Grave Markers, Volume Six

A collection of previously published individual Grave Markers that includes Barlow Adams' "The Grimm Reaper," Rob Smales' "Red Blood, White Wood," and Ezekiel Kincaid's "The Memoir of Darius Fischer."

The Grimm Reaper: Sugar and spice and everything nice, that's what little girls are made of.

And that's exactly what Arthur Rosenbaum was looking for -- the perfect woman. One who was, like him, a romantic, one who was old-fashioned...one who was pure. That was important because good little girls didn't do bad things. But Arthur had learned there were plenty of bad girls out there, bad girls who pretended to be good. Those girls needed to be punished. And he needed his faith in love restored. So all that nasty flesh became the pages upon which he "wrote" his stories, the fairy tales that mad him happy again and restored his faith in true love. Once the story was done, he was free to continue his search for the perfect woman.

And then he meets Rowan, a "special" young woman who possesses a child-like innocence. She is perfect in every way, and Arthur feels as though he has finally found the one. But Arthur is about to realize that no fairy tale is complete without its villain, its evil witch... Its big, bad wolf. And to win the hand of princess he must first defeat this adversary. The question is, at 55 years old, is he up to the challenge?

Red Blood, White Wood: Timothy Carpenter was the lone survivor of the pirate ship Ravager. In custody, the tale he had to tell was too outlandish to believe -- native curses, a deadly fog, and something within the fog. Admiral Buchanan of the HMS Lionheart read the pirate's account of the things that transpired with mounting disbelief. But now the fog is rolling in, and he's about to realize just how much truth is in the man's words.

The Memoir of Darius Fischer: For as long as Darius Fischer can remember, his grandfather had an air of mystery about him, and he harbored many secrets, secrets he kept hidden from his own family. Now that the old man has passed away, Darius is free to explore those secrets and dispel the mystery surrounding the man. But what he finds only deepens the mystery.

He finds, locked away inside a chest, strands of grayish white hair secured by a leather band. What was so important about these strands of hair, and why did the old man keep them under lock and key?

From the moment he arrives home, Darius begins to witness some strange events, and a menacing shadowy figure pursues him. When he starts experiencing blackouts and waking in strange places, covered in blood, he questions his sanity. He seeks out help, first spiritual, then psychological. But has he put it off too long? Is he too late to save himself from the demons he inadvertently released?