Dark Comedy Short Stories

H.H. Munro (Saki) is one of the undisputed masters of the short story. In this complete compendium, the full gamut of his subjects and themes is experienced. His stories are imbued with humorous satire, biting irony, and often the macabre, all of which have one target: the stupidities and hypocrisies of Edwardian upper-class society.

With these 13 transfixing, ingenious stories, Ben Marcus gives us timely dystopian visions of alienation in a modern world - cosmically and comically apt. Never has existential catastrophe been so much fun.

BINGE-READ THIS SWEET-AND-DARK COLLEGE ROMANCE SERIES. THIS IS COLLEGE INSTA-LOVE . . . ANNABELLE WINTERS STYLE! THIS BOX SET CONTAINS: THE JOCK AND THE GENIUS (118 pages) THE ROCKSTAR AND THE RECLUSE (115 pages) THE DROPOUT AND THE DEBUTANTE (120 pages) THE PLAYER AND THE PRINCESS (107 pages) THE FRATBOY AND THE FEMINIST (110 pages) AND EACH BOOKS CONTAINS: Sweetness. Darkness. Steam. This is College Insta-love. Annabelle Winters Style. HERE'S WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE CURVY IN COLLEGE SERIES: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was my first read by Annabelle Winters and I am ...

Just when things have finally cooled down for 88-year-old Maud after the disturbing discovery of a dead body in her apartment in Gothenburg, a couple of detectives return to her doorstep. Though Maud dodges their questions with the skill of an Olympic gymnast a fifth of her age, she wonders if suspicion has fallen on her, little old lady that she is. The truth is, ever since Maud was a girl, death has seemed to follow her....

Swords. Sorcery. Dick Jokes. Truly do the gods smile upon you, dear listener, for the first four books in the hilarious Caverns and Creatures series are now available in one audiobook set. Join Tim, Dave, Julian, and Cooper as they are thrown into a hostile fantasy world filled with magic and monsters, and ruled over by a cruel and sadistic game master who taunts and harasses them while he sits back and eats their fried chicken.

Maud is an irascible 88-year-old Swedish woman with no family, no friends, and...no qualms about a little murder. Ever since her darling father's untimely death when she was only 18, Maud has lived in the family's spacious apartment in downtown Gothenburg rent-free, thanks to a minor clause in a hastily negotiated contract. That was how Maud learned that good things can come from tragedy. Now in her late 80s, Maud contents herself with traveling the world and surfing the net from the comfort of her father's ancient armchair. It's a solitary existence, and she likes it that way.

In this unforgettable work of fiction, Donald Ray Pollock peers into the soul of a tough Midwestern American town to reveal the sad, stunted, but resilient lives of its residents. Spanning a period from the mid-'60s to the late '90s, the linked stories that comprise Knockemstiff feature a cast of recurring characters who are woebegone, baffled, and depraved - but irresistibly, undeniably real. Rendered in the American vernacular with vivid imagery and a wry, dark sense of humor, these thwarted and sometimes violent lives jump at the listener with inexorable force.

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk is a novel made up of stories: 23 of them, to be precise. Twenty-three of the most horrifying, hilarious, mind-blowing, stomach-churning tales you'll ever encounter, sometimes all at once. They are told by people who have answered an ad headlined "Writers' Retreat: Abandon Your Life for Three Months", and who are led to believe that here they will leave behind all the distractions of "real life" that are keeping them from creating the masterpiece that is in them.

For centuries, the woods have been a pivotal part of the wonder and danger of fairy tales, for once you enter anything can happen. Elves, druids, fairies - who knows what you will find once you dare step into the forest?

And now, New York Times best-selling author Kim Harrison ventures into these mysterious, hidden lands of magic and mystery in her first short-story collection. Into the Woods brings together an enchanting mix of brand-new, never-before-published stories and tales from Harrison's beloved, best-selling Hollows series.

A mind-bending thriller and pitch-black comedy. "The nightmares are why you keep the gun under your pillow. Everyday you become more accustomed to the lump. You are glad when you survive your sneezes. But one time, a cough destroys the lamp on the nightstand." You are a nobody, just another somebody. So why does an odd stranger approach you one day with a peculiar and ominous message? Is it a misunderstanding? A warning? A dire threat or perverse game? The world seems as normal as ever, so why can't you shake the feeling that you are now locked in a dark countdown to your own horrific doom?

A collection of stories: The Possessed Printer Blues: A woman buys a printer at a yard sale. The Long Day Sun: A photography student helps out a friend. Savory Taro Pudding: A short nightmare based on true events. Billionaire Babies: It turns out you can't trust billionaires. Bath Salts Vampire: Teen girls with low self-esteem + a drug dealer who thinks he's an ancient vampire. What could go wrong?

Thirty-eight cautionary tales. One recurring theme: people are terrible at behaving themselves. From the twisted mind behind The Adulterer Series comes a gripping, darkly comic collection of short stories exploring infidelity, obsession, and the deliciously disastrous consequences of wanting what (or who) you shouldn’t. Each story delivers a sharp twist, a dose of mischief, and a chilling reminder: cheating rarely ends well—unless you're the reader. Highlights include: Neighbourhood Watch – More is going on in the cul-de-sac than you'd ever suspect. Sexual Harassment – There’s a ...

In the town of Name Pending, Wyoming, Elijah Potbury does brisk business as the territory's only practicing necromancer. For a reasonable fee, he'll raise any friend or family member. Stories contained in this volume: "The Automatons Who Ate Lead": After convincing Potbury to resurrect two disembodied brains that are to be transplanted into automatons, the diabolical Mr. Seven uses them to kidnap Miss Henrietta. Potbury, with the help of his faithful gun hand, the late Nat McGrue, does everything in his power to thwart the scheming airship owner. "The Hatching of the Wolf Spider": The Wolf ...

In the town of Name Pending, Wyoming, Elijah Potbury does brisk business as the territory's only practicing necromancer. For a reasonable fee, he'll raise any friend or family member. Stories contained in this fourth volume: "The Ravenous Man-Eater": Mr. Seven, owner of the airship Azincourt, assigns Professor Hemplewick the task of creating a many-tentacled, armor-plated monstrosity in the form of a giant slug to work in the engine room of the Azincourt. A reanimated human brain from a freshly deceased corpse is needed to power the creature, for which Seven turns to Potbury. Aware of ...

There's no one like Etgar Keret. His stories take place at the crossroads of the fantastical, searing, and hilarious. His characters grapple with parenthood and family, war and games, marijuana and cake, memory and love. These stories never go to the expected place, but always surprise, entertain, and move.... In "Arctic Lizard", a young boy narrates a post-apocalyptic version of the world where a youth army wages an unending war, rewarded by collecting prizes. A father tries to shield his son from the inevitable in "Fly Already".

Diane Williams, an American master of the short story who will "rewire your brain" (NPR), is back with a collection in which she once again expands the possibilities of fiction. These stories depict ordinary moments - a visit to the doctor's office or a married couple's hundredth dance together - but within the quotidian, Williams delivers a lifetime of insecurities, lusts, rejections, and revelations, making her work equally discomfiting and amusing.

Fearless, candid, and incredibly funny, Lauren Holmes is a newcomer who writes like a master. She tackles eros and intimacy with a deceptively light touch, a keen awareness of how their nervous systems tangle and sometimes short-circuit, and a genius for revealing our most vulnerable, spirited selves. With heart, sass, and pitch-perfect characters, Barbara the Slut is a head-turning debut from a writer with a limitless career before her.

Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules is a collection of short stories, some classic, others impending, selected and introduced by David Sedaris.

It’s bad enough that its venom-dripping chelicerae can slice through flesh like warm butter. Worse? It’s right there under the bunk. It’s a fact now. To make it through the night, the children must obey the rules: don’t get out of bed, stay out of the shadows, and don’t wake the beast. But as the threats multiply, so do the rules of survival. And with the safety of dawn still hours away, the fun is just beginning.

This is a collection of short stories in the Caverns and Creatures series. It includes the following titles: "They Fight Three Giants", "From the Bowels of Hell Hounds", "Tossing the Salaad", "The Fuccubus", "Fistin' the Furious", and "Pixie Dicks".