May 16, 2022

Short

A native New Yorker, Bruce writes short stories in a mad search to one day create the definitive short story. In the meanwhile his works have appeared in SNM Horror Magazine, Demonic Tome, Freedom Fiction, and The Horror Zine.

Times were rough. This was at least a job, and easy enough to do, even though his co-workers were a bit on the odd side ...

Being Henry is normal to Henry. His co-workers respect him, he does his best, he's never late for work. But one day in particular, his employer doesn't want him there ...

And who wouldn't be captivated by her amazing personality and flair?

How agonizing, to pretend that love does not exist!

Poor Henry! Can she have been that fickle all along?

How surprising for Andre to bring his niece to the kitchen for a visit -- but not more surprising than what Diego has to say ...

How much better a celebration is when no secrets are to be avoided ... and forgetfulness doesn't end the evening's fun ...

Trouble brews for the kitchen crew: Shakespeare has been up to something shady, and Henry has a problem he hasn't even begun to address yet ...

While preparation for the wedding continues, She is shaking up the staff once again ...

While Diego struggles with her aversion to floors, Shakespeare and Andre must clean up someone else's mess ...

Andre and Shakespeare consider the kitchen an ideal place for Henry and Diego's wedding, but Henry would really like to have the wedding in the loft. The trouble is, Henry's mother will be the one to decide ...

Who but Andre would have the courage to ask Clarissa about her son's condition?

The kitchen is closed! What does one do when cooking is forbidden? Why, visit Macy's Housewares, of course!

The kitchen is in shambles -- exactly what is that wicked Simpson up to?

Shakespeare has been fired, but the kitchen is not at all the same without him -- in fact it's rather empty ...

The usually happy Henry is feeling somewhat worried about his future ...

The kitchen crew are out of their depth when it comes to water flooding the big room -- and they don't know all the secrets the kitchen hides, either ...

The wedding is soon, and Henry is anxious about getting married. Diego is about to put a stop to that!

Serial

The wedding of the century! Half man, half bug, Henry edges toward the ceremony that will change his life forever.

They are married, and now everything should get peaceful ... until someone decides to get nasty ...

Henry and Diego are on their honeymoon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ... are Andre and Shakespeare going to surprise them by following them there?

Clarissa's outrage at Henry and Diego's marriage knows no bounds, and she's not very happy with Sincere's interference, either...

Andre faces one of his greatest challenges, with only a sarcastic blind midget as his backup.

Delancey Street is scorching in a heat wave, and no one is comfortable -- especially Diego.

The power is still out, and Diego has to walk to the hospital to have her baby. Will she make it?

A perfectly normal human child has been born. But is that what Henry and Diego really wanted?

All new parents feel sleep-deprived. But in this case, it's not the baby wearing Diego and Henry out ...

Change and difference can encompass many aspects: some big, and some small ...

Clarissa's peculiar behavior since her grand-daughter Winifred was born has just gone "over the top" ...

Clarissa is still menacing the gathering crowd from atop the roof -- can Henry's sister Elvira help her?

Henry's mother is being interviewed by a therapist, who sees nothing out of the ordinary in treating a giant bug...

In Andre's kitchen, is it really possible that NOTHING is happening?

If you're half man, half bug, there's not a day that goes by that doesn't change your life ...

Winifred's father is half-bug and half-man, and his mother is missing an ear, but Winifred is something completely different ...

With her mysterious precociousness, Winifred informs Andre of yet another area of mystery ...

Didn't anyone ever tell Andre and Shakespeare that television is a bad influence for kids?

Clarissa is about to learn more about her Door by standing too near her Window ...

Clarissa was knocked out, but now awake, what amazing insights will she have? ...

Is there such a thing as an ordinary day for someone who is half bug, half human?

There are some things a dad wishes his little daughter didn't ever have to understand ...

Wine, women, and song? Wait, it's Shakespeare, Andre ... and the one they refer to as "SHE..."

How do you bring yourself to tell your child that the world thinks less of people who are half bug?

The Mayor has been shot at, and Andre is sort of complicit in the crime ...

Andre only told his friend to drug the mayor, but even just those words will involve him in the shooting -- unless he can hide ...

Who knew that Andre's impetuous words to the mayor's chef would lead to death and deceit?

Clarissa is still shouting incomprehensibly -- can She be so upset that Andre is in trouble?

The officers are behind the door in Clarissa's rooms ... will they ever come out?

The day started out so well, but by tea time, things are getting a bit out of hand ...

Andre and Shakespeare have been sharing some rum, but the clock is ticking away the minutes, while their boss waits for them to arrive at her tea ...

Diego, Andre, and Shakespeare are still drinking rum ... and then their employer appears!

When you know your child is "different" ... how do you explain why?

Once again, the police are at the kitchen door -- what do they want this time?

It's fine time that Henry gets to meet his mother-in-law ...

Diego hungers ... for a new haircut, for a Big Mac, for ... a world without Connie Francis?

It's a strange day for the house chef -- can it possibly be really, truly Andre Day?

Shakespeare has been gone for a month! What adventures did he have? Did he miss his pal Andre?

Oh, dear, Simpson is away, and Henry must keep the kitchen running ...

Rumblings in the walls and ceiling have the kitchen crew wondering what could possibly be happening.

The wind in the warehouse is getting worse. What could possibly be the source?

Clarissa, the giant bug, is sneezing the house down! Who will have the courage to tell her to use a handkerchief?

Clarissa, the giant bug who is also Henry's mother, has gone mad! Is there anything they can do besides just get out of her way?

Is something real just because you think it is? What about a blind midget, or a one-eared nurse? What about a giant bug lying on her back on the floor?

Andre the chef finds cooking pancakes for a giant bug to be an illustration of the futility of the human condition ...

The magic in the warehouse loft is once again revealed -- in a giant bug's deepest fear ...

It's a home invasion! A cat has entered Andre's kitchen, and then commandeered the loft! What can Andre and his blind midget sous chef do?

Who will be the first to eat them, the lion, or their big bug boss Clarissa?

The door in the loft -- who knows what might come out of it next? There seems to be only one possible course of action...

Overshadowed by Simpson's insane determination, Andre, Shakespeare, and Henry follow him and his dynamite to the loft ...

Simpson and his dynamite have disappeared behind the magic door in the loft. Should Henry call 9-1-1? Should Andre scream for help? What ever is Clarissa going to say?

Simpson has disappeared, and his replacement arrives even before the smell of dynamite is gone. Is this new boss going to be loads of laughs?

Remembering Maria's implacable wrath the day before, what will the kitchen staff do to cope? Even their giant bug employer isn't as scary!

With Simpson and his dynamite blown up behind the magic door, guilt and fear dog the steps of the kitchen staff...and retribution...

With her father being half-bug, half-man, little Winifred is bound to be different than other babies ...

Oh, no! Who is Andre's favorite little girl?

The new manager Maria is starting to make the rest of the staff think Simpson was a saint, dynamite not withstanding ...

Andre the Chef's big mouth may get him into trouble -- and how will he get out of it?

Something sinister is going on in the kitchen, and it's not a faulty bag of flour ...

Where can Andre's hat be, and how can he prepare food for the ravenous Clarissa without a proper chef's hat?

How many policemen do you have to eat before you stop thinking it's a good solution?

Is it true? Are two heads better than one?

Nevertheless, in these tough economic times, aren't we all trying to get ... ahead?

Diego and Andre and Shakespeare are crazier than Henry the half-bug, and Simpson was crazier than them; Maria was crazier than Simpson with dynamite -- but who's crazier than all of them combined?

Fransau and his skull collection have the kitchen crew between a rock and a hard place -- but they do have their kitchen ace in the hole ...

The evil Fransau has the kitchen staff over a barrel: do they give him Clarissa, or do they lose Andre?

The horrid Fransau has been dispatched by Alarm's skates, saving the kitchen crew from cold-blooded murder ... more or less. There is still that body ...

Things are strange on Delancey Street at the best of times, but things have been stranger lately, and Diego has some thinking to do ...

Winifred has her first day at Bug School, and brings home a bit of a surprise ...

Fransau's gruesome end (in Chapter 84) may have been mostly forgotten by the kitchen staff, but little Winifred's plight and Maria's bad hair day are not enough of an excuse for failing to tie up loose ends ...

They thought they got rid of the fiendish Fransau, but can it be that he is back from beyond his mysterious grave?

Oh, to be a bug, without cares or debts, flitting or hopping or buzzing about ...

When things are flung to the floor, and secrets are tossed into the air, who will prove to be the craziest in the kitchen?

Asking Maria a question only raises more questions...and makes you wonder about her math.

Things are never easy when your friend is a half-bug, but other things make life even harder. (And this editor sympathizes completely with Diego in this episode.)

What is it that a blind midget and a half-man, half-bug have in common?

Isn't that how the saying goes? "Life's a beach, and then you die?" Let's hope Diego doesn't remember that one...

Who knew that Diego felt this way?

"Power-mad" -- that could be Maria's middle name...

When you feel that being a son or daughter is a difficult position to hold, think of Henry -- and be glad your mother isn't a giant bug...

Winifred has to go to half-bug school, and the work load there is making this little girl-bug very unhappy. Can she find a solution?

The kitchen staff of a giant bug get together for a celebratory dinner. How crazy is it? Shakespeare the blind midget has words for that...

The ceiling has shattered, the dinner table ruined -- has Clarissa the giant bug come to eat them all?

The drunken giant bug has a disturbing memory to share with her kitchen staff...

...a hole where a giant drunken bug fell in...

Is he really unreal, or merely real in an unreal sort of reality?

Passion can get you in a lot of trouble -- even when it's just a passion for food...

Oh, goody, Maria's going to tell her friend about the kitchen! Let's look over her shoulder as she writes...

Maybe when you're bigger than anyone else, your problems are, too?

Can a giant bug actually be in danger?

Maria has been convinced that the beagle wants her to kill Clarissa. Would being possessed by a demon dog actually be an improvement in Maria's temperament?

A dog with a mesmerizing stare has convinced Maria that her giant bug employer must die. Will it be by bomb? A bus? Something she eats?

It's so quiet in the kitchen on Delancey Street that you could almost forget why...

And has Clarissa the Giant Bug eaten Maria for her repeated assassination attempts?

Sometimes a giant bug needs to feel like she's not alone...

Nothing like giving Andre something else to obsess over...

Andre, Maria. Andre, Clarissa. Maria, Clarissa. Andre, Andre, Andre. Not one more time...

"Dinner With Henry" is back after a summer break. Half-bug, half man, Henry must once again smooth out the lumps in this bizarre kitchen stew...

Can there actually be worse news than finding out your employer is a giant bug? The kitchen crew thought they had seen it all.../

Developers plan on tearing down the loft on Delancey Street. What happens when its main resident, the giant bug Clarissa, finds out?

Urban re-development has struck again: Clarissa, the giant bug, and her employees will have to move from their warehouse on Delancey Street. Is there a viable option for them all?

Conclusion of a charming series. Henry, half-bug and half-man, takes his final bow.