Short Stories

I hope you enjoy reading these short stories. Your feedback is welcome and can be shared with this form.

Please note that all eBooks provided on this website, including the following short stories, are copyrighted works and remain the exclusive intellectual property of the author, Lee J. Russell. All rights are reserved. The Terms & Conditions linked HERE apply, in addition to the terms laid out on this website’s Disclaimer, Privacy & Copyright page.

“Signal 238”

– a Lovecraftian Horror Story, set in the New Cold War [published 13/7/25]

The Royal Navy submarine ‘Vigilance’ is conducting a minimum credible nuclear deterrence patrol somewhere in the deep Atlantic Ocean. On board is Dr. Elira Myles, a civilian scientist who they have been told is testing a new form of ultra-secret sonar equipment. Myles’ true mission is much more dangerous than the payload of ICBMs that ‘Vigilance’ is carrying.

Searching for anomalies that have been detected in the world’s oceans by new quantum-technologies, she will bring the crew into contact with the sleeping place of K-Thalassa, one of the Great Old Ones who ruled the Earth long before the time of humans. But when K-Thalassa stirs, will they lose control of the boat, its missiles and their very lives?

Download a pdf copy of the story for free from here.
published under the Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license, all rights reserved.

Image adapted from “Abstract Black and White Underwater View” by Allan Carvalho on Pexels

“In The Web”

– published in Jupiter SF #34 (2011)

Set in the Isle of Thanet in south-east England, this story collates some ideas that had been brewing in me over the preceding few years. Thanet is a very deprived area of the UK but its urgent need for help doesn’t seem to penetrate far enough into civil society. The towns and villages are home to some lovely people but the decline of most forms of primary economic activity is slowly rotting the area from the core out.

People in Thanet must wonder sometimes if the wider world cares about them – in this story one privileged man has to confront his prejudices about these people. How will that experience change him?

Download a pdf copy of the story for free from here.
Creative Commons “Attribution – Non-Commercial – NoDerivs 2.0 England and Wales” license

“Swimming In The FastWarm Current”

 – published in Jupiter SF #27 (2009)

I love this story and the feedback on it was very positive. It considers an extremely radical solution for human survival after the planet is devastated by over-exploitation of its natural resources. After thousands of years spent inside other animals’ bodies, will people remember how to be “human” again?

I was completely surprised by the ending of this tale when it turned out to be a cliche-free tale of true love.

Download a pdf copy of the story for free from here.
Creative Commons “Attribution – Non-Commercial – NoDerivs 2.0 England and Wales” license

“The Long Night of Keragh Caiside”

The vampire in this story is based on the Irish legend of the ‘Dearg Due’. There are several descriptions of the Dearg Due online, including this one.

I enjoyed writing this early horror story and experimenting with setting.

Download a pdf copy of the story for free from here.
Creative Commons “Attribution – Non-Commercial – NoDerivs 2.0 England and Wales” license

“The Past Does Not Sleep”

This very short story is my humble homage to Gabrielle Garcia Marquez.

The prompts were chocolate and rain.

Download a pdf copy of the story for free from here.
Creative Commons “Attribution – Non-Commercial – NoDerivs 2.0 England and Wales” license

“2AM” – a writing prompt exercise.

This very short story came from a writing prompt to use the words 2AM, cafe and teapot.

This short tapped into my own feelings about insomnia and won a long round of applause when it was read at a local writers’ group meeting.

Download a pdf copy of the story for free from here.
Creative Commons “Attribution – Non-Commercial – NoDerivs 2.0 England and Wales” license

“Beyond the Bounds”

 – Published in the Inpirations Writers’ Group’s “RED” anthology.

This short story taps into the worries I have about Global Warming and Climate Change.

Download a pdf copy of the story for free from here.
Creative Commons “Attribution – Non-Commercial – NoDerivs 2.0 England and Wales” license

“Future Visions”

– a sci fi short story collection

This collection includes a set of science fiction short stories from 2005 to 2012. It had over 750 views on my previous web domain before being published on Kindle. The full collection is no longer available, but these selected stories from it are available for free here:

* The Blessed Light
* Bunker
* Labouring for New UK
* See Jon Swim
* Deep Trouble

all on a Creative Commons “Attribution – Non-Commercial – NoDerivs 2.0 England and Wales” license

In “The Blessed Light” we witness the interplay between terrorism and politics at a mining station on Titan.

“Bunker” looks at life in a survival shelter where the necessary resources for life are becoming increasingly scarce and existence in a virtual world is far more pleasant than their gasping reality.

“Labouring for New UK” illustrates a possible future that could spring from a fascist government hiding in left-wing colours.

“See Jon Swim” places a group of survivors on a floating mining platform on Enceladus. When a massive storm threatens the platform will the native lifeform be able to warn them?

In “Deep Trouble” an explosion in a deep sea station some 2 miles under the Atlantic Ocean sets the scene for a survival struggle between research scientists in and a very primeval organism.