FicStack Curation #2

Photo by Waldemar Brandt on Unsplash

Welcome to the first curation post for November.

FicStack curators have been trawling through Substack and have found the following gems for your reading pleasure this week.

Be sure to give the featured authors a read, a like or two, drop them a comment, and maybe give them a restack.

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Connor Mancuso Connor Mancuso Writes

For my recommendations I was looking for cosmic form that unsettled and beat my core. Something that made me re-sync the realms of reality and the laws of geometry, deeply philosophical horror that makes you think are we really alone out here.

• "It looks Back" by Shawn Brooks, Emberwood Horror - This piece by Shawn Brooks is a perfect depiction of cosmic horror, and, more importantly, Lovecraftian horror. It lulls you into a false sense of security before cascading downwards into madness, like going up the hill before a rollercoaster’s drop. Shawn perfectly emulates a deep sense of dread and oncoming terror in this piece.

• “Hell’s Wheel” by Tenebris Noctis, Shamanic Singularity Series - Cosmic horror meets vivid descriptive imagery. Tenebris, in this short story entitled Hells Wheel, does exactly that; building the foreground with stunning vocabulary and imagery, only to plunge you into complete cosmic pandemonium, horror, and dread before the final word.

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Inga Jones Thriller Tips for Writers

I’ve looked through many short stories published on Substack until I found characters who made me stop scrolling. Both of these stories have protagonists who make very different decisions. The glimpse into their lives will leave you wanting more.

• “Bark” by Chelsea Emerick - I like how this story starts out with a minor, mundane conflict, which allows the protagonist to exercise her agency and solve the problem. We learn a lot about her and about her neighbor, even though he only has a few lines in this story.

• “Johnnie” by McKenna Ryan, Dream Girl - Gorgeous character exploration in just a few words. This dark protagonist’s story pulls the readers in and doesn’t let go.

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Wendy Russell Sass&Sage

Apparently, I’m in my “monsters need therapy too” era. Both of these stories dive into love that’s messy, witty, and just a little bit dangerous — the kind that lingers like smoke long after you close the tab.

• “Let Me Be Your Villain - Chapter 1” by Ivy Bard, Words and Brushstrokes - What happens to stories left unfinished, and the characters trapped inside them? Ivy Bard’s The Library of All Things Never Written is a cosy, queer fantasy that turns heartbreak into humour as a ghost librarian and an abandoned villain bicker, banter, and search for meaning among unwritten books. Smart, funny, and quietly moving — a love letter to the stories we never let go of.

• “The Gaze” by Love PNR Kestral Caim, Love Paranormal Romance - Maren is my kind of heroine — she doesn’t swoon; she strategises, swears, and stirs her coffee like it’s a declaration of war. Evander might be immortal, but she’s the one who knows how to make him bleed. Kestral Caim’s serial delivers paranormal romance spiked with wit, scars, and dangerous chemistry.

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Sandolore Sykes In the Inversion Field

I’m hunting for writers with grab-you-by-the-collar voices. I had to arm-wrestle another curator just to land the first one. Seriously, he’s suddenly everywhere. Where did this guy even come from?

• “Case One: A Haunting In Silver Lake” by Alex Shifman, Vibes Detective Agency - Everybody’s talking about Alex Shifman—you walk outside and it’s Shifman, Shifman, Shifman. Tight rhythm, humoristic propulsion—the kind that grabs your hand and pulls you into a sprint, and suddenly you’re panting alongside his semi-asthmatic protagonist. I haven’t laughed out loud like this since trying to read David Sedaris in public. There’s a line about getting coffee outside the Scientology Center that made me snort mine through my nose. This is the guy to be reading right now.

• “The Office of Future Plans” by Kyle R Seibel, Little Engines - As soon as you hit this story, you realize you’ve just freebased the real stuff. You’re floating. You’re reading the corporate logos in the lobby. You keep trying to badge up to the second floor, but the whole bureaucracy is beached, and the Kafka-castle HR portal situation is giving you a headache. And just when you don’t think you’re going to make it through the work week, here comes the fiesta: the microwave pepperonis curling up into tiny meat tacos while Lieutenant Marina places them on people’s tongues like communion wafers. This is how you know you’re in the right place.

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Klarr Nett Terms of Engagement

I’ve been slightly short on time these past few weeks and haven’t been able to parse as much content as I would have liked. In my defence, I have a somewhat trickier job as someone scouting for serial fiction. I aim to review the first three chapters of a story before making a decision. I’ve come across several serials with great potential that I hope to recommend in the future, and I’ve provided their authors with a bit of feedback on what, in my humble opinion, could best emphasise their stories’ strengths. I promise to stay engaged with these and see how they progress.

• “What Lives in the Static” by Dev Hendry, What Lives in the Static - is a somewhat off-the-wall serial fiction that opens with Cass Sullivan, a 28-year-old vlogger with ADHD and maybe a dash of psychosis, taking an ill-advised detour off a California highway to explore an abandoned mid-century housing development. Naturally, she immediately loses cell reception and spots something that looks human but moves counter to the laws of physics. The events themselves unfold at a measured pace, but Cass’s narration never gives you a second to zone out. Her voice is sharp, self-aware, and downright hilarious, laced with detached, casual cynicism that this reader greatly appreciates (for example, Cass’s silent conversation with her imaginary passenger made me laugh out loud and also made me feel strangely seen). The prose walks a fine line between literary and genuinely entertaining, not an easy balance to strike.

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Coral Evermore Tales from a Wilted Rose

Whenever I’m around, you know that the spooky season is all year round, baby!! So, for this curation round up I have two stories for you that do not hold back whatsoever on the horror front. Expect to be disgusted, disturbed, and downright impressed by the immersive storytelling in these picks.

• “Fed to Life” by Spencer DW, Cult of Forbidden Horrors - This story had me hooked from start to finish with the protagonist’s descent into madness caused by the menacing horror of a shower drain. If that sounds like it shouldn’t scare you, then after you finish reading this story, you will realize how truly mistaken you were. This is chock full of descriptive metaphors that convey nuance through both lush and simplistic forms. Be prepared for some intense body horror, cosmic dread, and a justified fear of shower drains.

• “And the Thunder Rolls” by Hog Belly, Hog Belly Horror - Yet another story not meant for the squeamish, Hog Belly Horror lives up to his name by bringing us an absolutely brutal tale centering on a main character I quite honestly found rather deplorable. There is an artistry to it, however, in making you feel sympathy for this truly awful husband by putting him through the worst thing imaginable that no one deserves—not even him. Not to mention, its heart wrenching ending will leave you scarred.

Levi Edwards The Hermit Herald

This week’s selections all circle around change — the kind that arrives slowly like weather, or suddenly like fire at the door. First, a poem that mourns a landscape remembered and reshaped beyond recognition. Then, a tale of Gaulish warriors on the Italian coast, laughing and boasting on the eve of decisions that will alter nations. And finally, the uprising in York against Tostig Godwinson, where loyalty, fear, and pride collide in smoke and blade. Each piece, in its own way, asks what we hold onto when the world shifts beneath our feet.

• “ELEGY ON THE RELENTLESS MARCH OF CONSEQUENCE AND TIME” by David Rizzo - This poem moves through wildflower meadows, monarch groves, and hayfield summers, only to show what has been slowly erased in their place. It’s mourning, but not hopeless; a quiet invitation to remember, grieve, and rebuild meaning with open eyes.

• “Unconquered Blood of Kings” by M.S. Olney - A vivid retelling of the uprising in York against Earl Tostig. Smoke, steel, and shifting loyalties at the edge of a kingdom about to fracture. This is not a heroic saga but the quiet tragedy of men bound by duty to failing lords, and the terrifying momentum of a crowd once it has found blood. It captures the moment before England’s fate breaks open — when a single choice tips history toward 1066.

• “The Ashes of Rome” by Walt Shuler, Blackspire - Set among the Senones on the Italian coast, this story reads like a fireside tale told by warriors who are tired of wandering but not yet tamed. It’s full of rough humor, comradeship, and the early sparks of conflict that will soon shape nations — the calm before a march to war. What makes it compelling isn’t just the historical detail, but the way the characters feel alive, joking, boasting, hesitating — men on the edge of something larger than themselves.

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FicStack curators have their own process for finding posts for curation. Please do not message them or drop links to your posts below. They will be deleted, and your name will be added to ‘The List’.

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