Worlds of Paul Jessup

You can’t beat free fiction! Here are some places online where you can snag a story or two of mine for free.

I’ve decided to post a short story of mine for free online. This was originally published in PostScripts issue 12, and is called Ghost Technology From the Sun. It was a very well received short story (was an Honorable Mention in the 2008 Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror and had positive reviews). It is a [...]

And is guest edited by the always amazing, Jonathan Wood.  This one is based on the tarot, and has a short short by me in it called The Tower.  Its kind of based on two cards at once, the tower and the moon. It’s got some great fiction by some other cool authors, so you [...]

[available online]
A Word Without Ghosts
Language is haunted, controlling, transforming. By existing in the realm of language, you exist in the realm of symbols, in the realm of time beyond time. In the realm beyond words. A sister finds the ghost of a brother, a mother, and is almost turned into a bird.
From [...]

[available online]
Fingerbones Hung Like Mobiles
An eerie podcast about longing for the end and trying to escape your current situations. Sometimes you can’t move forward, you can’t move back, you just move onward, toward the abyss. Ghosts in mirrors, spirits of the forests and whispers from the grave.

[available online]
Philannion
Named after a Greek Vampire, this story takes place a few days after a death in the family. Father and son try to reconnect, and only end up pushing further apart as they follow their own obsessions. Each moment they are haunted by each other, and the geometry of their house.

[available online]
Apple Magick
A wry tale about the existence of elves and the ways of torturing them. Humorous, an absurdest anti-fantasy. This story was considered a Notable Story of 2007 by the StorySouth Million Writers Judges.

[available online]
Mr. Waterbones and His Wife
A humorous tale of a man who wishes to live forever and those who have to put up with him afterwards.
The Fix Online’s Review:
“Mr. Water Bones and His Wife” by Paul Jessup is the standout story of the issue. In a few deft strokes, Jessup sketches a menagerie of character [...]

[available online]
Light Like Knives Dragged Across the Skin (audio at Psuedopod, text at Apex Digest)
Symbols play a big part in this story, as well as the ability of symbols to change your mental being. Players change who they are, change their personality by playing a card game. Card game posses them, turns them, [...]

[available online]
The Secret in the House of Smiles
A story involving the art of dime store magic, living on a college campus and dreaming of a better life. Involves strange rituals, quantum vampires and a little bit of Hocus Pocus to keep you in focus. Strange, surreal and dream like propose propels a haunted [...]