Storyfeather Gazette: A hotel held hostage by an uncanny infestation and a sneezing spell with a sinister origin

Published 8 months ago • 2 min read

September 2025 Issue 2

In this issue: Short stories and podcast episodes from the second half of September, and a "did you know" about my spooky-ooky artwork.

Circle format, a three-quarters view of Nila's smiling face from a photo with an oil paint filter applied.

ART CHALLENGE ACCEPTED 🎨

Do his eyes reveal the soul of a monster? Or the soul of a man?

GIF. Duration, 6 seconds. Digital drawing. Depiction of Boris Karloff as Frankenstein’s monster. The face in three-quarters view, eyes looking forward. Text at bottom, “Frankenstein.” Text and image fade to show starting sketch. Video transitions through progress from sketch to final.

I drew this image of Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's monster for an art challenge in October 2023. I plan to participate again this year. You can see more soothing and fun art challenge videos on my Pinterest board here: Nila Takes an Art Challenge.

And of course, I've got stories for you below.

✒️ 🪶 🎙

Greetings! I'm Nila. Every week, I release a new short story and a new podcast episode spanning the genres of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, mythology, fairy tale, fable, and horror.

Whether you're in the mood to read or listen, I've got stories to tell you.

Spell-tember 🙊

✒️ For this month's theme, the many meanings of the word "spell." A spell of strange weather. Spelling words. Casting spells.

🎙 The podcast episodes this issue explore mushrooms and misfortune.

Titles and taglines below. Enjoy!

Short Stories

Digital drawing. An exam chair, like those found in a dentist’s office, seen from a three-quarters view of the right side, tilted slightly back. The arms are covered with metal cuffs, the one at right is open. From under the cuffs rise articulated rods that connect to the ends of a bar. From the bar’s center descend two smaller articulated rods ending in prongs. At left, behind the chair is a machine with two levels of consoles that contain dials and levers. A metal pipe extends up from behind the machine. At upper right is a diagram of a cross section of a human head from forehead to throat, displaying bone and some prominent features with label callouts. A bright yellow light shines from upper right down on the chair. Within this bright light and extending to the diagram is bright orange speckling. Watermark of “Storyfeather” along the seat edge at right. Copyright notice at center right reads, “Copyright © 2025 Nila L. Patel.”

We're in Year 12, the Year of Praxis. The word essentially means "practice." Through the stories, I'm exploring elements of my writing practice.

Each link below leads directly to the story post.

THE MIDNIGHT TO MORNING HOTEL
The staff of a sleeper hotel prepares for a typical quiet night when the unexpected happens...the guests begin to wake up. 🥱

Genre: Fantasy, Mystery

HOW TO STOP A SNEEZING SPELL
After a routine medical procedure, a patient seeks relief from a nonstop sneezing spell, and discovers the unsettling reason for the sneezing. 🤧

Genre: Fantasy

Podcast Episodes

Digital drawing. At center, two little girls. The girl at left stands a head taller, with her right hand on her hip and her left arm around the other girl’s shoulder. She wears a skirt, a quarter-sleeve pullover, a band around her left wrist, and a barrette in her hair. The girl at right holds a book open in her right hand, and touches a page with her left. Sparkles surround the book. She wears a dress with a pleated skirt. The girls smile and gaze at each other. Behind them are lines of script with random letters bordered by a lightning pattern. Watermark of “Storyfeather” along outer edge of book cover.

We're in season 8, the Year of Revisitation. Each episode is a standalone story, but it's inspired by an earlier story.

The text links below go to the Explore page on Storyfeather, where you can listen to the episode, find the links to the episode(s) that inspired it, and more.

Pressing on the Spotify embed image leads to the episode's Spotify page.

MUSHROOMS OF THE UNDERWORLD

The living do not belong in the underworld. But all the paths of escape are horrific, save for one…the mushroom. 🍄

Genre: Mythology

Mushrooms of the Underworld

Sep 19 · Storyfeather

33:19

THE MISFORTUNE OF REPETITION

When Anushka was cursed to only repeat what others said, her only hope of escaping the curse was the only person who seemed to remember the curse. 🙊

Genre: Fantasy

The Misfortune of Repetition

Sep 26 · Storyfeather

41:56

⚕️

I sneezed a few times. “If you have any information that could help, please let me know. I can keep your name out of it. I think the doctor messed up the procedure. And instead of fixing it, he tried to cover it up by sending me to one of his shady buddies.”

The nurse, Diane, frowned. “What?”

I told her about the empty office, the apparatus with the nasal prongs, and the “doctor" with the silent staring bloodshot eyes.

—From "How to Stop a Sneezing Spell"