Stories
For now, these stories are only available at Amazon where I listed them with Kindle Unlimited. The Conan stories, however, are available at Smashwords, Etc.
Published February 8, 2016
Tales of Despair Volume I
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Lost in a savage Jungle...
After flying off course due to a faulty compass, Lieutenant Erik von Mendelsöhn sets his plane down in the treetops of an African jungle after running out of petrol.
He survives the terrific crash but is now forced with enduring the terrors of a primitive world. Worse, he has no idea where lay the lines of friendly forces he was attempting to reach.
But soon, Erik discovers that there are forces at work here that are infinitely more dangerous than the wildlife with which he contended in the forest. And when he stumbles upon a mysterious, prehistoric city, buried in a valley governed by the time-warp of a distant star, he learns that its grim, grey inhabitants wish only to enslave him.
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Available in eBook, paperback and audio. I have some Spotify codes available, contact me for one via email or Facebook.
Published March 26, 2017
Tales of Despair Volume II
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Stranded in a Cosmos of Despair...
After fleeing the horrors of the lost city in the valley, Erik is thrown into circumstances that might shatter a weaker mind when he and his friends are taken into custody by servants of Deneb.
When he is scanned with the Denebians' advanced science, he is found to be suitable for filling the role of Navigation Assistant, a position they're desperate to fill since they killed the last one.
Initially encouraged by this assignment to a position of note, he is later disturbed to learn of an imminent mutiny threatening to ensnare him and his friends. To make matters worse, the captain of the star-vessel isn't bashful regarding his debased intentions for the girl Erik loves.
Now en route to rendezvous with one of the hated gray-backs, Erik has a decision to make with potentially history-altering reverberations.
This story is a sequel to The Valley of Despair.
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Available in Ebook and paperback.
Once upon a time… on a cold and dreary winter’s night…
For many the frightful remembrances of an awful event suffered during youth fade with time. For others, however, the dreadful scene swells with passing years, driving sanity from its path.
Decades after a night of terror an old man, his mind teetering on the ragged edge of madness by his childhood recollections, determines to face his fears by awakening the world to the monstrous visions that haunt his dreams.
Now he sits down to pen a strange narrative describing an event his family suffered while living in an isolated cabin during a blizzard on a night of soul-wrenching horror.
Published February 11, 2016
An Arabian tale of a quest that could only transpire in another time and place…
When Iskandar’s father came to him and said: “My son, you must go to the tents of mine enemy and bring to me his greatest treasure!” little did the lad guess what was about to befall him.
Now, alone amidst the palisaded tents of his father’s rival, would he come away with the chieftest of the great sheikh’s riches? How would he know this gem among gems? Or would the boy lose his life as he attempted to wrest the most valued possession held by one of the most powerful sheikhs of all Arabia - Akram el-Amin!
Simsalabim!
Published May 4, 2016
A prehistoric tale of the Pleistocene...
A prehistoric tale of the Pleistocene...
Published March 25, 2020
Banished from his tribe after offending the chief, Bru, a hunter, stalks into the tiger-haunted hills with only his stone knife and the furs on his back.
Determined to make amends so he might return before the girl he loves is mated to a hated rival, his plans are thrown out of kilter when he runs afoul of a visitor from another world.
Instructed in bizarre sciences beyond his simple ken, the savage hunter finds himself making a deal with the mysterious outsider that will allow him to return to his people . . . or will it?
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Available in ebook, and paperback!
Now available in
Audio!
This is a first for Bizarre Tales, and I am so stoked to be able to make this collaboration between me and William L. Hahn available.
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Hop over to Audible to listen to a sample. The audio version is also available at Amazon and ACX!
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For a limited time!!!
Free copies available of
The Hunter and the Sorcerer in audio! Read on!
I have a limited number of free US and UK codes that I'd like to send to those interested. Shoot me an email if you'd like one of these.
Published December 20, 2016
Tales of the Tomahawk Volume I
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He had the heart of a Viking – and the spirit of an Arapaho warrior!
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A melancholy man who is prone to bury his woes in a shot glass, Ansen Grost drifts from job to job, taking on details for which a man of his acumen is best suited.
So when a movie producer approaches him in a dingy bar in Zimbabwe with a job offer as head of security for a film to be shot in a remote location, broke, down-on-his-luck Ansen figures he has nothing to lose. Plus, the proffered bonus to stand in for an extra that didn't show up for the shoot didn't hurt his feelings.
A globetrotter, Ansens often finds himself in circumstances where he must offer his expertise in mercenary forms to eke out a living. So being paid high wages just to look good for the cameras is an enticing opportunity.
After days a-sea and finally making land, they march inland through a steamy tropical forest to their campsite. It's here that they begin to suspect that they are not alone.
Having carried for years the mystical tomahawk that he inherited from the Arapaho medicine man who raised him, the ancient weapon always manages to draw Ansen into confrontations with supernatural evil in bizarre, mind-blasting forms--confrontations that he would rather avoid. But even Ansen is unprepared for what he finds atop the cliffs of this unknown island.
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Available in Ebook and paperback.
Published Dec 15, 2020
Tales of the Tomahawk Vol II
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He had the heart of a Viking and the spirit of an Arapaho warrior...
Through no fault of his own, Ansen Grost ends up in a small coastal town in the Shetlands. In the aftermath of a dust-up in a pub, he is befriended by an old man who--once he sees the Norseman fight--offers him an interesting job.
To make it tempting, the pay is better than just right, and down-on-his-luck Ansen can hardly refuse. After all, a guy has to earn a living and fighting cosmic entities and supernatural bad guys won't put ale in a glass, or food in a belly.
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But this job involves finding a Scottish lass lost in Peru. And she's not like other girls. This one has a centuries-old banshee as a familiar who can be slightly over-protective.
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This might get hairy.
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Available in Ebook and paperback.
Published November 10, 2017
In the dawn of the ages…
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It’s been years since Conan of Cimmeria last embarked on the sort of grim business for which the King of Aquilonia had become famous. Keeping his quest secret from all but his most trusted inner circle, he is soon on the trail of a mythical object of the ancient serpent people – the fabled Green Stone, stolen from the Temple of the Serpent in the days of the Atlantean known as King Kull.
Masquerading as a Cimmerian thief—a role he knows well how to play—he must fight his way into a previously unknown cavern of the ancient race of snake men. Here has been stored a hoard of tokens of power, including the gem of which he has need.
But he must hurry! If he does not return with the stone in time, all he has struggled for will be for nothing and his world will never be the same.
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This short story has been made available for free by permission.
Published May 16, 2018
A Tale of Conan of Cimmeria
The immortal character created by Robert E. Howard
In the hills of far Cimmeria…
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Conan and his band of cutthroats perform a daring night raid in the heady days of their youth when none were safe from the ravages of... Conan the Raider.
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This whimsical piece of flash fiction -- based on Robert E. Howard's famous character --doesn't take itself too seriously.
I had included this piece as a 'bonus' at the end of Atlas of the Serpent Men, but as I enjoy doing cover art, I decided to publish Old Crem as its own release. I hope you enjoy.
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Originally posted on SwordsOfREH as A short, lively tale of Conan, Nov 8, 2017.
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This short story has been made available for free by permission.