I choo-choo-choose you!

Okay, anyone who knows me knows that I love to write, and not just this blog, either.  When I have time...which I don't...I am working on a short story collection.  Each story is set in the same interconnected, cohesive universe, meaning characters, organizations, beings and events will cross over.  The stories are mostly Sci-Fi and horror, with comedy thrown in for good measure.  I would like help with choosing which story to write first.  Once I write that first story, then I can get the proverbial ball rolling...wherever proverbial balls roll to.

Here are your candidates to choose from.  These aren't going to be the only stories in the book, by any means, but these are the ones that I have developed the most at this point.

Please choose a favorite and let me know!

The strangers at the door-

Randy Wells is a teenage boy who comes home after school to find that his room has been taken over by his mother's drug addicted new friends. Randy's mother, strung out on meth, kicks him out of the house and he is forced to live with his senile old grandmother. Walking around his small town at night, Randy saves an apparent homeless man from being burned to death by classmates from his high school. Feeling sorry for the man, Randy secretly houses him in his grandmother's garden shed, bringing him food and helping him regain his health. Soon, the man reveals that he is an immortal blood drinking creature named Gorlock. The eternal creature offers to kill anyone who has ever wronged the boy. When Randy finally learns that the creature's past isn't too different from his own, he is forced to rethink the offer or see his morality fade away.

Arbor Mortis-
Two friends, David and Alex are separated during a High School field trip in the woods and each find ancient, mystic trees.  David finds a metal orb from Arbor Viate, the tree of life, while Alex finds one from the evil Arbor Mortis, the tree of death.  The two keep their secret from one another, but their friendship becomes strained once they compete for the same girl, Nova Powaqa.  Now rivals, the two try to one up each other to win her affections.  To make matters worse, an ogre type creature begins to stalk High School Students.  When the truth about the ogre is revealed, what the boys do next will make or break their longtime friendship.

The last days of Miss Fortune-

Euela Mae Frizzelle and her husband Floyd once wowed audiences with their magic and variety act at their Chinese dinner theater, the Miss Fortune.  When her friends and neighbors begin disappearing, Euela contemplates selling the dinner theater to the weird art dealer next door.  Before she can decide to sell, Euela begins to see her husband's ghost and finds herself embroiled in an adventure involving monsters, otherworldly assassins, a washed up spiritualist detective and a pulp magazine villain.

Tropeolis-

A bustling metropolis where corruption reigns supreme, Gridley is a city in dire need of heroes.  That's why the Trope Stones appeared.  These mysterious stone tablets appear anywhere in the city, transforming seemingly random people into living comic book characters.  When the city's top hero is framed for the corrupt mayor's murder, a homeless man becomes the powerful King Samson and begins a crusade to rid the city of corruption.  When the darkness of the city weighs on him, Samson's faith is tested and his powers begin to fade.

Thank you!  There is more blog to come too...comic reviews and more than enough family madness to write seven million posts about!