In this episode of Flame Tree’s Myth & Fiction podcast, we have two chilling horror short stories to share with you. Both deliver eerie apparitions of the dead and embrace the traditional tropes of Gothic literature.

Featuring:

‘A Vine on a House’ by Ambrose Bierce (00.44), narrated by Bea. A story about a decaying manor house overrun by a supernatural vine. First gifted to us in 1905, this story can appropriately be found in our American Gothic anthology.

& ‘You Can Never Go Home Again’ by Lena Ng (08.51), narrated by Amanda Benzecry. A narrative that explores a man’s alternate reality through a haunting vision of his wife. Published within our Gothic Fantasy collection, Spirits & Ghouls, which came out in 2023.

Biographies:

Lena Ng lives in Toronto, Canada. Her short stories have appeared in eighty publications including Amazing Stories and Flame Tree’s Asian Ghost Short Stories and Weird Horror. Her stories have been performed for podcasts such as Gallery of Curiosities, Utopia Science Fiction, Love Letters to Poe, and Horrifying Tales of Wonder. Under an Autumn Moon is her short story collection. Her story ‘You Can Never Go Home Again’ was inspired by onryou, Japanese female ghosts who died after being wronged.

Ambrose Bierce (1842–c. 1914) was a famous journalist and author, best-known for writing The Devil’s Dictionary. His disappearance at the age of 71 on a trip to Mexico remains a great mystery and continues to spark speculation.

Amanda Benzecry (voice actor) regularly narrates books for Audible, is on the panel for the RNIB and is a frequent contributor (both as a narrator and a writer) to TNF Soundings, providing audio material for the visually impaired.

This episode is hosted by Olivia.

‘A Vine on a House’ was first published in Cosmopolitan (New York) in 1905 and more recently in American Gothic (Flame Tree Publishing, 2019).

‘You Can Never Go Home Again’ is © 2017 Lena Ng and was originally published in Devolution Z: The Horror Magazine, Issue #16, in Jan 2017 and appears in Spirits & Ghouls (Flame Tree Publishing, 2023).

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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) 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.

The first story episode of Flame Tree’s Myth & Fiction podcast! Contained within are two tales that speak to anxieties prompted by artificial intelligence and advancements in technology.

Featuring:

‘The Dancing Partner’ by Jerome K. Jerome (00.52), narrated by Olivia. A story about a toy maker who creates a clockwork dance partner for a group of girls who are unsatisfied with the men who frequent their society balls. First published in 1893, this story can be found in our Robots & Artificial Intelligence short story collection.

‘Skinprint’ by Antonia Rachel Ward (15.39), narrated by Amanda Benzecry. A narrative that follows a woman who has volunteered to be subject to cloning. A shockingly effective story that explores the cost of manufactured humanity. Published within our Gothic Fantasy collection, Learning to be Human, which came out in January, 2024.

Biographies:

Antonia Rachel Ward is an author of horror and speculative fiction, based in Cambridgeshire, UK. Her short stories and poetry have been published by Blackspot Books, Brigid’s Gate Press, and the British Science Fiction Association, among others. She has published two novellas, 'Marionette' and 'Attack of the Killer Tumbleweeds', and her first novel, DreamScape, was published in October 2023. She is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Ghost Orchid Press. Find her at antoniarachelward.com

Jerome Klapka Jerome (1859–1927), was largely known as a novelist, playwright and editor. Best-known for his novel Three Men in a Boat (1889).

Amanda Benzecry (voice actor) regularly narrates books for Audible, is on the panel for the RNIB and is a frequent contributor (both as a narrator and a writer) to TNF Soundings, providing audio material for the visually impaired.

This episode is hosted by Bea.

‘Skinprint’ is © 2024 Antonia Rachel Ward and appeared in Learning to be Human (Flame Tree Publishing, 2024).

‘The Dancing Partner’ by Jerome K. Jerome was first published in 1893 and more recently in Robots & Artificial Intelligence (Flame Tree Publishing, 2018).

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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) 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.

Introducing the new podcast from Flame Tree, highlighting the stories, myths and authors featuring in the coming months.

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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) 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.