Dark Comedy Short Stories

Death. It’s a part of life and something we all must accept. Whether it be our own demise or losing a loved one, the experience of death is both sobering and surreal. My Dad Is Dead is a group of related short stories that explore that dichotomy through the eyes of a kid. In George Verongos’ second book, he turns childhood memories into “fictionally enhanced” tales (he made us say that, he’s trying to make it a thing).

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.

Before she knows it, Turquoise finds herself in strange and perilous worlds populated by the likes of human oddities, shape-shifters, serial killers in flying saucers, flesh-eating hippies, man-eating house cats, and sleazy televangelists who produce snuff films for Christ.

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.

'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...

A senior older brother calls his sister to pay for his prostitute. A dissatisfied young housewife attends a Total Woman seminar. Twirling class from a tyrannical band director. Just a few of the East Texas hard-living souls erupting from Small Texas, a collection of short stories from the wild mind of Cindy Marabito

“The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether” is an Edgar Allan Poe short story that expertly blends his dark perspective with the comic. -This is the original story—only word order and difficult vocabulary have been updated. -End notes, interpretation, and discussion of major themes follow the text. -Biographical information on Edgar Allan Poe is included. -For other classic short stories in easy to understand updated English search for “Simplified for Modern Readers Series.”

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

As children we can’t help but dream of all of the amazing things that we will accomplish. Then life happens. We get a job, we get a house, and we get into debt. We settle. We trade away our youth for security in old age. We spend countless hours performing mundane tasks that leave us depleted and empty. Our souls crave meaning, but we are too afraid to make any change.

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.

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.

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!

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....

Tony Hunt, author of 'Geordie Boy - small events in a child's life', has taken a darker turn with this collection of short stories, centred around the volunteers who work in a Lake District charity shop. The five stories are linked in parallel; each story standing alone, but as you listen to each one, a fuller picture appears of the strains and stresses that afflict people who have retired to the Lakes to seek serenity, but instead find themselves at the mercy of events.

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...

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.

En este libro, una decena y media de autores utiliza como recurso la cara más negra del humor mexicano para relatar anécdotas, digamos, un poco extremas: hay suicidas que se encuentran, fantasmas que deben morir, payasos combustibles, burócratas perdedores, niñas buenas que deben cometer un solo acto de relativa maldad… Pero el oyente no debe temer, esos extremos solo van de lo desopilante a lo macabro. Un libro que quizá te mate de risa.

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.

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 ...

Mystical. Weird. Hilarious. It's a tale of idiots. It's a tale of life. A dumb cast of characters you have to see to believe. The surgeon on an acid trip. The lazy Uncle who fuses with his favorite chair. The boy who comes back from the dead for revenge. Bootsy Collins. What do these people have in common? About as much as you have with Kevin Bacon.