September 2024 - Writing Darkness

Like Any Good Husband
by Zachary Robert Long (981 words, estimated reading time: 5 minutes)

Exhibit A: Letter from envelope addressed “Stephanie” Exhibit B: Letter from envelope addressed “Police” Exhibit C: Envelope left untitled

Ruby Laughs
by Zachary Robert Long (1304 words, estimated reading time: 6 minutes)
(Ruby Laughs is a sequel to A Good Mother) She lays on the motel water-bed, her pregnant belly undulating with each breath, and though her face is...
The Way It Squirms
by Zachary Robert Long (2100 words, estimated reading time: 10 minutes)
The lump in Steven’s armpit stayed the same size no matter how many times he told himself it wasn’t there. Staring at himself in the bathroom...
The Skin Came Free
by Zachary Robert Long (1441 words, estimated reading time: 7 minutes)
The skin on my hands has been coming off lately. It starts by the nails, sort of folding back. Not quite tearing but slipping away. I...
Robert Cook Collection Item #0888
by Zachary Robert Long (2856 words, estimated reading time: 13 minutes)
During the final hours of October 10, 1961, Everett Turpin murdered his wife Dorothy Turpin with an ax. The following morning he drove his Ford F-1...
For the Entertainment of Strangers
by Zachary Robert Long (3971 words, estimated reading time: 17 minutes)
For Haleigh Masterton, the moment her stomach lining tore registered only as a dull ache. Nor did it slow her down any. It was simply another...