You know that a story which begins It’s a hot day and I hate my wife is not going to end well for one of them. In this story by Charlie Fish, a bored couple sit down for a “friendly” game of scrabble. As the competition intensifies, the man notices something strange. The words the couple put down on the board seem to be coming true in the room around them. To test the theory, he puts down the letters Q-U-A-K-E. As the ground begins to shake, he realizes too late that his wife has made the same discovery. More…
Lather and Nothing Else
In this story by Hernando Téllez, a barber who secretly supports a revolutionary cause has a dilemma when an army captain who is particularly brutal in putting down the revolt asks for a shave. As the officer sits in the chair, the barber is torn between his professional duty (to give his customer the best possible shave), his revolutionary duty (to kill the captain, which will make him a hero but potentially force him to hide for the rest of his life), and moral qualms about murder. Themes include power and control, choices and consequences, violence, professionalism, duty, morality, trust. More…
The Rats in the Walls
In this story by H. P. Lovecraft, the sound of a swarm of rats in the walls of his recently restored family castle causes the last of a long line of British aristocrats to lead a group of scientists to explore its long-sealed lower chambers. There they find a hidden city and evidence spanning many millennia of the capture and farming of human and quadrupedal sub-human beings for sacrifice and consumption. The excitement is too much for the owner, who quickly reverts to his old family ways. Themes include heritage and identity, genetic madness, paganism, human sacrifice. More…
The Purloined Letter
Edgar Allan Poe is famous for his horror stories. However, only about fifteen of his sixty or so stories are of this kind.He is also widely recognized as the “father” of modern detective fiction thanks to his three tales featuring the Chevalier [Sir] Auguste Dupin. In a manner later emulated by the likes of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, Dupin succeeds where eminent policemen fail… in this case, simply by recognizing that the best place to hide something important is in plain sight. Themes: blackmail, political manipulation, deception, linear (scientific) vs. lateral thinking. More…
Tuesday of the Other June
Bullying exists all over the world, and can surface in almost any situation where people gather (school, the playground, work, sport etc.) This story from Norma Fox Mazer addresses the difficult question of whether the best approach for the victim is passive acceptance, assertiveness (standing up for oneself), or fighting back. Here, a mother’s advice is to turn the other cheek, smile at the world, and the world’ll surely smile back, while her daughter dreams of kicking, punching, and biting her (the bully) like a dog. Themes: mother-daughter relationships, bullying, fear, the courage to say “Enough!” More…