Any errors seen below such as typos, miss-labeling of genre or category, wrong link, wrong person mentioned, etc. please state the error in the comments and I will update immediately. Mistakes can happen. I am only human.
News Around Town
It’s officially Spooky Season and we’ve got plenty to sink your teeth into! 🧛
Pentober 2025 ← [Click to learn more!]
31 hand-written stories. 31 prompts. Ink, Paper, Terror! See the full list of 31 words below. Use them as the inspiration to write your very own short-short story, vignette, or drabble (that’s a story that is exactly 100 words).
Then, take a pic and share it on social media. We’d love to say we’re everywhere, but we’re not. So, if you want us to see your story there are currently TWO ways to do it:
“@” mention TiF Team over on Substack Notes when you share your story/pic.
Become a Member over on TiF Press and find the TiF Presents… Forum where we’ve got a few Topics of discussion open, namely, Pentober 2025. We’ll post daily reminders/calls for your fiction there as well!
Inanimate Objects ← [Click to learn more!]
The stage is set and the countdown is happening RIGHT. NOW. You have exactly 15 days to write your story. What dastardly and diabolical tale will you weave with the endless possibilities of inanimate objects at your disposal?
Whether you’re just wanting to participate in the event or enter the contest, only those who do so will be eligible to receive an invitation to join the 2026 Anthology!
And if you’re just here for the stories? Be prepared, because they ALL will drop on Halloween Day!
Now, onto the stories for this month.
POETRY
Dispute with Melody - 9/23/25 [Free Verse]
Nik Hoffmann of Across the Spheres
MICRO/FLASH FICTION
The Mask of the Pale Jester - 9/2/25 [Fantasy]
The Chronicler of Work in Progress
**Catherine Is Not Eating - 8/30/25 [Literary Fiction]
Liz Horsman of Marsh Witches of the Godless Florin
The Ministry Of Otherworldly Compliance - 9/19/25 [Comedy]
Sheridan Cass of Once Upon a Draft
*Helpers’ Cake - 9/4/25 [Fantasy]
E.B. Howard of The Story Scrapbook
*A Vampire Calls - 9/7/25 [Horror]
FranB of Tales at Twilight
SHORT STORY
Tommy & Florence: The MacGuffin Caper - 9/6/25 [Historical Fiction]
Bridget Riley of Naptime Novelist
**The Wendigo’s out Tonight - 9/7/25 [Horror]
Peter Smetanick of Peter’s Scribbles
**The Birthday Party - 9/15/25 [Horror]
Larry Shell of Larry Shell
**Prey for Her - 9/21/25 [Horror]
Jared Michael of Haints, Hollers, & Heresy
*The Dream Protocol - 9/17/25 [Literary Fiction]
Tom Kewin of The Posthuman Curator
*rêve de la fleur noire - 9/26/25
will christopher baer of the velvet
*BetterYou - 9/1/25 [Speculative Fiction]
Gary Mucklow of G.S.Mucklow’s Substack
*The Orchard - 9/11/25 [Horror]
Javier Mixco of Like Tears in Rain
*Please Hold - 9/19/25 [Literary Fiction]
Tiara Ito of First Draft: The Writing Archives of Tiara Ito
*The wind in the willow - 9/16/25 [Literary Fiction]
Oscar Ruto Chemelil of Oscar Ruto
*The Monster of Marrowby - 9/23/25 [Comedy]
Elisabeth Grace Foley of The Second Sentence
*Hatherfen Moor - 9/26/25 [Horror]
Verdant Butterfly of The Sable Butterfly
Looking for even more stories to read? Click below:
[DOWNLOAD YOUR MEDALLION HERE]
Want to know how to use your medallion? Click Here!
