The Thirteenth Floor

Cover of The Thirteenth Floor by Scott Michael Powers

For 95 years the ghosts of The Hotel Stella have been trapped together on a secret floor—bored and bickering. Making things more uncomfortable for them, back when they were mortals, several of them murdered each other, leading to their souls’ internment as ghosts until a visitor might unlock their secrets. Perhaps they should talk with a good shrink.

“‘The Thirteenth Floor’ reads like a heretofore unwritten episode of The Twilight Zone, complete with a quick opening, unique and eerie setting, interesting but imperfect characters and a satisfying conclusion—all in the time it takes to sit down at the dinner table for a nice evening meal. A fun, well-written tale. Recommended.”—Jesse Scheckner in Amazon review.

A short humor story included in The Light Fantastic anthology of speculative fiction short stories. From the sublime to the ridiculous, nine authors follow in the footsteps of great speculative fiction humorists such as Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett in this collection of ten wild and weird tales sure to put a smile on your face.

Excerpt:

Stella had been dressed as Cleopatra for the past 95 years. She was tall, with brunette finger wave-hair. She wore heavy makeup, powder lightening her cheeks and mascara darkening her already-dark eyes. Her merlot-red, thin-lipped smile projected, “Mess with me and you’ll regret it forever.”

“Girls, girls, girls,” the lawyer dressed as a vampire, Himmel, said. “You don’t want to scare away our guest before he gets off. Let’s make nice for just a few minutes, shall we?”

“Don’t patronize me,” Stella said in a voice slow and calm.

“Don’t get so high and mighty with me. You’re no lady. You’re a murderer,” Himmel replied.

“So are you,” Starflower said.

“Oh, are you taking her side now?”

“You killed me!” Starflower said.

“Mercy killing,” Himmel offered.

“You electrocuted me,” Starflower yelled back. “That really hurt.”

“Did you a favor. Trust me.”

Amazon review of “The Thirteenth Floor” from John Hope

For those who love quirky, little ghost stories, this is a good one. The author’s dark sense of humor shines bright, with sassy dialog and entertaining twists. Highly recommended!

Amazon review of “The Thirteenth Floor” from Janelle I

Quick reads are often fun when done right! This one nails it in about 20 minutes or so with some fantastic imagery … one quite poetic considering the character’s unsavory transgressions. And the ending leaves the reader to interpret its meaning in a couple of different ways.

  • ASIN: ‎B09FHWRL41
  • Publisher: Off-University Press (September 4, 2021)
  • Publication date: September 4, 2021
  • Language: ‎English
  • File size: ‎2078 KB
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • Screen Reader: Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting: Enabled
  • Word Wise: Enabled
  • Print length: 42 pages