Book picks similar to
Vermin: Stories by Lori Hahnel


fiction
short-stories
canadian-lit
short-story-collections

Battle Scars: A Collection of Short Stories Volume I


David Cook - 2015
    Outpost - A prelude to Blood on the Snow with Jack Hallam. The Emerald Graves - Lorn Mullone at the Battle of Vinegar Hill. Pipe and Drum - A tale of the Battle of Assaye seen through the eyes of a Highlander of the 78th Foot. Plains Wolf - Rifleman Arthur Cadoc impresses a certain Spanish Guerrillero. Summer is Coming - There is nothing more horrific than the horrors of the French retreat in icy Russia, 1812. The Diabolical Circumstance of Captain Bartholomew Chivers - A funny story in the vein of Harry Flashman. Flowers of Toulouse - A chilling story. Lamentation - A redcoat looks back on his life after the Battle of New Orleans. Enemy at the Gates - The bloody defence of Hougoumont. The Bravest of the Brave - Ney's final moments at Waterloo.

Who Killed the Kaneez?


Vijay Kakwani - 2019
     Farzana is one of the prostitutes at Begum's kotha and Ramakant Bannerjee, the writer, loves her deeply. He's promised to marry her once he has enough money. He's currently writing his most ambitious novel, the story of Kaneez. As the story of Kaneez unfolds, so does the intriguing life of Farzana. What fate does she meet? Read on to find out.

Orphan Girl


Lila Beckham - 2014
    She never overcame her humble beginnings and when Willie Eubanks rescued her from the orphanage by marrying her, she ended up right back where she started. Living in the same cabin, she was born in twelve and a half years earlier. However, she grew to love Willie and was determined that she and Willie were not going to end up as her parents had. In addition, she wanted to make sure her children were not going to have to suffer through the same experiences she had.

True Justice


Joshua Grisham - 2016
    Sort of. When Brad Williams is offered a lot of money to take on a case for sly banker Jonas Baxter, he is in no position to refuse. Jonas has been charged with the attempted murder of local prostitute Tina Jade, but it quickly becomes evident that it is not the reason why the prosecution wants Jonas behind bars. So why are they still pressing ahead with the charges? What is Jonas guilty of? This thrilling legal short story will take you for a ride through the courtroom and leave you with twists and turns that you didn’t see coming.

Amish Fate


Katie Lantz - 2019
    There is something very familiar about Simon that brings Eleanor great peace, and Simon feels the same way. But when Eleanor's boyfriend, Abe, sees her talking to Simon, his jealousy is unleashed, and he warns her to stay away from Simon. Eleanor refuses, planning to break up with Abe - until an emergency changes her plan. But Eleanor cannot stop thinking about Simon and is shocked when he reveals a secret about their childhood years. Torn between Abe and Simon, Eleanor prays to Gott for an answer. Should she leave the possessive Abe and run to Simon?

Toby: A Man


Todd Babiak - 2010
    But in the days after hisfather has a startling accident, Toby makes a series of terrible, wincing choices. As a result, he is fired from his job as an etiquette commentator and loses his superb condo, his beautiful girlfriend and his beloved BMW. Worse still, he must move back to the grey Montreal suburb of Dollard-des-Ormeaux and live in his parents’ basement.With his silent BlackBerry and a sudden absence of friends or saviours, Toby feels he has reached the limits of misery and humiliation. But his father’s increasingly frightening behaviour is where the real trouble—and risk—lies. Who is this man? What can Toby do? Then, in a moment of misplaced gallantry, Toby encounters an unstable francophone mother who disappears and abandons her two-year-old son, Hugo, to his care. Trapped with a toddler and forced to deal with his father’s tragedies, Toby emerges from the basement bungalow of his life—muddy, broke, bruised, heartbroken—but, finally, a man.

Sparks Fly


Nicole Falls - 2017
    A simple touch sending currents of electricity flowing through a body. The feeling of coming home. Friends become lovers. Strangers become soulmates. The chemistry ignited when two people are falling in love is undeniable. Over the course of five short stories, follow these couples on journeys of passion and discover what happens when they decide to let sparks fly…

The Mansion: A Jack Nightingale Short Story


Stephen Leather - 2017
    But he discovers that there is more than a ghost causing mayhem. The Mansion is a fast-paced supernatural story about 10,000 words long.

The 2017 Short Story Advent Calendar


Michael Hingston - 2017
    Plus, this year featuring more all-new material than ever before!Contributors to the 2017 calendar include:Kelly Link (Get in Trouble, Magic for Beginners)Jim Gavin (Middle Men, AMC's forthcoming Lodge 49)Carmen Maria Machado (Her Body and Other Parties)Ken Liu (The Paper Menagerie, The Grace of Kings)Maggie Shipstead (Astonish Me, Seating Arrangements)and [REDACTED x 19]!As always, each booklet is sealed, so you won't know what story you're getting until the morning you open it. Calendars are available in a one-time print run, which means that once they're gone, they're gone forever. The 2017 edition has also been reimagined, design-wise—did someone say translucent vellum sleeve? Yes. It was us.

Regina Puckett's Short Tales of Horror


Regina Puckett - 2012
    Can anything save them when the spirit decides they belong to him? Crying through Plastic Eyes-A messy divorce, a room filled with creepy dolls, and a missing six-year-old all create the perfect storm for a young mother’s worse nightmare. Will Work for Food- You see them everywhere begging for money or food. When an older couple decides to lend a helping hand to a young man and his son, someone gets more than they bargain for. Pieces-A battered woman confesses to the mutilation and death of her husband, but did she really commit this heinous crime? Paying the Hitchhiker-You see a beautiful young woman on the side of the road with her thumb out, asking for a ride. Who should be the most afraid: the hitchhiker or the person picking her up? Inheritance-A confession from Accalia’s grandmother about a curse and an inheritance are just the prologue to seven days of suffering through a living hell.

Charity


Mark Richard - 1998
    In stylistic brilliance, he renders their conditions with grace and compassion, and redeems and transports their tragedy with wicked humor.In the much-anthologized "The Birds for Christmas," two hospitalized boys beg a night nurse to let them watch Hitchcock's classic thriller film on television, believing it will relieve their Yuletide loneliness. "Gentleman's Agreement" is a classic father-son story of fear and the violence of love. In "Memorial Day," a bayou boy learns the lessons of living from Death himself, a fortune cookie-eating phantom who claims to be "a people person." From charity ward to outrageous beach bungalow, Richard visits the overlooked corners of America, making them unforgettably visible.Richard has been rightly compared to Faulkner for his language and to Flannery O'Connor for his stark moral vision, but his force and sensibility remain his own. Charity is a powerful reading experience, a true accomplishment in an already stunning literary career.

Moral Disorder and Other Stories


Margaret Atwood - 2006
    In Moral Disorder she has created a series of interconnected stories that trace the course of a life and also the lives intertwined with it--those of parents, of siblings, of children, of friends, of enemies, of teachers, and even of animals. As in a photograph album, time is measured in sharp, clearly observed moments. The '30s, the '40s, the '50s, the '60s, the '70s, the '80s, the '90s, and the present --all are here. The settings vary: large cities, suburbs, farms, northern forests. The first story, "The Bad News," is set in the present, as a couple no longer young situate themselves in a larger world no longer safe. The narrative then switches time as the central character moves through childhood and adolescence in "The Art of Cooking and Serving," "The Headless Horseman," and "My Last Duchess." We follow her into young adulthood in "The Other Place" and then through a complex relationship, traced in four of the stories: "Monopoly," "Moral Disorder," "White Horse," and "The Entities." The last two stories, "The Labrador Fiasco" and "The Boys at the Lab," deal with the heartbreaking old age of parents but circle back again to childhood, to complete the cycle. By turns funny, lyrical, incisive, tragic, earthy, shocking, and deeply personal, Moral Disorder displays Atwood's celebrated storytelling gifts and unmistakable style to their best advantage. As the New York Times has said: "The reader has the sense that Atwood has complete access to her people's emotional histories, complete understanding of their hearts and imaginations."

Blood


Janice Galloway - 1991
    the integrity of vision coruscating; the whole driven by the author's restless experimentation with form. And at least two stories, "Blood" itself and "Fearless", will certainly end up in anthologies: not Best Scottish Writers, or Best Women Writers, but quite simply, Best." - New Statesman and Society"I remember reading a story by Janice Galloway for the first time; its urgency of voice, that certainty of expression, I wondered why I hadn't heard of her before; then discovered that she was altogether new to writing. It was some debut. She really is a fine writer." - James Kelman"A salutary collection... a marvelous revelation. A writer of passion and virtuosity shines through." - Scotland on Sunday"Genuinely unnerving... she is a fierce, troubling new writer." - Observer"Galloway flecks her hard-edged realism with impressionist grace-notes, a potent mixture that confirms her... as one of Scotland's best young writers." - Sunday Telegraph"There is ample proof in Blood of Galloway's unassailable talent. Marvellously funny and beautifully paced." - Glasgow Herald

Supporting Cast


Kit de Waal - 2020
    With power and precision, humanity and insight, Supporting Cast captures the extraordinary moments in our ordinary lives, and the darkness and the joy of the everyday.

Don't Make Me Stop Now


Michael Parker - 2007
    And despite all of the above, the absolute necessity of it, no matter its consequences. Whether it’s a college student undone by the boy who leaves her, or the boyfriend intent on leveling old scores from high school for his lover, or the husband who discovers—in the grocery store—the woman he should have been with all along, every character, no matter how off track, wants to believe in debt and credit and payback and making the messy world—and the messy world of love—turn out neatly.