Worlds Without Warning

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, Jon Negroni reads aloud "The Stranger in Apartment 3A, First Floor" by Mirav Levy — a ghost story told entirely from the ghost's perspective.

You can find the written version right here.

About the Author

Mirav Levy is a speculative and horror Latina-SWANA writer who is passionate about creating emotionally resonant stories that stalk messy boys, chaotic girls, sentient Deaths, and memories we don't want to acknowledge. When she's not in her writerly costume, you can find her playing video games. She is currently working on her debut novel. She lives in Colorado with her husband and their menace of a cat.

• Visit Mirav Levy's author website to find more of her work
• Tip the author to support them and say thanks
• Explore our full archive of stories and poetry.
• Submit your own story to be featured on Cetera.

About Cetera Magazine

We publish original short fiction every Thursday. Our stories span literary fiction, speculative tales, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and weird fiction. All written without AI assistance and curated by editor Natalia Emmons.

Credits

• Author: Mirav Levy
• Host & Narrator: Jon Negroni
• Editors: Natalia Emmons and Jon Negroni
• Artwork: Jon Negroni
• Music: "Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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In this special bonus episode of Worlds Without Warning, Jon Negroni reads aloud "The Big Black Square" by Kasey Soska. He also shares Soska's author notes.

You can find the written version right here.

About the Author

Kasey Soska is a professional science nerd and novice fiction writer. His PhD in developmental psychology is from New York University. His academic research has appeared in Developmental Science and Child Development. Kasey studied comedy at Second City’s Conservatory and performed sketch and improv shows in Chicago, Miami, and NYC. He returned to his hometown of Pittsburgh, where he lives with his three-legged dog and two-legged wife.

• Explore our full archive of stories and poetry.
• Submit your own story to be featured on Cetera.

About Cetera Magazine

We publish original short fiction every Thursday. Our stories span literary fiction, speculative tales, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and weird fiction. All written without AI assistance and curated by editor Natalia Emmons.

Credits

• Author: Kasey Soska
• Host & Narrator: Jon Negroni
• Editor: Natalia Emmons
• Artwork: Jon Negroni
• Music: "Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Share This Episode
If you enjoyed this story, please share it with fellow story lovers. Your enthusiasm helps these stories reach new readers. Thank you!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this special bonus episode of Worlds Without Warning, Jon Negroni reads aloud "a Special Bond" by Marco Etheridge. He also shares editor's notes on why this story was published in Cetera Magazine.

You can find the written version right here.

About the Author

Marco Etheridge is a writer of prose, an occasional playwright, and a part-time poet. He lives and writes in Vienna, Austria. His work has been featured in over one hundred and fifty reviews across
Canada, Australia, Europe, the UK, USA, and India. Marco’s short story “Power Tools” was nominated for Best of the Web for 2023 and is the title of his latest collection of short fiction. When he isn’t crafting stories, Marco is a contributing editor for a ‘Zine called Hotch Potch. In his other life, Marco travels the world with his lovely wife Sabine.

• Explore our full archive of stories and poetry.
• Submit your own story to be featured on Cetera.

About Cetera Magazine

We publish original short fiction every Thursday. Our stories span literary fiction, speculative tales, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and weird fiction. All written without AI assistance and curated by editor Natalia Emmons.

Credits

• Author: Marco Etheridge
• Host & Narrator: Jon Negroni
• Editor: Natalia Emmons
• Artwork: Jon Negroni
• Music: "Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Share This Episode
If you enjoyed this story, please share it with fellow story lovers. Your enthusiasm helps these stories reach new readers. Thank you!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, Jon Negroni reads aloud his new short story "Second Run," which was published on January 15, 2026. He also shares his author's notes on the story behind this story.

You can find the written version right here.

About the Author

Jon Negroni is a Puerto Rican author and illustrator based in the San Francisco Bay Area. His published books include The Pixar Theory (Slimbooks, 2015) and his debut fantasy novel Killerjoy (5050 Press, 2017). He's published short fiction for IHRAM Press, The Fairy Tale Magazine, The Vanity Papers, Discretionary Love, and many more. He’s the chief editor of Cetera Magazine, and his work has appeared or is forthcoming in several anthologies, including Neon Hemlock, Oddity Prodigies, Sinister Smile Press, Inked in Gray, and Speculation Publications. He was a finalist for the 2025 BCLF Elizabeth Caribbean-American Writer’s Prize, received an honorable mention for the Rhonda Gail Williford Award for Poetry, and is a Best American Short Stories 2025–nominated writer.

• Explore our full archive of stories and poetry.
• Submit your own story to be featured on Cetera.

About Cetera Magazine

We publish original short fiction every Thursday. Our stories span literary fiction, speculative tales, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and weird fiction. All written without AI assistance and curated by editor Natalia Emmons.

Credits

• Host & Author: Jon Negroni
• Editor: Natalia Emmons
• Artwork: Jon Negroni
• Music: "Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Share This Episode
If you enjoyed this story, please share it with fellow story lovers. Your enthusiasm helps these stories reach new readers. Thank you!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, Jon Negroni reads aloud "Hành Tinh Thu Doesn’t Welcome You" by C. Inanen. He also shares editor's notes on why this story was published on Cetera Magazine.

You can find the written version right here.

About the Author

C. Inanen lives in the Midwest, USA. His work has been most recently published in Yellow Mama magazine. It will also be featured in the March 2026 issue of Close to the Bone, the June 2026 issue of Down in the Dirt magazine, and broadcast January 2026 on YouTube by Antimatter Dreams. He is a contributor to The Yard: Crime Blog.

• Explore our full archive of stories and poetry.
• Submit your own story to be featured on Cetera.

About Cetera Magazine

We publish original short fiction every Thursday. Our stories span literary fiction, speculative tales, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and weird fiction. All written without AI assistance and curated by editor Natalia Emmons.

Credits

• Author: C. Inanen
• Host & Narrator: Jon Negroni
• Editor: Natalia Emmons
• Artwork: Jon Negroni
• Music: "Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Share This Episode
If you enjoyed this story, please share it with fellow story lovers. Your enthusiasm helps these stories reach new readers. Thank you!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, Jon Negroni reads aloud his new speculative romance story, "No Regrets."

You can find the written version right here.

About the Author

Jon Negroni is a Puerto Rican author and illustrator based in the San Francisco Bay Area. His published books include The Pixar Theory (Slimbooks, 2015) and his debut fantasy novel Killerjoy (5050 Press, 2017). He's published short fiction for IHRAM Press, The Fairy Tale Magazine, The Vanity Papers, Discretionary Love, and many more. He’s the chief editor of Cetera Magazine, and his work has appeared or is forthcoming in several anthologies, including Neon Hemlock, Oddity Prodigies, Sinister Smile Press, Inked in Gray, and Speculation Publications. He was a finalist for the 2025 BCLF Elizabeth Caribbean-American Writer’s Prize, received an honorable mention for the Rhonda Gail Williford Award for Poetry, and is a Best American Short Stories 2025–nominated writer.

Listen toward the end of the show for Jon’s full author’s notes on the making of this story.

• Explore our full archive of stories and poetry.
• Submit your own story to be featured on Cetera.

About Cetera Magazine

We publish original short fiction every Thursday. Our stories span literary fiction, speculative tales, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and weird fiction. All written without AI assistance and curated by editor Natalia Emmons.

Credits

• Host & Author: Jon Negroni
• Editor: Natalia Emmons
• Artwork: Jon Negroni
• Music: "Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Share This Episode
If you enjoyed this story, please share it with fellow story lovers. Your enthusiasm helps these stories reach new readers. Thank you!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, Jon Negroni reads aloud his new literary fiction story, "You're the Best."

You can find the written version of "You're the Best" right here.

About the Author

Jon Negroni is a Puerto Rican author based in the San Francisco Bay Area. His published books include The Pixar Theory (Slimbooks, 2015), a pop culture nonfiction, and his debut fantasy novel Killerjoy (5050 Press, 2017). His recent short fiction includes "Men Who Are Strong" (IHRAM Press) and "Upon a Dream," an original fable published in The Fairy Tale Magazine. He's the chief editor of Cetera Magazine and his work has appeared or is forthcoming in several anthologies, including Neon Hemlock​, Oddity Prodigies, Inked in Gray, Speculation Publications, and more. He was also a finalist for the 2025 BCLF Elizabeth Caribbean-American Writer’s Prize and is a Best American Short Stories of 2025-nominated writer.

Listen toward the end of the show for Jon’s full author’s notes on the making of this story.

• Read "You're the Best" with original artwork.
• Explore our full archive of stories and poetry.
• Submit your own story to be featured on Cetera.

About Cetera Magazine

We publish original short fiction every Thursday. Our stories span literary fiction, speculative tales, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and weird fiction. All written without AI assistance and curated by editor Natalia Emmons.

Credits

• Host & Author: Jon Negroni
• Editor: Natalia Emmons
• Artwork: Jon Negroni
• Music: "Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Share This Episode
If you enjoyed this story, please share it with fellow story lovers. Your enthusiasm helps these stories reach new readers. Thank you!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, Jon Negroni reads aloud his new literary fiction story, "Holiday Party."

You can find the written version of "Holiday Party" right here.

About the Author

Jon Negroni is a Puerto Rican author based in the San Francisco Bay Area. His published books include The Pixar Theory (Slimbooks, 2015), a pop culture nonfiction, and his debut fantasy novel Killerjoy (5050 Press, 2017). His recent short fiction includes "Men Who Are Strong" (IHRAM Press) and "Upon a Dream," an original fable published in The Fairy Tale Magazine. He's the chief editor of Cetera Magazine and his work has appeared or is forthcoming in several anthologies, including Neon Hemlock​, Oddity Prodigies, Inked in Gray, Speculation Publications, and more. He was also a finalist for the 2025 BCLF Elizabeth Caribbean-American Writer’s Prize and is a Best American Short Stories of 2025-nominated writer.

Listen toward the end of the show for Jon’s full author’s notes on the making of this story.

• Read "Holiday Party" with original artwork.
• Explore our full archive of stories and poetry.
• Submit your own story to be featured on Cetera.

About Cetera Magazine

We publish original short fiction every Thursday. Our stories span literary fiction, speculative tales, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and weird fiction. All written without AI assistance and curated by editor Natalia Emmons.

Credits

• Host & Author: Jon Negroni
• Editor: Natalia Emmons
• Artwork: Jon Negroni
• Music: "Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Share This Episode
If you enjoyed this story, please share it with fellow story lovers. Your enthusiasm helps these stories reach new readers. Thank you!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, Jon Negroni, Natalia Emmons, and Bridget Serdock present their collaborative cozy ghost story, "Someone Lived There Too." Set in an off-season Cape Cod rental cottage, this story follows Rena, an artist struggling with creative paralysis, who discovers that the old house she's staying in hasn't quite let go of its previous inhabitants. Blending slice-of-life grief with gentle supernatural communication and the mundane details of an artist trying to work again, the story explores how we leave traces of ourselves in the spaces we occupy and what happens when a haunted house isn't trying to scare you...it's just lonely.

You can find the written version of "Someone Lived There Too" right here.

Also

• Explore our full archive of stories and poetry.
• Submit your own story to be featured on Cetera.

About Cetera Magazine

We publish original short fiction every Thursday. Our stories span literary fiction, speculative tales, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and weird fiction. All written without AI assistance and curated by editor Natalia Emmons.

Credits

• Authors: Bridget Serdock, Natalia Emmons, and Jon Negroni
• Host: Jon Negroni
• Editor: Natalia Emmons and Jon Negroni
• Artwork: Bridget Serdock
• Music: "Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Share This Episode
If you enjoyed this story, please share it with fellow story lovers. Your enthusiasm helps these stories reach new readers. Thank you!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, Jon Negroni reads aloud his new atmospheric horror story, "The Caller Isn't Human." Set during the graveyard shift at an all-night laundromat, this story follows Ray, a night-shift worker, through the hours between 2 and 4 a.m. when a payphone outside begins ringing at precise intervals, people start vanishing without explanation, and something begins testing the boundaries of the building. Blending cosmic dread with working-class isolation and meticulous attention to disrupted patterns, the story explores liminal spaces, the fragility of the systems we depend on, and what happens when reality quietly stops following rules you didn't know existed.

You can find the written version of "The Caller isn't Human" right here.

About the Author

Jon Negroni is a Puerto Rican author based in the San Francisco Bay Area. His published books include The Pixar Theory (Slimbooks, 2015), a pop culture nonfiction, and his debut novel Killerjoy (5050 Press, 2017). His recent short fiction includes "Men Who Are Strong" (IHRAM Press) and "Upon a Dream," an original fable published in The Fairy Tale Magazine. His upcoming anthology appearances include a cryptid horror tale, a speculative fiction piece for Neon Hemlock, and a superhero story for Oddity Prodigies. He's also the co-founder of the entertainment website, InBetweenDrafts.

Listen toward the end of the show for Jon’s full author’s notes on the making of this story.

• Read "The Caller isn't Human" with original artwork.
• Explore our full archive of stories and poetry.
• Submit your own story to be featured on Cetera.

About Cetera Magazine

We publish original short fiction every Thursday. Our stories span literary fiction, speculative tales, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and weird fiction. All written without AI assistance and curated by editor Natalia Emmons.

Credits

• Host & Author: Jon Negroni
• Editor: Natalia Emmons
• Artwork: Jon Negroni
• Music: "Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Share This Episode
If you enjoyed this story, please share it with fellow story lovers. Your enthusiasm helps these stories reach new readers. Thank you!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.