Short Stories
by Susan E. Rogers
Published in Magazines and Anthologies
including links to read for free or purchase
Stay Tuned for more short stories coming soon!
Scroll down to see those already published.
When Memories Come Alive
Sometimes difficult memories last forever, living on despite our best efforts, haunting our every thought. But, they are only memories. They're not real. Or are they?​
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Stories to Take To Your Grave: Wandering Souls Edition
An anthology of ghosts and the supernatural, published by Undertaker Books.
To be published online December 2024. For print release in January 2025 issue.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
The Light of Death
In the world and time where Pagan and Christian collide, a young girl must decide between her widowed mother's request and her father's deathbed plea, a choice between dark and light and which is which, as she prepares for a confrontation whose consequences will determine her forever.
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Published in The Lorelei Signal, October 2024 issue. Read "The Light of Death" free online in The Lorelei Signal.
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Opportunity is the Devil
Opportunity only knocks once, but be mindful of the details before you agree to the deal.​​
Reading by R.B. Wood for Sudden Fictions Podcast. Published October 11, 2024. Available free online. Listen to "Opportunity is the Devil" on Sudden Fictions Podcast.
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Second Chances
Everybody deserves a second chance. Right? But... How many chances are too many?
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Published online by Shotgun Honey magazine, September 24, 2024. Available free online. Read "Second Chances" in Shotgun Honey.
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Edgar and the Fairy
Who wouldn't want a fairy for a companion? Edgar finds his new friend the perfect cure for his lonely solitude. When she starts to bring him gifts, he wants to reciprocate. But choosing the right gift for a fairy might not be as easy as it seems.
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Fairytale Fuckery
An anthology of twisted and dark retellings of classic tales, published by Sinister Society, June 26, 2024. Fairytale Fuckery available on Amazon.
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Epitaph for a Whaleman
A woman searches for the young man whose miniature photograph she finds inside a locket washed up on the beach, unaware of the consequences that contact will unleash.​
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Nautical Nightmares
An anthology of horror stories from the sea, published by Sinister Society, June 26, 2024. Nautical Nightmares available on Amazon.
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Faces in the Glass
Anne celebrated her birthday with a special ritual ever since she was 13. Today is her 30th and she intends to carry on the tradition, despite being isolated at home by a monster blizzard. But events don't go as planned and she ends up with Enna, her mirror image... Or is she? Just who is reality and who is the reflection​?
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Dark Emporium - Vol. 2
An anthology of dark tales published by Graveyard Press, the horror imprint of Fiction4All Publishing, June 2024.
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The Secret of Greenwood
Mari had never been in Greenwood, despite living in the next town over. Her friends have plans for a birthday camp-out in the forest there and Mari fully intends to go, despite her mother's pleading to stay away with a vague warning. "It's not for our kind."​ It doesn't take long for Mari to learn the truth about the town and its residents, along with a few surprising secrets about herself that she'll need to survive the night.
Campfire Tales
An anthology published by PsychoToxin Press, October 30, 2023. Out of print, not available.
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Slippage
There's never enough time... But what should you do when time doesn't go in a straight line? ​
Published online in Trembling with Fear, weekly ezine of Horror Tree.com. Published online by Horror Tree Press, September 17, 2023. Read "Slippage" in Trembling with Fear. Scroll down to story.
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Twenty-Two Minutes Live
The future of television. Where we all watch live broadcasts of sit-coms and game shows for twenty-two minutes of every half hour. (Leave enough time for commercials in between!) And all the actors are Clones with Artificial Intelligence feeding them their lines. What could possibly go wrong? Mwahahaha!
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Published online by Eye Tales, PsychoToxin Press, July 25, 2023. No longer available.
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Hell-Bent
Soul Mates? Choose wisely. You never know what the ulterior motive might be.
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Published in print and online in The Artisan Magazine, Vol. 1, Issue X, May 2023. Page 18.
Available free online. Enjoy the full issue.
Read "Hell-Bent" in The Artisan.
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A Thousand Words
When two lifelong friends are confronted with forgotten memories, they return to a single event that altered their lives forever. Dani must relive the devastating day her mother accused her of a theft she did not commit. Jess is forced to acknowledge her responsibility for the rift between Dani and her mother. The two women each have to decide how to respond to their own issues and to each other. Do they mend their shattered friendship, or do they go their separate ways forever?
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Released November 5, 2022 in Personal Bests Journal, Issue 5, edited by David Gardiner, London UK.
Available on Amazon USA and Amazon UK.
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Axe Man
Even a psychic can be fooled by a clever spirit, not quite sure if a being is alive or dead.
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"He lay on his left side on one of the park benches that lined the sidewalks along this street of quasi-upscale restaurants and shoppes. A wizened old guy with a shock of wiry snow-white hair that overwhelmed his shrunken head. In fact, his whole body looked like someone had thrown him in a washer of hot water and suds. The knobs and sticks of his bones poked through shriveled skin colored the unbiased mocha of years spent living in the Florida sun..."
~ from "Axe Man" by Susan E. Rogers
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Published November 1, 2022, in Grande Dame Literary Journal. Available free online. Enjoy the full issue.
Grande Dame Literary Journal, November 1, 2022
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Coming Soon
Haunted in Paradise. For late 2024 release, published by Grendel Press.
Sharon Coady, a practicing psychic, thought she would be rid of her ex-husband’s manipulation when he died, but she couldn’t know that she would have to deal with both his ghost and his demented ex-lover who would stop at nothing, including murder, to exact her revenge.
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Watch for the announcement!
Did you ever think that anyone could write a story in 42 words?
“How Does Your Garden Grow - A Giant Secret.”
My short story of 42 words (with a title of 42 characters) will be published soon in 42 Stories Anthology, a collection of 42 stories in each of 42 topics, all containing 42 words. What fun! Anticipated print release in November 2024.
Please Sit Still: A Tale of Robert the Doll
"Spirits have personalities, too. Some are sweet and pleasant, some are nasty and mischievous. Sometimes it’s all in how you approach them.
No visit to Key West, Florida is complete without a visit to Robert the Doll, at least for a psychic like me..."
~ from "Please Sit Still: A Tale of Robert the Doll" by Susan E. Rogers
Out of Time: True Paranormal Encounters
Are ghosts real? The question has haunted us for ages. Almost every culture in the world has tales and stories of the unknown things that lurk in our periphery. Contained within are 26 true stories about ghosts, poltergeists, haunted houses, unexplained events, and possessed items. You’ll find stories about strange noises, objects that vanish and reappear in odd places, dolls that refuse to sit still, haunted battlefields, abandoned castles, and much more! But beware: after reading this anthology, you might just start believing in the things that are trapped out of time.
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Out of Time: True Paranormal Encounters on Amazon
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Death by Leaf Blower
The Yard: Crime Blog. Published August 31, 2022, online. Read "Death by Leaf Blower" in The Yard: Crime Blog
The most irritating noise in the world... And it just goes on and on and on. We all have that one neighbor who seems to push the limit every time. How far would you go to stop the noise and save your sanity? Published August 31, 2022, free to read online.
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The Only Mother You Have
Sometimes, families, or the members within them, can't live up to what's expected. A mother isn't always a mother; a sister can be more than a sister.
Published January 21, 2022, in the January/February issue of Literary Mama. Available free online. Enjoy the full issue.
Literary Mama, January/February 2022.
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Family, After All
A young girl loses all she loves and finds herself a whole ocean away from everything she knows. An old man, a stranger, is all she has left, but they are family after all.
Winner of Honorable Mention in the Strands International Flash Fiction Competition - September 13, 2021.
Published September 22, 2021 in the online Ezine Lit Sphere. Scroll down to the last story on the page and read for free.
Lit Sphere ezine, SIFFC winners
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The Keeper
The bonds between a young child and her great-grandfather are forged in ancient legacies as obligations are passed from one generation to the next.
Published September 1, 2021 in Issue 47 of Luna Station Quarterly. Available for Kindle or in print edition.
Luna Station Quarterly, Issue 47
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Karma and A Harley
You never know how someone will react to the death of a loved one. Unless, of course, that loved one may not have been so loved after all...
​Published May 1, 2021 in the Spring Issue of Cobra Milk Literary Magazine. See page 62, but enjoy the full issue free.
Cobra Milk, Issue 02, Spring 2021
(No longer available.)
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All in the Balance
​A dark fantasy short story. There are responsibilities involved with keeping the Universe in balance and Eve took her legacy very seriously. But what will happen when her efforts fall horribly short and she fails to maintain the proper balance?
Published June 27, 2021 in the Summer Issue of Bluing the Blade. See page 20, but enjoy the full issue free. Also available in print edition.
Bluing the Blade, Volume 1, Issue 3, Summer 2021
Download free copy of issue.
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The Sisters
A short story about a woman's determination to honor her grandmother's final wish, even though that takes her half-way around the world. Published June 12, 2020 in New Reader Magazine, an online literary magazine.
New Reader Magazine, Volume 3, Issue 10​
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Sanctuary
A short story about courage and a clock.
Published November 8, 2020 in Bright Flash Literary Review online literary magazine.
Bright Flash Literary Review, November 8, 2020
Scroll down to read.
Covert
A short story about one woman's adventure to accomplish her goal despite the Coronavirus pandemic. Excerpt published online May 26, 2020 in the Tampa Bay Times, "The Scrapbook: What life has been like during the coronavirus pandemic." Print version anticipated, no date available.
Tampa Bay Times, "The Scrapbook," May 26, 2020
Scroll down the page to Excerpts of “Covert,” a short story
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"Best friendship was hard to maintain over two thousand miles, but Meagan and Corinna shared a secret. It wasn’t a good secret, but it was theirs and a bond stronger than any blood or camaraderie could forge. Well actually, it was blood, just not family blood. They would keep that secret forever or at least, she would. She didn’t know if Corinna could keep anything a secret anymore."
from "Blood Debt" by Susan E. Rogers
from Amazon.com:
Night Terrors Vol. 12: Short Horror Stories Anthology
by Scare Street (Author), Scare Street (Editor)
Prepare for a lethal dose of terror…
A young boy’s art takes a sinister turn when the monstrous creature from his drawings reaches into the real world. The clues to a fiendishly clever crossword puzzle predict a series of tragedies for a witch’s nosy neighbors. And a creepy old doll brings pain and misfortune to a woman struggling to cope with her mother’s illness…
As you’re about to go under the knife, Scare Street’s latest collection of supernatural horror is the morphine you need. This new volume holds thirteen tales of bone-chilling terror. More than enough to send a shock though your system.
Goosebumps, nightmares, shivers running down your spine… The physiological symptoms of fear infest your body. Just relax as your demonic nurse tightens the straps on the operating table. The doctor is in, and he’s ready to begin the operation.
All you need is a good old-fashioned scream—and this just so happens to be this sinister surgeon’s specialty. So, shall we begin?
This is going to hurt a little. Or a lot…
This volume contains the following:
1. Cross Words by Peter Cronsberry
2. Hybrid by Justin Boote
3. Pipe Dreams by William Sterling
4. “For My Next Trick...” by Bryan Clark
5. Blood Debt by Susan E. Rogers
6. Smudge the Head by Kyle Winkler
7. See Me by Charles Welch
8. Half Larva, Will Travel by Andrey Pissantchev
9. Just We Two by Shell St. James
10. Caustic Whispers by Zach Friday
11. Roach by C. M. Saunders
12. Unarmed by Warren Benedetto
13. Gwen Speaks by Ron Ripley
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Night Terrors, Volume 12, on Amazon
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Missy walked along the side of the road in the direction of her house.
It was a dark and stormy night.
“Yea, right, that’s how it always starts,” she sniffed.
~ from "Dark and Stormy" by Susan E. Rogers
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from Amazon.com:
101 Proof Horror
to set your world ablaze!
HauntedMTL stitches together a collection of gruesome tales from the haunted streets of Montreal to the dying husk of farmland Nebraska to the fallen shores of California, and all areas in between.
This anthology features new stories of terror and mayhem to fester in your mind featuring ghosts, forgotten gods, and other creatures of the night. May you never sleep again...
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‘HauntedMTL brings some of horror’s freshest voices together in one place. The fiendish imagination collected in this massive book is unparalleled in modern literature. This is a must-have for horror fans young and old.’ – Jim Phoenix, author of the best selling psychodrama Sins of the Father
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'There are stories in here that made me sleep with the light on…’ Stephanie Roy, author of the #1 selling Chemotherapy and Tequila: The Last Road Trip
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‘Chilling art with stories that match the darkness of one’s soul. HauntedMTL has unearthed and encased in a single volume some the biggest and darkest voices of modern horror.’ – Mahmoud Sharif, award winning author of The Formative Years
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