Category Archives: Ghost Stories

Creep out your Halloween drive time tomorrow with me on I-95 Rock!

Candlewood Lake Tales on I-95 Rock

THRILLED to announce I’m going to be on I-95 Rock (WRKI 95.1 FM) tomorrow—yes, HALLOWEEN!—at 8:20 am to talk about Candlewood Lake’s creepy legends with Ethan & Lou (The Ethan & Lou Show)! This is very exciting!! Tune in on your drive-time at 95.1 FM on your radio dial, listen through the app, or you can listen LIVE at this link: https://i95rock.com/listen-live/

Ethan Carey, in particular, is really interested in Candlewood Lake—its history, its culture, and its legends and lore. I hope to get the chance to shed some light on the origins of some of its creepier campfire tales.

Read more at the links below!

“The Lost Souls of Candlewood Lake: Did they make it out alive?”

https://i95rock.com/the-lost-souls-of-candlewood-lake-did-they-make-it-out-alive/

“The Tale of the Lost Souls of Candlewood Lake”

http://i95rock.com/those-that-stayed-behind-beneath-candlewood-lake/

“Stories of Candlewood Lake Monsters that are Obviously Urban Legends”

http://i95rock.com/dont-panic-stories-of-a-candlewood-lake-monster-are-simply-urban-legends/

“The Ghosts of Candlewood Lake’s Chicken Rock”

https://i95rock.com/the-ghosts-of-candlewood-lakes-chicken-rock/

Announcing 34 ORCHARD’s Table of Contents for Issue 8, Autumn 2023 – Coming November 10!

I’m thrilled to announce 34 Orchard’s Autumn 2023 issue’s Table of Contents!

34 ORCHARD ISSUE 8 COVERTeeming with unreliably-narrated ghost stories, Issue 8 includes many burgeoning and experienced voices as well as special surprises. We’re privileged to bring you a brand new tale by Read the rest of this entry

34 ORCHARD taking submissions for the Autumn 2023 issue!

34 Orchard is now considering work for our Autumn 2023 issue! We will only be open from July 1 – 15, 2023, so if you’re planning on submitting, please keep in mind that anything after July 15, 2023, will be deleted unread (and yes, we adjust for all worldwide time zones. So that’s after July 15 at 11:59pm wherever you are).

Please refer to our guidelines for information on how to submit. Check that out here at https://34orchard.com/guidelines/, and we look forward to reading your work!

We’re still making decisions — and announcing our SPRING 2023 Cover!

We haven’t made our final selections for the Spring 2023 issue of 34 Orchard yet–we’re finishing those up in the next few weeks. HOWEVER, I’M THRILLED TO SHOWCASE OUR COVER, featuring Optic Nerve by Page Sullivan. We’re only three months away from release!

I wanted to take a moment, also, to thank all of our supporters–writers who send in work, those who donate, our reading volunteers, those who have jumped in to save my ass whenever I’ve needed it, and our incredibly loyal readers. When I founded this publication back in 2019, I was going to be happy if I just had a little magazine that ten of my friends read. Never would I have dreamt that so many people would read and enjoy it. It has completely blown past all of my expectations, and we plan to continue to deliver quality experiences for many issues to come.

34 ORCHARD ISSUE 7 SAMPLE COVER

Welcome, 2023! 34 ORCHARD’s submissions window is open through January 15!

34 Orchard is now considering work for our Spring 2023 issue! We will only be open from January 1 – 15, 2023, so if you’re planning on submitting, please keep in mind that anything after January 15, 2023, will be deleted unread (and yes, we adjust for all worldwide time zones. So that’s after January 15 at 11:59pm wherever you are).

Please refer to our guidelines for information on how to submit. Check that out here at https://34orchard.com/guidelines/, and we look forward to reading your work!

34 ORCHARD ISSUE 6 IS HERE!

A shocking occurrence unmasks a professor and a ne’er-do-well covers up the truth. A machine exposes the past and lies linger between a dinner’s courses. A bijou boogeyman unleashes a daughter’s rage while ordinary colors and unusual mattresses strip away the pretense of composure. In Issue 6, seventeen artists brood on the secrets we keep, and what happens when they are exposed.

Autumn 2022 features a dark tale from India, disturbing looks at real-life events, emotional pieces by newer voices and scary stories by names that frequently haunt anthology tables of contents. Why, even the cover photo has an unsettling tale behind it! Our sixth issue is what you’ll want waiting when you take your break from prepping for the busy holiday season.

34 ORCHARD ISSUE 6 COVER

Announcing our Table of Contents!

Cover Art: Ophelia’s Last Secret – Robert Cedergren

Shrike Song – Zachary Kellian

The Beginning of You – Samantha Bryant

The Gritter – Kurt Newton

The Baron of the Rails – Douglas Ford

The Dusk of Day-shapes – David H. West

And Satyrs Shall Dance There – John Berbrich

The Yakshi Next Door – Hareendran Kallinkeel

Head – Mark Steensland

Memory Foam – Rowan Hill

Her Color – Grace Rolen

Step on a Crack – Jake Jerome

Birthday Dinner, May 28. – Jennifer Judge

All Aboard – KC Grifant

Young People in Love – Sam Lesek

Ugly Cinderella – Molly Greer

Insert Name Here – J. Paul Ross

The downloadable PDF is designed so that it can be printed on double-sided paper for easy reading like a print magazine. As always, the issue is free, but there is a donation link should you choose to contribute.

Click here to get your copy!

Awesome announcements: “What the Ocean Knows” and “Sea Legs” accepted!

Scusset Beach Cape Cod -- Ghostly Footprints and Ribbons September 23, 2022

This washed-up eel grass and the ghostly prints of my boots inspired my short story, “What the Ocean Knows.” This photo was taken at Scusset Beach, Sandwich, MA, September 23, 2022.

My newest short story, “What the Ocean Knows,” has been accepted for publication in Sirens Call eZine Issue 60, Winter 2022! In “What the Ocean Knows”: A grieving Mavis finds comfort in afternoons spent talking to the sea… until the day the sea talks back.

This is a free online ’zine that has loads of good fiction, so I’ll let you know when it’s released and you can download your copy.

Sea Legs Winner -- HPLFF Colorful Cosmic Logo

In addition, my microfiction, “Sea Legs,” was one of thirteen winners in the 2022 H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival and Cthuluthon Microfiction Contest, and will be published in Lovecraftian Microfiction Volume 8!

In “Sea Legs”: On a North Sea island, Read the rest of this entry

Halloween treats that won’t weigh you down! OUT OF TIME: TRUE PARANORMAL ENCOUNTERS is here—free preview of “Floor Song Tango” below!

If you love true ghost stories, then Timber Ghost Press’ Out of Time: True Paranormal Encounters is the anthology you want to unwrap every night along with your favorite full-sized Halloween treat! (And if you DO purchase this book, drop me a line through my Contact page or other means. I have a special goody for you!)

My piece, “Floor Song Tango,” opens the collection, and is about the house I grew up in. Outsiders didn’t know what was going on—mostly because our parents had completely brainwashed us into thinking our experiences were products of our imagination (for the record, I think it was brilliant that they did that. I, for one, never would’ve slept. I’m forever grateful). I’m sure they’d even convinced themselves. That said, when it came time to dump the place after Dad’s passing, things ramped up.

While finally coming clean in “Floor Song Tango” relieved me Read the rest of this entry

It’s here! My story “Wish Bones” in DEAD STARS AND STONE ARCHES

Wish Bones Kristi

TODAY IS RELEASE DAY! My western cosmic horror story—first shot at that, too!—“Wish Bones,” is now available in Timber Ghost Press’ Dead Stars and Stone Arches: A Collection of Utah Horror.

In 1873 Utah, Quicken offers to shepherd a woman condemned to hang for the massacre of a Mormon traveling party—but what’s waiting for them in the canyon is more terrifying than any crime she could have possibly committed.

Pick up your copy for Kindle or Print here!

Dead Stars and Stone Arches Cover

“Beware Burning Snow” is now available for free in THE SIRENS CALL eZine!

SIRENS CALL EZINE Issue 58 Cover

I’m thrilled to announce that my short story –“Beware Burning Snow” — is now available to read for FREE over at The Sirens Call eZine Issue #58!

In “Beware Burning Snow”: In 1980, ash people warned ten-year-old Sissy of the imminent eruption of Mount St. Helens. But there’s a natural order to things, and now they’re back. Sissy’s not only driven to keep one eye on the mountain—she’s compelled to keep them from haunting her teenaged daughter, too.

This issue is huge and features stories Read the rest of this entry