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 necromancy - until she feels the weight of thousands of enslaved souls buried beneath Manhattan.
‘A Visit to the King of Ghosts’ from Hawaiian folklore and recorded by W.D. Westervelt (11.49), read by Shilpa. A narrative where a man's spirit separates from his body to wander the ghostly realm. Borrowed from Flame Tree’s Quests & Journeys.
Biographies
Anjali Patel is a Black and South Asian speculative fiction writer. Her poetry and short stories have appeared in Escape Pod, Uncanny Magazine, Fantasy Magazine, khōréō, The Deadlands, and others. Find her at anjali.fyi or all socials @anjapatel.
W.D. Westervelt (1849–1939) was an American author and pastor. He settled in Hawaii in 1899 and served as the Corresponding Secretary for the Hawaiian Historical Society beginning in 1908. He is considered one of the foremost authorities on Hawaiian folklore in English.
Cheryl S. Ntumy is a Ghanaian writer of speculative fiction and has appeared in Black Friday, FIYAH Literary Magazine, Apex Magazine and World Literature Today.
Learn more about Shilpa Varma and her role at Flame Tree here.
This episode was hosted by Olivia.
‘Our Bones Were the Mortar’ is ©2021 Anjali Patel and was originally published in Khōréō (2021), but more recently appeared in African Ghost (Flame Tree Publishing, 2024).
‘A Visit to the King of Ghosts’ was recorded from Hawaiian folklore in 1915 by W.D. Westervelt, but more recently appeared in Quests & Journeys (Flame Tree Publishing, 2024).
#podcast #shortstories #necromancy #ghosts #folklore
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Music is an extract of Sunbeams by Allen Stroud, from his Fractal Series album, licensed courtesy of fpl-digital 2025.
This podcast is hosted and sometimes narrated by Beatrix Ambery (also audio editor), Olivia Jackson (also podcast coordinator), Shilpa Varma and Nick Wells (also producer).
Chosen from hundreds of wonderful tales, short stories such as these are selected by our short window open submission process, giving opportunities to writers of all levels of experience, culture and location. Look out for our submission announcements, and see the full list here: flametreepublishing.com/gothic-fantasy-book-series-list.html
Our full range of thematic short stories, epic tales, mythology and folklore titles are available at all good bookstores, online and in retail, and at flametreepublishing.com
Flame Tree Publishing, Independent Publisher of the Year 2024, British Fantasy Society. Beautiful Books, Timeless Storytelling, Fresh Perspectives.
The Flame Tree Myth and Fiction podcast is created and © copyright 2025 Flame Tree Publishing Ltd.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
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