33 original tales about summer's darker side

Inspired by an earworm from a song in the 1978 film, Grease, "summer lovin'" became “summer bludgeon.” Voila! A new collection was born. The stories, poems, and art included in this collection highlight the dark corners of our hearts. They pull back the curtains and show us people at odds, broken relationships, romantic love gone terribly wrong. Cold deeds and chilling words unfold against the simmering backdrop of the "warmest" season of the year.

Stories, art, and poetry included:

‘A Daughter’s Love’ by Ewan A. Dougall
‘A Swing and a Mistress’ by Jahmil Effend
‘Bag It Up’ by Allison Vincent
‘Benny’s Last Hike’ by Juleigh Howard-Hobson
‘Cerulean Pools of Arizona’ by Corey Lynn Fayman
‘Checkmate’ by Robin Knabel
‘Complicated’ by Elliott Orchard-Blowen
‘Consternation 2bb by Edward Michael Supranowicz
‘Coonhounds, For Instance’ by Justin Thurman
‘Crimes Against Fashion’ by Amanda Nicholson
‘Death by Porn’ by Amanda Nicholson
‘Dinner for Two’ by Ken Luer
‘Double Play’ by Bev Vincent
‘Evidence' by Frank William Finney
‘Gone Without a Trace' by H. Dair Brown
‘Help Yourself’ by Brandon Barrows
‘Hopelessly Devoted’ by Katie Brunecz
‘Nest’ by Mark Thomas
‘Nightshade’ by Edward Michael Supranowicz
‘Old Friends’ by Gay McKenna
‘P’ by Lee Pletzers
‘Rendezvous on the Riviera’ by Elyse Kallen
‘The Class Ring’ by Shannon Lawrence
‘The Dullingham Murder’ by Chris Wheatley
‘The Getaway’ by Brian J. Smith
‘The Glass Cage’ by Joseph J Dowling
‘The Last Summer’ by Christine Eskilson
‘The Tangled Web’ by Eric Knabel
‘This Small Matter About Some Diamonds’ by JM Connors
‘Song of the Summer’ by Jacob Steven Mohr
‘Stuck’ by Yvette Viets Flaten
‘Tony Rock n’ Roll, or The First Last Day of Disco’ by Sebastian Corbascio
‘Wasted’ by Cath S Nichols
‘Worse Things’ by Joseph S. Walker

If you enjoyed this, check out our fall anthology, Autumn Noir!
Also love fantasy, horror, and sci-fi? Check out our spring and winter anthologies, Hope Screams Eternal and Still of Winter!

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Unsettling Reads, founded by fiction authors H. Dair Brown and Robin Knabel, offers spoiler-free reviews and recommendations on books from the Crime, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Noir, Sci-Fi, Suspense, and Thriller genres. And just to keep things spicy, they throw in the occasional author interview. Let Dair and Robin help you decide what to read the next time you're ready to sink down into the blankets and crack open a good book.

Find us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook (@unsettlingreads)

UnsettlingReads.com

Original tales about the other, moodier season of change

Some of the short stories and poems in Autumn Noir unfold as gently as a wisp of chimney smoke. Others bring the heart-thumping thrills of an end-of-summer storm. All feature characters as vibrant as fall foliage and dialogue as crisp as autumn air. Join the down (but maybe not quite out), the struggling, the wicked, the forlorn, and the broken-hearted as they stumble and sometimes fall all the way down. To paraphrase Bette Davis, “Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy read.”

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REVIEWS

Find some of your favorite authors and discover some new ones. Includes tales by Bev Vincent, Bethany Maines, Teresa Trent, Brandon Barrows, Stephen D. Rogers, and many more from the crime, mystery, noir, suspense, and thriller genres. Includes the following stories & poems:

• ‘A Slice for Stanley’ © Teresa Trent
• ‘Abscission’ © Dustin Engstrom
• ‘An Orchid to Die For’ © Wendy Harrison
• ‘Anathema’ © Robin Knabel
• ‘Autumn Heat’ © Oisin Breen
• ‘Death & Flying Saucers’ © Matthew Kresal
• ‘Escape Velocity’ © Bev Vincent
• ‘Every Single Funeral’ © Bethany Maines
• ‘Golden Silence’ © V.S. Kemanis
• ‘Hand Shadows’ © Rikki Santer
• ‘Hope Is an Opiate’ © Bob McNeil
• ‘Killer in a Diner’ © Nathan Squiers
• ‘Let It Go’ © Brandon Barrows
• ‘Misunderstood’ © Elif Offner
• ‘Nineteen Creaks’ © Peter DiChellis
• ‘Perdita’s Shoes’ © Kat Devitt
• ‘Poor Insect’ © D.P. Blanchard
• ‘Sensing the Fall’ © Stephen D. Rogers
• ‘Shadow Over the Hill’ © Matthew Chabin
• ‘The Block’ © H. Dair Brown
• ‘The Last Phone Booth’ © Lamont Turner
• ‘The Warbler’s Song’ © Vashelle Nino
• ‘The Weak Man’ © JM Connors
• ‘Those Forgotten Places’ © Mary Rajotte
• ‘To Bury Larry Little’ © W.E. Wertenberger

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If you enjoyed this, check out our summer anthology, Sum

Not everything that emerges in springtime is meant to come to life.

The proverbial expression “Hope springs eternal” was coined by English poet and satirist Alexander Pope, meaning people will keep on hoping, no matter the odds. But what if the odds aren’t in your favor? We decided to change the phrase into something a little more unsettling: Hope Screams Eternal.

Spring hearkens thoughts of rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, resurrection, and regrowth. What happens when creative minds nurture a more sinister mindset, awakening twisted and nefarious interpretations of the season of eternal hope?

Authors, poets, and artists from around the globe accepted our challenge to answer that question. Within these pages, they do their best to unsettle you as they explore the dark side of spring. The seeds of doubt they sow will burrow into your subconscious, lying in wait to hatch when you least expect it.

So get cozy, settle into your comfiest seat, and relax (but don't let down your guard!) as we bring your hopes and fears to life.

Stories, poems, and art by:

• ‘Hope Comes to Exhilaration’ © 2021 Ellen Hall
• ‘The Flames of Hope’ © 2021 Zenni Abdon
• ‘Hope Is the Thing with Feathers’ and ‘Scream’ © 2021 Fawn Allesee Russell
• ‘Hope Rekindled’ © 2021 Robin Knabel
• ‘Hope for the Future’ © 2021 Matias Travieso-Diaz
• ‘Hope from Rana-257’ © 2021 Joseph Hirsch
• ‘Hope Amid Shelves’ © 2021 Karen Lethlean
• ‘High Hopes for Hassenpfeffer’ © 2021 Caitlin Moon
• ‘hope is yellow-coloured’ © 2021 Kai Leung
• ‘The Eternal Hazard of Hope’ © 2021 John Riebow
• ‘When the Rabbit Screams’ © 2021 A.C. Grant
• ‘The Scream Series’ © 2021 Moses Ojo
• ‘Screams from the Hinterland’ © 2021 H. Dair Brown
• ‘Burning Cities, Screaming Bodies’ © 2021 Sandip Baidya
• ‘Screaming at the Moon’ © 2021 Elyse Kallen
• ‘A Murder of Screams’ © 2021 Mark McCallum
• ‘Screams from the Gallery’ © 2021 Alex Woodroe
• ‘Screams in Space’ © 2021 Nicholas Knight
• ‘Hope Screams Internal,’ ‘Hope Screams Nocturnal,’ and ‘Hoppy Screams Eternal’ © 2021 Jonathan Reddoch
• ‘Eternal Rest’ © 2021 Chris Lilienthal
• ‘The Eternal’s Hidden Queen’ © 2021 Eric Knabel
• ‘The Eternal Mr. Tremblay’ © 2021 Brian J. Smith
• ‘The Cure Eternal’ © 2021 A. Bratton
• ‘The Eternal Slumbering Terror’ © 2021 Ryan Day
• ‘Eternally, Swans’ © 2021 Ashley Winter
• ‘Eternal Wake’ © 20