Skip to content
Bones & Ballads, Short Story Collection. A.L. Doyle, A.R. Gray, Alicia Yamashita, K.M. McKenna, Laura Elisa, Nicole Zupp, Salems, Topher Davis.

Bones & Ballads

  • Eight authors
  • Eight spooky stories
  • Enter if you dare

  • What Lurks Inside, by A.L. Doyle

    After finding herself captured, Sel tells her story to the guards who've imprisoned her in an attempt to appease the monster inside her for as long as she can.

    A.L. Doyle

    A.L. Doyle

    A.L. Doyle lives in Texas with her husband, their daughter, and their dog. From a young age, she enjoyed escaping into her imagination to find worlds of magic and adventure. She writes poetry and fantasy stories that are a little dark but tinged with stubborn hope. Her goal is to create worlds full of magic and intrigue that help people feel seen, understood, and develop empathy for the beautiful souls that inhabit our world.

  • A Little Odd, by A.R. Gray

    Sunny Fields has always been a little odd. Odd in a way that makes her question her own reality. Making a fresh start, she gets a job as the night shift clerk at a small gas station in the middle of nowhere. Her customers happen to be just as odd and possibly a little... monstrous, yet utterly kind. Sunny is convinced her mind is playing tricks on her. That the handsome boy with unusual purple eyes couldn't possibly have a tail. Secrets reveal themselves and Sunny learns that sometimes, odd can be a good thing.

    A.R. Gray

    A.R. Gray

    A.R. Gray is a stay-at-home mom from Central Texas who writes delicious romance across multiple genres, highlighting the nitty gritty that life brings our way. Balancing tough themes with humor, snark, and a lot of love. She grew up with a book in her hand and stories constantly churning in her mind. Inspired by authors like Sarah Dessen, Scott Westerfeld, and Suzanne Collins, it's only natural that her love for writing would expand into more than one genre.

  • I Got the End of the World on Video, by K.M. McKenna

    When the world mysteriously ends overnight, a lonely man must learn to survive as quite possibly the last person on Earth.

    K.M. McKenna

    K.M. McKenna is a proud indie author of sci-fi and fantasy, based in Colorado. They love going on real life, magical quests with the people that make their life worth living. And drinking coffee. They're 21 years old, publishing their debut novel, The Gilly-Willy, earlier this year. Their pronouns are they/them and he/him.

  • Alicia Yamashita

    Alicia Yamashita

    Alicia Yamashita

    Alicia Yamashita is a dark fantasy author. When she's not writing, you can probably find her watching a gothic film or pretending she lives inside one of her stories while playing a Soulsborne game.

  • Nicole Zupp

    Nicole Zupp

    Nicole Zupp

    Nicole Zupp is a grimdark fantasy author writing her debut novel featuring knights, swamps, and skeletons wielding swords. She enjoys exploring themes of life and death, hubris, and moral decay.

  • Make a wish, by Salems

    There is a lake deep in dark forest. A monster hiding in shadows. One will make any wish come true. One will make any nightmare come true. Trick is, you don’t know which one is which and you don’t know the price for it either. Only way how to find out is to enter. Do you dare? or are you too scared?

    Salems

    Salems

    Salems is Slovakia baby author working on her debut novel featuring demons, Underworld and the Devil. You can find her lighting candles, spending time with her cats, playing video games and almost always listening to music.

  • The Final Tale Around the Campfire, by Topher Davis

    Zac just wanted a low-key weekend in the woods with his closest friends, a chance to help Darren move on from heartbreak, steal a few quiet moments, and leave the real world behind for a few days. But when Blake discovers the secret Zac has been keeping, a petty act of jealousy sends the group tumbling off the edge of a cliff and into a place that should not exist. The Valley of Headless Men has swallowed explorers for over a hundred years, and the answer to why is far worse than any legend suggested.

    Topher Davis

    Topher Davis

    Topher Davis is a horror and science fiction author whose love of the genre was forged in late-night Goosebumps reads, slasher movie marathons, and survival horror gaming sessions. A successful engineer, husband, father, and follower of Christ, he writes fiction born from real-world darkness and shaped by hard-won hope. After losing his father—with whom he shared an unbreakable bond over all things horror—Topher channels his grief and passion into stories that don't shy away from life's hardest truths. His short story “The Final Tale Around the Campfire” will be available October 20th 2026, and his debut novel The Gate to Gehenna will be submitted to agents in Fall 2026. When he's not writing, you'll find him spending time with his wife and their two kids, playing video games, or reading a good book.