• That Sound that the Crickets Make by Val Chatindo: A Dark Witchcraft Confession
    Jan 28 2026
    A first-person supernatural confession about inheriting witchcraft, where fear, taboo, and belonging collide.In That Sound That the Crickets Make, tradition is not comfort—it’s obligation, and refusal has a cost.

    This is not a story about monsters from the outside, but about what it means to inherit a world you didn’t choose. Told with brutal honesty and dark humor, it explores witchcraft as culture, survival, and generational obligation—and asks whether tradition must always be obeyed.

    Valerie Tendai Chatindo is a biochemistry graduate, writer and communications consultant. She’s a regular contributor for The Kalahari Review, Enthuse Magazine, The Diplomat Zimbabwe and EarGround. Her work has also appeared in Pink Disco Magazine, Creepy Pod, Agbowo, Argyl Literary Magazine, The Afterpast Review, Whisper House Press, Omenana, Efiko Magazine, Writer’s Space, and Literary Yard. Her short story “Sheba,” was shortlisted for the African Cradle African Heroines literary prize, and her pieces were featured in Povo Afrika’s Nehanda Reimagined anthology. Her debut novel Mono: Tales of The Tapa Kingdom is shortlisted for the Iskanchi Book Prize. The twenty-nine-year-old resides in Harare, Zimbabwe with her cat, Muffins. She runs her own Literary Platform, Shumba Literary Magazine.

    You can read "That Sound That The Crickets Make" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.

    Illustration by Aubrey Beardsley



    The Kaidankai Podcast features original short fiction exploring horror, fantasy, science fiction, and the strange.

    New episodes every Wednesday.

    Subscribe on Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

    Have a story you'd like us to read? Send submissions to kaidankai100ghoststories@gmail.com.

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    19 min
  • La Loca by Robert Walton – A Mythic Tale of Revenge and Supernatural Justice
    Jan 21 2026
    A powerful retelling of the legend of La Loca, where betrayal, hypocrisy, and supernatural vengeance collide. A mythic tale of feral justice and reckoning.

    In this haunting story, justice is not delivered by courts or institutions, but by something older and wilder. La Loca is no innocent, but neither is she deserving of her fate. What follows is a reminder that some legends endure because they speak truths society would rather ignore.

    Robert Walton is a retired middle school teacher, rock climber and mountaineer with ascents in Yosemite and Pinnacles National Park. Walton is an experienced writer. His novel Dawn Drums won the 2014 New Mexico Book Awards Tony Hillerman Prize for best fiction. His novella “Vienna Station” won the Galaxy contest in 2011and was subsequently published by Rosetta Books. Most recently, his story “Suka Blat” was included in Alternative Truths, an anthology of protest literature.

    You can read "La Loca" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.

    The Kaidankai Podcast features original short fiction exploring horror, fantasy, science fiction, and the strange.

    New episodes every Wednesday.

    Subscribe on Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

    Have a story you'd like us to read? Send submissions to kaidankai100ghoststories@gmail.com.

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    19 min
  • Polydactyl Aboard by Tom Koperwas| A Maritime Ghost Story
    Jan 14 2026
    A retired sailor’s fond memories of a ship’s cat take on a chilling afterlife.

    In “Polydactyl Aboard,” a retired sailor recalls his years at sea and the extraordinary ship’s cat whose talents went far beyond catching rats. The bond between sailor and animal becomes something deeper after death.

    Set against the rhythms of life aboard ship, the story explores loyalty, instinct, and the quiet persistence of the past.

    Thomas Koperwas is a retired teacher living in Windsor, Ontario, Canada who writes short stories of horror, crime, fantasy, and science fiction. His story Vacation won a Freedom Fiction Journal Top Crime Editor's Choice Award 2024. His work has appeared, or is forthcoming in: Anotherealm; Jakob’s Horror Box; Literally Stories; The Literary Hatchet; Literary Veganism; Bright Flash Literary Review; Bombfire; Pulp Modern Flash; Savage Planets; Dark Fire Fiction; The Sirens Call; Yellow Mama Webzine; 96th of October; Underside Stories; Danse Macabre; A Thin Slice Of Anxiety; Androids and Dragons; Chewers & Masticadores Canada; The Piker Press; etc..

    You can read "Polydactyl Aboard" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.

    The Kaidankai Podcast features original short fiction exploring horror, fantasy, science fiction, and the strange.

    New episodes every Wednesday.

    Subscribe on Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

    Have a story you'd like us to read? Send submissions to kaidankai100ghoststories@gmail.com.

    Read the stories at kaidankaistories.com

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    11 min
  • Ep. 345: Redress by Nick Young
    Jan 7 2026
    A quiet man’s passion for rare books draws him into an exclusive invitation—one that reveals an old literary grievance demanding a very personal and terrifying form of justice.

    Nick Young is a retired award-winning CBS News Correspondent. His writing has appeared in more than thirty publications including the Pennsylvania Literary Journal, The Garfield Lake Review, Backchannels Journal, the San Antonio Review, the Bosphorus Review of Books, The Best of CaféLit 11 and Vols. I and II of the Writer Shed Stories anthologies. He lives outside Chicago.

    You can read "Redress" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.

    Website: kaidankaistories.com
    Please feel free to contact me through the website contact form.

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    The Kaidankai Podcast features original short fiction exploring horror, fantasy, science fiction, and the strange.

    New episodes every Wednesday.

    Subscribe on Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

    Have a story you'd like us to read? Send submissions to kaidankai100ghoststories@gmail.com.

    Read the stories at kaidankaistories.com

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    19 min
  • The Goblins Who Stole a Sexton by Charles Dickens
    Dec 24 2025
    The annual alternative Charles Dickens story to A Christmas Carol.

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

    Linda

    The Kaidankai Podcast features original short fiction exploring horror, fantasy, science fiction, and the strange.

    New episodes every Wednesday.

    Subscribe on Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

    Have a story you'd like us to read? Send submissions to kaidankai100ghoststories@gmail.com.

    Read the stories at kaidankaistories.com

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    30 min
  • Dead Man's Posse by Chad Gayle
    Dec 17 2025
    A drifter joins a strange sheriff’s posse, only to discover he’s part of a ghost-hunting ritual—and far closer to the dead than he ever realized.

    This story appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of SPOOKY Magazine.

    Chad Gayle’s short speculative fiction has appeared in DreamForge Magazine, Inner Worlds, and Cosmic Horror Monthly.


    You can read "Dead Man's Posse" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.

    Website: kaidankaistories.com
    Please feel free to contact me through the website contact form.

    Follow us on:
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    The Kaidankai Podcast features original short fiction exploring horror, fantasy, science fiction, and the strange.

    New episodes every Wednesday.

    Subscribe on Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

    Have a story you'd like us to read? Send submissions to kaidankai100ghoststories@gmail.com.

    Read the stories at kaidankaistories.com

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    19 min
  • Fleeing to the Dawn by Daniel Stride
    Dec 10 2025
    Two brothers flee through frozen fells from an unearthly pursuit, only to discover a city that chooses who may enter and who must be lost.

    Bio: Daniel Stride has a lifelong love of literature in general, and speculative fiction in particular. He writes both short stories and poetry; his stories have appeared in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Tales to Terrify Podcast, and Eternal Haunted Summer. His first novel, Wise Phuul, was published in 2016 by a small UK press, Inspired Quill. A sequel, Old Phuul, is due out in the near future. He likes chocolate and cats, and can be found blogging about the works of Tolkien (among other things) at https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/. Daniel lives in Dunedin, New Zealand.



    You can read "Fleeing To The Dawn" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.

    Website: kaidankaistories.com
    Please feel free to contact me through the website contact form.

    Follow us on:
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    The Kaidankai Podcast features original short fiction exploring horror, fantasy, science fiction, and the strange.

    New episodes every Wednesday.

    Subscribe on Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

    Have a story you'd like us to read? Send submissions to kaidankai100ghoststories@gmail.com.

    Read the stories at kaidankaistories.com

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    16 min
  • The Patience Factor by Rick McQuiston
    Dec 3 2025
    A celebrated self-help guru meets a follower whose “infinite patience” twisted his teachings into something dark.

    Rick McQuiston is a 57-year-old horror fanatic with over 400 publications, including three novels. A new novel is due for publication in 2026. McQuiston spends his time working on new full-length and short stories.


    You can read "The Patience Factor" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.

    Website: kaidankaistories.com
    Please feel free to contact me through the website contact form.

    Follow us on:
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    Bluesky
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    The Kaidankai Podcast features original short fiction exploring horror, fantasy, science fiction, and the strange.

    New episodes every Wednesday.

    Subscribe on Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

    Have a story you'd like us to read? Send submissions to kaidankai100ghoststories@gmail.com.

    Read the stories at kaidankaistories.com

    Follow the show:
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    Bluesky
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    10 min