Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Strange Tales: A 5 Story collection
Strange Tales: A 5 Story collection
Strange Tales: A 5 Story collection
Ebook72 pages59 minutes

Strange Tales: A 5 Story collection

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

Here are five tales of people going off the beaten track of reality to experience something completely new and unworldly. Stories of individuals in pain who ride a rollercoaster of odd happenings that show life in a different perspective. People running to something or away from something. A young traveler who encounters a modern marvel in an ancient ruin. A group of youngsters in a Lewis Carroll-like tale, where language and logic are stretched and reshaped into a tongue-twisting, whimsical adventure.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateAug 25, 2012
ISBN9781386767909
Strange Tales: A 5 Story collection
Author

Dale T. Phillips

A lifelong student of mysteries, Maine, and the martial arts, Dale T. Phillips has combined all of these into the Zack Taylor series. His travels and background allow him to paint a compelling picture of a man with a mission, but one at odds with himself and his new environment. A longtime follower of mystery fiction, the author has crafted a hero in the mold of Travis McGee, Doc Ford, and John Cain, a moral man at heart who finds himself faced with difficult choices in a dangerous world. But Maine is different from the mean, big-city streets of New York, Boston, or L.A., and Zack must learn quickly if he is to survive. Dale studied writing with Stephen King, and has published over 70 short stories, non-fiction, and more. He has appeared on stage, television (including Jeopardy), and in an independent feature film. He co-wrote and acted in a short political satire film. He has traveled to all 50 states, Mexico, Canada, and through Europe. He can be found at www.daletphillips.com

Read more from Dale T. Phillips

Related to Strange Tales

Related ebooks

Psychological Fiction For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Strange Tales

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    Strange Tales - Dale T. Phillips

    Copyright © 2012 Dale T. Phillips

    Cover Design copyright 2012 Melinda Phillips http://www.snapichic.com

    The Tree of Sorrows was first published in Plot, Summer 1996

    The Great Snipe Hunt was first published in New Myths,

    March 2010

    Try these other works by Dale T. Phillips

    Shadow of the Wendigo (Supernatural Thriller)

    The Zack Taylor Mystery Series

    A Memory of Grief

    A Fall From Grace

    A Shadow on the Wall

    A Certain Slant of Light

    A Sharp Medicine

    Story Collections

    Fables and Fantasies (Fantasy)

    More Fables and Fantasies (Fantasy)

    Crooked Paths (Mystery/Crime)

    More Crooked Paths (Mystery/Crime)

    The Last Crooked Paths (Mystery/Crime)

    More Crooked Paths (Mystery/Crime)

    Strange Tales (Magic Realism, Paranormal)

    Apocalypse Tango (Science Fiction)

    Halls of Horror (Horror)

    Jumble Sale (Different Genres)

    The Big Book of Genre Stories (Different Genres)

    Non-fiction Career Help

    How to Improve Your Interviewing Skills

    With Other Authors

    ROGUE WAVE: BEST NEW England Crime Stories 2015

    Red Dawn: Best New England Crime Stories 2016

    Windward: Best New England Crime Stories 2017

    Insanity Tales

    Insanity Tales II: The Sense of Fear

    Sign up for my newsletter to get special offers

    http://www.daletphillips.com

    DEDICATION

    For Jesse, who saw many strange things, and who made a difference

    CONTENTS

    Foreword

    As you read these stories , you’ll notice a recurrent theme in a few of them—The Question—how to go on living when we have lost the one we love, and the pain is too great to bear. Too many people in this world have dealt with such suffering, and some have chosen not to continue life in so much pain. Some of these tales offer a redemption, a last chance to consider before taking that drastic step.

    And another story considers what we are as a race, what choices lie ahead, and what might have helped get us here. By journeying into our past, sometimes we can see our future. The future is not predetermined—we will make of it what we will. Whether or not we will finish ourselves off is a matter yet to be seen. But we’ve had the capacity to end all life on the planet for 67 years, and we haven’t done so yet, so there’s hope.

    And the final story is a complete changeup, for we shouldn’t be grim all the time. Here we play with language in the manner of Lewis Carroll or James Joyce, with puns and portmanteau words galore.

    This story finally found a home, but not until it had been rejected by a number of magazines. But—the funny thing is, so many of the editors really liked it! And yet they passed on it.

    So you can see what a tough time it is to sell good fiction, even when it’s what they want...

    Here’s a few of the comments I got from different places:

    Enjoyable, not our style

    Beautiful. Thoroughly enjoyed. Loved your use of language and words

    Great opening and premise- unique, semi-surreal

    Loved this whimsical story. Co-editor doesn’t like whimsy.

    Beautifully written and very humorous. We like darker.

    Linguistically clever

    I really enjoyed the fun and creative use of language: this sort of poetic word-play is one of the ways that writing can be made really beautiful. This was also a very nice story, with a fun (if predictable) twist and a clever moral.

    I couldn’t decide if this story was utterly brilliant or just too clever for its own good.

    I enjoyed this charming, engaging tale very much.

    So before you consider a writing career, think about getting rejected so often in such fashion. Hopefully you’ll be glad I didn’t give up. We writers can be obsessive types, which is almost always the only way we succeed.

    Anyway, enjoy the ride. The stories await...

    Roadside Attraction

    Guy had been on the road for days, and felt crumbled around the edges. Running away wasn’t easy, because at some point, you had to stop, and the horrors that you were running from had time to catch up. So you pushed yourself far beyond the limits of any sane person, off into some other world, where sights and sounds and smells could fool you. Your mind played tricks, and you were just too tired to figure it out.

    Driving too far for too long can be deadly, and Guy desperately needed to stop and rest. He’d reached the end of his endurance, and could not go much further, but there was nothing available. He was in the desert, he was aware of that much, but wasn’t even sure which state. He had, however, recently spotted a saguaro

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1