Paws, Beauty, and a Tomb

Well, I'm trying to make up for what I missed out on last week. Here are another three stories. Instead of introducing them, I think I'll just let you jump right into them.

From Their Paws, We Shall Inherit by Gary Kloster -- Clarkesworld Magazine

Set in South Padre, Texas after a hurricane reminiscent of Katrina, Gary Kloster gives us a story with a post-apocalypic feeling. The area is empty nearly empty of people. All who remain are the hard-headed and the Coast Guard (ceegees), and there is quite a bit of animosity between the two populations.

The story starts off after the main character, out on an excursion in the gulf, finds a monkey floating on the water. But it is no ordinary monkey: it can talk. The readers find out that it is an alien. However, instead of trying to take over the world, it tries to help the few survivors in the area rebuild.

It's a pretty quick read, so don't let this be something you skip.

Beauty by David Barr Kirtley -- Lightspeed Magazine

Though taken from the story of Beauty and the Beast, David Barr Kirtley offers us a new twist on the old tale. This is actually a short story, and I really don't want to give away too much information now. Instead, I'll just let you read it.

The Tomb by H.P. Lovecraft 

I don't know what it is, but I love the wordiness of Lovecraft and many of the other writers who proceed him. Passages as wordy as his are meant to be read aloud. Let the words flow from the mouth and into the ears. Though a dark story, there is still something hauntingly beautiful about it.

This short story focuses on a young man who was attracted to the strange and unseen world from a young age. In his youth, he found a tomb in a forest and felt an instant pull to it. Later on, he finds a key to open it up and he begins to frequent the tomb more and more. He slowly begins to turn into someone else, someone from an earlier generation.

Again, I'll just let you read the rest of it. It's a pretty good story. And it's Lovecraft, so that just means it's part of the cannon that you should read.