Is Everything Ready? - Dark Short Stories, #12

An anthology of eight dark short stories. Starting with 'Is Everything Ready?' The General Manager of a plush resort has an event to host for the hotel's owner's wife. It must be perfect. The GM's right-hand man is unhappy; he is religious, and this goes against his beliefs. Black magic versus senior staff? Who wins?It is Halloween, and a young lad must stay at home. Thirteen-year-old George wants to celebrate his birthday with his mates and the girl he fancies.
But his mum knows all about 'rituals' in the woods. She remembers thirteen years ago all too well. Sam's phone is playing up as a man enters the coffee shop. 'Hey, it's you.' He had seen Sam on a broken screen. How was that possible? Sam's pic had fallen from the roof of the condo block above them. Geoff was suffering at his new school; to make it worse, his father was the headmaster. Geoff enlists his mate and some Bangkok bar girls to get his revenge on the teacher, making his life a misery.
Chaem Choi looked at her body; it appeared she had been dipped in the sea. She squeezed her lengthy hair, and a small puddle formed on the tiled floor, like a puppy's pee. Her bed was drenched; she dropped her quilt and pillows to slop quietly beside her drenched pyjamas. The mystery unfolds in a surprising way. He was bored, and he had nothing to do. Then a chance appeared from nowhere. 15 minutes of fame beckoned.
A hangover led to being thrown from a bus in the middle of nowhere. Worse can happen!The final story, 'Cannot Be', can be in a most surprising way.