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Assistant to a Judge of Hell & Other Stories
In Assistant to a Judge of Hell, San Guan finally has a crack at reincarnation after a thousand years as a bureaucrat in hell, but only if he can convince a slanderous, insubordinate, and recently-deceased Pan Xiaojian to take the job.
In Babies, Bradley notices that his wife Anne is acting strangely after he finds a litter of babies in the street.
In Warniks, Nimit Okeke, the Speaker of the Solar System, is facing the worst crisis of his administration, and it isn’t the teddy bear-shaped aliens who just gravity-bombed Jupiter.
In Bad Soul, Jade Blossom laments how nothing ever changes, but when he enlists a crude and charismatic poet to push his radical ideas, he unwittingly unleashes a force of nature along with some questionable poetry!
These four stories from the warped brain of Shannon Rampe are darkly twisted, using unexpected violence, vicious snark, and wanton chaos to wildly comedic effect. Terrible, nasty people get their comeuppance and good people—okay, maybe slightly superficial, moderately selfish people—come out on top.
Shannon Rampe is the author of When Stars Move and Other Stories. His writing has appeared in Speculative City, Abyss & Apex, and on The Gallery of Curiosities podcast, amongst others. He writes novels and short stories, plays video games, and practices yoga and craft cocktail making (though not usually at the same time) in southern California. Follow him at www.shannonrampe.com for more.
In Babies, Bradley notices that his wife Anne is acting strangely after he finds a litter of babies in the street.
In Warniks, Nimit Okeke, the Speaker of the Solar System, is facing the worst crisis of his administration, and it isn’t the teddy bear-shaped aliens who just gravity-bombed Jupiter.
In Bad Soul, Jade Blossom laments how nothing ever changes, but when he enlists a crude and charismatic poet to push his radical ideas, he unwittingly unleashes a force of nature along with some questionable poetry!
These four stories from the warped brain of Shannon Rampe are darkly twisted, using unexpected violence, vicious snark, and wanton chaos to wildly comedic effect. Terrible, nasty people get their comeuppance and good people—okay, maybe slightly superficial, moderately selfish people—come out on top.
Shannon Rampe is the author of When Stars Move and Other Stories. His writing has appeared in Speculative City, Abyss & Apex, and on The Gallery of Curiosities podcast, amongst others. He writes novels and short stories, plays video games, and practices yoga and craft cocktail making (though not usually at the same time) in southern California. Follow him at www.shannonrampe.com for more.
105 pages, Paperback
Published November 21, 2023
2 people are currently reading
About the author
Shannon Rampe
4 books5 followersShannon Rampe is a writer and project manager living in southern California. He has attended the Viable Paradise Writing Workshop, the Taos Toolbox Writing Workshop, and Paradise Lost. He is the author of the Amazon bestseller WHEN STARS MOVE & OTHER STORIES and ASSISTANT TO A JUDGE OF HELL & OTHER STORIES.
His works have appeared in Speculative City, Abyss & Apex, and The Gallery of Curiosities podcast, amongst others. In 2015, he was a semi-finalist for the Writers of the Future award. His hobbies include yoga, video games, and craft cocktail-making (though not usually at the same time).
Shannon is represented by Susan Velazquez Colmant at JABberwocky Literary Agency. Follow him at www.shannonrampe.com for more.
His works have appeared in Speculative City, Abyss & Apex, and The Gallery of Curiosities podcast, amongst others. In 2015, he was a semi-finalist for the Writers of the Future award. His hobbies include yoga, video games, and craft cocktail-making (though not usually at the same time).
Shannon is represented by Susan Velazquez Colmant at JABberwocky Literary Agency. Follow him at www.shannonrampe.com for more.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 3, 2022
The author has created now a second fantastic collection of short stories. The first story in this collection--the title story--may be my favorite story Rampe has had published. First of all, it's hilarious. For example:
It's also, I think, a poignant reminder that: generally speaking, things could always be worse. It's a nice little coincidence that I recently saw "Don't Look Up," which holds a similar lesson (albeit in different form, though a similar level of hilarity). In this, we understand there are worse hells; in "Don't Look Up," we understand that humanity has achieved it all, and enough to share if we wanted to, but we're incapable of appreciating that all could be enough. Both stories lead me to feel grateful with what I have, as there are always literal ends-of-the-world and figurative worse hells...but not yet.
the creases around her eyes and mouth suggested a lifetime of poor skin care habits rather than profound wisdom.
“The judges of hell, in their infinite wisdom, have already weighed your sins and determined that your fate is to serve as the newest Assistant to the Judges of Hell. I have been charged with,” he paused and cleared his throat, “showing you the ropes.”
the theft would rate him seventy-three minutes of hell instead of only two. Of course, the vehicular manslaughter will net him one hundred twenty-nine years of hell, so some might say the difference between two and seventy-three minutes is negligible. But not to us. In hell, we keep track of every minute!”
“Where are they going?” Pan Xiaojian asked. San Guan sighed. “The trial is complete. The mighty lords now enjoy a snack break.”
It's also, I think, a poignant reminder that: generally speaking, things could always be worse. It's a nice little coincidence that I recently saw "Don't Look Up," which holds a similar lesson (albeit in different form, though a similar level of hilarity). In this, we understand there are worse hells; in "Don't Look Up," we understand that humanity has achieved it all, and enough to share if we wanted to, but we're incapable of appreciating that all could be enough. Both stories lead me to feel grateful with what I have, as there are always literal ends-of-the-world and figurative worse hells...but not yet.
May 11, 2025
This is a very entertaining collection of four short stories. I don't laugh out loud much when I'm reading, but the spine tingling humor in the "Babies" story induced an audible chuckle at a couple points. The Warniks story stood out to me as well. All four stories are cleverly written and worthwhile. I highly recommend this collection for a quick, enjoyable reading experience.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews