Dark Humor Satire

Family. Can't live with 'em, can't kill 'em...or can you? When Family of the Year award winners Constance Winslow and her father pick the day of the award ceremony to give in to years of mutual loathing, things aren’t looking good for Constance. That’s when she decides to draft her neighbor. She’s got a plan, all she needs is a little help. If only her neighbor didn’t have a plan of his own...

Satan, fallen angel, chief devil, and ruler of Hell seems to have everything: immortality, a kingdom, cool superpowers, and lots of minions to grovel at his feet. So why isn’t he happy? Simple. Satan wants more. He’s just not sure, though, what “more” even means in his case.

Holly Banks could not have made a worse first impression on the seemingly perfect moms in her new affluent community, the Village of Primm. Turns out wearing pink piggy pajama bottoms while dropping off her kindergartener late to the first day of school wasn’t her best look.

When her husband John, the love of her life, passed away, Mabel Dixon felt as though her life was over. Now, thirteen months later, she has sold their house, purchased an apartment, and has reluctantly opened a new chapter in her life at what was promised to be the ultimate in senior living. Still grieving, hopelessly depressed, and surrounded by old people, Mabel is trying to come to terms with aging and her new environment when she is befriended by Gladys Sorensen, who might just be the craziest old lady she has ever met. Through their newfound friendship, Mabel gradually begins to ...

Barry just wanted to get through life. Working a useless job by day, drinking at a forgotten bar by night. It was a miserable cycle, but one he grew attached to over time. Then Barry died.

Lady Blake was convinced that the mere thought of aging was more terrifying than any horror scene she had ever witnessed. Every wrinkle, every gray hair, every achy joint felt like a countdown to the end of her youth. One day, as she sat in her fancy dressing room, surrounded by expensive anti-aging creams and potions, Lady Blake couldn't help but let out a dramatic sigh..."I've got wrinkles!" Thus, the idea to keep her youthful appearance became an obsession, with Lady Blake thinking of various ways to preserve her fleeting beauty. However, despite her fears of losing her looks, Lady Blake...

‘A masterpiece. It’s like Jim Thompson and Irvine Welsh got together to write a Tony Black story’ BARRY GRAHAM When young Scots carpenter Joe is visited by the Wing Wizard Davie Cooper one Christmas Eve he gets the shock of his life—his partner is to give birth to a king that very night. Setting off through their scheme—guided only by an unusual, yet familiar, constellation—Joe and Mary-doll soon discover their shared passion for the opposing ends of the Scottish football terraces unites them in ways they could never have imagined. The Holy Father is a novelette delving into the...

This book is part of Apocalypse Then and Now: Collected Works 1980-2020, which contains ten of Charles Ortleb's books. This first collection of short stories by Charles Ortleb captures gay life and gay culture at the end of the twentieth century with a unique, irreverent kind of humor and satire that has never been seen before. Three of the stories were the basis for the provocative film, "The Last Lovers on Earth" which is available on DVD and can be watched online. John Lauritsen praised the collection: "Beautifully written, wildly imaginative fables, which puncture a great many sacred ...

Who Offed Santa? Someone's been naughty and taken out Santa, but the gals at The Lucky Dill Deli aren't standing for it. Josie is the owner and her two long time friends, Verny and Cookie, work alongside her. Their little New England town is ripe with charm, but when Santa is discovered dead at the Winter Wonderland festival, everyone's on high alert.Enter Abel and Gideon, the new detective in town and the more seasoned one, respectively. Gideon worked on the force with Josie's dad, who died in service to his community. While Gideon would prefer the girls let the police handle the action, ...

A quaint English town, a body, and a headline that reads: “Citizens of Delby Rish Not Safe In Their Beds. Police Clueless.” The latest case for Detective Inspector Andrew Manson and his pathologically stylish partner, Detective Eric Steinway, has more twists than a contortionist at a Delby Rish parish fete. Juggling a homicidal wife on fertility treatment and the unwelcomed advances of the local pathologist’s lovely assistant, Manson must bring this crime and his domestic affairs to a speedy resolution. Because if this case doesn’t kill him, there’s a very good chance his wife will.

To satisfy a public that longs for a savior, Vidal’s eponymous hero of Kalki, born and bred in America’s Midwest, establishes himself in Nepal, puts out the word that he is the last incarnation of the god Vishnu, and predicts an imminent apocalypse meant to cleanse the planet.

More preoccupied with drinking, sleeping, and writing, an unnamed student neglects his studies and invents three separate openings for a novel. The first introduces the Pooka MacPhellimey, "a member of the devil class", the second involves Mr. John Furriskey, a character belonging to another of the student's creations (writer Dermot Trellis), while the final opening features legendary Irish heroes Finn Mac Cool and Mad King Sweeny. Soon, Trellis' creations rebel against him, doing as they like while he sleeps, and the characters begin wandering in and out of each other's tales.

George thought he’d finally escaped Shawna by picking up an easy bartending gig in Bocas del Toro, Panama. With an extra 400 dollars per month to edit an online love column keeping him afloat, he spends his days swimming and drinking beers with his roommate PJ. Does the occasional female tourist ever sleep over? Sure. But that’s nothing compared to PJ’s scorecard. PJ should be registered with the center for disease control. Warm water, cold beers, and no Shawna - life couldn’t be better on the island. Until George takes a little road trip to Colombia.

Alison Hart, a medium by trade, tours the dormitory towns of London's orbital ring road with her flint-hearted sidekick, Colette, passing on messages from beloved dead ancestors. But behind her plump, smiling persona hides a desperate woman: she knows the terrors the next life holds but must conceal them from her wide-eyed clients. At the same time she is plagued by spirits from her own past, who infiltrate her body and home, becoming stronger and nastier the more she resists....

The year is 2023, and things are bad—bad, but still not as bad as they could be. Hestia Harris is forty-two, abandoned by her husband (he left to fight for the Union cause), and estranged from her parents (they’re leaving for the Confederacy). Yes, the United States has collapsed into a second civil war and again it’s Unionists against Confederates, children against parents, friends against friends.

Michael Beard is a Nobel prize-winning physicist whose best work is behind him. Trading on his reputation, he speaks for enormous fees, lends his name to the letterheads of renowned scientific institutions and half-heartedly heads a government-backed initiative tackling global warming. A compulsive womaniser, Beard finds his fifth marriage floundering. But this time it is different: she is having the affair, and he is still in love with her.

Yvette Tyson is making a run for the governor’s office. Her goal is clear. Win. She has the backing of her boyfriend, Cory Logan. He is kind, gentle, and determined— and offers the kind of support an unmarried black woman needs to get into office. Their relationship has grown over the past year, and she had been seen arm-in-arm with him in public numerous times. She is proud to show him off, and him, her—so there is no color issue—or is that exactly what it is? Does Cory need a black governor to get a sports center named after him? Does Yvette need a white boyfriend to win that ...

Fashion editor Anya St. Clair is on the verge of greatness. Her wardrobe is to die for. Her social media is killer. And her career path is littered with the bodies of anyone who got in her way. She’s worked hard to get where she is, but she doesn’t have everything. Not like Sarah Taft. Anya’s obsession sits one desk away. Beautiful, stylish, and rich, she was born to be a fashion world icon. From her beach-wave blonde hair to her on-trend nail art, she’s a walking editorial spread. And Anya wants to be her friend. Her best friend. Her only friend.

Back of the Book Blurb In Cedric III, Part 2: Vidalia Haggis and Other Universal Truths, Southern chaos reaches its mythic apex. Across five stories, Cedric Fitzhugh—equal parts reluctant hero, bourbon strategist, and curator of disaster—navigates the absurd rituals of Caterwaul County, Jabberwocky Junction, and Hot Coffee, Mississippi, where tradition isn’t just a pastime—it’s a full-contact sport. From birthday revelry turned municipal meltdown to a raccoon-fueled etiquette war, a psychoactive garden party, and a cotillion tribunal over lost fig preserves, Cedric must outwit ...

Rachel Klein never meant to kiss her creative writing professor, but with his long eyelashes, his silky hair, and the sad, beautiful life he laid bare on Twitter, she does, and the kiss is very nice. Zahid Azzam never planned to become a houseguest in his student's sprawling Connecticut home, but with the sparkling swimming pool, the endless supply of Whole Foods strawberries, and Rachel's beautiful mother, he does, and the home is very nice.