Tag Archives: writing

Fantasy Recommendation

“MoonFu” Wants to Make Phone Entertainment Feel Safe Again

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The phone is not going anywhere, and family entertainment needs to deal with that reality instead of pretending kids are not watching stories vertically already.

That is where “MoonFu” has a clean and timely angle. The animated family adventure from creator David Santo is built for phone-first viewing, with a G-rated, mom-approved world designed to feel fun, safe, and emotionally useful for young audiences.

The newly shared “MoonFu” Short gives a fast look at that mission:

In the video description, the project is described as “an animated family adventure made for your phone,” with a direct nod to vertical video viewers. That positioning matters because “MoonFu” is not treating the phone like an enemy. It is treating the phone like the place where families already are, then asking what kind of story deserves to be there.

The series follows MoonFu, a karate-loving, jetpack-wearing, disco-dancing owl prince living in the fantastical realm of Featherfell. When he discovers that his father, King Talon, plans to steal a life-giving diamond from a hidden owl civilization, MoonFu is forced into a choice between serving his kingdom and saving an entire society.

That setup gives the show a bigger emotional frame than the character description alone suggests. The owl prince may be funny, colorful, and easy to market, but the story underneath is about courage, kindness, connection, and doing the right thing when pressure is coming from close to home.

The official MoonFu site expands on the series’ family-safe universe and prosocial focus: https://moonfustudio.com/

“MoonFu” is designed for kids ages 6 to 11 while also reaching mobile-native viewers through vertical pacing, humor, action, and emotional depth. The series is also endorsed by KidsFirst.org, adding another layer to its positioning as age-appropriate entertainment for families.

Santo has described the project as “Kung Fu Panda, but with talking owls,” which works because it gives the viewer an instant sense of the energy. Martial arts, comedy, animal adventure, heart, and a young hero learning who he is all live inside that comparison.

Episodes drop June 10 on Loopremium, giving “MoonFu” a vertical streaming home that matches the way the project is being presented. Loopremium can be found at https://loopremium.com/

The strongest thing about “MoonFu” may be that it does not sound afraid to be sincere. It is strange, bright, and owl-powered, but its promise is simple: families deserve stories that lift kids up instead of adding more stress to the screen.

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Humor and Conservation Meet in “Never Only”

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Laurie Fairchild’s debut novel Never Only pairs a serious environmental question with a sense of humor, which may be one of the most appealing things about it. The book asks readers to imagine Mother Nature weighing Humanity’s future, but it does not approach that idea as a cold exercise.

Instead, Mother Nature is presented as someone who has spent millennia learning from life on Earth and grieving the loneliness left behind by mass extinctions. Wanting clarity about Humanity’s intentions, she enlists a therapist to help her decide whether one species may need to be sacrificed to save the rest.

The novel comes from a writer whose life has been shaped by the natural world in a very direct way. Fairchild is a Cheyenne resident and biologist who earned a Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science from the University of Wyoming and a Master’s in Water Resources Science from the University of Minnesota. Her career began in Alaska during the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, continued through seabird productivity work on the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea, and later extended into a range of positions with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. She retired in 2019 as a habitat and wildlife biologist working with landowners in Minnesota.

Never Only is out today, which gives its Earth Day release a built-in relevance. It is not hard to see why a novel centered on conservation and life diversity would choose this date to enter the world.

Readers in Cheyenne can also catch the release event today from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens. The evening includes a reading, refreshments, books for purchase, and a guided tour of the Botanic Garden Conservatory. Venue details are available at botanic.org.

Fairchild’s childhood adds one more layer to the picture. She grew up moving around the country with her family while her father worked as a geologist building and repairing large dams, and much of that life unfolded in rural places that helped shape her love of horses, the outdoors, and exploring habitats.

Book link

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A Study in Unease — R. Jacob Honeybrook’s “Thaddeus Greene’s Spooktacular House of Horrors”

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In Thaddeus Greene’s Spooktacular House of Horrors, R. Jacob Honeybrook transforms the spectacle of fear into something philosophical. His sixth horror work, released on October 20, 2025, doesn’t rely on the expected mechanics of terror. Instead, it builds a slow and deliberate unease, rooted in the question of whether redemption can truly exist.

The novella follows Mr. Belgrave, an ordinary man whose night takes a strange turn after he avoids a head-on collision. What begins as an accident spirals into a nightmare of spiritual symbolism. A wandering cat leads him to a cathedral, where a man dressed as a vampire, The Count, sells tickets to a carnival of grotesque displays. Yet as Belgrave explores its dark corridors, the line between theater and truth begins to collapse.

Honeybrook’s decision to write in a modernized 19th-century voice gives the story a haunting distance. The formality of the language contrasts with the modern setting, creating an atmosphere that feels unmoored from time. The result is a text that feels both familiar and alien, echoing gothic traditions while speaking to contemporary dread.

“This is the most surreal story I’ve written,” Honeybrook said. “It’s based on a dream I had, so I wanted everything to feel a bit off.” That intent permeates every paragraph, as if the narrative itself were caught between sleeping and waking.

Beyond his fiction, Honeybrook remains an active presence in modern horror. He co-hosts the Midnight Terrors Podcast with Kevin Roche and writes Honeycut, a weekly column for TBM Horror. Both platforms reveal the same intellectual curiosity that defines his prose.

Thaddeus Greene’s Spooktacular House of Horrors is now available as an eBook on Amazon, offering readers an experience that is both literary and unsettling.

To follow Honeybrook’s ongoing work, visit his Instagram page for updates on upcoming stories and collaborations.

Dark Fantasy

The Death King by Penelope Barsetti

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I was fifteen when the Death King came for us.

With a mighty black dragon and the ability to command the dead, he raised an army of our fallen soldiers to fight for him—and conquered us in the night. My father, King Laurier of Scorpion Valley, couldn’t stop him. I tried to flee but came face to face with the man in black armor, the man who looked more like a god than a human. Instead of killing me, he chose to show me mercy…but it didn’t feel like mercy.

Not when the next ten years of my life are spent as a slave in the Arid Sands, digging for Black Diamonds from sunrise to sunset. I’m also the personal slave of General Titan—a man who has grown obsessed with me. The work under the hot sun is unbearable—but I prefer it to his company any day. I’ve never tried to escape because there’s nowhere to run in the desert, but all of that changes when I hear the news—that the Death King is coming.

I sneak out in the middle of the night to steal his dragon, but that backfires in my face—because you can’t steal a dragon. Khazmuda is no mindless beast. He can speak directly into my mind and hear my thoughts in return. The Death King is about to kill me, but Khazmuda changes his mind—because I have the gift.

The ability to speak with dragons.

The Death King spares my life once again and takes me back to his castle. He has no idea who I am, has no idea what he did to my family ten years ago. He asks me to fight for his cause—but he won’t tell me exactly what that cause is. And then he tells me he wants more from me…desires me more than any other because, like him, I have the gift.

I can’t deny he’s the most handsome man I’ve ever seen, with eyes black like midnight, a jawline as sharp as his dragon’s talons, the height of a mountain, and shoulders as broad as a stream. But no amount of attraction will ever change the fact that he destroyed my life. The answer is no—and it’ll always be no.

But the Death King doesn’t accept that answer.

Trigger Warning: Contains dark themes including rape and suicide.

horror

Prepare for a journey into the heart of fear. – “The Aggregate” by G. Owen Wears

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Criminal noir and cosmic horror by the author of “The Place of Stars & Bones”

There is dust on the horizon and dust in the fields. The sky is a burned out shade of white and cicadas haunt the trees and rooftops. It is late September, and Lucy Ashwood has just finished the last unremarkable day of her life.

By morning, Lucy finds herself lying in a puddle of gore. The dead number three: two men from the MontVida Corporation and one sheriff’s deputy. They came to serve notice of genetic patent violations, and to evict the Ashwoods. When the Ashwods push back, the end result is an accidental  bloodbath. Lucy’s contribution involves feeding the dead to her pig, Wilbur. The contribution of her cousin, Arthur, involves his connection to a criminal collective known as the Aggregate. They say they will help the Ashwoods…for a price.

Subject to waking nightmares and crippling guilt, Lucy goes on the run. As her visions grow ever more vivid, Lucy begins to suspect there is more to what happened at her home than simply murder. Meanwhile, the Aggregate has decided to call in its favor for assisting the Ashwoods, thrusting Arthur into a world of violent revolution. Neither Lucy, nor Arthur, nor the Aggregate realize there is something else at work, something malevolent that has sprung from the very soil beneath their feet. It speaks through Wilbur, through the drone of the cicadas, through the hot dry wind. When it finally gains a foothold  it will force its way through the veil between worlds, Lucy and the rest of humanity be damned.

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From the dark and devious mind of Jeff Schmidt comes Ominous Thrill. Where the line between reality and nightmare blurs.

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From the Sound Designer behind the chilling sounds of True Crime mega-hit podcast Dr. Death and award-winning hit audio fiction thrillers Blood Ties and Aftershock, Jeff Schmidt Unveils OMINOUS THRILL, a Gripping Audio Fiction Anthology.

*From the Cinematic Soundscape of Podcasts Dr. Death, Blood Ties, and Aftershock, Ominous Thrill Promises character-driven journeys into Dark Desires and Twisted Fates*

Where darkness meets desire.

Acclaimed sound designer and director Jeff Schmidt, the creative force behind the sound of true-crime phenomena Dr. Death and Dirty John and fiction podcast thrillers Blood Ties and Aftershock, is set to unleash a new audio fiction masterpiece, OMINOUS THRILL. An anthology of character-driven tales of obsession, love, rage, and revenge clashing in the murky worlds of the supernatural and paranormal. Inspired by modern horror anthologies like “Black Mirror,” “Love, Death & Robots” and del Toro’s “Cabinet of Curiosities,” OMINOUS THRILL employs full-cast dramatizations and Dolby Atmos spatial audio to bring these devious audio delights to life.

https://ominousthrill.com/