and Other Short Fiction is a collection of eight stories of various Retribution is a novelette of sexual intrigue and murder; Anniversary is a short-short focusing on the day of a tragedy; The Marked, the tale of a mob killer who has been "marked" for execution; Red Duck is the fanciful story of a boy and a mysterious stranger in 1700's Kentucky; The Hanging is the morality tale of a young cowboy, two homesteaders, and vigilantes; Sprightly Spirits is a humorous story of an old cemetery, its keeper, and its ghostly inhabitants; Midnight is a poignant story about a doctor and a minister facing the end of all civilization; and Elisabeth, A Narrative of Love speaks of a bittersweet relationship between a middle-aged university professor and a young college student.