On your gravestone, what words will your loved ones use to describe you? Will you be able to defend those words to your eternal companion, the ever-sarcastic Death? 

Thank you for listening to The Hidden Gems Podcast, which is dedicated to bringing you the best short stories you've never heard. If you liked this story, you can find more of C. Mack Lewis's writing at https://cmacklewis.com

John Bell is our narrator, and he is also the writer, producer, and actor on the award-winning "Bell's in the Batfry" podcast, which can be found at http://thebatfry.libsyn.com/   

John also hosts a weekly show for the Mutual Audio Network, titled "Tales from the Mutual Basement."  Each Sunday, it's a different story and can be found on the Mutual Audio Network podcast. 

Thank you for listening!

EPISODE CREDITS:

Hosted by C. Mack Lewis.

Narrated, Edited, and Mixed by John Bell. 

LINKS: https://cmacklewis.com/

More information about your host at CMackLewis.com

EPISODE CREDITS:

Hosted by C. Mack Lewis.

Narrated, Edited, and Mixed by John Bell. 

LINKS: https://cmacklewis.com/

Be sure to follow and tag The Hidden Gems Podcast on Facebook. 

More information about your host at CMackLewis.com

Dog lovers beware! We all know it's a cat's world, but what happens when our hero discovers it's a cat's afterworld? 

God's Meow was written by C. Mack Lewis. You can find C. Mack's books at https://cmacklewis.com/

C.Mack's audiobooks can be found on audible.com

You can request C. Mack's books and audiobooks from your local library. 

John Bell is our wonderful narrator and he is also the writer, producer, and actor on "Bell's in the Batfry" podcast, which can be found at thebatfry 

Listen to John Bell's newest venture at https://mutualaudionetwork.com/

I am Cathy McCarthy, your host, and you can find my books at cmacklewis.com

Don't forget to rate our podcast and share it with other lovers of short fiction. 

Thank you for listening!

EPISODE CREDITS:

Hosted by C. Mack Lewis.

Narrated, Edited, and Mixed by John Bell. 

LINKS: https://cmacklewis.com/

Be sure to follow and tag The Hidden Gems Podcast on Facebook. 

More information about your host at CMackLewis.com

Join us for this supernatural horror tale as Our Hero and The Swede paddle up the Danube where they are stranded on a quickly eroding island full of willows that seem alive with creatures from another dimension. 

Algernon Blackwood's novella "The Willows" was published in 1907 in "The Listener and Other Stories." H.P. Lovecraft considered it "one of the finest supernatural tales in English literature." Enjoy!

John Bell is our  was our wonderful narrator and he is also the writer, producer, and actor on "Bell's in the Batfry" podcast, which can be found at thebatfry

Listen to John Bell's newest venture at https://mutualaudionetwork.com/

I am Cathy McCarthy, your host, and you can find my books at cmacklewis.com 

Don't forget to rate our podcast and share it with other lovers of short fiction. 

Thank you for listening!

EPISODE CREDITS:

Hosted by C. Mack Lewis.

Narrated, Edited, and Mixed by John Bell. 

LINKS: https://cmacklewis.com/

Be sure to follow and tag The Hidden Gems Podcast on Facebook. 

More information about your host at CMackLewis.com

On a Halloween dare, a little girl kicks a gravestone and then must deal with the consequences. Truth or fiction? You decide.  

For more about this and other hauntings, listen to "The Cost of Seeing Ghosts" at Midnight Balloon.com

Thank you for listening to The Hidden Gems Podcast, which is dedicated to bringing you the best short stories you've never heard. If you liked this story, you can find more of C. Mack Lewis's writing at https://cmacklewis.com

John Bell is our narrator and he is also the writer, producer, and actor on the award-winning "Bell's in the Batfry" podcast, which can be found at http://thebatfry.libsyn.com/   

John is also now doing a new weekly show for the Mutual Audio Network called "Tales from the Mutual Basement."  Each Sunday, it's a different story and can be found on the Mutual Audio Network podcast. 

Thank you for listening!

EPISODE CREDITS:

Hosted by C. Mack Lewis.

Narrated, Edited, and Mixed by John Bell. 

LINKS: https://cmacklewis.com/

Be sure to follow and tag The Hidden Gems Podcast on Facebook. 

More information about your host at CMackLewis.com

Most of us live rather small and quiet lives, which has its own special charm. But what happens if you are Oppenheimer, the builder of the atomic bomb, knowing that you are responsible for the deaths of thousands of people? Is it possible to go back in time and make other choices? Perhaps, but there are always consequences.  

Bill Adler is an American writer living in Japan. He writes speculative fiction: science fiction, magical realism, horror, and fantasy, though he dabbles in literary fiction now and then. You can read his stories on Substack at billadler.substack.com

John Bell is our  was our wonderful narrator and he is also the writer, producer, and actor on "Bell's in the Batfry" podcast, which can be found at http://thebatfry.libsyn.com/

Check out Writing on a  Train, written by Bob Wallass and Nathan Douglas Hansen on Amazon.com

I am Cathy McCarthy, your host, and I write under the name of C. Mack Lewis. You can find my books at https://cmacklewis.com/

Thank you for listening!

EPISODE CREDITS:

Hosted by C. Mack Lewis.

Narrated, Edited, and Mixed by John Bell. 

LINKS: https://cmacklewis.com/

Be sure to follow and tag The Hidden Gems Podcast on Facebook. 

More information about your host at CMackLewis.com

We've all had our hearts broken, just as we are all guilty of breaking someone else's heart. Think back and examine your own history. Agnes Keith-Wessington pursued Jack in her rickshaw, but who would be haunting you and in what type of vehicle would they be pursuing you?

For more information, check out this article by David Barber:

Who Was Kipling? A sampling of writing from The Atlantic's past offers a range of views on the many contradictions of Rudyard Kipling.https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2007/12/who-was-kipling/306588/

John Bell is our  was our wonderful narrator and he is also the writer, producer, and actor on "Bell's in the Batfry" podcast, which can be found at http://thebatfry.libsyn.com/

I am Cathy McCarthy, your host, and I write under the name of C. Mack Lewis. You can find my books at https://cmacklewis.com/

Thank you for listening!

EPISODE CREDITS:

Hosted by C. Mack Lewis.

Narrated, Edited, and Mixed by John Bell. 

LINKS: https://cmacklewis.com/

Be sure to follow and tag The Hidden Gems Podcast on Facebook. 

More information about your host at CMackLewis.com

Lions, and Tigers, and...Otters? 

Hector Hugh Monru (1870-1916) chose his pseudonym "Saki" after a fictional character who was a cupbearer who was on a "joyous errand" to serve wine to guests in Omar Khayyám's Rubáiyát. 

For more information about Saki, check out these articles:

Untameable Saki - One hundred years after Saki's death in the Great War, his stories are still wickedly funny. Written by Fatema Ahmed, Nov 16, 2016  https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/43602/untameable-saki

Saki: My Hero, written by Naomi Alderman.  September 14, 2012. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/sep/14/saki-my-hero-naomi-alderman

Saki. By Elizabeth Drew. The Atlantic, July 1940 Issue. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1940/07/saki/654050/

John Bell is our  was our wonderful narrator and he is also the writer, producer, and actor on "Bell's in the Batfry" podcast, which can be found at http://thebatfry.libsyn.com/

I am Cathy McCarthy, your host, and I write under the name of C. Mack Lewis. You can find my books at https://cmacklewis.com/

Thank you for listening!

EPISODE CREDITS:

Hosted by C. Mack Lewis.

Narrated, Edited, and Mixed by John Bell. 

LINKS: https://cmacklewis.com/

Be sure to follow and tag The Hidden Gems Podcast on Facebook. 

More information about your host at CMackLewis.com

The Hidden Gems Podcast is deeply honored to be featuring a short story written by the internationally acclaimed artist, Rick Levinson!   

Rick Levinson's Artist Statment:

At the basis of all of my art there are stories. They combine my actual life experiences, voluntarily imagined ones, and sometimes simply my unfiltered dreams.
I have never believed that a person can and must do only one thing in life.
I have led parallel careers.
The first is pulmonary/critical care medicine. Formally trained, totally truth-based, tangible, and real.
The second: making art. Totally imaginary, made up, but most self-revealing when it combines with what has been real in my life and what has escaped from my subconscious.
Although often asked, I never felt the need to prioritize or even separate these lives.

You can find more information about Rick Levinson's art at https://ricklevinsonart.com/

John Bell is our  was our narrator and he is also the writer, producer, and actor on "Bell's in the Batfry" podcast, which can be found at:
[http://thebatfry.libsyn.com/]

We are always looking forward to discovering our next writer, so if you are interested in contributing, please send us your short story of fewer than 5,000 words to:
[email protected]

I am Cathy McCarthy, your host, and I write under the name of C. Mack Lewis and my books can be found at:
[https://cmacklewis.com/]

Thank you for listening!

EPISODE CREDITS:

Hosted by C. Mack Lewis.

Narrated, Edited, and Mixed by John Bell. 

LINKS: https://cmacklewis.com/

Be sure to follow and tag The Hidden Gems Podcast on Facebook. 

More information about your host at CMackLewis.com

Anton Chekhov was a physician, playwright, and master of the art of the short story. For more information, check out this wonderful article on Anton Chekhov: https://newrepublic.com/article/170133/vast-humanity-anton-chekhov-blaisdell-biography-review

John Bell is our  was our narrator and he is also the writer, producer, and actor on "Bell's in the Batfry" podcast, which can be found at:
[http://thebatfry.libsyn.com/]

We are always looking forward to discovering our next writer, so if you are interested in contributing, please send us your short story of fewer than 5,000 words to:
[email protected]

I am Cathy McCarthy, your host, and I write under the name of C. Mack Lewis and my books can be found at:
[https://cmacklewis.com/]

Thank you for listening!

EPISODE CREDITS:

Hosted by C. Mack Lewis.

Narrated, Edited, and Mixed by John Bell. 

LINKS: https://cmacklewis.com/

Be sure to follow and tag The Hidden Gems Podcast on Facebook. 

More information about your host at CMackLewis.com

When their gender-questioning granddaughter comes home from college spouting all sorts of new words and terms, Sally Rae and her loving husband of 56 years have a talk that just might change their lives. 

Thank you for listening to The Hidden Gems Podcast, which is dedicated to bringing you the best short stories that you've never heard. For more short stories on The Hidden Gems Podcast, please go to: https://www.thehiddengemspodcast.com/podcast 

If you liked this story, you can find more of C. Mack Lewis's writing at https://cmacklewis.com/

Also, I would greatly appreciate it if you would request that your local library order my books, The Fallen Angels trilogy, written by C. Mack Lewis. Many thanks!!

John Bell is our  was our narrator and he is also the writer, producer, and actor on the award-winning "Bell's in the Batfry" podcast, which can be found at http://thebatfry.libsyn.com/

We are always looking forward to discovering our next writer, so if you are interested in contributing, please send us your short story of fewer than 5,000 words to [email protected]

Thank you for listening!

EPISODE CREDITS:

Hosted by C. Mack Lewis.

Narrated, Edited, and Mixed by John Bell. 

LINKS: https://cmacklewis.com/

Be sure to follow and tag The Hidden Gems Podcast on Facebook. 

More information about your host at CMackLewis.com