CARNAGE HOUSE

The Feculence

by J. Rocky Colavito

In a world gone to shit...

WE’RE UP HIGH ENOUGH to stay away from its touch, but no matter how high we go we won’t ever escape the smell.

It’s a living thing, using the winds to waft itself to the heavens and beyond. Think of a graveyard washed through the overtaxed sewer system of a large city. If you’ve ever wondered if the living d

Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend

by Kasey Hill

Who needs brass knuckles when diamonds are a girl’s best friend?

THE SIRENS COULD BE HEARD coming down the street as I sat on the steps of my front porch awaiting their arrival. Sticky, drying blood caked in my hair, on my face, hands, and clothes. I sat there twisting my wedding rings around my finger, leaving tacky fingerprints from my thumb and pointer finger on the sides of the bands

Carmen

by E.K. Charny

It’s not a bad habit. I can stop any time I want.

CARMEN HAS A HORRIBLE HABIT of eating her skin. On the bus home, she clenches her teeth between thin layers of her inner lip. When her hands are free, she brings them to her mouth without hesitation.

It is not a nervous tic. Carmen knows, if she wants to stop, she can.

The other girls have such soft skin. Thei

The Night Sam Popped His Cherry

by Daniel R. Robichaud

Who would you sacrifice for $100?

SAM GAPED AT HIS tío’s display of bloody devotion.

Chavez couldn’t hold the knife anymore, so it fell into the mess he’d been cutting off his flank. The flesh and blood and creamy fat had mixed into a red slurry. He looked up, lips moving as he pleaded for painkillers. The crazy Asian chick in the lat

The Sky Fucking Exploded

by Chris McAuley

Ground Zero, the most horrific place to be—except for the observers.

AT 11:02 A.M., MITSUKO was arguing over a bruised pear she didn’t even want. The vendor insisted it was fine. She insisted fine was a lie. Her son Akio clung to her arm, sweaty fingers digging in, his other hand gripping a paper pinwheel folded from a ration notice. He kept asking when his father would be home. She kept s

Violent Content

by Adam Hunter

Pain and pleasure mix together on the screen of your computer.

THE SOLDIER FIRED HIS plasma rifle. Sweat glistened on his cheeks above the collar of his blue-and-grey European Army Corps uniform. His eyes were wide, babyish, visible markers of his prayers to see his mother. He ran through the sand, kicking up clouds of dust.

The desert extended in all directions, smothered und

Betty Jean

by Nora B. Peevy

Getting revenge never felt so good.

THE ROOM WAS PERFECT. Sterile, empty, and devoid of anything but the operating table, overhead lights, and a surgical cart with equipment. Just as I requested. It smelled like fresh paint. I inhaled deeply. It wouldn’t smell like that for long. Soon other scents would take over, piss and shit and the strong, coppery aroma

Hereditary

by Jay C. Alexander

Smoking kills.

FIRST, YOU LOSE YOUR GUT. That fat you had been trying to burn for months disappears, and you feel lighter than ever, even though there’s now a small lump right under your diaphragm. It looks cute. A few years later—maybe sooner if you’re lucky enough—you’re breathless after climbing up a flight of stairs. Beautif

Absolutely Knot

by Winona Morris

Behind the white picket fence, something was unraveling.

MARRIAGE WAS EVERY WOMAN’S end game. From the time she slid wet and screaming from the warm, tearing doorway of her mother into her father’s waiting arms, every woman was preparing to be a wife.

Claire never learned any different. She spent her time between birth and marriage practicing. She learned how to cook,