“I hate you.” I crouch in front of him. “You have no understanding as to how much. You charmed little prick.”I have to say I agree with this statement when I read about the horrific little brat kid and all of the things the stepmother was telling us he did. He deserved to boil! He was so freaking evil. You can go and read this short for free on Tor.com FREE LINKAnyway, I enjoyed this little short and am going to add it to my collection. It's on Amazon for 99 cents. I hated this little prince wit...

In battle, the soothsayers exulted, he’d be a monster.Funny how they wouldn’t talk about how he was one already.I would love for there to be a sequel from the point of view of (view spoiler)[the being created from the bones (hide spoiler)].

Read this story for free here on Tor.com!I had read this story once before, in the collection Worlds Seen in Passing: Ten Years of Tor.com Short Fiction (which is a magnificent anthology that I highly recommend to anyone looking for an impressive fill of SFF and horror tales), but when my friend Mark reminded me of its existence today, I knew I was overdue a re-read. This was one of my favorite stories in that collection, and I loved it even more upon re-visiting it. When it comes to wicked step...

A well paced and readable story. Had my interest from beginning to end. Enjoyed it very much.

People are always so quick to coo over children. So innocent, they simper as they press the screaming babes to their breast. So helpless. So pure. They forget that wolves are innocent, too, that the wild dogs savaging the family kitten, itself once a thing inclined toward toying with broken-breasted mice, harbor no cruelty in their ribs.I'm guarding the children's section of the library today, beset by unattended brats youngsters sicced on me sent to entertain themselves in our "playland" whilst...

I need more answers!

These Deathless Bones is a macabre fairy-tale that was instantly compelling and morbidly satisfying. The writing is stunning and this short story was an impressive introduction to Cassandra Khaw’s work, it made me realise that I need to read more of her writing!

Weird stuff... A short story at Tor.com about an intolerable brat of a kid (a little prince) told by a mysterious woman. Dark and mysterious.... what's going on.... and who is this woman.... This is the story in short: A horror tale about the Witch Bride, second wife of a King, and the discord between her and her young stepson.Mmmm... fascinating... Out-of-the-box. Tor.com is a good place to explore short stories and get to know unknown authors. Many stories freely available, here's this one: ht...

Impressive, intense and horrifying. I’d read more about this witch queen!

Phoargh!!All I can say is... he had it coming!4 stars

These Deathless Bones is a horror tale about the Witch Bride, the second wife of a King, and the discord between her and her young stepson. "I laugh, a little bitterly. There were many things I wasn’t supposed to do, or be. I wasn’t supposed to be someone’s second chance, someone’s happily ever alternate. I wasn’t supposed to be the malevolent stepmother—heartless, soulless, devoid of the natural compassion expected of childbearing women, the instinct to drop everything and coddle needy,

This week for Short Tuesday I left Nightmare Magazine aside and returned to Tor.com once again to read “These Deathless Bones” by Cassandra Khaw. You can read the short story here…This short story details the relationship between a witch queen and her maniacal young stepson. The piece has evocative, beautiful writing and definitely inspires a sense of dread.Bones pour from every crack in the walls and windows. Lengths of rodent ulna. A blanket of hedgehog spines, undulating down the tapestries.

Brutal and one amazing fairy tale. I want more of this protagonist!It's free too :)http://www.tor.com/2017/07/26/these-d...

“Oh, you little prick.” I smile in the penumbra of the dusty, green light, all teeth and hate. “You will hurt terribly.”and this - this is my reward for dutifully reading a free tor short each week. many of the shorties fall into that “good-not-great” category for me, which is partly down to length, as more words = better as far as i’m concerned, and also just down to personal taste - the freebies give me a risk-free chance to try out authors i might not read otherwise, and not every author is g...

You want a good fairy tale? I mean a good one, that has not been whitewashed by the Victorians. One that still has the blood of the old tales, told around the fire, long after the kids have fallen asleep? Then check out this Tor Original horror short story. All I will say, this being a short story, and not wanting to spoil it, is if you hate the prince in the beginning, you are probably feeling what you should be. Go read it now. It's free.

A chilling fairy tale horror short story, free here at Tor.com. It's a great short read for October. Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:A familiar fairy tale setting: A witch of a stepmother nursing a secret hatred for her stepchild, an eleven year old boy who is the prince of their country. The king, the boy’s father, is oddly absent. But gradually the reader’s expectations are cracked, then shattered, in this dark and disturbing yet morbidly satisfying tale.As the prince and the

A creepy little take of bones, revenge and one sadistic little prince. One of the best Tor shorts I've read.

Amazing. I wish all people like the prince received such a fitting justice. Short freebie, highly recommended. 5 stars!

mind-boggling to me that this trash story has so many admirers. different strokes, I guess. Khaw writes a dark fairy tale in prose that alternates between strenuously mannered and witlessly vulgar. the plot, if one could call it that: over the top child-villain finally meets his match in a wicked witch stepmother. a promising set-up indeed, but this felt like an excuse to devise various ways that animals can be tortured and killed and various ways that an author can be pretentious and portentous...

One of the best short stories i’ve read. The best fantasy short story I’ve read, actually 🤡🤡. This entire book was just so so damn good. I honestly cannot find any flaws with it. First lets talk about the characters, we got the perspective from the “evil” stepmother but damn nothing’s just black and white and the author does such a great job in articulating grey morality. Even the prince, being a side character in such a short story was so well realized, it takes so much talent and precise wordi...