Short Stories

Depths Unleashed

Bite of the Ocean

The Depths Unleashed, book 1: Volume 4 (Unleashed Anthology series)
Skywatcher Press 04/25/2023

The water is a place which humans seek out for relaxation, knowing that it is innocuously threatening, we brave its dangers despite our fragility because of the joy and comfort it brings us. By daylight the water feels safe, but as the light flees into night, it becomes sinister and dark, full of unthinkable mysteries and unknown terrors. Unleashed vol 4 drags you into this dangerous water, your air is running out, metric tons of ocean is crushing down on top of you, and it is time for you to face the depths!

This volume will take you to a deep underwater prison, a city at the bottom of a lake, deep diving at 200 feet, into the unexplored bayou, an oil rig in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a terrifying bay in Japan where locals know a kaiju lurks, to terrifying coasts, quiet seaside towns, secluded lakes, unexplored lands, and a coastal resort.

Sixteen authors bring you on a voyage, challenging you to face your fears, injecting you with nonstop tension, mainlining adrenaline, gasping your last breath as you are dragged into The Depths Unleashed book 1!

Stories inside:
Rich Restucci – Pressure
Scotty Sarafian – Finds from Musker Beach
Heather Miller – Bone Dry
Christopher Bond – Beneath the Reach of Sound
Marie Lanza – Wetlands
Jacob Austin – First Dip
Andrew Punzo – Grow, Monster
Michael Paige – The Dismal Maw
Victoria Dalpe – The Lady of Blood Lake
Barend Nieuwstraten III – Skin Deep
Toni Mobley – Orange is the Light
Craig Crawford – Shibushi Bay
Claire Davon – Bite of the Ocean
Richard Beauchamp – Infinite Brazas
Brandon Scott – Ominous Seas
Matthew Hollis Damon – The Thing at the End of the World

Excerpt

At five feet, the water was cool, but sunshine still warmed the surface area. The ship—what was left of it—was still visible. As I plunged further underwater, I could still see it.

…the octopus rising from the depths, each tentacle bigger than a man, with suckers that latched onto the shipboards to tear it apart…

At fifteen feet the water was cooler and my hazy view of the vessel faded. The bits of detritus were evidence of what was happening above.

My Finnish ancestors talked of the Iku-Turso, a giant creature every bit as big and lethal as the Kraken. It lived in the deepest ocean, in legend banished there by Väinämöinen. I did not trust that any oath to a human could hold such a monster.

I told the tales at night over glasses of rum, to anyone willing to listen. If any of my fellows still breathed, they might credit my stories now. I would go to my watery grave knowing I was right and giant beasts did lurk in the briny depths.

For all the good it did me.

The first sighting of the behemoth had been mistaken for a dolphin, though the tentacle had not behaved like one of those creatures.

The second spotting had not. The sailor was shouting and pointing, and the captain crying out furious commands. The Iku-Turso, a hundred feet long—or bigger—cruised beneath the water, the shadow of its massive form below the waves.

At forty feet the sun was a distant orb, its light wavering. No sea life was near.

…It rose from the ocean, most of its body still unseen. Its giant head, like an octopus but also not, surfaced. The beast was ten times—a hundred times—the size of the biggest of those creatures. It swam into view, fixing on the boat…

I didn’t have long. Hypothermia would set in almost at once. If I didn’t drown before the cold killed me, it would be a miracle.