Showing results for "The Alchemist" in Anthologies & Short Stories

Revenge, death, and destruction abound in this early short story by H.P. Lovecraft. The story follows Antoine, a count who is last in line to die at the age of 32 due to a curse put on his family hundreds of years prior. His ancestor, being responsible for the death, brought about the curse, and Antoine was left to watch all his family, including his manservant, die an early death. But when his time comes and he is exploring the castle in wait, he manages to successfully end the curse by deflecting the fatal blow of Charles - the son of the man who was killed so many years ago.

Isaac Freedman used to be just this old cook that I buy my coke from. Nice enough guy, I guess. Didn’t really know anything about him until recently—but he definitely was a little cooky. Think: “Dumbledor—but, like, if Dumbledor did a ton of candyflipping in the 90s and now he goes under a different name cause he believes the CIA has it out for him, so he never leaves his house and usually doesn’t even put pants on, and he somehow has the best coke hook-up in the Midwest.

Stephen got stoned so he could deal with the chemo, but it's his husband who really needs the drugs. After all, watching your partner of twenty years die of cancer can leave you courting bankruptcy, your life in ruins. It can drive you to steal, or cheat, or look for hope in a can of chicken-noodle soup you bought from the demonic pawnbroker at a creepy old hock shop at the edge of nowhere.