Mark Gagnon
Bio
My life has been spent traveling here and abroad. Now it's time to write.
I have three published books: Mitigating Circumstances, Short Stories for Open Minds, and Short Stories from an Untethered Mind. Unmitigated Greed is do out soon.
Achievements (1)
Stories (451)
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I'd Like A Room Please. Top Story - July 2025.
I travel a lot for work and usually stay at one of the major hotel chains. Their rooms are normally clean, beds comfortable, and the interior walls soundproof enough that if the person next door sneezes, I don’t feel compelled to say, “Bless you.” Unfortunately, none was available for this trip.
By Mark Gagnon6 months ago in Horror
Finders Are Not Always Keepers
I stood at the foot of a staircase that piqued my curiosity. A sign on each riser proclaimed where the contents of the room above had originated: Barns, Estates, Cellars, and Attics. Best of all, everything is “half off.” Half off, what exactly is a mystery? By striding to the top of the stairs, would I be entering a treasure trove of unique antiquities or a room full of other people’s castoffs? Only one way to find out—I climbed.
By Mark Gagnon6 months ago in Horror
I Believe We’ve Met Before
It had been ten years since Pete returned home from a war that everyone said was mankind’s last. He knew as much as he wanted it to be true, human nature would find a way to nullify that bold statement. It always did. What he knew for certain was the life he had built for himself and his young family since he’d returned was far better than what he had imagined it would be ten years ago.
By Mark Gagnon6 months ago in Fiction
The Bunker
I can’t be the only one looking for answers about this place. Aren’t you just a little curious? There are so many questions; who built it, why was it built here, and the thing that nags at me more than all the other questions, what’s being kept behind that reinforced door? I know none of it is any of my business, but I simply must know.
By Mark Gagnon7 months ago in Horror
Who Judges Success
An elderly gentleman casually strolled around the perimeter of the gallery, admiring the paintings. He would stop in front of each one, read the placard describing who the artist was, the year it was painted, and the title of the work. There were very few people visiting the gallery on a weekday morning, so he could take as long as he wanted, drinking in each one’s unique beauty. The only distractions came from a passing guard striding by on his rounds or a docent asking if he needed any help. Each painting portrayed a different scene, but used the ocean as a backdrop.
By Mark Gagnon7 months ago in Journal
Talking Points 1905
I started the company van the other day and was immediately greeted by a bombastic baritone voice booming from the radio. I’m not sure who the speaker was because, to me, they all sound alike. It doesn’t matter if it’s politics or sports, I never listen to talk radio. I want to hear music when I turn on the box, not someone proselytizing.
By Mark Gagnon7 months ago in History
Until the End of Our Time
I can’t remember a time when Maddie wasn’t in my life. We met as toddlers, our parents were next-door neighbors, and we spent almost every day playing together. Many children drift apart once they start school, but not Maddie and me. We attended the same grammar school, had the same teachers, and helped each other with homework. Inseparable, joined at the hip, two peas in a pod and all those other tired clichés were used to describe us by the adults. That’s how it was right up to the day her father got promoted and the family moved to another state.
By Mark Gagnon7 months ago in Fiction
The Black Widow House
I am now the proud owner of this Federal-style house and barn that was built two years before our country was born. Over time, it’s been added to and updated somewhat, but the original structure still stands. Of course, it’s not in move-in condition since the last resident died twenty years ago and the current occupants—spiders, bats in the attic, and a family of raccoons don’t perform maintenance. It will take time and money to restore, but I have plenty of both after winning the lottery.
By Mark Gagnon7 months ago in Horror
My Future Plan
I hear the other kids say, “When I grow up, I want to be a firefighter, astronaut, truck driver, doctor….” The list is endless. Most kids want to follow in their parents’ footsteps, but from what I can tell, very few do. It’s hard to know what you want to be at a young age. That’s probably why I’m having such a hard time figuring out what path I will follow.
By Mark Gagnon7 months ago in Fiction
Child's Play
Mystifying Marvin and his assistant, Bodacious Brenda, worked the senior circuit, which consisted of 55+ and assisted living communities. The duo, whose shows never lasted past 9:00p.m., bewildered and impressed their audiences with sleight of hand and Marvin’s specialty, hypnosis. Brenda would meander through the crowd, selecting unsuspecting and relatively spry audience members to take part in the hypnosis segment of the act.
By Mark Gagnon7 months ago in Fiction
Move to the Rhythm. Top Story - June 2025.
We are all born with a natural rhythm. It controls our actions and thoughts from birth until death. I know this sounds like an oversimplification because everyone seems so different. Some people may sing like a nightingale or croak like a frog. Others move like they are walking on air while the rest of us dance as though we are wearing cement shoes. No matter where our talents lie, the beat is in us all. Let me explain.
By Mark Gagnon7 months ago in Humans
When Reality Stops
Stan, a 55-year-old traveling salesman, is a Bostonian through and through. The Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics and Bruins are the only teams worth rooting for. In Stan’s world change can never be a good thing. His third-floor walkup apartment is the same one he and a fellow student originally rented while attending Suffolk University 35 years ago. The roommate moved on, Stan did not. Why leave a place he knows.
By Mark Gagnon7 months ago in Horror
