American Short Fiction

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.

A wicked, funny, sexy read Hunter Valentine is the best barber in town. He has a sexy secret skill, that along with his wayward friend Lionel is keeping him out of debt. Hunter is single, and focuses on making enough money to get out of this risky business of cutting ladies privates early. As luck would have it, the love of his life, a conservative politician's daughter, is back in town trying to reconcile. Hunter has to navigate between Meghan's advances and his new sexy clientele. He may not get the chance to give up one for the other, as his new service is on the verge of revolutionizing...

On Ash Wednesday in 1908, Swiss German immigrant Fritz Hirter arrives at his children’s school, where he is the lone custodian. But soon after lessons start, a fast-moving fire breaks out—its cause is unknown, but its effects are horrifying. Although Fritz is soon cleared of any responsibility for the catastrophe, the community continues to suspect him, supremely testing Fritz and his family.

Cowboy Graves is an unexpected treasure from the vault of a revolutionary talent. Roberto Bolaño's boundless imagination and seemingly inexhaustible gift for shaping the chaos of his reality into fiction is unmistakable in these three novellas. In Cowboy Graves, Arturo Belano - Bolaño's alter ego - returns to Chile after the coup to fight with his comrades for socialism.

This is a short story prequel to the full length novel "Embracing the Darkness" by Renee Tarot. One Night Can Change Everything Nevayah Wilson is ready to embrace all that Yale has to offer—new experiences, new friendships, and maybe even love. When she meets DeMarco Thomas, a confident and ambitious business student, their connection is undeniable. His touch lingers, his words ignite something deep inside her, and for the first time in a long time, she feels like she’s exactly where she’s meant to be. But fate has other plans. After a night that should have been ordinary, everything ...

Burri is a fashion designer and icon with a biochemistry background. Her latest pieces are African inspired and crafted to touch the heart. They enable wearers to absorb nanorobotic memories and recount the stories of Black lives and forgiveness. Wenda doesn’t buy it. A protest performance artist, Wenda knows exploitation when she sees it. What she’s going to do with Burri’s breakthrough technology could, in the right hands, change race relations forever.

No nation has ever achieved the literary diversity of America. From nativist humor to immigrant triumph, Americans have recorded their visions and hopes better than anyone

From the royal wedding to boring airplane companions, Samuel Beckett to Margaret Thatcher, "senior moments" to life as a waitress, Maeve's Times gives us wonderful insight into a changing Ireland as it celebrates the work of one of our best-loved writers in all its diversity - revealing her characteristic directness, laugh-out-loud humor, and unswerving gaze into the true heart of a matter.

Examining the borders between one nation and another, between one person and another, Urrea reveals his mastery of the short form. This collection includes the Edgar-award winning "Amapola" and his now-classic "Bid Farewell to Her Many Horses," which had the honor of being chosen for NPR's "Selected Shorts" not once but twice.

Kandy Kane will experience PAIN; she could’ve never imagined. Between her marriage, pregnancy, her father Wayne, and Q’ being her brother, she’s drowning in total misery, and many regrets. Knowing her parents are probably right about her needing therapy, she’s willing to put an end to her nympho lifestyle. ONCE AND FOR ALL!All Kandy wants is a fresh start to happiness, but on the other hand, she soon realizes there’s no escaping her past doings. As she prepares for motherhood, unforeseen secrets will be revealed. Life-shattering events will take place. How much more pain can Kandy...

Paul Tremblay has won widespread acclaim for illuminating the dark horrors of the mind in novels and stories that push the boundaries of storytelling itself. The fifteen pieces in this brilliant collection, The Beast You Are, are all monsters of a kind, ready to loudly (and lovingly) smash through your head and into your heart.

Andrew Lang (1844-1912) was a poet, novelist, and literary critic. He created the enchanting world of fairyland inhabited by characters like the snow-queen, the mermaid's son, ogres, dwarfs, monsters, magicians, and giants. The Pink Fairy Book contains 41 tales from Africa, Japan, Scandinavia, and Europe. They range from familiar stories like "The Snow-Queen" and "The Fir-Tree" to the obscure tales of the Tanuki. This collection contains stories like "The Cats' Elopement", The "Princess in the Chest", "Snowflake", and more....

This anthology edited by the American writer, philosopher, and patron of the arts Alain Locke brings together some of the most influential pieces of African American works from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Featuring the voices of Zora Neale Thurston, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Langston Hughes, Locke included commentary on the emergence of the New Negro Movement, also known as the Harlem Renaissance. The New Negro is considered to be the definitive text on the movement.

Edited by National Book Award finalist Ibi Zoboi and featuring some of the most acclaimed best-selling black authors writing for teens today - Black Enough is an essential collection of captivating stories about what it’s like to be young and black in America. A selection of the Schomburg Center's Black Liberation Reading List.

An incident at a TSA security check point sows chaos and rumors, creating a chain of events that impacts twelve young Asian Americans in a crowded and restless airport. As their disrupted journeys crisscross and collide, they encounter fellow travelers—some helpful, some hostile—as they discover the challenges of friendship, the power of courage, the importance of the right word at the right time, and the unexpected significance of a blue Stratocaster electric guitar.

We have gathered between these pages. To bring you stories of love, murder, deception, and redemption. Untethered by a single plot but molded as one in pen. With seeds planted in EyeCU Reading & Chatting's weekly writing challenges, and nurtured with inspiration from its founder Ebony Evans, our creativity blossomed. We present this bouquet!

From a young age Brailynn had to face and go through so many trials. Trials you wouldn’t have believed, someone her age would be able to conquered, survived, and still remained a bit sane. The living proof of it all were her healing scars from her past. Each scar reminding her of what she had survived, and why she should remain living. Everyone has a story to tell when it comes to every scab or open wound on or inside their body. They either got it from playing too hard, running too fast, or in Brailynn’s case being abused. She tried to seem as normal as possible without drawing any ...

“Call me Miss B*tch. Yes, I screw married men, so what? I love my life. I worked damn hard to get to where I am. I’m a lawyer in a huge law firm and I pay my own bills, besides the ones they pay. Yes, I enjoy what I do and who I do.” Tracy is single and living her best life in California. Coming from a small town in South Carolina, it’s a welcomed change of scenery. It’s also an escape from her past. She is no longer the small town girl with a broken heart; she’s the corporate attorney with several players on her team. Rich, successful players at that. Though her life is ...

Summer has an invitation to ‘Black America’s Wedding of the Decade’ and wouldn’t miss it for the world. Deuce Scaife is finally marrying his college sweetheart Zora Diallo (an outcome that was never in doubt, by the way, except maybe to the two people getting married) and since there’ll be celebrities all over the event, it’s in an expensive, remote location and all very hush-hush.

From her first days at Virginia’s Hampton University, impressionable, creative Nia falls smitten with Chris Eidos Alleyne, an athlete and a scholar. “Love is sweet nothings and beautiful promises”, Nia writes in her journal. What her girlfriends know, and her mother doesn’t, is that Chris’s expression of love is deeply physical. Wielding powerful charisma, Chris soon has Nia abandoning innocence for experience.