Notation The novel starts off in the town of Verrières, France, in 1830. The protagonist Julien Sorel wishes to elevate his social status and find true love after the French Revolution. A young man of nineteen, Julien is eager to leave his provincial town in search of a better life. He is hired to be… Read More Stendhal’s The Red and the Black Meets Raymond Queneau’s Exercises in Style ~ variations by Ági Bori

Kathryn Aldridge-Morris is a Bristol-based writer of short fiction and creative nonfiction. Her debut flash fiction collection Cold Toast (Dahlia Books) was listed in “Best Small Press fiction of 2025” and selected as Book of the Month by the Republic of Consciousness Prize, in partnership with Queen Mary University, London. Her work has appeared in… Read More Case Notes for Snow White Ref 01812 ~ victim referral form by Kathryn Aldridge-Morris

A Partial Dictionary of the Veridical Dialect Compiled from fragmentary speaker records recovered after cessation of use. Cross-referenced where materials permit.  Archivist’s Note: This document remains in circulation despite the absence of any remaining interpretive community. Almost (adv.) Defined exclusively as measurable proximity or probability (e.g., “within 3.2 meters,” “88% likelihood”). The qualitative sense of… Read More A Partial Dictionary of the Veridical Dialect ~ lexicon by Libby Banks

  Ewen Glass (he/him) is a screenwriter and poet from Northern Ireland who lives with two dogs, a tortoise and a body of self-doubt; his poetry has appeared in the likes of Okay Donkey, Maudlin House, HAD, Poetry Scotland and One Art. Bluesky/X/IG: @ewenglass.

Tess Godhardt is an attorney who has always harbored a love for creative writing.  When she is not working, she can be found on the basketball court attempting to relive her collegiate glory days or outside throwing the ball for one of her five dogs.  A few of her stories can be found in the… Read More How to be Enough ~ recipe by Tess Godhardt

The Devil’s Handiwork LOGLINE The Devil himself runs his doom shop out of an industrial waste-processing plant in Cleveland. Eons of ushering humanity’s worst specimens to perdition have taken a toll on Nick Ruprecht (The Devil), but in the 21st century he decides to change it up and give the damned a second chance. The… Read More The Devil’s Handiwork ~ sitcom pitch by Janusz Cutler

Eliot Li lives in California. His work appears or is forthcoming in Swamp Pink, MoonPark Review, AAWW’s The Margins, SmokeLong Quarterly, Best Small Fictions 2023, and elsewhere. He’s on twitter @EliotLi2.

Dear Kitchen, Congratulations! The Nostalgia Committee is pleased to inform you that you have won this year’s Ambivalence Prize. Your bleached yet cozy atmosphere intrigued us. Your blue and white embroidered tablecloth impressed the judges as the perfect complement to the painstakingly-crafted mocha cakes assembled upon it by a working mother’s aching hands. We appreciated… Read More Ambivalence Prize from the Selective Memory Foundation of Boston ~ award correspondence by Patricia Flaherty Pagan

      Oak Ayling is a Pushcart Prize nominated poet from North Cornwall, and Editor-in-Chief of Spare Parts Literary Magazine. Her debut pamphlet With Love from the Curator was released in 2021 from award winning publishers Indigo Dreams Publishing. Her other works can be found in literary magazines and in the print anthologies Light… Read More Mixtape Stax 3 ~ playlist poetry by Oak Ayling

VAGINAL CLAW® PRESS INFORMATION: January 31, 2032 Positive Data Reports for Vaginal Claw® and Development of New Claws Out! Product Claws Out! proudly announces that from 2026–2031, wherever our best-selling Vaginal Claw® is legal and available, reported vaginal rapes and unwanted pregnancies fell by 60% and are forecasted to continue falling. Data also indicates that… Read More Vaginal Claw Press Information ~ press release by Meredith Wadley

Andrea Marcusa’s flash fiction and short stories have appeared in Gettysburg Review, Cutbank,  River Teeth, Citron Review, and others. She’s received recognition in a range of competitions, including Smokelong, Glimmer Train, and Southampton Review. For more information, visit: andreamarcusa.com or see her on Twitter @d_marcusa. Show Andrea some love via PayPal at adisario(at)earthlink(dot)net.

Saturday-7pm Good evening! This is the regular meeting of the “Quip Pro Quote” group of Alcoholics Anonymous. “The delusion that we are like other people, or presently may be, has to be smashed.” [Though we may suffer from “terminal hipness and fatal cool” (shout out to another fellowship)]. That was an unpretentious quote from pg.… Read More “Quip Pro Quote” Meeting Format ~ meeting agenda by Charles March

Caity Scott writes about diabolical joy, simple wonder and (whenever possible) dinosaurs. Her work has teeth and exists in liminal spaces between what we love, what we laugh at, and how it all breaks us. When she’s not listening to true crime podcasts, she’s pursuing an MFA in creative writing at Western Washington University. Her… Read More Reddit: Am I the Asshole? ~ Reddit thread by Caity Scott

Write a short scene in which a character based on the female model wearing the “Olivia Velvet Dress” in Crimson falls for the male model in the “Play It Again Henley” in Smoke. Write the same scene from the omniscient limited point of view of the male model who must tell your character that she… Read More Ten Writing Prompts Inspired by the Sundance Holiday Catalog ~ writing inspiration by Ashley Memory

The Fly “Have you ever heard of insect politics? Neither have I. Insects … don’t have politics. We can’t trust the insect …. I’m saying … I’m saying I — I’m an insect who dreamt he was a man and loved it.” Something goes horribly wrong when a homophobic vice president inserts himself into an experiment… Read More 7 Monster Movies to Scare the Pants Off Republicans ~ movie capsules by Elizabeth Johnston

Author’s Note: Many Christmases ago, my grandmother (the gentlest, sweetest woman in the world), was watching my sister and I gleefully dive into our favorite present that year, The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. “Oh, girls,” she said, “If I were your age, that’s what I’d be reading, too!” I’m pretty sure that if Grandma were alive… Read More Advent Calendar Fillers for the Serial Killer in Your Life ~ seasonal whim by Leigh Lewis

Association Four Were you thinking about buying that red balloon folks?  I hope so.  Rubber is inexpensive these days, especially when you think about how many are actually speaking to each other anyhow in public.  You know, if any of this gets out we could all be up that creek is not quite clear.  Perhaps… Read More Three Associations ~ medley by J. S. Fowler

Why do I have to give you my credit card number? So we can charge you when the free offer expires, and you’ll have forgotten to cancel ahead of time. Is there an actual person I can talk to? No. An actual person might weaken and offer you a refund. Is the warranty transferable? No.… Read More Honest FAQs (look here for answers before contacting us) ~ parody by Will Gandy

Sharknado (2013) Sharknado 2: The Second One (2014) Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! (2015) Sharknado: Feeding Frenzy (2015) Sharknado: Heart of Sharkness (2015) Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens (2016) Sharknado 5: Global Swarming (2017) The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time (2018) Sharknado: 20,000 Sharks under the Sea (2019) Sharknado 6: Sixth Son of Sharknado (2020)… Read More Films in the Sharknado Franchise as of 2045 ~ list by CB Droege

Dear Citizen, In accordance with the Security and Equality Act (law 214.87.64c), we have calculated your societal debt and necessity allowance. There is no paperwork to file as facts and figures were construed using complicated algorithms based on your government issued Usee account. According to your browser history, you are: Category        … Read More Dear Citizen ~ governmental communication by Colleen Maloney

Chas Hawthorne is a cynical gourmand from Baltimore. He believes fine dining jumped the shark around the time Wolfgang Puck started peddling his wares on the Home Shopping Network.

Dear Mr. Schoeffling, Attached, please find residual check number 1139 for your 1985 karaoke cover of “If You Were Here” by Thompson Twins. It is our most popular song in the following bracket: Caucasian women in the Midwest, ages 48-51½. Additionally, it remains the lead-off track in our evergreen playlist, “Jacking Off to the 80s.”… Read More Fanmail Received Today by the Jake Ryan/Michael Schoeffling Fan Club, Even Though It’s Been 34 Years Since “Sixteen Candles” Was Released ~ celebrity fan letters by Leigh Lewis

It’s been thirty years since a mysterious black notebook was found in a dingy alleyway on Mission Street in San Francisco. The small collection of hastily scribbled and, at times, completely unconnected words would typically be regarded as trash and discarded as such, were it not for local bartender, Josiah Campbell who picked the book… Read More The Sapphobook ~ literary inquiry by Mitchell St. John

All-day Lone Assassin™ paintball package on location in your ex’s neighborhood, complete with equipment. Package also includes a training session from a former Army sniper and a getaway Uber driver waiting at the curb to ensure you hit your mark and escape without getting caught. $39.99. Flea-infestation kit for three rooms and a hallway. Sneak… Read More Living Social Shopping Cart of Your Vindictive Ex-Girlfriend ~ post-relationship tools by Ashley Memory

INT. THE BREAKROOM, TRENDY GROCERY STORE—10 minutes ago. The BREAKROOM of TRENDY GROCERY STORE. NICOLE (mid-30s/obvious brunette with blond hair/black glasses/looks exhausted) is sitting at a table next to JENNY (late 40s/brown hair/frumpy/real fucking annoying). JENNY Can I tell you something that you’re gonna judge me super harshly about? NICOLE Okay. JENNY I’ve been watching… Read More Lunchbreak Confessional ~ script by Nicole Walkow

Jake Sheff is a major and pediatrician in the US Air Force, married with a daughter and three pets. Currently home is the Mojave Desert. Poems of Jake’s are in Radius, The Ekphrastic Review, The Brooklyn Review, The Cossack Review and elsewhere. He won 1st place in the 2017 SFPA speculative poetry contest and was… Read More Parade, a documentary: Shot List ~ lost production notes by Jake Sheff

COORDINATOR OF M.D.R. JOB OVERVIEW With a role in the M.D.R. department, you will have the opportunity to cultivate a meaningful relationship with your Mother. Time management skills are preferred, as she will remind you each day that your time together is short. You will feel there has never been anything longer. You will be… Read More Coordinator of the Mother Daughter Relations Department ~ job listing by Tara Lemma

Minutes from the March Meeting of the University Library Committee on Workshops Rejected Library Workshops for Students How to Push in a Chair When Bad Things Happen to Good Staplers Things You Can Ask Google How to Pick a Printer from the Drop-down List of Printers Rejected Library Workshops for Faculty Here Are Two Databases… Read More Minutes from the March Meeting of the University Library Committee on Workshops ~ document by Jennifer Gravley

Curse the alarm. I mean really curse it. Curse at it as your fist slams into the shrieking metal bells atop the heart-shaped clock. Curse again at the pain now shooting through your hand. Hold onto the walls for support as you work your way toward the bathroom for a shower. Feel ten, maybe twenty,… Read More How to be a Different Kind of Showgirl ~ memoir by Kat Knuth

Jim George is a writer-artist-musician. He has self-published (as a pdf) a collection of humorous stories, poems, specialty forms and line drawings entitled Jim Shorts. His work has also appeared in ANON Magazine, Praxis Magazine and Hock Spit Slurp. As a journalist, he has interviewed such legendary figures as Gore Vidal, Muddy Waters, Steve Allen, Bo… Read More Hansen and Gretchen ~ a text conversation by Jim George

As a longtime employee of XYZ Corporation, I’d like to welcome you to the company! I am excited to have you on the team. Undoubtedly, you’ll discover that some coworkers refer to me as the “Angry Black Guy” of this firm, likely due to the irritated looks I give people during staff meetings, office get-togethers,… Read More Angry Black Guy Looks: A Guide for New Employees ~ helpful advice by Adrian S. Potter

Too explicit ROBUST, ENERGETIC, VIGOROUS single gentleman (Princeton ’60), seeks sleek female Chaucer scholar for naughty Canterbury Tales re-enactments. Are you ready for “any lord to leggen in his bedde?” I’m up for it! Box 48729. Too depressing DEEP THINKER WITH NO REGRETS, yet something tells me all is illusion in this too-short life. Divorced… Read More Rejected Personal Ads from the New York Review of Books ~ a parody by Mike McGowan

GAME PLAY: Participants start in the juicy center of the trash gyre (Spiral Recipe Ham) and work their way out towards the sweet release of a well-blown nose, by rolling the die (not included). Also not included are playing pieces. This creates more freedom of choice than any of the loser games manufactured during the… Read More Double Truth Deals ~ a board game by C. B. Auder

bodies  notes on the new bodies  “An average affair with a fierce animal in a brick! … No one?” The sermon! Tales of sapphires disturbed the root of the Moon – the first moonshine. Are the sacred ones the fungus, not the Moon’s mantle and the Moon’s moons? In those sloth skins a tickled elbow splashes.… Read More bodies ~ a text collage by Hanuszkiewicz Marcin

  Inaugural address of Donald J. Trump, January 20, 2017 Elizabeth Krause is a graphic artist from Portland, Oregon. She created “Triumph” with an online word cloud generator. (Right-click on the image to view full-size.)

As if his last novel hadn’t done enough damage, Braith Pindrop is back with a new book exploiting the nascent national fad of ferret racing. As far as this reviewer can tell, the ferret-racing fad is only three months old, suggesting that Pindrop’s book, The Sleek Ones, was rushed out. Derrick Dewlap is a lovable… Read More A Day at the Races ~ a faux book review by Kevin Brennan