Category Archives: Fiction

Stories on Vocal

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Hey everyone! I just wanted to make a post about my Vocal account [link], with a brief synopsis of each story.

“Constant Companion” is my take of Jekyll and Hyde. It asks the question “what if Hyde had always been around?”

“The Guardian Hives” is a science fiction story about home, wasps, and an ugly hat saves the day.

“Luminous Bones” is a horror story about a cursed sea turtle, and burying your partner alive.

“An Abyss of Worthless Sacrifices” is somehow my most read story on Vocal. It a horror take on the evangelical idea of “dying to self,” and what that looks like when taken to extremes.

“The Town of Ants” is a science fiction/horror story about a historian, 10,000 years in the future, who discovers a nuclear radiation dump.

Publication: “A Time of Loneliness” in Horror Tree

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The park bench was abandoned even before the plague.  Then, when the zombies walked with flowers in their hair and fallen leaves trailing after them like so many lost puppies—the sense of emptiness grew.

Every day, Sharon would come and watch the newly risen dead walk.  They would hang around the bench she sat on like flies around rotting meat. 

“A Time of Loneliness,” by Varian Ross

My short zombie story is now published in Horror Tree’s Trembling with Fear series! I wrote this back in 2014, and it finally found a home. The inspiration for this story was a picture of an abandoned park bench, and the artist zombie character sprang to life from there.

Stephanie Ellis, the editor of Trembling With Fear, describes it as “one of the most beautiful and touching zombie stories I have ever read. This tale brings back the humanity to those often thought of as nothing but rotting flesh, reminding us that maybe, just maybe, there is something still left behind.”

You can read “A Time of Loneliness” here [link]. (It’s the second story.)

The Rising Lights of Winter [Part II]

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Julian had chosen to forego the mask; he instead wore all black, with a simple crown of silver leaves in his hair. He left his hair down, and Melissa had said he looked like an elven prince.

Lu, the clockwork jackal, was asleep by the fire. Julian had no idea how Melissa had gotten the thing inside the ball with her, but she had. He kept his gaze on the creature, waiting for Melissa to arrive.

He reached for the glass of water on the table. He kept looking at the envelope, it had indeed been an invitation to a ball. The correct name had been on it as well.

He knew his fears of rejection were irrational. But constantly looking over his shoulder for over twenty odd years of pretending to be someone he was not had given him a feeling of sinking into a void of his own mind...

Read the rest of the story here [link] on my Patreon! Subscribers get this, and all other works, three days before the rest of the world does.

Part one of this story is here [link]

The Rising Lights of Winter [Part I]

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The beast was made of clockwork. Its feet made a clicking sound on the cobblestone steps as it approached the man who stood alone beneath a streetlamp, a note clutched in his gloved hand. His blond hair was tied at the nape of his neck in a simple knot, and his eyes kept going to the watch he wore. He tapped his foot, his eyes scanning for a person.

“Oh.” Julian looked from the note to the creature, when he felt it nudge his leg. “I see.” The clockwork dog—he supposed it was meant to look like a dog, though it looked more like a jackal to him—was made of sleek black metal, but Julian could see that its eyes were red. He couldn’t tell if the eyes were precious jewels, or if the beast was lit with an inner fire. He tucked the note into the pocket of his jacket. “You’re her messenger.” He adjusted his top hat, and squared his shoulders. “Lead the way, then.” As they walked through the streets, he thought that this must look like an odd sight, a man walking alone with an omen of doom trotting along at his side.

Read the rest of the story HERE [link] on my Patreon! Patrons get this post, and all others like it, three days before the rest of the world does, as well as access to exclusive writings.

A Faint Blue Light [Fantasy]

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“I swear I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Monica backed away from the box on the shelf.  What was she to do, take the thing her grandmother had given her and throw it into the sea?  Maybe it wasn’t even anything special, maybe it was a shell or something that had gotten worn away creatively by the water.  She could ignore the presence she felt from inside of it.

“The heart of a mermaid is a very dangerous place to be,” her grandmother had once said to her—but that had been years ago, when she had been a young girl.  Surely a warning like that meant nothing now….

Read the rest of the story HERE [link]! Patrons get all writing three days before the rest of the world, and access to exclusive writings.