Innocently Macabre
by Ajinkya Goyal
An interplay of worldly merriment and twisted secrets, distilling the wonders of the cosmos for your perusal
Now They Call Me the Plague
Gothic · Historical Fiction · Fantasy
As the fright death sweeps the land, leaving a trail of lifeless sacrifices, a Dream desperately claws their way back to the Dreaming, having spent eternity trapped in the conscious realm.The infestation’s merciless wake piques Trance’s macabre curiosity, spurred forth by his discovery of a ship that sails across the tumultuous currents of Nightmares and Dreams. They drag Eda, their retired-from-the-seas best friend, along with them as they set sail on the adventures of multiple lifetimes, unwittingly getting themselves irreversibly entwined with fates and forces far beyond their comprehension.Now They Call me the Plague is gothic historical fiction set against the backdrop of the golden age of piracy. All that remains to be seen is how many more will fall at the altar of an unforgiving death.
Incarnadine
Horror
The most important things are the hardest to say. They are the things that seldom see even the dark of night because words seem to diminish them; words shrink them, and what was once boundless comes out simply life-sized. But it’s more than that, isn’t it? The most important things are markers. Headstones for graves. Pyres for endless cremations. The most important things are landmarks to your secrets, withering truths long forgotten, begging to be dug up and paraded around once more. Sometimes you’ll take them out of their box. You’ll take the most important things and give them a voice, only to be met with uncomprehending faces, confusion reflecting back on your sincerity, wondering why you silently cried as you spoke. That’s the worst, I think. The worst thing that could happen to your most important things, and for fear of its realisation, we leave the graves untouched, the maps unmarked, and the pyres forever burning. We leave our secrets locked deep within us.I saw my first dead human being when I was thirteen years old. I won’t bother giving you the date because it doesn’t matter. Everything is still exactly the same as it was all those years ago. It’s as if life simply moved around Thadford End, deciding it was better that it remained untouched; not necessarily undisturbed, but preserved in its fragmentary.
Anna, Version One
Horror
Before we begin, I should make it clear that this story takes place in the early 1960s, when aeroplane rules were a lot laxer. One could brandish a cigar, or holster a pistol, or even brandish a cigar while holstering a pistol. Now, consider if you will, the thoughts of one James Augustus McCoy, as he goes airborne in a helm of metal, held together by nothing more than nuts and bolts, and is rocketed to well over twenty thousand feet in the sky, at speeds faster than any other passenger vehicle can even attempt.His nightmare treads the razor edge between the possibility that it’s merely James’ psyche feeling especially cruel, or that what he thinks he sees hanging off the edge of the plane is real.
Three Rooms Down
Horror
A deep stirring in my stomach woke me up earlier than I had planned. Per usual, my eyes were droopy, and my limbs weren’t feeling all too inclined to function. They clung tightly to my form, refusing to leave my side for but a second. I stayed curled up in the spiral that I like to sleep in. My mind though, my mind was more alert than it had ever been – morning or night. Something disturbing was afoot, I could feel it in every bone of my body.Then it hit me. My sister, lying on her bed, three rooms and a mahogany door away, was dead. I knew because I didn’t hear her clambering down the steps at two in the morning for her “mandatory pre-morning glass of milk” that apparently does wonders for the body as soon as you enter deep sleep around the three o’clock mark. There was no screeching of the old joints of the kitchen door. No noise of the suction of the fridge as she opened and closed. There was no sloshing of the milk as it hit the edges of her cup that resounded through the entirety of this surprisingly acoustic house. But that wasn’t the only reason I knew. There’s one thing I haven’t yet told you.
Due North
Fantasy meets slice of life
Steadman Hirsch, premier and proudest realtor in all of Due North, stood in front of his latest job-well-done. Handy job, real estate. Supported his lifestyle quite well, what with everyone always welcoming him in with open arms and big, teeth-baring smiles.This particular listing was a particular brand of fantastic. 8 Brook Way. Oh, if these walls could talk! (The fact that some of these walls could, in fact, talk, had no bearing on Steadman Hirsch’s use of the expression, for he was born with a rare condition preventing him from recognising any sort of irony whatsoever.)There was the siren who turned 8 Brook Way into the hottest karaoke bar in the entire town, the witch who fireproofed the place for her litter of dragons, the harpy who added the marble cornices on the house’s back end, the oread who turned the entire house inside out and built a wildlife sanctuary like none other, the satyr who quite appreciated the oread’s work, the – oh, no matter! The house would soon show it all to the new residents! They’re out-of-towners so there’d be an adjustment period, yes, but he was confident they’d pick it up quickly.
Frozen Summer
Gothic · Sci-Fi · Slipstream
“When hell freezes over” is supposed to be a terrifying conditional. The last straw. The final stand. The second before everything goes to shit.But hell freezes over quite often. I’ve seen it happen. I’ve made it happen.What you should be afraid of is summer being iced out. The sun blinks blue, trees shed in one fell swoop with leaves shattering on impact, and lakes become aquatic prisons for anyone unfortunate enough to have been taking a dip. When summer freezes, then plunges further still, is when you should run.Drop everything, turn around, and run. Don’t look back, don’t blink, don’t stop. Run until you can’t possibly put another foot forward, until the ground gives out from beneath you, then run some more.Beware the Frozen Summer and the horrors it brings.
Within and Without
Speculative Thriller
A dying last breath undoes the past half-century in a grapple betwixt psychology and loyalty, curiosity and peril, possibility and morality, throwing Liam’s world into disarray, as he moves to destroy the one place he had sworn never to enter
Liam stepped hesitantly into the study, feeling a strange sense of detachment despite his many years in this house. He had been with Mr Device for over fifty years and had enacted each command to the T for every one of them. He was on amicable terms with the entire Device family and there wasn’t a place on the grounds he couldn’t go, nor a facility he couldn’t use. Except the study. The one thing Mr Device had absolutely insisted on was the study being off-limits to everyone else.But that changed last night. Last night Mr Device had died. He chose to pass on these grounds, in the comfort of his own home, rather than in an impersonal hospital bed, even if his name was on the golden plaque on the ward label. He lay surrounded by his children and grandchildren, muttering words of encouragement and solace to them with his final breathes. In the end he dismissed everyone but Liam and beckoned him closer.
In the Eye of the Beholder
Horror
Aditya Singh woke up a little past nine o’clock, feeling as if he was going to explode. The room’s colours shone brighter than they ever had before, and he suddenly regretted conceding to yellow wall paint. His head throbbed violently, almost as if his body was warning him of something terrible to come.He looked over to his husband, still calmly asleep next to him, and thought of waking him up. He wasn’t sure how that would help, but Kurt had always soothed him before. Ultimately, he decided to let him sleep. No point in bothering two people over a feeling. He got up and headed to the bathroom, hoping a splash of cool water would make him feel a little better, then made his way downstairs. If he couldn’t get any more sleep in, he figured might as well get an early start on his day, even if the very notion did make his doggedly night owl self internally groan.Once the pot of coffee had been set to brew, Aditya got his phone out and scanned through it. SMS had nothing but the usual ensemble of restaurants, delivery services, and shopping sites advertising some sort of perpetual sale. His email consisted of some promotional stuff; a couple newsletters from writers he followed; and an email from his editor from the night before, reminding him about today’s brunch with the publishing house.At that moment, a sharp pain shot through his head and his phone fell to the shelf. He leaned on it for a moment, nursing his temples until the pain subsided.“What the fuck was that?” he said in a frightened whisper. He’d had headaches before, but this wasn’t like those. It lasted for a fraction of the time but packed pain tenfold and then some. He cupped his coffee tight with trembling hands, inhaling and exhaling slowly, trying to keep the pain at bay.
Someone Has to Leave First
Tragedy
Twenty years ago, I knew someone. Friend feels far too hollow to describe us, and family feels too obligatory. We were just us. We cared fiercely for one another and there was not a single line I wouldn’t have crossed for her. There are few I didn’t, and had we endured, I’m sure that number would have been whittled down to zero.She gave just as much as I did; the moment I was concerned, whatever shred of caution she still allowed herself to retain was immediately discarded – buried in the ground, not thrown in the wind, where it could come around and settle on her again. She took risk after gamble after hazard and stopped at nothing for me.It’s hard to describe her without sounding magnanimous, but that’s just how large a person she was. We were a modern-day Greek tragedy. When we were together, the rest of the universe fell away and nothing mattered except the way the other felt, what they said, and what they didn’t say. It was like we spun into one – an incredibly dangerous one for whom limits were far too mundane a concept to even consider.Some people are like the moon and stars – perfect compliments for one another. We were both suns. We burned with an intensity few others could fathom and contained multitudes only the other understood.
Purple
Horror
This is the story of the day the sky burned a fierce purple. A colour otherwise docile, calm, accepting, and welcoming, lit up the sky in an eddy of hues, for it is the quiet ones who snap the loudest.The sky burned purple, somewhere halfway between the calm contentness of blue and the rage of red. One flowed through another until neither were recognisable anymore and something unheard of beckoned in its place.You would think that a crimson sky would hurt the most, that pure, unadulterated rage, would be the most painful shade to scream at you; you would think that, and you would be wrong. Pure rage can be acclimatised to. You get used to it. You see the red sky for long enough and slowly you begin to forget that it can be blue. That it should be blue.
Every story ever told really happened.
Stories are where memories go when they’re forgotten.If you've got eyes and ears in the right places, you're likely to come across rumours of a man who will find these memories.He’ll go off a-hunting, foraging for the stories you’ve forgotten.I bring them home and show the world, distilling them into pretty little glass vials for you to peruse the wonders of the cosmos.Take a look. Have your pick.
If you’d like to keep up to date with the preparation of new brews, let me know and I’ll be in touch. As a thank you, I'll send over a copy of Frozen Summer: Stories From the Dark and Twisted Crevices of the Universe!
About Me
Hey, I’m Ajinkya. I pull stories from the dark and twisted crevices of my mind to entertain and enthral and wander its greener tropics for less horrifying pieces.Basically, speculative and gothic fiction with smatterings of fluff and angst thrown in for good measure in true innocently macabre fashion. I probably spend more time thinking about stories than I do writing them, and even more time daydreaming about projects I haven't even begun yet.I am an award-nominated writer, and have written short stories, collections, screenplays, comics, and am working on several longer works at the moment, including a full length novel and a feature film! You can find a complete archive here.I attempt a stab at the mortifying ordeal of being known here, on Tumblr, Instagram, and Ko-fi. To keep up with my work, subscribe to my newsletter and follow me on these platforms.As a little thank you, I'll send over a copy of I'll send over a copy of Frozen Summer: Stories From the Dark and Twisted Crevices of the Universe if you do!
Writing
I am a Goodreads-recognised author, an Odd Directions Featured Writer, and a Medium Top Writer. I have been published in Creepy Pod, The Junction, The Ascent, Lit Up, The Writing Cooperative, and more.Frozen Summer: Stories From the Dark and Twisted Crevices of the Universe is a collated edition of speculative horror which I send to every single subscriber as a thank you!For all my other work, click below.
Due North
Fantasy · Slice of Life
Water horses, sentient houses, disappearing cats, grave whisperers, semi-dead grave robbers, minotaurs, bearotaurs, satyrs, dryads, sirens, and more! Slice-of-life meets fantasy to bring you the secretive, wondrous, and oddity-rich town of Due North.
Frozen Summer
Stories from the dark and twisted crevices of the universe
Gothic · Sci-Fi · Slipstream
“When hell freezes over” is supposed to be a terrifying conditional. The last straw. The final stand. The second before everything goes to shit.But hell freezes over quite often. I’ve seen it happen. I’ve made it happen.What you should be afraid of is summer being iced out. The sun blinks blue, trees shed in one fell swoop with leaves shattering on impact, and lakes become aquatic prisons for anyone unfortunate enough to have been taking a dip. When summer freezes, then plunges further still, is when you should run.Drop everything, turn around, and run. Don’t look back, don’t blink, don’t stop. Run until you can’t possibly put another foot forward, until the ground gives out from beneath you, then run some more.Beware the Frozen Summer and the horrors it brings.
In the Eye of the Beholder and Other Short Stories
Stories pulled from the darkest and most twisted recesses of the mind. They certainly have no business existing in the realm of reality, but the forbidden fruit has always been a tempting mistress.
Here are just a few of the fruits you will taste.Consider if you will, the thoughts of James Augustus McCoy as he goes airborne in a helm of metal, held together by nothing more than nuts and bolts, and is rocketed to well over twenty thousand feet in the sky. His thoughts tread the razor edge between the possibility that it's merely James's psyche feeling especially cruel, or that what he thinks he sees hanging off the edge of the plane is real.Corden chances upon a little girl during his travels who warns him of the Vânător, a being that prowls the dark recesses of the forest come nightfall. Naturally, he brushes this off as local superstition and continues on into the forest, heading for the next town. But night is coming and all superstitions have an origin...Aditya Singh is killed. Shot by his own driver, with his husband taken as collateral. But matters don't end there. He wakes up again and again, reliving his pain, his death, through the eyes of someone else associated with his murder.Humans are plucked from their homes and reprogrammed to be killers operating at the discretion of their handlers and the manilla folders that hit their desks. One killer is sent to her home, tasked with taking care of her own husband and child. But instinct is a unique thing and the brain a powerful force.Children have overactive imaginations. They see things that aren't there, hear noises that have no source. But sometimes, they're right. Don't look out on the highway at night.
Innocently Macabre Presents:
Micro Monday
Start your week off right: a micro to flash length piece delivered right to your inbox, every other Monday.
My writing is entirely reader-supported, so I'd be thrilled if you sign up as a paid member and help ensure its continued existence!You'll get early access posts, exclusive fiction, and even be able to sway future production!
Innocently Macabre Presents:
Micro Monday
Start your week off right: a micro to flash length piece delivered right to your inbox, every other Monday.
My writing is entirely reader-supported, so I'd be thrilled if you sign up as a paid member and help ensure its continued existence!Annnnnd I may or may not slip a couple of for-your-eyes-only book bundles under the table as a little thanks ;) You also get access to a constantly-added-to host of stories and scripts and bundles!
Sign up and snag yourself a free copy of Frozen Summer, a speculative horror novel!
My writing is entirely reader-supported, so I'd be thrilled if you sign up as a paid member and help ensure its continued existence!Annnnnd I may or may not slip a couple of for-your-eyes-only book bundles under the table as a little thanks ;) You also get access to a constantly-added-to host of stories and scripts and bundles!
Sign up and snag yourself a free copy of Frozen Summer, a speculative horror novel!
My writing is entirely reader-supported, so I'd be thrilled if you sign up as a paid member and help ensure its continued existence!You'll get early access posts, exclusive fiction, and even be able to sway future production!
Sign up for a streamlined, curated feed of the things I've written, and never miss a single piece!
My writing is entirely reader-supported, so I'd be thrilled if you sign up as a paid member and help ensure its continued existence!You'll get early access posts, exclusive fiction, and even be able to sway future production!
Sign up for a streamlined, curated feed of the things I've written, and never miss a single piece!
My writing is entirely reader-supported, so I'd be thrilled if you sign up as a paid member and help ensure its continued existence!You'll get early access posts, exclusive fiction, and even be able to sway future production!
Check your inbox!
I've sent you a link that'll take you to your exclusive copy of Frozen Summer. I hope you like it, and if you do, I hope you'll consider supporting my writing!My writing is entirely reader-supported, so I'd be thrilled if you sign up as a paid member and help ensure its continued existence!Annnnnd I may or may not slip a couple of for-your-eyes-only book bundles under the table as a little thanks ;) You also get access to a constantly-added-to host of stories and scripts and bundles!
Story Index
Now They Call Me the Plague
Gothic · Historical Fiction · Fantasy
As the fright death sweeps the land, leaving a trail of lifeless sacrifices, a Dream desperately claws their way back to the Dreaming, having spent eternity trapped in the conscious realm.The infestation’s merciless wake piques Trance’s macabre curiosity, spurred forth by his discovery of a ship that sails across the tumultuous currents of Nightmares and Dreams. They drag Eda, their retired-from-the-seas best friend, along with them as they set sail on the adventures of multiple lifetimes, unwittingly getting themselves irreversibly entwined with fates and forces far beyond their comprehension.Now They Call me the Plague is gothic historical fiction set against the backdrop of the golden age of piracy. All that remains to be seen is how many more will fall at the altar of an unforgiving death.
Anna, Version One • 22-page short horror story
Frozen Summer • collection of gothic and speculative fiction
In the Eye of the Beholder and Other Short Stories • SFF short story collection
In the Eye of the Beholder • 22-page short horror story
Within and Without • 11-page speculative horror-thriller
Due North Volume One • multi-part slice-of-life fantasy
Terms and Conditions Apply • comedy • Micro Monday #6
[Early Access] Terms and Conditions Apply • comedy • Micro Monday #6
Victor• body horror • Micro Monday #5[Early Access]
Victor• body horror • Micro Monday #5Incarnadine • horror • personal favourite
Clairvoyance • literary fiction • Micro Monday #4
[Early Access] Clairvoyance • literary fiction • Micro Monday #4
Purple • surreal • audio
Purple • surreal • Micro Monday #3
[Early Access] Purple • surreal • Micro Monday #3
They Bring Me Flowers • literary fiction • Micro Monday #2
To Wish Upon a Cerulean Blue • fantasy • Micro Monday #1
Ides of the Forge • historical romance • Ides of March silliness
All That Glitters • literary flash fiction
there once was a man from Nantucket • comedy
Scenes From Imagined Stories № 6 • comedy
Batter Up • romantic comedy
Into the Red Horizon • horror/dark fantasy • audio
Dorks out of Death • comedy • one-act script
Scenes From Imagined Stories № 5 • comedy
New Zeus on the Block • Greek myth comedy
Scenes From Imagined Stories № 4 • romance
Potato-Coloured Photos and Egyptian Curses • What Do I Do With This Information? • 1
We Were Going to Steal Time • tragedy
Tale as Old as Time • romance
Tale as Old as Time • Early Access! • romance
Someone Has to Leave First • tragedy
Someone Has to Leave First • Early Access! • tragedy
Reminders to Help Out Your Supernatural Friends • Early Access! • comedy
An Eternity Will Have Passed • there's a certain thrill to it all • Scenes From Imagined Stories № 3
Forecast • horror flash fiction • Scenes From Imagined Stories № 2
The Pickwick Papers • Scenes From Imagined Stories № 1
Through the Looking Glass • surreal
A Portrait of Power • Verbal Portraits № 1
Stuck • horror
The Sound of Stone • horror
A Flicker • horror
Due North Part 6 • slice-of-life meets fantasy
Due North Part 5 • slice-of-life meets fantasy
Due North Part 4 • slice-of-life meets fantasy
Due North Part 3 • slice-of-life meets fantasy
Due North Part 2 • slice-of-life meets fantasy
Due North Part 1 • slice-of-life meets fantasy
Due North Part 0 • slice-of-life meets fantasy
Within and Without • speculative horror-thriller
A Wilde Rendezvous • fluff
Set Sail on the Ghost Pirate Cruise • choose-your-own-adventure-style story with Geoffrey Golden
Destroy a Cursed 1969 Camaro • choose-your-own-adventure-style story with Geoffrey Golden
Stay on the Beaten Path • horror
The Edge • thriller
In the Eye of the Beholder Part 5 • horror
In the Eye of the Beholder Part 4 • horror
In the Eye of the Beholder Part 3 • horror
In the Eye of the Beholder Part 2 • horror
In the Eye of the Beholder Part 1 • horror
Reverberation • thriller
Airborne Nightmare • horror
But a Moment • feel good
Three Rooms Down • thriller
Something "Off" • horror
Ere the Set of Dusk • horror
Five Years Dead • horror
A-24 • horror
Russian Roulette • thriller
The Light • fantasy
Flying Sparks, Reapers, and Death • fantasy
Streetlights Shattering on Essex Street • fantasy
The One Who Follows • horror
The Crescent of Fools and Forgotten Time
Lucille Carmine is not one to relinquish her hold on someone once her wicked talons have sunk into them, as Jayce all too painfully learns once more. He’s pulled into her employ again, Lott jumping in after his best friend, tasked - under extreme duress, of course - to retrieve The Liminality Paradox.Previously thought to have been nothing more than a bedtime story, Jayce and Lott find themselves unwillingly heading to The Crescent of Fools and Forgotten Time, right into the heart of The Fool’s domain, a place where time and space lose all meaning, where everything that has ever happened is happening all at once and where nothing ever happens all the same. A place where the ends of the universe could be nothing more than a hop, skip, and a jump away, but the five feet in front of you could stretch out to infinity and beyond. A place where the insane rule sovereign and the sane are grinded to a dust, folded into the ripples of the Crescent.All to steal an artifact of untold power for one of the most dangerous overlords of the criminal world, and to lay even more unchecked power at her feet for her to abuse.
Dragons
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Exclusive fiction
Discounted commissions
Gothic Ruins
£7
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Early access
Exclusive fiction
Discounted commissions
Request deep dives into any aspect of your choosing - characters, worldbuilding, side plots, whatever!
Two months free when you sign up for a year
New members area coming soon!
The Great Big Massive Magazine List for Writers
Being a short fiction writer is hard. We painstakingly craft entire narratives, distilled to perfection, and when we're finally ready to publish...we slam face-first into a brick wall.Rejections are par for the course, but we can't even get rejections if we don't know where to submit. There are so many wonderful magazines out there who are just waiting to read our work, but finding them can be difficult.As a short fiction writer myself, I know the pain well. So, I decided to try and help. I've compiled a list of 140 magazines and counting, with information on the genres they accept, if they accept excerpts from longer works, word count limit, pay scale, simultaneous/republished/multiple acceptance status, and their response timeframes.
Due North Volume One
Water horses, sentient houses, disappearing cats, grave whisperers, semi-dead grave robbers, minotaurs, bearotaurs, satyrs, dryads, sirens, and more! Slice-of-life meets fantasy to bring you the secretive, wondrous, and oddity-rich town of Due North.PDF | ePUB | MOBI
Due North Volume One
Anna, Version One
Before we begin, I should make it clear that this story takes place in the early 1960s, when aeroplane rules were a lot laxer. One could brandish a cigar, or holster a pistol, or even brandish a cigar while holstering a pistol. Now, consider if you will, the thoughts of one James Augustus McCoy, as he goes airborne in a helm of metal, held together by nothing more than nuts and bolts, and is rocketed to well over twenty thousand feet in the sky, at speeds faster than any other passenger vehicle can even attempt. His nightmare treads the razor edge between the possibility that it’s merely James’ psyche feeling especially cruel, or that what he thinks he sees hanging off the edge of the plane is real.Why £0.86 and not a full pound? Because my sense of humour is in need of serious medical attention and I think this would be funny.You can read an excerpt here.
In the Eye of the Beholder
Aditya Singh and his husband are killed. Writhing in the pain from his own wound and his husband's screams, Aditya melts into death's welcoming embrace, desperate to never have to tolerate anything that vile ever again.
Unfortunately, powerful people have something else in mind. Aditya saw something he wasn't meant to - something no one was meant to. Wrong place, wrong time, but missteps cannot go unpunished.