by D Kershaw
“It’s the owner’s manual,” Marcel defended.
“Even more pathetic.”
“James Cameron is Canadian.”
“You win the trivia prize. So what?”
Marcel pointed at the depth gauge. “It means the maximum safe depth is listed in meters, not feet, fool! Now, turn on the lights, so I can find the ascent controls.”
SHAWN M. KLIMEK is an internationally best-selling short-story writer and poet, and author of Hungry Thing. More than 150 of his works have been published online or in such anthologies as BHP’s Deep Space, Eerie Christmas, Bad Romance, Jibbernocky, and every book in the Dark Drabbles series.
Website: jotinthedark.blogspot.com
Facebook: shawnmklimekauthor
A Drink Before Dinner
by Mason Harold Hilden
Alone on a raft, starving and blistered, Todd had finally given up.
Having seen a shark hours earlier, he pondered ending it then, but being eaten alive stifled the thought. Todd decided on drowning. Hop in, go under, breath in—pain gone. Mustering up courage, he made peace with himself and took the plunge.
To his shock, Todd found his body would not let him drown. He thrashed and convulsed. His horror only intensified upon seeing a shape approaching from below, with its rows of razor sharp teeth. Todd screamed underwater, letting blessed water in just as teeth met flesh.
MASON H. HILDEN is a Bluenoser, who currently resides in Saint John, New Brunswick, with his family. Over the last twenty years, he has written comic-books, including one professional work. He has also dabbled in mini-biographies, interviews, baseball articles, and animation scripting. Mason recently began writing fiction, and believes that BHP may have created a monster by accepting his submissions.
Cleaning Fish
by Vonnie Winslow Crist
Sitting on the beach, Corinn watched Granddad clean a monkfish. As he pulled the scaler across its body, the creature shivered and iridescent disks scattered on sand.
Corinn picked up a scale, imagined thousands stitched together to make a cloak. She knew mermaids wore such things.
Staring as Granddad lopped off the monkfish’s head and tail, she sighed when he slit its belly.
Fishguts plopped out, glimmering like rubies, moonstones, and pearls. When their oceany scent stung her nostrils and flooded her mind, Corinn was unable to resist the salt in her blood.
She stood, then walked into the Atlantic.
VONNIE WINSLOW CRIST is author of The Enchanted Dagger, Owl Light, The Greener Forest, Murder on Marawa Prime, and other award-winning books. Her fiction is included in “Amazing Stories,” “Cast of Wonders,” “Outposts of Beyond,” Killing It Softly 2, Defending the Future - Dogs of War, Midnight Masquerade, Chaos of Hard Clay, and elsewhere. A cloverhand who has found so many four-leafed clovers she keeps them in jars, Vonnie strives to celebrate the power of myth in her writing.
Website: www.vonniewinslowcrist.com
Surf’s Up
by Derek Dunn
The sun finally breaks. A handful of locals roam the beach, but no one gets in the water. I don’t know why. I’ve never seen better waves; and, it looks like I’ll have them all to myself.
I run towards the sea, surfboard in tow.
“Cuidado!” someone says. “No metas al agua.”
I ignore him. The water’s warmth bathes my skin. I glide over the waves. They rise higher, pushing me upward.
But they don’t fall.
I soar higher until the beach dwindles beneath me. A massive tentacle has lifted me up. Monstrous jaws open wide.
And then I fall.
DEREK DUNN is a film enthusiast and musician who writes primarily horror and mystery stories. After obtaining a degree in Media Arts Studies and dabbling in film production, he’s turned his efforts to writing fiction. Several of his works have appeared in recent anthologies. He lives in the American northwest with his family, dog, and fish.
Twitter: DerekTDunn
May the Catch Be Good
by A.L. King
“What will happen?” the girl asked.
“The gods of the ocean will carry you to an eternity of splendour,” said the father.
“Can I be a mermaid?”
“You can be anything you want,” the mother said.
Fires lit onshore. Music started. The parents leapt out of the small boat and pushed it away before swimming back to shore. The tide would take her. She could only scream.
Her cries were drowned out by music and chanting by the time they rejoined their tribe on the beach.
“May the catch be good. May the catch be good.”
The parents joined in.
A.L. KING is an author of horror, fantasy, science fiction, and poetry. As an avid fan of dark subjects from an early age, his first influences included R.L. Stine, Edgar Allan Poe, and Stephen King. Later stylistic inspirations came from foreign horror films and media, particularly Japanese. He is a graduate of West Liberty University, has dabbled in journalism, and is actively involved in his community. Although his creativity leans toward darker genres, he has even written a children’s book titled “Leif’s First Fall.” He was raised in the town of Sistersville, West Virginia, which he still proudly calls home.
Piracy
by Rich Rurshell
As the Black Mare pummelled the approaching galleon with cannonballs, Captain Morris could hear the cackling and whooping of its undead crew.
“Captain?”
“Prepare to fight, Mr. Donoghue.”
Grinning corpses fearlessly boarded the Black Mare and made short work of Morris’ crew. One charged at Morris with a long pike. Donoghue took its head clean off with his cutlass. The headless corpse continued its advance and pinned Morris to the mast.
With his dying breath, Morris saw the captain of the rotten galleon standing at the wheel of the Black Mare, pointing at him, laughing heartily into the night sky.
RICH RURSHELL is a short story writer from Suffolk, England. Rich writes Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy, and his stories can be found in various short story anthologies and magazines. Most recently, his story “Subject: Galilee” was published in World War Four from Zombie Pirate Publishing, and “Life Choices” was published in Salty Tales from Stormy Island Publishing. When Rich is not writing stories, he likes to write and perform music.
Facebook: richrurshellauthor
Deep See Covert
by A.L. Paradiso
Cousin Otto, I hear you and will close the covert entrance to our Deep See home as you enter. Welcome, cousin, to safety.
Greetings cousin squid. Prepare our defences; all citizens line up at vents and prepare to ink all humans who approach. Citizen jelly fish, prepare to sting and flee. You and our squid squad will lead them away, to our former home. Brother Octum, if needed, you will steal spear gun, ink him and lead him away.
I often wonder, Rex Otto, if we should just abandon them to their fates and return home.
No! Humans have value.
A.L. PARADISO was born in Europe, English is his second language, following Italian—then Latin, Pig Latin, French and assorted computer languages. He lives in upstate NY with three cats. In college he took a dislike to writing of any kind and swore never to try that again. Some years later, influenced by Babylon 5’s creator and his own pressure to write about two traumatic events, he turned to creative writing. As of Feb 2020, he has shared 130+ published stories with others online (> 4.6 million views), in eleven anthologies, DRAGON TALES COLLECTION, and two literary journals.
Amazon: www.tinyurl.com/Paradiso-dragons
Books2Read: books2read.com/ap/RWjj5e/AL-Paradiso
The Seventh Sea
by Olivia Arieti
Seadog Hendrik knew it would be his final voyage; many were the oceans his vessel had sailed, but this was where it was doomed to sink, the inevitable epilogue to the pirate’s wickedness.
“Beware of the seventh sea,” cried the last victim forced to walk off the plan
k.
The glare was as haunting as the curse launched at him.
The depraved crew, unaware of the imminent punishment, were already drunken ghosts feasting over the chests full of gold and gems.
Roars and howls mingled into a satanic cacophony as the phantom ship approached and its bow penetrated their captain’s heart.
OLIVIA ARIETI has a degree from the University of Pisa and lives in Torre del Lago Puccini, Italy, with her family. Besides being a published playwright, she loves writing retellings of fairy tales, and at the same time is intrigued by supernatural and horror themes. Her stories appeared in several magazines and anthologies like Enchanted Conversations, Enchanted Tales Literary Magazine, Fantasia Divinity Magazine, Cliterature, Medieval Nightmares, Static Movement, 100 Doors To Madness Forgotten Tomb Press, Black Cats Horrified Press, Bloody Ghost Stories Full Moon Books, Death And Decorations Thirteen O’Clock Press, Infective Ink, Pandemonium Press, Pussy Magic Magazine.
Trench, Mariana Trench
by Frances Tate
Trieste sank slowly into the dark canyon. Hiding in the silt, we knew invasion wouldn’t be long.
After the submersible left, the committee met; sought volunteers for training and experimentation.
Agents travelled far and wide. Brought back samples clogged in their intestines, their gills.
Every species we encountered is affected. Damned. We—
No!
Light and cables descend: Camera.
Our strike force isn’t ready yet.
Caught in the open, I morph. Shed my claws, teeth, I mimic the other immortal jellyfish template.
The image of a drowned plastic bag, here, shames the world.
So many decoys. You’ll never see us coming.
FRANCES TATE is a British self-published writer of vampires and drabbles who lives in the north west of England. She enjoys gardening, exploring historical sites, cinema, reading and travelling. She’s taken pleasure in flight-planning a cabbage white butterfly approach to careers, preferring to generalise rather than specialise. She trained as an Economics high school teacher and has a private pilot’s licence amongst other things. Currently she writes (very restrained) overhaul instructions for an engineering company.
Where’s the Rum?
by Wendy Roberts
Okay, so sailing across the world in a rickety old boat probably wasn’t Elle’s best idea. Especially when that hurricane came up out of nowhere and capsized her whole boat. Yeah, Elle’s really regretting that one. But she still can’t stop from smiling at the moment because how many people can say they’ve been rescued by one of the largest sea turtles that is currently pulling her toward paradise?
Nah, it definitely wasn’t the greatest idea ever, but she’s feeling like the world’s best pirate right now, and all she really wants to know is: where’s all the rum gone?
WRITING SHORT STORIES and novels started as a past time for Wendy Roberts and has now become a fully fledged passion. She posts short stories on her website and can be found most days on Twitter.
Website: flippinscribbler.com
Twitter: @_WARoberts
Back
by Cassandra Angler
She climbed up onto the pier, sea water dripping from her hair. Half of her face rotted with decay. She shouldn’t be here, I thought I had fastened the cement block tightly enough. Behind her, others emerge. In all different stages of decomposition, one being nothing but bone. They stagger toward the crowd, limping on their broken limbs. Beach goers scream and scramble, some falling under the weight of sea logged attackers, being bitten and ripped apart. Choking on the smell of mildew and rotten meat, turning to run. There she is, blocking my way. My wife, back from sea.
CASSANDRA ANGLER is a married mother of four who lives in the State of Ohio in the USA. When she isn’t busy caring for her family, Cassandra works on her upcoming novel due out in November of 2020 titled Contaminated. Cassandra has three short story publications as well as several flash fiction and drabble publications.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
When we embarked on DARK DRABBLES—the first set of anthologies from BHP—we never envisioned the huge support we’d get from the writing community. We have been truly humbled by the number of submissions (more than 500 for WORLDS alone!) and have loved reading every single one of them. So, to everyone who crafted a tiny tale just for us; we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
To everyone who has helped us on the way—our families and friends, collaborators and random strangers who took pity—we couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you all.
www.blackharepress.com
Stories of new worlds, new creatures, alien colonisation, humanity’s new home, space accidents, alien snackcidents, evil planets, military mashups, alien autopsies, and much, much more.
Beatific angels, holy wars, kitty saviours, epic battles between good and evil, devils and demons, fallen angels and many more tantalising tiny tales.
Wendigos, vampires, things that go bump in the night or hide under the bed, witches, demons, upirs, kelpies, toad people, zombies, sirens and hundreds of other tiny terrifying tales.
Micro myths of the paranormal; poltergeists, spirit boards, ghosts and ghouls, avenging apparitions and horrifying hauntings.
Murder mysteries, criminal chronicles, whodunnits, revenge, suspicion, mayhem, intrigue, and lots more.