Three Dead Hands

Three Dead Hands

Luke M. Charles

Fantasy / Science Fiction / Horror

Jack Reese makes a living cleaning up the gruesome remains of corpses and is hired for a job in a remote mechanic shop at the dead of night. But something in the darkness that surrounds Jack and his work crew is stalking them. Jack also has visions of memories he swears are not his own. Are they real or is he imagining them? The answers lie hidden in the darkness but the darkness always lies.This short contemporary fantasy explores the bond between grandfather and grandson. Beau knows the town thinks his grandfather Leon is crazy. Leon doesn't help that fact by claiming to be Ponce de Leon while manning the counter of his liquor store, The Fountain. But crazy to outsiders is just life to Beau, who for as long as he can remember has been following his grandfather into the Louisiana swamps and looking for the right place to set their fires."At some point in the story, I found myself almost wishing to be burned, which must mean that this story is doing something remarkable." -Matt Williamson, Unstuck Books.EXCERPT - Grandpa Leon was a firebug for as long as Beau could remember. He was not one of those you see on TV, setting fires to abandoned homes and warehouses and accidently torching sleeping homeless. It was nothing like that--or maybe it was, just with a different style.For one, Grandpa was a seasonal firebug. When the spring rains tapered off and the swamps started heating up--bluegill turning circles in their shrinking pools, gator trails drying into mud tracks between the islands--Beau began listening for the antsy snap of that Zippo lid coming out of his grandpa's trouser pocket. It was like the sun's hot eye set something afire in the old man and he'd whisper in his thick Cajun, "Cher, let's you and me go find something to do."
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The Door of Flesh

The Door of Flesh

Luke M. Charles

Fantasy / Science Fiction / Horror

Trapped in his apartment, invisible flames burn at his flesh and a curse, put upon him by a witch, festers and grows larger on his cheek. Raging around him in a violent storm of hatred and cruelty are the forces of an ancient darkness wanting to be reborn. He must make one final fight for his humanity or be forever consumed by evil.Sipe’s job: drive the crime throne heir from California back home to Seattle. The double cross: Sipe’s unaware Connie is willing to sacrifice anyone to get out of the family business for good. Sipe’s reality: betrayed, wounded, looking down the barrel of a little blackmail courtesy of the teenager that just discovered him unconscious in the tiniest of tiny Oregon towns. Tiffany’s deal: Sipe helps her locate a missing friend or the faked boob-grab pics make the rounds. The local less than honorable law enforcement...her slightly crazy uncle...Little Creek’s the kind of place the wrong kind of stranger can disappear – forever.The Lipless Gods. A noir-tinged portrait of broken families, teen prostitution, green energy, and of course, anger management challenged Olympic athletes and the mobsters who love them.
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