Escapism

In this episode we’re entering otherworldly dimensions, where the rules of time no longer apply. Spaces where characters can escape the consequences of reality. Are you ready to get lost with them?

Featuring 

‘The Last Night Market’ by Bella Chacha (02.47), read by Ruhthie Durang. In this story an irresistible bait is offered up, something sweet to hide the burn of a fate unimaginably sour. From Dreams Divine.  

‘The Masque of the Red Death’ by Edgar Allan Poe (27.14), read by Richard McIver. Expect luxury, corruption and the inescapable clutches of death. Found in our Chilling Horror collection. 

Biographies

Bella Chacha is a Nigerian speculative fiction writer whose work explores folklore, surrealism, and the fragile borders between dream and reality. Her stories have appeared in Cast of Wonders, Incensepunk magazine, Plott Hound magazine, Aurora: Winter books and Defenestrationism.net as a runner-up for 2025’s Short Story Contest and also as a Pushcart nominee for 2026. She writes to illuminate the quiet strangeness of ordinary life and the resilience of the human spirit.

Edgar Allan Poe (1809–49) was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Poe is well known for being an author, poet, editor and literary critic during the American Romantic Movement. Poe is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre, and his works are famously filled with terror, mystery, death and haunting. His better known works include The Tell Tale Heart, The Raven and The Fall of the House of Usher. The dark, mystifying characters from his tales have captured the public’s imagination and reflect the struggling, poverty-stricken lifestyle he lived his whole life.

Ruhthie Durang is excited to lend her voice to Flame Tree's Myth & Fiction Podcast. She is a graduate of NYU, Tisch School of the Arts and her recent credits include Call the Midwife, Disclaimer and Our Place at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. 

Originally from Reno, Nevada and now based in London, Richard McIver brings a rich transatlantic perspective to his work. He has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Theatr Clwyd, and Hull Truck Theatre, and has appeared on screen for ITV and Sky/HBO, alongside his work as an intimacy coordinator across film, television and theatre. In voiceover, his recent work includes audiodrama, feature film ADR, and video games. He most recently voiced multiple characters for a major upcoming video game releasing in 2026.

This episode was hosted by Bea.

‘The Last Night Market’ is ©2026 Bella Chacha and appeared in Dreams Divine (Flame Tree Publishing, 2026).

‘The Masque of the Red Death’ by Edgar Allan Poe was first published in Graham’s Magazine in 1842, but more recently appeared in Chilling Horror (Flame Tree Publishing, 2015).

.....................................................................................................................................

Music is an extract of Sunbeams by Allen Stroud, from his Fractal Series album, licensed courtesy of fpl-digital 2025.

This podcast is hosted and sometimes narrated by Beatrix Ambery (also audio editor), Olivia Jackson (also podcast coordinator), Shilpa Varma and Nick Wells (also producer). 

Chosen from hundreds of wonderful tales, short stories such as these are selected by our short window open submission process, giving opportunities to writers of all levels of experience, culture and location. Look out for our submission announcements, and see the full list here:  flametreepublishing.com/gothic-fantasy-book-series-list.html

Our full range of thematic short stories, epic tales, mythology and folklore titles are available at all good bookstores, online and in retail, and at flametreepublishing.com 

Flame Tree Publishing, Best Indie Press 2024 & 2025 (British Fantasy Society). Beautiful Books, Timeless Storytelling, Fresh Perspectives.

The Flame Tree Myth and Fiction podcast is created and © copyright 2025 Flame Tree Publishing Ltd.