Eggplant.place

153d

Dorothy K Haynes – Thou Shalt Not Suffer a Witch

Five supernatural and unsettling short stories from Dorothy K. Haynes’ award-winning collection first published in 1949. Produced by David Jackson Young and first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2004.

@bookstodon

https://archive.org/details/bbc-radio-dorothy-k-haynes/BBC+Dorothy+K+Haynes+2004-12-xx+1+Gas.flac

#Scottish #literature #20thcentury #womenwriters #gothic #horror #weird #weirdfiction #weirdtales #audio #audiobooks #shortstories

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

209d

WRITERS!

Submissions are invited to NEW WRITING SCOTLAND 44! We want poetry & prose in English, Gaelic, & Scots from writers who are Scottish by residence, birth, or inclination. All successful contributors are paid – deadline 31 Oct!

@writingcommunity

Submit free via Submittable 👇

https://nws.submittable.com/submit

#Scottish #literature #writing #WritingCommunity #IAmWriting #poetry #shortfiction #shortstories #Scots #Scotslanguage #Gaelic #Gaidhlig

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

210d

"... In a final attempt to bring down my arch nemesis, weapons exhausted, I flung my watch and hit him at the back of the foot, causing him to fall.. Stunned he looked up at me and said "but my defenses were impenetrable, I was winning!", as I looked down at him, smiled slightly & said "Fool, time wounds all heels" ...."

#ShowerThoughts #Musings #ShortStory #ShortStories

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

199d

A CHAOS OF LIGHT
New Writing Scotland 43
Ed. by Kirstin Innes, Chris Powici & Niall O’Gallagher

“writing that unsettles and challenges, that questions assumptions and gets us to look at, when it feels so much less painful to look away… A rich, boisterous, tender, charming, angry, sorrowful, gleeful mix”

Available now from all good bookshops!

@bookstodon
@writingcommunity

https://asls.org.uk/publications/books/newwriting/nws43/

#Scottish #literature #poetry #shortstories #shortfiction #newwriting #writingcommunity

Book cover

A Chaos of Light
New Writing Scotland 43

Edited by Kirstin Innes and Chris Powici
Gaelic Editor: Niall O'Gallagher

A dark purple-black cover. The book title is in pale yellow. A beam of white light rises up from the foot of the cover, forming the letter I in LIGHT. It hits the bottom of the capital A in CHAOS – represented by an upwards-pointing solid triangle – and a burst of colour emerges from the right-hand side of the triangle, as if light was passing through a prism. Multicoloured sparkles rise from the right-hand edge of the cover where the spectrum of light hits it.

ALT

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

191d

My fiction is in the new issue of The Kleksograph

You can give my Gothic short story, Two Dreams, a read here (with apologies for PDF accessibility shortcomings!): https://www.kleksograph.be/ #ShortStories #ShortStory #Gothic #WritersOfMastodon

Cover of issue 18 of the Kleksograph, featuring a red-hued, long-necked bear-like creature and the names of the contributors

ALT

Edited 191d ago

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

175d

"The Worm In The Apple" by John Cheever (1958) wasn't published in the New Yorker. Instead it was written as an introductory story to his first collection of short stories, The Housebreaker of Shady Hill and Other Stories published by Harper and Brothers in 1958. It is also included in The Stories of John Cheever published in 1978, which is where I read it.

https://pussreboots.com/blog/2025/comments_09/worm_in_the_apple.html

#bookstodon #reading #ShortStories @bookstodon

An altered cover of The Housebreaker of Shady Hills and Other Stories to say The Worm in the Apple.

ALT

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

99d

Five stars:

3 Days, 9 Months, 27 Years by John Scalzi and Malcolm Hillgartner (Narrator) is the first story in the Time Traveler's Passport series. The title describes the time a time traveler has to wait before returning home.

https://pussreboots.com/blog/2025/comments_12/3_days_9_months_27_years.html

#bookstodon
@bookstodon #audioBook #shortStories #SciFi

ALT

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

151d

“Stephen,” said Sir John, still in the same soft, sleekit tone of voice—“Stephen Stevenson, or Steenson, ye are down here for a year’s rent behind the hand—due at last term.”

—from “Wandering Willie’s Tale”, by Walter Scott: just what lengths do you have to go to to convince a landlord that you’ve paid the rent?

#Scottish #literature #SirWalterScott #19thcentury #ShortStories #Scots #Scotslanguage #Scotstober

‘Stephen,’ said Sir John, still in the same soft, sleekit tone of voice—‘Stephen Stevenson, or Steenson, ye are down here for a year’s rent behind the hand—due at last term.’

Stephen. ‘Please your honour, Sir John, I paid it to your father.’

Sir John. ‘Ye took a receipt, then, doubtless, Stephen; and can produce it?’

Stephen. ‘Indeed I hadna time, an it like your honour; for nae sooner had I set doun the siller, and just as his honour, Sir Robert, that’s gaen, drew it till him to count it, and write out the receipt, he was ta’en wi’ the pains that removed him.’

‘That was unlucky,’ said Sir John, after a pause. ‘But ye maybe paid it in the presence of somebody, I want but a talis qualis evidence, Stephen. I would go ower strictly to work with no poor man.’

Stephen. ‘Troth, Sir John, there was naebody in the room but Dougal MacCallum the butler. But, as your honour kens, he has e’en followed his auld master.’

‘Very unlucky again, Stephen,’ said Sir John, without altering his voice a single note. ‘The man to whom ye paid the money is dead—and the man who witnessed the payment is dead too—and the siller, which should have been to the fore, is neither seen nor heard tell of in the repositories. How am I to believe a’ this?’

Stephen. ‘I dinna, ken, your honour; but there is a bit memorandum note of the very coins; for, God help me! I had to borrow out of twenty purses; and I am sure that ilka man there set down will take his grit oath for what purpose I borrowed the money.’

ALT

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

144d

WRITERS!

Submissions are invited to NEW WRITING SCOTLAND 44! We want poetry & prose in English, Gaelic, & Scots from writers who are Scottish by residence, birth, or inclination. All successful contributors are paid – deadline 31 Oct!

@writingcommunity

Submit free via Submittable 👇

https://nws.submittable.com/submit

#Scottish #literature #writing #WritingCommunity #IAmWriting #poetry #shortfiction #shortstories #Scots #Scotslanguage #Gaelic #Gaidhlig

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

136d

WRITERS!

Submissions invited to NEW WRITING SCOTLAND 44! We want poetry & prose in English, #Gaelic, & #Scots from writers who are Scottish by residence, birth, or inclination. All successful contributors are paid – deadline 31 Oct!

@writingcommunity

Submit free via Submittable 👇

https://nws.submittable.com/submit

#Scottish #literature #writing #WritingCommunity #IAmWriting #poetry #shortfiction #shortstories #Scots #Scotslanguage #Gaelic #Gaidhlig

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

136d

So here's #Autumn2025 with box fresh #ShortStories from Helon Habila, Ephameron, Caroline Clark, Kōtuku Titihuia Nuttall and Kasimma – plus Chadwick Allen on the classics of #Indigenous #literature

Catch them all at https://fictionable.world

#books #reading #writing #fiction #comics #translation #blog #bookstodon @bookstodon

The contributors to Fictionable's Autumn 2025 issue. From top left Helon Habila, Kasimma, Ephameron, Kōtuku Titihuia Nuttall, Caroline Clark and Chadwick Allen

ALT

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

121d

“In crime, as in all life, nothing is fixed or certain. Put another way, it is part of the mystery of being, which has its origin in religious faith, & Stevenson’s stories abound in mysteries”

SINS & FOLLIES
Three Stories by Robert Louis Stevenson

🗡️ “A Lodging for the Night”
🪞 “Markheim”
💀 “The Body-Snatcher”

Download the free ebook

@bookstodon

1/4

https://asls.org.uk/publications/books/free-publications/sins-and-follies-2/

#Scottish #literature #RobertLouisStevenson #ShortStories #CrimeFiction #19thcentury #Victorian #gothic #RLSDay

Book cover

Sins and Follies

Three stories
by
Robert Louis Stevenson

ALT

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

93d

The big reveal…

So I wrote up a lot of these little stories a few years ago but I’ve added some new ones, cleaned it all up and now I’m the happiest with it that I’ve ever been. You can definitely get a copy in time for Christmas, if you’re so inclined…

https://amzn.eu/d/2kbNn7k

#bookreveal #newreleases #books #bookstodon #selfpublishing #author #shortstories

A man with glasses is smiling and holding several copies of a book titled "With So Many Sagas in the World..." by David Olsen. The background shows a cozy room setting with warm lighting.

ALT

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

86d

“In story after story, epicene young men, difficult children, or wild beasts set out to shake up the stifling complacency around them”

Hector Hugh Munro (1870–1916) – Saki – was born #OTD, 18 Dec, in Myanmar. Although born in the Raj & raised in England, his parents were Scots & he considered himself to be a Scot, too. Fatema Ahmed looks at his fierce, funny, & wicked fiction

@bookstodon

1/8

https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/43602/untameable-saki

#Scottish #literature #Saki #shortstories #humor #humour #horror #Edwardian

Edited 86d ago

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

83d

Five stars:

Her Body and Other Parties: Stories by Carmen Maria Machado (2017) is a collection of queer feminist horror stories that each sit on the Road Narrative Spectrum. Each story is an exploration of autonomy that are presented in different surreal manifestations.

https://pussreboots.com/blog/2025/comments_12/her_body_and_other_parties.html

#bookstodon
@bookstodon #shortstories

ALT

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

1y

My first fictional story. There are no physical descriptions or names so as to allow our minds to fill in those details based on our own experiences from our own cultural, racial, and religious backgrounds. What image did your mind create of the couple? Did certain people come to mind?

#shortstories #writing #author

https://philpetree.com/slinging-mud

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

60d

So here's the first of the #MysteryAuthors from our #Winter issue.

Nice trees, somewhat obscured by the #BlankPage

But who could it be?

#books #reading #writing #ShortStories #fiction #comics #translation #blog #bookstodon

A desk looks out on lush foliage, with piles of books, a lamp and a computer screen showing an empty page

ALT

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

53d

Titanium, Ruin and Strife (author: me)

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

16d

Logs For The Fire

The wood screamed in comfort and warmth. A necessary, hidden evil. An unspoken right to forsake the gift of creation. Bestowed by hands and minds.Sparks journey to heavens uncharted as another log lands in hell.“Blast this damned chill.” His voice almost muffled by the forest of his face.“Throw on another log, lest we freeze to death,” pleaded the pile of furs.

Another log.Another journey.Another nameless sin.

The brilliant pores of heaven’s face twinkle undisturbed. The anxious wind finds its purchase in the branches of horrored yew. The rustling prayer is lost on the soldiers.Beyond the gale lies the land of man and myth. Born to be loved, protected, sieged, and forgotten. Half burns. Half shivers. Whole is lost.

“Aye… Meerkin. What’s on y’mind, son.” Breath falls deeply through his thicket.“A warm cot, a cold rye… and a beautiful woman.” The pile shifts and replies.Like distant thunder, the beard laughs. “Ha! Careful there, son. Read my thoughts once more and I’ll take you for a warlock!”“Hmph. Careful, old man. I hold no empathy for monsters.”The old man’s sunken eyes rest upon the creation of hell, though attention rests elsewhere, not here, not present.“We’re all monsters, son.” He speaks as if the trees must not ever hear the truth already obvious to them.

Nature abhors a vacuum, so silence takes its place.Neither banish, nor welcome it. It rests at the fire like everything else. Uninvited, unnoticed, yet despised with no name.

And thus, the silence spoke.

“Do you ever wonder why we’re here?” The pile was now a philosopher.The sunken eyes climb out of hell to rest upon the distant heaven.“A holy gift, or a bizarre curse? I do not believe the answer is found amongst language, my dear friend.”The pile gave birth to a man, erect in posture, smooth in face, bright in eyes. Claiming the old man’s attention.“No, you codger. Here! Why are we at war?”The sunken eyes widen in surprise. Such a simple question. Such a simple answer.“Defending our motherland, or so I’m told.” He projected from his thicket.

“Or…” He growled in contemplation. He had found something in the dark.

Warm, cold, and quiet.

“Mayhaps… the kings just needed logs for the fire.”

Takahe has limited support for this type: See Original Page

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

227d

Each of our lives has many facets/personas, and rarely does anyone get to see them all. In this story, Phil Petree shares his.

(I'm sure there are other names I didn't cover.)

#shortstory #shortstories #name

https://philpetree.com/my-many-names

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

247d

A CHAOS OF LIGHT
New Writing Scotland 43
Ed. by Kirstin Innes, Chris Powici & Niall O’Gallagher

“writing that unsettles and challenges, that questions assumptions… A rich, boisterous, tender, charming, angry, sorrowful, gleeful mix”

The latest & best collection of new writing in English, Gaelic, & Scots, coming Aug 2025 – available for preorder from all good bookshops!

@writingcommunity

https://asls.org.uk/publications/books/newwriting/nws43/

#Scottish #literature #Gaelic #Gaidhlig #Scots #poetry #shortstories #writing

ALT

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

276d

Now on #Hoopla! Relics From A Traveling Show has:
⭐Whimsy
🐲A gargoyle
🪄Magical schools
👵Heroic aunties saving the day
😈Evil bureaucrats getting their comeuppance

(yes, I'm clueless about emoji, but I swear it's a really good bunch stories & you might love one or all of them.)

also at all the usual vendors:
books2read.com/RelicsFromATravelingShow

#Fantasy #ShortStories #Bookstodon

Screenshot of the Hoopla page entry for Relics From a Traveling Show, with the book cover (A young wizard sitting in their magical study full of artifacts looking out the window at a caravan wagon) and the borrowing information.

ALT

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

225d

WRITERS!

Submissions are invited to NEW WRITING SCOTLAND 44! We want poetry & prose in English, Gaelic, & Scots from writers who are Scottish by residence, birth, or inclination. All successful contributors are paid – deadline 31 Oct!

@writingcommunity

Submit free via Submittable 👇

https://nws.submittable.com/submit

#Scottish #literature #writing #WritingCommunity #IAmWriting #poetry #shortfiction #shortstories #Scots #Scotslanguage #Gaelic #Gaidhlig

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

228d

The latest issue of NORTHWORDS NOW (#46, Summer–Autumn 2025) is available free online – featuring poems, short stories, articles & book reviews, in English, Gaelic & Scots

New writing, fresh from Scotland and the wider North
Sgrìobhadh ùr à Alba agus an Àird a Tuath

https://www.northwordsnow.co.uk/Issue46

#Scottish #literature #poetry #shortstories #shortfiction #Scots #Scotslanguage #Gaelic #Gaidhlig

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

15d

Event Horizon

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original