As for Jasper, he had proven to be an erudite and charming host in spite of his great age, and had regaled her with tales from before the Pogrom and before what men called the Betrayal throughout dinner, until music was heard outside and they looked out the cracked window to see a black War Wagon zoom past with its red lights flashing and its belly (presumably) full of Witch Doctors, after which a silence settled over the room and his tone became more somber. "You want to know what happened . how women became witches and men became Witch Doctors. And how the sexes became so estranged that they would kill each other on sight rather than suffer another Betrayal or Pogrom. Don't you?"She nodded slowly. He dabbed at the corners of his mouth with his napkin and sat back. "Well, I told you how things were, how men and women were. That there weren't any Witch Doctors except the kind you saw on TV, and there weren't-" He paused, noticing how they both looked confused. "TV-television-the boob tube, squawk box, the glass teat. Nevermind. It's not important. The thing is, men and women liked each other. Sure, they got to squabbling once in a while-hell, some might say that was half the fun of it. But they didn't fear and mistrust each other to the extent that, that-okay, well, some did-they'd kill each other. The point I'm trying to make is: they were bumper cars that enjoyed . bumping."Satyena and Jeremiah looked at each other."They danced, " said Jasper. "And when they danced it was something to see. But over time that dance began to sour, mainly because, outside the dance hall, only one side seemed to have all the power. Now, whether that was true or not depends on your point of view, but having read all about it and lived through some of it, I'd say the case could be made. And if you're wondering, " He looked at Satyena. "It was your ancestors that felt they didn't have any power. So, steps were taken to even the balance, just as they were with my own ancestors, and I think most would say that those steps were successful."Again there was the sound of music, and again a War Wagon blew past with its lights flashing."The problem with human nature is, it doesn't know when to stop. Eventually, every apparatus designed to right a wrong just becomes a new one-it has to, you see, because once created, its focus becomes its own survival. That's when the ideologues come-like saviors, some would say, while others would say like vampires-who feed off everyone's fear, stoking it and fanning the flames. Our Chairman Kill-sin is a man like that. Perhaps you've a counterpart among the witches ."Satyena nodded.

The Man/Woman War: A Dystopian Science-fiction Novel

Dark horse/'därk '?hôrs/noun1. a candidate or competitor about whom little is known but who unexpectedly wins or succeeds."a dark-horse candidate"Join us for a monthly tour of writers who give as good as they get. From hard science-fiction to stark, melancholic apocalypses; from Lovecraftian horror to zombies and horror comedy; from whimsical interludes to tales of unlikely compassion--whatever it is, if it's weird, it's here. So grab a seat before the starting gun fires, pour yourself a glass of strange wine, and get ready for the running of the dark horses. In this issue:A RESPONSIBLE MANCarol WillisBOTTLENECKDouglas GwilymCORNPLANTER O'BAILGary EveryINTO THE POTRon J. CruzPECKWayne Kyle SpitzerPRETTY ON THE INSIDEDiana OlneyWHERE FASNET MET SPACE NETMary Jo RabeSORRY, WRONG ARTIFACTMark MellonTHE BURDEN OF DAMASCUSJames B. PepeTHE TROUBLE WITH AI-NineChad Gayle

Dark Horses: The Magazine of Weird Fiction No. 20 | September 2023 - Dark Horses Magazine, #20

Dark horse/'därk '?hôrs/noun1. a candidate or competitor about whom little is known but who unexpectedly wins or succeeds."a dark-horse candidate"Join us for a monthly tour of writers who give as good as they get. From hard science-fiction to stark, melancholic apocalypses; from Lovecraftian horror to zombies and horror comedy; from whimsical interludes to tales of unlikely compassion--whatever it is, if it's weird, it's here. So grab a seat before the starting gun fires, pour yourself a glass of strange wine, and get ready for the running of the dark horses. In this issue:"In the Forests of the Night" by Wayne Kyle Spitzer"The Devil's Playground" by Kurt Newton"Death Before Birth" by James Harper"People of the Land" by Alistair Rey"A Whisperer Among the Graves, Prt. 2" by Bill Link

Dark Horses: The Magazine of Weird Fiction | March, 2022 | No. 2 - Dark Horses Magazine, #2

"Wow, " said Annie, her arms tightening around his waist. "Are you feeling it too?"He focused on a dark shape hovering just above the wheat-several dark shapes-like hummingbirds, but big. Something glinted blue-black in the sun. "What do you mean?""The mescaline . I'm still tripping, baby." Her inner thighs constricted against his hips and he thought of the fantastic shag they'd shared in California-while standing doggie-style amidst the Vasquez Rocks, the famed location of so many westerns-and found the fact that she was hallucinating also reassuring, even if it did mean they were barreling down the Interstate at 74 mph while still under the influence. "Yeah. Me too. I'm going to pull over at the next rest stop until it passes.""DJ is expecting us at five. And it isn't polite to keep the head of a motorcycle gang waiting. They're my friends, Sammi. This is important to me.""God forbid, we miss a party. We'll make it.""Not if we take too long at the rest stop . Jesus, I'm seeing dinosaurs back here. What the hell did Jackie give us?"Her voice had dropped a couple octaves and the wind and engine noise were making it difficult to hear her. Not gave, he thought, a little resentfully. Sold. And the money's starting to run out. "Say again?""Dude, I'm literally seeing dinosaurs. There's, like, a T-Rex back there. Trying to eat a tractor." She laughed. He turned and looked over his shoulder, saw the tyrannosaur brushing its massive head against the cab of the combine, attempting to roll it over. There's no way we can be seeing the same thing. There's just no way except-"Baby .!"He spun around in time to see a blue-black thing, an insect, a dragonfly, which was at least as long as his forearm, hovering directly in their path-before it smashed against the windshield like a rock and splattered like a cantaloupe, hurling watery green blood and guts everywhere, some of which landed in Sammi's mouth. And then they were careening out of control in the general direction of the gravel shoulder, and while he didn't experience anything so dramatic as his life flashing before him, he did revisit, in a kind of time-out from time itself, the months since he'd received the Lotto payout and met Annie-a fast-living spitfire who was 29 to his 39 and whom he had nothing in common with beyond how well they got on sexually-and recognized in himself an increasing dissatisfaction with, well, all of it-the gambling, the drugs, the sex-everything. But then the time-out was over and they were laying on their side near the edge of the road-yet still in it-as the 18-wheeler bore down upon them, close enough so that Sammi could see the driver's face, and thus knew the driver had noticed them too late.

Tales from the Flashback: "Thunder Lizard Road" - Tales from the Flashback, #1

Welcome to Black Sheep: Unique Tales of Terror and Wonder, an extraordinary anthology magazine that transcends the boundaries of science-fiction, fantasy, and horror. Prepare to embark on a thrilling journey through the darkest corners of the human imagination, where the ordinary becomes extraordinary, and the mundane transforms into a realm of unspeakable terror and awe-inspiring wonder. Within these pages, you'll discover a collection of captivating stories carefully curated to transport you to realms beyond the mundane. Each issue presents an array of unique tales crafted by talented visionaries, both established and emerging, who dare to defy conventions and push the boundaries of speculative fiction. Whether you're a seasoned lover of the fantastic or just curious to explore new frontiers, Black Sheep: Unique Tales of Terror and Wonder will be your guide through the realms of the extraordinary. Prepare to be enthralled, enchanted, haunted. So put on your dark sunglasses . and unleash your inner Black Sheep. In this issue:WILD TRUTHSeptember Woods GarlandBEAUTY QUEENGeoffrey MarshallDROWNED STONEOliver FostenNIGHTMARE IS A CARNIVEROUS HORSENemo AratorTHE LIMITS OF RESOURCE ALLOCATIONFrancesco LevatoMESOZOIC KNIGHTSWayne Kyle SpitzerMIRACLE OF DEATHDouglas KolackiPLANET CLAIREScotty MilderTHE FIBONACCI HORRORRoddy NavarroVAMPIRE ZENDOJohn Wesick

Black Sheep: Unique Tales of Terror and Wonder No. 2 | August 2023 - Black Sheep Magazine, #2

They both felt it at the same time, even as the train lurched forward and the cars jolted thunderously-a tremor in the very fabric of things, like a ripple in a foam of potentiality which contained in it the threads of all their possible futures. Something, somewhere, had just happened-something directly related to their current endeavor of delivering the bomb to Barley and detonating it amidst the Enemy. communicated Ank, still smarting from his struggle to climb onto the flatcar with the added weight of the weapon."You felt it too? Like one door closed and another had opened, but with disastrous consequences, for us all ." Williams looked at him, rattled and bewildered. "Ank, how could we know that?""Ank, don't."Williams leaned forward until they were almost nose to nose. "Our friendly engineer, in case you haven't noticed, is clearly insane!"And then Williams was leaning over the side using one of Ank's spikes for a handhold while simultaneously yelling at the engineer, who poked his head out the engine's side window, his long, gray hair flying, and shouted, "You want speed, you got it, ha-ha! The world, she's a comin' back, yesiree!" He sounded the horn suddenly and Williams covered an ear, even as his hat blew off and fluttered away behind them. "The New World Special is back in service-and it's taking its passengers to the Promised Land! Ha-ha!"

A Dinosaur Is A Man's Best Friend: "The Demon and the Avatar" - A Dinosaur Is A Man's Best Friend (A Serialized Novel), #9

Welcome to Black Sheep: Unique Tales of Terror and Wonder, an extraordinary anthology magazine that transcends the boundaries of science-fiction, fantasy, and horror. Prepare to embark on a thrilling journey through the darkest corners of the human imagination, where the ordinary becomes extraordinary, and the mundane transforms into a realm of unspeakable terror and awe-inspiring wonder. Within these pages, you'll discover a collection of captivating stories carefully curated to transport you to realms beyond the mundane. Each issue presents an array of unique tales crafted by talented visionaries, both established and emerging, who dare to defy conventions and push the boundaries of speculative fiction. Whether you're a seasoned lover of the fantastic or just curious to explore new frontiers, Black Sheep: Unique Tales of Terror and Wonder will be your guide through the realms of the extraordinary. Prepare to be enthralled, enchanted, haunted. So put on your dark sunglasses . and unleash your inner Black Sheep. In this issue:THE BATHTUBOlivia WolfeARACHNEJason HulsASHMEDAI AND THE HAIRDRESSERAllister NelsonBURKE'S REBOOTAlyssa WillefordGET IT OUT OF MEWayne Kyle SpitzerPERSUATIONMary Jo RabeSWIMMING HOLEKathy LanzarottiTHE STRANGE CASE OF BARTHOLOMEW HEMBREEPaul CesariniMONSTERSFred CheneyHELLIONJason Frederick Myers

Black Sheep: Unique Tales of Terror and Wonder No. 7 | January 2024 - Black Sheep Magazine, #7

How did it come to this, Witch Doctor? This war between Doctor and witch, man and woman, you and I?The voice again, slightly louder this time, but still little more than a whisper, still difficult to hear through all the noise and screaming, as well as his own muffled breathing. He willed it away as he approached the first door and triggered his musket, which spat its ball and orange fire, punching out the knob and igniting the wood like dry tinder, causing the occupant of the room to scream so that it seemed the door itself screamed, blackening and shedding its paint which peeled away like rinds of burnt skin. He kicked it open and it fell with a crash, but had hardly levelled his pistol when the witch in the middle of the room launched herself against the ceiling-which she laid upon as though the world itself had flipped upside down-and, opening her mouth wide, vomited a stream of black liquid-which splattered against the floor as he dropped and rolled, tank clanking. The spot hissed as the bile melted through it and he hastened to warn any Witch Doctor below by shouting, "Black bile!"-even as he completed his roll and torched the witch while still on the floor. She danced wildly against the cracked plaster of the ceiling and a flailing hand smashed out the overhead light, yet still she did not fall, and he squeezed the trigger again. At last she dropped to the floor, arms and legs whipping about in a frenzy, then rolled in an effort to extinguish the flames and fell screeching into the flat below.

The Complete Witch-Doctor | The Collected Stories

He looked up at his apartment window after he'd gotten out of his truck, he didn't know why, and saw Sadie sitting in the sill, staring down at him, it seemed. Hey, you little psychopath, he thought, as the snow fluttered down and clung to his face. Have you been a good girl?He was relieved to find, a few minutes later, that she had: for nothing appeared amiss either in the kitchen or the living room. The bedroom, too, seemed in perfectly good order-although Sadie was no longer at the window, which did beg the question: Where on earth was she, exactly? He began calling out her name as he moved toward the bathroom, and was surprised by how little his voice sounded, how nervous."Sadie? Saaadie?"He felt a wave of apprehension as he entered the bathroom, he wasn't sure why, but was pleased to find it normal in every respect-there wasn't even any discernable cat box odor. He laughed a little at his own paranoia. What had he expected? 'REDRUM' scrawled across the mirror in cat shit?

Sadie

Dark horse/'därk '?hôrs/noun1. a candidate or competitor about whom little is known but who unexpectedly wins or succeeds."a dark-horse candidate"Join us for a monthly tour of writers who give as good as they get. From hard science-fiction to stark, melancholic apocalypses; from Lovecraftian horror to zombies and horror comedy; from whimsical interludes to tales of unlikely compassion--whatever it is, if it's weird, it's here. So grab a seat before the starting gun fires, pour yourself a glass of strange wine, and get ready for the running of the dark horses. In this issue:MARBLINGRobert HelfstCORPORATE AMERICARichard Flores IVDISH BRAINJohn Andrew KarrHIVE OF ASTERIONMack W. Mani and C. Clark CoslorTHE WINE DARK PASSAGEWayne Kyle SpitzerHOUSE OF FATHERSDavid LewisCOLUMBIAForest King-WildsA FRIEND OF THE FAMILYThomas KodnarMOMMA SAIDA. Elizabeth HertingBONE FLUTEStephen Thomson

Dark Horses: The Magazine of Weird Fiction No. 25 | February 2024 - Dark Horses Magazine, #25

I had a dream. In the dream I was running, I and a thousand others, through the Nevada desert. It's open range out there: no fences impeded us, but the cows scattering before us slowed our passage, tripping us up. They mooed in terror even as we cried out, but they weren't afraid of us so much as the Shadow behind us all. That shadow was an army, led by Ronald McDonald. He was grinning, leering even, blood-red lips frozen in a rictus. At his side was Jack, fell head bouncing. Little Wendy squeezed between them, screaming like a Valkyrie, braided red locks flying. They were a Calvary; they were riding Rainbeer. Their hooves churned up the dust through which burst a million antenna balls, cackling, bouncing, leaping .Behind them marched a sea of corporate shock troops, wave after wave, briefcases in hand. Trumpets sounded, like something from The Lord of the Rings, heralding the return of the Burger King-Ahead of us the cows starting vanishing, dropping from the face of the world. "It's a stampede!" someone cried, terrified. There were screams that fell away sharply. We had come to a sheer drop-off-a few of us having realized too late. There was nowhere left to run. Above us, like vultures, attack helicopters circled. Turning to meet my doom, I saw that Ronald McDonald had become former President Ronald Reagan."Well, " he said. "How about it?"

How About a Coke and Some Fries?

Dark horse/'därk '?hôrs/noun1. a candidate or competitor about whom little is known but who unexpectedly wins or succeeds."a dark-horse candidate"Join us for a monthly tour of writers who give as good as they get. From hard science-fiction to stark, melancholic apocalypses; from Lovecraftian horror to zombies and horror comedy; from whimsical interludes to tales of unlikely compassion--whatever it is, if it's weird, it's here. So grab a seat before the starting gun fires, pour yourself a glass of strange wine, and get ready for the running of the dark horses. In this issue:COYOTE AND HUNTERBrenden PontzTHE GREEN WORLDTerry SanvilleTHE LEVIATHANHarold HossHOMING PIGEONMehitabel ShapiroTHE EULOGYMax RissmanMINTStephen McQuigganSÉ DO BHEATHA 'BHAILEDerek Alan JonesTHE APBRocky BoudreausTHE TERROR IN LAKE MICHIGANKelly PiggottTHE PRIMEVAL WORLDWayne Kyle Spitzer

Dark Horses: The Magazine of Weird Fiction No. 11 December 2022 - Dark Horses Magazine, #11

The final Flashback begins ... It's all led to this. All the characters and situations of the Flashback/Dinosaur Apocalypse come together in a final trilogy of tales that will close out and define the saga. Join Ank and Williams, the crew of Gargantua, the kids from Thunder Road, and so many others as they heed the call to adventure one last time and face the very architects of the Flashback!Welcome to the world of the Flashback, a world in which man's cities have become overgrown jungles and extinct animals wander the ruins. You can survive here, if you're lucky, and if you're not in the wrong place at the wrong time--which is everywhere, all the time. But what you'll never do is remain the same, for this is a world whose very purpose is to challenge you, a world where anything can and will happen. So take a deep dive into these loosely connected tales of the Dinosaur Apocalypse (each of which can be read individually or as a part of the greater saga): tales of wonder and terror, death and survival, blood and beauty. Do it today, before the apocalypse comes. From This Savage and Beautiful Night:He looked at the sky; at the Flashback Borealis-now diminished by the sun-and the drifting lights (which were of a color no one had ever seen). "Because the truth is, I have been closer to their dark materials than anyone-anyone here in Barley, that's for sure. And I am telling you: there was something in their voices this time that wasn't there before, something, I think, that they've never experienced. And that's fear."At which the amphitheater fell ghostly silent, at least for a moment."Well, fear of what, exactly?" called a man with a stump for a hand (his name was Roger), at last. "They're sure as hell not afraid of us."Francis just shook his head. "I don't know. Fear of whatever's at the center of that labyrinth; which is why they're gathering on it. Maybe even the fear that it will somehow affect their precious Flashback ...""Wait a minute, wait a minute, " blurted someone-some punk kid, I believe his name was Lonny. "So you're saying there's two conflicting forces-sort of like a football game-one of which is responsible for the Flashback, while the other is even now beckoning to us?" He laughed and slapped his hat against his hip. "Well, hell, man, sign me up with the Beckoner! Let's do this!"Laughter; laughter and riotous applause-which devolved into chaos-as Bella Ray threw up her arms and someone tossed torn paper (like confetti) and something parted the crowd like a float, like a tank. Something that turned out to be an armored dinosaur (an ankylosaurus) with a man walking beside it, a duo I knew to be the great Ank and Williams themselves-veterans of the Dinosaur War and the Bearers of the Hammer. The Legends of the North."That's just precisely what he's saying, " shouted Williams assuredly, authoritatively. "And he's exactly right to do so-because that's the situation." He looked at Francis, who brought him the cordless microphone. "And it's high time we accepted it; and started drawing up our plans. Because friends-fellow survivors, veterans of the Big One and all those who have come here because they heard Radio Free Montana, it's all come down to this."

This Savage and Beautiful Night - Flashback/The Dinosaur Apocalypse: The Final Trilogy of Stories, #1

Welcome to the Big Empty, the world after the Flashback ... a world in which most the population has vanished and where dinosaurs roam freely. You can survive here, if you're lucky, and if you're not in the wrong place at the wrong time--which is everywhere and all the time. But what you'll never do is remain the same--for this is a world whose very purpose is to change you: for better or for worse. So take a deep dive into these loosely connected tales of the Dinosaur Apocalypse (each of which can be read individually or as a part of the greater saga): tales of wonder and terror, death and survival, blood ... and beauty. Do it today ... before the apocalypse comes.* * *"You're a fool, Nick Callahan. A fool. But I suppose you already knew that." I allowed my hand to drop before plunking down in the fir needles and just staring into space. "There was nothing. I saw nothing. It-it was like he didn't even exist." She sat down next to me and exhaled, tiredly. "He's an animal-what did you expect?" She picked up my glove and offered it to me, but I didn't take it. "You said it yourself; it's like they see memories. The eyes. I don't imagine a dog has a particularly long one. Do you?" I sighed. All I knew for certain was that I felt numb and more than a little tired. "I don't know. I don't know what I expected. Or what I was looking for. An incident, maybe. Some kind of clue." She laid her head on my shoulder and stared at nothing, same as me. "What kind? A clue to what?" "That's just it-I don't know. A clue to what might wake him up, I guess. Something I could say. Something that was important to him." "His butt was important to him, " she said. "A source of endless fascination." I had to smile. That's when it happened. That's when he yelped, ever so slightly, and his paw twitched. I looked at Lisa and she looked back. And then my hand was on him and we were running-Puck and I-down cobblestone lanes lined with streetlamps and through pools of foggy light; through tides of rusted Maple leaves, which leapt and swirled as we passed. "What is it?" I heard Lisa say, her voice growing smaller, more distant. "What do you see?" I turned to look at Puck as we ran and saw his tongue loll and his eyes shift-as though he wanted to look behind himself-behind us-but didn't dare. "Fear, " I said. "Confusion." An image entered my mind of a dug passage beneath the rear wall of the T. J. Maxx; of the turkey-like thing crawling through it with Puck hot on its heels. "He escaped from beneath the wall and now he's lost somewhere in the fog. And he's terrified . but of what I don't know. It's almost like-wait a minute. Wait a minute." I looked behind him-having heard something huffing and snorting-and saw a fully-grown therapod dinosaur (colored orange and black, like a Gila monster) bounding after us in the dark, gaining rapidly. "There's something coming-some kind of predator. An allosaur, I think. Whatever it is, it's closing, and I mean fast."

Livres