Dark Fantasy
Dark Fantasy short stories
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Ralph Travers, a curate in Exeter, struggles with his conscience after inadvertently making the Devil, Bucky, known to children through a rhyme. As children start disappearing, he faces the consequences of his actions.
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In Streindarke, Ballion, known as Civic Quiet, navigates the intricate balance of power and duty while investigating the disappearance of Lord Suze Ben-Sashe.
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In Hagley Stile, magpies are never merely birds. One by one, the old rhyme becomes a reckoning as sorrow, joy, birth, theft, silver, gold and secrets gather beneath black-and-white wings.
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Three days after the battle at Arfderydd, Brother Robert searches for the missing bard, Merlin, amidst the devastation. As he and two others navigate the battlefield, they grapple with the dead king Gwenddolau’s unburied body, Merlin’s potential madness, and the need for a proper farewell.
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About a 15-minute read or a 23-minute listen. Rhett lifted the brush, then stopped. Charlotte’s face lay beneath the lamp, pale and beautiful, but not at peace. The docket said ‘Cerebral Haemorrhage’. Her skin said otherwise. For ten years, Streindarke had trusted his hand to soften truth. Tonight, for the first time, he meant to…
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About an 11-minute read or a 14-minute listen. This folklore tale warns against taking unbaptised children near the Smothing. When a family breaks the rule, they face dire consequences as their child changes, seemingly possessed. An old woman helps reclaim the child, but the experience leaves lasting scars. Villagers remember the tale as a cautionary…
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About a 30-minute read or a 41 minute listen. Jess Harwood returns to her late mother’s home after seven years, uncovering memories and remnants of her mother’s life and secrets. As she begins to help the village with herbal remedies, she discovers a powerful stone, the Eye of the Dracan, which deepens her connection to…
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About a 20-minute read or a 30-minute listen. In Duskdale, the arrival of winter deepens despair as a blight affects children, including young Pip. Emmie, seeking to save him, takes an apple from a forbidden orchard, causing a troubling shift in the village where memories of the dead fade. Ultimately, Emmie must sacrifice her memories…
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About an 8-minute read or 12-minute listen. Yarnulf misjudged a journey to the nearest town, taking a shortcut through the forest. He encounters Gossia, a pixie, who reveals her garden of skeletons, victims of laughter. Despite earlier warnings, he becomes part of her collection.
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1,518 words · About an 8-minute read. In 1899 the photograph, ‘Horse Training’ was shot by French photographer, Felix Thollier. Said to depict free lunging, no other context was ever given and neither horse nor trainer were ever named. Until today.