Tales Under A Broken Sky

A Tale Form The Hearth | The Changeling | A Folk Horror Story of Family, Folklore, and Unspoken Truths
A brother who changed.
A mother who knew.
And a truth still buried.
A man reflects on the life of his twin brother, recalling a childhood shaped by sudden shifts. A brief illness. A change in temperament. And a growing sense that something was no longer quite right. Over time, those small fractures widened into something that strained his family to breaking point.
In this episode of Tales Under A Broken Sky, a lifetime of unease is pieced together through memory and the final confession of a dying mother. Her private writings tell a different version of events, one rooted in folklore, suspicion, and a belief she carried to her grave.
The Changeling is a slow-burn gothic horror story about identity, grief, and the quiet ways fear can take hold within a family. It explores the tension between rational explanation and inherited belief, and the cost of confronting a truth that may be impossible to accept.
Expect lingering unease, fractured recollections, and a story where the answer is never as simple as it first appears.
If you’re drawn to psychological horror, Irish folklore, and stories that leave space for doubt, this episode is for you.
Follow the show for more original horror, dark fantasy and speculative fiction, released fortnightly.

Content Warning: Death, Torture

Timestamps:
00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:35 - The Changeling
00:15:27 - Background Discussion
00:19:10 - Listener Support
00:19:53 - Outro

Classic Reading | The Masque of the Red Death | A Gothic Meditation on Decadence and Denial
A barricaded gate.
A masquerade in the shadow of a plague.
And an illness that cares not for boundaries.
In this episode of Tales Under A Broken Sky, we return to the fevered imagination of Edgar Allan Poe with a reading of The Masque of the Red Death.
As Prince Prospero withdraws into his fortified abbey, sealing himself away with music, wine, and masked revelry, the suffering outside becomes distant — almost abstract. Behind gilded walls and carefully curated chambers, decadence becomes distraction. Privilege becomes insulation. And denial begins to look like strategy.
But ignorance does not mean inoculation.
This classic reading explores moral rot beneath luxury, the arrogance of believing oneself untouchable, and the quiet horror of inevitability. Expect mounting tension, symbolic dread, and the slow realization that some debts cannot be avoided.
Only postponed.
If you’re drawn to gothic allegory, plague-haunted atmospheres, and stories that strip away illusion, this one is for you.
Follow the show for more original horror, dark fantasy, and reflective audio fiction, released every two weeks.

Content Warning: Death, Disease

Timestamps:
00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:50 - They Come in the Dark
00:18:25 - Background Discussion
00:21:11 - Listener Support
00:21:55 - Outro

They Come in the Dark | A Folk Cult Horror Story of War, Faith, and Hunger
An army on the march.
A road that grows emptier each night.
And something watching from beyond the firelight.
When a young country noble joins the army in service of crown and country, he writes faithfully to his parents, recording the hardships of the road, the camaraderie of his fellow soldiers, and his devotion to duty and faith. But as the march continues, soldiers begin to vanish. Veterans. Camp followers. Officers. Gone without trace.
What begins as unease becomes certainty.
What becomes certainty becomes terror.
And terror gives way to something far worse.
This episode of Tales Under A Broken Sky, unfolds through a series of letters that chart a steady psychological descent, from discipline and belief to isolation, dissociation, and hunger. As the army collapses and faith fractures, the narrator is forced to confront not only an inhuman threat, but what survival demands of him.
They Come in the Dark is a bleak folk horror story about the erosion of identity, the corruption of faith under unbearable strain, and the moment where duty gives way to instinct. It is a tale of dark forests, unseen hunters, and the terrifying question of what remains when the gods fall silent.
Expect creeping dread, ritual violence, and a slow unraveling that does not end with death, but with transformation.
If you’re drawn to epistolary horror, psychological collapse, and stories where survival carries a terrible cost, this episode awaits you in the darkness.

Content warnings: death, violence, torture, gore, cannibalism, psychological breakdown

Episode Chapters
00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:38 - They Come in the Dark
00:36:41 - Background Discussion
00:40:13 - Listener Support
00: 40:57 - Outro

Malevolency | A Gothic Horror Story About Twisted Faith and Buried Secrets
A silent church.
A ruin left untouched.
And a presence that refuses to be forgotten.

St Matthew’s Church of the Eternal Redemption has stood abandoned for decades. Its records are gone. Its history erased.
And yet it remains.
In this episode of Tales Under A Broken Sky, an urban exploration blogger discovers the church and sees an opportunity for viral fame. A story no one else has told. A place inexplicably overlooked.
But some secrets don’t want to be uncovered.
And some places remember.
Malevolency is a slow-burn gothic horror story about religious symbolism, forgotten spaces, and the dangerous pull of places left to decay. This marks my first full dive into religious horror, shaped slowly over months and brought to life through metaphor, atmosphere, and creeping dread.
Expect ruined sanctuaries, unsettling revelations, and the sense that not every silence is empty.
If you’re drawn to quiet gothic horror, strange ruins, and stories that linger long after the final line, this one is for you.

Content warnings: death, violence, mentions of child death, torture and abuse, explicit language, religious symbolism, body horror.

Episode Chapters
00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:36 - Malevolency
00:35:52 - Background Discussion
00:38:53 - Listener Support
00: 39:32 - Outro

The Muse | A Psychological Horror Story About Ambition and Faustian Bargains
A blank page.
A chance encounter.
And the moment ambition becomes predatory.
In this episode of Tales Under A Broken Sky, we return to original fiction with The Muse, a story that recently appeared in Volume Four of The Dark Corner
This one is close to my heart.
Written during a bout of post-holiday writer’s block, inspired by a random prompt, and drafted in fragments on buses and in a tattoo chair, this was the story that pulled me out of a creative slump and reminded me why I do what I do.
In The Muse, a struggling writer is on the edge of breakdown when a chance meeting with a devoted fan changes the course of his career. What begins as encouragement quickly becomes opportunity. And opportunity becomes temptation.
But sometimes a deal is too good to be true.
The Muse is a slow-burn horror story about artistic desperation, external validation, and the quiet horror of discovering what you’re willing to sacrifice for success. Expect creeping tension, psychological unease, and the realization that inspiration doesn’t always arrive alone.
If you’re drawn to creative obsession, dangerous bargains, and stories that linger like unfinished sentences, this one is for you.
Follow the show for more original horror and dark fantasy, released every two weeks.

Content Warning: Death, violence, substance abuse, depictions of child death, explicit language

Timestamps:
00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:38 - The Muse
00:30:21 - Background Discussion
00:33:40 - Listener Support
00:34:03 - Outro