Humor Short

Welcome to the world of Droll Tales, in which reality is a mutually agreed-upon illusion and life is painful, paradoxical, beautiful, and brief. With an oddball cast of characters who reappear in various guises throughout these interrelated stories, Smyles reveals an off-kilter world overlapping this one. And in giving us a tour of this enchanted, sometimes absurd place, with its own workings and ways of expression, she gives us a new way to understand our own.

This collection of short stories encompasses 20 years of work by Howard Fast, including some of his best-known and most treasured tales. Not merely fantasy or science fiction, these "Zen stories" explore the world’s mysterious and unanswerable questions, big and small, and the results are at once bizarre, humorous, chilling, and poignant. An American general shoots down what appears to be an angel during a Vietnam War battle, a celebrated author becomes a hunted man, and a mouse is granted human thought and emotion by a group of alien beings.

Before she knows it, Turquoise finds herself in strange and perilous worlds populated by the likes of human oddities, shape-shifters, serial killers in flying saucers, flesh-eating hippies, man-eating house cats, and sleazy televangelists who produce snuff films for Christ.

Hollywood and Broadway are icons of the American Dream. But what happens to those who feed off that dream? Just as drug cartels have many underlings who must get paid along the journey to the addicts, so do the characters who need to be nourished by the luminaries who make up this star-studded world above us. James Musgrave’s collection of 11 stories, in many ways, addresses the theme of “star power”, but in a way that satirizes the stereotypical “Hollywood endings” in very unique and literary ways.

Tales from the Eerie Canal weaves the sinister mystery of Edgar Allan Poe with the dark humor of Edward Gorey. No canal. No Lake Erie. Just a stream of the disturbing splashed with bits of the absurd.

A young woman is relocated by the Witness Protection Program to a position as hospital admission director in another state. An illegal Latino immigrant loses his job and becomes homeless, and lives on the street. A young 19-year-old man, with an exceptionally high IQ, joins the US Army and befuddles his sergeant with his amazing knowledge. A married couple buy a cemetery lot in their hometown, planning ahead for the future. A 70-year-old widow is shocked to learn that she is pregnant at a routine medical examination by her doctor.

For former pushover Janet, her Sophie curls appear to be a balanced and beautiful new addition to her magical, life-changing wig collection. She’s positively beaming, has smoothed out the wrinkles in her personal life, and is embarking on a philanthropic new business venture. Everything is ideal until the unthinkable happens and she has to stand on her own - with a final push from Lady Miss Jacqueline, of course!

The Minivandian is the warrior who values home and hearth. He finds the adventure in day-to-day activities. She is the barbarian queen who revels in every-day battles. These are their tales.

Canadian author James K. Moran's debut collection of dark fiction offers fantasy, sci-fi, and horror shot through with hope and friendship.

Peculiar Monstrosities is packed with 14 exquisitely crafted stories from new and established authors of Bizarro fiction.

Twelve early stories from the comic master, including the romantic truth behind the odd success of a Soho restaurant; the mysterious ways of a lucky black cat; a tale of three exiled baseball fans; a private detective in love with an actress in a touring company; a policeman in love with a parlor maid in the Battersea Park Road; Mr. Henry Wallace Mills of the two left feet; and the first appearance of Bertie Wooster and Jeeves, as Bertie is sent to New York to rescue his cousin from the clutches of a Vaudeville starlet...

These stories attest to the generous compass of Thomas McGuane's fellow feeling, as well as to his unique way with words. In this collection, filled with grace and humor, the ties of family make for uncomfortable binds: A devoted son is horrified to discover his mother's antics before she slipped into dementia, and a father's outdoor skills are no match for a change in the weather. But complications arise equally in the absence of blood, as when lifelong friends on a fishing trip finally confront their deep dislike for each other.

Odd Jobs & After Hours tells a story of drifting down the East Coast while getting involved in one sketchy so-called opportunity after another.

The Burglars' Club is the most exclusive of exclusive Gentleman's Clubs in Victorian London. To pay their dues, members must steal something very valuable and hard to get, and present it to the club at the following meeting (They return it afterwards, of course, if possible). Full of comedy, suspense, and mystery. The award-winning Colonial Radio Theatre on the Air brings these wonderful stories to life with a full cast, music, and sound effects.

An underemployed chef is pulled into the escalating violence of his neighbour's makeshift porn channel. An elderly piano student is forced to flee her home village when word gets out that she's fucked her thirty-something teacher. A hose pumping cava through the maquette of a giant penis becomes a murder weapon in the hands of a disaffected housewife.

A collection of 13 stories of great range, verve, and humor from the highly acclaimed author of Cloudbursts and Ninety-two in the Shade.

This collection of 13 short stories speculates about futuristic realities where the rules don't apply, and comedic chaos consumes. Artificially intelligent mowers rigidly manage a neighborhood's lawns. A teenaged Pulitzer winner hunts monsters draped in blankets. With a hint of horror alongside plausible parodies, You Know What I Think? leaves listeners with more questions than answers.

Join me on a witty romp through subdivision living. A River To My People is a collection of short stories about life in the suburbs and the funny and infuriating antics, behaviors, rules, and regulations of community life. While every neighborhood is unique, people are people, and you are going to bump into many of the same types: the gossip, the penny-pincher, the blowhard, the maverick, and all the rest. Our subdivision is no exception to the rule that truth is stranger than fiction. Every story is true, only the names have been changed to be more ridiculous.

Zbiór opowieści o niestandardowych świętych, których losy zostały związane z dziwnym Osiedlem, gdzie kontakt ze zmarłymi jest możliwy w przestrzeni wirtualnej, a czas da się nie tylko zatrzymać, ale także zawrócić. Osiedlowi święci żyją nie tylko w sąsiedztwie kościoła, lecz także sklepu monopolowego i ławki w parku, a koleje losów postaci opowiadane są z dużą dozą absurdalnego humoru.

A beautifully crafted collection of eight short stories by Edna Ferber: In Gigolo, Edna Ferber delves into the minds of eight diverse characters from all walks and stages of life.