The Glove and the Gavel
I want to tell you how I ended up standing in a feather factory in Sikasso at half past six on a Thursday, holding a steel contraption I…
Bar stories
Bar stories, from quick reads to long series. Most bar stories here sit in erotic horror and erotic couplings. Reads run 16 to 25 minutes. Writers to know: Rain Vignette, Indigo Spiral and The Roan Poet. Readers usually start with “The Glove and the Gavel” and “The Grinder's Witness”. Ranked by how many readers finish them. Some are free to read in full; the rest open with a free preview.
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Bar stories, ranked by readers
01 02 The Grinder's Witness
Sabine had been in Ahaura exactly two days, which was long enough to learn that her daughter's village had one bar and that the bar was…
03 Slam Dunk
The mic squealed when I set it back in the stand.
04 Second Chance on Felt
Camila racked the balls one more time even though the table was done for the night.
05 A Heavy Find
I didn't plan on going into Marty's Taxidermy & Rare Books.
06 The Regulars' Show
Thirty-four years, folks.
07 Paddle and Proof
I've been a fact checker for twenty-one years.
08 The Regular's Return
Liza woke up on the floor.
09 The Glasses Between Us
Belinda Gonzales was fifty-two years old and she held views about tip jars.
10 The Bar Bet
I had spent the whole day on my knees scrubbing other people's toilets, which at forty-two is rougher on the back than it used to be, and…
11 Brass Pin Evening
The office closed at five, and by six I was sitting at the bar of The Peat & Fossil with a brass pin in my jacket pocket and news I…
12 Last Call at the Rusty Anchor
My name is Claude, I'm sixty-four years old, and I've been running the pharmacy on Harbor Street for eleven years now.
13 She Shouldn't Have Stayed
The Driftwood sat at the end of a lane that smelled like diesel and salt.
14 The Auction Lot
I'm Maya, thirty-one, and I've spent most of my adult life being the kind of person who plans things.
15 The Sommelier's Dress
Vic and I had been together two years when the dry spell hit, and it didn't hit like a storm.
16 A Regular Thing
I'd been looking forward to that Friday all week, and I will state that plainly before anything else gets complicated.
17 The Equinox Drop
The equinox crowd showed up at the mine shaft around four in the afternoon, the same as they did every March and September, and I was…
18 The Sewing Machine Bet
I'm twenty-three years old and I've got a good life, thank you very much.
19 Third Bid, Last Call
The St.
20 The Silver Wand
My divorce papers came through on a Tuesday in March, and I remember thinking that the stamp looked smaller than it should have, that…
By length
10 to 30 minutesBest bar stories of 2026Writers known for it
Rain Vignette, Indigo Spiral, The Roan Poet, The Midnight Quota
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Questions
What makes a story bar?
Bar stories, from quick reads to long series.
Can I read them for free?
Some stories are free to read in full, with no account. The rest open with a free preview; members read everything.
How long are bar stories?
Most bar stories take 16 to 25 minutes, and the average is 20. Sort by shortest to start small, or follow a series to get each part as it lands.