“Cause of death, blunt-force trauma,” man’s voice says. “Wrongful death.” Rebecca lays upon a surgical table unable to move, though she’s not bound. The cold touch of the surgical steel table pressed against her back and buttocks, the backs of her legs and calves. She must be nude. But I’m not dead Panic takes her….
Tag: must read
A TRANSCENDENT Excerpt: “Tabula Rasa” by William Curnow
The first thing Jack did when he got home was to go to the workbench and examine the block, comparing it to the sketch. He traced the scar that crossed the surface. If he cut here and here… Yes, that might work. He drew the new design onto the block. Almost. A change to that…
A TRANSCENDENT Excerpt: “The Wretched Noblesse” by Case C. Capehart
The nice thing about working at a department store in the suburbs was the storeroom. Only employees could be back there. His store had a giant compactor he fed cardboard boxes into that would crunch it all down into a four-foot-by-four-foot cube that weighed as much as a smart car. On Tuesday mornings, Todd would…
A TRANSCENDENT Excerpt: “House of Mirrors” by Madison Estes
“What will you do when make-up won’t stop you from looking like an old has been? When you get cottage cheese thighs and saggy old boobs that droop down to your belly button? When you can’t stand to look in the mirror anymore? “I’ll get surgery. Creams. Spanx. I’ll worry about it then. Leave me…
A TRANSCENDENT Excerpt: “The Mask of Infamy” by E.N. Dahl
Every library was the same, rows upon rows of dusty shelves, each giving off that amazing old book smell, tacky brown carpets, and a creaky staircase with the sticky tape worn off the steps. Professor Zelwats claimed that the library was the oldest building on campus, prompting campus-wide jokes that he’d been around to help…
A TRANSCENDENT Excerpt: “Sunday School” by Shaun Horton
“Well, that’s all we have time for today. We need to pray and accept communion.” Terry joined his mom, kneeling on the pillows set in front of the shrine. “Dear Lord, we thank you for your blessings and for watching over us throughout the day. We thank you for protecting us from the darkness and…
A TRANSCENDENT Excerpt: “Beckoned” by Melissa A. Winton
“Okay, Mary. Are you comfortable?” Dr. Ruebal asks, a ring of cigarette smoke circling his head, reminding her of one of those ciggy ads in the McClure’s magazine. The doctor’s unkempt appearance is nothing like those dapper gentlemen. His hair is greasy and disheveled from his tar-stained fingers combing through it every few minutes. She…
A TRANSCENDENT Excerpt: “Everything is Red in This World” by Matthew R. Davis
Your first thought when you find yourself standing here on the edge of the coast, staring out across the sea, is always this: everything is red in this world. It’s not quite true. After all, the sand beneath your feet is off-white, and the wooden jetty that stretches out before you is the lifeless grey…
A TRANSCENDENT Excerpt: “The Little Lantern” by Nicholas Stella
He was alone on the street, the asphalt wet from the drizzling rain, the streetlights flickering and buzzing. He withdrew a packet of cigarettes from his pocket. One left. He lit up and pulled deeply. Dizzy, he spat the cigarette out and fell to his hands and knees, vomiting a soup of beer and insects…
A TRANSCENDENT Excerpt: “The Astronaut’s Ghost” by Ken McGrath
I was nine when I saw the astronaut’s ghost out by Purcell’s farm, near the hay barn where my brother Jack died. But it wasn’t him I saw that night. I was grounded at the time because of some trouble I’d gotten into at school. Basically, I’d unspooled all the bog roll I could find…
A TRANSCENDENT Excerpt: “Our Shivering Branch” by Goathead Buckley
One night, they woke me with their hot whiskey breath. Said they didn’t want my dark dreaming under their roof no more. Said my devil mind infected their brains, haunted them at nights, caused nightmare visions that didn’t go away—not even with the lights on and a chicken bone crucifix in their hand. But this…
A TRANSCENDENT Excerpt: “Craving Death” by Franklin C. Murdock
Harlan still loved the man kneeling before him despite the four dead bodies at his side. Sobbing and heartbroken, he’d forced the muzzle of his gun against the worry lines scoring the man’s forehead. The still lake beyond them reflected the moonlight, the whine of cicadas crisp but far away. “I killed them, Harry.” The…
