Dark Comedy Short Stories

In steel-tipped prose, Craig Davidson conjures up a bleak world populated by hardscrabble pugilists, fighting dogs, sex addicts, and others held captive by their own bad luck and bad decisions. Visceral and with a dark urgency, Rust and Bone is a strikingly original debut.

The characters in this extraordinary book are often - on the surface - depraved, vicious, cowardly and manipulative, but their essential humanity is never undermined. Two professors of philosophy turn pugilists; Leith removal men become the objects of desire for Hollywood goddesses; God turns Boab Coyle into a house-fly; and in the novella, 'A Smart Cunt', the drug-addled young hero spins off on a collision course with his past.

One obnoxious English teacher. Twelve tales of his death. Norton Edwards, English department head, is the reigning despot in Canterbury High. This year, his colleagues have had enough. This year, they're getting rid of Mr. Edwards. In this collection of darkly tongue-in-cheek stories, Mr. Edwards dies, tale after tale.

Canadian author James K. Moran's debut collection of dark fiction offers fantasy, sci-fi, and horror shot through with hope and friendship.

Strange Tales of the Curiously Uncommon is a collection of darkly humorous short stories, each with a cunning twist in the tale. When extraordinary events befall some of London's most ordinary of inhabitants, unexpected turns lead to some witty, strange, sometimes shocking yet ultimately gratifying results.

There is a distinct surreal quality to some (including "Exposure" and "And Now Let's Have Some Fun"), a strong sense of irony (as in "You Too Can Graduate in Three Years with an Advanced Degree in Contextual Semiotics"), and moments of awkward and therefore very real grapplings with sex and romance (most especially in "The Rescues" and the title story, "Welcome Thieves").

Meet Drew Lord Haig, called upon to sing the obscure hit from his youth at a paramilitary event. Or Max, who recalls an eventful journey to a Christian film festival. Meet Mrs Dallesandro, in the tanning salon on her wedding anniversary dreaming of a teenage sexual experience. And Sonya, who scours the streets of Belfast for the missing posters of her dead son. In Dance Move, the new collection of stories from Wendy Erskine, we meet characters who are looking to wrest control of their lives, only to find themselves defined by the moment in their past that marked them.

Taut, brooding and densely atmospheric, these stories show us the ways in which murder can arise out of boredom, perversity can result from adolescent curiosity and sheer evil might be the solution to unbearable loneliness.

In this bunch of offbeat stories, the listener will be sucked into a series of abnormal, yet compellingly dark and amusing tales. A sailors tavern gets an unexpected visitor with a message that could save humanity from itself. Two naughty boys on a school trip to the zoo decide to play a trick that backfires with crushing consequences. A grumpy old man drops devastation in his wake as he leaves behind a trail of deadly flatulence on his trip through the village. The neighbours from hell get neighbours who really are from hell.

Sujetos cuyos conocimientos enciclopédicos los conducen a la cúspide y en seguida al abismo de sus biografías, hombres obsesionados con la idea de su muerte, profesores empeñados en enseñar de modos sumamente complicados materias sencillísimas, presidentes que quieren vender al mejor postor el país que gobiernan, personajes literarios que se salen de su papel y cometen locuras a diestra y siniestra.

Bestsellerautor Markus Heitz erzählt in dieser ganz besonderen Weihnachts-Anthologie von einem Mädchen, das nicht nur den Nikolaus das Fürchten lehrt, weil sie statt dem gewünschten X-Mas-House-Of-Horror einen rosafarbenen Pullover bekommt, vom Treiben der Unheiligen drei Könige oder dem egoistischen Weihnachts-Muffel Quentin, dem eine Kita-Theater-Truppe mit einer ganz besonderen Vorstellung die Ehrfurcht vor dem Fest einbläut. In "Der Tannenbaum des Todes" wird das Beste aus zehn Jahren eines einmaligen Weihnachts-Live-Events erstmals in einem Buch versammelt!

Von seiner Frau verlassen und als Langweiler beschimpft, setzt Lars alles daran, von nun an das Beste aus sich herauszuholen. In dem Schönheitssalon, den er ab sofort besucht, staunt er darüber, wie viele Ehefrauen ihren Mann gern tot sähen - und dies bei der Gesichtsmassage auch noch freimütig ausplaudern. Lars beschließt: Gegen eine anständige Bezahlung wird er die Damen von ihren Gatten erlösen. Und tatsächlich sind die ersten Aufträge schnell erledigt. Doch dann beginnt alles schiefzulaufen.

An accountant by day, Mr. Rodgers spends his nights and weekends indulging in a unique passion. Traveling from neighborhood to neighborhood as an unknown entity, he uses unconventional methods to help long-suffering wives rediscover the love they once had for themselves and their husbands. Some might consider him a selfless hero, ahead of his time. The residents of Poagstown, however, have cutting-edge ideas of their own.

It’s Easter in the land of Oz, and while Jack Pumpkinhead should be enjoying the lovely spring weather, Easter eggs, and candy with his new friend, little Jenny, he can’t. Something is wrong. A terrible memory is beginning to resurface, and Jack is terrified. Whatever it is, he knows it has chased after him for a long time and that he is not strong enough to face it. But very soon, Jack will discover that you can’t hide from the truth forever....

Are you ready for a wild ride through the absurdity of office life? Meet Sir Yetti The Scribe, the mastermind behind the gut-busting series "How to End Up in HR." Brace yourself for a rollercoaster of dark humor and politically incorrect escapades set against the backdrop of the corporate jungle. All of this mixed in with southern hip hop tracks!

Hardened matriarch Fionnuala Flood is in raptures when she hears sons Lorcan and Eoin are coming back home to Derry for the holidays. Not only that, posh in-law Zoe Riddell has invited the Flood family round hers for Christmas Eve dinner. Fionnuala can't wait to sink her teeth into the fancy holiday spread that is sure to be on offer, and can only imagine what delights await her in Zoe's liquor cabinet. But lurking among all these festive delights is a menacing evil. Fionnuala has unwittingly placed all her family in mortal danger, and it will take her most audacious plan yet to get them to...

'Dounaeva packs a punch in this small package. Well done.' 'Isabel is great at making the most of a bad situation.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Bridezilla came to mind a time or two. But that ending was so intriguing.' It should be the happiest day of our lives. The soft tulle of my wedding dress dances against my legs, matching the rhythmic movement of my horse as I ride towards the quaint old church. Its stone walls are adorned with delicate vines, and vibrant stained glass windows cast a rainbow of colours on the ground below. I smile, feeling the warmth of the sun on my skin, anticipation building...

Meet a cat called Cecilia, a disgruntled android named Doris, and a weasel called Popgoes and discover that with enough tea and dark chocolate you can achieve anything.

This is the story of a dying little boy fighting to escape a very special hell!

Con una prosa ágil, desinhibida y acertada, Rafael Medina nos entrega estos relatos en los que se vale del humor negro para poner ante nosotros, con tonos de retrato más que de denuncia, historias que fácilmente podrían estar sucediendo en este momento a unas cuantas cuadras de nosotros, pero vistos bajo la mirada del "arte de su tiempo" que Medina utiliza con sutiles atisbos de crítica.