Kaidankai: Ghost, Supernatural, and Dark Short Fiction

Today's story takes place on the shores of a lake in Japan. Its majestic views and abundant nature speak of peace and tranquility. But evil lurks everywhere, as one pilgrim discovers. A Tokyo resident since 2006, Anglo-Irish writer Andi Brooks is co-author of the critically acclaimed biography Vampire Over London: Bela Lugosi in Britain, curator of The Bela Lugosi Blog and a recipient of a Rondo H...

Raikou and Shi-ten Doji is a Japanese tale of demons, warriors and mountain lairs. The deep forest hides many horrors, but four warriors are willing to face them to save beautiful maidens and get revenge. Ed Ahern resumed writing after forty odd years in foreign intelligence and international sales. He’s had over three hundred stories and poems published so far, and six books. Ed works the other s...

In Purple Hair, Tim Law explores the dull throb of modern life and the inner turmoil that haunts us and can make life miserable. Timothy Law is a writer of fantasy, horror, detective and general fiction from a little town in Southern Australia called Murray Bridge. Currently working at the Murray Bridge Library in the role of Library Manager he has dreamed since high school of becoming a fulltime...

A "Grass is greener on the other side" story. A young woman hates her own hair and wishes to have hair like her grandmother's. As with so many stories, though, wishes come with consequences, but for whom? Jill Trade is a pseudonym. The author got her name because she is a Jill of all trades, skilled in meat cutting, hair cutting and finance. She is mom to three boys, is a published poet, and has r...

Two young protagonists find themselves in a difficult situation when they meet the Yamamba in a wild Japanese mountain forest. In Simon Grey and the Yamamba, author Charles Kowalski weaves elements of Japanese culture and folklore into this engaging, but creepy story. Charles Kowalski is an award-winning author for his book Simon Grey and the March of a Hundred Ghosts. It's a great book for anyone...

Setsubun, by Linda Gould is a re-imagining of the Japanese holiday, celebrated on February 3rd, where families throw beans at demon-masked fathers to get rid of bad luck and invite in good luck. It's a fun holiday, but this story has a darker theme. Linda A. Gould is the host of Kaidankai and editor of White Enso. She is an on-again, off-again writer of fiction, non-fiction, science fiction and gh...

In Emilia's Rainbow, by Michael Rhys, a little girl learns how to find rainbows. While she wishes to see unicorns at the first rainbow she spots, the leprechaun she finds is every bit as magical. But what will she have to do to get his gold? Michael Rhys is a Tokyo-based voice actor and writer of short tales. Originally from Esssex, in the UK, he is a 33-year resident of Japan. He lives in the dee...

In Bhoot Bangla, by Snigdha Agrawal, a family moves into a new home. One child hears mysterious music, but has to convince her parents she isn't imagining things. Snigdha Agrawal is Bengali born and resides in Bangalore, India.  She is extensively published and writes in all genres of poetry, prose, short stories, travelogues and hotel/restaurant reviews.  Raised and educated in a cosmopolitan env...

The saying goes: When one door closes, another opens. But that second door isn't always what it seems as we learn in Tim Law's flash fiction The Countdown. Timothy Law is a writer of fantasy, horror, detective and general fiction from a little town in Southern Australia called Murray Bridge. Currently working at the Murray Bridge Library in the role of Library Manager he has dreamed since high sch...

To mark the end of the month, I read The Raven, by Edgar Allen Poe. It's one of my favorite all-time poems, and having attended the University of Delaware, it has a special place in my heart. Poe worked on The Raven at a local bar called the Deerpark where I spent way more time than I should have. The Kaidankai Podcast features original short fiction exploring horror, fantasy, science fiction, and...

In Sepulcher of Shame, Maggie Brace provides a unique twist on everlasting love. Then, Linda Gould has a different take on shame and the monsters within us. Maggie D Brace, a life-long denizen of Maryland, teacher, gardener, basketball player and author attended St. Mary's College, where she met her soulmate, and Loyola University, Maryland.  She has written 'Tis Himself: The Tale of Finn MacCool...

In her horror tale, The First and Last, Cathy MacKenzie twists us around time and again so we don't know if the character is coming or going. If you aren't already afraid of clowns or the dark, you will be. Cathy MacKenzie lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Her writings can be found in numerous print and online publications. She has also published several short story collections, books of poet...

Like a cross between Thomas Hardy and Emily Bronte, Chitra Gopalakrishnan's Waldeinsamkeit has nature as a character. The plot is simple, but the emotions and soul-searching is complicated, deep, and it is the power of something beyond our realm that draws us in to the story and engages us. Chitra Gopalakrishnan, a New Delhi-based journalist and a social development communications consultant uses...

Today's story is a classic. In Catacombs of the Doomed, by Steve Carr, a kidnapped man wakes up in a dungeon. He wonders what act of his brought him to this situation, and what will become of him. But some fates are too horrible to contemplate. Steve Carr, from Richmond, Virginia, has had over 540 short stories published internationally in print and online magazines, literary journals, reviews and...

In The Hunter's Wife, by Andi Brooks, a man falls in love with a woman and creates a long and loving life with her. But can we ever truly know the people in our lives? A Tokyo resident since 2006, Anglo-Irish writer Andi Brooks is co-author of the critically acclaimed biography Vampire Over London: Bela Lugosi in Britain, curator of The Bela Lugosi Blog and a recipient of a Rondo Hatton Classic Ho...

In Tejaswinee Roychowdhury's story Time is Come, we meet a character who has a special relationship with the spectre of death. What would it be like to see death as it waits in the shadows for its next victim? Made in '93, Tejaswinee is a lawyer with a Master's degree in Business Laws from the Department of Law, University of Calcutta. She resides in the city of Chandannagar in West Bengal, India....

In Mt. Hiei, Kathryn Hemmann creates a mystical tale around warrior monks, their mountain home and the Buddhist god Fudō Myō. Mt. Hiei is read by Michael Rhys, a Tokyo based voice actor and writer and teller of short tales. Kathryn Hemmann is a writer, translator, and comic artist who lives at the center of a maze of bookshelves in Philadelphia. Their work explores modern ruins, hidden mysteries,...

God of the Kiln, by Eric Francis, is a thought-provoking story about religion, humanity, hubris and devotion. It will stick with you long after the end of the podcast. A Southerner by birth and a Yankee by choice, Eric J. Francis has been dabbling in fiction writing for a couple of decades. "God of the Kiln" was his first published story, appearing in the anthology Arcane in 2011. A professional w...

Sally's Saloon, by Hugh Allison, is a short, fun poem that highlights the diversity within the supernatural world. It's hard not to want to visit. Just be sure to treat the characters with respect. Hugh Allison’s poems have been published in Departure Mirror, Poetry Plus Magazine, Riverbed Review, and Sundamaged. His short stories include “Growing Up with the Kindnarians” published in the antholog...

Less Than a Ghost by Aprile Nakamura is a psychological study of how toxic relationships can have long term effects on people. Is it a ghost who helps the lonely woman in the story to find a better life? Aprile Nakamura has lived in the United States for 20 years. This is her first story written in English about her Japanese culture. Read anonymously The Kaidankai Podcast features original short f...

Undead Soldier by Linda Sparks is a flash fiction story about ghosts from the past. Does one visit the present? Linda Sparks, author and poet, has published 19 books and been published in numerous anthologies. She served as Editor for Valkyrie Magazine. Her favorite genres are horror and science fiction. Her book titles include: The Goblin Hour, The Scent of Ghosts and Magic, The Ghosts of Space....

In Edward Ahern's short story Penance a developer turns an old church into a nightclub in this story of sin, confession, capitalism and good ol' spirituality. Ed Ahern resumed writing after forty odd years in foreign intelligence and international sales. He’s had over three hundred stories and poems published so far, and six books. Ed works the other side of writing at Bewildering Stories, where h...

A lonely child makes a new friend, but not everyone is happy about that. An endearing ghost story by J. L. Short, read by Katherine Merwin. J. L. Short lives with his family near Philadelphia and as near as he can tell there are no ghosts in his house. On the other hand, there is an abundance of very live animals. This story is adapted from his novel Invisible. When he is not writing, he teaches h...

When we were children, so many of us had that terrifying encounter with a shadow in the corner of our bedroom. In Books, Shadows, and Immortality, Joe Kirkenir takes that terror to a whole new level. Joe Kirkenir lives in York, PA with his cat, Victor, who is named after the complex main character from the classic novel, Frankenstein. He graduated from Gettysburg College with an English degree in...

Jill Trade provides us with two quick, but serious, poems that just might save your life. Sadly, her third poem details the fate of those who don't listen to warnings. Jill Trade is married and the mother of three active boys, so she spends a lot of time at playgrounds imagining poetry, which she said she recently rediscovered. Her background includes training in meat cutting, which may influence...