Honored to have my pulpy horror piece, "Mister Bryson," come in as the runner-up for the March Madness Serial Killer Contest, hosted by The Carnage Conservatory.

The story takes place in a nursing home with disappearing patrons. Told from the perspective of a curmudgeon protagonist, it should throw you for a loop if you don't pay close enough attention.

This is my third piece to appear on The Carnage Conservatory, and I expect many more to appear in the future. Thanks to editor Emily Smith-Miller for all her support.

Mister Bryson:
On the shelf underneath, there was a face. The face looked familiar. The hair looked familiar. Cathy. Cathy, with black hair. Cathy, who had disappeared and was last seen by the river. Cathy, whose death went down in the newspaper as a suicide, body unfound. Two wrinkled circles—a woman’s breasts—were fashioned to bra straps with clear plastic sewing line. The nipples looked like hunting arrowpoints. Beneath the face and arranged in a perfect line were toenails and fingernails. Forty of them, at least.