Twin girls are left with a babysitter in a haunted house.

“The Specialist’s Hat” © 1998 by Kelly Link. Originally published in Event Horizon, 1998, and reprinted in Kelly Link’s Stranger Things Happen (Small Beer Press, 2001) and Kelly Link’s Pretty Monsters (Viking Books For Young Readers, 2008).

This episode is sponsored by Villains (www.parcast.com/VILLAINS) and Native (www.nativedeodorant.com code: LEVAR).

An ordinary couple experiences an extraordinary event during a walk in the park. "Jump" was first published in LIGHTSPEED MAGAZINE. Cadwell Turnbull's debut novel is THE LESSON.

In Stories with Friends, LeVar invites one of his friends to sit down for a conversation inspired by a short story or another piece of literature, giving them an excuse to talk about art, life philosophies, politics, and so much more. In this free episode, LeVar talks with Amanda Seales (HBO's Insecure, Small Doses) about Scholastic book fairs, Dorothy West's story "Mammy", and making space for intellectual conversation. Amanda's new book of essays is out October 22nd. It's called Small Doses: Potent Truths for Everyday Use. Find it at SmallDosesBook.com.

You can find "Mammy" in one of these collections:

https://www.amazon.com/Harlems-Glory-Black-Writing-1900-1950/dp/0674372697

https://www.amazon.com/Richer-Poorer-Dorothy-West/dp/0385471459

The owner of an unusual private museum picks up a hitchhiker sent to assassinate her. This story appears in Nisi Shawl's collection FILTER HOUSE. Content advisory: kidnapping and abduction

A castle's mysteries begin to slowly unravel. Content advisory: mentions of death, eugenics

This episode is sponsored by Mythical Monsters podcast (www.parcast.com/mythicalmonsters)

A woman is haunted by her dreams of being a tiger.

This episode is sponsored by Betterhelp (www.betterhelp.com/levar code: LEVAR) and The Great Courses (www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/LEVAR).

A woman in a troubled relationship loses her glasses at a rest stop along the highway, and the world shifts in and out of focus. Content advisory: explicit language, abuse

From the forthcoming collection A BRIEF AND FEARFUL STAR, to be published by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of The Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

This episode is sponsored by The Great Courses (www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/LEVAR) and Native (www.nativedeodorant.com code: LEVAR).

A team of peace-keepers investigate an inventor with an astonishing claim.

This episode is sponsored by Betterhelp (www.betterhelp.com/levar code: LEVAR) and The Great Courses (www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/LEVAR).

A girl scrutinizes the line between humans and robots when her grandmother is replaced with a replica. Content advisory: Death or dying, self-harming behaviors

This episode is sponsored by There Will Come a Darkness, A Life Lived podcast, and The Great Courses (www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/LEVAR).