Flame Tree Myth & Fiction

Content Warning: This episode contains distressing descriptions of childbirth and loss. Full disclosure, today’s two stories share little more than the word “bride.” One takes you down a shadowy, unsettling path; the other is delightfully quirky and unfailingly sweet. They’re less companion pieces and more contrasting tales but if there’s a thread that binds them, it’s this, love has a way of blooming in the most unexpected places. Featuring ‘I Exist’ by Lyndsay E. Gilbert (04.54) , read by A...

Love is arguably the most central and powerful force in stories across the world. From the very first myths ever told to the stories we’re still writing today, love has always been right at the heart of it all. If an alien landed on Earth tomorrow, I think one of the first things they’d figure out is this: humans love love, even when it hurts. Featuring ‘A Mortal Breaks Aphrodite’s Heart’ by Ev Datsyk (03.48), read by Sabrina Robinson. We imagine Aphrodite as untouchable, but what happe...

Mischievous tricksters or benevolent guardians? Faeries crop up in mythology time and time again but their morality can never be taken for granted. Maybe it’s not a question of good or bad, but what the fair folk stand to teach us about ourselves. Today’s stories do exactly that, scrutinising the effects of messy fairy magic on human ambition. Featuring ‘Weave Us A Way’ by Nemma Wollenfang (03.59), read by Sabrina Robinson. A story about fate and what it means to change it. This o...

In the first Season 2 Special episode, Olivia journeys into fantasy worlds with acclaimed author Anna Smith Spark. Hailed as the Queen of Grimdark, Spark joins the podcast to explore her lyrical writing style, the role of motherhood in her work and the enduring importance of folklore in modern fiction. This conversation was recorded at the World Fantasy Convention over Halloween weekend. Recently Anna Smith Spark’s books, A Sword of Gold and Ruin & its prequel A Sword of Bronze...

Do you believe in ghosts? Have you ever seen one…or felt one? Well today you’re in for a haunting. One story embraces the supernatural, it encourages the belief in things that cannot be explained, and the other sides with the sceptics amongst you, poking fun at the ghost story tradition. We’ll let you decide where you sit on the spectrum of superstition. Featuring ‘Only Bella’ by Kurt Hunt (01.25), read by Nick. A beautifully written piece about a young woman who haunts a man night after nigh...

In today’s episode we’re giving you a sneak peek at something that hasn’t been published yet, our upcoming Witchcraft collection. Out on the 20th of January, this anthology explores what it means to be a ‘witch’, including the rediscovery and reclaiming of that power, its links to nature and witchcraft mythology from around the world. Featuring ‘What Bones Remember’ by Buhlebethu Sukoluhle Mpofu (04.14), read by Amanda Benzecry. An atmospheric, folk horror story that offers a fresh spin...

It’s 2026 and that means a brand new year and a brand new season of the Myth & Fiction Podcast. For many people, the New Year is about fresh starts, resolutions, new habits and clean slates. But it’s also a moment of closure, a chance to reflect on everything the previous year brought with it. So today’s episode sits between those two inevitabilities: beginnings and endings. Featuring The Chains That Bind by Brandon Ketchum (05.40), found in Odin and read by Frances Bodiam. Th...

We’re back and we’re festive. Today we’re embracing all things Christmas with two tales taken from our Christmas Gothic collection. Featuring ’And a Piece of Coal Where Her Heart Once Beat’ by Suzanne J. Willis (05.27), a melting pot of folklore, gothic tropes and backwards Christmas symbolism. This one is read by Amanda Benzecry. ‘Where the Christmas-Tree Grew’ by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (19.08), is more of a traditional Christmas story, in the sense that it explores themes...

Here we are at the final episode of October. If this is your first time tuning in, welcome! We've been serving up horror fiction all month long. Two stories per episode, twice a week, with author insights and listener discount codes. We're closing out the month and the season with two novels. Justin Holley's Unseen Gods, and Ramsey Campbell's An Echo of Children. These are fully fledged horror stories and both came out within the last few weeks. Amanda Benzecry reads the Prologue from Unseen ...

If you listened to Tuesday's episode, you’ll know that this week on the LIVE AND SPOOKY edition of the podcast, we’re spotlighting our anthology, Latin American Shared Stories. A vibrant collection of speculative stories and fascinating essays highlighting the many voices, mythologies, folklore and storytelling prowess of authors from Latin American countries or writing in the traditions of the Latin American diaspora. In that episode, we included a note from the editor V. Castro and shared t...

Welcome back to LIVE AND SPOOKY x The Myth & Fiction Podcast! This October, we’re giving you double the episodes with double the chills. Each week, we are spotlighting the newest Flame Tree horror fiction titles so you can celebrate and fully embrace the spooky season. This week’s book star is Latin American Shared Stories. I know what you’re thinking, ‘that doesn’t sound like a horror anthology’, and you’re right, it’s not strictly horror. It’s a vibrant collection of speculative stories...

If you caught Tuesday's episode, you’ll know that this week on the LIVE AND SPOOKY edition of the podcast, we’re spotlighting our anthology, Fever Dreams. A collection of horror short stories edited by Mark Morris that showcases some of the very best short fiction the genre has to offer. In that episode, we included a note from the editor, Mark Morris and shared two brand new short stories along with insights from their authors. Today’s bonus episode gives the rest of the antholo...

Welcome back to the second week of our LIVE AND SPOOKY month of horror! This October, we’re giving you double the episodes with double the chills. Each week, we are spotlighting the newest Flame Tree horror fiction titles so you can celebrate and fully embrace the spooky season. And this week, we’ll be heading into a feast of horror. The two stories we will be featuring are from ‘Fever Dreams’, which is the sixth volume in our ABC of Horror series, edited by Mark Morris. The included stories ...

If you caught Tuesday’s episode, you’ll know that this week on the LIVE AND SPOOKY edition of the podcast, we’re spotlighting our anthology, This Way Lies Madness. A collection of short stories that presents fictional interpretations of madness with the hope of reinventing the over stigmatized representations of mental health in horror. In that episode, we included a discussion between the editors, Lee Murray and Dave Jeffery, and shared two brand new short stories along with insights f...

The first ever LIVE AND SPOOKY episode of the Myth and Fiction podcast is here! This October, the Flame Tree Myth & Fiction Podcast is being haunted by our newest horror fiction titles. We're bypassing the tricks this Halloween and treating you all to: 2 brand new short stories, 2 episodes a week, editor and author guests and exclusive listener discounts! Today’s episode looks at This Way Lies Madness. A short story anthology that in the tradition of Poe’s 'The Tell-tale Heart', presents ...

September’s podcast guest star is author and editor V. Castro! V. Castro is the celebrated author of Mestiza Blood, The Queen of the Cicadas and several short stories in our anthologies. She finds her inspirations in Mexican folklore and the urban legends of Texas. In this episode, recorded at London Book Fair, Nick and V. chat all about their passion for storytelling, folklore and dark fiction. And the best part? You can hear more from V. next month in our LIVE AND SPOOKY c...

In today’s episode, we are taking a look into the veil between worlds, the margin between the living and the dead. Is it really so clear which side is which? Or is this veil thinning all the time, in memories we inherit, and in those moments when we brush close to the other side? Featuring ‘Our Bones Were the Mortar’ by Anjali Patel (01.25), read by Cheryl S. Ntumy. A story from our African Ghost collection, which follows a woman who wants nothing to do with her family’s legacy of necro...

As any fans of Flame Tree will know already, we pride ourselves on being a publisher of speculative fiction. We’ve covered the founding genres of SFF on this podcast already but perhaps we’ve given slightly more attention to our horror and fantasy short stories, but not today. Today we’re journeying to the future on the back of two of our Science Fiction stories. Brace yourself for worlds where technology has slipped beyond human control, and crime reigns in the skies. Content Warning: This e...

Transformation lies at the heart of every great story. Sometimes this takes the shape of a mentality shift or character development, but today’s stories examine transformation in its most literal meaning - the physical. We’re talking skin to fur and nail to claw - humans who have been forced to succumb to the beast within. Featuring ‘The Stag’ by Kate Wilmot (01.34), read by Olivia. A reinvention of an ancient tale that was already bursting with gore, revenge and extreme emotion. ...

Today we're diving into the shadows cast by crowns, where love and power dance their oldest, most dangerous waltz. Because here's what Disney never tells you: every court has its secrets, and every crown sits heavy with the weight of what rulers will do to protect what they love. Featuring Naked Villainy by Joshua K. Haarstad (02.31), read by Nathan Chatelier. A story about a king who discovers that protecting his son means rewriting the very nature of truth itself. This tale can be fou...