Havok Publishing

S13 - Encore

Big Dreams for Big Feet

Tom cradled the ruined camcorder in his hands. His research had suggested this secluded corner of North Cascades National Park would be the ideal location to capture footage of a real-life sasquatch. But now his dreams of finding one had been crushed to dust. Just like

Read it now

Earth Museum

“Don’t. Touch. Anything.”
Jerp twisted his head toward the voice and pulled his appendage away from the marble statue depicting one of the weirdest creatures he’d ever seen. Two legs and only one tiny tentacle between them? Humans were strange.
All six of his mom’s eyes stayed

Read it now

Take Me to Mykonos

“Take me to Mykonos,” the drunk young man said to no one as I walked by. He was slouched in a chair outside a taverna, the exterior of which was drowning in bougainvillea. It was very early to be that drunk—but who was I

Read it now

Selkie’s Sanctuary

Moira’s breath fogged the viewing window, her wide eyes staring unblinking, as though in the split second they closed, Isla would disappear once again.
She’d been searching for her sister for months, ever since the night she failed to return to their pod. A missing selkie typically

Read it now

Alluring Creatures

Rebecca put a hand on her partner’s arm. “I’ll drive, Ray. Watching a Minotaur try to squeeze behind the wheel of a mini-Cooper is painful.”
Horns filed off so he could pass as a human, Minotaur Ray rushed to the passenger side. “Some of us can’t

Read it now

Persephone’s Revenge

“You dragged me here against my will and tried tricking me into eating broccoli so I’ll be stuck here forever?” I asked. “Who is going to be seduced by vegetables?”

Hades dropped the broccoli onto the gritty cavern floor. “Your beauty bewitches me and dulls my senses.”

Read it now

The Antikythera Paradox

“Madam Centurion MXVII,” the construct intelligence within my gauntlet greets me with its musical, yet mechanical voice.
From my vantage on the precipice of Vox Emperii Inc.’s neon-glowing glass skyscraper, I can overlook nearly all of Rome. “Good evening, Antikythera Moda.”

Read it now

The Collector’s Stamp

The alley off Lima’s Jirón de la Union looked like a scene from the past. Shayla spotted the sign in the hodgepodge of others, hand-lettered and sun-bleached: Sellos Únicos. Souvenirs del Alma.
Perfect, she thought.
She angled her phone’s camera to frame the shop’s warped doorway and hit record.

Read it now

In Sun or Snow

I slosh through a murky puddle and trudge over another mound of slushy snow, leaving my valenki darkened and damp. But chilled feet are the last of my worries. After all these hours of calling, of tramping through this stretch of Russian forest, I still haven’t found him.

“Father Frost!”

Read it now

Never Run from a Lion

I braced myself as the oversized Jeep conquered a particularly stubborn pothole. With eight of us crammed into three rows and no roof or doors on the vehicle, I worried I’d be jostled over the side.
My handkerchief slipped off my face,

Read it now

Playing With Fire

I’m Frank Pepitone, from the Superhero Accountability Department. SAD is a subdepartment of the Preternatural Hero Force. If you find out you have superpowers one day, don’t hesitate to keep it to yourself.

The world needs more superhumans who mind their own business.

Read it now

Closing Day

“It’s that time again, isn’t it?” Melba’s smile was in place as always, but today there was a tinge of sadness to it.
Ellis nodded. “Afraid so. Closing Day.” He wore black on the day after Labor Day; he was in mourning, after all. Tourist season at the Sunray Inn had always been his happiest time,

Read it now