Stories Short and Strange
17 short stories for general audiences ranging from the unusual to the unbelievable to the just plain strange.
The Daring Escape of Ellen Craft
History has recorded many daring escapes of slaves from the pre-Civil War South. But none was more daring than that of Ellen Craft and her husband William. Born in 1826 in Clinton, Georgia, Ellen’s father was actually her first enslaver, Col. James Smith. Ellen was so light-skinned she was frequently mistaken for one of his
The Stories in Baby Teeth
The closest we’ve ever come to a real tooth fairy is probably Erin Dunn, a psychiatric epidemiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dunn calls herself “the science tooth fairy” to encourage kids to donate their baby teeth for science. She gives the teeth to Felicitas Bidlack, a specialist in tooth development at the Forsyth Institute, an oral
Final Thoughts — Literally
Have you ever heard someone who has had a near-death experience say “My whole life flashed before my eyes?” That person may have been right. In 2016, researchers were giving an 87-year-old Canadian man who had epilepsy an electroencephalogram (EEG) — a test that detects abnormalities in the brain’s electrical activity — to study his seizures.
The Joy in Forgotten Objects
This is one of my favorite short stories. It was originally published at BewilderingStories.com in Issue 612, and was an Editors’ Choice in the 2015 First Quarterly Review. It’s also included in my book Stories Short and Strange, available on this website and Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle versions (https://www.amazon.com/s?k=%22stories+short+and+strange%22&i=stripbooks&crid=3NM0S4R47KU87&sprefix=stories+short+and+strange+%2Cstripbooks%2C145&ref=nb_sb_noss). By the way, one of these segments actually
What’s In a Name?
Have you ever been traveling, or reading a map, and found a place name that really stands out? Like Dead Injun Creek in Oregon or the Wetback Tank reservoir in New Mexico? There are some weird place names in this country, and as times change, they can be considered embarrassing or downright offensive to contemporary
Protecting the Antarctic
World travel can be life-changing. I’ve visited Hiroshima, Japan; China’s Great Wall; and Kenya’s savanna with its abundant wildlife. All have made a huge impression om me in their own special way. Now I’ve seen Antarctica and its unique and fragile ecosystem, and again, I’ve come away impressed. To a one-time tourist like me, all
When Chimpanzees Practice Medicine
Scientists have released a video of a chimpanzee mother using an insect to treat a wound on her son’s foot. Mom is an endangered female central chimpanzee named Suzee and her son is Sia. After inspection, Suzee snatched an insect from the underside of a leaf, then squeezed it in her mouth and applied the crushed
New Words for 2021
Each year, Merriam-Webster announces new words that are being added to the dictionary. This annual ritual shows how our culture is changing through language. It’s a good indicator to what our thoughts and concerns are. Last year 455 new words make it into the lexicon. They can be divided into the following categories — Online
Swim Antarctica!
For the past two weeks, I’ve been testing a neighbor’s theory about me — he thinks I’m crazy. And after this last adventure, I will concede he has a point. We all need goals, and a major objective in the sport of running is to complete a marathon on all seven continents. But isn’t Antarctica
How to Drive a Fish Crazy
From Reuters: The French pet-care company AgroBiothers Laboratoire has announced it will no longer sell aquariums smaller than 15 litres and only in a rectangular shape. Putting fish in small bowls, especially without filtration and oxygenation, is now considered animal abuse. “People buy a goldfish for their kids on impulse, but if they knew what