Underground Bookshelf

Native American Heritage Month, celebrated each November, honors the knowledge, traditions, languages, beliefs, and stories of Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and affiliated Island communities. Indigenous communities in the Americas have been fighting for generations to preserve their peoples and identities in the face of colonization, broken treaties, residential schools, and other injustices. Native American Heritage Month helps to raise awareness of the continued struggles that Indigenous communities face, support Native people reconnecting with their cultures and languages, and brings visibility to the continued presence of Native and First Nations peoples.

Genre: Horror (supernatural, paranormal)

Thank you to everyone who participated in this month's Flash Fiction and Poetry Contest! First, I'd like to congratulate everyone on a job well-done. The stories and poems submitted this month were each spooky, creepy, or otherwise fitting of the prompt. There really are no losers and I thoroughly enjoyed reading each and every submission.

October is Spina Bifida Awareness Month! The most common permanently disabling birth defect, spina bifida occurs in the first 28 days of pregnancy. It impacts each individual differently depending on the location it develops on the spine and its size. There are many types of spina bifida, the most common of which are: spina bifida occulta, meningocele, and myelomeningocele. World Spina Bifida Day is celebrated annually on October 25th. Many celebrate by wearing teal on this day. Learn more about spina bifida or find a support association near you using the links below. Scroll down to find a collection of books with spina bifida representation.

In a forest down the river,

Chapter 1: Lilia's Quest

Pour One for the Devil is a Gothic novella written by Theodore C. Van Alst, Jr. A student of the Gullah language and a lecturer on indigenous American history, Dr. Van Vierlans is invited to speak to an historical society on the nature of certain shell circles located on an island off the coast of South Carolina. His host, Miss Lizzie would be at home in the antebellum South, the descendant of wealthy plantation owners. She even expects the three Black, Gullah women she employs as cooks and housekeepers to dress and act in a manner reminiscent of abject servitude. The Gullah women, though they humor her by dressing the part, have commanding presences and speak with confidence. It's an odd environment for Van Vierlans to navigate as a stranger, made worse by the Devil who visits him in his dreams and makes bids for his soul. As he gets deeper into his stay in Miss Lizzie's plantation house, he gets sucked into the house's secrets and caught between these four, strange women and the Devil who wants his soul.

Episode 1: The Celestial Mandate

Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! National Hispanic Heritage Month is recognized in the United States from September 15 - October 15. This period was chosen because several major holidays for a variety of Latin American countries fall within this window.

I finally read The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. In this blog post, I discuss some of my thoughts on the book. Share your own thoughts about this book in the comments (please be respectful). This book deals with difficult mental health topics including suicide. Please keep this in mind as you decide if and when to read the book as well as this essay. Below, are some mental health resources in case you or someone you know are in need of them.

All things spooky, paranormal, supernatural, thriller, horror, or otherwise Halloween. All forms and lengths of flash fiction, short stories and poetry will be accepted as long as the story is under 2,000 words and the content is somehow related to these spooky genres.

Thank you to everyone who participated in this month’s Flash Fiction and Poetry Contest! First, I’d like to congratulate everyone on a job well-done. The stories and poems submitted were each delightful in their own way and all fit perfectly into the theme of Mythology and Folklore. There really are no losers and I thoroughly enjoyed reading such great submissions.