A young journalist who thinks she's about to write a quick food truck review, observes something unusual about the truck, giant bugs that only she seems to see. Genre: Fairy Tale, Fantasy Excerpt: What are they? Ria wondered, taking off her glasses and putting them back on. The bugs were blurry without her glasses, but still present. They reminded …

An inexperienced crew of administrators aspiring to be field operators are assigned to a distant star system, where they encounter a sentient nebula. Genre: Science Fiction Excerpt: The newly appointed Captain Dorus gazed at his new crew, each one interviewed and hand-picked by him. The not-so-hotshot pilot, Orson, who retired early after she was n…

Every ninth full moon, the Reptilian Vaudevillians put on a spectacular show that for one audience member is a once-in-a-lifetime event. Genre: Fable Excerpt: No one will know of my crime. Tomorrow, I will die. And so will every one of my cohorts. The ones who came before are already dead. So none will know of my crime. Today, I should be searching…

After a young drummer commits the crime of “creativity without a license,” her bandmate discovers a way to protect her and all other unlicensed artists. Genre: Science Fiction Excerpt: “Tell me, as the band’s leader, what is the future of Discordance now? Will you find a new drummer? Will you disband and follow individual careers? The fans are dyin…

The unexpected demise of a witch on All Hallow’s Eve prompts her faithful assistant to seek the answer to the question, “Who killed Edith Evilez?” Genre: Horror Excerpt: “Who killed Edith Evilez?” the slightly malnourished young—or perhaps old—woman asked, as she thrust a dusty umbrella at a passing passerby. The asker’s name was Trudy Trubbeld. An…

A young woman finally learns the truth about what happened when her grand-aunty accepted a dare to knock on the door of a mysterious manor. Genre: Horror Excerpt: Naomi clicked on her recorder, took a deep breath, and asked her grand-aunty Z about the one thing that her mother and grandmother told her to never, ever, never, never, ever ask her abou…

A family is haunted by a demon who collects the fallen baby teeth of the children, and who soon hungers for more and more teeth, even when there are none for them to offer. Genre: Horror Excerpt: Many doctors and healers had tended to him. But the family he left behind, to whom he was beloved, blamed only one. The doctor of teeth. For before he cam…

Traveling on a road at night that cuts through the woods, one driver fears encountering dangers both natural and supernatural. Genre: Horror Excerpt: The car had been behind me for a while, even before we turned onto Dollortop, the road that just barely split the sprawling woods that separated the counties. I gripped the steering wheel at ten and t…

Be advised: This episode contains some intense music and sound effects. A group of friends venture into an abandoned tunnel against the warnings of one of them, who senses there is something in the tunnel that won’t let them get to the other side. Genre: Horror Excerpt: Bradley rubbed his hands together and looked at Amora. “It’s show time.” Phoebe…

A bard embarks on a quest to discover what it is that the dragons guard at the center of a maze made of the primal cosmic elements. Genre: Fantasy Excerpt: Once upon a time, there was an ocean of water and at the center of this ocean of water was an ocean of sand and at the center of this ocean of sand was an ocean of air and at the center of this …

A small team of marine explorers searches for a treasure from an arcane myth, a jewel that fell from the heavens. Genre: Science Fiction Excerpt: “So the gods order the sea fairies to wreck the ship,” Dalil continued. “I mean tear it apart until nothing is left, not even a single plank for the princess to grab onto to survive. But here’s the thing,…

The heiress of an unexpected fortune learns the cost of becoming too attached to her newfound riches after she is cursed by a magical vagabond. Genre: Fairy Tale Excerpt: “But beware that you cling too tightly to your riches, madam. For gold likes best to glitter in the light, and if you confine it, it will seek to fly away. Your treasure will turn…

A young mage facing a difficult homecoming finds a treasure by the side of the road, a stolen treasure whose true owner she cannot find, and whose last owner is a terrible troll. Genre: Fairy Tale Excerpt: With one hand, she raised the sack, as she waved the other before her eyes, casting a lensing spell that would allow her to see any magical mark…

When Baron Raven discovers a rare gem in his mines, he performs his duty by making a gift of the gem to his liege, King Monkey. Genre: Fable Excerpt: In the mines within the five mountains that lay at the kingdom’s borders, Baron Raven discovered a most wondrous stone. Even in its raw form, it shone with a cosmic gleam that kindled the baron’s curi…

The seemingly empty cardboard box that a student uses for a school project still contains something. Something unexpected…and unnerving. Genre: Science Fiction Excerpt: “What?” I asked. “Is it a bug?” “There’s an eye, Mallow. It’s looking.” I leaned over the box, now thinking that a picture of an eye from something my mom ordered had scared my brot…

In a desperate moment, a mage casts an unpracticed spell to save himself, but may have doomed himself instead... Genre: Fantasy Excerpt: Of course Panofus knew the procedures and had run many drills, but he had never expected to use that particular part of his training. He should have paid more attention to the rumblings and rumors of demonic invas…

While authorities search for a tiger that escaped from the local zoo, a group of people take shelter in a diner, not really worried about their safety, until a stranger appears who seems to have been attacked. Genre: Fable Excerpt: Sally got on the phone, and I could tell she was calling her neighbor to ask if they would look out for Frankenstein (…

Ah, the curious ways in which the wonders of our childhood manifest when we are older. Genre: Fantasy Excerpt: I woke up to watch it walking into my room through the open door. I didn’t remember closing the door. But I always closed the door, so it should have been closed. Part of its tail trailed off beyond the open door that I don’t remember leav…

A man keeps waking up in a sweat, breathless, and on the verge of tears, but he can’t remember his dreams. Then one day, he wakes to find something disturbing on his hands. Genre: Mystery Excerpt: And then he woke up. He huffed out a breath and gasped. He was covered in sweat, even though the room was cool. His eyes were still shut, but he felt the…

When one flower asks for every passing creature to help her attain the gift of motion, she finds no luck, until she meets a cat named Serendipity. Genre: Fairy Tale Excerpt: Once upon a time, flowers lived long lives. They are now known to be fleeting, for the most part. They bud. They bloom. They grace the world with their beauty. And then they di…

After the laughing Sun learns a terrible lesson about the power of her radiance, she flees the sky, and her sister, Moon, ventures into the cosmos to find her. Genre: Mythology Excerpt: Mischievous, capricious, boisterous Sun never took her cosmic duty seriously in her younger days. Many cast light upon the mortal world, but only one, only Sun cast…

Two friends notice a mysterious new patron at their famed local laundromat, who always uses the same machine to wash the same few clothes the same way every time. Genre: Fantastic Mystery Excerpt: Yolie and Luxe were “laundromat” friends, who had become actual friends over the course of the past year. And Burgundy was the most intriguing patron to …

When her auntie died, Subira inherited three things from her: a blessing, a curse, and a quest. Genre: Fairy Tale Excerpt: When her auntie died, far sooner than she should have, Subira inherited three things from her. One was a blessing. One was a curse. The third was a quest. The curse is what killed her aunt. And the curse would kill Subira too u…

An expert in the field of neurological mapping is the only person qualified to enter an experimental simulation and rescue her greatest rival. Genre: Science Fiction Excerpt: “It could be psychological. Maybe his subconscious put something in there, or built a section of the maze on its own, and he’s having a tough time getting out.” “And what else…

An inventor aiming to revolutionize cosmetics with her intelligent nanoparticle mechanisms, revises and refines her invention to serve a greater purpose. Genre: Science Fiction Excerpt: Kaira explained how it worked. Her nanoparticles were simple mechanisms that responded to commands transmitted from a voice-activated processing patch attached to h…

A mouse narrowly escapes a cat, and is later haunted by the ghost of the cat, who believes the mouse plays a part in the “unfinished business” of the cat’s life. Genre: Fable Excerpt: Two eyes, yellow with a green glow, hovered in the darkness. A shaft of soft light from a crack in the wall fell between Rini and those eyes, those eyes that loomed. …

A girl accidentally passes before a warlock who is laying a curse on someone, and wakes the next morning to find that the curse has fallen upon her instead. Genre: Fairy Tale Excerpt: I didn’t earn what happened to me. The curse that fell on me was meant for another. That’s what happens when petty warlocks are reckless with their magic. What’s the …

A desperate people once made a monstrous bargain with a demon, and monsters they became. Genre: Fairy Tale Alert: This episode contains mention of harm to human babies, comparable to what can be found in classic fairy tales such as “Hansel and Gretel.” Excerpt: Legend says that the draugamunninn were once human. They were a practical but severe peo…

A restless fairy creates a restless trinket with the power to grant its bearer three wishes, but as each wish is grant, the last wish fades away. Genre: Fairy Tale Excerpt: A restless fairy grew bored one day and created a restless trinket, imbuing it with all of the fairy’s magic. The magic was all bent toward one purpose, to grant the bearer of t…

The youngest of three siblings makes a wish at a mall fountain, where unseen fish supposedly live, helping people’s wishes come true. Genre: Fairy Tale Excerpt: I twisted my mouth to one side, and stared at the coin that I held in the middle of my palm. “There’s a scientific explanation for it,” my sister said. "For what?” I said, glancing up at th…

Alert: This episode contains heartbeat sound effects. Long ago, the human heart experienced an extraordinary change, all because one god wanted to find a quiet place to sleep. Genre: Mythology Excerpt: A tale was once told among the ancestors of the people who live at the base of the great mountain to the north, from which a waterfall plummets into…

A moth dreams of visiting the Moon, but is too small to fly all the way. Genre: Mythology Excerpt: When first the moths alighted in the world below, the land of earth, they did so out of curiosity. And they did so because they were sent forth from their home by their creator. Their home and their creator were one and same, and she bore the name Moo…

A prideful swallow is cursed and changed into the form that she finds most abhorrent, a tree. Genre: Fable Excerpt: The swallow was a happy bird, but also somewhat superior. Nothing brought her joy the way flying did. Slicing through the clouds and flicking the air with the perfect points of her tail. She believed that birds were the supreme creatu…

After a man stuck in the middle seat of a long flight wishes he had more room in his row, his wish comes true: his seatmates start vanishing. Genre: Mystery Excerpt: But saying it out loud, he sounded a little foolish to himself, so he laughed and waved a hand. “I’m probably just being a worrywart for nothing. But I figure better safe than sorry.” …

Two passengers find themselves alone just after takeoff, on a plane that seems to be floating in some substance that the passengers can only define as being green and gold. Genre: Science Mystery Excerpt: If we were asleep, and the plane crashed into an ocean with green-and-gold water, and we’re now sinking, and the rest of the passengers managed t…

Do the voices coming from the food in my fridge and pantry want to harm me, help me, or just…be? Genre: Science Fiction Excerpt: “Tell me I’m sane,” I said. There was a pause on the other end. And then he finally spoke. “I refuse.” I sighed. “Freddy, come on.” “Give me some context, then.” What’s the Writing Prompt that inspired the story?Describe …

During his first week working at a unique pizzeria, Ronnie encounters some uncanny late-night customers, who place an order for the rarest pizza on the menu. Genre: Fantasy Excerpt:“What…what will this one do?” Ronnie asked as he folded fresh rosemary leaves and parmesan flakes into the dough. “It’ll make the customer swoon with pleasure upon first…

Three friends decide to do their science project on a forgotten novelty invention, a self-peeling banana. Genre: Science Fiction Excerpt: “What about dinosaurs?” I said after a few minutes. “We could do our project on how and why they went extinct. That’s exciting.” K.D. shook her head. “It might seem too basic. Like something we would have done in…

A young journalist follows her latest lead into a quirky fast food place located in her dreams. Genre: Mysterious Fantasy Excerpt: “Welcome to Thoughtsburger, would you like to try our new Weltschmerz platter with a side of Bitterness and Longing?” Ria stared at the person who had just addressed her. “Uh, no, thank you.” What’s the Writing Prompt t…

To help a young man seek his fortune and his purpose upon leaving home, his parents endow him with a parting gift, a basket of lemons. Genre: Fairy Tale Excerpt: The couple had thirteen children by the time they were finished siring. One by one, as each child came of age, they were sent out into the world to seek their fortunes and their purposes f…

To save her friends and herself from being eaten, a ghost crab enters a juggling contest with a devious and possibly unbeatable opponent. Genre: Fable Excerpt: Four unlikely friends were frolicking in the ocean one day. They were the Ghost Crab, the Blue Marlin, the Jellyfish, and the Nautilus. The crab and the marlin splashed about on the surface,…

When a young man sees his reflection in a pool as he has never seen it before, he is both mesmerized and suspicious. Genre: Mythology Excerpt: One day, he had an enticing thought. Then he chastised himself and told himself it was a silly and foolish thought. He shook his head as if shaking off the thought, but it was a sticky thought. It would not …

Longtime lovers the ogre and the elf each recall the first few days of their honeymoon a bit differently. Genre: Fairy Tale Excerpt: The ogre snapped her fingers and furrowed her warty brow. “What was the name of the place where we stayed…was it…the Twilight Twinklings Inn?” “No darling, that was for our first anniversary, when we went up north to …

An urban legend about a haunting phenomenon occurring in a little beach town becomes a news story when escalating incidents lead to the beaching of what appears to be a telepathic whale. Genre: Science Mystery Excerpt: “You’re looking for a story.” “Yes.” “My story.” “That’s right. What’s your story? Where did you come from? How did you get inside …

The inventor of a working time machine takes her closest friend on what was meant to be a quick trip to the near future. Genre: Science Fantasy Excerpt:I didn’t panic right away when Violeta said she had succeeded in building a working time machine. All of her inventions worked. All of them. But all her other inventions were a lot less…ambitious. I…

A fearful and captive servant, who tends a menagerie of unique and captive creatures, is dazzled by the arrival of a most magnificent creature known as a hippocampus. Genre: Fantasy Excerpt: At the center of my memory is the image of a horse, a horse the color of orange cream, rearing up, and glancing at me, with an oceanic glint in her eye. She ha…

In life and beyond, the elephant king seeks only one aim, to protect his people from despair. Genre: Fable Excerpt: As the elephant king lay dying, struck silent by his pain, able only to breathe shattered breaths, his mind thought its last thoughts. He could forgive the ones who had killed him. But forgiveness would do his people no good. He could…

A nervous young job-seeker’s interview is constantly interrupted by what seem to be personal phone calls to the interviewer, but from different callers. Genre: Fairy Tale Excerpt: I was nervous. Okay…yes, obviously. Obviously I was nervous. This one, I really, really wanted. Based on the description. Field investigation and research. Constant trave…

A man seeks the help of a psychic after he experiences an unusual haunting from an automated phone line. Genre: Mysterious Fantasy Excerpt: “My life is still following the path he laid out for me.” Madame Granya frowned. “Who?” I stared at her. I wasn’t really struggling with whether or not I should tell her. I was just not telling her. I had nothi…

Sammy receives an unusual birthday gift, a smart device with a face, a set life span, and an unrelenting imperative to help. Genre: Science Fiction Excerpt: The figurine suddenly collapsed, then sprung up, wheeled her arms around, stretched them out, then up, then bopped up and down by bending at the knees. She gazed up at Sammy. “Hello there!” she…