“Shitty Almonds” now available in BUGS — Teaser & TOC here!
Posted by kristipetersenschoonover
What happens when a jealous bridesmaid is in charge of the wedding favors? Find out in “Shitty Almonds” which is now available in Great Old One’s Publishing’s most recent anthology — Bugs.
Here’s the full Table of Contents. On a more somber note, this contains the last complete story by Lawrence Santoro — most recently known for his podcast Tales to Terrify, but just one hell of a writer. Don’t miss it!
Spider Designs — Esther M. Leiper-Estabrooks
Darkling Roast — E.G. Smith
The Ants Go Marching — Derek Neville
Operation Parasite — Patrick Lacey
The Flea Jar — Layla Cummins
The Place of Strong Current — Philip C. Perron
Carapace — Gregory L. Norris
Organically Grown — April Hawks
Flyweight — Jason Hunter
Suffer the Pigs — Daivd Tasker
Contamination — Karen Dent
Hillgrim Falls — Melissa M. Gates
The Children of Romani Phoneutria — M.J. Preston
Skeeters — L.T. Travelstead
Invasion — David Bernstein
Nika’s Nest — D.B. Poirier
A Chittering in the Forest — Lawrence Santoro
The Bug Lady — Erin Thorne
Spider Men — Ben Pienaar
Jesus Saves — Kyle Rader
Base 001 — Eric S. Brown
Shitty Almonds — Kristi Petersen Schoonover
Scorned — Christopher Beck
Bug Boy — Roxanne Dent
The Little Things — Sara Fowles
The Venom of Vanity — Jessica J. Herrera
The Man Who Cried Spiders — Scott T. Goudsward
Humbugs — Patrick Rea
An Invasion in Nashua — John Mack
The Buzz — Charles Day and Peter Giglio
Metamorphosis, Not Metaphors — B.E. Scully
Ellie’s Little Darlings — Tracy L. Carbone
Dead Lilacs — Judi Calhoun
Baby’s Breath — Sydney Leigh
Want a teaser?:
Shitty Almonds
My stepdaughter Cecilia curses the ground behind our house as she hauls a plate-sized rock from the earth. “Ma, this is beyond bad. Even for Rhode Island.”
“Maybe that’s why you never planted anything there before, Seal.” I sip a mint julep and admire her other work: a rose-necklaced trellis, a budding vegetable garden, a stand of Echinacea, and a ewe bush labyrinth. Even as a child, Seal had a green thumb. “You’re always saying you can smell a bad patch of earth from miles away.”
“That’s true. I wouldn’t have thought of planting anything here unless you asked me.” She digs some more, scrapes her shovel on another rock, stops, and laughs. “Oh nice, Ma.”
“What?”
“That’s the ultimate! Fill the ground with rocks and then get me to dig and dig in this one spot! Well, since you didn’t fool me, you owe me lunch.” She hefts the rock to her right side. It makes a thud against the ground.
Seal and I have been playing practical jokes on each other since I married her father when she was nine. I forget how many lunches are on the tally—if victim falls for it, victim buys; if victim calls it, joker buys—but I suspect I’m ahead since she’s accusing me of something near impossible. She must owe me a lot of lunches.
“I do not owe you lunch, because I didn’t do it.”
“My ass.”
“How would I have gotten the rocks in there? Does it look like I’ve dug a bunch of holes there recently?”
“Well, you do have a tendency to be a bit of a Houdini. Shit. I need a drink.” She brushes her palms on her shorts, grabs her glass, and guzzles what’s left in it. “Which reminds me. What trick we planning for Dad’s birthday this year?”
We team up to prank her father and her husband, Jack—they’re both easy targets. Let’s just say holidays around here are pretty interesting. “I haven’t thought about it yet, actually.”
“I got an idea.” She sets her glass down. “Let’s go to Pleasant Surprise Saturday and hunt for inspiration. We can have lunch, we can shop—we can cook up a good one. They have a book down there that tells you how to do one with a lawnmower and feathers and hamburger meat.”
“You’re on.” I raise my glass. She picks up and clinks her empty one with mine.
The phone rings, and I move to get off the chaise.
“Don’t, Ma. You relax. I’ll get it.”
She steps inside and through the slider I hear her voice, muffled, but clearly in the same tone she would address a stranger.
“It’s someone,” she steps back outside, “named Bev.”
I’m stunned and leap to the conclusion that this might be one of her jokes. But then I remember I never told Seal Bev exists.
“Ma?”
I pour myself more julep. I’m going to need it.
“Want me to get rid of her?”
“No.”
She hands me the phone.
#

This Preying Mantis was on a friend’s doorknob several years ago (I don’t remember which friend it was, so if it’s you, reach out!)
You can get Bugs on Amazon in print here and on Kindle here.
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About kristipetersenschoonover
A ghost story writer who still sleeps with the lights on, Kristi Petersen Schoonover’s fiction has appeared in many magazines and anthologies; her traditionally published books include a short story collection, THE SHADOWS BEHIND. She was the recipient of three Norman Mailer Writers Colony Residencies and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College. She serves as co-host of the DARK DISCUSSIONS podcast, as founding editor of the dark literary journal 34 ORCHARD, and is a member of the New England Horror Writers. Follow her adventures at kristipetersenschoonover.com.Posted on January 12, 2015, in News, Short Stories and tagged Bugs, Great Old Ones Publishing, MJ Preston, Simon Rumley, wedding favors. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.
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