(Or The Case Surrounding Crystal Woijick’s Supposedly Lost Death Tape) By Cindy Pereira “You don’t look the type of the girl that’d be into this shit,” Raoul Davenport says with a condescending smirk. Yeah, and you look exactly like the sort that jerks off to it and watches the Columbine surveillance tapes on loop. IContinue reading “Gorehounds”
Category Archives: Noir
Tell Me a Story
By Hillary Lyon Tell Me a Story, She Said, Make it a mystery. So I concocted a tale,a cocktail concerninga private plane, a stowaway,a debris field. A secret affair, a radical manifesto,a tiny rhythmic beeping.Red numbers tumbling downlike crisp autumn leaves. A smug politico, a movie mogul,a sex slave.I was not a slave, she corrected.IContinue reading “Tell Me a Story”
Lavender Diamond
By Edward Sheehy I’m done writing first-person point-of-view stories. My latest saga of a modern family stretching back several generations, voiced by 72 first-person characters including pet dogs and cats and a crow circling the narrative dispensing omniscient commentary, had been soundly rejected by dozens of publishers. My agent said first-person was overdone, mine inContinue reading “Lavender Diamond”
Julia and Katherine
Noir Fiction By Andy Betz “Hello. My name is Katherine Adams.” It was my reserved opening. Neither abrupt nor capricious, I remained steadfast in my resolve to make a singular opening. I made discreet inquiries about her idiosyncrasies and decided to discard such second hand information and decide for myself. “I read your ad inContinue reading “Julia and Katherine”
No-Kill Shelter
Crime Fiction By Brenda Kilianski Woman Found Strangled in Uptown Apartment August 19, 1997. Dateline: Chicago. Diana Charlton, 29, a Loop-based attorney, was found strangled in her apartment in the 900-block of West Argyle. While police have no definitive suspects, a spokeswoman for the department noted similarities between the murder of Ms. Charlton and anotherContinue reading “No-Kill Shelter”
Judge and Jury
Crime Fiction By William M. McIntosh I’ve seen just about everything. Thirty-three years in and I still get excited, though. The chase. The capture. The power. The idea that your hard work has paid off and you’re still the man; there ain’t a feeling that comes close. I remember my first. I still think aboutContinue reading “Judge and Jury”
Hard Case
Crime Fiction By Glen Bush The wooden screen door slammed shut sending a rickety echo through the tavern. The two fans sitting at each end of the hand-made, but not well-made, bar did little more than disperse the muggy, August air. It was St. Louis and August, nothing more needed to be said. The smilingContinue reading “Hard Case”
Jaws of Fate
By Melekwe Anthony “Have you felt fear? Have you heard your heart in your ears and a sudden impulse to lie, hide or run; that you know what is coming and can not prevent it? Staring down the barrel of a gun is not fear, Doctor. “Yes…I’m. I understand.” “Watching your son get pulled awayContinue reading “Jaws of Fate”
The Hitman and His Wife
By Gratia Serpento “Goddammit, Arthur. Tell me that isn’t a dead body on my brand new couch.” “That isn’t a dead body on your brand new couch.” He rolled his eyes. “Of course it’s a dead body. Look at it!” “I don’t want to look at it!” His wife, Lorna hissed, wringing her hands. “WhyContinue reading “The Hitman and His Wife”
By Morning
By Andy Betz By morning they would come for me. I stole the funds, in small quantities, over a long time. A little here. A little there. I have been careful over the years. But, not careful enough. Walter, my associate, caught me last week. It took him nearly as long to research the lostContinue reading “By Morning”