American Short

Trapped in the clutches of a Zombie apocalypse, the City of Chicago, the murder capital of the U.S., unleashes the ultimate weapon, capitalism, by paying $1,000 for every Re-Killed Zombie brought to city hall, ushering in "The Great Zombie Gold Rush". Zombies never have a chance in a world where people realize 75 Zombies pays off their student loans, 40 Zombies buys them a Tesla, 5 Zombies wipes out their Visa debt...

Every state has an urban legend that evokes fear and curiosity in equal parts, and we've chronicled all of these logic-defying horrors here in the Haunted States of America anthology. From the Jersey Devil to La Llorona, each story included introduces a new chill inducing, stomach churning monster, specter, or poltergeist certain to keep you up at night. A broad ranging collection of authors, including seasoned veterans and some first timers making a fright-tastic debut, have all united to unearth the scariest lore from each state in the US, as well as D.C. and Puerto Rico.

At twenty one years old, Kandy Kane is young, and the epitome of beauty. Growing up in a small, town, called Gadsden, Alabama; she had everything she's ever wanted. As the only child, of a notorious Drug Lord; she never wanted for nothing. Unfortunately, everything changed ten years ago, when her father was brutally murdered by his best friend. Craving her old lifestyle, Kandy started using what she had, to get what she wanted. She knew she'd hit a diamond mine, after one freaky night with Dr. Nikolas Kane, he proposed the very next day. The doctor thought it was love at first sight; but in...

Amir Jackson is a sexy hood nigga who breaks all the rules. After meeting the mean and sexy as sin Nadia Jones he shows her how strong his pull up game is. One night of toe-curling sex Amir can’t get enough. What was supposed to me one night only turns into many nights of pleasure. Nadia can’t shake the sexy man who introduces her to a world of erotic pleasure. Take a ride with two strangers who enjoy a very erotic ride.

In her introduction to this year’s The Best American Essays, guest editor Vivian Gornick states that her selections “contribute materially to the long and honorable history of the personal essay by way of the value they place on lived experience.” Provocative, daring, and honest at a time when many writers are deliberately silencing themselves in the face of authoritarian and populist censorship movements, the twenty-one essays collected here reflect their authors’ unapologetic observations of the world around them.

In the nine expansive, searching stories of A Lucky Man, fathers and sons attempt to salvage relationships with friends and family members and confront mistakes made in the past.

Ayesha Shetty lost her brother seven years ago, the same time she lost everything else important to her: her dreams, her fierce independence, and the man she loved. Not wanting to see her mother hurt anymore, she put her wild self away and became the dutiful daughter her mother needed and took on her brother’s role in the family business. Now her best friend’s big, fat Indian wedding is a chance to get away from her endless duties at the restaurant and maybe even have some fun (if she remembers how).

How do tons of people already learn several languages and have fun doing so? While you're probably hustling your way through boring dictionaries or old-school language learning books (and still no hablas español?), there are tons of people who already speak several languages and have fun while learning them.

The moment I encounter the beautiful tour guide, it’s clear I'll stop at nothing until she’s mine. She’s a spitfire. Doesn’t hold her tongue for anyone, especially not me. Women fall hard for me. Not Kara. She wants nothing to do with me. Well, at least that’s what she keeps telling herself. A few of the men in the small town of Talkeetna want to be with Kara. Won’t happen. I’ll show Kara I’m the man for her.

With 10 stories that move from the barrios of the Dominican Republic to the struggling urban communities of New Jersey, Junot Diaz makes his remarkable debut. Diaz's work is unflinching and strong, and these stories crackle with an electric sense of discovery.

The American literary tradition has, in a far shorter span of time than others throughout history, achieved a glowing and glittering reputation. From its transatlantic roots it has absorbed the sons and daughters of other cultures, other lands and made them part of her own. Within this melting pot of styles, genres and wordplay one fact stands out: In the American short story, literary tradition has a strong, vibrant and almost inclusive history, if you know where to look.

This series is a short story collection aimed at the reader on the go. Each standalone takes you into the lives of the men and women that play in the streets risking life and limb for the almighty dollar. Some handle the heat of the life while others fold under the pressure of it all. So, take a few minutes on your lunch break or right before bed and see who is and who isn’t about that life. This story is book 1 and is titled “Hot Girls in the D”.

My Confession: “I get paid to please your husband, so you don’t have to.” When the blonde-haired and blue-eyed adonis approached me in a swanky Beverly Hills restaurant, I didn't expect him to be a big-shot lawyer ready to offer me a job. He had to be mistaken because I was just a pretty unknown actress with no major skills who was thirty days from being evicted from my apartment. Once he described the job and the compensation package, I knew it was too good of an offer to turn down. I was instructed to help the married men at his law firm relieve their stress and in the process find ...

When Europeans first arrived in North America, between five and eight million Indigenous people were already living there. But how did they come to be here? What were their agricultural, spiritual, and hunting practices? How did their societies evolve, and what challenges do they face today? Eminent historians Theda Perdue and Michael Green begin by describing how nomadic bands of hunter-gatherers followed the bison and woolly mammoth over the Bering land mass between Asia and what is now Alaska between 25,000 and 15,000 years ago, settling throughout North America.

The American Dream is one of the most familiar and resonant phrases in our national lexicon, so familiar that we seldom pause to ask its origin, its history, or what it actually means. In this fascinating short history, Jim Cullen explores the meaning of the American Dream, or rather the several American Dreams that have both reflected and shaped American identity from the Pilgrims to the present.

In American Patriots, historian Ralph Young chronicles the key role dissent has played in shaping the United States. Some of these protesters are celebrated heroes of American history, while others are ordinary people, frequently overlooked, whose stories show that change is often accomplished through grassroots activism. Yet not all dissent is equal. In 2021, thousands of rioters stormed the US Capitol, and Americans on both sides of the aisle watched the destruction with horror. American Patriots contrasts this attack with the history of American protest.

Like the small towns J. California Cooper has so vividly portrayed in her previous novels and story collections, Wideland, Oklahoma, is home to ordinary Americans struggling to raise families, eke out a living, and fulfill their dreams. In the early 20th century, Irene and Val fall in love in Wideland. While carving out a home for themselves, they also allow neighbors Bertha and Joseph to build a house and live on their land.

Wounds is a confounding, strange, and utterly entrancing collection of six stories, including one new novella from Shirley Jackson Award-winning author Nathan Ballingrud. From the eerie dread descending upon a New Orleans dive bartender after a cell phone is left behind in a rollicking bar fight in The Visible Filth to the search for the map of hell in “The Butcher’s Table”, Ballingrud’s beautifully crafted stories are riveting in their quietly terrifying depictions of the murky line between the known and the unknown.

What happens when two people meet by accident? Cashlynn Myers and Quadir Jackson meet in an odd way. Upon their unusual meeting, they thought they would never see each other again, until they meet again by coincidence. The fiery attraction leads them to an erotic place of no return. One snowy night alone, the two burn up the sheets with fierce and unadulterated sex like never before. Will lust and erotic pleasures be all they have, or will it all turn into a blazing love affair like no other?

Black Girl Magic. It is a term that is used a lot these days. It’s probably politically incorrect when I use it. But the truth is the truth. I have been attracted to black women since I was a teenager. Several circumstances have gotten in the way of me acting out my attraction: societal standards. Racist relatives. Fear. My wife. The list goes on. But now, I’m not willing to circumvent those attractions anymore. I am a deacon at a prominent church in the South. It’s a new day and age but interracial relationships are still pretty taboo, particularly when it comes to sex. I have ...