New ‘Holiday Horror’ fiction: ‘To Grandmother’s House’

A rare (for me) bit of horror writing. Warning: This is not Hallmark Movie material.

Not long ago, in an effort to drag myself out of my writing rut, I decided to write some short stories to fit themed submission calls. One of those calls came from Spillwords. For their annual Haunted Holidays” feature, Spillwords‘ editors were seeking writings that “embrace the dark side of the winter holiday season, and all that’s lurking in the shadows of Christmas merriment.” So I wrote a short story specifically for this call. I was happy to learn earlier this week that the editors had accepted it, and it is featured on the litmag’s website today.

Content warning: If you’re more into sweet and sappy holiday fare, or Hallmark Movie holiday romances, you might want to give this one a pass. But if you crave a bit of psychological tension and yuletide horror, then by all mean, give “To Grandmother’s House” a read.

Image via Spillwords.

Flashback fiction: ‘Lower Strata’

Revisiting a short story published a year ago today.

One year ago today, my short story “Lower Strata” was published by the literary magazine Spillwords.

This story was based on something I’d started about 25 years ago. It is influenced a bit by my years working in the restaurant business. Over the summer of 2024, I pulled it out of the dusty digital files and reworked it a few times before sending it to Spillwords.

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