You may recall a few may recall a few months ago when I did a “writer-ly exchange” with my friend Nick Hayden. We each wrote a story that took place in a world the other created. This resulted in my Christmas story, “The Discarded Gift,” a love story set in Nick’s fictional small town, Vienna. Nick took a little longer to finish his story, which he posted on his own website a few months ago. Now after letting it be exclusive to his site for a while, I am reposting it here.

It is called “House of the Living.” It was inspired by my novella Destroyer (which I co-wrote with his wife, Natasha). Here’s a synopsis:

When scientists stumble across the perfectly preserved body of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, the first question is: How? But as one scientist spends his life studying the extraterrestrial crystals that caused its preservation, his questions become deeper, touching his deepest fears of life and death.

It’s a haunting story, and a great expansion on the world of my novella.

You can read a PDF of it here: House of the Living by Nick Hayden

You can also download it as an eBook from Smashwords.

I like it so much, I may make a special edition of Destroyer that includes it as a bonus.