Issue #5, June 2009

Welcome to a very special issue of Dark Realm Review. Dark Realm is an online magazine dedicated to bringing you the best in short horror and suspense literature.

This month is contest month. The stories in this issue are all entries in the DRR Two Pager Contest. Each story is two pages in length and roughly 500 words. The winner of the contest is the writer who submitted the best story as selected by his peers.

Writing the "short" short is a lot like writing poetry. There needs to be one idea honed to place the very best words in the very best order. This isn't easy.

So, pull up a seat and dig in. Scroll down to see the stories in the order in which they were submitted. Use the navigation bar links at the top of the page to learn more about the site or even submit your own works for consideration in future issues.

As is always the case, the material at this site is copyrighted by the artists. Feel free to contact us with questions and comments regarding the contents of this site.

Two Pager Contest Winner

The winner of the DRR Two Pager contest is Daria Karpova with her short story The Others.

Daria Karpova writes in a variety of styles, including urban fantasy, adventure and dark fantasy, with an occasional foray into the horror genre. Her first book Loose Diamonds, a supernatural action/adventure, was published in 2004. Her short stories appeared in several e-zines, including Dream People Magazine and The Harrow.

For more information, visit Daria's blog at http://dariakarpova.livejournal.com.

Shelter by Melanie Jackson

Jack flinched as Robert broke the lock and pulled the metal-clad door open. Jack was kind of timid and it was his first raid, so Lisa cut him some slack. Since the arrests last month, it was getting harder to find people who were willing to go on actual rescues. People stand in the parking lot and hold signs and chant, but when it came down to actually doing something, well, there weren't that many dedicated followers anymore.

Lisa didn't understand this. How could anyone hear about the experiments going on this lab and not be so outraged that they would do anything-anything-- to prevent it? Maybe if they had been able to get a camera inside there would have been more volunteers, but Mickey had up and disappeared. A lot of people had no imagination. You had to show them or they just didn't get it. Or didn't believe. Maybe that meant they were good people and couldn't imagine anything really bad. Maybe they were just cowards.

Springing Forward by Steven W. Jenkins

The bitter March morning seemed illusory.

The onset of Daylight Savings Time haunted Phil Cambridge. A dream-like state left him feeling weightless, almost invisible. The mystical sense that an hour truly had been lost only escalated his sense of detachment. It left him feeling that something far beyond his control had changed along with the clock.

Head hung earthward; Phil watched the surreal swing of his polished wingtips as they dispersed the new layer of downy snow.

The Colorado burg of Marshall didn't wake up early on Sunday. The town's narrow streets were normally vacant, save for the handful of the devoted making their way past dogs barking behind white picket fences surrounding quaint, clapboard houses.

Anticipation by Brian Jackson

It's dark. A single dim streetlight shines on the corner a half block away. Bugs swarm the light. The road is slick and littered with garbage. The smell is pungent. And late night fog mixes with the dark to further obscure a figure hidden in the mouth of an alley.

Reaching into a tan coat with a black, leather gloved hand, the figure retrieves a small folded sheet of cloth from a pocket and proceeds to unfold it. All movement then dissipates back into the shadows where such things are safest dispatched.

In silence a heart beats steadily while nerves remain frail but well guarded. Sweat glistens on the forehead and lip feeling icy cold against the skin. The night is silent as can be. Something is about to happen.

The Others by Daria Karpova

Jessie glanced at her reflection in the mirror one more time, delighted with what she saw there. Her skin, almost as white as the snow outside, looked perfect against the rich red fabric of her dress. Who said they ought to wear sheets? People were so stupid.

She went to the door and pushed it open, letting the cold wind slip inside, then looked at two people standing on the snow-covered gravel of the front yard. A man and a woman, middle-aged and well-off, both dressed in warm city clothes. Such intolerable nuisances they proved to be, yet now, finally, they were leaving. Now she and Edward would have the house all for themselves. Finally.

Edward stood near the gleaming Honda, watching as the man stuffed boxes into the trunk. The woman hugged herself as if trying to get some warmth. The gray sky hung low overhead, promising more snow to come. They should have realized it earlier, Jessie thought, should have known they weren't welcome. They should have left earlier.

Artist of the Month: Drew Jackson

Drew Jackson is an amateur photographer who shoots like a professional. It's for that reason that we are thrilled to have his images gracing the pages of our web site. Drew is anxious to share information with members of his photography club and the general public at large. This issue represents the second time that Drew has been selected Artist of the Month by DRR.

For additional examples of Drew's art, which is for sale, please refer to his home page at http://www.drewjackson.net.