The Madness at the End of the Universe

By: Jaymes Shore

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Sanity is a relative concept in a universe gone mad.

Jaymes Shore’s latest anthology of science fiction, speculative fiction, horror, and satire features thirty-three tales set in our uncertain and rather unpleasant future. They are not for the squeamish or easily offended.

• Hostile business takeovers become a literal concept in our post-apocalyptic future as employees are drafted into military service for the price war. It’s time to die for your company or face termination.
• Revitalized seeded clone colonies spread humanity across the stars. A programming error transforms one of these worlds into a race of deformed monsters hellbent on punishing all humankind.
• A woman wakes up from a coma and discovers an even greater horror awaiting her. Hospitals exist to make a profit, and you need to pay for the services rendered one way or another.
• The angels have returned to save mankind from itself. Sometimes, the solution is worse than the problem.
• Faith may be a personal choice, but it is also mandatory and permanently imprinted. A teenager is about to make the most important decision of his life, and he’ll never be the same again.
• Can’t find any Gods to save you? Well, you can always build your own. Divine intervention can be deadly. An accident revives a couple of frozen human-made deities, and the population of a human colony suffers under a series of moral extremes.
• Safe sex takes on a whole new meaning on a virus-filled planet. A young couple discovers that shagging up is not all it’s cracked up to be.
• Driverless internet delivery vehicles may be convenient and money-saving, but they may also deposit some unordered psychosis and death at your doorstep.
• Adjusting to life on another planet is harder than you would expect, and the side effects may include madness and death.
• A salvage operation on an abandoned space station takes a deadly turn after an unpleasant discovery. The place serves as the living tomb for the ultimate narcissist. The fellow’s consciousness thrives within his giant statue and controls the entire operation. The unsuspecting salvage team must perpetually serve and stoke their host’s fragile ego or die.
• A skilled marketing professional can rectify any negative publicity. The top man in the field receives the ultimate assignment, changing the public’s perception of our savage alien invaders. They’re nice folks, really.
• Two young stepbrothers are left to fend for themselves during their parent’s winter vacation. A visit from the neighborhood bully and a broken oil burner will be the least of their problems. The unexpected ice storm of the century has arrived, and it’s delivering an evil from another dimension in its wake.
• A terminally ill elitist discovers the one thing money can’t buy: a peaceful and quiet death. Unwanted life extension technology can easily become the worst of all tortures.
• The ultimate gift pops into existence: a new, habitable planet within our solar system. Will mankind make the most of this gift, or will they plunder and abuse the place?
• A deeply flawed, somewhat insane, and insecure man is paying off his debt to society by defending remote Earth colonies from a race of alien invaders. He receives a chance at redemption on a planet named Hope.