Death, Mickey Mouse, and other tragedies

Well it's been an other week in my quest to find the best short fiction on the web, and this is what I've come up with. Mostly these stories deal with death, disappearances, ghouls, or robots. Must be Halloween season. Enjoy!

Stories (flash)
Disappearing Act on Word Riot, by Katie Cortese - The heartbreak of a high school dance: humiliation, alienation, and its obvious conclusion. What's the worst that can happen? Yup, that.

Death of St. Florian, on Vestal Review
Flash fiction is often cute, often surreal, often befuddling. This is all three: A saint, having a little chat with what killed him. I especially like the sort-of casual tone the Saint takes with his millstone.

Story (Longer but still short)
If Isaac Asimov collaborated with a much younger Woody Allen, I think this is what they'd come up with. I'm not sure if Upgrades of the Heart counts as robot porn, but it brought a chuckle to my throat. From Bartleby Snopes.

Story (Long)
Over at Long Story, Short, Karl Shaddox presents Drayman. Set in the Philippines, in the early 1940's, it's the story of a peasant stonemason and his brother, who hauls the stone to its destination. They're hoping for a big commission when the Japanese invade; things don't go well from there. Also, congrats to Long Story, Short, for supporting longer fiction on the web - many sites stick to flash, stuff that can be read in a minute and forgotten in an hour. But by expanding the page count, you get a much deeper story. Thanks to all.


Video of the week:
It's Halloween, and Mickey Mouse is back! Apparently Disney has been busy, contracting with various cartoonists to create throwback Mickey Mouse cartoons, and the result is actual quality entertainment. Here, Mickey gets into the spirit of pumpkin pie spice season, and is chased through a macabre landscape by a zombified Goofy. Retro-vintage mayhem ensues. Is it the cartoon we've all been waiting for? Maybe not, but it's still pretty good.



Apparently this is not available outside the United States. So, even when they're doing something cool, Disney sucks. Which should surprise no one. If it doesn't work for you, try it at dubbed-scene.com: