Dark Comedy Short Stories

Peculiar Monstrosities is packed with 14 exquisitely crafted stories from new and established authors of Bizarro fiction.

Kate and Michael, twenty-something housemates working at the same Trader Joe’s supermarket, are thoroughly screwed when people start turning into zombies at their house party in the Oakland hills. The zombie plague is a sexually transmitted disease, turning its victims into shambling, horny, voracious killers.

During the 2020 pandemic, a man began driving for Uber in a small college town. Little did he know the deep truths he would discover about himself, the profound insights into the human condition…. Actually, that’s bullshit. What he really discovered was a cash cow: drunk kids with too much money and a darth of local drivers. But all is not easy money and smooth tones vibin’ in the background. These kids are crazy, and crazy kids mean crazy stories.

When nothing’s going right, someone’s gotta give. Three unusual stories of perseverance, tenacity and cleverness, with surprising endings. Dignity Formerly published in Writer's Guild. A journalist has a chance encounter with a young woman in a government office. The woman's disturbing past makes the journalist question everything she believes in and stands for. Paper Cut Formerly published in The Junction. In a rich neighbourhood of Mumbai, two scrap dealers are facing destitute times. Supply is limited, costs are rising, and they’re competing against each other on the same turf. But...

Ebola Saves the Planet! and Other Wholesome Tales is a collection of 11 wild tales from the mind of Matthew A. Clarke.

When the world is ending around you do you just give up and die, or find a reason to make the best out of a bad situation? For John Earl and his friends, Luke and Anna, the unthinkable has happened and they can either stay put and hope "they", that mysterious they people are always going on about, will show up to save them, or they can do what they normally do and turn this into an adventure. They decide that hanging around, waiting to either become part of a giant barbecue or zombie bait, just isn't on their bucket list and head out for one last adventure before the end of the world ...

He traded his scythe for a clipboard. What could possibly go wrong? Mort Finley is done with death. After centuries on soul collection duty, he's hanging up the cloak and launching a new career—as a life coach. The kind with business cards, throw pillows, and an ever-wilting office fern. His clients? Burned-out, washed-up, or just plain stuck. But Mort sees their potential... and for the first time, maybe even his own. Of course, transitioning from Reaper to self-help guru isn’t without hiccups—like flickering lights, mysteriously appearing skull décor, and the occasional existential...

In Romance: Quickies (Malia's Encounter - 3), Cuban daredevil Malia seduces her former parolee in a perilous park…but will the danger of their encounter be more than she can handle? Seven friends living in New York City. One unusual competition. Who can have the most intimate encounters in a month? Ten thousand dollars is on the line... Quickies are bite-sized steamy stories that follow a group of women living in New York City who compete to see who can have the most casual hookups in a month. Which woman will sleep with the most men to win the bet? Will any of them fall in love with ...

It’s the hottest heat wave of the summer and Gus’s air conditioner has decided to give up the ghost. It’s not the heat keeping Gus awake at night, though, but a nighttime visit from Father Xavier. He couldn’t sleep either due to the heat and decided it would be best that they didn’t sleep together. While the father was bothering Gus by telling him all about his recent visit to Italy, a welcome phone call came. Someone is going to be murdered at Deimos Technology. It doesn’t matter that the someone that is about to die is only an AI computer infected with a fatal computer virus. ...

My short stories are all exactly 50 words long (not including the title). Some of the one-word prompts used to create my stories include wildfires, holiday lights, a horseshoe, time traveler, street food, and Donald Trump. My magnetic poetry is oddly philosophical and meant to confound and amuse. May you thoroughly enjoy my book! Have a nice day!

From Award Winning and Best Selling Author Duncan Whitehead, comes a short story with a twist........ When two old friends, bound together by their love of growing fruits and vegetables enter the same competition, how far will they go to ensure victory? A charming story with more twists and turns than a tomato vine. From the Author A short story with a twist. How far would you go to win? How important is something that seems so trivial to others, but paramount to you? We all have a breaking point....but some are more fragile than others. This book is short and sweet. Set in a small English ...

A palm reader notifies Lord Arthur that murder is in his future. But not his murder - he’s the murderer. This really throws a wrench into his wedding plans, for Lord Arthur is soon to be married to the most beautiful lady in London. In fact he loves her so much, he decides to postpone the wedding until his business is done. Now, for a tasteful homicide....

Mr. White, a 70-year-old man - rich and somewhat eccentric - faced with the sensation that his death draws near, decides to hire a secretary to record his last words. What he cannot imagine is how difficult it will be to find this secretary. A tale on the passage of time, narrated with humor and a touch of nostalgia.

In search of the ferocious truth, some would call trying to channel the spirit of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson a fool’s errand. But these are desperate times. So settle in for this trilogy of uppers, downers, screamers, laughers from John Bruni (Tales of Questionable Taste), Kent Hill (Hercules with a Shotgun) and Kevin Candela (Weedeaters: The Complete Acropalypse) as they bring you just what the doctor ordered.

Gus suspected Father Xavier asked him out for Thanksgiving dinner for more than just the friendly company. When you’re the sheriff of a small county you learn quickly that people only put on airs of wanting to be with you out of friendship. Typically instead these people think they’ve spotted a crime that they want you to deal with. The father suspects something rotten is in the air concerning a holiday family reunion involving the daughter of a once rich rancher, her famous author older brother, and her less than famous younger brother, the loan writer from Santa Fe. Gus isn’t one to...

Gus has the unfortunate task of judging the local art show at the Tannehill Ranch. The only thing Gus knows about art is you shouldn’t eat the macaroni after your child has glued to their artwork. Given the art show is displaying art from the daughters of most of the wealthier members of society in his state, Gus could hardly have said no to the request to be a judge. Things heat up at the art show when one of the teenage contestants ends up missing. It is the sort of news that isn’t exactly easy to tell parents with large bank accounts. Worse, it turns out she’s likely run away with ...

Tales from the Eerie Canal weaves the sinister mystery of Edgar Allan Poe with the dark humor of Edward Gorey. No canal. No Lake Erie. Just a stream of the disturbing splashed with bits of the absurd.

The follow-up to Matt Shaw's Bite-Size: A Collection of Short Stories. Hear five more previously unpublished short stories from one of Britain's most warped imaginations.

All Gus wanted to do was take a day trip up to the big city to get away from his constituents. However, some constituents are harder to avoid than others. He inadvertently bumps into Father Xavier while at an antique show. Neither this chance meeting or Gus’s appraisal are the worst thing to happen to the sheriff while out of town, because the other thing that’s hard for him to avoid is getting involved in a murder case. When one of the big winners at the antique show turns up dead it’s up to Gus to figure out who the murderer is. With the Father’s help, can Gus sort out the clues ...

Incendiary Girls explores our baser instincts with vivid imagination and humor. In these stories, our bodies become strange and unfamiliar terrain, a medium for transformation. In "Fundamental Laws of Nature", a doctor considers her legacy, both good and bad, when she discovers that her mother has been reincarnated as a thoroughbred mare. In the title story, a mischievous angel chronicles the remarkable life of a girl just beyond death’s reach.