Tag Archive for: liam hogan

Nightmares at the Circus

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by Liam Hogan

 

There was no net. There was no audience, either. Not a live one, anyway. Just corpses, staring up into the big top.

If Sally didn’t make it to the waiting arms of the other trapeze artist, no-one would gasp as she fell screaming through the air, no-one would rush to help as she lay broken on the packed dirt.

She screwed up her nerve. They were in sync: now was the time. She leapt. For a moment, she feared she’d fallen short. But the hands were there. Sally grasped them, relieved.

Skeletal arms broke free and plummeted down with her.

Liam Hogan

Liam Hogan is an award-winning short story writer, with stories in Best of British Science Fiction and in Best of British Fantasy (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

 

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

 

Colloquy

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Dialogue Competition Runners-up

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The Lay-By

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by Liam Hogan

 

I don’t like to stop. The cab fulfils my needs, from somewhere to sleep, to food and drink: coffee and instant noodles, a travelling kettle serving for both.

But you can’t resist a call of nature forever.

No need for a truck stop or gas station, not when there’s woodland either side.

By day, the lay-by would be busy with dog walkers, in summer with hikers and family picnics. On a damp April night it’s utterly empty.

Not dark though; not with a full moon peeking between the clouds.

I unleash a howl even before my paws hit the ground.

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 happyendingnotguaranteed.blogspot.co.uk

YEAR ONE

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YEAR THREE

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YEAR FOUR

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YEAR FIVE

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Eye of Phone

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by Liam Hogan

 

“When shall we three meet again?”

There was silence as they unzipped metal mesh bags and pulled out smartphones. It would be wrong to claim occultists don’t move with the times, but they did have to be careful. Many a witch had been lured from a protective circle by a demonic ringtone, text chime, or tinder notification.

“Wednesday’s the full moon…?”

“Can’t. Stock-take at work.”

“How about Thursday?”

The other two witches looked at the third with contempt. Everyone knew Thursday was cheap wine night down at The Wild Hunt.

“See you next Tuesday, then.”

The coven cackled in delight.

 

Liam Hogan

Liam Hogan is an award-winning London based writer. His short story “Ana”, appeared in Best of British Science Fiction 2016 (NewCon Press) and “The Dance of a Thousand Cuts” appears in Best of British Fantasy, 2018. Http://happyendingnotguaranteed.blogspot.co.uk or tweet @LiamJHogan.

 

Liam Hogan

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Liam Hogan is an Oxford Physics graduate whose award winning short story, “Ana”, appears in Best of British Science Fiction 2016. “The Dance of a Thousand Cuts” appears in Best of British Fantasy 2018 (both from NewCon Press). His dark tale “Groomed” appears in “The Twisted Book of Shadows”, from Haverhill House Publishing. He lives and avoids work in London.

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