Short Stories 366:299 — “The Creep,” by Michael S. Chong

This shudder-worthy story from Masked Mosaic: Canadian Super Stories is a psychologically dark entry in the anthology, and definitely worthy of an October entry. It starts with what could be a moment of a man realizing he has a power and could use it for good, but the good he could do starts to shift …

Short Stories 366:298 — “A View from a Hill,” in the style of M.R. James

The last of the quartet of The Conception of Terror, in which audio dramatizations were created in the style of M.R. James, "A View from the Hill" is probably the one with the most traditional horror story vibe of the bunch, in the sense of what I expect from the genre (especially in short fiction). …

Short Stories 366:296 — “Kill Me Baby, One More Time,” by Michael Matheson

A second superhero story during my attempt to talk horror/darker fictions during October? What? Have I lost the plot? Nope! Okay, this is the first time (of many, I'm sure) I'll be visiting Powered Up!: An Earth Prime Anthology, which is a collection of short fiction based in the Mutants and Masterminds tabletop RPG universe …

Short Stories 366:295 — “The Blessing Cookies,” by Laurie Stewart

This creeptastic story from Nothing Without Us was whatever you call a "slow-burn" in creepy horror fiction. It starts out with a woman with chronic pain and a strange, not quite explained job to do working in her kitchen to make "the blessing cookies," and then slowly expands to show you this isn't just a …

Short Stories 366:294 — “Those Beneath the Bog,” by Jacques L. Condor ~ Maka Tai Meh

Well, sleep, it was nice knowing you. Okay, maybe that's overstating (a little), but today's foray into October stories is from Dead North: Canadian Zombie Fiction (edited by the brilliant Silvia Moreno-Garcia) and why did I let myself read stories about zombies? Well, because Moreno-Garcia. In fact, right in the introduction, she points out this …

Short Stories 366:293 — “The Box,” by Stephen Gallagher

Hammer Chillers, an audio collection from Bafflegab, of six short audio horror performances, was recommended to me by a friend who knows my scaredy-cat level of enjoyment of horror, and it's off to a really strong start with "The Box." We meet a former military man who teaches safety courses to future workers on offshore …