Kaidankai: Ghost, Supernatural, and Dark Short Fiction

In "Last Breath:" A boy on a hunting trip with his father questions the need to kill animals sacred to the Sami people and culture. "Ode to Obscured Ancestors," speaks to the quiet endurance passed through generations and the ancestral voices that still sing through silence. Author's Note: This story was written in consultation with a Sámi advisor (poet and activist Elise Maren) and includes eleme...

After fleeing the chaos of the city, a woman finds uneasy solitude in a remote forest cabin—until the night fire and something else descend. Alex Dal Piaz is an author from New York with recent credits in Seaside Gothic, Bristol Noir, The Other Stories, Cast of Wonders, and Bunker Squirrel. He’s currently querying a first novel and can be found online at X/Twitter @smile_stilllife and at linktr.ee...

In a pulsing nightclub, a man re-lives the same horrific moment as time loops, reality blurs, and a stranger’s purpose becomes terrifyingly clear.  Tim Law has loved to write from a very young age, but has only recently discovered the joy of being published. He is happily married to a wonderful girl, a proud father of three humans, and a reluctant father figure to four cats. He writes fantasy, sci...

A haunting melody becomes the thread between love, loss, and the mysterious forces that blur the line between life and death. C.S. Fuqua’s books include  Fatherhood ~ Poems of Parenthood, Walking After Midnight ~ Collected Stories, Big Daddy’s Fast-Past Gadget, Native American Flute ~ A Comprehensive Guide , and  White Trash & Southern ~ Collected Poems.  His work has appeared in publications...

A nurse confronts the emotional and spiritual toll of his work in end of life care. Tony Del Degan is an author and screenwriter from Calgary, Canada. When he was a young boy, he was introduced to the world of fiction through films like Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, and was immediately captured by the desire to create imaginative worlds and stories of his own. Since elementary school,...

A podcast team explores a chilling urban legend in Santiago, uncovering haunting tales, personal fears, and deeper truths about belief, memory, and the unknown. Sam Williamson is an aspiring writer and a medical student from Santiago, Chile. Her story "Light," earned third place in the Miroptics Contest. Her pieces have appeared in magazines such as Amazine, with forthcoming work in ionosphere. Wh...

When Laura returns once more to the place where her uncle disappeared, she expects only silence. Instead, she finds a voice calling her name, a face she thought was long gone, and a reality that begins to unravel. Grove Koger is the author of Not, a chapbook of poetry; and When the Going Was Good: A Guide to the 99 Best Narratives of Travel, Exploration, and Adventure. He’s Assistant Editor of Deu...

A tired traveler, stopping for a drink in a quiet country pub, discovers that sometimes loneliness — and the ghosts of the past — demand more than just conversation. Robert Kibble lives west of London with a wife and two cats, and a cornucopia of half-finished writing projects.  A few have been published over the years, which – it has to be admitted – is very pleasing.  If only a less creative day...

A city boy, lured by a strange girl and the promise of magical fruit, discovers that some rural secrets are far more dangerous — and far more ancient — than he could ever imagine. Arpad Nagy is a 51yr old, Hungarian Canadian, working husband and father, with a storyteller’s soul and a romantic’s heart, who, began his writing journey in 2021 after sustaining serious work injuries. After surviving a...

A writer stumbles upon dark secrets from the past that awaken a sinister force within him. James Rumpel is a retired high school math teacher who has greatly enjoyed spending some of his free time turning a few of the odd ideas circling his brain into stories. He lives in Wisconsin with his wonderful wife, Mary. Photo by Art Lasovsky on Unsplash You can read "Jack's Muse" at https://www.kaidankais...

A cursed prince must attend a royal ball to choose a bride. He flees, only to find magic in the forest. Allister Nelson is a poet and author whose work has appeared in Apex Magazine, The Showbear Family Circus, Eternal Haunted Summer, SENTIDOS: Revistas Amazonicas, Black Sheep: Unique Tales of Terror and Wonder, The Greyhound Journal, FunDead Publications' Gothic Anthology, POWER Magazine, Renewab...

What happens when the desperation to survive peels away the last shreds of identity?  Jennifer Weigel is a multi-disciplinary mixed media conceptual artist.  Weigel utilizes a wide range of media to convey her ideas, including assemblage, drawing, fibers, installation, jewelry, painting, performance, photography, sculpture, video and writing.  Much of her work touches on themes of beauty, identity...

A man enters a magical realm for love, but homesickness draws him back—under strict rules. Will he follow the rules? A what happens if he doesn’t? Michael Barrington lives near San Francisco and writes mainly historical novels: Let the Peacock Sing, The Ethiopian Affair, Becoming Anya, The Baron of Bengal Street, No Room for Heroes. Passage to Murder is a thriller set in San Francisco. Magic at St...

A tale that shows even time-worn entities like genies in lamps can be modernized. William Quincy Belle is just a guy. Nobody famous; nobody rich; just some guy who likes to periodically add his two cents worth with the hope, accounting for inflation, that $0.02 is not over-evaluating his contribution. He claims that at the heart of the writing process is some sort of (psychotic) urge to put it dow...

Last Breath is glimpse into the mind of a man on the threshold of death.  Who is with him and what does he think about in the waning hours of his life? Memories blur with reality. The past and present entwine. And as the clock winds down, he must decide—does he linger, or does he finally let go? L.N. Hunter shares an untidy home with two cats and a soulmate, and besides a comic fantasy novel, 'The...

A woman sneaks along mansion grounds, seeking entry to the house to get revenge on the evil old man living there. But her memory is wrapped in darkness. Is she doing the right thing? Lee Clark Zumpe, an entertainment columnist with Tampa Bay Newspapers, earned his bachelor’s in English at the University of South Florida. He began writing poetry and fiction in the early 1990s. His work has regularl...

One day, out of nowhere and for an unknown reason, something—or someone—appears over the right shoulder of one man, shadowing his every step and literally breathing down his neck. Desperate for answers, he turns to his psychic ex-girlfriend, who offers him only a cryptic warning: The ghost is here for a reason. And soon, you’ll have to make a choice. What choice? And what price will he have to pay...

Instead of moving on after death, a few ghosts decide to remain at Tellurian Industries to keep an eye on things. When they discover an employee stealing from the company, the spectral staff must figure out how to make his crime known—with all the limitations that come with being dead. For most of her adult life, Kelly Zimmer labored in the stifling corporate atmosphere of commercial real estate,...

At a reading of her latest story, a an anxious author of horror stories may have to face the fears of her past. Mave Goren is an author, radio host and musician from the hinterlands of Brooklyn. A lifelong writer of the weird and fantastical, her work has appeared in Ode to Dionysus and the queer indie award horror anthology Trans Rites. She is a prospective MFA student in St Joseph’s University i...

Two men step into the unknown to call a demon for a favor. One follows the prescribed ritual. The other? Well, he’s a little distracted, so he gets what he asked for maybe he got more than he bargained for. Nenad Pavlovic was born in 1983. in a mid-sized city in Eastern Europe. He majored in English language and literature and eventually moved to the north of Norway, where he still resides, workin...

Reapers: silent collectors and unseen guides of the dead. Their past is forgotten, their future uncertain, but they know one thing, ghosts can’t be trusted. Then one reaper meets a ghost who might unravel everything. MN Wiggins is an internationally published author, surgeon, voice actor, and humorist from the American South. His recently released novel, Physician’s Guide to Homicide, completes th...

A teen hanging out at the school football field challenges the unseen. What happens next? Well… let’s just say it gives new meaning to the term ‘end zone.’ Daniel Gene Barlekamp is the author of fiction and poetry for young readers and adults. His middle-grade ghost story “The Curse of the Cat Man” appears in the anthology The Haunted States of America (Godwin Books/Macmillan, 2024), and his poetr...

Today's story is about hidden islands, cursed treasure, and the age-old price of greed. But, is it just another sailor's yarn spun for coins, or does a dark truth lurk in its shadows? Liam A Spinage is a former philosophy student, former archaeology educator, and former police clerk who spends most of his spare time on the beach gazing up at the sky and across the sea while his imagination runs ri...

A group of treasure hunters toast their success as they head towards China with plundered Egyptian relics. Will they reach their destination and the promise of riches beyond imagination or will a mysterious stranger thwart their success? Tim Law is a writer of fantasy, horror, and oftentimes both. He loves to discover how a story will unfold, especially his own which he never ever plots. He is alo...

A couple driving through an intense storm sees a man on the road. What begins as a decision to help a stranger ends up changing their lives. Arpad Nagy is a proud Hungarian Canadian. After sustaining work injuries and being relegated to desk work, he dove into writing and has been doing so full-time since 2021. HIs passion is fiction writing, and his niche is romantic fiction, although I branch ou...