Be warned:  Some of the stories herein may be deemed explicit or offensive. All materials in deathlings.com is copyrighted by the original authors and may not be reproduced without permission.  Violators will be prosecuted.

Party at the End of Time By dgk goldberg dgk goldberg returns to deathlings.com with the haunting Party at the End of Time. Three of dgk's stories have been winners in deathlings.com's contests (Diana Seventeen in issue one, Pity Fuck in issue two, and Kudzu in issue four) and have always received favorable (glowing, in fact) comments from readers. Over the next few months new goldberg stories will appear in A Walk On the Darkside and The Best of Gothic Net Volume One. Her second novel Doomed to Repeat It is still available at all of the usual on-line suspects. [1st place deathlings.com Outrageous Acts contest.]

Pig By MJ Huang "The cop slaps a ticket on the van's windshield…Owen pokes him in the shoulder and the cop turns around. "Pig," says Owen."  Pig is a must-read for those of us too passive, scared or law-abiding (or maybe all three) to say what really feel to traffic cops. MJ Huang makes her deathlings.com debut with this quirky story. Her most recent publication is Matryr the third story featured in an anthology called Nixon Under the Bodhi Tree. [2nd place deathlings.com Outrageous Acts contest.]

Firebugs By Julia Talbot Julia Talbot's non-traditional love story packs a big wallop with few words in her Firebugs. Julia, whose short stories have been featured in the Blasphemy and Shifting anthologies, is making her first appearance in deathlings.com. [3rd place deathlings.com Outrageous Acts contests.]

Perfectibility of Life By Constance Gelvin "Be wary of passion. It can make you lose yourself" warns a character in Constance Gelvin's torn-from-the-headline's (love that melodramatic phrase) story "Perfectibility of Life." Constance is a frequent contributor who also wields a merciless editor's pen. [Honorable Mention, deathlings.com Outrageous Acts contest.]

The Vampire Tibbles By James Quiggle Okay, you find hyper-kinetic, barky little poodles irritating, right? But a vampire poodle? The "All Things Weird and Wonderful…" contest broke another record for number of submissions, but "The Vampire Tibbles"--with its eccentric family, quirky dialogue and unusual setting--caught and held our attention. And, several weeks later, we found ourselves still thinking about it. [1st place deathlings.com All Things Weird and Wonderful: Ghosts, Demons, Bigfoot, Vampires, Shapeshifters contest.]

Inspecting the Workers By Jim C. Hines We don't often publish reprints in deathlings.com, but some stories are just too good to pass up. In case you missed Jim C. Hines' "Inspecting the Workers" in The Book of All Flesh now's your chance to enjoy this offbeat story….who would have thought: zombies as workaholics? [2nd place deathlings.com All Things Weird and Wonderful: Ghosts, Demons, Bigfoot, Vampires, Shapeshifters contest.]

Little Boy, Kind of Blue By Jon Skovron A man, an old soldier and an eerie local legend…welcome to the world of "Little Boy, Kind of Blue" a short-short story that reminded us of early Twilight Zone episodes. This is Jon Skovron's first appearance in deathlings.com. [3rd place deathlings.com All Things Weird and Wonderful: Ghosts, Demons, Bigfoot, Vampires, Shapeshifters contest.]

Stealing Away By Constance Gelvin Third place winner "Stealing Away" by Constance Gelvin has been removed at the author's request. [Honorable Mention, deathlings.com All Things Weird and Wonderful: Ghosts, Demons, Bigfoot, Vampires, Shapeshifters contest.]

Victims By Mike Winkle Serial killers, going postal and copycat crimes are the stuff of Mike Winkle's "Victims." This story grabbed us by the throat and didn't let go until the very end. deathlings.com had more submissions for our "Dark Short Shorts" contest (but come on, people, you didn't think a one sentence story would be a winner, did you? We'd have to send you a sixty five cent check!) than we've had in our almost three-year history and this story, we felt, was a real standout. [1st place winner, deathlings.com Dark Short Shorts contest.]

Tell Me the Name By Darren O. Godfrey With "Tell Me the Name" author Darren O. Godfrey makes a first appearance in deathlings.com, and his story will leave you thinking long after you've read the last word. How would you answer the question: "Tell me the name of the person you hate the most"? Read Darren's chilling (yet humorous) take on the answer to this question. [2nd place winner, deathlings.com Dark Short Shorts contest.]

Welcome to the Phobia Group By Greg Beatty Greg Beatty makes a reappearance in deathlings.com with his "Welcome to the Phobia Group" (featuring a group therapy group from hell!) We're delighted to announce that Greg's chilling, stuff-of-nightmares "Nanojacked" that appeared in our 2002 January/February/March issue (see Past Issues) won third place in the "2002 Best of Soft Science Fiction" contest--way to go, Greg! [3rd place winner, deathlings.com Dark Short Shorts contest.]

The Ballad of Blood-Man By Paul G. Tremblay "The Ballad of Blood-Man" is a must-read for those of us who pore over the daily headlines that scream of disease, famine and pestilence…(sounds kinda Biblical, doesn't it?) This is Chiaroscuro Fiction Editor (and uvula-less) Paul G. Tremblay's first appearance in deathlings.com. [Honorable Mention, deathlings.com Dark Short Shorts contest.]

Future Sex By Woody O. Carsky-Wilson Ever wonder what sex in the future will be like? ("For foreplay, I replayed our sex play…") More of what we're used to, or sex aided and enhanced by high tech bells and whistles? For a delightful look at the future of "the old in and out" read Woody O.Carsky-Wilson's "Future Sex" a super-short look at sex in the world of cyber circuits and nannite nannies. [Honorable Mention, deathlings.com Dark Short Shorts contest.]