Showing results by narrator "Joe Hempel" in All Categories

A collection of short stories, flash fiction, and micro works. Slush includes previously published stories "Skull of Snakes", "Jackie Boy", and "Sweet 16" alongside a fresh batch of terrifying stories to help you sleep at night.

This odd, irreverent spiritual memoir chronicles the author's accidental hallucinogenic journey to God and back with blunt comic undertones, undercutting the lofty gravitas typically associated with the "meeting God" genre. While making no claims regarding the "proof" of God in any way, this light-hearted true story is an entertaining and thought-provoking journey into the psychology of religion and the existence of God. 

An ancient medallion is unearthed in Pueblo, Colorado, revealing a secret that will rewrite the history of North America - the Vikings somehow made it to the continent's interior, centuries before Columbus made landfall, and there they built a city of gold. But today the Coelho medallion has been stolen, and a linguist and researcher has been abducted in connection with the crime. Could the abductors be after the fabled city of gold? Or do they have a more sinister plot in mind?

They call him Keeper, but lately Jack Marconi has specialized in losing things. Last year, he lost his wife in a mysterious traffic accident, and ever since, he's felt like he's losing his mind. As the warden of the maximum security Green Haven Prison, home to 2,500 of New York's most hardened criminals, Marconi can't afford to drop focus, even for an instant. But he's been slipping up on the job, and he's tormented by flashbacks to the Attica uprising. All of which makes him ripe for the role of patsy when a convicted cop killer named Eduardo Vasquez stages a daring breakout on his watch.

Hannah Stuart has spent her life loving a man who barely knows she exists. Finally fed up with her situation, she decides it's time to start over somewhere new, but a catastrophe brings her plans to a screeching halt and forces her to endure encounter after encounter with her brother's best friend. AKA: the man of her dreams.

In the aftermath of the release of Dr. Hallie Hayes’ weapon aboard the Nidus, Justin Barclay and his fellow survivors are forced to flee for their lives, but they soon realize they can’t run forever. The weapon is multiplying like a sentient plague...and it will consume everything and everyone in its path. As Justin and Hallie form new alliances with old rivals, facing down monstrous foes and treacherous enemies, they work to destroy the weapon and escape the infected ship. But the plague has other intentions—and it will not be stopped.

Garrote House has seen its share of blood. Since Christopher's ancestor Oliver Hedgewood built the house in the 1800s, many spirits have taken up residence in "the Moving House", including horror author Rex Garrote, who'd burned to death in his private library. Christopher Hedgewood and Sara Jane Amblin, inventor of the Recurrence Field, return to Garrote House one final time before it's relocated to Ghostland.

Alex Vane was once a top investigative journalist. Now he peddles celebrity gossip and clickbait listicles, watching from a distance as his wife moves on with her life - without him. But Alex's past catches up to him when he learns that an old source, James Stacy, has been killed in a random mass shooting. James left Alex one last scoop: a 50-year-old hard drive that may contain a secret worth killing for...and the name of the one person who can help him access the data.

Of all the names I’ve been called in Manhattan, “good guy” has never been one of them. But that’s what I have to become the day my father’s law firm, sexy lawyer Violet Keats, a salacious scandal, a hot new court case, and one unlucky bet fall into my lap. Being “the boss” has never been harder. Being office enemies with Violet Keats? Never hotter. But then one night - and one gamble - change everything. I guess earning that “good guy” title is going to be much harder than I thought....

We all have that one older funny family member. You know the one, he tells stories from his experiences and usually has people rolling their eyes. William Stokes is that person! He presents a delightful collection of memories that are truly life lessons even today! Stokes, through his memories and wit, provides opportunities to learn through laughter, sharing of memories and love.

Dan Kotler, independent researcher and archaeologist, is winding down from the events surrounding the theft and recovery of the Coelho Medallion, and discovering that the fallout of this history-altering adventure reaches further than he’d imagined. As academic colleagues shun him and the press hounds him, Kotler finds himself looking for a new purpose. When Gail McCarthy, granddaughter of one of Manhattan’s wealthiest real estate moguls, brings an ancient stone to Kotler’s attention, he finds himself embroiled once again in intrigue, jeopardy, and mystery.

Deep down you know you were meant for more in this world but you can't shake this feeling. What's stopping you from making it happen? What's holding you back from unlocking your maximum potential? I know exactly what is holding you back. Everything you want in life can still happen. Financial freedom, personal success, creating a legacy; it's not out of reach. In fact it's all within your grasp. But first you need to do one very important thing. You need to get out of your own way.

John Rast went to the Ren Faire looking for a fight. Well, a simulated fight, with blunt swords and safety equipment. But when his final opponent turns into a living, fire-breathing dragon, John finds himself in the fight of his life. It's John or nothing stopping a disaster in its tracks - and the only real weapon at hand is his mom's Volvo. So John decides to let it roll....

Death stalks the living. Seven writers have fled to Mirror House, a picturesque mansion by the sea. Each member of the group is running from a terrible premonition of their own death on July 24. What they don’t know is they were, in fact, prophesizing the end of the world, for on that very day, billions will die from a relentless heatwave triggered by global warming.

Tragedy strikes Harry's family leaving him with nothing but sorrow, grief, and a mysterious box whose contents leave him shaken to the core. Everything he thought he knew about his father teetered on the edge of lies. Despite this, he decides to carry out his late father's final wishes: to meet up with some of his old friends whose fathers had been best friends with his own—for a traditional camping trip their fathers had taken annually in years passed.

When Carter Monk, one of the Circle of Sorcery’s agents, goes missing in Australia, Dasiuke Kugo and his partner Helena are dispatched to find out what happened. But just getting to Carter’s last known location is a challenge since Australia is now a sealed country, no foreigners allowed. When they finally arrive, they’ll have to deal with monsters, demon magic, and an obsessed cult if they want to rescue their friend and get to the bottom of the mystery he’d been investigating. Succeed or fail, nothing will be the same after they mission.

Are you constantly haunted by the past, replaying every poor decision you've made like a bad record on repeat? I know the feeling because that used to be me. Most of my 20s were a blur as I struggled with personal and financial hardships. I would go to sleep each night hoping my life was a dream and pray to wake up to something better. For eight years I struggled with making progress and accepting myself. Then one day I got tired of dreaming and decided to do something about it.

Enter the shadowy corridors of terror with Dead Things in Dark Places, the latest collection from the master of malice, David Viergutz. Renowned for his spine-tingling narratives, Viergutz invites you to brave an anthology of all-new, horrifying tales. Each story will drag you deeper into a world of haunted asylums with echoing screams, cursed possessions whispering in the dead of night, twisted creatures lurking in the shadows, and the darkest corners of your wildest nightmares.

Pets are loyal, loving, supportive companions. They can be trained to help us, care for us, support us. Some humans do not deserve their pets. One animal doctor has decided to give them what they deserve.

When Lorit's friend and mentor goes missing, he has no choice but to seize the leadership of the Wizards' Council to win their support. He must undertake the life and death challenges on his own to become a Master Wizard even though the trials have been subverted by the Temple. The evil Wizard Priests have bound his partner, the Sorceress Chihon, in their plan to turn her into their next High Priestess. Can Lorit avoid the traps the Temple has set for him and free his friends, or will he fall to their treachery and face them as enemies?