A man ventures through the depths of his beloved's subconscious to save her, only to discover a deep-rooted secret that could destroy everything.
A young girl and a newly found friend travel to the Middle of Nowhere, desperate to find a way Out.
A teenager struggles to escape the clutches of a demonic blanket inherited from a deceased family member.
An "ugly" vampire goes through hell on earth to find his true self and his one true love.
A woman revisits her past to determine whether it’s time to pull the plug on a scientific experiment that’s sustained—and devastated—her family for decades.
Passageways is the second short story collection from author Lisa Fox, following her acclaimed debut Core Truths. In these pages, readers voyage through darkness and light, fear and faith; toward understanding and peace.
Sanctuary. Self-awareness. Being heard. Being loved. As speculative literary fiction, the stories in this anthology harmonize the excitement and otherworldly escapism that genre-based tales offer with the lyrical poeticism of language that makes storytelling sing.
Amazon UK
Excerpt
“The Ugly Vampire”“The Ugly Vampire” is featured in Passageways Short Speculative Fiction.
It’s a story of a mediocre man thrust into immortality one fateful night when a beautiful woman takes an interest in him at a local seedy bar. This story combines fantasy, romance, horror, humor
... there’s a little bit of something in here for everyone.---Archibald Rollinstern never thought his life would end like this.
The straitjacket pinned Archibald’s arms across his chest, the numbness in his limbs matching that of his soul. He rested on a lumpy cot, staring at the ceiling of a white room.
A tiny square window cut into the seamless wall, a lidless eye, watching. Archibald had seen enough movies to know that white padded rooms weren’t supposed to have windows. In fact, Archibald knew much about things that were not supposed to be.
He still lived, even as he waited to die—again—in some godforsaken psych ward. He adored Amethyst, even though she’d abandoned him more than once. And although the Reaper would soon extend its shimmering reach through that small window, Archibald was not afraid.
Archibald knew that he was not meant to be. He was the One Who Never Should Have Been Made. Blessed and cursed with the simultaneous gift of life and of death, Archibald was an abomination among monsters. A freak, forsaken by fiends.An ugly vampire. It wouldn’t matter for long.
Hues breaking through that small opening painted the walls with the tint of a fresh bruise. Dawn marched forward, brandishing the torch that would burn immortality off the undead.
Soon, Archibald would become nothing more than a pile of ash, buried in the folds of cotton fabric starched one too many times. Archibald had never been a morning person, even when human. The early bird catches the worm, his parents had said. A mediocre late bloomer, he was last in line for everything, much to his parents’ disappointment.
Archibald was never the bird, but always the worm. Worms, like Archibald, were grateful to be plucked from the earth, chosen from the writhing bugs and vermin, waiting for something anything—to happen. The worm nestled in the night creature’s claws was special, for it could take flight.
By human standards, Archibald was ugly. He stood five feet two with a belly that showcased his favor for cheap beer and fried foods. Frizzy graying hair barely hid his greasy scalp. Yet, Amethyst chose him on that night all those months before, when the full moon rose in a star-filled sky
Lisa Fox is a pharmaceutical market researcher by day and fiction writer by night. She survives—and sometimes even thrives—in the chaos of suburban New Jersey life with her husband, two teenage sons, and quirky Double-Doodle dog.
Her debut short story collection, Core Truths, was published in April 2023. Lisa’s work has been featured in Amazing Stories, Uncharted Magazine, Dark Matter, Bards and Sages Quarterly, Metaphorosis, New Myths, and Brilliant Flash Fiction among others.
Lisa has had work nominated for the Pushcart Prize and for Best Small Fictions and is a previous winner of the NYC Midnight Short Screenplay competition.
You can find Lisa and her published work via her website: https://lisafoxiswriting.com/ or on
Twitter @iamlisafox10800
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