Sudden Fictions
"Sudden Fiction" is defined as flash fiction of between 750-1000 words that tells a complete story with a twist ending. Various artists share a new original prompt-based Sudden Fiction each week. R.B. Wood hosts the podcast.
info_outline
Episode 76: "She-Wolf Sonnet" by Cheryl Cantafio
09/13/2024
Episode 76: "She-Wolf Sonnet" by Cheryl Cantafio
Host: Cheryl Cantafio is a poetry and children's book writer from Norristown, Pennsylvania. When she's not writing, she works in information technology, co-hosts a podcast (You Only Go Once), reads gothic horror or thriller novels, or binge-watches movies and television series. Her book My Stay with the Sisters: Poems was her debut as an author and poet in May 2023. Her gothic poetic tale, A Place No Flowers Grow, will arrive on September 24, 2024. Barry and the Big Jump will be her debut children's book, set to release in November 2024. Connect with her on Instagram: @cherylc.writer
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/33026012
info_outline
Episode 75: "Some Things are better Left..." by Patricia Gomes
09/12/2024
Episode 75: "Some Things are better Left..." by Patricia Gomes
Host: Poet Laureate of New Bedford, Massachusetts from 2014 to 2021, author and playwright Patricia Gomes is published in numerous literary journals and anthologies. Gomes is the author of four poetry chapbooks. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee (2008, 2018, and2021) as well as a 5-time Rhysling Science Fiction Award nominee. Recent publications include Poem Alone, Horror Writers Poetry Showcase X, Potter’s Field 8, and the soon to be published anthology The Lycanthropicon.
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/32896227
info_outline
Episode 74: "Model Home" by L. Marie Wood
08/30/2024
Episode 74: "Model Home" by L. Marie Wood
Host: L. Marie Wood is a Golden Stake Award and two-time Bookfest Award-winning, Ignyte Award and two-time Bram Stoker Award® nominated author. She is also a MICO Award-winning screenwriter, a Rhysling nominated poet, and accomplished essayist. Wood is the Vice President of the Horror Writers Association, founder of the Speculative Fiction Academy, an English/Creative Writing professor, and a horror scholar. Learn more at .
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/32779067
info_outline
Episode 73: "Redeem Your Sins" by Belinda Brady
08/23/2024
Episode 73: "Redeem Your Sins" by Belinda Brady
Host: A bookworm since childhood, Belinda Brady is passionate about stories and after years of procrastinating, has finally turned her hand to writing them, with a preference for supernatural and dark themes; her love of both often competing for her attention. She has had several stories published in a variety of publications, both online and in anthologies. Belinda lives in Australia with her family, one very grumpy cat and two super spoiled and super cute dachshunds. Belinda enjoys reading, writing, music and cocktails - often enjoyed together - and working out when she can have her next nap.
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/32676337
info_outline
Episode 72: "Redemption in a Chocolate Box" by Karl Dandenell
08/16/2024
Episode 72: "Redemption in a Chocolate Box" by Karl Dandenell
Host: Karl Dandenell is a graduate of Viable Paradise and a Full Member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association. He and his family, plus their cat overlords, live on an island near San Francisco famous for its Victorian architecture and low speed limits. His preferred drinks are strong black tea with milk and single malt whiskey. Karl’s fiction and poetry have appeared in publications and podcasts in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. You can follow his occasional posts and read more of his fiction on his website, .
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/32561817
info_outline
Episode 71: "Evolving Empathy" by Lucretia Stanhope
08/09/2024
Episode 71: "Evolving Empathy" by Lucretia Stanhope
Host: Lucretia Stanhope, a neurodiverse, relentlessly optimistic chronic illness warrior with less grace than determination, navigates her crone stage in a quaint Midwest town surrounded by cornfields. Amidst enduring medical trials that could rival horror stories, her pen never rests. When not lost in the wonderful lands of her imagination, she finds solace in doting on her three chihuahuas and her endlessly patient husband.
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/32458427
info_outline
Episode 70: "Behind the Dark" by Kristin Kirby
08/02/2024
Episode 70: "Behind the Dark" by Kristin Kirby
Host: Kristin Kirby is a Southwest writer and screenwriter whose short stories have appeared in the anthology Negative Space 2: A Return to Survival Horror, MYTHIC magazine, The Overcast podcast, the Sudden Fictions podcast, 365tomorrows, SERIAL magazine, and other publications. I’m also honored that my short story “Meat” was on the preliminary finalist ballot for the 2023 Bram Stoker Awards. My first collection of short stories will be published by Unnerving Books in January 2025.
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/32371222
info_outline
Episode 69: "Moth" by Charles Barouch
07/26/2024
Episode 69: "Moth" by Charles Barouch
Host: Journalism, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Western, and Humor are five of Charles Barouch's passions. His stories are in a cultural time capsule on the Moon. Read his work in anthologies published by Shebat Legion, Daniel Arthur Smith, Fantastic Books, Celestial Echo Press, Dusty Saddle, and others. Start with a novella like Tiago and the Masterless or perhaps the novel Adjacent Fields.
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/32293917
info_outline
Episode 68: "A Dangerous Meeting" by Alex S. Johnson
07/19/2024
Episode 68: "A Dangerous Meeting" by Alex S. Johnson
Host: Alex S. Johnson is a retired English professor, human rights activist, journalist, editor, author and publisher. He is the author of Weird, Bizarro, dark erotica, horror and unclassified dark satire tales and poems. His work has been praised by such luminaries as John Shirley, Ray Garton, Robert Devereaux and Ellyn Maybe. In a 2017 column, Brian Keene listed him in a short list of Bizarro authors including Garrett Cook: "Alex S. Johnson is Bizarro." His upcoming books include The Doom Hippies III: Cancelled and Deleted Tales--"A Dangerous Meeting" was deleted post publication by the publisher who shall remain nameless--The Junk Merchants 2: A Literary Tribute to William S. Burroughs, edited and published by him with an Introduction by horror genre living legend Poppy Z. Brite, and Hand of Doom: A Literary Tribute to Black Sabbath, also edited and published by him with original work by John Shirley, John Palisano and Runaways founder Kari Lee Krome. He currently resides in Sacramento, California with his family.
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/32179432
info_outline
Episode 67: "Forgiveness" by Lucretia Stanhope
07/12/2024
Episode 67: "Forgiveness" by Lucretia Stanhope
Host: Lucretia Stanhope, a neurodiverse, relentlessly optimistic chronic illness warrior with less grace than determination, navigates her crone stage in a quaint Midwest town surrounded by cornfields. Amidst enduring medical trials that could rival horror stories, her pen never rests. When not lost in the wonderful lands of her imagination, she finds solace in doting on her three chihuahuas and her endlessly patient husband, a fellow scribe who shares her love for storytelling, boundless enthusiasm for the adventures yet to unfold, and never denies her dessert first.
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/32065507
info_outline
Episode 66: "All the Fires in the Night" by Gary Robbe
07/05/2024
Episode 66: "All the Fires in the Night" by Gary Robbe
Host: Gary Robbe is an educator and writer currently living in Colorado. He has had numerous stories published in e-zines, magazines, anthologies, and podcasts. His debut collection of short stories, Not Buried Deep Enough, was published in October 2023. Gary is a member of the Horror Writers Association, the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, and a founding member of the Denver Horror Collective. He is also an associate editor with Bewildering Stories.
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/32014262
info_outline
Episode 65: "How Wanderlust Learned to Be Happy" by Nora B. Peevy
06/28/2024
Episode 65: "How Wanderlust Learned to Be Happy" by Nora B. Peevy
Host: Nora B. Peevy is a cat trapped in a human’s body. Please send help or tuna. She toils away for JournalStone and Trepidatio Publishing as a submission reader, is a co-founder and editor for Alien Sun Press, a reviewer for Hellnotes, co-editor and art/writing contributor for Weird Fiction Quarterly, and has been published by Eighth Tower Press, The Wicked Library Podcast, Sudden Fictions Podcast and other places. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English with a Concentration in Creative Writing from Cardinal Stritch University and is a photographer for Getty Images. Usually, you can find her on Facebook asking for help to escape her human body or to get tuna. Tuna is nice. Cats like tuna. She also likes cat naps in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/31913097
info_outline
Episode 64: "The Wander Problem" by Melissa Burkart
06/21/2024
Episode 64: "The Wander Problem" by Melissa Burkart
Host: Melissa Burkart currently lives in downeast Maine with her family and writes in the pauses of parenting two young kids. Her short stories have appeared in The Word Count podcast and the anthologies Fight Like a Girl and What Follows under M. J. King. You can occasionally find her at or Instagram @writinginterrupted.
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/31825527
info_outline
Episode 63: "A Book Of Erotic Poetry, Bound In Soft Leather" by Michael Ehart
06/14/2024
Episode 63: "A Book Of Erotic Poetry, Bound In Soft Leather" by Michael Ehart
Host: Michael Ehart has been at various times all the expected things: laborer, seminary student, musician, shoe salesman, political consultant, teacher, diaper truck driver, stand-up comedian, and the least important guy with an office at a movie studio. He made his first sale to a magazine at age 15, which means he has been writing for over 50 years, with the aforementioned occasional breaks for gainful employment. He lives in the upper left hand corner of the United States with his wife and youngest daughter.
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/31366467
info_outline
Episode 62: "There are Worse Travel Companions” by Karl Dandenell
06/07/2024
Episode 62: "There are Worse Travel Companions” by Karl Dandenell
Host: Karl Dandenell is a graduate of Viable Paradise and a Full Member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association. He and his family, plus their cat overlords, live on an island near San Francisco famous for its Victorian architecture and low speed limits. His preferred drinks are strong black tea and single malt whiskey, generally without ice. Karl’s fiction and poetry have appeared in publications and podcasts in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. Follow his occasional posts and read more of his fiction at .
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/31366427
info_outline
Episode 61: "Against The Siren Song" by Richard Dansky
05/31/2024
Episode 61: "Against The Siren Song" by Richard Dansky
Host: With two decades’ experience in video games, Richard Dansky has contributed to over 40 titles in iconic franchises like Ghost Recon, Might & Magic, Splinter Cell, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six, His most recent credit was on Tom Clancy’s The Division 2. Richard is also the developer of the 20th anniversary edition of the acclaimed tabletop RPG Wraith: The Oblivion, and has published seven novels and one short story collection. A former executive of the IGDA Game Writing SIG, he serves on the advisory board on the Game Narrative Summit at GDC. He lives in North Carolina with his mathematically improbable collections of books and single malt scotches.
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/31366407
info_outline
Episode 60: "Wanderlust" by Bill Kirton
05/24/2024
Episode 60: "Wanderlust" by Bill Kirton
Host: Bill Kirton was born in Plymouth, England a long time ago but has lived most of his life in Scotland. He has written stage and radio plays, songs and sketches for revues, flash fiction, short stories, novels, stories for children and books aimed at helping students to write effective academic essays and dissertations and get the most out of university and work. Dr. Kirton has been a university lecturer, actor, director, TV presenter, visiting professor and artist at the University of Rhode Island, spent a few years as a Royal Literary Fund Writing Fellow in universities in Aberdeen, Dundee and St Andrews, and, more recently, held workshops in schools aimed at helping final year students with the transition to university or college. He loves writing and exploring many forms and genres.
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/31366377
info_outline
Episode 59: "Those Who Wander" by Kristin Kirby
05/17/2024
Episode 59: "Those Who Wander" by Kristin Kirby
Host: Kristin Kirby is an award-winning fiction writer and screenwriter who currently makes her home in the Southwest. Her work has appeared in the anthology Negative Space 2: A Return to Survival Horror, MYTHIC Magazine, The Overcast podcast, Space and Time, 365tomorrows, Eldritch Tales, and other publications. You can find her at .
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/31337632
info_outline
Episode 58: "Hard Road Home" by T.L. Emery
05/10/2024
Episode 58: "Hard Road Home" by T.L. Emery
Host: T. L. Emery is a writer of dark fiction and magical realism. He has been published in the "First Light" and "Second Sojourn" anthologies from BlueStone Publishing as well as "Extreme Drabbles of Dread" from The Macabre Ladies as well as others. He is currently putting together a collection of his stories taking place in West Newton, WV, the most haunted area in the world.
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/31220877
info_outline
Episode 57: "Destination Anywhere" by Mary E. Hart
05/03/2024
Episode 57: "Destination Anywhere" by Mary E. Hart
Host: Mary E. Hart is the author of the haunted house novel, “Some Horrific Evening” and the 1980s themed horror tale, “Not Your Barbie Dino,” in the collection “Totally Tubular Terrors.” When she’s not creating memes about warehouse operations and writing about robots in her full-time job, or taking multiple pictures of magnolia trees, she is writing ideas for stories in far too many notebooks. You can learn more about her writing at .
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/31094413
info_outline
Episode 56: "The Mortal Gods of the Last Olympus" by Suzanne Madron
04/26/2024
Episode 56: "The Mortal Gods of the Last Olympus" by Suzanne Madron
Host: Suzanne Madron was born in New York City and has lived up and down the east coast. Currently, she resides in a house built over a Civil War battlefield in the wilds of Pennsylvania where she has been known to host some interesting Halloween parties. She has authored several novels and stories under various names including Suzi M, James Glass, and Xircon.
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/30988943
info_outline
Episode 55: "Rain in the Nightmarket" by Melissa Burkart
04/19/2024
Episode 55: "Rain in the Nightmarket" by Melissa Burkart
Host: Melissa Burkart currently lives in downeast Maine with her family and writes in the pauses of parenting two young kids. Her short stories have appeared in The Word Count podcast and the anthologies Fight Like a Girl and What Follows under M. J. King. You can occasionally find her at or Instagram @writinginterrupted.
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/30887708
info_outline
Episode 54: "Through a Quagmire of Doubt and Fog" by Huxley Ravenwood
04/12/2024
Episode 54: "Through a Quagmire of Doubt and Fog" by Huxley Ravenwood
Host: Huxley Ravenwood (she/they) is a queer, neurospicy author of eldritch and gothic horror from central Massachusetts. She also writes roleplaying game adventures and has edited several anthologies. In their other life, Huxley is a book historian and binder specializing in medieval works.
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/30783798
info_outline
Episode 53: "A Single Drop" by Naching T. Kassa
04/05/2024
Episode 53: "A Single Drop" by Naching T. Kassa
Host: Naching T. Kassa is a wife, mother, and writer. She’s created short stories, novellas, poems, and co-created three children. She resides in Eastern Washington State with her husband, Dan Kassa. Naching is a member of the Horror Writers Association, Mystery Writers of America, The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, and various Sherlock Holmes Scions. She is the Talent Relations Manager at Crystal Lake Entertainment and was a recipient of the 2022 HWA Diversity Grant.
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/30694698
info_outline
Episode 52: "She's Coming for Me, You Know" by J. Edwin Buja
03/29/2024
Episode 52: "She's Coming for Me, You Know" by J. Edwin Buja
Host: J. Edwin Buja has spent his life surrounded by books. He discovered early on that researching and writing hold the key to happiness. Who else would think scanning through decades of microfilm to index an old newspaper would be a dream job? For almost forty years, he has been married to the most wonderful woman on the planet. Although he lives in a small village somewhere in Canada, his heart and second home reside with his horror family in New England. His novels include The King of the Wood and The Consort. His next novel, Enough Time, will be released in 2025. He has also had more than a dozen short stories published. He is currently working on the final novel of The Wood, and another novel based on concerts he attended in Detroit in the 1970s.
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/30580378
info_outline
Episode 51: "The Mystery Girl of Doheny Boulevard" by Karl Dandenell
03/22/2024
Episode 51: "The Mystery Girl of Doheny Boulevard" by Karl Dandenell
Host: Karl Dandenell is a graduate of Viable Paradise and a Full Member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association. He and his family, plus their cat overlords, live on an island near San Francisco famous for its Victorian architecture and low speed limits. His preferred drinks are strong black tea and single malt whiskey, generally without ice. Karl’s fiction and poetry have appeared in publications and podcasts in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. Follow his occasional posts and read more of his fiction at .
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/30479023
info_outline
Episode 50 "Give Me Shelter" by Cindy O'Quinn
03/15/2024
Episode 50 "Give Me Shelter" by Cindy O'Quinn
Host: Cindy O’Quinn is a five-time Bram Stoker Award®-nominated writer. Author of “Lydia”, from the Shirley Jackson Award-winning anthology The Twisted Book of Shadows, “The Thing I Found Along a Dirt Patch Road”, “A Gathering on the Mountain”, “One and Done”, and “Quondam”. Her poetry has been nominated for the Elgin, Dwarf Star, and Rhysling Awards. She is an Appalachian writer from West Virginia. Cindy currently resides on the old Tessier Homestead in the woods of northern Maine. It’s the ideal backdrop for writing dark stories and poetry.
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/30374723
info_outline
Episode 49: "Darkling I Listen; and, For Many a Time" by Michael Ehart
03/08/2024
Episode 49: "Darkling I Listen; and, For Many a Time" by Michael Ehart
Host: Michael Ehart has been at various times all the expected things: laborer, seminary student, musician, shoe salesman, political consultant, teacher, diaper truck driver, stand-up comedian, and the least important guy with an office at a movie studio. He made his first sale to a magazine at age 15, which means he has been writing for over 50 years, with the aforementioned occasional breaks for gainful employment. He lives in the upper left hand corner of the United States with his wife and youngest daughter.
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/30271523
info_outline
Episode 48 "The Sea Woman" by Michael Burke
03/01/2024
Episode 48 "The Sea Woman" by Michael Burke
Host: Michael Burke is a lifelong fan of fantasy, science fiction, and horror, propelled into these realms at a tender age when he discovered his father's cache of pulp novels. A passion for comic books soon followed. In 2000, Michael co-founded the Eisner-award-winning comic and collectible store, Comicazi, in Somerville, MA. When not sorting the comic stacks at work, Michael can be found at home, releasing the hobgoblins of his mind into story form. He has been published in Whetstone:Amateur Magazine of Pulp Sword and Sorcery, The Horror Zine, Witch House, Northern Frights, ResAliens, and the 80s-themed anthology, Totally Tubular Terrors. Healsohas stories in Dan Brereton's Swordplay, Contact 2:Blood and Steel, Monster Fight at the O.K. Corral, and a weird western novella in Crystal Lake's Dark Tide series. A sword and sorcery collection, Fragments of a Greater Darkness, was recently released from Tule Fog Press.Michael lives outside of Boston, MA with his wife, more books than he can possibly read, and continues writing every chance he gets. His inner 11-year-old thinks middle age isn't all that bad.
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/30168523
info_outline
Episode 47: "Harry, the Ice Man" by Karl Dandenell
02/23/2024
Episode 47: "Harry, the Ice Man" by Karl Dandenell
Host: Karl Dandenell is a graduate of Viable Paradise and a Full Member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association. He and his family, plus their cat overlords, live on an island near San Francisco famous for its Victorian architecture and low speed limits. His preferred drinks are strong black tea and single malt whiskey, generally without ice. Karl’s fiction and poetry have appeared in publications and podcasts in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. Follow his occasional posts and read more of his fiction at .
/episode/index/show/25def952-773a-4bbb-9563-9ca20abc6b6a/id/30066423