Margins
Beneath the Zoo book cover
Beneath the Zoo
A Short Story
2023
First Published
4.25
Average Rating
28
Number of Pages

Some secrets should stay buried. When renowned architect Arania Webb returns to Bristol Zoo—once her childhood sanctuary but now a derelict ruin—she discovers her late father’s hidden underground lab, which harbors a dark obsession. Inside, she uncovers his journals documenting twisted experiments to fuse arachnid DNA with humans, creating unnatural creatures that blur the line between species. As Arania descends into the shadowy depths and explores further, she realizes the terrifying extent of her beloved father’s attempts to play god. With demolition charges set to raze the derelict zoo in minutes, Arania has little time to process the ethical transgression and madness that drove her father down an unholy path before the truth is buried forever. But when the site manager stumbles upon her macabre discovery, Arania knows she must act swiftly to protect her family’s legacy—and her own future. Will she find a way to escape the ruins with her father’s monstrous secrets? Or will the horrors hidden beneath the zoo ultimately consume them both? In this short story, J.F. Penn weaves a tale of dark secrets, genetic aberration, and a legacy that blurs the lines between ethical transgression and scientific ambition, a narrative that is as much about the inner darkness of human nature as it is about the monsters we create.

Avg Rating
4.25
Number of Ratings
64
5 STARS
56%
4 STARS
23%
3 STARS
13%
2 STARS
5%
1 STARS
3%
goodreads

Author

J.F. Penn
J.F. Penn
Author · 7 books

I'm the award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the ARKANE Action Adventure Thriller series, the Brooke & Daniel Crime Thrillers, and the Mapwalker Fantasy Adventure trilogy, as well as other horror and dark fantasy books and short stories. Reading order: https://jfpennbooks.com/pages/reading... The fast-paced ARKANE thrillers weave together historical artifacts, global locations, a kick-ass protagonist and a hint of the supernatural. Described by readers as "Dan Brown meets Lara Croft." The Brooke & Daniel Crime Thriller Series features British detective Jamie Brooke alongside museum researcher Blake Daniel, as they solve dark crimes around London. The Mapwalker fantasy adventure trilogy is set between Bath, England and the Borderlands in a split world fantasy where Sienna and the Mapwalker team travel through maps to adventure ... A Thousand Fiendish Angels is a collection of 3 short stories bound together by a book of human skin. Inspired by Dante's Inferno. You can buy books directly from me https://jfpennbooks.com/ I have a blog and podcast at http://www.BooksAndTravel.page I'm passionate about writing and I love reading. My favorite authors include James Rollins, Jonathan Maberry, John Connolly, Daniel Silva, and I also read a lot of travel books.

548 Market St PMB 65688, San Francisco California 94104-5401 USA
© 2025 Paratext Inc. All rights reserved