Welcome to our ongoing Flash Fiction Sunday Edition.
If you are new here, we do this every Sunday. If you have a favorite author or publisher you would like to select stories, send them our way.
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— Shannon
Flash Fiction chosen by Tom Leins of Things To Do In Devon When You’re Dead
“Visiting” by Abi Hynes via Spelk
Despite only launching in September 2014, UK flash site Spelk Fiction has carved itself an impressive niche as a home for warped little stories. The content to date includes dirty realism, whimsical surrealism and hardboiled crime—and all things in between—with contributions from writers on both sides of the Atlantic. “Visiting”—one of the most recent additions to the site—is a uniquely British, enjoyably unsettling tale. It reminded me of early Ian McEwan, and lingers long in the memory.
“NSFW” by Grant Jerkins via Shotgun Honey
US crime site Shotgun Honey has had its finger on the pulse—and on the trigger—since April 2011. With well over 500 stories published since its launch, Shotgun Honey has been on one long hot streak since its inception, which makes it genuinely difficult to pick one story out of the archives. As a result, I will draw your attention to the most recent addition: “NSFW”. This stalker-themed story is seriously twisted, and seriously well-worked, and proves that bad guys don’t need to be heavily armed to be truly scary!
“No Pain, No Gain” by Vela Damon via Fuck Fiction
Based in China, Fuck Fiction feels like a real under-the-radar flash fiction site. “No Pain, No Gain” is one of my favourite stories to date. Like my other choices, it is dark, vivid and gripping—well worth checking out.
“Nostalgia Purvis” by Frank Bill via A Twist of Noir
After closing its digital doors a couple of years ago, A Twist of Noir remains sorely missed. On the plus side, the site built up a seriously impressive body of work between 2008 and 2013. As a reader (and a writer) I have particularly fond memories of the 600–700 challenge, when regular contributors were invited to deliver consecutive stories consisting of a set number of words (I got #616 and #642). I’d like to draw your attention to the visceral “Nostalgia Purvis” by Frank Bill. I belatedly read his awesome short story collection Crimes In Southern Indiana, recently, and this grim little offering is cut from the same cloth.
That story NSFW – wow! Thanks for pointing it out.