Nate Southard: Selected Stories E-Book

Nate Southard

• Herausgeber: Independent Legions Publishing
• Kategorie: Abenteuer, Thriller, Horror
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

From Bram Stoker Awards® Nominee Nate Southard, eighteen of his best horror stories selected by the author, published from 2005 to 2015.
It contains: “His Start,” “Why I Do It,” Working the Bag,” “In the Clearing Beneath the Firs,” and “Yellow Triangles” previously published in Broken Skin (2009); “Insomnia Is My Only Friend” previously published in Horror Literature Quarterly no. 1 (2007); “Silent Corners” previously published in Trunk Stories no. 3 (2007); “Señorita” previously published on HorrorWorld.org (2009); “Work Pit Four” previously published in Of Keene Interest no. 1 (2009); “Going Home, Ugly Stick in Hand” previously published in Black Static issue 20 (2010); “Armageddon, Now Available in High Definition” previously published in Darkness on the Edge (2010); “The Blisters on My Heart” previously published in Supernatural Noir (2011); “Mouth” previously published in Horror for Good (2012); “Bottle. Paper. Samurai.” previously published in LampLight (2015); “It Burns” previously published in Something Went Wrong (2012); “It’s Even Better the Second Time” previously published in Horror d’Oeuvres (2008); “A Team-Building Exercise” previously published Aoife’s Kiss (2005); “Three, Two, One” previously published in A Hacked-Up Holiday Massacre (2011). Cover Art by Daniele Serra.

Leseprobe

SELECTED STORIES

by Nate Southard

ISBN: 978-88-99569-44-0

Copyright (Edition) ©2017 Independent Legions Publishing

Copyright (Text) ©Nate Southard

March, 2017

Editing: Jodi Renée Lester

Cover Art by Daniele Serra

Digital Layout: Lukha B. Kremo

Nate Southard

Table of Contents:

“His Start,” “Why I Do It,” Working the Bag,” “In the Clearing Beneath the Firs,” and “Yellow Triangles” previously published in Broken Skin (2009)

“Insomnia Is My Only Friend” previously published in Horror Literature Quarterly no. 1 (2007)

“Silent Corners” previously published in Trunk Stories no. 3 (2007)

“Señorita” previously published on HorrorWorld.org (2009)

“Work Pit Four” previously published in Of Keene Interest no. 1 (2009)

“Going Home, Ugly Stick in Hand” previously published in Black Static issue 20 (2010)

“Armageddon, Now Available in High Definition” previously published in Darkness on the Edge (2010).

“The Blisters on My Heart” previously published in Supernatural Noir (2011)

“Mouth” previously published in Horror for Good (2012)

“Bottle. Paper. Samurai.” previously published in LampLight (2015)

“It Burns” previously published in Something Went Wrong (2012)

“It’s Even Better the Second Time” previously published in Horror d’Oeuvres (2008)

For Simon and Maddie, who stay close.

HIS START

The cold rain had extinguished the pile of burning bodies, but their clinging stench hovered in the air like a virus. Tommy wrinkled his nose behind the handkerchief he had tied across his face and kept walking. Raindrops like daggers pelted the stiff leather of his coat, their percussive racket blending with the creak of the weathered hide. The slow, steady rhythm of his boots on the two-lane hardtop completed the sad chorus.

His shoulder ached beneath the weight of Sabrina’s body. The blanket he’d wrapped her in had soaked through, adding to his burden. He eyed the burn pile longingly—he could rid himself of her weight there—but he shook the thought away. He’d promised she would be buried under green grass, the first good patch he could find.

He’d walked to the small town of Sparta to find that patch.

The squat four street by four street rose from the road like a patch of sickly toadstools. The buildings of brick and concrete shared the same drab tones as the stormy sky. Farther out, several buildings had collapsed into piles of material. He’d find no mansions here. The only good side effect of the conflict had been how it made everyone and everything equal. Rich and poor didn’t exist anymore. Neither did beauty and ugliness, and being a winner just meant you hadn’t lost yet. Everything was just there now, hanging on and hoping like hell it didn’t lose its grip.

The sentry spotted him as he closed to within three hundred yards of the burn pile, which was maybe half the distance to Sparta itself. The guy wore a gas mask with one cracked lens. He was a heavy man, what Tommy would have called a tubby bastard back in the old days. The guy had a big gun, though, so Tommy did what he was told and froze.

He drummed his fingers on Sabrina’s leg, as if she were the one who needed calming.

“Don’t worry,” he whispered. “They won’t take you.” He stood still as stone, waiting for the sentry to waddle the distance between them. The guard kept the business end of his rifle—an old Remington that appeared just a little more rusted than it should—trained on him. The barrel’s mouth looked about the size of a wishing well. Tommy made himself look up from the dark hole to meet the approaching man’s eyes.