A sample of Rook’s stories.
Rumors claim Rook’s been storytelling for years, but nothing is certain. Here’s some evidence. Draw your own conclusions.
Let the Dead Vote!
Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine (2024)
In the future, the existence of ghosts has been proven. Scientifically. Undeniably. And they want their voting rights.
Which pushes one small town to the brink.
Love Always, Bomb City
Tales of Sley House 2023 (2023)
After a fiery accident in 1970s Cleveland, a young mother reunites with her ex-boyfriend—only to be plunged into the realm of the occult.
Lineage
Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine (2023)
As COVID erupts, a werewolf with Alzheimer’s becomes a time bomb for her grandson, especially when a zealous healthcare worker grows suspicious.
One Headlight
The Last Girls Club - Sept. Newsletter & Patron’s Lounge (2023)
A mourning forty-something decides she needs to solve a decades-old mystery, one involving an ex-lover, a dead friend, and a strange urban legend about trains.
The Flooded Man
Dark Corners of the Old Dominion (2023)
When it rains in Alexandria, sewers and gutters overflow, drowning everything, including the grounds of an abandoned coal plant. Every now and then, a dead body floats up in the nearby river. This may not be a coincidence. In fact, it might be a deadly game.
This anthology features 23 short stories & poems set in Virginia, each their own Southern nightmare. Sales support the charity Scares that Care. Other than being a contributor, I also helped edit the collection.
Name Me Haunted
Horror Writers Association: Halloween Haunts (2021)
Maybe I love Halloween because I’m named after a dead kid.
Do you know how you got your name?
Boundless Vendettas
Best of Penumbric Speculative Fiction Mag, vol v: June 2k21 to April 2k22 (2022)
Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine (2021)
Thanks to a futuristic technology, a blood feud extends into the afterlife, bringing deadly consequences for two women and their "families."
BFF
Teach.Write. (2021)
A nasty tale of crime gone wrong between friends with an ugly twist. If it reminds you of an old Tales From the Crypt episode, I don’t hate that.
Give the Robot the Impossible Job!
After Dinner Conversation (2019)
After Dinner Conversation: Technology Ethics Edition (2024)
An AI tutor faces deactivation if she can’t prove her worth by saving a teenager with an “unsolvable” problem -- she’s a budding serial killer.
The Gangsta Confirmation
Buckshot Magazine (2019)
As his Confirmation approaches, a lyric-loving boy suffers at the hands of an increasingly brutal bully -- until he arrives at an unholy solution.
The work of the now-vanished Raine Sellers.
The Rails
Originally published in the anthology Revenant (2011)
When a college kid learns his girlfriend fears train tracks because of an urban legend, he dives into a decades-long and fatal obsession.
The Boxer
Originally published in the magazine Insidious Reflections (2006)
As he battles through a third-rate prize fight, a superhuman drained of his powers reflects on why he gave them away. Was it worth it?