My Penny Dreadfuls (that are free stories)

I always have some short little ideas.

Nothing big enough that I want to have readers spend even $0.99 on. That is not to say that they are not good stories, however, I don't believe they merit the idea of a reader spending money in order to access them.

Back in the 1800s, there used to be stories called "penny dreadfuls."

These were for the British working class and hopped the Pond by the end of the 19th century into the old American West (our version of Shakespeare in terms of the drama that came out of it, in my opinion).

The free stories which I will continue to offer from time to time. These stories are ones that I hope really allow my readership to grow. It was a fun exercise and I believe that some of the ideas I have will grab a lot of new fans.

All four have been re-written once, thought through for a few days, and put out as what they are. Little freebees that probably aren't worth a lot of work, in my opinion.

Tonight I've put up four little short stories:

Astra The Witch - 2,000 words - Horror/Paranormal

I did enjoy how I created the first-person view in Astra. For me, it was something different to have a basic transcript of two people talking, but only one telling the story. By the end of the story, I don't really know if I feel bad for the town. I mean, geez, they knew what they were dealing with in Astra, and kept it going, didn't they?






What Lies At The Bottom of Plot 105 - 1,500 words - Horror/Vampire



In terms of "Plot 105," I thought it would be fun to put out a little vampire story that was merely that. None of that nonsense where the person escapes for about twenty pages and then gets caught at the end. Those types of stories seem to propel nonsense rather than just get to the point.




What Remains of the World - 1,500 words - Horror/Dystophia
Every end of the world short story or novel tends to deal with those fighting off the infected. I wanted a story which dealt with the infected attempting to survive the "normals" who are killing them. Maybe it worked, maybe it didn't. I would love feedback on this one.





The Ballad of Deuce Larry Long, Jr. - 1,500 words - Crime/Thriller
This was originally a submission for the PNW Inlander contest on the subject of "redemption" but did not get selected for the weekly publication. So I decided rather than let it sit on a shelf, I would put it up for people to read. It's one of those short stories I really don't know how I feel about. Neither great nor sad it exists, but it does, so I provide it for free to see what others think about it.




You've probably noted that these title covers look cheap, something out of a dime store from the 1960s-1970s. That was the point with these little babies. They aren't worth a whole lot but a single, 15 minute read, but I thought why not let them see the light of day.


At some point, I may end up putting them all into a gigantic book. I believe I might get about 50 of them together and do that... you never know...