89.1 The Incomparable Freddy Red

When seven-year-old Kim Barnes wills her imaginary friend, Freddy Red, into existence, who spills over with games and laughter and titters and blood.

Written by Luke Kondor (https://www.lukekondor.com)

Narrated by Matthew Lloyd Davies (https://twitter.com/mldAudio)

Edited by Karl Hughes (https://twitter.com/karlhughes)

With music by MusicLFiles (https://cemmusicproject.wixsite.com/musiclibraryfiles)

And Duncan Muggleton (https://temporalrecordings.wordpress.com)

And Thom Robson (https://www.thomrobsonmusic.com/)

The episode illustration was provided by Luke Spooner of Carrion House (https://carrionhouse.com/)

And sound effects provided by Freesound.org

A quick thanks to our community managers, Joshua Boucher and Jasmine Arch

And Carolyn O'Brien for helping with our submission reading.

And to Ben Errington, our own imaginer, dreaming up content friends to play with at the social media playground.

Luke Kondor started writing on his computer in his early teens and never looked back… and now he has very sore eyes. He runs and produces a short story podcast called The Other Stories, which has amassed over 10-million downloads. In 2015, he won the best Low-Budget Film Award at the London Short Film Festival for a film he made in 7 days with no camera and no money. Currently he works from a dining room table in the middle of Sherwood Forest and lives with his fiancée, Cat, their pet cat, Oscar, and their larger, angrier cat, Alaska, who is actually a dog. www.lukekondor.com

For more of Matthew Lloyd Davies’ work, head over to https://www.matthewlloyddavies.com

You can help support the show over at Patreon.com/HawkandCleaver

You can join our Bookclub, Movieclub, and writing exercises over at Facebook.com/groups/hawkandcleaver

T-shirts, mugs, posters, and comic books are available at www.gumroad.com/hawkandcleaver

Get help with your short stories and your podcasts by heading to TheOtherStories.Net/services

The Other Stories is a production of the story studio, Hawk & Cleaver, and is brought to you with a Creative Commons – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. Don’t change it. Don’t sell it. But by all means… share the hell out of it.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

C.S.U

A near immaculate crime scene, a homicide specialist and a pioneering piece of investigative technology. Is it the perfect murder or can it be solved in minutes?

Written by Richard Reynolds (groundzerocomics.co.uk)

Narrated by Justin Fife (https://www.twitter.com/justinbfife)

Edited by Duncan Muggleton (http://soundcloud.com/duncanmuggleton)

With music by Duncan Muggleton (https://temporalrecordings.wordpress.com)

And Thom Robson (https://www.thomrobsonmusic.com/)

And sound effects provided by Freesound.org

The episode illustration was provided by Luke Spooner of Carrion House (https://carrionhouse.com/)

A quick thanks to our community managers, Joshua Boucher and Jasmine Arch

And Carolyn O'Brien for helping with our submission reading.

And to Ben Errington for separating the social curds from the media whey and serving up delicious content cheese.

Richard Reynolds is the owner and operator of Ground Zero Comics, a small shop in Mansfield, England, but writes, draws and produces his own comics and strips whenever he gets the chance. You can read these comics for free on the shop’s website, groundzerocomics.co.uk - ‘free comics’ sidebar.

**Audio producer, amateur voice actor, podcaster, and video game lover, follow Justin Fife on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/justinbfife**

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

78.2 Husk

Today’s episode has been sponsored by Territory is the new novella from Dan Howarth.

In a remote Finnish hunting community, darkness and the cold hold the villagers close. As a pack of wolves threaten the village’s future, grief-stricken hunter Jari must unite the population to reclaim their territory.

Old feuds and dark habits rear their heads as Jari tries to lead the villagers through their toughest season, but it soon becomes clear that not everyone will survive the winter.

Territory is available on 10 June.

Husk

There's something strange in the way grandpa's ageing. His skin is flaking. Mum's upset. The nightmares won't stop coming.

Written by Daniel Willcocks (https://danielwillcocks.com/)

Narrated by James Barnett AKA Jimmy Horrors (https://www.jamesbarnettcreative.com)

Edited by Karl Hughes (https://twitter.com/karlhughes)

With music by Nul Tiel Records (https://nultielrecords.com)

And Thom Robson (https://www.thomrobsonmusic.com/)

The episode illustration was provided by Luke Spooner of Carrion House (https://carrionhouse.com/)

And sound effects provided by Freesound.org

A quick thanks to our community managers, Joshua Boucher and Jasmine Arch

And Carolyn O'Brien for helping with our submission reading.

And to Ben Errington for spooking the neighbours with the content demons he raises with his copy of the Social Media Necronomicon.

Daniel Willcocks is an international bestselling author and award-winning podcaster of dark fiction. He is an author coach, founder and CEO of Activated Authors; one quarter of digital story studio, Hawk & Cleaver; co-founder of iTunes-busting fiction podcast, ‘The Other Stories‘;’ CEO of horror imprint, Devil’s Rock Publishing; and the host of the ‘Activated Authors‘ podcast.

Dan is furiously passionate about creativity and productivity. He has written 60+ books since 2015 for himself and on behalf of ghostwriting clients. His mission in life is to activate creatives and authors to ensure they keep their creative flames and passions burning in a sustainable, positive, and healthy way.

James Barnett is the producer of the Night’s End podcast. A short story fiction podcast with tales of horror and the paranormal. Search for it wherever you get your podcasts. You can also catch other works of his at www.jamesbarnettcreative.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

87.5 Crawlspace

Dennis' quiet evening of reading is interrupted by thumping music coming from his neighbour's house. Or at least he thinks that's where it's coming from.

Written by Kev Harrison (www.kevharrisonfiction.com

Narrated by Narrator and edited by James Barnett AKA Jimmy Horrors (https://www.JamesBarnettCreative.com)

With music by Daniel Birch (https://danielbirchmusic.com)

And Andrew kn (https://freesound.org/people/Andrewkn/)

And Thom Robson (https://www.thomrobsonmusic.com/)

And sound effects provided by Freesound.org

The episode illustration was provided by Luke Spooner of Carrion House (https://carrionhouse.com/)

A quick thanks to our community managers, Joshua Boucher and Jasmine Arch

And Carolyn O'Brien for helping with our submission reading.

And to Ben Errington for wriggling through the twists and turns of the social media labyrinth.

Kev Harrison is a British writer of horror and dark fiction living in Lisbon, Portugal. His novella, Below, is out now from Brigids Gate Press. Find more about him and his work at www.kevharrisonfiction.com

James Barnett is the producer of the Night’s End podcast. A short story fiction podcast with tales of horror and the paranormal. Search for it wherever you get your podcasts. You can also catch other works of his at www.JamesBarnettCreative.com

Join TOS+ to access over 90 exclusive episodes, get regular stories in higher quality audio, a week early, and ad-free, at https://theotherstories.net/plus/

Support the show, get audiobooks, and more at https://www.patreon.com/hawkandcleaver

Join our communities for book clubs, movie clubs, writing exercises, and more at https://theotherstories.net/community/

Leave a voicemail or get in touch at https://theotherstories.net/submissions

Check out our writing courses at https://theotherstories.net/courses/

Grab some merch at https://gumroad.com/hawkandcleaver

The Other Stories is a production of the story studio, Hawk & Cleaver, and is brought to you with a Creative Commons – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. Don’t change it. Don’t sell it. But by all means… share the hell out of it.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

81.2 Desire & Sons

"Desire & Sons" is a translation of Nicola Lombardi's short fiction "I Desideri." The translation has never been published, and Mr. Lombardi has authorized me to translate his fictions and seek publication for them.

The sign in the window reads “Ghosts--Bought & Sold.” Surely the proprietor of this curio shop is joking; but the narrator soon discovers that the owner is far more serious than he could ever have expected.

Written by Nicola Lombardi & Joe Weintraub (social media link)

Narrated by James Barnett AKA Jimmy Horrors (social media link)

Edited by James Barnett AKA Jimmy Horrors (social media link)

With music by Daniel Birch Music (https://danielbirchmusic.com)

And Thom Robson (https://www.thomrobsonmusic.com/)

And sound effects provided by Freesound.org

The episode illustration was provided by Luke Spooner of Carrion House (https://carrionhouse.com/)

A quick thanks to our community managers, Joshua Boucher and Jasmine Arch

And Carolyn O'Brien for helping with our submission reading

And to Ben Errington for his triple lutz and axel jumps at this year’s Social Media Content Figure Skating competition.

"Desire & Sons" is my translation of Nicola Lombardi's short fiction "I Desideri." The translation has never been published, and Mr. Lombardi has authorized me to translate his fictions and seek publication for them.

Here is a brief bio:

After thirty years of writing--3 novels, six collections, one film adaptation, multiple translations from the English--Lombardi is considered a master of the horror genre in Italy (his website can be found here:at www.nicolalombardi.com). His first collection in English, The Gypsy Spiders and Other Tales of Italian Horror, was published by UK's Tartarus Press in Dec. 2021.

James Barnett is the producer of the Night’s End podcast. A short story fiction podcast with tales of horror and the paranormal. Search for it wherever you get your podcasts. You can also catch other works of his at www.JamesBarnettCreative.com

Join TOS+ to access over 90 exclusive episodes, get regular stories in higher quality audio, a week early, and ad-free, at https://theotherstories.net/plus/

Support the show, get audiobooks, and more at https://www.patreon.com/hawkandcleaver

Join our communities for book clubs, movie clubs, writing exercises, and more at https://theotherstories.net/community/

Leave a voicemail or get in touch at https://theotherstories.net/submissions

Check out our writing courses at https://theotherstories.net/courses/

Grab some merch at https://gumroad.com/hawkandcleaver

The Other Stories is a production of the story studio, Hawk & Cleaver, and is brought to you with a Creative Commons – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. Don’t change it. Don’t sell it. But by all means… share the hell out of it.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Impersonatorus Rex

Gerald thinks he’s found another heartbroken woman to manipulate — until he meets Tor’s husband. At first, Thomas seems like just another loser, but Gerald soon realises Thomas isn’t quite all there; apparently, he does a great dinosaur impersonation... of the carnivorous variety

Written by Luke Kondor (https://www.instagram.com/lukeofkondor/)

Narrated by Josh Curran

Produced by Karl Hughes (https://bsky.app/profile/karlhughes.bsky.social)

With music by Myuu (https://www.thedarkpiano.com/)

And Thom Robson (https://www.thomrobsonmusic.com/)

And sound effects provided by zapsplat.com

Joshua Boucher is our story programmer, and along with Jasmine Arch and the eyeless ones, Mary Pastrano and Cody Czarzasty, he helps manage our community.

And to Ben Errington the ongoing explosion of content being fired out of his Social Media canon.

Josh Curran is a narrator and writer. He has narrated many episodes of The Other Stories over the show’s lifetime. He is also the creator of the horror Audio-Drama podcast, Miscreation.

Join TOS+ to access over 90 exclusive episodes, get regular stories in higher quality audio, a week early, and ad-free, at https://theotherstories.net/plus/

Support the show, get audiobooks, and more at https://www.patreon.com/hawkandcleaver

Join our communities for book clubs, movie clubs, writing exercises, and more at https://theotherstories.net/community/

Leave a voicemail or get in touch at https://theotherstories.net/submissions

Check out our writing courses at https://theotherstories.net/courses/

Grab some merch at https://gumroad.com/hawkandcleaver

The Other Stories is a production of the story studio, Hawk & Cleaver, and is brought to you with a Creative Commons – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. Don’t change it. Don’t sell it. But by all means… share the hell out of it.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We hope you're enjoying the summer, and thank you for your continued support of The Other Stories.

We wanted to bring you something special today that we think many of you will enjoy. The Hawk & Cleaver team have been working on recording and editing the first book in The Aelfraver Series, The Rave. We even have TOS narrator Erika Ventura cast as the narrator.

Author J.R Traas describes it as an arcanepunk cyberfantasy about teenage rebellion against the ruling elite and their gods. TOS editor Karl Hughes said it reminded him of The Hunger Games, but full of even more Sci-Fi and even more awesomeness.

The story begins with Alina, a 17-year-old Aelfraver (a hunter of arcane beasts), who is also a pacifist. When her grandfather disappears in the middle of making dinner, Alina is left with an empty monster hunter school and a crippling pile of debt. Unlicensed and underage, she forges an Aelfraver license and enters the floating capital city, joining the hunt for a mysterious entity that has been slaughtering the wealthy and powerful, leaving no witnesses. If she can somehow deal with this elusive creature and claim the bounty, she believes all her problems will be solved. But she’ll have to beat 200 cutthroat killer Aelfravers to the finish line.

We don't do many audiobooks, but even so, this is the biggest project we've ever taken on, and we wanted to share it with you.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

106.4 The Diary

Tired of flogging books to the wealthy the find of a lost diary sets in motion a mystery that could harken a new fortune or something more sinister.

Written by R.N. Krantz

Narrated by Georgia Cook (https://x.com/georgiacooked)

Produced by Georgia Triantafyllopoulou (https://www.instagram.com/audiogeekgr)

With music by Epic Stock Media (https://epicstockmedia.com/)

And Haunted Me (https://hauntedmeofficial.wordpress.com/)

And Thom Robson (https://www.thomrobsonmusic.com/)

And sound effects provided by https://getsoundly.com/

The episode illustration was provided by Luke Spooner of Carrion House (https://carrionhouse.com/)

Joshua Boucher is our story programmer, and along with Jasmine Arch and the eyeless ones, Mary Pastrano and Cody Czarzasty, he helps manage our community.

And to Ben Errington the ongoing explosion of content being fired out of his Social Media canon.

**Georgia Cook is an illustrator and writer from London. She has written for publications such as Baffling, Vastarien Lit, and Flame Tree press, as well as the Doctor Who range with Big Finish. She can be found on twitter at @georgiacooked and on her website at https://www.georgiacookwriter.com/**

Check out Georgia’s brand new podcast - The Holmwood Foundation

Join TOS+ to access over 90 exclusive episodes, get regular stories in higher quality audio, a week early, and ad-free, at https://theotherstories.net/plus/

Support the show, get audiobooks, and more at https://www.patreon.com/hawkandcleaver

Join our communities for book clubs, movie clubs, writing exercises, and more at https://theotherstories.net/community/

Leave a voicemail or get in touch at https://theotherstories.net/submissions

Check out our writing courses at https://theotherstories.net/courses/

Grab some merch at https://gumroad.com/hawkandcleaver

The Other Stories is a production of the story studio, Hawk & Cleaver, and is brought to you with a Creative Commons – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. Don’t change it. Don’t sell it. But by all means… share the hell out of it.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

106.3 Blind Cast

Two space engineers just finished repairing an old satellite in low orbit when they see a very unexpected item floating just outside of their space ships.

Written by Alexandra Elroy

Narrated by Alexandra Elroy

And Tycho Francis

And Nick Herman

Produced by Karl Hughes (https://bsky.app/profile/karlhughes.bsky.social)

With music by Chris Zabriskie (https://chriszabriskie.com/)

And Thom Robson (https://www.thomrobsonmusic.com/)

And sound effects provided by Freesound.org

The episode illustration was provided by Luke Spooner of Carrion House (https://carrionhouse.com/)

Joshua Boucher is our story programmer, and along with Jasmine Arch and the eyeless ones, Mary Pastrano and Cody Czarzasty, he helps manage our community.

And to Ben Errington the ongoing explosion of content being fired out of his Social Media canon.

Alexandra is a bilingual voice actress and writer who lives in the Netherlands. She loves everything to do with stories, especially creative and playful horror. Her favourite voices to do are witches, goblins and crazy computers. When she is not voicing, writing or mummy-ing (which is all the time, really) she directs plays that she adapted from classic novels such as Pride and Prejudice, Death on the Nile and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.

Francis is an actor, narrator, and storyteller with a background in theatre and voice work. He loves the drama — but even more so, the quiet pull of darker tales. Walk with him: @lonely_midnight_artist

Nick is a performer from Portland, Oregon, USA. He trained at the University of Oregon and worked professionally in London, UK for 3 years. His roles include Mr. Tinsworthy in The Confidential Musical Theater Project (The Cauldron), King Sextimus in Once Upon a Mattress (Happily Ever After), and Carrot in Guards! Guards! (English Theater Utrecht). He loves improvisation and is currently training at Boom Chicago in Amsterdam

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

106.2 Yellow Tape

Mourning the loss of their close friend, Elle and Lionel come home to watch a mysterious yellow tape that was bequeathed to them in their friend’s will. But by the end of the tape, the couple wish it had never come to them.

Written by Xavier Garcia (twitter.com/xavier_agarcia)

Narrated and produced by James Barnett (https://www.JamesBarnettCreative.com)

With music by North Without End (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/north-without-end/)

And Myuu (https://www.thedarkpiano.com/)

And Thom Robson (https://www.thomrobsonmusic.com/)

And sound effects provided by Freesound.org and Ghosthack.de

The episode illustration was provided by Luke Spooner of Carrion House (https://carrionhouse.com/)

Joshua Boucher is our story programmer, and along with Jasmine Arch and the eyeless ones, Mary Pastrano and Cody Czarzasty, he helps manage our community.

And to Ben Errington the ongoing explosion of content being fired out of his Social Media canon.

Xavier Garcia is a writer/editor from Toronto, Canada. His short fiction has appeared in various magazines and anthologies published by Fugitives & Futurists, Cold Signal, hex, Apocalypse Confidential, Cursed Morsels, Filthy Loot, and others. You can find him walking the nightmare corpse-city of R’lyeh, or at twitter.com/xavier_agarcia.

James Barnett is the producer of the Night’s End podcast and After The Gloaming. Search for them wherever you get your podcasts. You can also catch other works of his at www.JamesBarnettCreative.com

Join TOS+ to access over 90 exclusive episodes, get regular stories in higher quality audio, a week early, and ad-free, at https://theotherstories.net/plus/

Support the show, get audiobooks, and more at https://www.patreon.com/hawkandcleaver

Join our communities for book clubs, movie clubs, writing exercises, and more at https://theotherstories.net/community/

Leave a voicemail or get in touch at https://theotherstories.net/submissions

Check out our writing courses at https://theotherstories.net/courses/

Grab some merch at https://gumroad.com/hawkandcleaver

The Other Stories is a production of the story studio, Hawk & Cleaver, and is brought to you with a Creative Commons – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. Don’t change it. Don’t sell it. But by all means… share the hell out of it.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.