Thomas Phillips knows he's losing his mind. He's been losing it for as long as he can remember. And yet, when a strange old man asks him to consider that he, out of everyone in the world, knows the real truth, Thomas' life begins to spiral out of control. He loses interest in his job and is fired. He refuses his wife's suggestion of psychiatric care, and she leaves him. In the end, Thomas is alone.

Welcome to East Salem. A sleepy town with a history older than America where the supernatural bleeds into the everyday.After a high school girl is found dead in the town park, forensic psychiatrist Dani Harris wants answers. All the suspects are teenagers who were at the party with her the night before - and even though the evidence confirms they were all at the scene of the crime they all woke up the next morning with the same story: no memory whatsoever of the murder.Former pro-football linebacker - and local celebrity - Tommy Gunderson finds himself drawn to the case.

This is Noah Oakman → 16, Bowie believer, concise historian, disillusioned swimmer, son, brother, friend. Then Noah → gets hypnotized. Now Noah → sees changes - inexplicable scars, odd behaviors, rewritten histories - in all those around him. All except his Strange Fascinations....

Fighting in the streets, corruption at the highest levels, collapsing infrastructure, brutal police, a daily threat of nuclear war: few of us thought we’d find ourselves here, so far into the 21st century. What’s next? Are we really going to be “great again,” however that’s meant? And if we are, what does that mean for those of us on the receiving end of the less-than-great? In this diverse and vigorous mix of stories by newcomers and luminaries, writers offer their takes on what life might hold for us in the next few years. 

Cybersecurity super-sleuth Frank Adversego finds himself trapped in a power play between the FBI and the CIA as hackers try to destroy the USA. Only by defeating the Alexandria Project can he clear himself. 

Jonathan Krause is a man with a plan. He is going to quit his advertising job and, when his money runs out, he is going to die. He just has one final mission: a trip to Japan. It's a trip he was supposed to take with his girlfriend Sara. In preparation for his final voyage, Jonathan enrolls in a Japanese language class where he meets Riko. Their unexpected and unusual friendship takes them to Japan together, where they each struggle to make peace with their past and accept that happiness, loneliness, and grief come and go - just like the cherry blossoms.

Lauren Sheehan's career in medicine came to a halt after a chain of violent events abroad. Now she's back in the safest place she knows - St. Helens, Wisconsin-cut off from career, friendship, and romance.

Faced with her family’s financial woes, Scarlett has taken on the job of assistant/indentured servant to a newly minted theatrical agent: professional eccentric Mrs. Amy Amberson. Scarlett ends up at the beck and call of a Broadway star (her own age!), dealing with territorial doormen, and walking a small dog with insecurity issues — all while starting her sophomore year at one of New York’s most rigorous high schools.

You can't take it with you...but what if you could? Most people believe their souls outlive their bodies. Most people would find an organization that tracks their souls into the future and passes on their banked money and memories compelling. Scott Waverly isn't like most people. He spends his days finding and fixing computer security holes. And Scott is skeptical of his new client's claim that they have been calculating and tracking soul identities for almost 2,600 years.

Imagine this: You have a nice life. You love your beautiful, successful wife. You’re an easygoing guy working out of your comfortable Connecticut home. The world is an interesting, pleasant place. Then in seconds, it’s all gone. You’re still alive, but the world thinks you’re dead. And now you have to decide: make it official, or go after the evil that took it all away from you. Arthur Cathcart, market researcher and occasional finder of missing persons, decides to live on and fight by doing what he knows best - figuring things out without revealing his status as a living, breathing human being.

Overworld. It's more than just the world's most popular e-sport - for thousands of VR teams around the globe, Overworld is life. It means fame and fortune, or maybe it's a ticket out of obscurity or poverty. If you have a connection to the Internet and four friends you trust with your life, anything is possible.

Everything was going smoothly until my past caught up with me. Now, I'm being taunted by a madman who knows more about me than I do. He's kidnapped the closest person in my life, and he is using it to get my attention. Trust me...he has it. Now, I just need to figure out where he is and when he'll strike again. Things were easier when I was only kidnapping children.

Andy Carter was happy. He had a solid job. He ran 5Ks for charity. He was living a nice, safe Midwestern existence. And then his wife left him for a handsome paramedic down the street. We're All Damaged begins after Andy has lost his job, ruined his best friend's wedding, and moved to New York City, where he lives in a tiny apartment with an angry cat named Jeter that isn't technically his. But before long he needs to go back to Omaha to say good-bye to his dying grandfather.

Julie Prentice and her family move across the country to the idyllic Mount Adams district of Cincinnati, hoping to evade the stalker who's been terrorizing them ever since the publication of her bestselling novel, The Murder Game. Since Julie doesn't know anyone in her new town, when she meets her neighbor John Dunbar, their instant connection brings measured hope for a new beginning. But she never imagines that a simple, benign conversation with him could set her life spinning so far off course.

Back when I started this project, I was thinking what the heck, writing a few short stories will keep me fresh, let me try things I might not try otherwise, act as a sketch book of my story ideas: the funny, the weird, the scary, the sappy, and sometimes all of that mashed up together.