A Deadly Lesson

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by Andrew Kurtz

 

The college professor walked into the classroom carrying two pizza boxes.

“Three hours from now, the Purge will begin. Once a year, our government allows murder to be legal for twelve hours.

“Some of you enjoy shooting people in the head, causing the brain matter to spill out. Others prefer slitting throats and watching the victim choke in their own blood. Cracking skulls with a baseball bat or burning people alive are popular too.

“I brought some pizza to celebrate, dig in,” he told the class, knowing that the deadly poison in the food would take effect in three hours.

Andrew Kurtz

Andrew Kurtz is an up-and-coming horror author who writes very graphic and ultraviolent short stories published in numerous horror anthologies. Since childhood, he has loved horror films and literature. His favourite authors are Stephen King, Clive Barker, H.G. Wells, Richard Matheson, and Edgar Allan Poe. Check his latest works here.

 

 

Suann Amero

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Suann Amero is an ambivert who loves tea, cats, dancing, reading, and writing. She lives in Canada with her partner and their two cats, Quincey and Onyx.

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Safe and Alone

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by Gary Smith Jr.

The size and strength of the house impresses me, for the thousandth time. Reaching the massive door, I stare into the camera.

“What are you doing here, Julie? I can’t let you in.”

Shuffling from foot to foot, I glance back towards the street. “Please,” I beg, “I’ll never make it home.”

I wait.

An electrical buzz and click from the door.

I step inside.

The siren sounds.

The purge has started.

As my best friend pushes the door shut behind me, I pull the knife from the back of my pants.

This year I will be safe and alone.

 

Gary Smith Jr.

Gary Smith Jr. has a passion for writing born from his love of reading, classic literature to cereal boxes. He lives around Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife, children, and animals. His stories have been published at From Whispers to Roars, The Mark Literary Review, CommuterLit, and Every Day Fiction. Website: www.storiesbygary.com

 

After the Fall by Stephen Herczeg – Launches 9th July 2021

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If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be? FINISH IT. Don’t give up, don’t stop creating. And stay away from so much beer.

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Show Time

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by Liam Hogan

 

It’s the same every night: the waiting, otherworldly forms, thronging the hallway, packing the stairs.

Almost the same. Different individuals. He tries not to see their faces, or their strange attire. He’d avoid them altogether, but the waves of disappointment linger, tainting his home.

He hurries through the ordeal, looking neither left nor right as he passes between them. The buzz on his appearance, the fusillade of flashes…and always, as he escapes through the wall that hadn’t been there in his time, the same theatrical announcement:

“And that, folks, is why this is the most haunted house in England!”

 

Liam Hogan

Liam Hogan is an award winning short story writer, with stories in Best of British Science Fiction 2016 & 2019, and Best of British Fantasy 2018 (NewCon Press). He’s been published by Analog, Daily Science Fiction, and Flame Tree Press, among others. He helps host Liars’ League London, volunteers at the creative writing charity Ministry of Stories, and lives and avoids work in London. More details at http://happyendingnotguaranteed.blogspot.co.uk