I am a published short story author and independently published writer of the Kingdom Series. The following is a sample of my work. At the top are my free stories, copyright (c) Jim Doran. Below are my short tales published in various online sites and anthologies.
A few of my short stories support my novels, but most are unique and self-contained. If you’re a reader who follows the site or follows me on social media, an agent, a publisher, a bookseller, someone who heard about me and were curious, or you just accidentally ended up here, welcome. As I mention in “Why I Write,” part of my personal mission is to provide entertainment to the world. The free stories offered here are mostly for fun. I hope you will curl up with one and get lost in it for a while.
An Extraordinary Philtrum (Contemporary) is a piece of fun, flash fiction. First dates are awkward but what happens when your date starts talking nonsense? (Posted October 25, 2020).
Victor Solves a Mystery (Horror comedy) is a short story special for Halloween. On Halloween night, someone has murdered a suspicious character at a dinner party. The crime’s too weird for the police, so they call in a favor from a consultant who has a past with the suspects. (Posted October 25, 2020)
The Witch, the Goose, and the Magic Flower
The Witch, The Goose, and the Magic Flower (Fantasy) is a retelling of two fairy tales—”Joringel and Jorinda” and “The Golden Goose”—mashed together and set in my fairytale world of Kingdom. If you haven’t read my novels, this short story is a good introduction to the type of adventures that exist there. No prior reading of my work required. If you have read Kingdom Come and wondered what happened to Joringel after he retrieved the magic flower, this story explains the results of his quest. (Posted August 2017).
I hope to add more short stories in the future.
Published short stories
Beware the Man of Straw (Thriller) – Published on https://gohavok.com . This piece of flash fiction was published on January 14, 2021 and describes what happens when four gaming convention-goers take a sudden pitstop in the middle of the wheat fields of Indiana. Written in the style of a Twilight Zone episode, “Straw” is a fun piece of fiction I wrote for Hallowe’en one year and decided to submit it.
Excerpt: AnnaMarie entered the wheat with her hands cupped around her mouth. “Gavin.” The wheat swallowed her after a few steps in.
Evicted (Mystery) – Published on https://gohavok.com . In this piece of flash fiction, published on June 7, 2021, four homeowners stand tall against a greedy capitalist who has bought their land. The wealthy man is about to evict them, but does he have secrets of his own? This appeared on Mystery Monday on the Havok site and while not a typical whodunnit, it holds a secret at the end which brings everything into focus.
Excerpt: The red-brick houses behind Mick Scholmberg huddled together like prisoners awaiting a firing squad, hoping for a reprieve but at the same time sullenly resolved.
Words to Live By (Thriller) – Published on https://gohavok.com on October 7, 2021. Another piece of flash fiction in the world of horror fiction, this one describes a murderer who befriends a female stand-up comic. As they are walking through a park and she’s describing her profession, things take a turn for the worse. I wrote this one for Havok to publish in October as a short Hallowe’en tale and it turned out rather nice. My longtime collaborator, Daniel Johnson, created the illustration on the right detailing the spooky setting.
As it turns out, Words to Live By won a spot in Havok’s anthology Casting Call. So the story will be featured in their eBook and paperback. I’m so honored and delighted. It was released on April 29, 2022. See https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09X7QBJDM
Excerpt: They strolled arm-in-arm toward the massive topiary and the line of thick conifers—a private place to cover her mouth and muffle her scream.
Lonely Is the Hunt (Thriller) – A short story published in Moonlight and Claws, Lonely Is the Hunt debuted on October 15, 2021. My offering is a short tale of a lone wolfman in the Oregon wilderness whose nosy neighbor upsets his world. The story imagines what would happen if wolfmen (not werewolves) existed in our world today. Not as a plague or a pack like many other stories describe, but as a solitary figure, harkening back to the world of Larry Talbot. How would a modern person deal with lycanthropy?
The Extra (Science Fiction) – A short story published in Every Day Fiction (https://everydayfiction.com) on February 9, 2022 is a flash fiction piece of a digital green screen character who is suddenly noticed by the main actress and the director. This is one of my favorite stories I’ve written.
Down Twisted Cypress Way (Fantasy) – A short story published by Havok (https://gohavok.com), it details a timid young lady making her way across a forest rumored to be infested with monsters. It published on July 7, 2022.
Dark Angels (Horror) – A piece of flash fiction published by Every Day Fiction (https://everydayfiction.com), this end-of-autumn tale describes a cider mill employee who encounters something unnatural on his last day of work.
Frankenstein’s Manor (Horror) – When three teenagers decide to frequent one last haunted attraction for the night, they find themselves trapped by a madman. A short story published in the anthology Who’s the Monster? , my offering centers on the creation and why he remains terrifying even to this day.
Excerpt: I reached a bend in the enclosed hallway and rounded a corner with the rest [of my party] on my heels. To my left, a metal door with the spray-painted words “do not enter” barred any further progress. I reasoned it must be an exit.
I shuffled past, but Eliza’s hand landed on my shoulder. “We should go through that exit.”
A rule-follower, May snapped, “Absolutely not. We came here to see the attraction, not get thrown out.”
“The so-called attraction is lame.” Eliza popped a bubble from her gum with a crack as if adding an audible exclamation point to her opinion.
I said, “Let’s go, Eliza.”
Undeterred, she turned, open the door, and rushed through.
The Wick of Anger (Horror) – When a young man grows angry, he finds he can raise the dead in revenge. Though powerful, he is unwilling to face the source of that rage. Published on Havok ( https://gohavok.com ) on October 20, 2022, my “back from the dead” campfire tale follows a different trajectory than most and was my personal Halloween story for 2022. Read more about it on my blog at Warm and Cold Stories.
Dermis (Horror) – On his way home for a break, a college student has a discussion with his old high school friend (Madison) about how much skin weighs. He thinks nothing of it as first until he decides an impromptu visit to Madison. Published November 7, 2022. This flash fiction story is more gruesome than my usual offerings. Read about its humble origins at Dermis.
Dermis was also selected as a potential entry in Havok’s Anthology of Vice and Virtue.
The Cement City (Fantasy/Adventure) – This story was published on Havok (again, https://gohavok.com) on March 20, 2023. Rebecca is an agent who is hired to track down and rescue supernatural creatures from a cruel world. In Greece, Rebecca may meet her match as she races after a creature whose very existence threatens everyone around her. I wrote a little about connecting short stories at Cement City. I consider this one story in a connected world I call the DEED series. DEED stands for the Department of Extraordinary Emigration Delivery.
The Hidden Land (Fantasy / Adventure) – This is another Havok-published flash fiction piece set in my DEED world. When a young centaur and her grandfather set out to greet her mother, grandpa explains why they emigrated to this fantastical land, and why his daughter’s work is so important. What grandfather doesn’t know is if his granddaughter’s mother will be returning… (https://gohavok.com).
Lester’s Business Venture (Fantasy) – A third in my DEED series published by Havok, Lester is a cryptid with an idea. He’s got big plans for his future as long as DEED doesn’t find out. Again (https://gohavok.com).
Lester’s Business Venture was also selected for Havok’s Anthology for 2024!
Among Us, The Creature (SFF Anthology) – I have a story published in the third in the Classic Monster Series centered around The Creature from the Black Lagoon. This series runs the gamut of touching (“The Secret”) to humorous (“A Fish Story”) to classic monster action (“Siren Song”). I stuck with the intent of the original movie and wrote a horror tale, updated it to modern times, and gave the creature new powers. Usually, mankind is invading the creature’s habitat. What if there were multiple creatures? And what if they invaded ours. My story, “Among Us, The Creature,” explores that idea. (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CJN8ZMWJ
