Finding Shelter
Welcome new readers! I send out a new story to this list every Thursday, and I’ve been going for over a year. If you want to read some of the earlier pieces,...
"A fun craft activity for kids!"
Back in the eighties, Marks and Spencers sold books and one of these was Snail Painting for Children. It suggested growing snails in a back garden and, once...
The Hand-drawn Map Shop
Somewhere in my house is a business card from 'The Hand-Drawn Map Shop’, which opened in Brighton for a few years in the 90s. The card has the shop’s name...
Possessions / One year of Microfictions
Looking around the room, it was as if she’d turned her ex-boyfriends into things. The vase was from a brash man who played rugby and stuttered in bed. She...
⚠️ The 4th Film
It’s not just that Carol Carolle’s murder robbed the world of a promising career – her death has eclipsed the three films that she made. Carolle was...
LIBRARYS
Reading is a cargo cult.I told her my name was Eddie, which she said was great: “I like people who are named after things.” Within half an hour, we left for...
Vinterpizza 🇸🇪🍕
Vinterpizza in Arvidsjaur only delivers after dark. This is not a problem in winter, but in summer the days can last almost twenty-four hours, so it's only...
⚠️ Flåddpizza
Content warning: disturbing imagery.There are hooks in the sauna ceiling. You think nothing of them, concentrating on the heat, on the drops of sweat falling...
⚠️ The Sacrifice of Pizzapizza
This is a horror story, part of my Swedish Pizza collection. Content warning: violence.A slice of pizza, seven feet tall, stands in front of me. The tip of...
Her Armchair, in the Corner
Walking up the stairs behind his client, Will tried not to react to their nervousness. His hand toyed with his phone in his pocket and he stopped himself...
Endless Summer
Kenny could not outwalk his grief, but walking was the only thing that felt like it helped. He’d avoided their favourite places since Bill died but, on a...
Every Golf Course is Stolen Land
“Hey! Where are you going?” Hugh shouted at the two crusties crossing the green.“We’re on the footpath!” one yelled.“It’s a golf course,” Hugh shouted back....
How Paul Sampson Was Kicked Out of the Band
“Are you worried,” she asked as they lay in bed together, smoking in the dark – “Are you worried that if you cut your hair, you’ll forget how to play...
Skin Fever
Standing at the shop counter, I felt nervous and ended up talking down to the chocolates rather than to the owner. The only other person in the shop wore a...
Tales of the Occupation
“Come,” said the Sultan to his hasheesh-eater in the very furthest lands that know Manhattan, “dream to me now of Brighton...”A Tale Of BrightonLord...
Barry the Rat
Do you remember Barry the Rat? He got famous in the early days of Youtube. It was this guy called Paul Allen who had a puppet of a rat, which he used for...
Only the Crows Know
A red wool mitten on a fencepost. Someone has placed it there so it might be reunited with its twin. The next time you walk down the path, it's gone. Another...
Temirtau (The ghosts of Google Maps)
Sometimes when I can’t sleep, unable to sleep, I think about how large the universe is. The numbers mean nothing. This planet orbits one star out of hundreds...
Lovecraft in Brighton
Lovecraft and I stroll the Brighton promenade. We pass the skeleton of the West Pier, the blackened iron bones left behind when it was torched. We come to...
Eurydice in the Widow Hotel
This is her kingdom. She gives expensive hotel rooms the feeling of the apartments she grew up in. Someone slumbers on the unmade bed, fully dressed. Make-up...