319 free-to-read stories tagged “Magical Realism”
The narrator is a witch who works in a public library somewhere in the rural American South. Her job is to get patrons the books they need, but a lonely teenage boy poses a challenge.
child-abusedeath-of-a-loved-onemental-illnesssuicide
In which we learn about the donors of each of the nine teeth and what effects they had on Washington.
abuseanimal-harmdeathracismsexual-violenceslaverysuicideviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
body-horrorchild-deathdeathviolence
"I will always remember the view of Paris from his window. Snow, pure and untouched, softens the outline of the buildings and covers the grime of the streets. White, the color of beginnings. His canvas is primed and ready to be painted, and stark winter...
death-of-a-loved-onewar
In this provocative and rich retelling of the Greek myth, Orpheus, the musician son of Apollo and Calliope, successfully rescues his wife Eurydice from Hades after her untimely death.
body-horrordeath
A young hustler discovers that he's supposed to play a big role in transforming New York from a city to a City. If he can survive it.
deathracismviolence
Salman pursues the truth behind stories his grandfather told him about an impoverished princess he used to know back in Pakistan and the Jinn that protected her.
death-of-a-loved-oneviolence
While learning the ropes from a crafty Jazz Age bank robber, a young stowaway discovers their authentic self, a hidden gift, and that there are no straight lines when you run the fox roads…
deathracismviolence
In 1943 India, during the Bengal Famine, the Governor of Bengal tries to force an old woman to make a doll for his wife.
child-deathdeathracismviolencewar
"There’s a woman outside of a town called Sheridan, where the sky comes so near to earth it has to use the crosswalk just like everybody else. … There’s a woman outside of Sheridan and she is eating the sin of America."
child-deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence
Long ago, Sylvie turned herself into a tree to avoid rape, but she wonders if there might not be a better way.
sexual-violencesuicideviolence
In this spell-binding tale, a Pakistani storyteller captivates a group of wide-eyed tourists with a nesting doll of interlocked stories about a trickster and a hidden city ruled by the Queen of Red Midnight.
abusebody-horrorchild-deathviolence
In 1888 a woman suffering a hideous deformity was murdered in London. Today, her descendent wants to find the culprit.
deathviolence
"My stitches laddered their way up the split seam, in and out one side, across, and then in and out the other. When you pulled the thread through, if you had done the job right, it closed the seam like it had never been torn at all. The salesman kept...
death-of-a-loved-oneracismviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
An immigrant is distressed because her mother’s ghost is confiscated at the border.
death-of-a-loved-one
Evan is suddenly coughing up bones, like, A LOT of bones, but that’s not even in the top ten strangest things that have happened to him since he moved into his new (possibly haunted) duplex...
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
abusedeathgoreviolence
Approaching 50, Mabel decides to become a glass bottle dancer. She tries to hide it from her family, but the local cockroaches notice it for sure when she gathers up their bottles, and they’ve got dreams too.
"If you were to drive to my sister Violet’s house today, you would find yourself at a very different place from the one I encountered on my first trip. The road up the mountain has been paved, for one thing, to make it more accessible to the tourists who...
death-of-a-loved-one
"Big Edie was a useless piece of shit. Johanna Telle found the most significant relationship of her life on a Saturday afternoon in late May, sitting on one of those excruciatingly handmade quilts crafty stay-at-homes used to make out of their precious...
deathviolence
An ice-age girl who learns to play the flute has an unusual connection with a future girl starving in a flooded city.
deathviolence
A magician dies on stage performing his most famous trick, but what really happened?
deathdeath-of-a-loved-onesuicide
Mebuyen doesn’t get many lost souls anymore—modern Filipinos have moved on—so when a bunch of young people start showing up whom she can’t send along, it’s time to visit the Earth and learn what’s going on.
child-deathdeathviolence
A washed-up magician drinking whisky at 9 AM meets a mysterious British lady, who leads him into the worst day of his life.
child-deathdeath-of-a-loved-onesubstance-use
Author : E. M. Linden Narrator : Louise Hewitt Host : Alasdair Stuart Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 879: The Tawlish Island Songbook of the Dead is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for grief, infant death, and a reference...
child-deathdeath-of-a-loved-onesuicide
"I tell Mateo to meet me at a wine bar. It’s a quiet, low-key spot—ideal for first dates, because it’s easy to make a speedy exit in case the red flags start flying—or worse, if the men in blue come knocking. It’s been over an hour, and we’re on our second...
"There’s a dog in this house. A not-quite-a-dog. An undog. I heard its whimpering the first week I slept here, the thump, thump, thump of its bulky legs on the old tiles. I found long brown hair mixed with dust bunnies where the walls met. When there’s a...
abuseanimal-harm
"A hoodie is what a Soucouyant give birth to when she trick a Midnight Robber.” Or so Rose calls herself. Passed off to orphanages. No idea who her mother and father were. Didn’t know the source of herself. Because she wasn’t given a proper foundation to...
suicide
"Joy nearly got lost on the root-knotted red dirt path off of Highway 99, losing sight of the gaps between the live oaks and Spanish moss that fanned across her hood and windows like fingertips. Driving back to her family’s cabin twenty years later...
death-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemic
Beni’s a drag queen who reads minds, and he’s shopping for a new dress and the story that goes with it.
abusechild-abusepregnancy-loss
When he’s caught kissing another boy, one of Izuchukwu’s two big secrets comes out. But if they find out he can turn into a bird and fly, he’ll be in real trouble.
abusehomophobia
Nora has a tendency of turning into whatever she’s dating. She became a rock climber when she dated a rock climber, a comedian when she dated a comedian. But the amateur acupuncturist goes differently.
In modern India, Binu’s a master of the trapeze and he plays “Alladdin” in the illusion show, but unbeknownst to his friends and colleagues, he has a real lamp with a real Jinni in it.
slavery
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
body-horrorsubstance-useviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
deathracismsexual-violenceviolence
Donna’s cold and distant husband has an industrial accident the day she planned to leave him, so she stays to nurse him back to health. After that, he’s different—in ways she likes.
abusechild-abuse
"There is a future in which a hellgate opens off the coast of California. It happens at midnight on the first day of the new year, which is sooner than anyone expected. The waters rise and we are forced to abandon our home, but one of the neighbors has a...
deathillness-and-pandemicmental-illnessviolence
"You used to be in a band. Now you cut hair. The Institute hired you because you’re the daughter of the Floating City’s Founder’s fourth mistress, the one who always cooks up trouble when she gets too hungry. You don’t like the work, but you like all the...
abusesexual-violence
To celebrate her grandmother, all the captain of the Sopinha de Feijão wanted was to build a street market on a distant moon. But now the captain is dead and…
body-horrordeathdeath-of-a-loved-one
There is a woman, and she is a man’s wife. Please give her name. Call her whatever you’d like.
abusebody-horrorviolence
"No signs protect the backyards in this part of town from the Marl Pits Forest. There’s no treeline either. Of course there isn’t. But even in the dark, you can’t really miss where the forest starts—not if you’ve lived a childhood in the wilderness here...
child-abusedeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence
A woman who fears she’s failing as a painter and as an artist seeks inspiration from one of her favorite poets and finds something even more wondrous, but also more impossible to capture on canvas…
"Jinah stands in her old underwear and scrapes the future from women’s skin. Their scales fall to the floor. The women sit up scoured red and smooth. The scales are impossible to see unless you’ve learned how to look, but impossible to miss once you’ve...
For Grant Rutherford, work is both life and legacy — but when he dies a mere week after his wife, what he leaves behind will have metaphysical reverberations he could never have foreseen. Content warnings: Grief, medicalized illness, death of a loved one...
death-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemicsubstance-use
Fear was already on the street waiting for her. Tulaya had seen this purge-and-nightmare Manifest before in Fatih, tagging the footsteps of an old man in the spice market with its shadow like claws.
death
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
death-of-a-loved-oneracismviolence
Pauly is a good son. When he brings home three beautiful Masquerades, he’s expecting that his mother will be proud of him. But when his mother begins asking favors of his Masquerades, he realizes that being a good son sometimes means disobeying.
"Good art changes you. And that was the point, right? That’s what the social media ad that caught my attention wanted me to believe: Our Shoes: You couldn’t understand our struggle... Until now. I had read the line over and over again during a rare...
racism
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
body-horrorchild-abusedeath
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
body-horrorchild-abuse
The narrator undergoes a special treatment that lets her revisit (and change) key memories that trouble her—all of which involve people she had sex with.
sexual-contentsexual-violencesubstance-use
Connor works at a restaurant in New York where he has a magical touch with food (literally). Problems with his family keep interfering with his career, though.
Since her cancer, Sydney has just been drifting through life, but when she lets a friend move in, things change in an unexpected way.
illness-and-pandemic
The narrator and her friends go fishing for snakehead in a stream in Singapore, but the biggest one is something more than just a fish.
A closeted young Hawaiian man bails a devious Native-American god out of a Honolulu jail and watches his life spiral out of control.
substance-use
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
body-horrorchild-abusedeathdeath-of-a-loved-onesubstance-useviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
death-of-a-loved-one
The narrator makes a deal with the Devil—or one of his snakes, at least. She thinks she’s clever, but one deal leads to another.
animal-harmself-harmsubstance-useviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
abusedeathgoreillness-and-pandemicsexual-contentsubstance-usesuicideviolence
A dead woman sees her doppelgänger watching over her remains and wonders what she's up to.
deathsexual-violenceviolence
"I heard you’re returning to our world again. What do you want here exactly, Orhija? The Earth is dying slowly. It’s losing its sheen and glow. The blackness of the soil that you used to say was as beautiful as mine has changed since you left. It’s redder...
"A scream rises from the bush. One last call to the living: a warning of pain. Katarina’s heard that same sound more times than she’s had hot dinners but still a ribbon of unease unfurls in her gut. She sets her cleaver down for a moment, shifting from one...
child-abusedeathviolence
"The apartment is dark when I return, the blackout curtains doing their job of keeping the late afternoon sun out. It doesn’t matter, though. The air is stifling hot, thick and oppressive. Sweat gathers on my skin, sticking clothes to flesh. But I welcome...
death-of-a-loved-one
"We put my body double together in June Lee’s basement. Her mom was one of those chill Asian moms who liked having an artsy-fartsy daughter she could brag about at Bible study. She was already pushing the whole portfolio-for-college-apps deal, so she...
Author : Eden Royce Narrator : Laurice White Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes PodCastle 914: The Magnolia Returns is a PodCastle original. Rated PG The Magnolia Returns By Eden Royce The Magnolia blooms out of nowhere at any time of year it...
abusebody-horror
"I ended up on Pluto on the night of my nineteenth birthday, after breaking my own stupid heart. It wasn’t even over anything important. All I did was jump in a pool, and then the chlorine got in my nose and I came up coughing on the side of the tiles, and...
sexual-violence
"Don’t start with the birth certificate. No, take an obituary-out approach. Pick an age, a date, what to do in lieu of flowers. Yes, she must die. I know how hard it is to kill her, but the spell won’t work without it, for every story ends in death. We set...
An engineer who frequently travels for her job, suddenly finds herself in airports other than the one she arrived in…
"We drove out to Joshua Tree for the star party—a gathering of amateur astronomers under a clear, dark sky. It was Holly’s idea, an impromptu adventure on a Friday after work: “Hey, Lou, do you want to go look at the moon tonight?” Holly had the best ideas...
child-deathviolence
"Half-painted in the angled mirror, I ignore my mother’s calls and sweep blush onto my temples. The face of Luz Divinity takes shape beneath my brush. My mother tries again as I tug a wig onto my shaved head, the unit sleek and long, and again as I zip a...
In "Kwong's Bath" by Angela Liu, Kwong is visited by the ghosts of the people she has trouble letting go. Copyright khōréō magazine 2023. Story by Angela Liu, edited by Sachiko Ragosta. Audio edition read by Lauren Kong, with casting and production by...
death-of-a-loved-oneself-harmsuicide
"Umeboshi" by Rebecca Nakaba is an exploration of what it means to be connected through heritage—and chain email. Copyright khōréō magazine 2023. Story by Rebecca Nakaba, edited by Sachiko Ragosta. Audio edition read by Heidi Tabing, with sound design by...
body-horror
"Long before you came along, I was myself just a seed in Raffa’s pocket, something she fumbled with as she stepped on the plane, her other hand clutching her mother’s. Small as I was, I sensed her fear. I tried to hum reassuringly. Above the ocean, I...
abusedeath-of-a-loved-one
"I did not want to write a report for this book, but Lady Koi-Koi convinced me to, even though she says it “does a disservice to our own stories.”1 I also have to pass my WAEC, and this book is on our reading list for the mock exam, so, fine. I will...
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
"The seven siblings sit in a place beyond the boundaries of space and time, where everything is made of stories. Even them. Especially them. People are made of stories too, but only the versions of their stories that they tell themselves. Curated, limited,...
death-of-a-loved-oneviolence
"Grandma died last year, yet she comes every Saturday to have lunch with me. When she was still alive, she loved telling everyone that we were roommates. She would say to her embroidery club friends that her roomie had landed a very hip job in the city...
deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
"Patricia could hear them gathered on her front porch, the kings and popes and saints, gossiping and chattering and generally having a good time. She turned. King Solomon lay sprawled across the bed like it was his golden throne. He raised his head to...
death-of-a-loved-one
"Monday’s lover tugs at Jan’s ribbon with his teeth. Jan doesn’t yell at the lover to stop. The guy just received bad news from the front—a friend lost to a bomb, perhaps, a sibling blown to bits; Jan doesn’t ask. He tells the lover, instead, to be...
war
"The narrators of histories and tellers of tales relate that, in the God-guarded town of Qalati Zabel, there was once a holy woman with a mind to rebel. Her name was Bibi Siti, and she had come to Zabel from her native country to the west. Some believe she...
deathviolence
"It is in the summer, during the monsoon season in Taipei, when the pigeon keeper’s daughter moves into the apartment on the top floor of a building on an alleyway in Wenshan District. From her window, she sees not only Taipei 101 in the distance with...
A series of interviews between a young, clean-cut journalist and an alternative, independent pichal pairi turns into an unexpected romance. But their relationship is tested when the entire world around them shuts down.
Author : Leah Ning Narrator : Graeme Dunlop Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 679: Pull is a PodCastle original. A content warning for end of life care. Rated PG-13 with a content warning for end of...
animal-harmdeathillness-and-pandemic
"The truth is that I lost my arm the same summer I lost my brother. Lost is a euphemism. In fact, my arm was retrieved by the paramedics and brought to the hospital, along with the two fingers severed from my left hand, and the various parts of my...
body-horrordeathdeath-of-a-loved-one
"The egg must have hatched overnight, though he could see no sign of a hatchling anywhere. Only empty shell bits remained, strewn here and there across the tatami."
death-of-a-loved-one
"I called it "yearning" at first, but by the time word had spread to all twenty-two of us croppers, a divide had resulted: half called it firesouling, and half called it firesailing."
sexual-violenceviolence
Every Halloween, an elderly woman hands out candy to a young trick-or-treater who’s dressed as a witch each time, looking exactly the same age. With each passing year, the woman grows more attached to the little witch and her odd nature. But she is no...
death
Sorrow Farregon is a master perfumer, but the Queen wants something to make her conceive a child—which is challenging when the King is a clockwork automaton.
deathsuicide
Adriana’s going to be all alone when her best friend moves away, she’s bracing herself to be all alone, and she’s starting to have strange dreams that affect the real world.
deathillness-and-pandemic
Chime’s husband is also another woman’s wife. The sharing isn’t a problem, per se: she has her own wife when she’s male. The problem is that she keeps getting him back in increasingly beat-up condition.
It’s been a long time since Ravi left Guyana, but he’s sure he recognizes a Jumbie, even in New York, where they don’t believe in evil spirits. And it’s following him.
sexual-contentviolence
The government wants to build affordable housing for the homeless, but it wants them to agree to quit using magic first.
A member of a group of powerful beings who make stories real tells us the truth about Solomon Grundy and why he had to die.
deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence
In his old age, a TV writer reflects on a show he worked on fifty years ago--the only work he's really proud of--and the almost supernatural way it came to an end.
abusesubstance-use
All the imaginary creatures a young person could want to make apartment life more pleasant.
"Dear Francesca, First off: I know that’s not your name. I haven’t gone and mistaken you for another woman—one of my many conquests, I imagine you imagine (what must imaginary you think of imaginary me?). You’ll notice, if you glance ahead, that I’ve...
sexual-content
A transnational adoptee is haunted by the ghost of his birth mother. Content warnings: Self-harm, suicidal ideation Copyright © 2025 khōréō magazine. Story by Woody Dismukes, edited by Isabella Kestermann. Audio edition read by Sam Cavalcanti, with...
body-horrorgoreself-harm
"The city of Nan Rhok stands on the ridge of a great mountain, where a gullet of steaming water flows from volcanic hot springs. The ridge is narrow and the mountain chill, so the city hews close to the spring, building high its granite towers. The name of...
child-deathdeath
"A garden is a joy, but also a labor. It is no small thing to call forth life from the desert; do not imagine any but a witch could do it so well. Every day I draw flowers from sand, shrubs from sand; I turn sand to grass as rich as cream. The garden is...
slavery
Author : Ruth Joffre Narrator : Julia Rios Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Dean Kidd Discuss on Forums PodCastle 916: Woodpecker, Warbler, Mussel, Thrush is a PodCastle original. Rated G Woodpecker, Warbler, Mussel, Thrush by Ruth Joffre Yesterday, I...
"We called it the monster because we could, though none of us found the label to be particularly satisfying. After a certain point, Yerim started calling it the Logos Pilgrim. Which was understandable, seeing as how she was the most mystically inclined...
"The Henrietta, passenger, cargo, and slave ship, was routinely used to transport goods from the Florida Keys up as far north as Rhode Island, and is also said to have made at least six voyages transporting enslaved African peoples from the Gold Coast of...
racismslavery
"Good stone, like water, wrought truce by necessity. Here, the river became a waterfall and ate the earth like honeycomb. Here, teardrops of flint washed up at a stone knapper’s feet. Bands of every people in the vastness of the world came for the stone....
animal-harmgoreviolence
"Yesterday, I didn’t care much about much. Back then, there hadn’t been any cars in the parking lot. We didn’t see any muddy footprints stamped into the dirt. Not even the hoofprint exclamations of deer. The weather was partly to blame, but really people...
deathracismviolence
"When I leave home at seventeen, my mother tells me three things. Not to care too much. To keep my gift a secret. And to get used to being alone. “You’ll see what it’s like,” she says. “Out there in the real world.” None of this is good advice."
"If it was the first time I saw a house mourning? No, my dear. Not at all. Yet, it broke my heart to enter House and hear her parquet floor moaning, see the toilet sink weeping, feel her foundations shuddering ever so slightly. I put the plastic bags on...
death-of-a-loved-one
"The last picture that Karu has of her father alive is on the day of her graduation. She has this big smile that by the placing of her dimples makes it obvious that she is his daughter. He stands next to her holding her waist in the space between his...
death-of-a-loved-one
"The Lightning Road cuts far across the Cosmos, a streak of dazzling gold amidst the star-studded void. Paved in otherworldly stone, the road climbs over sleeping giants, past ringed planets and frozen worlds, connecting one unknown to the next. Xiaofei...
war
"Welcome, Stranger! This is a story for you, you who wait for my words to fall into your ear, so that we can share being and become more than we are alone. The tales I have to tell today are woven into this fabric that unrolls before you as I work my Loom....
child-deathracismsexual-violence
"A whale soars over Brooklyn. Clouds spread in streaks over the pale blue sky like cold butter. And the whale cleaves right through. Dar spots it from his perch on the rooftop, smoking a contraband cigarette. At first, it looks like the whale is just...
body-horrorgore
"It’s only after they’ve loaded the moving truck halfway with boxes that the parents finally notice Parker’s gone. They spend three days yelling for him. Mom waits the longest, wanders the farthest into the forest in the dark. Her voice is a plea, an...
death-of-a-loved-one
On a trip to Italy, a woman stuck in a crumbling relationship discovers the city she loves holds a secret that could change her life…
"When the Fae stole my wife, I followed them into the dark woods to win her back. Jess dropped breadcrumbs along the trail, except she had no bread, so she dropped other things instead. Not far from the house, I found a blue sweater, embroidered with gold...
"The house was on the same street as a bakery whose only offering was penis-shaped waffles. Rufaro didn’t like American houses very much. They looked paper thin like doll houses that would lift off into the clouds if a strong wind came by."
abuse
"She tells the children to call her Kade Makasi, and if this was one of her stories, she’d describe herself as bent and wrinkled and spider-like for a touch of myth and poetry … but she’s none of these things … she’s tall, thick-browed, with two braided...
mental-illness
"Because Waigong ran out of money due to the rice shortage, he gambled away my mother, an eighteen-year-old girl known for her beauty and dance prowess. She danced like a majestic water dragon, elegant and unstoppable while flowing through the atmosphere,...
misogyny
"When I die, I want you to keep my bones.” Vasanthi floats in the dark pool, the softness of her voice punctuated by softer drops of water from stalactites. “You mean your ashes.” The best misunderstandings come from our language differences. “I’ll find...
death-of-a-loved-onewar
"THE HOUSE SOARED NORTH, then veered west, where the land went up and up, and the buildings went up and up, like a metallic wave cresting ahead of the distant mountains. The house could see the prairies from where it crouched but could not see the thing it...
A Russian émigré poet living in Paris is visited by a mysterious bear with an agenda…
"Hi, we were both in Central Square on Friday, around 9:30 PM. I’m a tall trans lady with brown hair and glasses. You were standing in front of Sonia with some people. You were looking at your phone and then you looked up at me. Our eyes met for—I’m sorry,...
"In Greece, we have a saying: You must eat the body part you want to grow stronger. Or maybe that’s just something my grandmother used to say. After partying with friends until the early hours, Katerina and I take a detour before we go home. The meat...
"Downwind from the encampment, the wind stank of refuse. The stench of people weeks into an unwashed trek intensified as Yue Ling limped out of the tree line, raising her hands over her head as she slowly approached the sentries. Both were young, younger...
deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
Chelle’s friend, Wenqian, has everything Chelle doesn’t. A slim figure, pale skin, and most notably the affection of her longtime friend Preston. Like the ocean waves she calls home, Chelle feels transparent and overflowing all at once. So when she’s given...
body-horror
"You remember when those rappers robbed a bank and killed a cop, that summer the girls from Wing turned green? I didn’t think it was connected then—the robbery, the gold, and the hordes of teens who were rotting from the inside. But I know better now."
body-horrordeathviolence
An artist’s work attracts the eye of Andrey Porgee, a notorious gangster, who becomes her best customer. But when he commissions a painting based on a childhood photograph, the artist fears his reaction to the final product.
deathviolence
"On the first floor of a Colonial-style house constructed last century out of planks of old growth cedar, a monster is dragging a woman’s husband from room to room. The specific path this monster takes will be evident the next morning from the gashes in...
abusesexual-violence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
death
Eli is—one hundred percent, without a doubt—vampiro, but he's missing all the stereotypical traits. Is there room for him to exist in a world where everyone has already decided who and what he is? Copyright khōréō magazine 2021. Story by K. Victoria...
child-abuseracismviolence
The year is 1915, and a young man hired to shout the words on title cards for silent films experiences the magic of movies. This spurs him to edit some of the worst dialog, leading him in a weird direction that utterly changes his life.
"Ti came to see me, you know. Three four days before she died. Knocked right on my door, and I’ve never been so surprised in all my life. This is a woman who when we were on tour would have the driver drive her halfway down the block rather than walk to...
death
"THE FIRST TIME SHE AWOKE on the bus, Adachukwu Ejiofor discovered that her ankles, wrists, and one kneecap had taken their leave of her while she wasn’t looking. She still had the other kneecap and her hands and feet, though, making her disappearance...
body-horror
"Witchcraft is a gift. Imelda would wave her steel spoon at Mercer and insist on this as he measured ingredients for her, whether she was boiling potions or a pot of farfalle pasta. Watch the salt, a teaspoon only, never pour too much. Don’t overheat the...
death-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemic
"I was 19 when I met Tommy. A day and a bit into a two-day Greyhound trip from bumfuck, Nevada to Saint Paul, Minnesota. Going to meet some trick from the internet. Thought it was true love. Funky and itching for a smoke when we pulled into a truck stop in...
"The day they took my mouth hadn’t been spent eating De la Rosas, or smoking, or spitting. In fact, I hadn’t used my mouth in any way that you might expect someone who was about to lose their sense of taste, their tongue, their voice, might have."
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
illness-and-pandemic
"Michael is afraid to go farther. Pudgy pushes him on. They walk through the shrouded city, the sound of footsteps all but obscured. Pudgy holds hard to the band of the broken fedora that perches crooked atop Michael’s bent head; the knees of Pudgy’s...
When Candice gets upset, she sometimes spontaneously combusts and then comes back to life. She needs to get this under control because her family can’t afford the medical bills.
deathillness-and-pandemic
"It is not the dust that brings her tears. The Lachrymist’s house is dusty, fragments of time and memory fallen everywhere, a living blanket that drapes itself over tables and chairs and things even stranger. But time and memory are to be expected anywhere...
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
abusedeath
A young child visits a family friend to learn about her powers—the sort of powers her mother long ago rejected, but which are too powerful to ignore.
death-of-a-loved-one
Teenage Dorothy accompanies her father across the US in search for the mythical Viper-King, a giant snake whose fat confers wisdom on the first person to eat it.
violence
A young couple has enough relationship troubles without a mischievous dog that appears to have telekinetic powers. But there seems to be a pattern to its mischief.
Phoebe goes to her late Mother’s townhouse to dispose of her effects and to reckon with the feelings she’s never been able to articulate.
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
A road is so nasty that it attains consciousness when it becomes aware of just how “not-nice” it really is.
death
Mixie’s family makes food for the dead to get them to come back to answer questions for their loved ones. She’s surprised her ex-husband’s widow wants them to do this, though.
death
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
abusechild-abusesexual-violence
A young woman discovers she has the ability to fly, just as her mother did. But her father thinks there’s something shameful about it, so she tries to suppress it.
abuseself-harm
A doomsday weapon has changed the laws of physics on Earth, and most of the population has perished. Liyana spends her time trying to have a baby and studying elephants, who have started to spontaneously combust.
deathpregnancy-loss
In early 20th-Century India, an old woman and her son are forced out of the forest and try to make a new life in the city.
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Little Kalyani might be autistic, but no one in her village knows what that means. A passing sage offers her a boon, but it’s not at all a cure.
In 1949, researchers attempt to harness "oriental lovebird energy" to cure human comas.
death-of-a-loved-oneracismsuicide
Long after the fall of humanity, a dragon/horse robot wakes up and explores the ruins of Beijing.
A Greek free diver finds an ancient shipwreck where there was nothing at all just days earlier.
death-of-a-loved-one
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
body-horrordeathdeath-of-a-loved-one
While all her friends’ fish are changing into mermaids, is 12-year-old Anissa’s fish becoming something else?
death-of-a-loved-one
"You were six the first time you had a vision of someone’s death—your parents. The vision came when y’all were walking to the park and you were between them, holding their hands and heading towards the monkey bars. The vision was blurry and foggy like...
child-deathdeath-of-a-loved-onesexual-content
"You don’t know who we are, but we promise you we are harmless, and we made this village for you. Well, for you and for us, and for all the others that might follow. Each of us built their own little house. Some are made from hard candy, with gingerbread...
deathviolence
"Do you remember the war? No, of course not. You were too small, a solemn-eyed toddler in Má’s arms. You were born in the year of the rat, a lucky, ambitious year. I was two years older, year of the dog, loyal to the end. You were little souris, little Em,...
death-of-a-loved-onewar
Nothing tears two women apart like the men who want and take indiscriminately. In this retelling of “The Crane Wife”, a makeup artist and her actress lover struggle to stay together as the glitz and glamour of old Hollywood transforms into a cruel and...
abusemisogynyviolence
"One: My lipstick. The shade is Heart’s Blood. Morbid, if you ask me. I wanted to know if it was really the color of heart’s blood so I bought beef heart and tried dabbing my lips. Close enough. I emailed to congratulate the lipstick company on their...
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
death
Night Soil, of course, is human feces, but the salvagers to more than just collect that; they deliver other things too—if you’re willing to deal with them, that is.
Long ago, some people leapt from a slave ship, and something transformed their bodies so she they could breathe water. Today, her descendants try to cope with a changing ocean.
goresexual-violenceviolence
In early 19th-Century New Orleans, a teenage boy learns he can fly, but doesn’t understand why he must keep it a secret.
sexual-contentslaveryviolence
Hiding from her own problems, Winona volunteers at the local ornithological museum after she hits a bird with her car.
abusedeathracism
When newlyweds Courtney and Josh rent an old Victorian in Baltimore, they're told to stay out of the attic. But they hear noises up there at night. Footsteps.
violence
You are a lonely ten-year-old boy living in an old house with your mom when a man claiming to be your uncle arrives and strange things start to happen.
abusesubstance-use
When her mother is absorbed into the local flesh monolith, Kayla struggles with her identity and looks for a way in. Content warnings: Violence, nudity, racism/discrimination, body horror Copyright © 2026 khōréō magazine. Story by Mary Miseon Wu, edited by...
body-horrorracismviolence
A woman slowly smokes herself to death to protest an atrocity. When her cigarette supply runs low, a local kid grappling with both the protest and the atrocity brings her a cigar. Content warnings: Self-harm (smoking), references to genocide, a dead body,...
body-horrordeathwar
Gerry and I didn’t have kids though we’d tried. I’d lost those babies in the fourth month, the fifth month, the fourth month again. By then I was so exhausted by hope and disappointment that I didn’t want to do it again. Gerry didn’t push me since we had...
death-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemic
Given Rebecca’s hunger for blood, our hopes being complimentary seemed unlikely, yet Auntie Regina’s blessing poured over us both from head to toe. Never before had I felt closer to my sister. The warmth penetrated deeper into our skin, past the second...
animal-harmbody-horror
The magician raises his wand. Initially, this commission seemed simple. One large country invading a much smaller one, a clear case of aggressor and victim—but nothing is ever so straightforward.
Content note (click for details) oppression of marginalized groups, references to self-harm edited by David Steffen The antler people are exceedingly rare, but I’ve made sure my daughter knows about them. Not just as myth or stereotype, but as people like...
self-harm
Content note (click for details) Implied sexual assault of a teen, death of an animal edited by Hal Y. Zhang I toss the keys on the green Formica counter. I always aim for the same spot: that ugly, little brown ring—bubbled up and cracking—where Bill had...
abuseanimal-harmchild-abuse
Content note (click for details) Graphic depictions of violence, violence against animals edited by David Steffen We are killers in search of new hunting grounds. We fear only starvation and others of our kind. We are wolfish comrades, strong in our...
animal-harmdeathgore
Author : Jo Miles Narrator : Julia Rios Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Adam Pracht Escape Pod 1051: You Have Arrived at Your Destination is an Escape Pod original. You Have Arrived at Your Destination By Jo Miles It starts with an accident. A dreary...
I had a daughter and then I didn’t. I woke in the cradle of midnight, shivering from a supernatural cold. I thought at first that she was crying, that she had woken me, like so many midnights before. But there was silence all around me. I sat up on one arm...
body-horror
Bring your sister and I will tell you the story of how the waters returned to Apicuya. No, bring all the children. This is important. Don’t splash. If you cannot hear the thrum of the skymill, you are being too loud. Sit in the shallow pool, otherwise your...
child-deathdeath
There’s a wolf where my brother used to be, a beast absolutely hellbent on ruining my life. He plunges his broad snoot into the Wednesday night spaghetti, and neither Mom nor Dad cares when half the bite slides off his nose and onto the table, to later be...
Maybe we overestimated ourselves, I thought, watching the ferries hum against the wine-dark sea. Even if we floated above it, we were still bound to the ocean, engulfed in all its weight and inescapable history. To believe otherwise was a kind of hubris....
LA NDRY or L UNDRY. Those were the two choices. You never knew which one you were gonna get. The letters took turns to be fickle, blinking and spluttering in a game of chance. Mr. Lee, the laundry-mat owner, was stingy with the upkeep. He let his...
Author : Audris Candra Narrator : Zilla Paramita Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 925: The Immortal Rabbit is a PodCastle original. Content notes for homophobia, violence, the death of a spouse, and second-person...
death-of-a-loved-onehomophobiaviolence
Authors : Rachel Gutin, Christina Trujillo and Toshiya Kamei Narrators : Jess Lewis, Sandra Espinoza and Amal El-Mohtar “Peppermint Tea” previously published by Baffling Magazine “Ghosts” previously published in Gingerbread House Literary Magazine. This...
death-of-a-loved-one
Author : Beth Goder Narrator : Tatiana Grey Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published in Strange Horizons, February 2025 Content note: spiders Rated PG Arachnomorphosis by Beth Goder At night, Olivia becomes a...
mental-illness
Author : Victor Forna Narrators : Shingai Njeri Kagunda, Munashe R. Goromonzi, Wanini Kimemiah, Tahnia Barrie, Soila Kenya and Opie Ogundiran Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Previously published by Apex Magazine Rated PG Kɛrozin Lamp Kurfi...
violence
Author : Amanda Helms Narrator : Stephanie Malia Morris Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes PodCastle 939: The Worth of Ashes is a PodCastle original. Content notes for death of family members to illness (off-page), grief Rated PG THE WORTH OF...
death-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemic
Author : J. L. Akagi Narrator : Jo Moran Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes PodCastle 947: Why a Spider Needs a Parachute is a PodCastle original. Content notes for domestic violence and spiders. Big — friendly! — spiders Rated R Why a Spider...
abusetransphobiaviolence
Author : Erin Keating Narrator : Heather Thomas Host : Kaitlyn Zivanovich Audio Producer : Wilson Fowlie PodCastle 954: The Grief Eaters is a PodCastle original. Rated PG The Grief Eaters By Erin Keating There was a time when grave dirt could summon grief...
death-of-a-loved-one
In this episode of the Strange Horizons Fiction podcast, Michael Ireland presents Louis Inglis Hall's 'Cold Comfort' read by Emmie Christie. Subscribe to the Strange Horizons podcast: Spotify
deathdeath-of-a-loved-onesuicide
Everyone knows the Walls around the cities fell. What some people don’t remember is that the first one fell because of a laugh. It sounded like a ringing bell. Not like it came out of a baby at all. That was the first thing I told the scholar boy. He was a...
racismviolence
We'd only lived in Arizona four years—it was our retirement place. But I'd died there, and she'd dumped my ashes out in the desert without fanfare, without any poem or prayer, unless you considered, “Jesus, Marty, don't leave me. Why'd you leave me, you...
Content note: suicidal ideation “Please—turn it off!” A pained, painful wail from the room across the hall; soundtrack laughter dissolving into guttural thunder as a film projector slowed to a stop. “Well damn,” said the stranger who was entering the...
deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence
The wall of the city is made of glass, smooth and clear, slippery and strong. The stranger and his dog wear a path outside it every day, watching, listening, waiting to be ready. The wall is about three times the stranger’s height, perhaps a bit taller. As...
body-horrordeathdeath-of-a-loved-one
On a wooded hillside outside Pittsburgh, where the rivers braid together and the bridges flash yellow in the sun, there stands an old private school no one ever remembers enrolling in. Ivy grips its cracked bricks. Moss blurs the leaded windows. To almost...
deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
In summer, when the ocean ebbs at dusk, when the sand turns to glass and it becomes impossible to discern the difference between reflection and sky, the Tide Folk emerge from their pools. You might think, if you clamber on the cliffs searching for those...
Because it’s Carnaval, Iara wears a striped pirate shirt and a red pirate headband. And because of who she is, she sits on the bathroom floor, closes her eyes, and wears the perspectives of seven alley cats, three stray dogs, and a single pigeon for the...
sexual-content
On the morning Gwen woke with the ability to manipulate time, it was already too late. She didn’t immediately realize she could stretch or compress time—that would come later. At first, all she knew was Dianne was gone, and she wasn’t coming back.
Abuelita has been feeding me her memories. Yesterday, it was the time she trudged up the mountain carrying a basketful of offerings for Pachamama (flowers, incense, a llama sculpted out of animal fat and adorned with gold leaf) in hopes the Earth Mother...
deathillness-and-pandemicsubstance-use
I beg you, let me tell you about my daughter. My brilliant daughter will be one of the four people who survive their airplane crashing into a giant. Or, more accurately, a giant swiping their airplane out of the sky. Perhaps it meant to catch, or caress....
death
Of course I could kill him. If I wanted to, I would not hesitate to unhinge my jaw around his neck, skewering his trachea with my tusks and locking my […]
For Seanan McGuire. And Coyote. Let me tell you about the year Coyote took the Devils to the State Championship. Coyote walked tall down the halls of West Centerville High and where he walked lunch money, copies of last semester’s math tests, and unlit...
sexual-content
April It is in the floral heaviness of late-spring that his mother comes home and hands him the present. It fits well in the palms of his hands, neither too heavy nor too light. Perfectly square, perhaps—and later confirmed to be exactly—five inches wide...
self-harmviolence
"At night, Olivia becomes a spider. She scurries down San Francisco streets, floats gently between cotton-candy-colored houses, and hides behind signs for trendy restaurants, like Trough and Instance. By day, she works as a software engineer for a company...
mental-illness
Author : Matt Wallace Narrator : Mur Lafferty Host : Valerie Valdes Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Escape Pod 1000: A Thousand Names for God and Infinite Mustard is an Escape Pod original. Contains some harsh language A Thousand Names for God and Infinite...
Billionaire's Tears By Vanessa Ricci-Thode I wake up to the sound of screaming, and know I’m going to die. I shoot out of bed, calling for my mother. First thing I’ve spoken clearly in two days. “Maria!” My mother bursts into my room. “Baby, what’s wrong?”...
deathillness-and-pandemictransphobia
Author : Natalia Theodoridou Narrator : Ibba Armancas Host : Alasdair Stuart Audio Producer : Summer Brooks When They Come Back was originally published in Crossed Genres (Issue 22), in October 2014, and in Escape Pod Episode 550 Frank though not explicit...
body-horrorsexual-contentviolence
Author : Ryan Cole Narrator : Elie Hirschman Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Escape Pod 985: The Interdimensional Rift at the Lucky Sunrise Bingo Palace is an Escape Pod original. The Interdimensional Rift at the Lucky Sunrise Bingo...
death-of-a-loved-onehomophobia
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
violence
Author : Cécile Cristofari Narrator : Wilson Fowlie Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums Previously published by Interzone Content warning for dementia Rated PG The Third Time I Saw a Fox by Cécile Cristofari “You know what I...
mental-illness
Author : J.J. Roth Narrators : Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali, Jen R. Albert, Dagny Paul, Graeme Dunlop, Summer Fletcher, Matt Dovey, Alasdair Stuart, Marguerite Kenner, Eleanor R. Wood and Steven Capps Host : Emmalia Harrington Audio Producers : Eric Valdes and...
deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemic
Author : Cynthia Zhang Narrator : Curtis C. Chen Host : Shingai Njeri Kagunda Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 886: Houyi the Archer Fights the Sun is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13 Houyi the Archer Fights the Sun by Cynthia...
Author : Jennifer Hudak Narrator : Pippa Alice Stephens Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction Rated PG-13 The Day of the Sea by Jennifer Hudak When the Sea came...
Author : Gillian Knox Narrator : Karen Menzel (née Bovenmyer) Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 900: Sour Fruit is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for domestic abuse and the death of a parent Rated PG-13...
abusechild-abusedeath-of-a-loved-one
Author : E. M. Faulds Narrator : Eliza Chan Host : Devin Martin Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 902: Godzilla as a Young Man Named Mike is a PodCastle original. Content warning for ableist attitudes Rated PG-13 Godzilla as a Young...
ableismillness-and-pandemic
Author : A. D. Ellicott Narrator : Emma Osborne Host : Wilson Fowlie Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously Published by Body of Work, ed. C.Z. Tacks, Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild (2023) Content warnings for fatphobia and eating...
fatphobiamental-illnessself-harm
Author : Beth Goder Narrator : Tatiana Grey Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Rated PG Mycelium by Beth Goder I only travel to the golden head when the dragonflies are in...
Author : Adriana Kantcheva Narrator : Kat Kourbeti Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Trollbreath Magazine CW for drowning Rated PG Vedritsa of the River by Adriana Kantcheva The Kamchia river had grown...
deathsexual-content
Author : Diana Dima Narrator : Matt Dovey Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 918: Waterways is a PodCastle original. Content warning for self-harm and coercive control Rated PG Waterways by Diana Dima When his father...
abuseself-harm
Authors : B. Morris Allen, David McGuire and Courtney Floyd Narrators : Hugo Jackson, Steve Anderson and Kaitlyn Zivanovich Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes PodCastle 919: FLASH FICTION EXTRAVAGANZA: Possibilities is a PodCastle original. The...
Author : Jennifer R. Donohue Narrator : Heather Thomas Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Previously published in issue #3 of Gamut, on March 1, 2024 Content warnings for gore and traumatic birth Rated R Auguries By Jennifer R. Donohue She...
body-horrorgoreviolence
Authors : Tim Pratt and Heather Shaw Narrator : Tina Connolly Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Eric Valdes PodCastle 923: The Sun Globe is a PodCastle original. Rated G The Sun Globe Heather Shaw & Tim Pratt Grace Morley was singing “Silver Bells”...
“The Squatters” originally appeared in the 2025 Anthology, Silk and Sinew C/W for mass graves, genocide The government begins excavating the bones in late February to coincide with the events planned to commemorate the massacre. It is meant to gesture that...
child-deathgenocidewar
“The Darkness Carried by the Beasts” was originally published in The Sunday Morning Transport in 2023. CW: cancer, death of a family member From the author: This story came to me, at first, with the image of a man and his dog in the woods, somewhere in...
deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemic
“Jesus Christ in Georgia” was printed in The Crisis in the 1911 Christmas issue. It later appeared as “Jesus Christ in Texas” in Darkwater: Voices from the Veil. Use of the n-word 2010 interview with author Edward J. Blum about his 2008 book, W. E. B....
deathracismviolence
“Dimorphism” first appeared in SEASONS OF SEVERANCE, an anthology-collection hybrid published by Cemetery Gates Media in 2023. “Dimorphism” was later mentioned as a standout in the Summation section of The Best Horror of the Year Vol. 16. The short story...
animal-harmbody-horrormental-illness
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
body-horrormental-illnessself-harm
Authors : Sarah Pinsker, Katie McIvor and Andy Oldfield Narrators : Eliza Chan, Devin Martin and Eleanor R. Wood Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums “A Strange and Terrible Wonder” Previously published by Zooscape “The Dog Who...
deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
Authors : Samantha Murray, Avra Margariti and Devin Miller Narrators : Eliza Chan, Matt Dovey and Srikripa Krishna Prasad Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums This Blue World Previously published by Fantasy Magazine (Issue 83)...
Author : Ryan Cole Narrator : Hugo Jackson Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published in Museum Piece, from Metaphorosis Publishing Rated PG-13 The Museum of Living Color by Ryan Cole Red lust, as usual, comes in...
Authors : Derrick Boden and Kevin Sandefur Narrators : J.S. Arquin and Dani Daly Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums When the Giants Came Through the Valley – Previously published by Lightspeed Floaters – Previously published...
deathsuicide
Author : Farah Naz Rishi Narrator : Nadia Niaz Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published as PodCastle 526 Rated PG-13 When Shadow Confronts Sun By Farah Naz Rishi [Allah] will say, “Enter among nations which had...
racismviolence
Author : Eleanna Castroianni Narrator : Kat Kourbeti Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 833: This Wooden Heart is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for death and references to war and genocide. Rated PG-13 This...
deathracismwar
Author : Marisca Pichette Narrator : Julia Rios Host : Kiran Kaur Saini Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 834: All the Better to Taste You is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for end of life and misgendering. Rated PG-13 All...
deathtransphobia
Author : Charlie Sorrenson Narrator : Rebecca Wei Hsieh Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums Previously published by Tor.com Content warnings for violence, assault, misogyny, and PTSD. Rated PG-13 Flight by Charlie Sorrenson...
misogynysexual-violenceviolence
Author : Alexia Tolas Narrator : Omega Francis Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 837: Good Fortune For a Beloved Child is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for the death of a child, racism, and allusions to...
child-deathracismsexual-violence
Authors : C.S.E. Cooney and Carlos Hernandez Narrators : C.S.E. Cooney and Carlos Hernandez Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Clockwork Phoenix and as PodCastle episode 669 Content warnings for illness...
deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemic
Author : E. F. Benson Narrator : Devin Martin Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Originally published by Hutchinson’s Magazine, October 1928 Content warning for references to grief Rated PG Pirates by E.F. Benson For many...
deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
Author : Chip Houser Narrator : Leigh Wallace Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Bourbon Penn Content warning for bodily fluids Rated R On Snowflake-veined Wings by Chip Houser Amalia runs her finger...
body-horror
Author : Rati Mehrotra Narrator : Shweta Adhyam Host : Kaitlyn Zivanovich Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by The Deadlands Content warnings for death and injury Rated PG-13 Amma’s Kitchen by Rati Mehrotra I can always...
deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
Authors : Anna Mikhalevskaya and Elvira Rizaeva Narrator : Yaroslav Barsukov Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 846: Against All Odds is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for war, death, injury, and child...
deathviolencewar
Author : Ken Liu Narrators : Curtis C. Chen, Dagny Paul, Eleanor R. Wood, Stefani Cox, Wilson Fowlie, Matt Dovey, Jen R. Albert, Peter Adrian Behravesh, Summer Fletcher and Craig Jackson Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums...
death-of-a-loved-oneviolence
Author : Renan Bernardo Narrator : Diogo Ramos Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Samovar Magazine Content warning for off-screen parental death Rated PG A Short Biography of a Conscious Chair by Renan...
death-of-a-loved-one
Author : Renan Bernardo Narrator : Diogo Ramos Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Samovar Magazine Content warning for off-screen parental death Rated PG – 4 – “There’s been a fire over at the Bosque...
deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
Authors : Diana Dima and Sara Omer Narrators : Tanja Milojevic and Kitty Sarkozy Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 854: DOUBLE FEATURE: City Grown From Seed and Harvest House is a PodCastle original. City Grown...
abuseanimal-harmdeath-of-a-loved-one
Author : Joshua Lim Narrator : Marcus Chen Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 858: Roti Time Travel is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for grief, addiction, and the deaths of a spouse and child Rated PG-13...
deathdeath-of-a-loved-onesubstance-use
Author : Albert Chu Narrator : Curtis C. Chen Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin PodCastle 861: A Most Lovely Song is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for war, parental death, assault, a racial slur, and references to torture, genocide,...
death-of-a-loved-oneviolencewar
Author : Sonia Sulaiman Narrator : Peter Adrian Behravesh Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Artist : Iasmin Omar Ata Discuss on Forums Previously published in the collection Muneera and the Moon: Stories Inspired by Palestinian Folklore,...
Authors : Maya Abu-Alhayyat and Yasmine Seale Narrator : Mahtab Chenevix-Trench Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Artist : Iasmin Omar Ata Discuss on Forums Previously published by The Book of Ramallah Content warnings for death, cultural...
deathmisogynypregnancy-loss
“Phoenix Claws” was originally published in Black Cranes A block from the Jade Garden restaurant, I reached out and grasped Fin’s arm. “Hang on.” So many boyfriends had failed; I wasn’t going to let it happen again. I made a fuss of straightening his...
body-horrorgoreracism
‘Too Little, Too Little, Too Much’ originally appeared in Cossmass Infinites in March of 2022 Fans of the urban legend of the Russian Sleep Experiment may be excited to see a recent movie release “The Soviet Sleep Experiment” is available online now with...
abusechild-abuseviolence
‘Will They Disappear’ originally appeared in the 2024 collection The Nightmare Box from Cursed Morsels Press From the author: “This piece is based on the horrendous real-life story of Jennifer and Sarah Hart, two white women who adopted six Black children...
child-abusedeathracism
“Onitsha Main, Ochanja, The Twins, Nkpor, and the Shadows of Shoprite” was originally published in the 2024 anthology, Escalators to Hell: Shopping Mall Horrors Onitsha Main. It started with the garri sellers. Basin by basin, their grains went gray with...
body-horrorgoreviolence
He craned his neck, trying to see above their spiked shoulder pads and fitted caps. At the door, security gods brandished assault rifles.
deathviolence
Author : LP Kindred Narrator : LP Kindred Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Summer Brooks This story originally appeared in Anathema: Spec from the Margins (July 2022) Content warning for NSFW language, sex Wanderlust by L. P. Kindred When he first...
death-of-a-loved-onesexual-content
Author : Amal Singh Narrator : Kaushik Narasimhan Host : Valerie Valdes Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “A Series of Endings” originally appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine (December 2021) A Series of Endings by Amal Singh This is the story of Roopchand...
death
"There isn’t a more resilient thing than a small flower. Your great-great-grandmother was a yellow daffodil. Where she was born people called her narcissus. Her many heads blossomed from a loamy opening in the forest on a particularly chill spring day....
deathwar
Author : Tiffany Morris Narrator : Samantha Loney Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 771: Wapnintu’tijig They Sang Until Dawn is a PodCastle original. Rated PG Wapnintu’tijig: They Sang Until Dawn By Tiffany Morris...
death-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemic
Author : Z. K. Abraham Narrator : C. L. Clark Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 772: “Mama uat-ur” is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for references to torture and suicide Rated PG-13 Mama uat-ur By Z. K....
abuseself-harmsuicide
Author : C. T. Muchemwa Narrator : Shingai Njeri Kagunda Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums Previously published by Augur Issue 4.2 Rated PG-13 The Captive River By C.T. Muchemwa It was Siba’s eighteenth birthday, but instead...
Author : Harold R. Thompson Narrator : Wilson Fowlie Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 782: The Girl Who Never Was is a PodCastle original. Content Warning for the death of a spouse. Rated PG The Girl Who Never Was...
death-of-a-loved-one
Authors : M. Stevenson and Jo Miles Narrators : Andrew K. Hoe, Eric Valdes and Valerie Valdes Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums “My Custom Monster” was previously published by Fireside Fiction August 2021 “Scales” is a...
child-abusemental-illness
Authors : Tanya Aydelott, M.K. Hutchins and Lindsey Godfrey Eccles Narrators : Kaitlyn Zivanovich, Sofía Barker and Karen Menzel (née Bovenmyer) Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums “The Greenhouse Bargain” was previously...
child-deathdeathwar
Author : Celeste Rita Baker Narrator : Derrick O’Neal Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 793: Dip and Roll is a PodCastle original. Rated PG Dip and Roll by Celeste Rita Baker On de largest beach of de smallest...
Author : Gregory Marlow Narrator : Scott Campbell Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 797: A Jar of Malice is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for cruelty and references to homophobia Rated PG-13 A Jar of Malice...
animal-harmbody-horrorhomophobia
Author : JL George Narrator : Jordan Price Williams Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums Previously published by Fireside Rated R Diamonds and Pearls by JL George Diamonds are two a penny, but everybody wants them anyway. At...
Author : Lora Gray Narrator : Jo Moran Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums Previously published by Fantasy & Science Fiction Content warnings for a surgical procedure, homophobia (including slurs), assault, sexual assault, and...
abusehomophobiasexual-violence
Author : Suzan Palumbo Narrator : Shingai Njeri Kagunda Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums Previously published by Lightspeed Magazine Content warning for terminal illness Rated PG-13 Apolépisi: A De-Scaling By: Suzan Palumbo...
death-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemic
Author : Chris Kuriata Narrator : Tatiana Grey Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums Previously published in the anthology Food Of My People in 2021 Content warnings for human and animal death Rated PG-13 Chewing Through Wire By...
animal-harmdeathviolence
Author : Jennifer Hudak Narrator : Eleiece Krawiec Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Not One of Us #75 (January 2023) Rated PG Beverly’s Sonata by Jennifer Hudak When the record player first spoke to...
Author : Natalia Theodoridou Narrator : Tanja Milojevic Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producers : Devin Martin and Pria Wood Discuss on Forums Originally published in KROnline. Also published as PodCastle 508. Rated PG-13 The Ravens’ Sister by Natalia...
deathsuicidewar
“All the Ways to Hollow Out a Girl” was originally published in Horror for RAICES from Nightscape Press and reprinted in the charity anthology Shattered and Splintered. It’s almost noon on Friday when the neighborhood boys murder me again for the third...
abusemisogynyviolence
PseudoPod 865: Wanted: Bone-White Skull-Patterned Lace Trim is a PseudoPod original. The stroller on the side of the road caught Nina Wong’s eye as her Fiesta rounded the bend on her way to work. She slowed down, noting the FREE! sign taped to its handles....
abusebody-horrorpregnancy-loss
PseudoPod 878: The Son (El Hijo) and The Feather Pillow (El almohadón de plumas) is a PseudoPod original. “El Hijo” was first published under the title “El padre” in La Nación, 15 January 1928. “El Almohadón de Plumas” was first published in the magazine...
body-horrorchild-deathdeath
Author : Amal Singh Narrator : Kaushik Narasimhan Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “A Home For Mrs. Biswas” previously appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine (April 2021) A Home For Mrs. Biswas by Amal Singh Once she saw the red sands stretch...
death-of-a-loved-one
Author : Nicole D. Sconiers Narrator : Laurice White Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by Nightlight Podcast Rated PG-13 The Stiffening by Nicole D. Sconiers I was eight years old when I...
body-horrorracism
Author : Beth Goder Narrator : Dani Daly Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 724: The Cinnamon Thread is a PodCastle original. Content warning for the death of a parent Rated PG The Cinnamon Thread by Beth...
death-of-a-loved-one
Author : Rebecca Zahabi Narrator : Mahtab Chenevix-Trench Host : Peter Adrian Behravesh Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 727: [NOWRUZ SPECIAL] “Two Siblings, Seven Fish” is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13 Two Siblings,...
Author : M. L. Krishnan Narrator : Suna Dasi Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by Apparition Lit Rated PG-13 Bride, Knife, Flaming Horse by M. L. Krishnan To Kalavati, it was well known that if...
Author : Effie Seiberg Narrator : Summer Fletcher Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 731: The Travel Guide to the Dimension of Lost Things is a PodCastle original. Content warning for depression Rated...
mental-illness
Authors : Marisca Pichette, Dafydd McKimm and Devin Miller Narrators : Scott Campbell, Matt Dovey and Kelly Robson Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums “Water We Made to Breathe” and “A Partial Record of Enchanted...
deathillness-and-pandemic
Author : Eleanna Castroianni Narrator : Alethea Kontis Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by Fireside Content warnings for war, imprisonment, and torture Rated PG-13 An Incomplete Account of the...
deathviolencewar
Author : Renan Bernardo Narrator : Diogo Ramos Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 737: The Eight Hundred Legs of the Rio-Niterói Bridge is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for death of a parent, grief, and...
deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence
Author : Vanessa Fogg Narrator : Tatiana Grey Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 738: The Bones Beneath is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for violence and death Rated PG-13 The Bones Beneath by Vanessa Fogg...
child-deathdeathviolence
Author : Jaxon Tempest Narrator : Soleil Knowles Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 741: Between The Island and the Deep Blue Sea is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13 Between The Island and the Deep Blue Sea By Jaxon...
deathviolence
Author : Kate Heartfield Narrator : Kaitlyn Zivanovich Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 742: The Morning House is a PodCastle original. Content warning for dementia Rated PG-13 The Morning House By Kate Heartfield...
mental-illnessracism
Authors : Dafydd McKimm and Timothy Mudie Narrators : Alasdair Stuart and Kyle Akers Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums “I Will You Back to Time and Space” was originally published by Flash Fiction Online “The Ocean-Eyed Boy”...
body-horrorchild-death
Author : Shannon Peavey Narrator : Tina Connolly Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Apex Rated PG-13 The music for the promotion intro is “Sneaky Snitch” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under...
body-horrorgoreself-harm
Author : Caroline M. Yoachim Narrator : Miyuki Jane Pinckard Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producers : Devin Martin and Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Uncanny Magazine Rated R The music for the promotion intro is “Sneaky Snitch” Kevin...
sexual-content
Author : Caroline M. Yoachim Narrator : Miyuki Jane Pinckard Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producers : Devin Martin and Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Uncanny Magazine Rated R “The Traveler’s Guide to the Goblin Fells is an expansion book...
death-of-a-loved-one
Author : Caroline M. Yoachim Narrator : Miyuki Jane Pinckard Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producers : Devin Martin and Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Uncanny Magazine Rated R “The Traveler’s Guide to the Goblin Fells is an expansion book...
death-of-a-loved-oneracismwar
Authors : Samantha Murray, Lindsey Godfrey Eccles and Stewart C Baker Narrators : Emma Osborne, Dave Robison and Eleanor R. Wood Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums “On the Corner of Fulton and West” is a PodCastle Original!...
child-deathdeathsuicide
Author : Tim Major Narrator : Nicola Chapman Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published in “And the House Lights Dim”, from Luna Press Content Warning for postnatal depression Rated PG-13 O Cul-de-Sac! by Tim...
cannibalismgoreviolence
“The Rocking-Horse Winner” was first published in Harper’s Bazaar, July 1926. There was a woman who was beautiful, who started with all the advantages, yet she had no luck. She married for love, and the love turned to dust. She had bonny children, yet she...
abusechild-death
PseudoPod 801: The Bear Across the Way is a PseudoPod original. I paid no more attention to the bear than I would have any new neighbors. Despite what my husband might tell you, the fact that he was a bear played into my curiosity very little. It was his...
animal-harmdeathviolence
“Laughter Among the Trees” was previously published by The Dark Magazine on February 1st 2021. The highway to the campground cuts through the granite Laurentian Plateau like a desiccated wound. It’s been twenty five years since I’ve retraced this road and,...
child-deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneracism
Open 27 Hours By L.P. Kindred “It had pops of habanero-like spice immediately calmed by the subdued dulce of roast sweet potato. You got lemony shots of citric acid alongside amandine crunches. The dish was studded with cubes of meat I was too young to...
death-of-a-loved-one
Heard, Half-Heard, in the Stillness By Iona Datt Sharma Ekta’s Dadi could tell the future. She didn’t read the tea leaves, or make or lay bets on the cricket. But she booked the photographer the week before the news came of Purnima Didi’s engagement. She...
Author : dave ring Narrator : Dominick Rabrun Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published by Shift: A Journal of Literary Oddities. Rated R. La Camaraderie du Cirque By dave ring Gather round, and...
body-horrorsexual-contentviolence
Authors : C.S.E. Cooney and Carlos Hernandez Narrators : C.S.E. Cooney and Carlos Hernandez Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in Clockwork Phoenix. Content warning: illness and death Rated...
death-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemicsuicide
Author : Beth Goder Narrator : Kat Kourbeti Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by MYTHIC in June 2017. Rated PG-13. Pulling Secrets from Stones by Beth Goder In the lakebed by the mountains...
Author : Dan Micklethwaite Narrator : Matt Dovey Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by NewMyths. Rated PG-13. Once and Future Dan Micklethwaite Early mornings, before the tourists show up,...
death-of-a-loved-onesubstance-use
Author : Teresa Milbrodt Narrator : Alexis Goble Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published in Guernica in 2015 Bombings, and the offscreen death of children. Rated PG-13. In the Dim Below by...
body-horrorchild-deathwar
Author : Aimee Ogden Narrator : Tina Connolly Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by Daily Science Fiction Rated PG In September by Aimee Ogden On a humid night in mid-July, Emily can’t...
death-of-a-loved-one
Author : Hester J. Rook Narrator : Danielle Imara Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published in Making Monsters: A Speculative and Classical Anthology Rated PG-13 Aeaea on the Seas by Hester J....
sexual-content
Author : Kristina Ten Narrator : Nicola Chapman Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in Lightspeed. Rated PG-13 Tend to Me by Kristina Ten Nora is a serial becomer. She has become many things...
body-horror
Authors : Sylvia Heike, Ally Chua, Aleks Wittkamp and Drew Czernik Narrators : Andrew K. Hoe, Graeme Dunlop, Srikripa Krishna Prasad and Lalana Dara Host : Craig Jackson Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 701: Flash Fiction...
Authors : Eisuke Aikawa and Toshiya Kamei Narrator : Miyuki Jane Pinckard Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by Samovar Rated PG Hummingbird by Eisuke Aikawa and Toshiya Kamei The...
mental-illness
Author : Gary McKay Narrator : Sarah McGowan Host : Shingai Njeri Kagunda Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in Underneath the Tree: Twelve Christmas stories from Writers in Northern Ireland Rated PG Candy Canes,...
deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
“Notes on a Resurrection” was originally published in Strange Horizons (July 2019). The Feast Day of Lazarus is March 17 for the Eastern Orthodox Church. the reporter I heard about the story from the friend of a friend of an acquaintance, and didn’t put...
child-deathdeathviolence
“Little Worm” was originally published in the anthology Black Cranes Ping-ping-ping-ping. The incessant chiming underscored the cabbie’s music and the occasional blare of a horn. Theresa wondered what the hell it was as she braced herself. There were no...
body-horrordeath-of-a-loved-onepregnancy-loss
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
deathviolence
Author : Damini Kane Narrator : Suna Dasi Host : Srikripa Krishna Prasad Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 655: Mariska and Major is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13. Mariska and Major By Damini Kane Mariska is not an...
death-of-a-loved-one
Author : Teresa Milbrodt Narrator : Summer Fletcher Host : Sofía Barker Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in Pleiades: Literature in Context. Rated PG-13 White as Soap By Teresa Milbrodt I’m not sure what to...
animal-harm
Author : Eugenia Triantafyllou Narrator : Alethea Kontis Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in Uncanny Magazine. Rated PG-13. My Country is a Ghost By Eugenia Triantafyllou When Niovi tried...
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Cyd’s suicide brings his friend Kelvin to Albany for his memorial.
body-horrorsuicidetransphobia