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.
"Living Water" (c) JS Apsley 2026, first published by Quotidian Bagatelle, April 2026.
Micro science fiction story about a world without water.
"The Vigil of Bernadette Marsden" (c) JS Apsley 2026, first published by Fiction on the Web, April 2026.
A women meets a very odd man whilst waiting in a hospital lobby.
"Lottie" (c) JS Apsley, first published by Haunted Words Press, April 2026.
Children's fantasy short story about a young girl who sees a giant, invisible axolotl.
​​​​
​
"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.
"Needle's Eye" (c) JS Apsley 2026, first published by Creation Magazine, February 2026.
A man dares himself to walk through the mysterious "Needle's Eye" whilst on a family holiday.
​​​​
​
"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.
Prisoners, both has also been performed by voice actor Val Cole (Wildsound Festival), which you see on Youtube below.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
"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.
​
"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.
​
"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.
​
"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".
​
​
"The Thunderbird of Ailsa Craig" (c) JS Apsley 2025, first published by the Brussels Review in their Anthology "Heartwarming Stories", December 2025.
A woman takes her daughter to visit the island of Ailsa Craig, as they come to terms with a terrible loss.
​
"Sandy Bane" (c) JS Apsley, first published by Mobius BLVD, December 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".
​
​
​
"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.
​
"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 dead husband.
​
​
​
"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.
​
"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!
​
"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.
​
"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.
​
"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.
​
"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.
​
​
​
"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.
​
​
​
"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.
​
"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.
​
"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.
​
"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.
​
"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.
​
"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.
​
"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.
​
"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.
​
"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.
​
"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.
​
"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.
​
"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.
​
"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.
​
"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.
​