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.

A daughter living overseas visits her mother. Their time is counted in recipes, familiar yet growing ever stranger.

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.

"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.

Countryboy T loses their home after the deaths of their parents. Luckily, the cats have been in charge all along.

This is Part 2 of "Dragonsworn" by L. Chan, the first novelette that khōréō has published.

This is Part 1 of "Dragonsworn" by L. Chan, the first novelette that khōréō has published — stay tuned for Part 2 in two weeks!

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…

"Come Back, Crocodile Bird" by M.S. Dean follows the story of Arnaz, navigating a flooded world that leaves her both stuck in the past and trying to move forward. Copyright khōréō magazine 2023. Story by M.S. Dean, edited by Zhui Ning Chang. Audio edition read by Moneesha "Misha" Bakshi and produced by Lian Xia Rose, with casting by Jenelle DeCosta…

"Umeboshi" by Rebecca Nakaba is an exploration of what it means to be connected through heritage—and chain email. Copyright khōréō magazine 2023. Story by Rebecca Nakaba, edited by Sachiko Ragosta. Audio edition read by Heidi Tabing, with sound design by Lian Xia Rose, and casting and production by Jenelle DeCosta. Visit khoreomag.com and follow us…

“The Abode of the Palms” by Karim Kattan is a story of the desert and jinn, of siblings and family and wishes, and what it means to be born second. Copyright khōréō magazine 2023. Story by Karim Kattan, edited by Kanika Agrawal. Audio edition read by Conchita Mbuyambo and produced by Lian Xia Rose, with casting by Jenelle DeCosta. Content warnings:…

In "Kwong's Bath" by Angela Liu, Kwong is visited by the ghosts of the people she has trouble letting go. Copyright khōréō magazine 2023. Story by Angela Liu, edited by Sachiko Ragosta. Audio edition read by Lauren Kong, with casting and production by Jenelle DeCosta. Content warnings: Suicide, child abuse, death of a child, mental illness, classis…

"The Field Guide for Next Time" by Rae Mariz is a nonlinear tapestry of a story and the most experimental piece that khōréō has published to date. Copyright khōréō magazine 2023. Story by Rae Mariz, edited by Rowan Morrison. Audio edition read by Carolina Hoyos and Christian Thornton, produced Lian Xia Rose, with casting by Jenelle DeCosta. Visit k…

You wake up. You do your job. You eat. You speak to no one. Nothing ever changes about life here in K— — until, suddenly, it does. "The Shadow and the Light" by Su-Yee Lin is a haunting story about stagnation and self-preservation and solitude. Copyright khōréō magazine 2023. Story by Su-Yee Lin, edited by Aleksandra Hill. Audio edition read by Wil…

How do you communicate in a foreign land, when the only language those living speak is one of happiness? What of the days you feel lonely, or sad, or—something else? "The Land of Happiness" by Laura Wang is an exploration of immigration and finding both language and tongue. Copyright khōréō magazine 2023. Story by Laura Wang, edited by Aleksandra H…

A mother, left behind on Earth, receives a birthday card from her son, who is worlds away. How much time do we have together with the ones we love, especially when they grow up and away? How much is remaining? Copyright khōréō magazine 2023. Story by Thomas Ha, edited by Kanika Agrawal. Audio edition read by Kiran Fatima and produced by Lian Xia Ro…

You've been in this club before, because you've been in a thousand like it. Each night a loop. Except this one is too familiar—and not quite right. Read about love and loss on the dance floor in "This Is What You Came For" by Phong Quan. Copyright khōréō magazine 2023. Story by Phong Quan, edited by Aleksandra Hill. Audio edition read by Ryan Froud…

In "Rattlers" by D.K. Lawhorn, dance and music mark the end of exile for two former outcasts once betrayed and hunted by the same allies who now seek to make amends. Copyright khōréō magazine 2023. Story by D.K. Lawhorn, edited by Rowan Morrison. Audio edition read by Sarah Palmero and produced by Lian Xia Rose, with casting by Jenelle DeCosta. Vis…

"The Ballad of the Octopus" by Simo Srinivas is a haunting, luscious tale of an octopus who loses an arm to a man, who in turn devours it, hopelessly intertwining their lives and existences. Copyright khōréō magazine 2023. Story by Simo Srinivas, edited by Aleksandra Hill. Audio edition read by Sunny Osahn and produced by Lian Xia Rose, with castin…

Join us on a vessel taking its passengers far beyond Earth, using an unconventional source to help power its journey. "Mothership Connection" by Melissa A. Watkins is a glorious story about Black joy and kinship. Copyright khōréō magazine 2022. Story by Melissa A. Watkins, edited by Kanika Agrawal. Audio edition read by Torian Brackett and produced…

Tina's life is a series of dominos falling toward the creation of the ultimate invention—with unforeseen consequences. Allison King's "Tina Yu and the Karaoke Time Machine" is a meditation on the power and fragility of music, memory, and family. Content Warnings: Xenophobia, incarceration Copyright khōréō magazine 2022. Story by Allison King, edite…

An unnamed narrator wears different skins to navigate different parts of her life: academia, her wealthy boyfriend's social circle, and her family's rigid dynamic that she seeks to escape. But her mutable presentation brings conditional acceptance at best, dependent as it is on external perception. “Skin” by Isha Karki explores code-switching and t…

A moment of anger leaves nine-year-old Marta without her brother—but the bond between the twins has always been strong. "All Good Children, Come Out to Play" by Karlo Yeager Rodríguez is a haunting story about grief and guilt, death and moving on. Copyright khōréō magazine 2022. Story by Karlo Yeager Rodríguez, edited by Aleksandra Hill. Audio edit…

What are stories for? In Rhea Roy’s “The Storyteller,” an extraordinary, headstrong woman conceives and enacts a death-defying story out of the love of family. Copyright khōréō magazine 2022. Story by Rhea Roy, edited by Kanika Agrawal. Audio edition read by Ishani Kanetkar and edited by Lian Xia Rose, with casting and production assistance from Je…

Bex chose a university parsecs away from family and friends. Alone and overwhelmed, she finds comfort and history in an unlikely place. "This Excessive Use of Pickled Foods" by Leora Spitzer is a warm story about sharing pasts and building futures together. Copyright khōréō magazine 2022. Story by Leora Spitzer, edited by Aleksandra Hill. Audio edi…

Child, parent, and grandparent: each stands at a threshold in "Unname Me at the Altar" by Ashaye Brown, a tender and brutal story of unbreakable bonds and unspeakable loss. Copyright khōréō magazine 2022. Story by Ashaye Brown, edited by Kanika Agrawal. Audio edition read by Ashaye Brown and edited by Lian Xia Rose, with production assistance from …

When Alice's father finds a snake in a crate of bok choy in their grocery store their family owns, he wants to kill it. But Alice sets the snake free into their family home, one more secret for its rotten walls to keep—until they can't anymore. Copyright khōréō magazine 2022. Story by Cindy Phan, edited by Rowan Morrison. Audio edition read by Tric…

Liz and Owen jump at the chance for a weekend away, house sitting in suburbia, only to find something... strange... about the mirror in the house. "Ours but Not Our Own" by Joshua Tong is a delightfully haunting meditation on suburbia and the paths our lives may have taken. Copyright khōréō magazine 2022. Story by Joshua Tong, edited by Aleksandra …

Eliza's mother was a talented artist without much time for family—until she died. Now, she needs Eliza for her last shot at fame, whatever the cost."The Scumbling" by J.C. Changmore is a haunting tale of ghosts, family, and broken love. Copyright khōréō magazine 2022. Story by J.C. Changmore, edited by Rowan Morrison. Audio edition read by Su Ling …

Adam has inherited his grandmother's restaurant, where they serve sins—often covertly and illegally purchased from a nearby prison. When a customer sends back a dish, Adam is faced with questions he's not sure he wants to answer. Copyright khōréō magazine 2022. Story by T. M. Hurree, edited by Aleksandra Hill. Audio edition read by Sunny Osahn, edi…

Alice meets a man who loves languages, who consumes them as one would a delicious meal. "Banhus" by M.E. Bronstein is a story about language, and conquest, and finding freedom. Copyright khōréō magazine 2022. Story by M.E. Bronstein, edited by Aleksandra Hill. Audio edition read by Carly Robins, edited by Loni Kim and Lian Xia Rose, with production…

Xiomara's birthday is tomorrow. She figures she'll do some last-minute planning as she sets out to fix a solar panel—only to have her crush ask to keep her company. "Electric Waterfalls" by Ruth Joffre is a sweet meditation on love and belonging set in near-future Alaska. Copyright khōréō magazine 2022. Story by Ruth Joffre, edited by Aleksandra Hi…

Esther and Chaviva are best friends who never expected to be each other's direct competition for an arranged match with an off-world boy whose family will pick the victor based on her baking skills. No matter which of them wins, the other will lose: can they find their way to a happily ever after? Copyright khōréō magazine 2022. Story by Evalyn Bro…

Junisa grows up under the care of two personal guardians — "Me and Seed Sheself." But Junisa is no longer a child, and her longtime guardians must reevaluate their role in her life. Copyright khōréō magazine 2022. Story by Celeste Rita Baker, edited by Rowan Morrison. Audio edition read by Simone McIntyre, edited by Lian Xia Rose, with casting by L…

An all-but-forgotten demigod bets everything on one last gambit to secure his future before he fades from existence. Copyright khōréō magazine 2022. Story by Guan Un, edited by Rowan Morrison. Audio edition read by Guan Un, edited by Lian Xia Rose, with casting by Loni Kim and production assistance from Jenelle DeCosta. Visit khoreomag.com and foll…