CoW Ep. 515: Little Wonders 36 – Halloween

[Languorous Lass]

Cast of Wonders 515: Little Wonders 36 – Halloween

• Authors: M. Shaw and Christopher Hawkins
• Narrators: Lisa Hicks and Alex Hofelich
• Host: Cup Jacob
• Audio Producer: Jeremy Carter

“Interlude” is a Cast of Wonders original.
"As I Wait for the Killing Blow" was previously published in Fireside Magazine in June 2021.

Click here to listen to Episode 515

Content Warning:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Body horror, clowns, lack of acceptance

"Interlude" by Christopher Hawkins

“It’s probably just a rash,” my wife said, though I could tell, even then, that she knew it wasn’t true. I could hear it in her voice, the subtle rise at the end that almost made it a question. Her eyes had gone wide, just a little, but the boy never saw it. He was looking up at me with wide eyes of his own, eyes that wanted reassurance. Below them, the tip of his nose burned an angry red, like a pale shoulder left too long in the sun, like a lobster left to boil.

“Probably, yeah,” I told him. “Just don’t scratch at it or you’ll make it worse, okay?”


"As I Wait for the Killing Blow" by M. Shaw

My first feathers came in just a few days after my granddaughter Sima was born. Black as a raven’s, but that doesn’t mean much in the beginning. I could end up black all over, or a stormy grey color, or violet with blue speckles, for all I knew. The turning never brings the exact same form twice, just as no two children need the exact same monster to help them come into adulthood.


Tags:  acceptance, Alex Hofelich, body horror, Christopher Hawkins, clowns, Cup Jacob, families, Halloween, Jeremy Carter, Lisa Hicks, M Shaw, transformation, young adult fiction