Havok Publishing

Archive - February 2020

Season Two Jukebox Contest

Stories That Sing: Winning Stories

We published 142 stories for Season Two: Stories That Sing. Now, we couldn’t be happier to congratulate our thirty-one contest winners! Their stories will be published alongside our Featured Authors and Staff Features in our upcoming Season Two: Stories That Sing anthology! But first, we want to take a moment to announce our Season Two

Read it now

Will You Flee or Fight

Drums. Their song echoes through the valley. The ground beneath my feet quivers with each beat, and my heart pounds in rhythm with the melody of war, pumping adrenaline through my twitching muscles.
Fear. Its claws dig into my chest, scratching my lungs with every breath I take and squeezes my heart with an iron grip.

Read it now

The Sentinel

The wide training room lay behind them, mats rolled away, the monks motionless in parallel lines, eyes lowered.
“Are you certain of this choice?” the prior asked.
The Sentinel nodded curtly. “My decision stands.”
“From here, there is no turning back. You have mastered our martial arts and the theory of our powers,

Read it now

Bloodlender Babysitter

There were no bats. So weird. Most vampires enjoyed playing into the stereotypes. Throughout her volunteering as a bloodlender, Emily had seen shutters painted blood red, fang-shaped windows, and even encountered guard bats that pooped on her head.

Read it now

The Hero of Parker City

I know the city has turned its back on me, but it’s still devastating when I see my face on a billboard with the words, “Why are we trusting the Blue Bullet with our lives?”
Bitterness stabs my heart as I fly by. The cloud of dust below leads me to my destination: a collapsed building.
What would they do if I stopped showing up?

Read it now

Dead Punctual

As old Stanley Gibson stood in the hall, buttoning his overcoat, the phone rang. A scowl flashed across his features. He hated any interruption to his routine. He thought of letting it ring and setting off for his post-lunch walk anyway, but his deep-seated sense of correctness overrode the temptation.

Read it now

The Tinker

When fleeing the country, was it normal to feel like a rat stuck on a skinny branch above a pack of snarling wolves?
Even though tonight I would leave forever, I swept dust off the floors, checked for cobwebs in the spick-and-span nooks and corners, and comforted myself that I would no longer face this tangle of shelves, gadgets, and shadows every evening.

Read it now

To Catch a Killer

It’s the same every night.
I wake up in a house not my own, in a dark bedroom, and through a doorway, I hear the sound of someone screaming.
Then there’s always silence.
The first couple of nights I chalked it up to a recurring nightmare of some kind, especially because once I closed my eyes,

Read it now

Taquitos and Heroes

“Here’s your pay, kid.” The foreman of the road crew dropped a few crumpled bills into Karl’s hand. “Now scram.”
“Come on, man.” Karl moaned. “What does it even matter? I’m sixteen. So what? I can scoop up dead raccoons better than anybody else on your crew.”

Read it now

Savior of the Galaxy

“Galastar General, we have limited time to—”
“Yes, yes, I know.”
“General, you’re the only one who—”
“I know!”
“General—”
“Five damn minutes if you please!” General Jones swung into his cabin and slammed the door button. The white carbon fiber hatch hissed closed, shutting out the gray-clad soldiers and their white noise.

Read it now

Mr. Samara Spade and the Case of the Spurious Spouse

This, this so not my job. This what Sam do, and I maybe help a little. I drive the car.
Still, there’s no one else. I need my Samara. And if I don’t find her, no one will.
I back up. Explain. We were supposed to meet at airport for our honeymoon. Sam said she had some last-minute details to fix.

Read it now