Stories to be Read with the Lights On 8: No Loose Ends by Miriam Allen deFord

The next story is 'No Loose Ends' by Miriam Allen deFord. And it's a bit of a different experience to the previous story... I remembered this one straightaway. It actually feels like I read this story more recently than the others, but I don't know where or when I might have done so.

deFord's story is about a gang of criminals who are hired of 'get rid' of a woman's husband. They're not a particularly close-knit gang, so you have a feeling from the start that the title might be ironic. When the woman's husband makes his appearance, there's a little hint as to how the story will transpire. As soon as I reread it, I remembered the ending quite clearly.

With the best will in the world, this isn't the most mind-blowing story ever (although it's perfectly enjoyable). So I'm wondering why it's stuck in my head more clearly than some of the others. Either I've read this story more recently in another anthology or 'No Loose Ends' is just way more memorable than it appears.

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Stories to be Read with the Lights On 7: Three Ways to Rob a Bank by Harold R. Daniels

I am a bit behind with this, as I haven't really been keeping on top of the 'story-a-day' thing. I'm going to try and read a couple more stories today though. After the giddy nostalgia of 'The Landlady', I have to admit I'm back to 'this isn't ringing any bells' with the opening of Daniels's story.

Ah... partway through this one started coming back to me. I had a glimpse of a memory, and I realized I might be remembering where this one's going... And then I definitely remembered the second half of this one, and the big reveal at the end was familiar. Of course, that might be because the ending is kinda predictable so it's easy to see it coming even if you haven't read the story before! Nevertheless, it's a decent enough little tale. It's sad to think that it's dated because of its depiction of the publishing world. $300 payment for a debut short story by an unknown author? Wow!

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31 Days of Halloween: Day 1

After last year, I've decided to do Halloween properly this year and celebrate a little bit every day in October. I've got quite a few bigger things lined up (and a couple of costumes sorted already), but mostly I'm going to be celebrating at home in the best possible way... with horror stories and tea! I wanted to do a horror story-a-day, so imagine my delight when I found this collection from the 90s of 31 classic horror stories. Perfect!

The problem is... despite what it says on the cover, turns out there's only actually 30 stories in the book. Looks like I'll be doing a story-a-day until the 30th October then. At least I've got an incredible selection of teas to see me through the whole month!

Today's Story

Today's story was 'The Black Cat' by Edgar Allan Poe. Definitely a classic, and definitely a good way to kick off a month of Halloween.

Today's Tea

Today's tea was Monster Mash by Monster Mash Teas, a spiced apple tea I assume they came up with while they were working in the lab late one night.