I recently moved into a Victorian house and had thoughts about the history it may have and of haunted houses. I also thought about how it's always a child that gets possessed while living in a haunted house and I thought what if it was a dog instead…
I guess for this tale I was influenced by Catwoman from Batman Returns, but instead of my character being bitten by a cat; she is merged with one through lightning.
I was inspired to write short stories by a lesson that I watched from Brandon Sanderson’s class. If you don’t know who that is, he’s a Fantasy writer who’s been on the bestseller’s list multiple times. He’s also a professor who teaches a creative wr…
I was inspired by watching the Twilight Zone and a book I read then titled Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. I was intrigued by the strangeness of the Twilight Zone and by the folkloric references from the novel. As you can see by hea…
For the Hidden Beast short story, I was inspired by a snow hike I did in Breckenridge, Colorado. It was a beautiful hike, yet I couldn’t help but notice how eerily quiet it was, except for the crunching of the snow underneath my snow shoes. So, this…
This inspiration came from an old story I had collecting digital dust on my laptop. My original story was about a couple who move into a new home, and it turns out that it’s haunted. I read the pages that I had and yawned. It felt like a troupe, so …
With this tale, I took inspiration from myself and countless other writers who struggle to get their work out there. The setting is in South Florida, which I'm quite familiar with since I grew up there. The title is a play on the title from Maya Ang…
This story is inspired by my dog, who has the uncanny instinct to provide much-needed cuddles when I need them. I find dogs to be quite compassionate and loyal to no end. I thought to myself, what would happen if we ignored a dog's instinct when all…
I dreamt of a tall, dark figure approaching me, I didn't know who they were and what they wanted. I created the story around this figure and gave him some character. It was fun trying to figure out what the devil was like.
This, by far, is my favorite story. It was fun inventing Marty and Raffie and their food truck. I had gone to a food truck festival, and for some reason, I thought, what if a food truck catered to monsters and ghouls? I find the story to be quirkier…
Knowing is Fearing was inspired by a carnival scene I saw in a movie with a huge haunted house. It was set in the 1940s. My imagination kicked into gear, and I thought, what if there were real monsters in the haunted house, but the riders didn't kno…
For this story, I took a cue from riding a roller coaster. I was so afraid when I was riding it that I kept my eyes shut during the entire ride. Afterward, I thought of how it felt to be afraid and shutting out the world. I started thinking, what if…
At this point, the last story took me into the realm of phobias. I came across Oenophobia, which is the fear of wine. I thought, what does a person do who has this fear when they are invited to a party? I wanted to address the fact that phobias are …
Digital Sleep was inspired by a time when I was struggling to stay awake in front of my laptop. My head would dip forward, almost touching the screen. Staring at it, I thought of someone entering the computer world and encountering strange scenes as…
Totem was a flash fiction that I wrote for a writer's association competition. I liked the story but felt that it needed more to it. The first and very last short paragraphs are the original story. It required some research on the locales.
I wrote this during the slowest day I have ever worked, so it's kind of a true story, except the whole mobster part. During that time, I was watching The Irishman. It took me a few days to watch it because it's quite a long movie.
Leshii is a type of Slavic folklore monster who lives in the forest. I was so upset over the war in Ukraine that I imagined monsters joining the fight. I did some research on Slavic monsters, and I came across Leshii. I combined it with the news of …
The new season kicks off with an absurd idea of a zombie story. Similar to the novel titled "Warm Bodies," I thought about how a zombie can be able to revert back to being human as long as they can afford it.
I wrote this story some time ago and was inspired by this real event that happened in California where a woman got into a car accident, left the scene, and jumped off a cliff to her death. It stayed with me as to why she would do such a thing...
This story was written by my husband, who has contributed many times to the podcast as a voice actor. He's a Stephen King fan and was influenced by his writings and the fact that we've hiked some parts of Colorado with our dog.
Taking Place was inspired by a story about a character wanting to jump off a bridge. In the story, a random person convinces the character not to jump. In my mind, I twisted that story into a ghost, influencing the main character to do it for their …
Somewhere, I saw this line, it's more like a tagline for most romance novels and movies. Not that there aren't any stories about nightmarish dates and/or lovers, but I decided to take a shot at it.
I recently got over COVID-19 and for the first few days, I had this terrible pain in my throat. It was quite hellish. It burned and ached. It came to me during my aspirin and cough medicine-fueled days the story of having Hell's gate in my mouth.
Again, this is an old story that I revisited and put in my mind to finish. I wanted a slick, non-stop Sci-Fi story with some heart. I was influenced by a nature documentary I saw that featured desert lizards.
