All Aboard

How often do you feel as though you're sailing into the unknown? Filled with hope, anticipation, nerves or even fear? Today's episode explores the emotional highs and lows of change and discovery. Both of our stories follow ships setting out on extraordinary voyages in search of new beginnings, only for those hopeful dreams to take a much darker turn.Featuring ‘Ghost Ships of Alnitak’ by Alexander Hay, read by Nathan Chatelier (04.00). A heartbreaking account of an adventure through space turned nightmare. Found in our brand new Wars in the Stars collection. ‘The White Ship’ by H.P. Lovecraft, read by Nick (26.40). This one follows a lighthouse keeper whose determination and hope lead him on a remarkable quest… one that uncovers mysteries far stranger than anyone could predict. You can see it in print in our Hidden Realms collection.BiographiesAlexander Hay is an author who presently lives in North West England, enduring conditions that can be best described as Hoth in the winter and Arrakis in the summer. He has had far too many jobs, including working in a school of anatomy, getting thrown out of a hotel suite by Lesley Manville, and nearly killing someone with a wasp. He has over forty short stories published, with credits ranging from Nature’s Futures to Apex Publishing and Utopia Science Fiction. He is, somewhat inevitably, seeking an agent and writing a novel, like all the other ne’er-do-wells.Master of weird fiction Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890–1937) was born in Providence, Rhode Island. Featuring unknown and otherworldly creatures, his stories were one of the first to mix science fiction with horror. Plagued by nightmares from an early age, he was inspired to write his dark and strange fantasy tales; the isolation he must have experienced from suffering frequent illnesses can be felt as a prominent theme in his work. Lovecraft inspired many other authors, and his most famous story ‘The Call of Cthulhu’ has influenced many aspects of popular culture.Nathan Chatelier is a British voiceover artist with almost fifty audiobooks recorded alongside thousands of other projects, from videogames to the Mean Girls West End trailer. Check out his demos.‘The Ghost Ships of Alnitak’ is ©2026 Alexander Hay and appears in Wars in the Stars (Flame Tree Publishing, 2026).‘The White Ship’ by H.P. Lovecraft was first published in the The United Amateur, November in 1919, but more recently appeared in Hidden Realms (Flame Tree Publishing, 2023).....................................................................................................................................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.htmlOur 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.