Kaidankai: Ghost, Supernatural, and Dark Short Fiction

A homeless girl haunts the catacombs to escape the brutal cold. But the catacombs hold more than forgotten bones and lost souls. When she encounters a mortician and his assistant, she’s enlisted to help them prepare the bodies…before it’s too late. Katy England has been writing for longer than she likes to admit. A journalist and communications expert by day, modder and fiction writer by night. Sh...

As a precurser to A Christmas Carol, this story has similar themes, but it is a bit darker than Dickens' more famous story and is funnier. Perfect to really get into the Christmas Spirit.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Website: kaidankaistories.com Contact me through the website contact form. Follow us on: Instagram Facebook The Kaidankai Podcast features original short fiction exploring hor...

A woman is coping with grief, or rather not coping so well with it. But some strong lessons come from an unlikely source. Caroline Taylor is an award-winning novelist and short-story writer who grew up in the mountain west and traveled widely, including a brief stint in the Foreign Service. A former editor of Humanities magazine, she is the author of nine mysteries, one short-story collection, and...

The island nunnery is a safe space. But is it safe for everyone? And who pays the price for that safety? Nathan Perrin is an Anabaptist pastor in Chicagoland. He holds an MA in Quaker Studies, and is a doctoral student studying Christian Community Development at Northern Seminary. His doctorate work centers on creating a writing program for nonprofits and churches to use to help under-resourced co...

When a woman begins to vanish in society’s eyes, what can she do to be appreciated? Raluca Balasa holds an MFA in Creative Writing: Fiction from the University of Nevada, Reno. Her short work has appeared in venues such as Andromeda Spaceways Magazine, Aurealis, and Grimdark Magazine, as well as on Apex Magazine’s blog. Raluca works as an English professor in the Toronto area. Her debut science fi...

What would life be like if your loved one really did come back as a ghost to be with you? One man finds out. Chad Gayle’s speculative fiction has appeared in and at StarShipSofa, Andromeda Spaceways Magazine, and Inner Worlds. In addition to teaching English in Texas and North Carolina, Chad has worked as a computer programmer, a graphic designer, and a freelance photographer. Proud father to two...

A firefighter who falls head over heels in love with his baby daughter. Some would call it obsession. But in times of crisis, who will be the hero?  JB Polk is Polish by birth, a citizen of the world by choice. Since 2020, more than 100 of her stories, flash fiction and non-fiction, have been accepted for publication. In 1996, her story short-listed for the Irish Independent/Hennessy Awards, Irela...

A sweet little boy takes after his grandfather. How is anything but sweet. 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, science fiction, general, detective, humour, and a lot of weird stuff that d...

How far will one woman go to get more followers on social media? Harold Hoss is a film producer best known for "The Unheard" and "Creep Box." When he isn't reading, writing, or watching horror movies he enjoys hiking with his dog Margot. Twitter:  https://twitter.com/HorrorHoss Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/hblakehoss/ Website with link to a short film on Alter: https://haroldhosshorror.wo...

Today's story is a perfect example of how ghost stories reveal our humanity. There's obsession and revenge, love and generosity, fear and forgiveness. Linda Gould is the host of the Kaidankai podcast. She lived in Japan for 26 years and was inspired by the culture, people, and folklore to write ghost stories with Japan as a backdrop. You can read "It's Your Turn" at  https://www.kaidankaistories.c...

Today's story is a perfect example of how ghost stories reveal our humanity. There's obsession and revenge, love and generosity, fear and forgiveness. Denise Longrie’s work has appeared in Spank the Carp, Bright Flash Literary Review, and Danse Macabre. She has self-published a nonfiction guide to pre-1900 speculative fiction. She is (…still) working by the flickering light of a Jacob’s ladder on...

A woman journeys through a forest. Is it a dream? What is she looking for? And why is it all so familiar?  Linda Sparks has been published in multiple anthologies and podcasts including  Kaidankai, Ravens Quoth Press, Lothlorien, Spillwords, Sweetycat Press, (she was awarded the Emerald Prize for her poem "Dancing Girl"), and she loves writing dark, Poe poetry and short stories. She has 28 publish...

A homemade Ouija board has more than a few quixotic messages for a group of teens. L.N. Hunter’s comic fantasy novel, ‘The Feather and the Lamp,’ sits alongside works in anthologies such as ‘The Monsters Next Door’ and ‘Best of British Science Fiction 2022’ as well as Short Édition’s ‘Short Circuit’ and the ‘Horrifying Tales of Wonder’ podcast. There have also been papers in the IEEE ‘Transactions...

Amado guides us through a woman’s inner turmoil, offers glimpses into a troubled marriage, and coils us into a reality in which we have no control. Laila Amado is a migrating writer of speculative and literary fiction. She writes in her second language.  She has recently exchanged her fourth country of residence for the fifth, and can now be found staring at the North Sea, instead of the Mediterra...

Deja vu is a memory that we don’t remember. But in today’s story, the character does recognize the discrepency. Is he crazy? Is he suffering a medical emergency? 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...

Art speaks to us. Sometimes, what it says can be scary. Jon Krampner’s short stories and flash fiction have appeared, or are about to appear, in Across the Margin, Eunoia Review, Eclipse, Page & Spine and Collective Unrest. He was selected as a finalist in the Summer 2018 Owl Canyon Press Hackathon. He lives in Los Angeles and is sarcastic in three languages. You can read "The Girl in the Wate...

Two lonely girls encounter a voice in a closet. What does it want? And should they give in to its demands to be let out. Brittany Hague (she/her) has worked as a graphic artist, an independent interactive fiction maker, and short story writer. She lives in Seattle with her husband, two children, and familiars. Her short stories have appeared in the Night of the Geminids and Monster (Hidden Fortres...

A group of kids meet a bug-eyed ghost, but what does it want and why does it keep showing up? Can a reluctant ghost hunter discover what’s bothering the ghost and help it on its way? Rick Kennett lives in Melbourne, Australia. After working as a motorcycle courier for 42 years -- possibly a world record – he is now retired, spending his time listening to podcasts and being addicted to YouTube. Tho...

The Kaidankai is based on the Japanese version of campfire stories. I narrate a story weekly, but this month offers authors the chance to narrate their own stories. Like sitting around the campfire, you never know what you’re going to hear. Each Wednesday, I'll still present the weekly podcast, so be sure to subscribe or follow the podcast on your favorite podcast platform because every story is w...

When the people are away, a few unusual characters can come out to play. Who they are and what they do is the subject of today's story. L.N. Hunter’s comic fantasy novel, ‘The Feather and the Lamp,’ sits alongside works in anthologies such as ‘The Monsters Next Door’ and ‘Best of British Science Fiction 2022’ as well as Short Édition’s ‘Short Circuit’ and the ‘Horrifying Tales of Wonder’ podcast....

The Kaidankai is based on the Japanese version of campfire stories. I narrate a story weekly, but this month offers authors the chance to narrate their own stories. Like sitting around the campfire, you never know what you’re going to hear. Each Wednesday, I'll still present the weekly podcast, so be sure to subscribe or follow the podcast on your favorite podcast platform because every story is w...

The Kaidankai is based on the Japanese version of campfire stories. I narrate a story weekly, but this month offers authors the chance to narrate their own stories. Like sitting around the campfire, you never know what you’re going to hear. Each Wednesday, I'll still present the weekly podcast, so be sure to subscribe or follow the podcast on your favorite podcast platform because every story is w...

The Kaidankai is based on the Japanese version of campfire stories. I narrate a story weekly, but this month offers authors the chance to narrate their own stories. Like sitting around the campfire, you never know what you’re going to hear. Each Wednesday, I'll still present the weekly podcast, so be sure to subscribe or follow the podcast on your favorite podcast platform because every story is w...

What is a dream and what is reality? And whose reality is real? Katy England has been writing for longer than she likes to admit. A journalist and communications expert by day, modder and fiction writer by night. She spends much of her time in the great expanse of the Maine woods with her husband, triplets, and select fish. Her greatest accomplishments, to date, is that her children like her stori...

The Kaidankai is based on the Japanese version of campfire stories. I narrate a story weekly, but this month offers authors the chance to narrate their own stories. Like sitting around the campfire, you never know what you’re going to hear.  Each Wednesday, I'll still present the weekly podcast, so be sure to subscribe or follow the podcast on your favorite podcast platform because every story is...