Recommended by Greg Mandryk

There's a magical effect when the penny drops and you discover the true subject matter of John Connon's The Improv Class. Beautiful!

Some things they just don't teach you in school. The exact protocol for handling the discovery of a fresh corpse is a perfect example. Reporting a dead body to the authorities may sound like the obvious first step. But if television has taught us anything (and unfortunately, it has), it's that we have an obligation to try to crack the case ourselves first. This is the hilariously relatable situation in which Chris and Dan find themselves in Dallas Ray-Macke's It's Probably a Mannequin.

If ever there were to be a Spoon River Anthology/Night of the Living Dead mashup, Jacquelyn Floyd-Priskorn's Father of the Dead would be a perfect addition. Ghoulishly fun stuff!

I don't know what it says about me that the phrase "...it's like a surprise fat pinata explosion" tickled my very soul, but here we are.

Aly Kantor's Body Horror is a tale of two adolescents who are about to enter a labyrinth of sexual awakening, but, thanks to the squeamishness of their parents and teachers, are ill-equipped to understand... well, pretty much anything. Their musings are simultaneously sacrilegious and completely innocent.

Oh, and hilarious. Absolutely hilarious.

For those of us who look back fondly at that moment in our lives when our parents (with some trepidation) decided we were old enough to watch slasher flicks, Brent Alles' The Blank Mask will provide a nice dose of nostalgia. Luckily, watching teenagers getting hacked up is a normal, healthy activity and not something that will cause irreparable damage to a developing mind. Right, Martin?

Martin?

Do not, as I did, put something in the oven and set a timer to go off while you're engrossed in the final few pages of this play. What I love about this short horror story is how well Vince Gatton unravels the back story involving Clay's "mistake", all the while stoking the tension surrounding the big, horrifying question: "is this play's title friggin' lying to me?!!" Masterfully done!

John Busser takes a hilarious jab at a horror franchise that totally deserves it in Half.

If there were any sort of anti-defamation league for vintage dolls, they'd be none too pleased with Debra A Cole's ALICE. Luckily, there isn't, and we can enjoy this deliciously unsettling short play in creeped-out peace.

This is nice, little ode to slasher flicks. I particularly loved Donley's nod to the convention of soon-to-be victims being completely oblivious to anything happening outside of their visual periphery. You gotta keep your heads on a swivel, people!

I love this fun, short, Halloween-themed exploration of the relationship between a character and their God, er... author.