Episodes
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Payne-Strange molds a family recipe, travel to Venice, a beloved doll and a love affair into disgusting and horrifying incidents that leave you fearful and content, happy to have gone on the journey.
Holly Payne-Strange is a novelist, poet and podcast creator. Her writing has been lauded by USA Today, LA weekly and The New York Times. Additionally, she’s given talks on podcast creation at Fordham University and The Player’s Club. Her English language poetry has been published by various groups including Quail Bell Magazine, Call me (Brackets), and Red Door, while her work in Italian has been published by We Have Food At Home. She would like to thank her wife for all her support.
You can read "Grandma's Cooking and Other Poems" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
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A down-on-his luck magician finds an assistant with skills and tricks he could only aspire to have. But, just what kind of magician is she?
Michael Fowler is a humor and science fiction writer living in Ohio.
You can read "The Magician's Assistant" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
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A miserable Monsignor banished to the Philippines is asked to perform a secret marriage between a human and an Aswan or vampire. Is the match made in heaven? hell? or on Earth?
Roly Andrews lives in Nelson, NZ, in his spare time he enjoys tramping. After many years of practising, he is still trying to learn to play the trombone! A champion for everyone, he has mentored rough sleepers and supported people affected by suicide. He advocates for the rights of people living with disabilities. You can find his social media information in the episode description.
WEBSITE: rolyandrewsauthor.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/Roly_Andrews
Facebook: Rolyandrewsauthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rolyandrews/
Linked-In: Roly Andrews
YouTube: Roly Andrews@Rolyprop02
Spotify: Roly’s Poddy
You can read "Come, Gentle Night" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
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Some children explore the strange movement and reflections in a mirror. Is it a recently deceased loved one saying their last goodbyes or something more sinister?
Arpad Nagy is a 50yr old proud Hungarian Canadian throwback romantic man who loves to write. 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 he writes in many genres, including personal essays, memoirs, pop culture, and anecdotal stories about being a father, husband, and former careers as a chef, oil man, and civil construction. He is an editor for four publications, three for nonfiction and one for short fiction at Medium, where he has nearly 400 published pieces.
Links:
Arpad Nagy – Medium
arpad56nagy (@arpad56nagy) / Twitter
Arpad T. Nagy (@arpad.t.nagy.5) | Instagram
Arpad Nagy | LinkedIn
Arpad Nagy (@[email protected]) - me.dm by Medium.com
You can read "Through the Shadow Glass" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
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Read about the science behind why mirrors are scary here.
Photo by Dustin Humes on Unsplash -
Firemen know fire, they control it, and they deal with whatever a fire throws at them--until that something is a ghost from the past.
"Nathan Perrin (he/him/his) is a writer and 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 communities process trauma. His work has been published in the Dillydoun Review, Bangalore Review, Collateral Journal, Esoterica Magazine, etc. His forthcoming novella, Memories of Green Rivers, will be published by Running Wild Press. He is also a screenwriter for an unannounced indie comedy series. For more information, visit www.nathanperrinwriter.com"
You can read "Burn" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
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A family is warned to leave their campsite or suffer the consequences. Will they heed the warning? If not, what are the consequences?
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.
You can read "Site 23" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
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Scientists exploring the deep sea encounter unexplained phenomena. Unexplained until they meet the perpetrator. Is it friend or foe?
Stephen A. Roddewig is an award-winning storyteller and playwright from Virginia (USA). He won second place in the 2023 Vocal Painted Prose challenge, and his stories are featured in Abyss & Apex, Diet Milk Magazine, Struggle Magazine, and Wintermute Lit. When not writing, he enjoys collecting records and running races.
You can read "SEALAB IV" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
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Today’s character is certain that her fiancee’s mother doesn’t like her. But when the mother dies just a few hours after announcing the engagement, what does that mean for her relationship? Is she to blame for the family matron’s untimely death? And will she still get the family heirloom ring?
S.E. Will lives in the Midwest, where she writes about the things that keep her up at night. Her most recent work can be found in Black Sheep: Unique Tales of Terror and Wonder.
You can read "A Wake" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
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Photo thanks to Kaja Sariwatung on Unsplash. -
If you lose a child, the sight of a school bus can rip your grief wide open. But what does it mean when a school bus shows up in the middle of the night?
Rick Sherman (he/him) is a retired award-winning Magician/Mentalist living in the manicured suburbs of Long Island, New York. Finding himself with a surfeit of free time he has turned to writing with increasing degrees of success. He lives with his wife and five children (only three of which have four legs and a tail). facebook.com/RickShermanMagi
You can read "Night Bus" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
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Photo thanks to Jeswin Thomas on Unsplash. -
A man goes in search of a godly godparent for his newborn daughter. But, when humans and gods form relationships, does the human always get what they want?
Allister Nelson is an avid fan of fantasy romance, world mythology, and writing! She is a Pushcart Prize nominee, Tea Witch, armchair occultist, cult aficionado, Taylor Swift Truther, and big time navel gazer. She loves to cook, bake, bike, and play with her husband and dog. She enjoys taking them on long walks, and watering them occasionally. A lifelong Washingtonian, she loves writing diverse fantasy romances with a dash of intrigue and spice!
You can read "Godmother Death" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
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Today’s character attracts the supernatural. But why? To introduce strange creatures to the world? Or because a horrible fate awaits?
Simina Lungu is a speculative fiction writer currently residing in Timisoara, Romania. She has several short stories published in places such as Night Picnic, CommuterLit, or Dark Fire Fiction. Her writings explore primordial fears as well as the need for human connections. Those who wish to know more about her can check out her website: https://corasimina.wixsite.com/siminalungu-writer or come hang out on her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/simina.lungu.writer
You can read "Scattered Hauntings" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
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Photo Part of "Fairy Godmother" by Sarah S. Stilwell Webber -
Five poems--"Doorways," "Hush," "Journeys," "She Laughed," and "The Last Time I Was Here"-- that journey into the afterworld and the feelings of curiosity, discovery, revenge and acceptance experienced by the living and the dead.
Like a magpie, Rhonda Parrish is constantly distracted by shiny things. She’s the editor of many anthologies and author of plenty of books, stories and poems. She lives with her husband and cats in Edmonton, Alberta, and she can often be found there playing Dungeons and Dragons, bingeing crime dramas or cheering on the Oilers.
Her website, updated regularly, is at http://www.rhondaparrish.com and her Patreon, updated even more regularly, is at https://www.patreon.com/RhondaParrish
You can "Doorways," "Hush," "Journeys," "She Laughed," and "The Last Time I Was Here" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
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Photo Part of "Fairy Godmother" by Sarah S. Stilwell Webber -
"Fox Hunt" first appeared in Commuter Lit on September 27, 2022
In Japan, foxes are messengers for the god of agriculture. In today’s story, a farmer hates foxes and spends his life hunting them with his dog trained for the hunt. So, how is it that he remains wealthy and unpunished for killing his god's favorite animal?
Linda Gould is an American who has lived in six countries. The mythology and folktales from each have inspired her writing-- fiction and non-fiction. Her work has been published in media outlets around the world. Gould is the editor of White Enso, an online journal of creative work inspired by Japan, and host of “The Kaidankai,” a podcast of modern ghost and supernatural stories read aloud.
You can read "Fox Hunt" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
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Photo of the memorial and fossilized dog by Linda A Gould -
Small acts of love and beauty can make the difference between wanting to die and wanting to live. In this case, the help comes from an unexpected source.
Maia Brown-Jackson is a symphony of papercuts, banged-up knees, and stubborn determination. She believes in the altruism of strangers, the power of direct action, and the use of the Oxford comma. She strives to offer what she can; here, that offering is her words.
You can read "The House" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
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What does it mean to come from "the longest and purest royal bloodline in history?"
Hana Carolina is a pseudonym of an Edinburgh-based creative and academic writer. Born in Poland, she moved to Scotland and studied literature, film and television for many years. Since then, she has been working as a tutor, interpreter, and researcher, and publishing academically while writing dark stories about horrible people. Her work has been published in Every Day Fiction, Crow & Cross Keys, Five on the Fifth, the Chamber Magazine, BRUISER, The Horror Tree, Black Sheep Magazine, and others. You can find her on X/Twitter @HanaCarolinaSCO and BlueSky @hanacarolina.bsky.social.
You can read "The Perfect Homogeny" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
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Photo Part of "Fairy Godmother" by Sarah S. Stilwell Webber -
A psychic is hired to perform at an exclusive hotel. When he encounters a sad and lonely ghost, he thinks love is all the ghost needs to be released from our world. But something else is keeping the sad ghost and others from moving on.
Geoffrey Marshall is a writer in Aurora, Canada. He knows just enough to be dangerous (mostly to himself) in several different fields. You can find his work in The Ansible, Academy of the Heart and Mind and the September 2022 issue of MoonPark Review. His education never really took, through no fault of his instructors (debatable) but he did manage to acquire a BA in English Literature from Carleton University. Find him on twitter @g_k_marshall.
You can read "Where They Look Away" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
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After WWII, an injured man plans to recuperate at a countryside manor where he has a strange encounter.
Claude Chabot has published five short stories and has produced and directed four radio plays based on his own stories. One of them, an adaptation of his own ghost story, was aired on public radio worldwide. He has also completed a collection of short stories exploring the conflicts and changes his characters experience while traveling, along with several ghost stories and other stories with assorted themes.
You can read "The Gables" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
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A young man suffers for his father's sins.
Born in Tokyo and educated at ICU in Japan and Brown University in the United States, Akira Odani wrote for many years for the Japanese media. Today, his interest has turned to writing in English and subjects related to his experiences interacting with the two cultures. He is a member of the Florida Writers Association (FWA) and Taste Life Twice Writers’ group. Some of his recent works have appeared in the pages of FWA Collection, Volume 8: Hide and Seek (2016) and Volume 10: Where Does Your Muse Live? (2019), and Editor, Randell Jones Personal Story Publishing Project, Twists and Turns, Sooner or Later, and Lost & Found (Fall 2022 – Spring 2023).
You can read "Bemoaning Ghost of War" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
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A young man is meeting his girlfriend’s parents for the first time. Is his nervousness from the parents’ oddness or his own secrets?
Tyler Markham is a writer and horror enthusiast. Whenever he is not writing, or shivering under his covers with a scary story, he likes to spend time with his wife Chloe and their cranky ten-year-old dog Maggie.
You can read "Indistinguishable" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
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This week, we honor Martin Luther King Jr. Today’s story uses three voices—a house, narrator and historian—and music to tell the stories of generations of people from a town in the Deep South of the US. Yes, it is a tale of bigotry and racism at the micro and macro scales. But also hope and determination to make a better world and a better life. It’s a beautiful example of how ghost stories can change our own stories, the course of history, and our dreams.
Anne Watson has been writing, in one form or another, all her life, most recently focusing on fiction. She’s written news articles, book and art reviews, blogs, documentary films, podcasts, and for radio. She has two blogs, echolaliaredacted.com, which meanders through life's joys and sorrows; and countriesandcobblestones.com about traveling for a year with her daughter. Her writing can also be found on Canada's National Observer. Her first book,Thin Lines of Broken Time, represented by Anne Depue, is looking for a publisher. She’s currently working on a second book.
The music in this podcast is performed by Earle Peach, a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and songwriter from Vancouver who directs choirs and plays in musical groups, volunteers at and hosts music events, pursues social activism, and is still actively involved in the folk music community.
The voice of the historian is Tim Gould (my wonderful and helpful husband. He also wrote and performed the Kaidankai's opening music.)
You can read "Built on a Dream" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
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