Author of Glasgow and Scots-Noir
Published Short Stories
by JS Apsley
*This is a selected list of published stories. See "The Long List" for the entire catalogue.
Coming Soon...
"Needle's Eye", Creation Magazine - March 2026
"The Vigil of Bernadette Marsden", Fiction on the Web - April 2026
"God of Soil", Lovecraftiana - April 2026
"Gudeman's Land", The Bleeding Margin - May 2026
"God of Soil II - The Dweller Rises", Lovecraftiana - June 2026
"Mister Coincidence", Shlock! - June 2026
"God of Soil III - The Pact", Lovecraftiana - October 2026
"Night Work" (c) JS Apsley 2026, first published by Infocalypse Art & Literary Magazine, February 2026.
Glasgow's oldest resident finds that someone else now owns the night . . . and makes his move.
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"Prisoners, both" (c) JS Apsley 2026, first published by Infinity Wanderers Magazine, January 2026.
A man finally tells his son about a mysterious telescope which can see precisely one day into the future.
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"Jimmy Allen's Lockbox" (c) JS Apsley 2026, first published by The Brussels Review in their horror anthology TBR Dark, January 2026.
A market trader at Glasgow's Barras has to think quickly when the demonic owner of a piece of gold jewellery comes calling.
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"The Selkie's Lament" (c) JS Apsley 2026, first published by WATG Writing Against the Grain, January 2026.
She is of two worlds, and therefore never of one.
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"Flee to the River" (c) JS Apsley 2026, first published by Lunar Sea Literary, January 2026.
A little boy listens to his Granny's tales of the Dracae, the little golden fairies of the river.
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"Unknown Caller" (c) JS Apsley 2026, first published by Cafelit Magazine, January 2026.
​A man struggling to deal with his wife's memory loss starts to get mysterious phone calls from an "unknown caller".
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"The Thunderbird of Ailsa Craig" (c) JS Apsley 2025, first published by the Brussels Review in their Anthology "Heartwarming Stories", November 2025.
A woman takes her daughter to visit the island of Ailsa Craig, as they come to terms with a terrible loss.
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"Sandy Bane" (c) JS Apsley, first published by Mobius BLVD, November 2025.
An up-and-coming blues band are asked to play a gig in a remote Scottish village and fall into the clutches of the demonic Sandy Bane and his MC, "The Offspring".
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"Margot Morgana" (c) JS Apsley 2025, first published by Flora Fiction, November 2025.
A man struggling with his own mortality visits the mysterious Margot Morgana for advice.
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"Desperate for the Flesh" (c) JS Apsley 2025, first published by Witch House Magazine of Cosmic Horror, November 2025.
A widow climbs to the top of a condemned high-rise in the hope of meeting a man who says he has a message from her husband.
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"Home and Away" (c) JS Apsley 2025, first published by Scottish literary journal Causeway/Cabhsair, October 2025.
Aul' Henry is a favourite amongst the terraces of Shawlands Thistle, but he's just not so sure about the players as he used to be.
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"The Black Water Adventure" (c) JS Apsley 2025, first published by Spaceports & Spidersilk, October 2025.
In this children's short story, two girls find a strange bathtub full of black water ... and then the creatures start to appear!
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"The Guisers" (c) JS Apsley 2025, first published by Rat Bag Literary, October 2025
A father and son walk through the Southern Necropolis on Halloween . . . and something is watching.
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"The Glasgow Ghoul" (c) JS Apsley 2025, first published by Fiction on the Web, October 2025
Glasgow, 1990 - the "city of culture", and the biggest festive carnival in the city's history. But amongst the colour and crowd, a ghoul is lurking.
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"Salvage" (c) JS Apsley 2025, first published by The Colored Lens, October 2025
I wake, not knowing who I am, but I am on a sinking ship, and I must escape. And then, I hear a boy cry. A dystopian science fiction tale.
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"Jenny Greenteeth" (c) JS Apsley 2025, first published by Necessary Fiction, October 2025. Performed on Podcast "Tales to Terrify" in February 2026 (Episode 732).
A police woman hunts a spectre on the banks of the River Kelvin.
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"Troll" (c) JS Apsley 2025, first published by Sudden Flash, September 2025.
A man flees through the Clyde Tunnel, and is forced to confront something terrible.
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"The Burned Man" (c) JS Apsley 2025, first published by Trashlight Press, August 2025. Also performed by Val Cole for WildSound on Youtube, see above video, or here.
A man confesses to his wife that he is being stalked by a mysterious stranger with terrible burns.
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"Dustworld" (c) JS Apsley 2025, first published by Corner Bar Magazine, August 2025
A murder mystery set in a dystopian near future, where the world has been smothered by dunes of sand and dust.
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"Auld Sneaky" (c) JS Apsley 2025, first published by Tales of the Unreal, August 2025
A couple grieving the loss of a child uncover a monstrous conspiracy in a small Scottish coastal village.
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"The Last Conversation" (c) JS Apsley 2025, first published by Pointed Circle Literary Journal, July 2025.
Two strangers meet in a diner to have one last conversation, as the world ends.
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"All the Dead Beasts" (c) JS Apsley 2025, first published by Flash Phantoms, July 2025.
A nightlife consultant visits a basement to scope it out as a new speakeasy, and finds she may not be the only thing down there.
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"Under Exam Conditions" (c) JS Apsley 2025, first published by Muleskinner Journal in July 2025. You can read the full journal here.
A graduate looking for government work takes a very strange exam.
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"Another One of the Missing" (c) JS Apsley 2025, first published by Litbreak Magazine, June 2025.
A man confesses to his wife that he is being stalked by a mysterious stranger with terrible burns.
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"The Last Free Wolf in Scotland" (c) JS Apsley 2025, first published by Trashlights Press, June 2025.
An impressionable young man falls under the spell of a re-wilder with ulterior motives.
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"The Shore at the End of the Black Lake" (c) JS Apsley 2025, first published by Bewildering Stories, June 2025.
An experimental science fiction short about the journey to sentience.
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"Gleamers" (c) JS Apsley 2025, first published by Suburban Witchcraft, June 2025
A dental technician has to deliver a very special set of teeth to a mysterious customer, known only as Mr Ferric.
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"The Secret of Glasgow's Gold" (c) JS Apsley, first published by Litbreak Magazine, June 2025.
Two council workers stumble across evidence of a secret hoard of gold, hidden in catacombs below George Square.
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"The Shape at the Finnieston Crane" (c) JS Apsley 2025, First published by Underside Stories, May 2025.
A police officer interviews a man with a very strange story to tell.
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"Let the River Speak" (c) JS Apsley 2025, First published by Lowlife Lit Press April 2025.
A man runs from his demons and finds himself on a bridge at the River Clyde. And then, the river speaks.
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"Immersion" (c) JS Apsley 2025, First published by Ringwood Publishing January 2025. Winner, Ringwood Short Story Prize
Set in Glasgow, a woman becomes infatuated with the Salvador Dali painting "Christ of St John of the Cross". This, JS Apsley's debut fiction submission, won the Ringwood Publishing Short Story Prize 2024.
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