Darkscapes(With: Piers Anthony,Jordan Elizabeth,Matthew S. Cox,Richard Roberts,B.C. Johnson,Andrew Buckley,Benjamin Sperduto,W.K. Pomeroy,Darin Kennedy,J.P. Sloan,James Wymore,Nathan Croft,Ann M. Noser,Randy Attwood,Katie Young,Mark W. Woodring,S.E. Bennett,Bob Defendi,J.E. Anckorn,Tegan Wren,Rena Rocford)

Description

Curiosity Quills Press explores yearning, regret, and fear with the Darkscapes Anthology — a spellbinding collection of dark fantasy, sci-fi, cyberpunk, horror, and detective fiction. Delve into worlds of terrible family secrets, unexpected doppelgängers, a home invasion on an alien planet, androids and assassins, places and people who aren’t as stable as they seem, frustrated musicians going to desperate lengths — and more. Jordan Elizabeth and W.K. Pomeroy - EXLEY AVENUE In 1920s upstate New York, a tormented girl learns that her family’s new stone castle was built on a former cemetery, and in 2014, a former police detective uncovers horrible secrets Benjamin Sperduto - LENA’S SONG In the near future, two frustrated musicians and creative partners get in on the ground floor of neural firestreaming — but an old guitar creates an unexpected effect Mark W. Woodring - SORRY FOR THE MOUSE A veteran back from Afghanistan develops a strange hobby to stay sane — but it doesn’t work as well as he had hoped J.R. Rain - SKELETON JIM A skeleton detective who leads a double life as an Internet sensation takes a beautiful woman on as a client — and gets more than he bargained for S.E. Bennett - OF LUSHER AND SLEEP In this modern, alternative imagining of Romeo and Juliet, a veteran from an old-money family returns to London for his mother’s funeral and is confronted with a toxic history of two warring families — and a lost love B.C. Johnson - ROOMIES Housemates experience something deeply unsettling during an earthquake Piers Anthony - IN THE SHADOW OF THE SONG An American’s car is rear-ended by a lost Muslim traveler with diplomatic immunity; the traveler sings in the American’s place at his daughter’s school recital — with surprising results Robert J Defendi - THE GIOVANNI EFFECT A man who lives alone with his family on a terraformed wind turbine farm receives a disturbing visitor J.E. Anckorn - FOUR HUNDRED EYES, SIXTY-FOUR HUNDRED TEETH An existentially anxious former star of a London goth rock band, missing fame and creativity, regains something he thought was lost Darin Kennedy - CIRCULAR ARGUMENT A severely dehydrated man is trapped in an endless loop on an external tram-shuttle around his base — and his patience with the on-board AI is fraying Andrew Buckley - MOSES AND THE TALKING BUSH THAT WAS INCONVENIENTLY ON FIRE An exhausted Moses herds sheep for his father-in-law until a burning bush gives him a holy quest he’s rather reluctant to do J.P. Sloan - FAIL HOUSE On the night the Chinese land the first mission to Mars, unemployed roommates in a crumbling American city navigate through riots to their government-subsidized housing — but is it the safe place they thought it would be? James Wymore - ICU A workaholic lawyer wakes up in an intensive care unit with painful regrets Tegan Wren - BOOTHEEL An aged German soldier returns to the Missouri Bootheel where he picked cotton as a POW, digs up an old mirror — and dares to look at his reflection Nathan Croft - SECOND SENTIENCE In this New Weird goat fantasy, two caprifauns explore a lost city — and their possible past lives Rena Rocford - LANDING A JOB IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR When an Imperial assassin’s Keeper betrays the Empire, the assassin goes off-planet — to transition out of government work as fast as possible Ann M. Noser - TRAPPED A woman is trapped inside a body with Alzheimer’s disease Matthew S. Cox - OUT OF SIGHT Unwanted kids wake up in an escape pod after years in stasis, and an AI bracelet is their only chance to make sense of a wild uncharted planet Randy Attwood - A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN A processing plant worker on a cattle farming planet boards an interstellar ship to bring back a wife — and learns a hard lesson Katie Young - THE ONE YOU FEED A wolf hunter offers his services to a professional steer roper, hoping the cowboy will be his champion at the right time Richard Roberts - HEART OF THE HARVESTER A boy’s father sends him to a dangerous city populated with machines in order to bring back the heart of a harvester — but will the boy pass his test and become a man?