Bøger af Richard Zwicker

WHAT IF -You're a detective, hired to investigate the bizarre death of man who made three wishes on a cursed Monkey's Paw? -The French police turn to you when they've hit a wall in their search for a man who disappeared in pursuit of a cask of rare Amontillado wine? -Victor Frankenstein's great nephew accidentally animates a Thanksgiving turkey implanted with more than the typical bird brain and a disturbing amount of pluck? -Zeus Himself came to you to finger the offending deity who has stolen his Fire? Does the assignment strike you as a bad match or a gift from the gods? These are the midnight musings of Richard Zwicker, mild-mannered high school English teacher by day, and after-hours writer of tall tales that definitely fall on the far side of fantasy. In this new collection of witty short stories, Zwicker finds inspiration in Greek myths, gothic horror by Poe, Shelley and Wilde, and even contemporary children's movies, to give strange, new life to a toy cowboy, ruminating robots, and an existentialist chicken who thinks a little too much about Why it wants to Cross the Road. In this delightful follow-up to his 2016 debut with Walden Planet and Other Stories, this fresh writer offers readers a bright, new set of imaginative oddities: -a one-way space journey gone very, very wrong, -a far-out pharmacy literally selling bottled-up emotions, -a retirement home resident who finds dark mysteries in the music of The Monkees, and -a lovelorn postman in Paul Revere's New England, recalling his own midnight ride and ruminating the repercussions of one last delivery. Zwicker finds fun as he plays with many great (but often humorless) stories that most of us read in school. After reading "The Reopened Cask and Other Stories," you'll want to re-read the classics with a new, not-so-serious perspective!

Wise-cracking robots, slow-motion bullets, time machines that don't work the way they're supposed to, evil holograms, androids with brain donors, a truth-telling plague with multicolor symptoms, a man who carries four watches and a bad punch line... these are the curious, sometimes disturbing, but always intriguing fantasies of Richard Zwicker, a small-town New England school teacher by day and droll dreamer after dark. In this first collection of Zwicker's short stories now available to dreamers everywhere, Walden Planet introduces imagined worlds: A forward-looking adventurer encounters a dimension of people who do everything backwards; a desperate woman travels sideways into a parallel universe to regain what she's lost; a hard-boiled detective finds a phone that can dial the future; a doctor with a conscience considers applicants lined up for a quick 'n' easy memory cleanser; long-distance space haulers battle big-time cabin fever and a tempting cargo; and - of course - the title story's character: a would-be writer maroons himself on desolate planet because he's read too much Thoreau. Sure, the narrator of a certain, popular space-western TV show has promised to take you "Where no man has gone before," but Zwicker's stories are a whole 'nother rodeo - so, saddle up, everyone, and take your time-space motion-sickness pills. We're about to push the button and... Reactions from inhabitants of Walden Planet: "...So funny, I forgot to laugh." - Android L10W227 (a.k.a., "Mort") "I think he's stealing brain data." - Erika Henniker, android transformation counselor "What kind of a gag is this?" - Detective Terry Marselle "Can't you just trust me, you dumb bastard?" - Niles Castle, Wellman State science professor "We see this as an opportunity." - Robots for Reintegration with Humans "It must have seemed like a good idea at the time." - Ned Baylor, interstellar hauler "You won't be disappointed." - Ralph Flynn, playboy and real estate developer

The Best of 2023 Stories that Upend Genre ConventionsThis anthology showcases 21 genre-busting stories to surprise even the most avid reader. Discover what talented authors can do with urban fantasy, westerns, romance, horror, sci-fi, mysteries, thrillers, and dystopian fiction. This collection proves that genre fiction doesn't need to stay in one lane.The repentant villain from a high fantasy tale goes on a blind date with a disillusioned heroine from a rom-com romance.A cowboy and a talking raven take a wild and wacky ride on the back of a velociraptor.In the height of the 80's tech boom, a teen boy finds his missing brother at the heart of an apocalypse.A wise-cracking detective seeks the missing Goddess of Spring.From inside a psychiatric ward, a girl named Goldie tells her side of an encounter with the three bears.An interview with a werewolf, a vampire, and Frankenstein's monster goes horribly wrong.And Many More!Each entertaining tale offers you a chance to discover a new author of unconventional fiction that twists the tropes and crosses genre boundaries.