Pauline Yates
Pauline Yates is a horror and science fiction author with publications in Australia and abroad, including her award-winning debut novel, Memories Don’t Lie. Her short story, The Best Medicine, won the AHWA Robert N Stephenson short story contest, was an Australian Shadows Awards finalist, and was translated in Italy. More fiction and poetry appear in publications including Black Hare Press, IFWG Publishing, Redwood Press, Midnight Echo, PseudoPod, Nightmare Fuel Magazine, Aurealis, Tales To Terrify, Black Hart Publishing, Metaphorosis, plus others. She once mastered two eight-word stories which were showcased on billboards around her hometown, owns an immortal cat, and keeps too many goldfish.
Follow the Author:
FEATURED IN
MORE POSTS FROM THE AUTHOR
Numbskull
/by Shawna Rowanby Pauline Yates For the third time, bone shards and chunks of brain splatter when Pete’s bullet hits the tree and ricochets. In a flash of brilliance, his twitching body returns to his maker again. “How long will I repeat dying?” Pete asks, confounded by his death-loop. “Until you admit you erred when aligning the […]
Tick Tock
/by Shawna Rowanby Pauline Yates The new virus spreading worldwide should be named after a clock. The nosebleeds begin exactly six hours after infection. At seventy-two hours, vision loss occurs. That surprised everyone. Many people died after crashing their cars or falling down stairs. They were lucky, I suppose. Brain rupture occurs bang on ninety-eight hours; a […]
Aya’s Makami
/by Shawna Rowanby Pauline Yates Aya, the transfer student, acts nonchalant, but beneath her straight fringe, her enormous eyes glisten with new-school nerves, and she clutches a diary to her flat chest like a life support. Fool. That diary begs to be read. Especially by me. I snatch the diary from her matchstick fingers. Flipping it open, […]
Memories Don’t Lie by Pauline Yates – Launches 11th March 2023
/by Black Hare PressI was a compulsive daydreamer growing up, and I turned that into a writing career. What could be better than doing the thing you love most?
Memories Don’t Lie by Pauline Yates
/by Black Hare PressSarah Wilson’s journey takes a deadly turn when she uncovers secrets about her past, hidden deep in her mother’s memories, that threaten everything Sarah wants. They could cost her everything she holds dear—and her life.
Spooned
/by Shawna Rowanby Pauline Yates Beechwood Psychiatric Hospital’s new nurse has a head full of ideas, like “kindness begets kindness”, that sort of shit. I play along. I stop smacking my head against the wall when she asks me, politely, mind you, to take my pills. Now she lets me eat ice cream with a spoon. I […]
Pony for Christmas
/by Shawna Rowanby Pauline Yates My “ho’s” change to groans as I play the shopping mall Santa—my wife arrives with our granddaughter, Ester, and home-baked cookies for my tea break. I love Ester, but the cookies taste funny and belong in the bin. Ester clambers onto my lap. “What would you like for Christmas?” I ask. […]
First Person, Present Tense
/by Shawna Rowanby Pauline Yates Eager to try the new AI Book Writer app, I download the program and enable the wireless imagination transfer function. “Welcome to Book Writer,” a computer simulated voice says. “Please imagine scenes for text conversion and click upload.” I imagine the scenes in “Murder By Moonlight”, the crime novel I started […]
The Devil’s Breath
/by Shawna Rowanby Pauline Yates Tossed onto a reef by a rogue wave, our pirate ship shudders, and a sickening crunch sounds our death knell. Salt burns my lungs when I gulp water, not air, then I’m back on board with my crew, peering through fog that reeks of sulphur. “What’s that smell?” “The Devil’s breath,” […]
Drained
/by S. Jade Pathby Pauline Yates Desperate to stop the zombie apocalypse, the latest plague to afflict humanity, I draw my knife across Annie’s wrist and fill a bucket with her blood. Annie sways. “Will it work?” “It better or we’re dead.” Grabbing the bucket, I open the door and throw the blood over the advancing zombies. […]
Fallen Angels
/by S. Jade Pathby Pauline Yates Mother heats the blade in the fire, but it’s the flap of monstrous wings that strikes fear into my heart. “Will it hurt?” I whisper, scrutinizing her scarred face. “Better to suffer a searing blade than endure the agony of being raped by a Fallen and bearing its unholy offspring. Did […]
Gone Fishing
/by S. Jade Pathby Pauline Yates Oblivious to my predicament, Bob casts his fishing line into the marsh. “Did you hear about that dodgy cosmetics factory,” he says. “They trialled a new hair colour on flamingos, but the birds reacted to the red dye and killed everyone. Then the birds escaped, can you believe it?” “Ah, Bob?” […]
Dressed to Kill
/by S. Jade Pathby Pauline Yates “Zip me up?” Macy stands with her back to me wearing a new dress. The exotic fabric gives her curves like Sandra’s. Have I cheated on my wife for so long I’ve forgotten how alluring she can be? I slide up the zipper but imagine unzipping Sandra’s dress and kissing the […]
Pauline Yates
/by Black Hare PressPauline Yates is a horror and science fiction author with publications in Australia and abroad, including her award-winning debut novel, Memories Don’t Lie.
Twice the Pleasure
/by S. Jade Pathby Pauline Yates I love how my lover slides his mouth down the woman’s neck. How he pauses near her jugular vein, warming his lips with heat from her racing heart. He nips her skin, teasing, her involuntary moan at the pleasure he inflicts sets fire to my cold heart. When he’s finished with […]
PUNK
/by Black Hare PressPunk—steampunk, cyberpunk, biopunk, dieselpunk—stories where technology is the main focus.
Eldritch & Ether
/by Black Hare PressBeautiful, heartfelt poetry from international poets
The Greatest Show on Earth
/by S. Jade Pathby Pauline Yates Teaching a monkey how to strike a match was a clever trick. It required the use of electric shocks to his fingers, but when he lights the ring of fire for the Bengal tigers to jump through, the crowd applauds me as the greatest animal trainer in the circus’s history. However, […]
Naughty and Nice
/by S. Jade Pathby Pauline Yates On Christmas morning, I wake to find a blonde and a brunette, naked as newborn babes, asleep in our bed. They fit the description written on my husband’s Christmas wish list. He wished for a threesome—without me. Wondering if Santa granted my Christmas wish, I hurry downstairs to the Christmas tree. […]
Kuntilanak
/by S. Jade Pathby Pauline Yates Drunk on Samsu, I muddle the warning about a white-dressed woman with long, lank hair. Who said that? The bartender? No, a Malaysian beggar; a story for a coin, he said as I staggered home. A generous man, I obliged, and learned about the mythical Kuntilanak, a vengeful female spirit who […]
Pumpkin Head
/by S. Jade Pathby Pauline Yates I’ve won ‘Best Halloween Display’ two years running, but while hanging decorations, my new neighbour distracts me. He likes my legs. I love his wide smile. Tempted, I suggest a private trick or treat before the judges arrive. Invitation accepted, he asks what tricks I know. I show him my wax […]
Dual
/by S. Jade Pathby Pauline Yates Why’d you bring me home, Jimmy? Couldn’t hack a third tour of duty? The war ain’t over. You and me, we make the best team. But you’re a coward, ain’t ya, Jimmy? Shit, if it wasn’t for me, you’d be rotting in a body bag. Is this how you repay me? […]
Clean Sheet
/by S. Jade Pathby Pauline Yates The Westridge football team walks the streets, searching for victims. The pre-season tradition—players can purge their sexual desires in a one-night fucking frenzy—has resulted in four consecutive premiership wins. No one reports the pack rapes, the deaths. All this town sees is the trophy. Not me. I have a different purge […]
Dream Job by Pauline Yates
/by Shawna RowanAs Charles delves deeper into his role at the remote wheat station, he uncovers the truth behind the high employee turnover and the grim fate that awaits him.
YEAR THREE
/by Black Hare PressYEAR FOUR
/by Black Hare PressYEAR FIVE
/by Black Hare Press