Schemers is the latest genre-crossing anthology of new short fiction from Stone Skin Press. From the classic myths to the pages of the Bible, from Shakespeare’s stage to the yellowed pulps of yesteryear, literature runs red with tales of plotting and betrayal.

For our final sample from Schemers, we come to Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer’s “The Bridgehouse Game.” Here, the power of desire fuels an exercise in psychological domination and transformation. A cruel tale recalling Edogawa Rampo, its moral horror becomes all the more acute through the fugue-state lyricism of Kuitenbrouwer’s prose.

It was cherry-red painted steel and spanned the ancient Leie, in Ghent, België, acting as both house for me, and bridge for the people. The roof was well insulated though I could feel the reverberation of foot traffic sometimes, revelers during the Gentse Feesten, and the cyclists who used my house to get from one side of the canalized waterway to the other. Melissa lived here with me at the time. She was an opportunist, yes, but she was sad—bitchy and beautiful in her sorrow—and I fell for that.

The water of the Leie barely flowed and smelled horribly. It seeped into our waking dreams, but we became used to it.

I was studying one night, occasionally looking up from my book to tell Melissa about a series of barrows in England that were vaginal in configuration, and absolutely monstrous in size, and thought to have been tributes to some sort of earth goddess. They had got me thinking about the enclosed tunnel under the house—the tunnel my bridge house created!—and the water causeway as a sexual avenue. It was, I told her, “A sacred place where ancients sacrificed in the hope of cyclical fecundity.”

“And you the dryad,” she muttered. She was writing in her journal, something I found later and kept away from the authorities. It read, for example: My fingers along her trachea…

For the rest, get Schemers from Stone Skin Press.

Shortly after its debut, Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer’s new novel All The Broken Things, from Random House of Canada, put her on The Globe and Mail’s bestselling Canadian fiction list. Previous works include the novels The Nettle Spinner and Perfecting and the short fiction collection Way Up. Her short stories have appeared in Granta magazine, The Walrus and Storyville, where they won the Sidney Prize.

Schemers is the latest genre-crossing anthology of new short fiction from Stone Skin Press. From the classic myths to the pages of the Bible, from Shakespeare’s stage to the yellowed pulps of yesteryear, literature runs red with tales of plotting and betrayal.

Jesse Bullington whisks us back to the intersection point where classical themes begin to build the foundations of modern genre with “The Devil’s Tontine,” an adroitly conjured gothic pastiche. It scrapes away our post hoc assumptions about that tradition to reveal the surprisingly light touch that characterized its initial wave.

In the autumn of 1818, Helena di Bruno returned, for the first time since childhood, to the sprawling lawns, smiling gardens, and Gothic excesses of Strawberry Hill, in Twickenham. The oaks lining the road from London were as enflamed with color as the eighteen year old woman’s brilliant tresses, and, it must be said, her typically pearlescent cheeks, for her female companion in the coach had just issued a pronouncement of such base humor that Helena was genuinely shaken. Her mother had warned her that the Lady Anne Seymour had, in her dotage, become quite free with her tongue, but this degree of coarseness could hardly be presaged. Helena, having been raised in Sicily following an unexpected Continental inheritance, was, if not accustomed to such bawdy talk, sufficiently inured to it that it was much more the character of the one who voiced it than the statement itself which struck her. The outrageously ribald commentary concerned Strawberry Hill’s much-celebrated shell bench overlooking the Thames, and in particular what the seat reminded Lady Anne of. The supposed similarity was not to any bivalve.

As a girl, when Helena spent the odd summer at Strawberry Hill under the guardianship of her mother’s friend Lady Anne, she had always thought of her host as reserved; almost overly-so, if such is possible for a woman. Yet now the graying sculptor, who had been widowed for nearly twice the sum of Helena’s years, actively vibrated with unfettered exuberance, going so far as to plant herself beside Helena on her side of the coach and take the younger woman’s smooth hands in her own strong, work-worn fingers as she enthused over the coming weekend, her most recent project, and her delight at once more having the daughter of such a dear, dear friend back in her company.

“Or I suppose, in my clutches, as Horace would have had it,” said Lady Anne, a twinkle in her eye. “It is Strawberry Hill after all, my young heroine.”

For the rest, get Schemers from Stone Skin Press.

© Molosovsky

Jesse Bullington is the critically acclaimed author of the novels The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart, The Enterprise of Death, and most recently, The Folly of the World. His short fiction and articles have appeared in numerous magazines, anthologies, and websites, and he is editing the forthcoming anthology Letters to Lovecraft. He can be found physically in Colorado, and more ephemerally at www.jessebullington.com.

Schemers is the latest genre-crossing anthology of new short fiction from Stone Skin Press. From the classic myths to the pages of the Bible, from Shakespeare’s stage to the yellowed pulps of yesteryear, literature runs red with tales of plotting and betrayal.

In a sly dialog with the past, Elizabeth Vaughan ventures to the medieval period to brandish “The Weapon at Hand.” In its focus on a royal household and the need for an heir, she sets us up to expect a classic court intrigue, but then…

“You are new come to the King’s Hall, are you not?” the warrior asked, his voice rough with a barely hidden air of command.

I turned slightly, the silk of my sleeve catching on the rough edge of the table as a warrior settled on the bench beside me. He was a bigger man than I, but not so large as the other warriors that surrounded us in King Saer’s feasting hall. Still, of a solid build, bearded, long-haired, blond, as were all the rest, and blue-eyed, as were all the men of the north. Truth tell, I was sometimes hard-pressed to distinguish one Wesorix from another.

It would not be diplomatic to mention that, of course. As rough as this land was, as harsh as life here was, my position required that the niceties be observed.

“I am new come, yes, Warrior.” I still stumbled over the phrasing of their language at times. So as to distinguish him in my mind, I made note of the man’s armor, heavy fur cloak, and weapon, a fine axe with a long hooked blade placed within easy reach of his right hand. These details aided memory; armor and weapons varied as much as faces did in my homeland. “May I ask . . .?”

“Artheran Thirdson,” was the response.

I was too skilled to allow my eyebrow to raise. The youngest of King Saer’s brothers then, which explained his seating at this table. And his ease at arriving late.

For the rest, get Schemers from Stone Skin Press.

Elizabeth A. Vaughan, USA Today best-selling author, writes fantasy romance. Her first novel, Warprize, the first book in the Chronicles of the Warlands, was re-released in April, 2011.

Schemers is the latest genre-crossing anthology of new short fiction from Stone Skin Press. From the classic myths to the pages of the Bible, from Shakespeare’s stage to the yellowed pulps of yesteryear, literature runs red with tales of plotting and betrayal.

Of all the contemporary genres, none makes treachery its main course the way espionage fiction does. And it’s had to think of a place and time where it hung thicker in the air than in the death throes of the Soviet surveillance state. Paranoia oozes from the pores like grease in Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan’s “Buried.”

“In the old days,” and Nicolai makes a gun with his thumb and forefinger, “bang, back of the head.”

“So why did you come in today?” I ask.

“Someone has to hold the gun,” he replies.

“You old Chekist! I came in for the pornography.” Vasily is the embodiment of a bad night out in Tverskaya–booze, grease, a taste for expensive women, and secret police all in one ugly package. He’s tapped the phones of half the prostitutes in Moscow, and gets off on heavy breathing and sex chats.

The last member of our little third-floor office quartet scowls in distaste from the doorway. Comrade Irina is of the opinion that Vasily does not carry out his duties with the professionalism and zeal for Marxism-Leninism that his exalted position in the KGB requires. She sweeps into the office like a snowstorm, puts on her headphones, and makes a very great show of ignoring us.

Vasily ambles to the window and looks out at the square. I join him. “And you, comrade?” he asks me.

I see graffiti on the wall opposite the Lubyanka—an unthinkable transgression up until a few days ago. FUCK THE KGB.

“I wanted to see to see how fucked we are.”

For the rest, get Schemers from Stone Skin Press.

Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan (@mytholder) is a writer and game designer. He wrote the Paranoia novel Reality Optional and has contributed stories to several anthologies, including The Lion and the Aardvark from Stone Skin Press. He’s worked on more award-winning roleplaying games than he can readily recall, notably Paranoia, Traveller, The One Ring, Doctor Who and The Laundry Files. He lives in Ireland with more children, spaniels and Apple products than he ever expected.

Schemers is the latest genre-crossing anthology of new short fiction from Stone Skin Press. From the classic myths to the pages of the Bible, from Shakespeare’s stage to the yellowed pulps of yesteryear, literature runs red with tales of plotting and betrayal. With all this trickery to deal with, the simple pleasures of genre play supply us with a needed palate cleansing.

We know from the title of crime yarn “Victimless Crime” that it will prove anything but. John Helfers takes the anxiety summoned by that dramatic irony and boils it hard. It will teach you to always carefully inventory your surroundings when stealing an expensive vehicle.

I should’ve known something was wrong the moment I saw her.

I’d just finished dinner in a dingy Subway shop attached to a BP gas station. She stalked into the convenience store and began prowling the aisles. Wearing tan designer slacks, a white blouse and night-black sunglasses, her artfully-tousled hairstyle cost a c-note or I’m a parking valet. Not even a hint of sweat marred her brow as she loaded up; chips, animal crackers, energy drinks, hand towelettes. She never looked around, just kept adding to the pile in her basket.

I casually glanced at the cashier, where two people waited in line at the counter. Sixty-second window, minimum.

I’d only need half of that.

It was perfect—or so I thought.

I wadded up the paper from my sandwich, slipped on my shades, and headed for the door.

Outside, the heat sucked my breath away for a moment. The late afternoon sun beat down like the gaze of God. It lent a hazy, shimmering unreality to the deserted parking lot. Around me, Denver smoldered like a shit pancake on a mountaintop griddle. But glorious sanctuary was only a few steps away.

Nearby was a huge, black Cadillac Escalade, brand-new and idling…

For the rest, get Schemers from Stone Skin Press.

John Helfers is an author and award-winning editor currently living in Green Bay, Wisconsin. During his sixteen years working at Tekno Books, he edited numerous #ction anthologies and more novels than he can count. His short fiction has appeared in more than forty anthologies, including If I Were An Evil Overlord, Time Twisters, and Places to Be, People to Kill. He’s also written fiction in the Dragonlance®, Transformers®, BattleTech® and Shadowrun® universes.

Schemers is the latest genre-crossing anthology of new short fiction from Stone Skin Press. From the classic myths to the pages of the Bible, from Shakespeare’s stage to the yellowed pulps of yesteryear, literature runs red with tales of plotting and betrayal.

Molly Tanzer’s fizzy shot of neo-pulp, “Qi Sport” declares its contemporary bona fides by tossing a classic set of tropes in the pop-cultural mix-master. Underlying her collision of cowboy hats and Chinese vampires is one of the canon’s classic ruses.

Boy howdy, had the match proven to be an ugly one. The fight’s underdog had her entire arm ripped off at the shoulder during the first five minutes in the ring, but then she dropped into a deep stance and swept her opponent’s legs out from under him, knocking him to the floor in what the crowd clearly considered a thrilling reversal of fortune. When she stomped his neck, hard, and used her remaining hand to pluck out the other geong si’s left eye, they went crazy for it. Ugh. Though decisive, it wasn’t the most beautiful victory Jimmy’d ever witnessed. He knew she was drinking his qi through his eye socket, but with her mouth in a taut O-shape around the gore-smeared orifice, it kind of looked like she was kissing it.

Jimmy tipped his open-crown hat low enough to cut off his vision, but it did nothing to block the grotesque moaning and grunting sounds the geong si was making as she fed. Jesus Christ, he hated it when he had to watch the fights. In his opinion, the undead were creepy as hell—subjects for nightmares, not entertainment. But given the volume of the hooting and hollering and stomping as the winning geong si’s trainer stood on the wire mesh covering the fighting pit, holding aloft his hands as he turned around and around, Jimmy was in the minority.

For the rest, get Schemers from Stone Skin Press.

Molly Tanzer lives in Boulder, Colorado, along the front range of the Mountains of Madness, or maybe just the Flatirons. Her debut, A Pretty Mouth, was published by Lazy Fascist Press in September 2012, and was singled out by The Guardian as the favorite among eight hundred indie novels of 2012. Her short fiction has appeared in The Book of Cthulhu and The Book of Cthulhu II, The Lovecraft eZine, and Fungi, and is forthcoming in The Starry Wisdom Library and Zombies: Shambling Through the Ages. She blogs — infrequently — about writing, hiking, cocktail mixing, vegan cooking, movies, and other stuff at www.mollytanzer.com and tweets as @molly_the_tanz.