Author: Kayla Bartee

Kayla Bartee is a writer from Tennessee and now lives in New Jersey. At Vanderbilt University, she specialized in both fiction and nonfiction, earning the Merrill Moore scholarship for her memoir writings. She received her MFA in fiction writing from the Columbia University School of the Arts and is currently working on her debut novel. Kayla’s genre interests include speculative fiction focused on race politics, magical realism, and gothic historical fiction.

The Hollows of Black River

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Folks in Ellers Bend knew better than to go near Black River after dark. Especially not near the stretch they called the Hollows. That’s where they found Jeremiah Coulter. His body was slumped against the trunk of an old cypress, his mouth stretched wide in a silent scream, his eyes gouged out—not by any blade, […]

The Last Broadcast

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Jake Carson had hosted Midnight Echoes for five years, a late-night radio show where callers shared ghost stories. Most were fake, some were creepy, but none ever shook him. Until that call. It came in at exactly 3:03 AM—the witching hour. The line crackled with interference, but the voice came through clear. “I’m in your […]

The Whispering House

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Emily had always been drawn to abandoned places. Crumbling hospitals, forgotten asylums, derelict mansions—if it was empty and eerie, she had to explore it. So when she heard rumors about the Victorian house on Eldridge Street, she couldn’t resist. The locals called it The Whispering House. “No one who goes in stays long,” the old […]

When the Stars Fell

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The first time I saw the world in all its ugly was the summer my daddy killed my pig. Each night, a star disappeared from the sky, leaving holes in our universe. One by one, they fell at my feet until the whole sky went dark. Before then, I believed my mother’s hands were a […]