One day a king was visited by a beggar, seeking enough money to have food to eat. Now, ordinarily the king would have him beaten and thrown in jail or worse. But it so happened that the king had as a guest the king of a neighboring kingdom, and wished to appear generous before him. “Give this man five silver…
By Breen Nolan The characters in Kyle Seibel’s debut short story collection Hey You Assholes (CLASH, 2025) are the freaks and weirdos of the world. They’re the everyday people struggling to figure it out. They’re doing the best they can. Whether Seibel’s writing about a someone experiencing an existential crisis inside of a Taco Bell kitchen, a dying father’s pursuit of pork…
Interviewed by Jessica Ribera This month marks the paperback release of Abby Geni’s second short story collection, The Body Farm. In the collection, Geni has created a laboratory for studying humanity’s relationship to the risks and weaknesses—but also incredible powers—of our bodies. The characters grapple with common yet serious challenges, from physical and mental illness to abuses and lost love.…
By Breen Nolan Elizabeth Ellen’s dazzling and darkly funny novel, American Thighs, follows Tatum Grant, a former child actor who steals her daughter’s identity to start her life over as a high school cheerleader. Tatum’s troubled upbringing is the catalyst for her move from Hollywood to Elkhart, Indiana, a town with painful ties to Tatum’s past. Written in interview style,…
Reviewed by Eric Martin In his latest novel, Theft, Nobel Prize winner Abdulrazak Gurnah spins a tapestry of interwoven lives in Tanzania, where social mores both connect and divide. It’s a world defined by family—historic and impromptu, broken and reimagined. In this world, the lives of individuals are powerfully shaped by a family history that the individual has no power to control.…
By Dave Oei Rachel Howzell Hall is entering brand new territory with her latest novel. After writing a book series featuring Detective Elouise Norton and ten other standalone crime and mystery novels, the two-time Los Angeles Times Book Award winner has published her first foray into the genre of romantasy with her new novel, The Last One. It features Kai,…
Jessup used to think thieves were the scum of the earth. Scab-picking sleazeballs just a mote better than serial killers, pedophiles, and rapists. But what had happened lately at the Quick Fill? It made him reckon that so-called artists were the true creeping brutes, ranking only a quarter-step above the Devil. Hell, maybe even tied with Big Red himself. The…
He’s special, this one. I never would’ve taken him home if he weren’t. And it’s not like it’s our first date. I’ve done this before. I’ll do it again. Unless he’s the one. Whether he is or not, he’s the one right now. What’s that he says? My belt? I picked it up at a thrift store. I tell him…
Just as I was about to close my therapy office for the day, a mysterious figure arrived at my door. I could only make out his silhouette, for a brilliant aura radiated from him. From some unseen vantage, angels trumpeted his arrival, their heavenly fanfare rendering me mute. Hark and behold! Before me stood Jesus Christ, Son of Man. When…
Cayla didn’t want her boyfriend telling anyone about their mistake. Not ever. She didn’t even want to believe their mistake was real. That’s why she was up again peeing on sticks while the entire world was sleep. Her pee dripped from her body to the stick. Squeezing the stick tight, she prayed it would prove the others wrong. Hope, horror,…