Spooktober: Week One
Horror | Micro Fiction | Round Up
This month I’m doing #Spooktober over on Instagram. I’ve challenged myself to share a microfiction every day. I’m also sharing the highlights of the week in my Friday Fiction email for you to enjoy, also.
Prey
“Stop hogging the duvet,”I hissed.
I pulled it close to me and rolled over, again and again until I was cocooned.
Feeling warm and cosy, I drifted back off, waking up only when there were eight eyes staring at me.
Somewhere behind me, a fly buzzed.
“Help,” I whimpered.
Spectre
Again?! I watched the spider scurry across the floor. Picking up the book, I thought, fuck it. Unlucky.
I slammed it down on the quick bastard. Slap.
I picked the book up, looking for a scene of devastation. Nothing.
The spider reappeared, scurried towards me and passed through my foot.
Roommate
I daren’t blink. It slides back into the frame, smiling and straightening as mother approaches.
“Oooh,” she says. “It’s the painting I ordered. Isn’t it lovely?”
“Not really,” I say. The figure stares at me, its skin bubbling under the paint.
Mother glares. “Behave yourself. It’s going in your bedroom.”
Red Ned
“It’s sleep paralysis, Miss Pine,” the doctor says. “First we have to identify the triggers that might be causing this.”
I think of red Ned and freeze in the seat.
“The good news is, sleep paralysis can’t hurt you, not really,” he says, not noticing my bloodied ear sans lobe.
Hollow
“Put your hand in there. I dare ya.”
Halfway through a Picasso scream, the hole in the trunk gaped.
“What’s it worth?” I asked.
“My bus fare.”
I stuck my hand in. It felt hollow. Dead. It tickled.
“Well?”
“Nothing.”
I lied. When it was her turn, I ran away.
#Spooktober from around Instagram.
Here is The New Necromancer by Nissa Harlow The rest of the story is available here.
Other news:
The Ring, my suspenseful crime thriller set against a supernatural backdrop of Victorian Liverpool did not make it to the final of the Kindle Storyteller Contest this year. Thank you for all of your support with your reviews and ratings. Some of the finalists have thousands of reviews, so I’ll try again when I have that many. Maybe in 10 years or so.
This is good news though, because now I can focus on a new book release. No, it’s not Muldoon (that’s 2026) BUT it is a a horror book. It’s going to be my first short story collection going on sale in December 2025. It will be available on all of the e-book and physical book platforms. I’m excited about it and I can’t wait to show you a collection featuring some Gothic tales you haven’t read before. Stay tuned!
The Muldoon Book Club returns on Sunday 19th October 2025. This goes out in my Sunday post, and we’ll be exploring Victorian Liverpool before the world changed forever. The book club newsletters are for paid subscribers, but those of you who have a copy of The Ring are entitled to a comp subscription. Just let me know and I’ll sign you up!
Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed any of these microfictions, be sure to let me know with a like, share or a comment so others can discover my work, too.
If you really like my fiction, I currently have three novels out in the world. You can see them here.
Great wee stories Hanna. Good luck with the short story collection 👍🏼
These are brilliant - so much packed into a small package.