Suspicions: 25 Haunting Short Stories

by Elizabeth Engstrom

In this collection of short fiction, Elizabeth Engstrom expertly plies her trade as a veteran storyteller. Handpicked from her archives of dark and haunting short stories, she has chosen those that will take you on some extraordinary excursions.

She’ll take you across the River Styx, welcome you aboard the judgment day train, let you witness the righteous death of a bad, bad man, climb aboard a mothballed Navy destroyer out for revenge, and take you to a tattoo parlor for a transforming experience. You’ll find mystery, horror, erotica, science fiction, fantasy, and humor, side-by-side, with moving human drama and cautionary, moral tales. In this volume, you’ll view the world through her dark and edgy lens, distorting your vision, and nicking your heart ever so gently in the process.

These stories are not for the faint of heart, the squeamish, or the prudish. Engstrom reaches deep, and pulls forth some harsh realities. If you want light entertainment, you’ll find some of that here. But for the most part, sit back, and get ready for a ride that will take you to places within yourself that you never knew existed.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Dark

Audible Audio

First published February 1, 2002

About the author

Elizabeth (Liz) Engstrom grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois (a Chicago suburb where she lived with her father) and Kaysville, Utah (north of Salt Lake City, where she lived with her mother). After graduating from high school in Illinois, she ventured west in a serious search for acceptable weather, eventually settling in Honolulu. She attended college and worked as an advertising copywriter.

After eight years on Oahu, she moved to Maui, found a business partner and opened an advertising agency. One husband, two children and five years later, she sold the agency to her partner and had enough seed money to try her hand at full time fiction writing, her lifelong dream. With the help of her mentor, science fiction great Theodore Sturgeon, When Darkness Loves Us was published.

Engstrom moved to Oregon in 1986, where she lives with her husband Al Cratty, the legendary muskie fisherman. She holds a BA in English Literature with a concentration in Creative Writing, a Master’s in Applied Theology, and a Certificate of Pastoral Care and Ministry, all from Marylhurst University. An introvert at heart, she still emerges into public occasionally to teach a class in novel or short story writing, or to speak at a writer’s convention or conference.

Reviews

[Alan Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

The collection holds a wide variety of brilliant stories. Elizabeth Engstrom's effortless way of placing the reader within the story experience is in fact a product of her great skill at building characters and weaving mysterious tales, taut with suspense and warmly human. I highly recommend this book.

[Karry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like quite a few of these but there were also some that just didn't engage me, so it seems to go with short stories and me. I like the suspicious kind of mind that questions everything, but there must be SOME things that one can depend on, at least most of the time. I'm looking forward to hearing her speak in April.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange short stories