FREE STORIES
Here’s a selection of my short fiction that is available to read or listen to for free online. (I also have a Patreon page where there are more stories to read, including some exclusive to Patrons but that’s not free – it is definitely worth a few bucks though!) Meanwhile, you’ll find below a list of free stories to read, then after that a list of free podcasts of my work, if you prefer someone else reading you a story.
Also, check out the Serial Fiction page, where you can read my serialised novella (or buy the book from there if you prefer), and check the Friday Flash category on my blog for a bunch of flash fiction pieces I’ve written over the years. Have a look at my Bibliography for a full list of my published work to help you track down more if you’re interested. Enjoy!
(Please note, as with all content on this site, all these items are (c) Copyright Alan Baxter. No reproduction is allowed without written permission from the author.)
THE WHISTLEMAN
A short urban legend, self-published via my newsletter and website in September 2018.
UNDER A WING AND A PRAYER
A dark little flash fiction hallucination published by Evil Girlfriend Media (ed. Jennifer Brozek, March 2016) after originally garnering an Honourable Mention in the 2013 AHWA Flash Fiction Competition.
HARRY TO THE BLUE
Sometimes I do writing exercises when the plot of a book or story just isn’t moving along. Often, those things end up being new short stories in their own right. In this very flash fiction I decided to try to write a story that was nothing but dialogue and see if I could actually convey plot, setting, characterisation and so on without anything but spoken parts.
PATENTED CUT ANYTHING DESIGN
Commissioned by Cry Havoc Games, a zombie flash fiction to help promote the game, “Dead End Alley”, now posted on the Cry Havoc website.
UPON A DISTANT SHORE
This is a story about an astronaut who wishes for something that’ll carve his name in the history books. And he gets it. This link goes to the site where you can download Dimension6 magazine in any format ebook for free. My story is in issue #2.
MEPHISTO
This is a short yarn about small town Vaudevillian shows and the people who enjoy them. Or is it? Published in the online magazine, Daily Science Fiction, June 2014.
THE DARKNESS IN CLARA
When Michelle loses the love of her life to suicide, she struggles to understand what could have brought her partner to that dark place. As she starts to dig back into Clara’s past, Michelle discovers there were secrets of her tormented adolescence that Clara kept from her. Published in the online magazine, SQ Mag, issue 14.
ALL THE WEALTH IN THE WORLD
A short story about love, loss and anguish, and how all the money in the world may not be able to help with those things. Published in the online magazine, Lakeside Circus.
NOT THE WORST OF SINS
A wild western ghost story about a young man on a revenge quest accompanied by an unpleasant companion. Published in the online magazine, Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
TINY LIVES
A bittersweet story about magic, family and lives. Published in the online magazine, Daily Science Fiction.
SALVAGE IN THE VOID
A Peevy and LaVey story. The engineer afraid of deep space and his SimHound companion are adrift in an escape pod when they’re lucky enough to be found by a space pirate crew. But it could turn out to be an “out of the frying pan, into the fire” situation. Published in the online magazine, Kasma SF.
THE DARKEST SHADE OF GREY
A journalist carrying the weight of unwanted paranormal powers tries to find direction and catharsis by investigating the plight of a strange homeless man. This is a novelette, serialised in 4 parts in the online magazine, The Red Penny Papers, and now also available as an ebook via Amazon or Smashwords.
DECLAN’S PLAN
In a post-apocalyptic Australian outback, a man, a dog and a mysterious piece of alien technology are wandering the desert. Anyone else would destroy the tech and eat the dog, but Declan has a plan. This story was co-winner of the 2011 Wily Writers Short Story contest and is published and podcast by them. The link above leads directly to the site where you can read the story or download the podcast. I’d highly recommend the podcast as the voice actor, Philip Pickard, does a wonderful job.
THE SEVEN GARAGES OF KEVIN SIMPSON
A woman’s father leaves her a strange legacy after his death and, as she investigates, she uncovers disturbing possibilities about his past. Originally published as a podcast by Pseudopod, episode 242, subsequently reprinted in the Dark Pages 2 anthology from Gryphonwood Press.
MISTAKEN IDENTITY
A science fiction yarn that starts out with a guy’s day going really bad, really quick. And then it just gets worse. This is my nod to the Men In Black style of SF. The link will take you directly to Kasma SF, where the story is published.
IDLE CHATTER
A nasty little flash fiction piece about the potential dangers of online chat. The link above is a direct link to the story at Bosley Gravel’s Cavalcade of Terror.
JEFF NEWMAN’S HEADACHES
This is a flash fiction piece published at 52 Stitches. The link above is a direct link to the story on the 52 Stitches site.
CROSSFIRE
A short story published in Volume 1, Issue 4 of The Oddville Press that the editor called “an existential delight”. A bit more light-hearted than my usual fare. This link goes directly to the PDF file of this issue of the zine. I was also invited to read this story for the Outlandish Voices podcast which you can find here.
PUSHED TOO FAR
This story was originally written with a five day deadline and the prompt: “Something written on a tombstone”. It was for a Horror Writers Duel over at the House Of Horror website. The limit was 1,500 words. I’m pleased to say that this story won the duel. Have at ye!
STRANGE DEATH
This was a reprint of one of my Friday Flash stories that was published over at Flashes In The Dark. That site seems to be defunct now, so I’ve made a page for it here.
TRAPPED
Another flash fiction piece, this one a little horror yarn about the way a couple cares for each other. This was first published in House Of Horror issue # 7, December 2009. However, that magazine is no more, so I’ve put the story here on my site instead.
THE BOOK
A dark flash fiction tale, originally published in the October 2009 edition of Antipodean SF, #136.
TERMINAL ILLNESS
A dark future flash fiction tale, originally published in the March 2009 edition of Antipodean SF, #130.
THE NIGHT BUS
A young man is haunted by guilt over the suicide of a strange boy that he used to bully. Then he gets on the last bus home… (Originally published by The Harrow: Original Works of Fantasy and Horror – www.theharrow.com Vol. 10, No. 12).
PODCASTS
I’m a huge fan of short fiction podcasts. They’re an excellent way to enjoy stories, and I regularly listen to several different audio magazines, usually while driving or mowing the grass. Below is a link to my stories in podcast form. (And don’t forget, a number of my novels are available as audiobooks.)
My short fiction in podcast form:
Originally published in my second collection, SERVED COLD, this dark and disturbing yarn is brought to wicked life by the team at Pseudopod, superbly narrated by Dan Rabarts.
Originally self-published on my website on the 6th August, 2010 as part of the Friday Flash series. The story is very short (being flash fiction, that’s no surprise) but it’s properly cynical. This is a superb full audio production from Planet Raconteur.
Originally published at Daily Science Fiction on the 23rd June, 2014 and a finalist in the 2014 Australian Shadows Awards for Best Short Story, which is always a thrill. The story is very short, but it’s powerful, and I wrote it before I had a son. This is a superb full audio production from Planet Raconteur.
From the In Your Face anthology published last year by Fablecroft, edited by Tehani Croft. One of my rarer forays into science-fiction, this one a cyberpunk exploration of disability and body modification. Podcast at Starship Sofa, narrated by Jon Padgett.
My only (so far) vampire story, which was published in the Dead Red Heart anthology from Ticonderoga Publications in 2011. It also got an Honorable Mention in Ellen Datlow’s Best Horror of the Year #4 (Night Shade Books 2012) and was on the Recommended Reading List, Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror, 2011 (ed. Liz Grzyb & Talie Helene, Ticonderoga Publications). Now podcast by those wonderful folk at Tales To Terrify and read by Ashley Storrie.
A story about the dangers of using magic you don’t understand. Originally published in Murky Depths#16, now podcast by Tales To Terrify, wonderfully read by Matt Cowens.
A twisty, weird story I co-wrote with Felicity Dowker for the Damnation & Dames anthology, podcast by those wonderful people at Tales To Terrify, read by Dan Rabarts. The story required the coining of the term “paranoirmal”. The anthology is great, available from Ticonderoga Publications here. You can find the podcast here:
DREAM SHADOW
A very Australian horror story about a young man who buys a new house on some less that vacant land. Originally published in the anthology Winds of Change from CSFG Publishing. Podcast by Tales To Terrify and narrated by Graeme Dunlop.
UNEXPECTED LAUNCH
A deep space story featuring a couple of hapless starship cleaners having a very bad day. Originally published in the anthology Anywhere But Earth, from Coeur De Lion Publications (ed. Keith Stevenson), it’s podcast here by Starship Sofa, narrated by Nikolle Doolin.
NOT THE WORST OF SINS
A weird western ghost story about a young man on a quest for vengeance, that might be more complicated than he realises. Originally published at Beneath Ceaseless Skies, it’s podcast here by Tales To Terrify, narrated by Stephen Kilpatrick.
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER
A young priest in an outback Australian town is perhaps not as holy as he appears in this story originally published by Dark Prints Press in the anthology, The One That Got Away. This podcast is by those great people at Crime City Central, read by Bob Neufeld.
THE SEVEN GARAGES OF KEVIN SIMPSON
A young woman discovers after her father’s death that the old man owned seven garages the family knew nothing about. On investigating these strange holdings, the woman and her husband uncover even stranger activities. This story was a podcast original at my favourite of all audio magazines, Pseudopod, so I’m very happy to have a story with them. It was released in episode 242, read by Graeme Dunlop.
DECLAN’S PLAN
In a post-apocalyptic Australian outback, a man, a dog and a mysterious piece of alien technology are wandering the desert. Anyone else would destroy the tech and eat the dog, but Declan has a plan. This story was co-winner of the 2011 Wily Writers Short Story contest and is published and podcast by them. The link above leads directly to the site where you can read the story or download the podcast. I’d highly recommend the podcast as the voice actor, Philip Pickard, does a wonderful job.
CROSSFIRE
A short story published in Volume 1, Issue 4 of The Oddville Press that the editor called “an existential delight”. A bit more light hearted than my usual fare. I was invited to read this story for the Outlandish Voices podcast, which is where this link will take you.
STAND OFF
A short story featuring Isiah, the powerful immortal protagonist in my novels RealmShift and MageSign, doing the dirty work of the Balance once again. An abridged version of this story was published in the Infinitas newsletter many moons ago. The full version was then published and podcast by Wily Writers. Follow the link above to read either the text version or have someone read it to you as a podcast (it’s 24 minutes long).