Sinister Minutes

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It's time to celebrate these hot, sweaty days and muggy, buggy nights by leaving behind our delightful, air conditioned dungeons in order to sleep with only a thin layer of polyester fabric between us and the most violent, bloodthirsty creatures the deep woods might throw at us.

Ashley Mangtani is a UK writer whose work explores ecological and social collapse, and the roles people inhabit in moments of crisis. Drawing on an M.Sc. in Environmental Science and a background as a civil servant in digital media policy, he crafts stories shaped by inevitability and loss. Blending literary realism with slipstream, his work has appeared or is forthcoming in Litro, Washington Square Review, Boudin, Expat Press, Thieving Magpie, Flash Fiction Online, HAWKEYE, Mobius: The Journal of Social Change, Literary Garage, Neither Fish Nor Foul, Empyrean Magazine, and others. Read more at ashleymangtanifiction.carrd.co

Later, Tim tears away the facade and shows us all what's 'Behind the Curtain.' Do visit Tim for more excellent musical interludes on Spotify and YouTube under T. Virgil Parker.

Image by Henning Sørby from Pixabay

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Guest author Valerie Patrick is a burgeoning horror author. a public librarian by day, and a hermit crab by night. Look for her on TikTok as Valerie (@novels.and.notebooks). This story was first published back in March on Horrific Scribes; Sinister Minutes is pleased to provide the audio premiere.

Later, Tim's got some spookiness of his own to share with Midnight Shadows from the Cemetery. Do visit Tim for more excellent musical interludes on Spotify and youTube under T. Virgil Parker.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

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Algernon Blackwood is considered one of the most prolific ghost story writers in the history of the genre—he apparently wrote so many stories at the 11th hour for newspaper publication that no one has been able to put an accurate count on the total. No shortage of weird fiction authors consider him an influence, including Lovecraft, but unlike the latter we don't have to squint quite so hard to look past the bigotry when we read his work. Today we bring you "Ancient Lights," a delightful tale of land surveying gone awry.

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Later, Tim's been following up on his plans to start a dating service for the deceased, and so he'll be sharing a piece especially attuned to just that...something he calls Lonely Ghost II. Do visit Tim for more excellent musical interludes on Spotify and youTube under T. Virgil Parker.

Image by Betidraws from Pixabay

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Many tales in this episode were inspired by the wildly imaginative Nicole L Soper Gorden, who provides her inspiration to the universe each Wednesday via her Instagram, Bluesky, and Facebook feeds. By all means, grab a copy of her dark eco-fantasy novella, The Earth, Our Body. She assures us that it's filled with "angry women burn down the patriarchy with nature magic" vibes, plus sapphic kissing. What's not to like?

Soundscapes, musical composition and macabre moods by Tim Parker

Words, narration, and general creepiness by Kurt Hohmann

Image by Thomas from Pixabay

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"Vengeance" brings on a host of creepy critters, and not all of them are insects.

Then Tim makes us pay attention to "Whispers in Darkness"

Guest author Swarnadip Chatterjee is a freelance author, poet and Hindustani classical music vocalist. His works have been published in Voices, The Statesman, Stellium Literary Magazine (a US-based magazine focusing on LGBTQ issues), and the Bengali literary journal Krittibas (formerly edited by Sunil Gangopadhyay). He currently resides in Kolkata, India.

Image by Nick_the_Photographer from Pixabay

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