Strange Ways

By Anthony Izzo

A brand new collection of terrifying tales from the author of The Foundation. 

 

Enter a world where axe murderers, killer aliens, and strange things all lurk. A man with sleep paralysis discovers he is not alone at night. A shortcut through the woods leads to a couple experiencing unimaginable terrors. A vacation goes horribly wrong and turns into a fight for survival.  A man makes a terrifying commitment to avenge his brother's death.

 

Strange Ways: Where horrors invade everyday life, and there is little chance for escape.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anthony Izzo
• Release date: Jul 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201987428

Anthony Izzo

Anthony Izzo is the author of 17 thrillers. He enjoys writing tales of mayhem that include anything from zombies to psycho killers to murderous shapeshifters. Anthony was a judge for the Buffalo Dreams screenplay competition. He recently had a story appear in the "SNAFU: Future Warfare" anthology. When not writing, he enjoys playing loud guitar, reading crime novels, and giving craft beers a good home. He makes his home in Western New York and features Buffalo prominently in his work.

Book preview

The Nebraska Axe Man

Kearney, Nebraska

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1913

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Clayton Ellis scared Laura.  Especially after what she saw him do to the barn cat.

Laura sat with her family and Ellis at the picnic table between the house and the barn. It was just after Sunday service and the Monroe family was having a picnic. Laura, her brothers, Mom, Dad, and Ellis.  She was the oldest child, at seventeen.  She sat across from him, watching Ellis gnaw a piece of fried chicken, his chin slicked with grease.

How’s the chicken, Mr. Ellis? Mom said.

It’s delicious, ma’am, he said with a mouthful of food.

Dad had hired him in the spring to help out on the farm. They’d been painting the barn most of the summer. The incident with the cat had happened last week. Laura had been hanging the wash on the line. Ellis was behind the barn painting. One of the barn cats approached him. He reached for it and it scratched his hand.

The cat attempted to dart away, but Ellis was quick. He snatched the cat up and gave its neck a twist. Laura had gasped. He seemed to sense her watching, and looked over. He held a finger to his lips, indicating she should keep things quiet. After he’d killed the cat, Laura ran into the house.

She hadn’t said a thing to her parents, fearful for her own safety. What became of the cat’s body, she didn’t know.

Laura picked at her own plate of chicken. The thought of what Ellis had done made her nauseous. Plus, she didn’t like the look of him. His hair was overly long and greasy. He often chewed tobacco and spat, something her father never complained about, which surprised Laura.

They finished up the picnic. Her father wouldn’t allow any work on the Sabbath, so they were relaxing. Dad went to read under the oak on the front lawn. Her brothers headed down to the creek. Mom went inside to knit.

Laura went to her room, still debating whether she should tell her mother about the cat.

The day moved on. Mr. Ellis had gone back to the boarding house in town where he was staying. They ate supper. After supper and washing dishes, Laura went outside for some fresh air. For mid-July, it was pleasantly cool this evening. A refreshing breeze blew, rattling a loose board on the barn.

She went to check out the location of the loose board so she could tell Dad. While she was inspecting boards along the side of the structure, Mr. Ellis sidled up to her. He smelled of sweat and manure.

Hello, Laura.

He could’ve been thirty or fifty. She couldn’t tell. Adults all seemed old to her. I thought you went home, Mr. Ellis.

Your father asked me to stop back and get tools ready for tomorrow’s work.

My father doesn’t like anyone working on the Sabbath.

Well, he made an exception. You didn’t say anything about what you saw, did you?

No.

Good girl. It was just a dirty cat. No one will miss it. I’ll be in the barn.

She hurried back to the house. When she was in her room, she shut the drapes and closed the door. Laura wanted to pretend he wasn’t out there at all.

Later that evening, lying in bed, she heard the stairs creak. Heavy footfalls thumped on the steps. That was odd. Neither her parents nor the boys ever got up in the middle of the night. She pulled the sheet up close to her ear.

The footsteps continued in the hallway, and she heard one of the bedroom doors squeal open.

An odd, thwack echoed down the hallway. Once, twice. There was a pause, then she heard the noise again. Shivers rippled through her. Something was very wrong.

Steeling herself, Laura flung off the sheet and crept to her door. She cracked it open and peered into the hallway. From her brothers’ room emerged Mr. Ellis. He carried her father’s axe in one hand. Blood decorated the front of his shirt.

He glided through the hallway like a phantom and went in her parents’ room. She wanted to scream, run into the hallway, and warn her parents, but she froze. Her bladder felt like it might let go at any moment.

Again, she heard the whacking sound again, and this time she knew the source. He was killing Laura’s parents.

Laura felt the urge to run, but fear paralyzed her.  Instead of fleeing, she closed the door and stood listening. After a moment, she backed away. Laura prayed Ellis would just go away. She heard him coming.  The doorknob turned. Ellis opened the door and stepped into her room.

His dirty gray work shirt was now sodden red. Blood had splashed on his face and in his hair.

Hello Laura. Maybe you should’ve told your parents about the cat. Your father might have fired me. I would’ve been gone.

Please, don’t.

You folks are too trusting. Stupid, really. All I had to do was hide in the barn until the lights went out.

Laura backed up until she bumped into the dresser.

Now hold still. I can make this easy or I can make this hard.

He came toward her with the axe as she prepared to join her family.

Sole Survivor

She was sure they were all dead.

Kate Spanner wasn’t the last person on Earth, but it sure felt like it. She was the last one alive in her building after the creatures had gone on a rampage. She was now holed up in her apartment, furniture stacked by the door, the deadbolt in place.

In her bedroom, she had her supplies laid out on the bed. A change of clothes. A set of sturdy hiking boots. A twelve-gauge shotgun with four shells. Some food items and a patched-together first aid kit. She began packing the items in an olive drab backpack.

Once the items were packed, she slipped on the boots and loaded the shotgun. She’d taken it off a dead man outside the complex, on a day they were making a supply run to one of the last partially-stocked grocery stores in the area.

Her building, a thirteen-story apartment complex on the waterfront, had been relatively untouched by the invaders. Until yesterday, anyway. The area around the apartment now looked like a warzone. The military had pulled back after a campaign of air strikes to incinerate the menace.

By some miracle, the building had remained standing.

Kate supposed she was lucky. Her building had remained on the power grid for