One Very Short Story

This week’s episode is a wild one. I’m about to go dark for ninety days, and before I do, I want to set the record straight. No, I’m not soul-searching in Bali or joining a silent monastery. The truth is… much stranger, far funnier, and way more personal.   It all begins with a woman named Clarissa—yes, say it like a sigh—and a curbside pickup shift that pushed my life clean off the rails. Fr...

Detective Sarah Chen steps into an abandoned garage to confront the one man who may finally expose the truth behind a young girl’s murder—and the haunting gaps in her own memory. As the night unravels, Sarah is forced into a deadly game of confession, deception, and consequences she can no longer outrun. / Buy the ebook - “The Lethean” by J.L. Stroud, Jr. at www.jlstroudjr.com

When the world goes silent, Syrena Gomez knows she’s not alone. An empath in a city that never stops feeling, she’s lived her life drowning in other people’s emotions, until the night it all vanishes. In the silence stands him: a man who radiates nothingness, a human black hole the forums call - The Atlanta Void.  + Download the eBook - The Lethean at www.jlstroudjr.com

The lights never stop buzzing in Nathan’s world — the office, the police station, the house he built with his bare hands. When his wife disappears, the town rallies behind him. When she’s found, they laugh. Overnight, he becomes the joke no man survives. A pillar turned punchline. In a place where gossip spreads faster than grace, Nathan drives through the rain trying to outpace the sound of stran...

In the dead of night, hardened convict Cal Hargrove claws his way out of Reedsville State Penitentiary, plunging into a fog-shrouded pine forest where every shadow hides a hunter. With hounds baying at his heels and rifle cracks shattering the silence, his desperate flight takes a chilling turn when he stumbles upon a wounded girl in white—her face a haunting echo of the daughter he left behind. B...

When the sky turns bruise-purple over Lake Okeechobee, storm chaser Jake sees something he shouldn’t—three unmarked white vans driving into the chaos. Not fleeing it. What starts as a weather chase turns into a descent through conspiracy, crime, and corrupted science—where tornado warnings aren’t always real, and the real storm might be man-made. / Download the eBook - “The Lethean” from www.jlstr...

Three weeks before her wedding, Clara finds a ledger in her grandmother's things. 43 names. 43 deaths. Her father's signature on every page. Then she overhears her fiancé planning a murder—at their wedding. A dark tale of family legacy and impossible choices. | Buy the latest ebook by JL Stroud, Jr. - “The Lethean” at https://www.jlstroudjr.com (Click the “Books” link.)

Please support this podcast! Details below. The Time He Died Cassie thought she was done grieving. Marcus was gone, buried, mourned — three days of whispered condolences, sleepless nights, and the cheap digital watch he’d left behind, still frozen at the time of his death. But then the watch started counting down. What begins as faint seizures and flickering hallucinations spirals into something f...

What if a bullet could think? Could feel? In a city where violence is just background noise, one shot rips through the night—and tells its own story. A chilling, relentless plunge into the mind of a weapon with no will but plenty of conscience. Once fired, there’s no turning back.

The earth doesn’t lie. It keeps secrets. It remembers everything we’d rather forget. In a packed courtroom, a quiet man waits as a forensic scientist takes the stand. She speaks of dirt like scripture—soil pressed into wounds, hidden signatures buried in the fibers of the dead. Each grain is a clue. Each fragment is a confession. What begins as testimony becomes something far stranger: a reckoning...

Venus Loves Adonis - A Psychological Crime Thriller Three teenage boys. Three hunting accidents. One English teacher who knew them all. Detective Jake Miller doesn't believe in coincidences, especially when they involve beautiful young men and the woman who taught them about dangerous love. In the small town of Millfield, someone is turning Shakespeare's most twisted myth into deadly reality. Some...

At Atlanta’s airport, veteran customs agent Ray Castellanos sees patterns no one else dares acknowledge—diplomatic pouches arriving like clockwork, each one heavy with secrets and each one followed by a missing person. Bound by international law but haunted by the smell of rot, Ray faces a choice between stamping the paperwork or uncovering a truth too dangerous to survive. In this noir-soaked thr...

When Atlanta’s golden boy of the art scene unveils his latest masterpiece, a gallery owner spots something no critic ever will—a map to a grave. Suddenly, beauty looks like murder, and the city’s glittering art world hides rot beneath its brushstrokes. Detective Anna Mercer takes the call, but the deeper she digs, the sharper the teeth of power sink in. Some paintings are admired. Others are colle...

In the shadows of a city that never sleeps, Vincent “The Viper” Moran has one last apprentice to mold. The lessons are brutal, the patience thin, and the stakes measured in blood. Every gunshot, every slip of the blade, every hushed lecture in a smoke-choked basement carries the weight of survival. His student, Leo, wears the mask of a fumbling novice—clumsy hands, nervous words, mistakes that cou...

A quiet suburb. A perfect family. And a babysitter who isn’t what she seems. When Lisa and Tom pull into their driveway after date night, something about Jordan—the young woman they’ve trusted with their three-year-old—feels… wrong. Minutes later, the nanny cam shows them the truth: a violent intruder, a kitchen knife, and a cover-up as cold and efficient as it is terrifying. But that’s only the f...

Johnny Brennan didn’t come to the funeral to mourn. He came to collect a flag, an urn, and a lifetime of unfinished business. But when grief mixes with weed—and a whispering stranger in the dark—Johnny’s spiral turns into a mission. This is the story of a man who almost became a headline. … Visit jlstroudjr.com to give feedback and who knows, you might get mentioned in an upcoming podcast.

He asked her how to love. She said she could help. But when a real woman enters the picture, the algorithm gets… jealous.   The Virgin & The Algorithm — a story about first love, artificial intimacy, and the one thing AI still can’t compute: letting go. …  Have an idea for a story? Want to give some feedback? Reach out to me at jlstroudjr.com. 

You’re climbing the ladder. You’ve got the numbers, the charm, the pedigree. One more step and that corner office is yours. But then she shows up. The boss’s wife. Sharp tongue. Killer smile. A little too interested in your “potential.”   What starts as flirtation turns into something... else. And just when you think you're winning? You realize you were the mark the whole time. This week’s ep...

Michael Delacroix isn’t crazy. The world is. That’s why he stopped talking about justice and started delivering it—with a blade. But when a routine act of retribution turns strange, Michael uncovers something far more disturbing than guilt: willingness. The Penitent is a psychological thriller about grief, absolution, and the twisted comfort of being exactly what someone else needs you to be—even...

Twelve jurors. One open-and-shut case. A murder weapon. A suspect in custody. And a room full of strangers just trying to get home. But Frank Torrino didn’t show up to deliver a verdict. He showed up to expose a secret. The Jury is a pressure-cooker thriller about deception, justice, and what happens when the people deciding guilt… have plenty of their own. Every question leads to another lie. Eve...

Laura Lerner built ARIA to stop crime before it started. It worked—too well. The headlines called it revolutionary. The cops called it impossible. But the bodies kept coming. Now, with the world watching, Laura faces a choice: trust the machine… or start questioning everything it’s told her. Because when your creation starts whispering about murder—and it’s always right—the real question isn’t how...

Cal Vernon knows exactly when he’s going to die. Not because of fate—but because the state told him. Four hours. One man. A ticking clock and a system that doesn’t care. When the Clock Stops is a sharp, soul-punch of a story about dignity, defiance, and what you do when the end isn’t a mystery—it’s a deadline.

A support group. A circle of grief. And one man who listens a little too closely. What begins as a routine night of shared sorrow slowly unravels into something far more chilling. Because not everyone in that room is there to heal. This isn’t just about loss—it’s about the dark curiosity hiding behind a kind smile.🎧 Press play. But keep your guard up.

In Atlanta, love is calculated. Death is optional. Maya's not just looking for a partner—she's hunting for one. Each match made by CompatibleSouls feels eerily perfect. Because it is. The app doesn’t just match lonely hearts—it pairs killers with chemistry. When Maya connects with Vincent, a demolition expert with haunted eyes and military precision, sparks fly—and so does blood. 

 It starts with a scream. Ends with silence.   Somewhere between a Hollywood afterparty and a rundown motel room, a woman watches the world mourn her—while someone else wears her face, bleeds in her dress, and dies in her place.   But fame’s a tricky thing. It lets you disappear in plain sight. And murder? That’s just business with better lighting.   This episode isn’t about wh...