Ever since I was a little girl I loved to play with dolls. Over the centuries, I've amassed quite a collection, from Barbie and Bru to Cabbage Patch and Living Dead dolls. Here in my doll room I display a sampling of my favorite poppets. In the top drawer of the desk beside the window, you will find 25 stories to read when you're in the mood for some short fiction. (Hopefully, you won't be left glassy-eyed after reading them.)
The Ballerina - (January 2020) During the Depression, a little girl living with a foster mother becomes obsessed with a ballerina inside a Fabergé egg. Caryatids - (March 2020) A Hollywood studio head wants to decorate his new mansion with Greek columns sculpted to look like the aspiring actresses who graced his casting couch. Claustrophobia - (January 2020) When a history professor freaks out during an MRI, Lionel Penn is called in to determine if the patient is claustrophobic. The Crack - (January 2020) Confined to a hospital bed after a serious fall, a patient can't take his mind off a crack in the wall that keeps getting bigger. Darkness in the City of Light - (January 2020) After moving to Paris, a Hollywood filmmaker decides to reopen the Grand Guignol, a theater known for its gruesome, macabre productions. |
|
The Duplex - (January 2020) After leaving her womanizing husband, a career woman moves out of the city and into a duplex in the suburbs. But all her attempts to meet the woman on the other side of the wall end in failure. Forest of No Return - (December 2019) A skeptic who writes articles debunking myths and urban legends is assigned to write a story about a forest where an unusually high number of suicides occurred. The Foundling Wheel - (December 2019) A nun dreams of an angel who asks her to watch over a foundling who will grow to be the king of men. The Glass Armonica - (April 2020) A successful actor receives a gift from an unknown benefactor: a glass armonica whose music was once believed to drive people insane. God Bless Mr. Dimmesdale - (March 2020) A student gets an internship as a baker in a town where a fall festival is held, and the streets are lined with scarecrows. |
|
The Group - (January 2020) Five patients take part in a session of group therapy to help them fight their addiction to watching television. House in Mourning - (April 2020) An orphan is sent to Amberley Manor, a British country home, to care for an infant whose mother died in childbirth. She arrives to find the house in mourning for the late mistress. iMan - (March 2020) After a death row inmate leaves his body to science, a medical researcher creates a digital version of his anatomy. Last Supper - (February 2020) On his deathbed, an unscrupulous former president fears for his immortal soul and decides to take drastic steps to gain forgiveness. Letter from Heaven - (April 2018) An antique dealer and TV show host purchases an Amish himmelsbrief, a letter from heaven that protects its owner from harm. |
|
The Lost Children - (February 2020) After two little boys go missing in the Appalachian Mountains, a farmer has a dream that reveals their location. Nothing to Fear - (February 2020) Five friends with an interest in dark tourism spend the weekend in a bed and breakfast where a famous double murder once took place. The Reawakening - (February 2020) A former actress returns to a small New England town where forty years earlier she starred in a low-budget horror movie. The Royal Triplets - (April 2020) When a queen gives birth to three sons at one time, her husband is faced with the dilemma of deciding who will succeed him. A Snowball's Chance - (March 2020) Two cold-case detectives hope to find the truth about the disappearance of a little girl who went missing forty-five years earlier while on an Easter egg hunt. |
|
Still Life - (March 2020) An artist who makes his living creating detailed technical sketches for instruction manuals copes with the tedium of his life by making still life drawings. The Swan - (March 2020) When a shop girl from East London marries a painter, she believes she has found true happiness. Sadly, fate steps in to bring her world crashing down upon her. Truth Will Out - (February 2020) Two detectives trying to solve a series of murders have plenty of forensic evidence but no suspects to compare it to—until an Internet genealogy company provides a useful link. Unveiled - (February 2020) On the night of his bachelor party, a man becomes enthralled by a mysterious exotic dancer. Yesteryear - (May 2020) After the death of her fiancé, a woman spends more than half a century living in the past. |