Worlds Without Warning

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, Jon Negroni reads aloud his new magical realism story, "The Archivist." Set in Oakland, this story follows Isandro, a DJ who returns home from a late-night gig to find a mysterious woman in his apartment cataloguing all of his personal absences, which include missed calls, unsent birthday cards, and broken promises that have accumulated over the y...

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, Jon Negroni reads aloud his new thriller story, "End of the Line." Set on Chicago's Blue Line during the late-night shift, this story follows Lily, a train conductor whose routine crossword puzzle is interrupted by a mysterious voice on an old radio frequency claiming there's a killer on board. Blending real-time suspense with transit procedural d...

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, Jon Negroni reads aloud his new speculative contemporary fiction story, "Behavioral Pause." Set in our near future, this story follows Eleanor, who volunteers for a clinical trial testing a drug designed to help people control their verbal impulses by creating a neural delay between thought and speech. Blending pharmaceutical science fiction with...

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, Jon Negroni reads aloud his new contemporary literary fiction story, "We Should Celebrate." Set in Charlotte, North Carolina, this story follows Elena and Noah, roommates whose carefully maintained boundaries are tested when Elena receives a job offer that will take her across the country. Blending understated prose with emotional complexity inspi...

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, Jon Negroni reads aloud his new dark fantasy horror story, "The Hunger Beneath the Warrens." Set in a world of interconnected rabbit warrens bound by ancient magic, this story follows Captain Vetch of Thornburrow as he faces an undead infection that spreads through fallen communities, turning the dead into something far more dangerous than corpses...

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, Jon Negroni reads aloud his literary folk horror story, "A Butcher's Fable", which was originally published in April and now features a new edit by Natalia Emmons and fresh artwork by the author. Set in the fictional Caribbean coastal town of Bahía Roja, this story follows Juan Albizú, a meticulous butcher whose pristine shop becomes...

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, Jon Negroni reads aloud his new horror fiction story, "Frequency." Set at San Francisco's Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, this story follows Christian, a DJ performing as the opening act to an indifferent crowd while nursing fresh rejection from his partner. Blending electronic music culture with body horror and psychological terror, the story explo...

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, Jon Negroni reads aloud his new contemporary short fiction story, "Your Inner Sourdough." Set on a BART train in the Bay Area, this story follows Marina, who has claimed a specific seat as her daily sanctuary, only to find a stranger sitting in it every morning. Blending self-help culture satire with relatable commuter anxiety and awkward human co...

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, Jon Negroni reads aloud his new dark fantasy story, "The Little Matchgirl Makes Good." A reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale, this story follows a girl who dies selling matches in the cold but is resurrected by the Daughters of Ashes, a group that brings back forgotten girls to seek revenge on those who let them perish. Ble...

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, host Jon Negroni reads aloud his magical realism story, "Magical Pork," which was originally published on Cetera in February 2025. Set in Oakland, this is the tale of Ruben, who runs a Puerto Rican food truck and discovers that his pernil has the power to feed an entire neighborhood without ever running out. Blending culinary tradition with commun...

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, Jon Negroni reads aloud his new contemporary fiction story, "That's Your Problem to Solve." Set in a converted San Francisco nail salon, the tale follows Gabriel Hayes, a former therapist who charges people five hundred dollars an hour to professionally not help them with their problems. Blending dark comedy with sharp social commentary and emotio...

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, host Jon Negroni reads aloud his original fairy tale, "The Moon Dancer's Bargain." This is Cetera's second published story from January 2025. Inspired by Caribbean folklore, this is a tale of a young woman who encounters mysterious magic and must make an impossible choice that will change everything. Blending timeless fairy tale elements with rich...

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, Jon Negroni reads aloud his new paranormal contemporary fiction story, "One Good Ghost." Set at a beachside wedding, this is a tale where past and present collide when a bridesmaid encounters her brother's dead ex-fiancée in a bathroom mirror. Blending supernatural elements with sharp family dynamics and emotional realism, the story explore...

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, host Jon Negroni reads aloud his paranormal romance story, "To Feel Like a Person Again." Set at Starling Academy, a school where students who die become ghosts until graduation, this is the story of teen witches Hollie and Luce as they navigate love when one person gets to keep living and the other doesn't. Blending supernatural elements with sha...

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, host Jon Negroni reads aloud his new speculative literary short story, "Paper Dreams." Set in a near-future Silicon Valley, this is a world where dreams are taxed as intellectual property. Blending soft sci-fi and dystopian satire with emotional realism, the story explores grief, surveillance, and the quiet rebellion of a woman whose inner life is...

Welcome to the very first episode of Worlds Without Warning! Host Jon Negroni introduces the podcast and reads their own speculative fiction story, "Soulmate Season." A tale of cosmic destiny meeting heart-crushing reality when two strangers discover their invisible thread connection at the worst time possible. You can find the written version of "Soulmate Season" right here. About the Author Jon...

Get ready for Worlds Without Warning, a new weekly podcast where stories come alive through the voices of their creators.  Worlds Without Warning features original short stories from Cetera Magazine, read aloud by the authors themselves. Each week brings a new tale that might surprise you, move you, or even haunt you a little. As a subscriber, you can expect: Diverse genres: Literary fiction,...