“Mother's Dress” written by Scott Savino

In Season 1, Episode 5 of Scott Savino’s Series of Grave Mistakes, a police officer knocks on a door and is greeted by a man wearing his mother’s dress, a man who has never felt more alive.

► Notice: Everything by Scott Savino contains disturbing or unsettling content. It is the opinion of the Voidspire Audio Archivists he does this knowingly and on purpose. Discretion is always advised. ⚠ S01E05 -- ContentWarnings

He wasn’t sure he heard the knock at first. He was occupied, cleaning up a little mess in the kitchen. But now that the door is open, he’s happy to talk. Radiant, charming, and in no hurry at all, he stands on the threshold in his mother’s featherlight satin dress and her pearls. He wants the officer to understand: the way the fabric caresses instead of covers, the way the air tastes sweeter, the way the world shifts on its axis to make room for him. For his whole life he shrank. Now, at last, he expands.

The dress was a gift, he says. She gave him permission.

But permission can mean a lot of things.

Told in a single breathless monologue, his sermon on liberation is funny, defiant, and genuinely moving. It is a joyful insistence that clothing doesn’t decide who you are, that anyone brave enough to wear what they want deserves to feel free. But somewhere between the lipstick and the pearls, the invitation starts to sound less like an offer. The longer he talks, the clearer it becomes that the officer was never the one asking the questions.

What begins as a darkly comic celebration of self-expression slowly tightens into something far more sinister. It becomes an exploration of identity, expression, freedom, and the difference between becoming who you are and believing you’re entitled to take everything. 

This original short horror story blends psychological horror, dark comedy, domestic dread, and character-driven horror into an unsettling one-voice narrative about authenticity, transformation, and the doors we’re invited to step through.

► Transcript: https://scottsavino.com/mothers-dress

► Written by Scott Savino, writer of LGBTQIA+ horror and weird fiction

----🔗scottsavino.com for archives, audio downloads, and suspicious whispers about his unsettling past. Follow Scott on: Facebook / Instagram / X / Reddit / YouTube / Tumblr / BlueSky / Amazon / Myspace / Discord / Snapchat / TikTok / Wattpad / Quora / ... you can find him everywhere and nowhere in particular. See his latest updates by visiting links.scottsavino.com 

► Expertly narrated by ElevenLab's AI Engine

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Tags: horror podcast, short horror story, queer horror fiction, LGBTQ horror, AI narration, psychological horror, dark comedy horror, comedic horror, monologue horror, dramatic monologue, character study horror, domestic horror, gender expression, gender fluid, gender nonconforming, unreliable narrator, unsettling audio fiction, disturbing fiction, audio short story, horror podcast episode

“Revenance Furlough” written by Scott Savino

In Season 1, Episode 4 of Scott Savino’s Series of Grave Mistakes, a widower keeps his yearly appointment with a government-issued resurrection of his late husband: one night a year, in the barn where they were married.

► Notice: Everything by Scott Savino contains disturbing or unsettling content. It is the opinion of the Voidspire Audio Archivists he does this knowingly and on purpose. Discretion is always advised. ⚠ S01E04 -- ContentWarnings

In 2076, death is no longer quite the end. Through the Neural Archivation Bureau, the departed can be Retrorevived. Their NeuroPrints are uploaded into a synthetic HUSK grown from their own stored tissue for a single evening each year during Federal Retrorevival Week. The government pamphlets call it a Furlough. Most people use theirs once, to say goodbye.

But Zayan has never been very good at goodbyes.

For ten years, Zayan has returned to the old barn where he married Jaxel. He hangs the same lanterns from their wedding night and waits for the man he lost to walk back through the door. This year, something is different. Jaxel remembers things that never happened. He loses time mid-sentence. And the dog-eared pamphlet in Zayan’s hands, unchanged for a decade, has a section for every possible complication except the one that matters most: knowing when to let go.

What begins as a bittersweet and often funny portrait of a marriage that refuses to end slowly unravels into something far darker. It becomes an exploration of grief, denial, guilt, and the comforting illusions we’re willing to pay for so we never have to stop believing.

This original short horror story blends science fiction horror, dystopian satire, psychological dread, and emotional horror into a devastating narrative about memory, love, and the cost of never saying goodbye.

► Transcript: https://scottsavino.com/revenance-furlough

► Written by Scott Savino, writer of LGBTQIA+ horror and weird fiction

----🔗scottsavino.com for archives, audio downloads, and suspicious whispers about his unsettling past. Follow Scott on: Facebook / Instagram / X / Reddit / YouTube / Tumblr / BlueSky / Amazon / Myspace / Discord / Snapchat / TikTok / Wattpad / Quora / ... you can find him everywhere and nowhere in particular. See his latest updates by visiting links.scottsavino.com 

► Expertly narrated by ElevenLab's AI Engine

► Subscribe to the RSS feed for more transmissions

Tags: horror podcast, short horror story, queer horror fiction, LGBTQ horror, AI narration, science fiction horror, sci-fi horror, dystopian horror, psychological horror, grief horror, emotional horror, body horror, techno horror, android horror, speculative fiction, near future fiction, unsettling audio fiction, disturbing fiction, audio short story, horror podcast episode

“The Orchard In-Between” written by Scott Savino

In Season 1, Episode 3 of Scott Savino’s Series of Grave Mistakes, a grieving man desperate to speak with the dead sets out in search of an orchard that exists only in local legend. 

► Notice: Everything by Scott Savino contains disturbing or unsettling content. It is the opinion of the Voidspire Audio Archivists he does this knowingly and on purpose. Discretion is always advised. ⚠ S01E03 -- ContentWarnings

Growing up in Bradenville, everyone knew the story. The Orchard In-Between was one of those local legends passed from generation to generation—a place that supposedly appears only for those desperate enough to seek it. Most dismissed it as folklore. A ghost story. Something children whispered about on playgrounds and forgot when they grew older.

But grief has a way of making impossible things feel reasonable.

After the death of his lifelong best friend, Holden finds himself unable to let go of questions that no longer have answers. As memories, regrets, and old stories begin to intertwine, he becomes increasingly drawn toward a legend he spent his entire life insisting couldn't possibly be real.

What begins as a story about loss and mourning gradually unfolds into something stranger—a quiet exploration of memory, guilt, friendship, and the dangerous hope that some mistakes can still be undone.

This original short horror story blends folk horror, cosmic horror, psychological dread, and emotional horror into a haunting narrative about the stories we inherit, the people we lose, and the lengths we're willing to go for one final conversation.

► Transcript: https://scottsavino.com/the-orchard-in-between

► Written by Scott Savino, writer of LGBTQIA+ horror and weird fiction

----🔗scottsavino.com for archives, audio downloads, and suspicious whispers about his unsettling past. Follow Scott on: Facebook / Instagram / X / Reddit / YouTube / Tumblr / BlueSky / Amazon / Myspace / Discord / Snapchat / TikTok / Wattpad / Quora / ... you can find him everywhere and nowhere in particular. See his latest updates by visiting links.scottsavino.com 

► Expertly narrated by ElevenLab's AI Engine

► Subscribe to the RSS feed for more transmissions

Tags: horror podcast, short horror story, queer horror fiction, weird fiction, AI narration, unsettling audio fiction, folk horror, cosmic horror, psychological horror, grief horror, small town horror, supernatural horror, emotional horror, audio short story, disturbing fiction, LGBTQ horror, horror podcast episode 

"I Put On My Real Face" written by Scott Savino

In Season 1, Episode 2 of Scott Savino’s Series of Grave Mistakes, a woman receives an unmarked package containing the face she’s always wanted.

► Notice: Everything by Scott Savino contains disturbing or unsettling content. It is the opinion of the Voidspire Audio Archivists he does this knowingly and on purpose. Discretion is always advised. ⚠ S01E02 -- ContentWarnings

The mask fits better than expected—soft, warm, and uncannily natural—and wearing it makes moving through the world feel effortless in ways she never imagined. Strangers don’t stare. Conversations come easily. For the first time, she feels seen without feeling exposed.

But small details begin to feel… off. A comment made too casually. A look held a second too long. And the creeping sense that the mask isn’t just changing how others see her—but how she sees them.

What begins as a story about confidence and self-discovery slowly drifts into something far more unsettling, asking what it really means to have a “real” face—and whether authenticity is something you’re born with, or something you learn to wear.

This original short horror story blends psychological unease, identity horror, and subtle body horror into a quiet, creeping narrative where transformation doesn’t arrive all at once—and perhaps once you've put it on, taking the mask off might no longer be an option.

► Transcript: https://scottsavino.com/i-put-on-my-real-face

► Written by Scott Savino, writer of LGBTQIA+ horror and weird fiction

----🔗 Visit scottsavino.com for archives, audio downloads, and suspicious whispers about his unsettling past. Follow Scott on: Facebook / Instagram / X / Reddit / YouTube / Tumblr / BlueSky / Amazon / Myspace / Discord / Snapchat / TikTok / Wattpad / Quora / ... you can find him everywhere and nowhere in particular. See his latest updates by visiting links.scottsavino.com

► Expertly narrated by ElevenLab's AI Engine

► Subscribe to the RSS feed for more transmissions

Tags: horror podcast, short horror story, queer horror fiction, weird fiction, AI narration, unsettling audio fiction, body horror, psychological horror, trans-coded horror, existential dread, audio short story, disturbing fiction, LGBTQ horror, analog horror, horror podcast episode, trans horror, transgender horror

"The Light Beyond" written by Scott Savino

In the premiere episode of Scott Savino’s Series of Grave Mistakes, Season 1, Episode 1, a boy wakes in a dark sewer. He's disoriented, alone, and shin-deep in a black, viscous current beneath a city he doesn’t remember.

► Notice: Everything by Scott Savino contains disturbing or unsettling content. It is the opinion of the Voidspire Audio Archivists he does this knowingly and on purpose. Discretion is always advised. ⚠ S01E01 -- ContentWarnings

Ahead of him, a distant figure—a kid with a flashlight—moves through the tunnels with impossible speed, always just out of reach. As the boy follows, he begins to understand the sewers for what they truly are: the pulsing veins of something ancient that lives beneath the city... and he is not alone down there.

What begins as a desperate search for light becomes a recursive descent through identity, unreality, and something far worse than being lost.

This original short horror story blends cosmic horror, psychological dread, urban paranoia, and body horror into a narrative where every choice bleeds in only one direction.

► Transcript: https://scottsavino.com/the-light-beyond/

► Written by Scott Savino, writer of queer horror and weird fiction

----🔗 Visit scottsavino.com for archives, audio downloads, and suspicious whispers about his unsettling past. Follow Scott on: Facebook / Instagram / X / Reddit / YouTube / Tumblr / BlueSky / Amazon / Myspace / Discord / Snapchat / TikTok / Wattpad / Quora / ... you can find him everywhere and nowhere in particular. See his latest updates by visiting links.scottsavino.com

► Expertly narrated by ElevenLab's AI Engine

► Subscribe to the RSS feed for more transmissions

Tags: horror podcast, short horror story, queer horror fiction, weird fiction, AI narration, unsettling audio fiction, cosmic horror, psychological horror, urban horror, audio short story, disturbing fiction, LGBTQ horror, analog horror, horror podcast episode