95 North by Jason Matthew Zalinger Myron Oygold has returned home after a tumultuous and toxic relationship with the love of his life. Now in therapy, he recounts how it all began. 95 North explores how we make sense of our decisions in the aftermath of love gone wrong. The Thing in Violet Springs by A. G. Travers When a young family travels into the cold desolate woods of Violet Springs, they are confronted by a vicious monster hell-bent on stalking, catching, and devouring them. Their only hope is to escape the woods before sundown, but with no car, no phones, and the storm of the century brewing, escape from Violet Springs seems further and further out of reach. James and the Transparent Nudist by Ian Naranjo James is a film critic married to a beautiful man named Sam. His life is fairly normal, until one day Sam changes. Sam is a biochemist, and he's become completely transparent... Literally! Graffertiti by Russell Carmony An artist who goes by the pseudonym TM FlÂneur falls for Nina, a server at a neighborhood cafÉ, and paints their story in murals across New York City.

Cold Spring, Minnesota by Rachel Coyne Deana knows she needs to run for her life; she's concealing a pregnancy from her now deployed and always violent husband. Its not his. But Cold Spring, Minnesota, is where her family is - a teenage sister with a new baby and too many choices and a mother who is coming apart from grief and anger over her son's recent death in Afghanistan. The only home she's known and the family she's trying to save will either save Deana or condemn her.Friendly Ghost by Stephanie WeberFriendly Ghost is about a newly single, shy young woman living on her own for the first time. She quickly finds that she is not actually alone - a ghost haunts her apartment! She and the strange ghost form an unusual bond as they help each other with unfinished business. Truth and Consequences by Kaitlyn RichWhat are we looking for on long road trips? What finds us? Sometimes journeys of self-discovery lead us to places we don't want to go. Truth and Consequences explores the reliability of narrative and what happens when we lose control of the stories we tell ourselves. Departures by Jeffrey DokaWhen a marketer dies and shows up to work the next day, his team discovers that he no longer needs food or sleep. In tech-company form, they exploit their undead co-worker' s new gifts to climb the ladder. Unfortunately, on their way to the top, none of them realize the true danger closing in on theirundead colleague.Departures by Jeffrey DokaWhen a marketer dies and shows up to work the next day, his team discovers that he no longer needs food or sleep. In tech-company form, they exploit their undead co-worker' s new gifts to climb the ladder. Unfortunately, on their way to the top, none of them realize the true danger closing in on their undead colleague.

Our editor declared these novellas the best of the best among this collection. If you must only pick up one book of this volume, then this is the one to choose. Although, in all fairness, they are all pretty amazing. Don't choose. Get them all.

The Ballerina Swan Lake Mobile Homes Country Club Motel: Wanda, a single woman in her early fifties, is the owner of the motel at the base of a water-starved mountain. She' s hardened by circumstance, morally honest, outspoken, and stuck in her life. When she rescues a stray pit bull, and then a defiant teenage girl, Wanda' s life will never be the same.Beyond the Door of Darkness: NYPD officer, Larry Petals, couldn' t cope with being a cop anymore after the morning of September 11th, 2001. After leaving the force and retreating to his hometown on Long Island without many options, he became a Private Investigator. Everything had become kind of normal... until his phone rang.Soap:A twisted love-story in a stark and surreal world, "Soap" is at once a journey, a mystery, and a psychological puzzle where Eliza must find herself.

Follow these fantastic stories of revenge, timetravel, alternate universes, a mysterious train ride, and body augmentation to restart a woman's life. They will take you to new worlds and amazing stories.

The Tragic Plight of E.G.: A Clinical Case Report“ The Tragic Plight of E.G.: A Clinical Case Report” is a day-by-day account of an ill-fated patient who is hospitalized for a mysterious illness. He finds himself in the care of a team of top-notch doctors, nurses, social workers, and therapists. Even so, the patient' s condition continues to deteriorate, forcing this modern medical establishment to grapple with what it really means to “ do no harm.” The Liberation of Jacob Novak a NovellaThe Liberation of Jacob Novak tells the story of a lonely, aimless young man, trapped in a virtual world. He causes a fatal accident and must pay the price. In prison, Jacob feels valued, gains self-confidence, even falls in love. After serving time, he finds his own way in the world. At last, he is free. Sgt Katrina Dunn, a.k.a. Angela Parker & the Games They PlayAngela Parker, who isn' t your average 17 year old, but who is?, has her run of Alien Quest hijacked by a man who looks, curiously, like her Uncle Reggie. The Uncle Reggie clone invites Ange to play an innovative and sensorily immersive kind of game, one that involves adopting an avatar role where you become someone frighteningly like yourself in a world that rapidly goes crazy. As Ashlie Sweet, Angela Parker finds herself fighting villains that look uncommonly like today' s politicians in a small U.S. town. Everything apparently normal in this small town rapidly goes belly up: there are race riots, detention-centres, murder, and that's just in the first week. What' s more &– with her game based boyfriend Norman Mené &– she discovers they're in a game within a game and that they (their real theys back in Nottingham U.K. and Sydney, Australia and all the other places where the game players come from) are being data mined. The stakes aren' t just in winning or losing a game. Maybe the fate of the free world hangs in the balance.Talk about doing a girl' s head in.

Before you pick up Book 3, please tell us you've already read Book 1 and Book 2. Yes? Good. No? No. Why not? They will only make you feel like you've never felt before. Introduce you to worlds you never knew existed. And make you more joyful than you thought possible. Why? Because these are great stories and great writing that simply do not fit neatly in a box.

Run, Sally. Run.Fact and fiction intertwined. Shadows dancing on moonlight walls. She will not sleep, the night is haunted again.Aftermath A cruel twist of fate leaves a married man's future uncertain.Perennials All spitfire and spindle, a white gloved and haired lady, no doubt, a proper Southern peach in her youth— now in the ripeness of years she knew a secret. I watched it slowly, slowly, unfold.Experiencing Experiences Just a girl doing her best while navigating the dumpster fire that is dating in her 30s. The Writer Within Who' s Tale To Tell Is It?The Scent of Orange What makes a place the wrong direction?Wolves in the Woods To prevent an impending loss in his family, a young boy is willing to risk everything. Wolves are the least of his fears. The BadnjakFor one woman, Christmas brings joy, sorrow, and ancient gods together in “ The Badnjak,” which is loosely based on Slavic mythology.Harvesting the Stars Free will is the gift given to humans but not any other beings. But do all humans deserve the gift and who gets to choose?eros (thanatos) A story about a journey from Chicago to the Indiana Dunes and back again while experiencing the realities of sex in contemporary, post-enlightenment society.They' ll All Be Waiting Two childhood friends, the pot-head Jeff and the debonair Grant, remain friends after Grant comes out— living together, working together, and partying together, remaining close as “ brothers from separate mothers” and “ sisters under the skin,” until HIV takes Grant' s life.A Cowboy Lost He was a young cowboy from a long line of rough-and-tumble cowboys. Real men. But unless you knew him intimately, you would never know of his demons, demons in the eyes of others, which he ultimately embraced as his own.Pumping Station Road Lloyd is an intense, moralistic runner who plans to make history by running 90 miles across Connecticut in 30 hours. His girlfriend and main supporter falls ill, and Lloyd faces the uncomfortable reality that his ambition is causing havoc.War Crimes Fifteen-year-old Sheila could handle her chubby snitch of a cousin and controlling father. But the family' s unspoken legacy of trauma was a different matter.Animal Husbandry In Animal Husbandry, one of Herm Dublin' s cows gives birth to something that just isn' t right.Bullyboys This collection of nine wide-ranging and skillfully written stories shows Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie as a vulnerable young boy, a preening young man on the make, and, finally, an enfeebled old man forced to confront his crimes.

In Running Wild Anthology of Novellas, Volume 2, Part 1 includes eleven stories that are trigger worthy. We're not kidding. You'll find cannibalism, racism, sexism, death, dismemberment, beatings, zombies, ghosts, emotional abuse, physical abuse. For fun we threw in self exploration and self discovery. Because it seemed to cut through the spice and make the broth richer.In this novella collection, we feature: Randall Brown, Ben White, Eric Lehman, Ben Slotky, Michael Washburn, Kevin Baggett, Kristen Edenfield, Richard Westley, Jordan Morille, Christa Miller, D. R. Blakeman

The Astral Plane by Kate AldridgeTemplate for a Story of Food, Sex & (Improbable) Restitution by Joe DaviesThe Twenty and One Nights by Barbara de la CuestaThe Mountain by Taylor DentonThe Not-So-Chinese Wedding by Dorie LaRueThe Patriot by Timothy P LynchIt May Have Been a Dream, It Might Just Be My Life by Kate MacdonaldResurrection Blues and Queen of Sheba by Christa M MillerSweet Gulf by C. R. ResetaritsI Was a Teenage Popstar and I Lost It All by Sean M SmithBroken Soul to Broken Soul by Audra SuppleeAll Right, Be Safe by Talia TuckerWhat the Blood Tells You to Be by Kami D WesthoffTriggerfish 1-2 by Ben B WhiteThirty Seconds to Kill by Peter A Wright