Dec 23, 2025
Marjorie Bowen’s short story “The Crown Derby Plate” opens as “three elderly, cheerful women” sit around a fire for a cozy Christmas. They talk of a nearby estate that is rumored to be haunted when one of the women remembers that they had beautiful Crown Derby china that she wants for her antique shop. So,...
Dec 9, 2025
In E. Nesbit’s story “The Shadow,” a vibrant Christmas party has gone late into the night, and everyone stays over at the manor house, given the late hour. Three women are sitting up around the fire with cocoa in hand, gossiping about boys and telling spooky stories. One woman, though, has an especially...
Nov 25, 2025
SPOILERS ABOUND as we discuss Mariko Koike’s The Graveyard Apartment. Be forewarned!
A young married couple has found the perfect apartment for their growing family. It’s beautiful and spacious. It’s close to shopping, the train, and their daughter’s school. The only problem? It is surrounded by a cemetery. A...
Nov 11, 2025
In Mary Wilkins Freeman’s short story “Luella Miller,” a tale is told about a woman named Luella, who is prone to hysterics and drains the energy from everyone around her. Is she just a woman in need of help? Or something much, much more sinister?
Read Freeman’s story on the Library of America “Story of the...
Oct 28, 2025
Last episode, we welcomed author Jen Julian on podcast. And this episode, Mel and Lisa discuss her book Red Rabbit Ghost in more detail.
College Freshman Jesse Calloway returns to his hometown of Blacknot in North Carolina after receiving mysterious anonymous texts in a college social media app with clues about...