Bad Beats, Good People

Like all bad beat stories, these nine tales are seeds of truth grown with exaggeration. The first is a how-to on helping a mentally ill single mom navigate online dating, more real than anyone wants it to be. Another, about a vampire tired of the bloodsuckers of Hollywood, rings true in less obvious ways. A retelling of Dante's Inferno set in Las Vegas; a high school noir about a missing girl. All of these are new stories with familiar lessons- how you don't only gamble at the poker table and how bad luck can save you from something worse.