“ANEURYSM,” by Alexander Danner. Read by Kris Straub.

“It’s a new party game,” said Norma, as she pushed a small cart into the living room. The cart was draped with a white bed sheet, keeping the cart’s burden hidden.  The guests all turned to watch as the little mystery wheeled into the room, squeaking slightly, leaving a visible groove in the carpet.  Norma stopped and stood; she made no move to uncover her secret, only smiled at the seven faces around her.  Every guest had a fresh drink in hand and a hot hors d’oeuvre on a toothpick.

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Alexander Danner writes and teaches comics. His most recent series is “Gingerbread Houses,” a retelling of Hansel and Gretel illustrated by Edward J. Grug III. “Gingerbread Houses” and other fairy tales can be found at picturestorytheater.com. More of Danner’s stories and experiments can also be found at twentysevenletters.com. He is co-author of the textbook Character Design for Graphic Novels, and he teaches Writing the Graphic Novel at Emerson College.

Kris Straub is the cartoonist behind the webcomic Chainsawsuit and the sci-fi humor saga Starslip. He’s also co-author of the Harvey Award-nominated How To Make Webcomics, published by Image. Kris has lived in every city in America for at least one second. Hear more of his voice in Webcomics Weekly, Tweet Me Harder, and Blamimations.

In the book, “ANEURYSM” is illustrated by Dorothy Gambrell!