Magical Realism Short Stories

It is London, at the dawn of the 1990s, last decade of the twentieth century , a city of affluence, deprivation, diversion and excitement. Who is this enigmatic stranger who is so difficult to decipher amid the crowds of this grand metropolis? His eyes manifest an enigmatic gaze. What is his true essence and what secrets does he hold? What secrets does he share? He evokes a curiosity, conceals a vagueness. The emotionally and physically elusive Robert; here one minute, gone the next. A collection of character vignettes, connected to the captivating… or shadowy, Robert, who, full of charm ...

In a secret, subterranean world beneath the prairie of the Old West, a homesteader risks her life in search of a safe haven. A workman in Andrew Carnegie's steel mills is turned into a medical oddity by the brutal power of the furnaces. A young woman created through genetic manipulation is destroyed by the same force that gave her life. With her distinctive blend of magical realism, science, and poetic prose, Anjali Sachdeva demonstrates a preternatural ability to laser in on our fears, our hopes, and our longings in order to point out intrinsic truths about society and humanity.

After her latest life-altering wig switch, Janet slips into leather leggings, quits her job, goes full advance on her barista crush, and makes a career commitment to her bestie, Candace. The follow-through? Not pretty. With guilt and betrayal hanging over her head (not to mention that dangerous, if fetching, wig), Janet must comb out the mess she’s made. And there’s only one way to do it.

The six stories in Haruki Murakami’s mesmerizing collection are set at the time of the catastrophic 1995 Kobe earthquake, when Japan became brutally aware of the fragility of its daily existence. But the upheavals that afflict Murakami’s characters are even deeper and more mysterious, emanating from a place where the human meets the inhuman.

Together in one package for the first time, the dazzling prequels to the Three Dark Crowns series are finally available for fans in audio format. Uncover the sisters’ origins, dive deep into the catastrophic reign of the Oracle Queen, and reveal layers of Fennbirn’s past, hidden until now.

For former pushover Janet, her Sophie curls appear to be a balanced and beautiful new addition to her magical, life-changing wig collection. She’s positively beaming, has smoothed out the wrinkles in her personal life, and is embarking on a philanthropic new business venture. Everything is ideal until the unthinkable happens and she has to stand on her own - with a final push from Lady Miss Jacqueline, of course!

Deep within the revered halls of the Smithsonian Museum lies the ancient Deceiver’s Casket—a small, intricately carved box rumored to possess the ability to unveil the darkest depths of a person’s soul. It is here that Ava’s journey begins. Entranced by the casket’s allure, it quickly draws her into a world where truth may be more terrifying than any lie. As truth and deception collide in a world of intrigue, will the Deceiver’s Casket ultimately serve as a tool of salvation or a harbinger of doom?

Lady Miss Jacqueline swears that hair makes a difference. And it does! Now Janet is taking charge on the job and making moves on a local barista she’s always shied away from. But when her brash new Lady Miss drawl gets all the wrong attention, Janet realizes that she needs to change her style - and her wig. It’s all a matter of finding the perfect fit.

In stories that evoke the haunting beauty of New England beaches and resonate with a bittersweet loneliness, Romero blurs the lines between life and death, reality and fantasy. A deceased woman counsels her son’s fiancée on how to be a good wife to him, with disastrous consequences. A mysterious cat appears in a young woman’s home, as inexplicable as the demise of her years-long relationship with her boyfriend. At turns humorous, sorrowful, and whimsical, this collection spans the familiar setting of a college town supermarket to eerie dystopias that are not just post-pandemic, but post-art.

A Fantasy Short Story Amidst a world where only the powerful leaders hold the ability to grant wishes, Rachel, a curious young woman, stumbles upon a crystal that gives her the power to fulfill her deepest desires. With her newfound ability, Rachel must grapple with the immense responsibility and potential consequences that come with her actions. Will she risk everything to fulfill her own wishes, or will she find a greater purpose in using her powers for the betterment of others? “The Forbidden Wish" is a must-read for anyone who enjoys fantasy short stories of adventure, self-discovery,...

The Ebony Tower, comprising a novella, three stories, and a translation of a medieval French tale, echoes themes from John Fowles' internationally celebrated novels as it probes the fitful relations between love and hate, pleasure and pain, and fantasy and reality.

What does it mean to be other? What does it mean to love in a world determined to keep us apart? These questions murmur in the heart of each of Brenda Peynado’s strange and singular stories. Threaded with magic, transcending time and place, these stories explore what it means to cross borders and break down walls, personally and politically.

Brighten your day and dive into Flat Spell Tales! The author, Tony Martello, transforms ordinary events in our lives into fiction based on half-realities. Drop in and surf stories about romance, revenge, treasure hunts, and humor. He invites you along with him on a variety of adventures that take you into extreme nature, complex human relationships, and animal allegories.

Ciera’s the best fairy godmother in all the land… …but she’s hiding a secret. Not only is she pregnant, but she’s magically pregnant with a human child. Humans are not allowed in the fairy realm. Period. That includes half-fairy/half-human babies. The only solution is to give the baby to its father before the Fairy Council finds out her secret. Finding the father will be easy. How many men named John could possibly live in a little town called Chicago? Scroll up and 1-click this romantic paranormal fairy tale now! (Also available for free through Kindle Unlimited) Other books in ...

An ailing farmer in rural Iran unearths an extraordinary find: two parsnips, grown together and looking for all the world like entwined lovers. For now, the sublime treasure is his secret. Wrapping it in a silk handkerchief, he nestles it away in a dresser drawer. Day after day, he gazes at their unmistakable rapture, reminded of the long-gone youthful passions he once shared with his wife. So, too, he mourns the inevitable - the eventual decay of the parsnips in love. When he decides to share his discovery with the world, his life and the lives of those around him connect and change.

Is what you see all there is? Look again. Playful, frightening, even shocking - the stories in this collection blur the lines between illusion and reality. This is a writer at the height of his power, making the listener think, making them laugh, and sometimes making them want to look away while holding their gaze. Stories here are set in London, in Byzantium, in the ghetto, in the Andes, in a printer's shop in Spain. The characters include a murderer, a writer, a detective, a man in a cave, a man in a mirror, two little boys, a prison door, and the author himself.

So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a white rabbit with pink eyes ran close to her. Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland books have delighted readers and listeners across the globe for more than 100 years. The Wonderland Collection presents three of Carroll's most famous works.

An exquisite new collection from a Pulitzer Prize-winning master of the short story, the culmination of a five-decade career: work that takes us beneath the placid surface of suburban life into the elusive strangeness of the everyday.

Unbridled whimsy in a short story. In the whimsical mind of author Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene, the psychedelic rock song by Jefferson Airplane ("White Rabbit") collided with Lewis Carroll’s novel. A modern slant on the idea went, well... down the rabbit hole, producing an urban fantasy. Carroll's quote, “We’re all mad here" takes on additional meaning for the young protagonist Liddie and her friends, Katty and Loco Hatley.

Nine stories. Infinite realities. From time-traveling assassins to cursed pianos, telepathic women to boring accountants, this genre-defying collection crashes through the borders of Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Adventure, and Literary Fiction. Inside, you'll meet: A detective chasing clues across timelines. A struggling dad fighting for one perfect day with his daughter. A jinn with a dark secret. A musician whose final song might cost him everything. And an astronaut hurtling toward the end of the world… or the beginning of something else. Smart, strange, and unforgettable, Nine Stories: Astronauts...