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The Ugly Mug: and Other Stories
With more than fifty publications, Darren Todd's short stories have peppered the horror, sci-fi, and literary scene for the last fifteen years. For the first time, several of his previously published works have come together in a single collection, The Ugly Mug, with tales hand-picked by the author and the original story, "The Hounds of Hellville," written just for this volume.
Todd elevates genre short fiction beyond entertainment. Whether it's the titular story of a haunted mug driving the new office hire mad, or a worrisome look at the near future, where the guilty simply hire someone to do their prison time, these stories will challenge as much as engage.
So be ready to worry, to laugh, to cringe, to wonder. To feel the warm tingle of vindication for the wicked while still casting down your eyes for the ill-fated and forgotten. Dive in until the surface grows dim above you, for there's treasure to find.
Todd elevates genre short fiction beyond entertainment. Whether it's the titular story of a haunted mug driving the new office hire mad, or a worrisome look at the near future, where the guilty simply hire someone to do their prison time, these stories will challenge as much as engage.
So be ready to worry, to laugh, to cringe, to wonder. To feel the warm tingle of vindication for the wicked while still casting down your eyes for the ill-fated and forgotten. Dive in until the surface grows dim above you, for there's treasure to find.
299 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 15, 2023
8 people are currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
Darren Todd
35 books5 followersDarren Todd’s fiction has appeared in more than forty publications over the years, including Hellbound Books, Chilling Tales for Dark Nights, and the Stoneslide Corrective.
He has had four plays and a feature-length film produced and a non-fiction book on copyright law published.
Darren is a freelance editor for Evolved Publishing and heavily involved in both group and online peer review.
He has had four plays and a feature-length film produced and a non-fiction book on copyright law published.
Darren is a freelance editor for Evolved Publishing and heavily involved in both group and online peer review.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 23, 2024
Picked this up on a whim in a coffee shop in North Carolina. The cover art was intriguing and I can’t resist a Horror anthology. I greatly enjoyed this collection of works by Darren Todd. Mostly horror but a few more literary that surprised me. Some of my favorites were The Order of the Second Death, The Black Echo, Goldbug, and Progression. The authors notes for each work was a nice touch, I enjoyed seeing him talk about the story itself as well as the process of its creation.
Will be on the lookout for his other and future work.
Will be on the lookout for his other and future work.
March 12, 2023
Captivating Read
From the first page to the last I couldn’t stop reading! I was hooked on the creativity of each story and HAD to keep reading to see what this author dreamed up next. I’ve never read a book that contained the author’s notes between the stories before, and I found those just as riveting as the stories themselves. I recommend reading this book to all of my friends and family. I can’t wait for Darren Todd’s next book!
From the first page to the last I couldn’t stop reading! I was hooked on the creativity of each story and HAD to keep reading to see what this author dreamed up next. I’ve never read a book that contained the author’s notes between the stories before, and I found those just as riveting as the stories themselves. I recommend reading this book to all of my friends and family. I can’t wait for Darren Todd’s next book!
November 3, 2025
An imaginative collection of short stories aimed at the sweet spot between literary fiction and eerie horror. Many stories have that Twilight Zone/Ray Bradbury vibe, with a lot of poetic justice dispensed. A nice touch is the short afterward to each story, telling how it came about.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews