Shallow Waters—where nothing stays buried.

With 25 dark tales diving beneath the surface of life, death, and the pain between them.

Shallow Waters is the official monthly flash fiction challenge hosted by the award-winning Crystal Lake Publishing. Every month a new challenge is posted online, with authors submitting via email. The best submissions are then posted on Crystal Lake’s Patreon page, where patrons read daily entries and vote for the winner. What you’ll find in these Shallow Waters anthologies include the most popular of our finalists.

Stay tuned for more volumes in this series, or find Crystal Lake Publishing on Patreon to enter or vote on future challenges.

Volume two includes horror, thrillers, suspense, and stories of life after death, the supernatural, murder, and the beauty beneath it all.

Introduction by Joe Mynhardt
“Night Swimming” by Michael O’Brien
“Hush Little Baby” by Matt Shaw
“The Vessel” by Mark Allan Gunnells
“The Southland” by Pedro Iniguez
“Biter of Dust” by Austin James (winner)
“Gently Used” by Jonah Buck
“Ollie Visits Grandma” by Mark Cassell
“The Water Tower Ghost” by Darryl Foster
“Standing Tall” by Kenneth W. Cain
“The Only Thing That Remains” by Jess Landry
“(Almost) Joined at The Hip” by Dan Weatherer
“Remy and the Elephant” by Linsey Knerl
“She Fluttered” by Andrew Garvey
“Just A Cup of Coffee” by Theresa Derwin
“Malignant” by Steve Thompson & Kenneth W. Cain
“Welcome to the Future” by Diana Grove
“Makes Three” by Michael Harris Cohen & Mark Allan Gunnells (winner)
“A Tea Party for the Dead” by Dani Brown & David Charlesworth
“A Game of Hide and Seek” by Joe X Young
“The Allotment” by Theresa Derwin
“Hourglass” by Chad Lutzke & John Boden
“The End of the War” by Joseph Mulak
“Long Distance Cull” by Tony Logan & Red Lagoe
“To Stop Further Slaughter” by Raymond Gates
“Baited” by Chad A. Clark
“Curtain Call” by Raven Dane (winner)

In this volume…

• A man is visited by his wife the night before her funeral.
• A tale of brotherly love turns sour.
• What happens when the ghosts of our past refuse to forget?
• A man contemplates the sacrifice he must make to stop a killer.
• When popping in to see a grandparent, don't always expect biscuits and tea.
• She rose from the dead, but by cheating death she must gamble again with life.
• A grieving mother preserves the memory of her son in a very curious manner.
• During an interrogation in the sweltering summer heat, a Los Angeles detective struggles as he loses his grasp between reality and madness.
• A bizarre black mold problem leads to the most extreme of solutions.
• Dawn comes for the dead locked in a forgotten room inside the Neon Dream.
• An ancient soul finds himself and his people threatened by an ever-growing hostile race.

Shallow Waters—where nothing stays buried.

With 21 Dark Fiction & Horror tales diving beneath the surface of life, death, and the mystery that lies beneath.

Shallow Waters is the official monthly flash fiction challenge hosted by the award-winning Crystal Lake Publishing. Every month a new challenge is posted online, with authors submitting via email. The best submissions are then posted on Crystal Lake’s Patreon page (an exclusive behind the scenes community of readers and authors), where patrons read daily entries and vote for the winner. What you’ll find in these Shallow Waters anthologies include the winners as well as the most popular of our finalists. Stay tuned for more volumes in this series, or find Crystal Lake Publishing on Patreon to enter or vote on future challenges.

Volume four includes suspenseful stories of death, Halloween, twisted love, karma, and travel horror.

Includes:
Introduction by Joe Mynhardt
“Turkish Delight On the Blue Line” by Shoshana Edwards
“VII” by Mark Allan Gunnells (winner)
“Unfinished Education” by Jonah Buck
“Odor Mortis” by Red Lagoe
“Hook-Hand Man’s Last Night on Lovers’ Lane” by Patrick Barb
“A Table Set for One” by Dani Brown (winner)
“Love Letters” by Richard Thomas
“Mixed Marriage” by David Bernard
“Starlight and Fairy Dust” by Chloé Harper Gold (winner)
“Meme” by Michael Patrick Hicks (winner)
“As the Crow Flies” by Kevin Lucia
“I Didn’t Know What Love Was” by Ben Lathrop
“The Talk” by Lori Michelle
“Devour” by Austin James
“Sanctuary” by David J. Rank
“That Which Makes Me Happiest” by L. F. Falconer
“Reversal of Fortune” by Sheri White
“Thelma Takes the Devil” by Linda J. Marshall (winner)
“In That Dress” by Anthony D Redden
“What You’d Do for Love” by Mark Allan Gunnells
“Sansara” by Oleg Hasanov
“Oppenheimer’s Door” by Alexander Zelenyj

In this volume…

• Russian horror comes out of the shadows
• A man, his dead wife, and a Great Emptiness…
• We often say we’d do anything for those we love...but do we mean it?
• As traffic to his killing grounds declines, a murderous figure from urban legend contemplates a change of scenery
• Come to the Crossroads. He’s waiting. So is she
• Friendships are fragile and rarely live up to expectation, as the kind elderly man with his lovely candies will soon learn
• Haunted by his daughter and promised a new one by his bride, Donnie can’t stop eating
• Some messes need to be left!
• A runaway witch won’t let her limited knowledge of hexes and spells deter her from her goals
• Karma’s a bitch when the latest internet craze leads to murder—or is it merely an elaborate hoax?
• What happens when desire becomes obsession?
• Meet-cute with a handsome single dad takes an unexpected turn
• They say love lost