The morning after a very strange Hallowe’en, Ken and Alison have questions.
Unfortunately, nobody else in the village seems to have noticed anything unusual.
A little digging leads them to the legend of Ceridwen – and the unsettling discovery that what they witnessed follows an ancient story rather too closely for comfort.
If something from Welsh mythology really did appear in their village, there is one particularly awkward question left to answer:
Why here? And why now?
Alison and Ken thought they knew what to expect from Hallowe’en: too many plastic skeletons, questionable seasonal merchandise and perhaps a hot toddy at the pub.
They weren’t expecting the woman in red.
Nor the hare she was chasing.
And they certainly weren’t expecting either of them to start changing shape.
What begins as an ordinary Hallowe’en in a quiet Welsh village is about to become something far older, stranger and considerably more complicated.
It came down with the rain.
At first, Dr Carys Morgan thought the strange silver threads spreading through the soil at Dyffryn Glas were just another problem to solve. Then the insects began to disappear. The ground started changing. And something impossible began quietly rewriting a Welsh valley.
Carys has science, several tonnes of mud and a rapidly diminishing list of sensible options on her side.
Whatever came out of the sky has the rain.
Six women. Seven chairs. One invitation that makes no sense. Around a dinner table where time has apparently stopped, Florence Nightingale, Beatrix Potter, Maria Dickin, Lilian Bland, Elsie Inglis and Eglantyne Jebb discover they have rather more in common than history remembers. But one place remains empty. And perhaps it was never meant for them.
Short Story Sunday presents ‘His Greatest Trick’ by Simon Axford. A celebrated illusionist captivates his audience with a thrilling show leading to a new trick called ‘Into the Abyss.’ However, the performance doesn’t go exactly as planned.
This week’s Short Story Sunday
The photograph was fake. Perry could prove it. He had the original files, the editing layers and a confession from the man who made it. But hidden inside the hoax was something nobody had added – A face watching from an upstairs window of an abandoned children’s home…
Short Story Sunday presents Old Magic by Simon Axford – a story set in the universe of his new novel – ‘I Know How This Goes’
When a storm exposes human remains in a crumbling seaside cliff, forensic anthropologist Maggie Watson is called in to read the bones. But the dead have a story to tell—and this one has been waiting a very long time to be heard.
Imogen wants an answer and Chris knows he can’t avoid giving her one forever. But some truths are harder to confess than others – especially when guilt has had six years to make itself feel at home…
Ellie returns home to find a stranger in her kitchen and a perfectly good cup chipped. Unfortunately for him, Ellie has survived considerably worse things than an unexpected houseguest…
A prisoner must be delivered before 03:00. The mission is clear, the orders absolute. But deep beneath the earth, something knows the truths Seth has spent a lifetime hiding.
“Come back if you want to know more about the Matagot… And bring milk!”
Dr Carrie Dale has spent years uncovering the truth behind unexplained deaths. But when a week of increasingly bizarre fatalities lands on her mortuary table, coincidence begins to feel like conspiracy. As the bodies pile up, Carrie finds herself chasing an impossible pattern – and wondering whether Death itself has developed a very dark sense of humour. A macabre, witty tale where statistics, fate and forensic science collide.
Short Story Sunday
This week’s short story on Sunday tells the tale of a fully trained agricultural contractor, who quickly finds out that the ‘old ways’ can sometimes be the right way too.
On a calm night, fisherman Joe Lyche heads out alone expecting nothing more than silence, stars and a decent catch.
What follows is an encounter that leaves Joe questioning everything he knows about the sea…
Short Story Sunday
Short Story Sunday! The Widows Garden
It’s Short Story Sunday!
There are places in Britain where the past never truly leaves. Old churches. Quiet stations. Lonely roads across the moors. And, sometimes… football grounds…
In a stormy Buxton, a folklorist encounters an elderly gentleman who recounts the tragic tale of John Kane, a celebrated comedian who died from accidental poisoning after a performance in 1799. Kane’s grave faces the audience in St Anne’s Churchyard, symbolizing his enduring legacy amidst local folklore and memory.
Thunderstorms aren’t something to fear – they’re a sign the Thunderbird is flying. A guardian older than stone, watching over the storm.
