The audio production of my horror story Uncle Pumpkin’s Tongue has been released on S20E5 of The NoSleep Podcast. It’s the story of a Halloween carnival ride with a sinister secret.
The story starts around 19:05.
Content warning: sexual harassment
In addition to publishing my dark sci-fi story Set For Life, Radon Journal dug deep into my background to come up with some great interview questions covering a wide range of topics, from writing to game technology patents to anti-procrastination browser extensions, and more. You can read the interview here.
Warren talks about instrumental horror music playlists, convergence of video game tech and writing, PS5 patents, anti-procrastination browser extensions, the New Jersey to horror pipeline, and film/TV writing.
My non-horror short story Firefly has been published in the Fall 2023 issue of The Remington Review. It’s a simple story about a young girl who captures a firefly in the back yard to help cheer up her ailing sister.
Content warning: terminal illness of a childMissy caught the firefly in mid-air, cupping her hands around it to form a tiny, dark cave. She could feel the insect’s delicate footsteps tickling her skin as it wandered across her palm, searching for a way out.
“Got you!” she whispered, victorious.
My sci-fi horror story The Door Is Open has been published in Issue 017 of Dark Matter Magazine. You can read it online for free here.
It’s hard to describe the story without spoiling it, so let’s just say: never open a door that can’t be closed. You never know who—or what—might slip through.
Content warning: miscarriage (mentioned), suicide
My short (non-horror) story Firefly has been published by Flora Fiction. It’s a simple story about a young girl who captures a firefly in the back yard to help cheer up her ailing sister.
Content warning: terminal illness of a childMissy caught the firefly in mid-air, cupping her hands around it to form a tiny, dark cave. She could feel the insect’s delicate footsteps tickling her skin as it wandered across her palm, searching for a way out.
“Got you!” she whispered, victorious.
My dystopian sci-fi story Set For Life has been published in Issue 5 of Radon Journal. The story is about a man’s first day on the job picking up bodies for Syntech and the disturbing secret about where they come from.
My sci-fi body horror drabble Only We has been published in Martian Magazine. It’s the story of a couple who wanted grow closer to each other … but not that close.
His hand caresses my cheek. His cheek. Our cheek.
There is no he anymore. There is no me. There is only us. Only we.
My sci-fi drabble We Need To Talk has been published by Martian Magazine. It’s a story about what happens when your AI assistant knows you better than you know yourself.
I don’t know how to tell him.
I’m just an AI assistant. I order cigarettes when he runs out. I hail him a cab when he’s drunk. I don’t do… this.
The audio production of my weird horror story Molehills has been released by Chilling Tales For Dark Nights. It’s a longer version of my story The Man Who Ate The Road, originally published in Haven Spec.
When a woman tries to return home after visiting her abusive father, she discovers that the road is closed … but just for her.
Content warning: child abuse (implied)
My story is the first in the episode, starting around the 3:50 mark.
My coming-of-age horror story Many Deaths Before Dying has been published in Issue 10 of Underland Arcana. When a giant, silvery puddle appears in the field where they play, four boys encounter an inexplicable horror that will change them forever.
“We need to get help,” I said quietly. But I didn’t move. I felt rooted in place, as if my feet had bonded to the Earth’s crust. I was frozen solid, utterly paralyzed with fear. Shah hadn’t just fallen into the puddle. He had been pulled.
Warren Benedetto 