These short stories were written for Kobo's The Descent, an online contest for the launch of Dan Brown's Inferno, based on Dante's Inferno.
Here's the Kobo press release for the contest and here's an article that covered it in Wired.
The stories featured as the beginning of a transmedia game that crossed into websites and used symbols and numbers from the books to lead to the next step. The contest finished in mid May 2013, but in this article, Kobo explain all the symbolism and links through the books to the finish.
When the tortured and mutilated corpse of a wealthy author is discovered, the police officer sent to investigate finds a curious diary amongst the occult objects at the scene. Will he uncover the author’s secret at the ruined chapel, and does he really want to pay the price that it demands?
Available now on Kobo – click here to register and download to your device
Download and listen as an audio mp3 here
” … a short story that packs a heck of a punch, with vivid writing that sucks you right into the story from the very first page … In just fifteen pages, Penn manages to perfectly portray the sin of temptation, the longing for an easy fix, and the very human trait of justifying doing that which we know is wrong.”
From review at GamesFiends for the Kobo Descent
In a post-apocalyptic world, a young girl is about to be taken to the man known as The Minotaur for a Blessing that will end her innocence. Can her sister gain access to the fortified city of Dis in time to stop the ritual and wreak vengeance for her own lost youth?
Available now on Kobo – click here
On the death of their Grandfather, twin brothers Simon and Gestas are left a map covered in alchemical symbols that could lead them to great wealth and power. But they find more than they expected in the frozen wastes of the Arctic north …
Available on Kobo – click here