A transnational adoptee is haunted by the ghost of his birth mother. Content warnings: Self-harm, suicidal ideation Copyright © 2025 khōréō magazine. Story by Woody Dismukes, edited by Isabella Kestermann. Audio edition read by Sam Cavalcanti, with production by Grayson Norman and casting by Jenelle DeCosta. Subscribe to khōréō at Weightless Books …

"Wax and Full Circles" is the quiet story of a couple navigating life where one of them is a werewolf. Content warnings: Death, animal death, grief Copyright © 2025 khōréō magazine. Story by Stefani Cox, edited by Isabella Kestermann. Audio edition read by Xperience J, with production by Lian Xia Rose and casting by Jenelle DeCosta. Subscribe to kh…

In Japanese-occupied Malaya, an older Chinese immigrant reflects on his arrival to this land in his youth and embarks on a daring rescue. Content warnings: Blood Copyright © 2025 khōréō magazine. Story by Joshua Lim, edited by Zhui Ning Chang. Audio edition read by Sam Yeow, with production by Aaron Kling and casting by Jenelle DeCosta. Subscribe t…

When a lonely mountain is visited by a wonderbird, she learns about the far-away White City, and sets out on an unlikely journey. Copyright © 2025 khōréō magazine. Story by Diana Dima, edited by Danai Christopoulou. Audio edition read by Kat Kourbeti, with casting and production by Jenelle DeCosta. Subscribe to khōréō at Weightless Books or on Patr…

A young paramedic defies a military summons by heading into the forest, where she gradually builds a new home and becomes something more than human. Copyright khōréō magazine 2025. Story by Evgenia Nekrasova, translated from Russian by Marianna Suleymanova and edited by Kanika Agrawal. Audio edition read by Georgia Mckenzie and produced by Grayson …

A father bumbles his way through family domesticities as he makes his way to the airport. His children do not know he is not their father at all, but a stranger with a gruesome past, hard-earned advice, and a primal longing for a stolen life. Copyright khōréō magazine 2025. Story by H.H. Pak, edited by Danai Christopoulou. Audio edition read by Cyr…

A traumatized time traveler keeps traveling back to his past to punish his younger self. Over multiple loops, he learns to forgive himself. Copyright khōréō magazine 2025. Story by Samir Sirk Morató, edited by Danai Christopoulou. Audio edition read by Valentín Ángel Fernández, with casting and production by Jenelle DeCosta. Subscribe to khōréō at …

Dr. Sun, the solo practitioner of an extraordinary medical specialty, is asked to save one last patient by the protege who abandoned her. Copyright khōréō magazine 2025. Story by Shiwei Zhou, edited by Isabella Kestermann. Audio edition read by Ishani Kanetkar and produced by E. Broderick, with casting by Jenelle DeCosta. Subscribe to khōréō at Wei…

An imprisoned god is bound to the trees of an ancient swamp, until one day someone comes looking. Content warnings: Violence, body horror Copyright khōréō magazine 2025. Story by Natasha King, edited by Zhui Ning Chang. Audio edition read by Suzie Rai and produced by Lian Xia Rose, with casting by Jenelle DeCosta. Subscribe to khōréō at Weightless …

In an RPG game, a Black avatar repeatedly attempts to survive an encounter with the police. Content warnings: Violence, death, racism, hateful language, xenophobia Copyright khōréō magazine 2025. Story by KÁNYIN Olorunnisola, edited by Isabella Kestermann. Audio edition read by Isabella Tugman and produced by Lian Xia Rose, with casting by Jenelle …

In 2102, Michi goes undercover as a maid for a hacking job, while in 2030, Ryo sells his appearance to a tech company. Their lives intersect to expose the dirty laundry of neo-feudal futuristic Japanese elite society. Content warnings: Classism, injustice Copyright khōréō magazine 2025. Story by Fumio Takano, translated by Sharni Wilson, edited by …

A storyteller in the distant future shows the reader different vantage points, in hopes they might "see" the web of connections between past and future, reader and story, responsibility and joy. Content warnings: Acknowledgement of genocide, animal harm Copyright khōréō magazine 2025. Story by Rae Mariz, edited by Zhui Ning Chang. Audio edition rea…

In New Hope City, an indentured clone comes out as trans. People have opinions about it. Content warnings: Transphobia (including misgendering), abuse, implied forced servitude, implied climate disaster Copyright khōréō magazine 2025. Story by Leon Tomova, edited by Kanika Agrawal. Audio edition read by Swann Grey and produced by Evalyn Broderick, …

A boy walks into an art exhibit and steals a sex doll on display. It doesn't go anywhere the doll expects. Content warnings: Body horror described in detail Copyright khōréō magazine 2025. Story by Kawai Shen, edited by Kanika Agrawal. Audio edition read by Vera Tan, with casting and production by Jenelle DeCosta. Visit khoreomag.com and follow us …

Hollywood actor Hendrick lives through a curated trauma experience to become Greek enough for a role. But how much will it cost him? Content warnings: Suicide, torture simulation, cultural appropriation Copyright khōréō magazine 2025. Story by Christos Callow Jr, edited by Danai Christopoulou. Audio edition read by Kat Kourbeti and produced by Lian…

Aliens who share distant human ancestors with Earthlings arrive on Earth seeking refuge, and their African lineage run into issues with the US government. Content warnings: Racism, genocide Copyright khōréō magazine 2025. Story by Chris Campbell, edited by Isabella Kestermann. Audio edition read by Mike Castoro and produced by Lian Xia Rose, with c…

Deb is dead set on getting a pedicure, now, damn anyone else's time! But the Universe has its own plans, and she's not the only VIP to walk through the doors of SALON LA BELLE, eager to have her wish granted. Content warnings: Blood, violence, death, racism Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by Cindy Phan, edited by Kanika Agrawal. Audio edition…

Rival figure skaters use dangerous body modification technology to outperform each other in the rink. Content warnings: Racism Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by Claire Jia-Wen, edited by Zhui Ning Chang. Audio edition read by Lauren Choo and produced by Melissa Ren, with casting by Jenelle DeCosta. Visit khoreomag.com and follow us on Twitte…

"A Little Like Sap, a Bit Like a Tree" by Natalia Theodoridou is a story about a transmasc nursing birds, based on true events. Content warnings: Blood, breastfeeding, loss of a child (not shown) Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by Natalia Theodoridou, edited by Danai Christopoulou. Audio edition read by Rue Dickey, with casting and production…

"In the Age of Fire" by Ana Rüsche follows the journey of a boy from Panama to the United States, through the immigration crisis and the climate crisis, to meet creatures from future generations in the caldera of a volcano. Content warnings: Discrimination and violence against immigrants (including children), mentions of death, climate change and e…

Nuran struggles with her mental health and an abusive household. Is escape possible with a voice down the well? Content warnings: Mental Illness, death Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by Esra Kahya, translated from Turkish by Aysel K. Basci, edited by Zhui Ning Chang. Audio edition read by Shakyra Dunn and produced by Lian Xia Rose, with cast…

A Croat refugee comes to terms with his trauma through studying metaphorical maps to his own lostness. Content warnings: Graphic wartime violence and implied torture, death of friends and strangers, hateful language directed at ethnic groups, mental illness Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by Angelisa Fontaine-Wood, edited by Kanika Agrawal. A…

A young scientist struggles to find purpose in life after being left behind by those fleeing a post-apocalyptic Earth. Content warnings: Suicide and suicidal ideation, death, and animal death Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by Madeleine Vigneron, edited by Sachiko Ragosta. Audio edition read by Loretta Chang and produced by Melissa Ren, with …

Someone has to be the best at something, and when a new technology begets a new sport, it may as well be her. Content warnings: Knife violence, blood, death Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by E. A. Xiong, edited by Isabella Kestermann. Audio edition read by Alexa Aguinaldo, with casting and production by Jenelle DeCosta.…

Peace (Filipino, Scorpio, middle child) encounters Leon, a shapeshifter. Leon's inability to commit to one form challenges Peace's concept of identity during a time when her professional reputation and cultural authenticity have come into question. Content warnings: References to ICE/deportation Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by Jason Pangil…

A family vacation in the mountains takes a weird turn when they are forced to choose what to bring and what to leave behind. Content warnings: Violence, war, animal cruelty, death, intergenerational trauma Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by Leslie What, edited by Sachiko Ragosta. Audio edition read by Rebecca Jensen Uesugi and produced by Lia…

A family living under oppression hides their magic in a song passed down the generations. Take Up Thy Mother's Song is a story about when to choose survival and when to fight back, and when these are one and the same. Content warnings: Graphic violence, blood, death of a parent Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by Natasha King, edited by Isabel…

The Wolf is Piroska's sister, and they play with bombs in the backyard of their new home. Is Piroska wolf enough to survive? Content warnings: Threat of violence, imagined bodily injury Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by Varju Izzy, edited by Kanika Agrawal. Audio edition read by Lily Aranyos and produced by Lian Xia Rose, with casting and di…

What happens when you come home and home is in pieces, and everyone is gone? Here, unruly spirits and old memories are dredged up in this act of reclaiming and healing. Content warnings: Depictions of the aftermath of war, indirect mentions of death Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by Anna Bendiy, edited by Zhui Ning Chang. Audio edition read …

After learning the true history of her land, a young woman returns to her isolated hometown to dispel the propaganda they were told. "Child's Tongue" interrogates our silences and complicity in colonial narratives. Content warnings: Sexual harassment, discussion of war crimes, death of a parent, and heavily implied child abuse Copyright khōréō maga…

An endless beam of light arrives and splits the sky. In the turmoil following the resulting global EMP, aging immigrant Demetri's family collapses and he must grapple for a place in a shattered world. Content warnings: References to the death of a child Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by Andrew Najberg, edited by Kanika Agrawal. Audio edition…

"Trees Can Have My Soul; In Return, Let Me Have My Grief" asks what a mother tongue is when survival requires assimilation. Content warnings: Mild body horror, grief, death of a parental figure, racism Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by Rukman Ragas, edited by Isabella Kestermann. Audio edition read by Ahrreby Anandakumar and produced by Lian…

In Armenian folklore, all werewolves are women. Cursed, punished, feared, shunned. But that doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing, does it, dear? Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by Jolie Toomajan, edited by Aleksandra Hill. Audio edition read by Eva Roslin and produced by Melissa Ren, with casting by Jenelle DeCosta. Visit khoreomag.com …

A deluxe riverboat welcomes the galaxy's wealthiest tourists to the drought-ridden Amazon — but no one's seen her mysterious captain. "The Maiden Voyage of the Piranha Belle" is a flash exploration of colonization and survival. Content warnings: Violence/death (offscreen), colonization, implied human trafficking Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Stor…

Come one, come all! Witness the fall of a despot alongside the glorious rebirth of one heavenly beast in "RAIN FIRE CLOUD" by Caroline Hung. Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by Caroline Hung, edited by Zhui Ning Chang. Audio edition read by Sam Yeow, with casting and production by Jenelle DeCosta. Visit khoreomag.com and follow us on Twitter, …

The defiant notes of a bass guitar ignite a city's fight against tyrants through the raw magic of music. Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by Rodrigo Culagovski, edited by Zhui Ning Chang. Audio edition read by Sam Cavalcanti and produced by Lian Xia Rose, with casting by Jenelle DeCosta. Visit khoreomag.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram …

The unsettling arrival of war and how hope in tales pass from generation to generation. Content warnings: War, orphans, implied trauma due to armed conflict, death Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by Tania Chen, edited by Aleksandra Hill. Audio edition read by Michelle Kelly and produced by Melissa Ren, with casting by Jenelle DeCosta. Visit k…

In the near future, the corpse inside the abandoned deep-sea submersible Blue Cube becomes another landmark of the Challenger Deep. Content warning: Mentions of death Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by Prema Arasu, edited by Kanika Agrawal. Audio edition read by Hira Pendleton, with casting and production by Jenelle DeCosta. Visit khoreomag.c…

A ghost of the dead daughter visits the musician every night. Together, they compose their masterpiece of grief. Content warning: Death of a child Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by Sofia Ezdina, edited by Kanika Agrawal. Audio edition read by Olga Tenyakova, with casting and production by Jenelle DeCosta. Visit khoreomag.com and follow us on…

An unnamed narrator takes an unusual journey home. "Homeland in Verse" by Naomi Day explores loss both, individual and diasporic, and what it means to arrive home when home is a concept you've forgotten. Content warning: Intensive body modification Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by Naomi Day, edited by Sachiko Ragosta. Audio edition read by …

A daughter living overseas visits her mother. Their time is counted in recipes, familiar yet growing ever stranger. Content warning: Death Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by Diana Dima, edited by Aleksandra Hill. Audio edition read by Rebecca Jensen Uesugi and produced by Lian Xia Rose, with casting by Jenelle DeCosta. Visit khoreomag.com and…

Years after the terrifying dictator of a small island nation has been deposed, a native bartender tells his side of history to an unsuspecting tourist. Content warning: Mentions of death Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by Desiree Winns, edited by Isabella Kestermann. Audio edition read by Vince Ballou and produced by Lian Xia Rose, with casti…

"When We Make it to Bet-Zelem" is a profound meditation on hope and what it means to seek something that may no longer exist. Content warnings: War, violence, starvation, mass killing, animal death, displaced persons Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by Louis Evans, edited by Zhui Ning Chang. Audio edition read by Louis Evans, with casting and …

Countryboy T loses their home after the deaths of their parents. Luckily, the cats have been in charge all along. Content warnings: Institutionalization, sanism, ableism, family death, animal death Copyright khōréō magazine 2024. Story by [sarah] Cavar, edited by Kanika Agrawal. Audio edition read by [sarah] Cavar and produced by Lian Xia Rose, wit…

Feng, once indentured to the university in return for her studies, accompanies the Professor who bought her debt to the mountains. There, they expect to find a rare and tragic treasure: a dead dragon. This is Part 2 of "Dragonsworn" by L. Chan, the first novelette that khōréō has published. Content warnings: War, violence, death, animal death Copyr…

Feng, once indentured to the university in return for her studies, accompanies the Professor who bought her debt to the mountains. There, they expect to find a rare and tragic treasure: a dead dragon. This is Part 1 of "Dragonsworn" by L. Chan, the first novelette that khōréō has published — stay tuned for Part 2 in two weeks! Content warnings: War…

Ni Darti is determined to curse Herman Willem Daendels, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, for the death of her son. But a shaman cannot curse someone he does not know—and so, Ni Darti embarks on a quest to learn what she can of the colonizer. Content warnings: Death of a son, a mother's grief, colonization, slavery, violence Copyright khōr…

A standalone excerpt from a novel-in-progress, "The Blue Glow" is set in Hiroshima in 1945, in the aftermath of the atomic bomb. Sen, a sixteen-year-old suicide pilot who lived, returns to his home city, where gods now crouch disheveled among the survivors. Content warnings: Descriptions of war, grief, and the dead Copyright khōréō magazine 2023. S…

"Sartor" by Tanvir Ahmed is a story about stories, about endings and beginnings, about the telling and the listening. Copyright khōréō magazine 2023. Story by Tanvir Ahmed, edited by Zhui Ning Chang. Audio edition read by Rashmi Rustagi and produced by Lian Xia Rose, with casting by Jenelle DeCosta and production assistance by Melissa Ren. Content …

"Memories of Memories Lost" by Mahmud El Sayed is a story about the price of the things we choose to forget. Copyright khōréō magazine 2023. Story by Mahmud El Sayed, edited by Isabella Kestermann. Audio edition read by Karim Kronfli and produced by Lian Xia Rose, with casting by Jenelle DeCosta. Content warnings: Parent with dementia Visit khoreom…