by “Bad” Billy Pratt

Welcome to Hell by "Bad" Billy Pratt (Terror House Press, 2021) The title is absolutely apt. We discover in the notes that the author takes the title…


Losing Charles

The whispered numbers echoed a little. She couldn’t believe that he was gone. 74 years her brother had known her. She had been born when her brother…