Pick of the day
bonfire night
Posted by celticman on Wed, 14 Oct 2026
This is now
That was when
Big boots and brown-shirted men
Splashed through ash and falling rain
Lost faces, crinkled eyes and loud cries
Token loads and lost meaning
Flash mobs and flames lick life away
It’s never too late—hate, hate, hate.
Heil, Heil, Heil.
On this day, 10th May 1933
Opernplatz, students burn books
Before burning people of the books.
Read moreStory of the week
Flashback
Posted by SteveHoselitz on Wed, 07 Oct 2026
Memories flood in from meeting old friends at a funeralRead morePoem of the week
Poem IV · The Bill of Sale
Posted by bhi on Tue, 06 Oct 2026
Poem IV · the one who supplies and profits
Bill of SaleThe bystander world: the ones who look away in Poem III, and what they do with their hands while they look away. They sell.
Read moreFeatures
Story and Poem of the Month
Our Story and Poem for September, very kindly chosen by hudsonmoon:
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New Writing Challenge By SoulFire77 - Win Us Some Money!
Soulfire77 has very generously offered us a donation for each scary story posted between now and October 30th, so please fire up your laptops and follow his instructions below.
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Want to join ABCTales?
We've had to suspend the automatic joining facility for a while so if you would like to join us please email
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Posting From Your Android Phone - Fixed!
Some of you have been having issues with posting your work using an android phone. Ewan and John our techie have been working really hard to fix this.
Read moreBee's Journey
Picks of the Month
White Noise
Posted by skinner_jennifer on Mon, 14 Sep 2026
Now I'm in the system riding on ocean
waves of chemotherapy and medication
deeper than anything I've known before,
needles bruise; feeding Pembrolizumab –
Aprepitant – Ondansetron.
Restore this malfunctioning body, let me
be pure...crush the enemy. I imagine good
cells as they glow in bright white light that
shimmers as I anticipate autumn's energy
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For Present Company
Posted by sean mcnulty on Sat, 19 Sep 2026
These streets and their cigarette butts. They lie dead in the puddles like forgotten men. They’ll be gone soon in the coming slush. Winter’s assignment is to give us all a good wash, person and paving alike.
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