The rope has failed. The electric chair has malfunctioned. Lethal injections have gone wrong, and bodies delivered for dissection have unexpectedly begun breathing again. For centuries, condemned prisoners have occasionally done the one thing an execution was designed to prevent: survive. But if the state has already tried to kill someone and failed, should it be allowed to try again?
Category: Fiction
The Seventh Chair – Kirst D’Raven
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.
Sharing's Caring!
His Greatest Trick – Simon Axford
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.
Sharing's Caring!
The Last Honest Man – Kirst D’Raven
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…
Sharing's Caring!
Old Magic – Simon Axford
Short Story Sunday presents Old Magic by Simon Axford – a story set in the universe of his new novel – ‘I Know How This Goes’
Sharing's Caring!
The Woman Who Came Back – Simon Axford
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…
Sharing's Caring!
The Lawyer Who Shot Himself
How Clement Vallandigham became history’s unluckiest defence lawyer
Sharing's Caring!
A Matter of Statistics – Kirst D’Raven
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.
Sharing's Caring!
The Puppy Nobody Claimed – Kirst D’Raven
Short Story Sunday
Sharing's Caring!
The Last Sheaf – Simon Axford
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.
Sharing's Caring!
“The Haunting of Widow’s Leap Farm”
A Review of the Premiere of Joe O’Byrne’s new play; “The Haunting of Widow’s Leap Farm. A Tale from Paradise Heights”
Burnley Mechanic’s Theatre 26/07/26 7:30pm.
Sharing's Caring!
The Tide Between The Stars – Kirst D’Raven
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…
Sharing's Caring!
The Last Witness. – Kirst D’Raven
Short Story Sunday
Sharing's Caring!
The Widows Garden – Kirst D’Raven
Short Story Sunday! The Widows Garden
Sharing's Caring!
The Fourth Keeper – Kirst D’Raven
It’s Short Story Sunday!
Sharing's Caring!
The Linesman – Kirst D’Raven
There are places in Britain where the past never truly leaves. Old churches. Quiet stations. Lonely roads across the moors. And, sometimes… football grounds…
Sharing's Caring!
The Audience of The Dead – Kirst D’Raven
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.
Sharing's Caring!
What If..? The Signalman.
We haven’t had any short fiction for a minute, so here is my reimagination of Charles Dickens ‘The Signalman’.. Set in space… 🙂 Enjoy! 🙂 […]
Sharing's Caring!
Marchleuch – The Light at the Edge
Tucked away in the wild sweep of the Scottish Borders lies Marchleuch—a quiet place of cottages, fields, and racing stables… and a light that walks the land when dusk falls. Locals don’t talk much, but the stories linger. A boundary place. A watching place. And the light? It’s still seen.
Sharing's Caring!
Strawberry Jack
STRAWBERRY JACK – By Joe O’Byrne
Sharing's Caring!
Book Launch – The Lychgate Chronicles
🕯️ Step Beyond the Lychgate…
Sharing's Caring!
The Bench – A Tale From Paradise Heights
A Review of the performance at Buxton Opera House, Sunday 9th March 2025.
Sharing's Caring!
The Auld Kirk. – Kirst D’Raven
A Short Ghost Story For Burns Night. On a cold winter’s night in the small village of Alloway, a chill wind whispered through the ancient […]
Sharing's Caring!
New Year, 1924–1925 – A Most Unsettling Expedition – Kirst D’Raven
Sleep eludes me.
The hooded figure has become a constant in my dreams, standing at the edge of my vision, watching….
Sharing's Caring!
Eel Mere
Something ancient is stirring in the Mere…
