Minutes After Midnight
This short story anthology delves into horrifying and macabre events that unfold once the clock strikes twelve. These ominous tales subvert perceptions and narrative expectations through elements of the surreal. Though these stories are unrelated, thematically, they reside within the same dark, twisted universe.
With each passing minute after midnight, you will be drawn deeper into a more disturbing realm of mankind's nightmares.
It is 12:01 a.m. The first issue awaits you.
12:01 AM | AFTERLIFE
A Catholic priest cuts Midnight Mass short when he learns his first child is being born that Christmas night. But as he’s locking up, a lone stranger appears at the church doors. The priest lets him in, only to realise, far too late, the scale of his mistake.
12:02 AM | TWO HEARTS
“Meet at midnight. Bring the money. Don’t be late.”
Kavin slips into the forests of Boulder, Colorado, to meet his internet lover for the first time—someone made to be perfect in every way.
12:03 AM | THE FIFTEENTH FLOOR
Jackie has always leaned on his successful twin whenever money runs tight. But when he discovers his brother has lost everything except a single ticket to a new life, Jackie realises he no longer wants cash—he wants the ticket.
12:04 AM | LILY & THE BLACK OCEANS
Luana waits in a dinghy off San Quentin for two late accomplices. Months of planning brought her here, but a storm is brewing and her waters have broken. The run to Mexico was always risky, and tonight childbirth is only the start of her troubles.
12:05 AM | BABY BLUE
A grieving mother heads deep into the Albuquerque desert to bury a loved one before her son discovers the truth. But when an unstable stranger suddenly climbs into her car, her plan unravels. The desert is where you hide your problems, not pick up new ones.
12:06 AM | MWAMBA
Hemmed in by a chittering black forest in rural Tanzania, Kibwe tries to flee his abusive father. He’s caught before he can reach freedom, and what follows forces him to confront how thin the line between man and monster truly is.
12:07 AM | OUR DEEPEST DARKESTS
When two Puritan sisters are found in Salem’s forbidden woods after nightfall, their motives fall under immediate suspicion. In a town where the first accuser is always believed, keeping a family alive becomes nearly impossible.
12:08 AM | THE BLEW DEVILS
On the night his band is due to play at The Blew Devils nightclub, a jazz trumpeter fighting to quit heroin is forced to choose between the drugs and the music when he comes face to face with his demons.
12:09 AM | NO PLACE TO DIE
When gold is discovered in a small American town, everything changes. As fortunes rise around him, a near-bankrupt undertaker devises a grim scheme to claw his way back from ruin.
12:10 AM | THE LADY OF THE LAND
In a city where rent can cost you your life, two well-off colleagues escort their drunk friend home and discover the real price of living in the wrong neighbourhood.