Haunted UK Fiction

TriskadeCATphobia - a Friday the 13th special featuring 3 short cat tails... er, tales.

“When I first arrived, the spirits were no more than shadows and mist. As a kitten, I’d pounce and tumble on tendrils of fog. Madame was angry at first, but soon discovered that her visitors willingly accepted my mewling as the sounds of spirits from beyond the veil…”

Hello and welcome, dear listeners, to Haunted UK Fiction – a sister podcast to The Haunted UK which features original flash fiction, short stories, and novellas with paranormal themes. All stories you will hear were written by...

Not every reflection belongs to the person standing before it...

“It wasn’t dramatic at first. Just little things. A prickle on the back of her neck whenever she passed the hallway mirror. The way her phone screen sometimes lit up on its own, reflecting her face too pale, too elongated. The kitchen window fogging faintly when she stood near it, though the air was dry…” 

Hello and welcome, dear listeners, to Haunted UK Fiction – a sister podcast to The Haunted UK which features original flash fiction, short stories, and novellas with paranormal themes. All stories you will he...

Some cold cuts deeper than expected...

“Her mum had been right. It was cold. She worked her fingertips into the ice, appreciating the smoothness of the whale’s skin. The longer she held her hand there, the damper her palm became. She could even feel the water seeping into the edge of her sleeve. The guilt struck her like a sledgehammer. There shouldn’t be that much water, surely. Was the sculpture even there any more? She must’ve single handedly melted it…”

Hello and welcome, dear listeners, to Haunted UK Fiction – a sister podcast to The Haunted UK...

For hundreds of years it stood silent, waiting...

“This city is mental!” Tom went on, “Seems everywhere has its own ghosts. I’ve heard all the stories, the thing I don’t know is why Lincoln is so bloody haunted!” “I can tell ye,” said a voice. The two friends turned their heads to the table next to them. An old man in his late 70s, peaked cap and waxed jacket, sat beside them. They had seen him there before many times, he always sat alone, often deep within the pages of the telegraph. “I can tell ye,” he repea...

A guest at a manor house bears witness terrible events unfolding again and again...

“The swell of the waves was much higher now and I could hear them crashing against the cliffs, white spray occasionally shooting high over the cliff top.  The shrubs in the garden swayed in the wind.  The scene was almost unrecognisable as the location of my walk earlier in the day.  My eyes glanced to the left along the path that I had used.  A sudden flash of lightning highlighted the way and that’s when I first saw her…”

Hello and welcome, dea...

Conclusion of this episoded to be released Feb 25th 7am BST

A guest at a manor house bears witness terrible events unfolding again and again...

“There, stood by the bannister and staring down at me with an intensity I found hard to bear, was a man, smartly dressed, with thick black hair and black side whiskers.  What I noticed most were his angular features and prominent cheekbones.  I stood there, frozen to the spot and meeting his cold stare for what seemed like an eternity before I was finally able to tear my eyes away...

From the moment of its creation, a wedding dress bears silent witness to decades of human lives.

“The box moved again. Had it been years already? This time, a man was staring back at me. I recognized him from the wedding. His eyes looked sad. I felt his tears fall and soak into my satin. I could feel his heavy heart. He put the lid back on the box and I felt myself being carried away…”

Hello and welcome, dear listeners, to Haunted UK Fiction – a sister podcast to The Haunted UK which features original flash fiction...

When something in the walls begins to spread, escape becomes impossible.

“The small tear in the skirting spread upwards across the mass of black mould, creating an aperture of flickering light. Robert placed his face in the hole, to find a stone opening. It was a natural cave, a passageway of craggy sandstone. Robert balked at the discovery, amazed that he had never found it before. He knew Nottingham had been built atop a sprawling network of subterranean caves, but most had been discovered, mapped out, or else converted to pub basements or tourist attractions. He should have be...

A young couple’s search for a new home takes an unsettling turn...

“Adele passed the Rectory every day on her walk to school. Sometimes she thought she could see a child’s face peeping out from one of the attic windows and one morning she slipped her hand from her mother’s grasp to wave. When asked who she was looking at, Adele couldn’t say and when she glanced back there was nobody there after all. Maybe she had imagined it? Only a very old lady lived in the Rectory. There were no children there…”

Hello and...

Ink & Influence – R.L. Stine

Between the stories we tell, there are the stories that shape them. While we prepare for the next season of Haunted UK Fiction, we’re taking a moment to step away from the stories—and into their origins. Ink and Influence is a short-form series from Haunted UK Fiction, exploring the authors, ideas, and moments that gave rise to some of the darkest and most enduring works of fiction.

In this episode, we turn our attention to R.L. Stine, and the ideas that shaped his legacy.

If you...

Ink & Influence – Daphne DuMaurier

Between the stories we tell, there are the stories that shape them. While we prepare for the next season of Haunted UK Fiction, we’re taking a moment to step away from the stories—and into their origins. Ink and Influence is a short-form series from Haunted UK Fiction, exploring the authors, ideas, and moments that gave rise to some of the darkest and most enduring works of fiction.

In this episode, we turn our attention to Daphne DuMaurier, and the ideas that shaped her legacy.

If you enjoy...

Ink & Influence – Bram Stoker

Between the stories we tell, there are the stories that shape them. While we prepare for the next season of Haunted UK Fiction, we’re taking a moment to step away from the stories—and into their origins. Ink and Influence is a short-form series from Haunted UK Fiction, exploring the authors, ideas, and moments that gave rise to some of the darkest and most enduring works of fiction.

In this episode, we turn our attention to Bram Stoker, and the ideas that shaped his legacy.

If you enjoy...

CALL FOR SEASON 3 SUBMISSIONS

Hello dear listeners! We’ve come to the end of Season 1 of Haunted UK Fiction, and the start of a new year. We hope you have enjoyed the stories featured here as much as we have loved discovering and sharing them. It’s been wonderful connecting with both writers and listeners over the last few months, and we’re excited about the future of Haunted UK Fiction!

In season 1, we introduced Flash Fiction Friday so our shorter story submissions would have a home. Starting in season 2, we will introduce Serial Sundays, in which...

Join us by the fireplace for a cozy chat with Steve and Melissa of Haunted UK FIction. We discuss how the podcast came about, run through the fantastic stories and the writers who shared them with us (and you amazing listeners!) throughout our first season, and talk about our hopes and goals for the future. It's an exclusive behind-the-scenes peek into our process and how we work together to make Haunted UK Fiction the best it can be. Cheers to the new year, everyone!

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/haunted-uk-fiction--6761767/support.

Ancient customs and lore haunt visitors to a remote Scottish forest...

'This place gives me the creeps,’ said Ruth, ‘it’s too quiet. It doesn’t seem natural.’She was right of course, the location, time of year and warning from the night before gave the moment an uncanny quality. Ruth wasn’t given to strange notions but for a second, she couldn’t tell if what she was seeing was real or some very convincing simulation… 

Hello and welcome, dear listeners, to Haunted UK Fiction – a sister podcast to The Haunted UK which features original f...

An eerie story about a Christmas Tree that doesn't want the holiday season to come to an end...

"Christmas was over; an expensive non-drop fir tree standing naked next to the TV, dripping browning needles on the carpet all that was left... Looking at the dead tree, the new year felt like nothing special and the world small, cold and mean. She sighed. “I wish it could be Christmas every day,” she whispered, like a prayer or a spell, and then whispered it again without meaning to… "

Hello and welcome, dear listeners, to Haunted UK Fic...

When the ghost of Christmases past lingers in the back of our minds, and the dark corners of the room...

"I have a Christmas Ghost. Each year, the moment I haul the bins of holiday decorations into the living room, it begins to form. I can usually feel it hovering in the corner of the room, like a mass of swirling clouds coming together to form a storm…"

Hello and welcome, dear listeners, to Haunted UK Fiction – a sister podcast to The Haunted UK which features original flash fiction, short stories, and novellas with paranormal themes. All...

Preparations for a festive event turn into a terrifying holiday horror...

“She eyed the tractor. Maybe he’d needed it too. They hadn’t told her much about the previous owner, but she’d heard the rumours. She hoped they weren’t true. Imagine living such an isolated life that you’re only found because the bills are long overdue…” 

Hello and welcome, dear listeners, to Haunted UK Fiction – a sister podcast to The Haunted UK which features original flash fiction, short stories, and novellas with paranormal themes. All stories you will hear were written by a collection of tal...

Revenge is best served at Christmas...

"A bead of sweat careered down the dome of his forehead like a wet cockroach.  Slapping his head and rubbing frenziedly, he squeezed his eyes tight shut and groaned quietly.  What to do? What to do?  When he re-opened his bleary eyes, his heart lurched.  In wiping the sweat from his brow, he must have caught the curtains, and they had parted more widely.  A good six or seven inches.  Blinking his vision back into focus, he saw the dark invaders stop dead where they were; a tableau from some obscene pantomime..."
<...

A lingering presence, keen to be heard, tries to set things right...

“The famous one is the Lady of the Stairs. Around the late 1400s, there was a woman who was a mistress of one of my ancestor’s lairds. His vengeful wife locked her up in one of the castle turrets, where she perished from not eating. Some psychics have seen her. She walks the stairways at night.”  “That’s a lie,” a voice hissed in Pucci’s ear—warm breath prickled her cheek... 

Hello and welcome, dear listeners, to Haunted UK Fiction – a sister podcast to...

The perfect holiday retreat holds a deep, dark, twisted secret...

"The Hollow Rooms stood on the crest of the mountain like a black crown…. A long drive curved up through wrought iron gates, their bars twisted into the shapes of roses and thorns. The two figures who had been waiting were staff members—a man in a black suit with a gold watch chain, and a woman in a gray dress buttoned high to her neck. Both were pale in a way that spoke of years indoors, but there was something else, too: a stillness in their faces, as t...

Below the surface, the perfect holiday retreat hides a dark secret...

"To anyone else, the Hollow Rooms was a grand winter retreat. Only Ian and Liam knew the truth: beneath the glitter, the walls pulsed with something else..."

Hello and welcome, dear listeners, to Haunted UK Fiction – a sister podcast to The Haunted UK which features original flash fiction, short stories, and novellas with paranormal themes. All stories you will hear were written by a collection of talented writers, authors, and storytellers, both independent and professional.

In today’s Haunted Holiday episode, we’ll be rea...

A child's Christmas wish gone wrong...

"It is the not knowing that twists the guts of the helpless figure, almost as much as the awesome fear inspired by its breath-rasping gaoler.  This butcher now reaches deep into a pocket and its hand emerges with a fistful of brightly-coloured, self-adhesive bows – some green, some red, some silver, some gold…"

Hello and welcome, dear listeners, to Haunted UK Fiction – a sister podcast to The Haunted UK which features original flash fiction, short stories, and novellas with paranormal themes. All stories you will hear were written by a colle...

A post Christmas party drive home takes a terrifying turn...

"Heart pounding, he exhaled a shaky breath and forced himself to look left, then right. Nothing. No headlights, no shapes, nothing at all. Who else would be out here on a night like this? He was about to move off when something caught his eye—a flicker of movement in the field opposite..."

A dark shape, large, powerful, tearing across the snow. He couldn’t tell what it was, only that it moved fast, until it vanished into the swirling snow and the ink-black night beyond.

My musings and mumblings...here's the outtake after the original!!! Thought I'd share it too!!!

Listeners… gather close and don’t skip this announcement! A rare alignment has formed for fans of the Haunted UK Podcast and Haunted UK Fiction…but only until 11:59pm on Christmas Eve. 

From the shadows, a new tier has emerged… the APPARITION.

For £1 per month, this limited-number tier grants you ad-free episodes, early access, and full entry to our haunted back catalogue.

But when Christmas Eve ends, the APPARITION tier will disappear into the darkness… drifting away until it ret...

Listeners… gather close and don’t skip this announcement! A rare alignment has formed for fans of the Haunted UK Podcast and Haunted UK Fiction…but only until 11:59pm on Christmas Eve. 

From the shadows, a new tier has emerged… the APPARITION.

For £1 per month, this limited-number tier grants you ad-free episodes, early access, and full entry to our haunted back catalogue.

But when Christmas Eve ends, the APPARITION tier will disappear into the darkness… drifting away until it returns, mysteriously, in the New Year.

But the spirits bring more gifts.

Both our SPOO...

"Alice saw the wave. It was a beast. It rose slowly at first, the way a predator prepares to strike – silent, inevitable. It quickly gained speed, swelling into a towering monster, a force of nature, as if the ocean itself had decided to swallow her whole. The wave surged, easily 30 feet high, dark and roaring with a ferocity she could feel in her bones. It moved toward her with the relentlessness of fate…"

Welcome, dear listeners, to a special episode of Haunted UK Fiction where we will read an excerpt from a brand-new novel, and have a chat with...

A stranger's request puts a tailor in a delicate terrifying position that changes the course of his life...

"My father was in a strange mood that day. He welcomed me with genuine warmth and appeared, to me at least, quite comfortable and content in his soft armchair and his cup perched delicately on the left knee. His words, however, were of the most serious sort; he betrayed no emotion by stating the facts clearly and with a certain stiff formality. I was informed that he had something very important to tell…"

Hello and welcome, dear listeners, to...

Sometimes, echoes just need to be heard...

"Eilidh MacKenzie always knew she was different. Raised in a quiet Scottish village cradled by hills and lochs, her childhood was shaped by the whispers of her great-grandmother —stories of second sight, banshees crying by the river, and the mist that wasn’t just mist. Most folk rolled their eyes. Eilidh never did…" 

Hello and welcome, dear listeners, to Haunted UK Fiction – a sister podcast to The Haunted UK which features original flash fiction, short stories, and novellas with paranormal themes. All stories you will hear were written by a collect...

Some things should always remain below ground...

"Pierce saw a large group of men appear from a bellowing wall of white. Like ghostly figures emerging from beyond the supernatural veil. They were carrying a man on a makeshift stretcher. Pierce’s eyes still were not great, and he thought someone had covered the man in a velvet blanket for warmth, but as the struggling group got closer, he could see that it was no blanket. Blood covered the man from head to toe..."

Hello and welcome, dear listeners, to Haunted UK Fiction – a sister podcast to The...

A roadtrip takes a dark turn after a stop at a roadside diner...

"A jukebox blasted out some Chuck Berry. He knew the tune but not the words. His mother liked Chuck, she had played his music all the time when he was growing up. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard it. Or any music, come to think of it. Had they been listening to the radio in the car? He didn’t think so, but hadn’t there been a tune? Perhaps Nina had been humming as she drove…"

Hello and welcome, d...

A ghostly tale told from a chilling perspective...

"When I awoke again, it was to darkness. I had been hopeful for my bed, to find myself ensconced in blankets with my beloved governess by my side, mopping my brow. Instead, four, solid, wooden walls bore down upon me…"

Hello and welcome, dear listeners, to Haunted UK Fiction – a sister podcast to The Haunted UK which features original flash fiction, short stories, and novellas with paranormal themes. All stories you will hear were written by a collection of talented writers, authors, and storytellers, both independent and professional.

A ghost story told from the perspective of the ghost itself...

"I took a deep breath, charged at Henry with all my might, and CRASH! My knee gave out, and I slammed into the side table, sending a vase hurtling toward the floor. It landed with a smash, shards of glass flying everywhere, and water seeping between the rapidly wilting flower petals. I stayed put on the floor, frozen in fear. A large shadow hovered in the doorway. Papa. Papa had just come home. Papa had seen the whole incident. The shadow came toward me, and Papa came...

A train brings the circus into the village of Willerby, offering one family a unique opportunity...

“Welcome to my Big Top,” she said, “From nowhere and everywhere. From the ice-islands of Ros 154 to the green deserts of Emerelda, from the jungled hills of Amazonian Maya to the bottomless oceans of Lanneria. From our last stop ghost-soaked Hookland, to here for one night only, your home, weird-scarred Willerby. Who knows where we’ll go next and when we’ll be back? Welcome – you will be delighted and amazed, the wonders of this multiverse brought here to your front door…”

Hello...

After the release of our most recent episodes, a number of you have reached out regarding the number of ads and their placement. After looking into the problem on both Haunted Uk Podcast, and Haunted UK Fiction, we realised that the automated system wasn’t distributing the ad’s in a way that feels appropriate for both shows.

We have now fixed the issue, and all episodes should now be back to normal with a standard number of thoughtfully distributed advertisements.

We always appreciate your feedback and will always strive to provide the best content possible. If y...

In the village of willerby, a mysterious creature makes it's presence felt after newcomers awaken it...

"On the two-minute walk home, Sally and Dan picked their starlit way back to their cottage and felt – at last – Willerby was home.  There was a note pinned to their front door: Things don’t lie still in Willerby. You must be more careful. Here to help when you’re ready..."

Hello and welcome, dear listeners, to Haunted UK Fiction – a sister podcast to The Haunted UK which features original flash fiction, short stories, and novellas with paranormal themes. All stories you...

Everyone knows using the shortcuts in the mysterious town of Willerby comes with a certain level of risk... some children are never seen again.

"We were between two hedges that formed a narrow, winding passage big enough for two people to stand next to each other with their arms just touching. The hedges were tight packed, but it was still somehow dimmer than it should have been an hour after dawn.“Dad?” Said Jess. “Look up, slowly now.”I did. And gasped…"

Hello and welcome, dear listeners, to Haunted UK Fiction – a sister podcast to The Haunted UK w...

A haunting story born of tragedy, a ghost that lingers just long enough to be remembered...

"I turned. A boy sat at the far end of the bench leaving a gap big enough for maybe two or three people between us. He wore a school hoodie, and his light brown hair was untidy as if blown by a strong wind. His face was at an angle where I couldn’t make out his features, only the profile of his nose and chin. I felt as if something about him was off, not eerie or wrong, just off as if...

A wartime ghost haunts a couple in their Barcelona flat...

"By the time they went to bed Jane had almost convinced herself that she was simply adjusting to the strange acoustics and unfamiliar rhythms of their new home… but she woke again to the smell of cigar smoke. This time, it was so strong that she was certain Terry must smell it too. She reached over to shake him awake, then stopped. The smoke seemed to be concentrated on her side of the bed, as if someone were sitting in the chair by the window, smoking and watching he...

Vampires aren't always the bad guys...

"Godfrey stirred in his coffin and pressed his hands against his ears, trying to block out the rattles, whistles and creaks of the battered twenty-five-year-old transit van as it protested its way along the A5.  Cedric claimed he remembered the Romans building it centuries before it was called Watling Street, but Godfrey didn’t believe him. Over the years they’d spent together he’d spotted enough gaps and contradictions in Cedric’s stories to know he always lied…"

Hello and welcome, dear listeners, to Haunted UK Fiction – a sister podcast to Th...