Eight lanterns hold back the dark. Everyone has forgotten there was ever a ninth.
Stories that take their time.
10 long reads for ages 13–16. Fantasy, romance, horror, mystery and murder, each one long enough to lose an evening in. Free, with no sign-up.
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Death at Hollowmere Hall
Tamsin has come to a remote manor for a weekend codebreaking contest with her sharp-eyed gran. When their host is found dead and the only bridge out has been swept away, she realises the killer is still in the house. Every clue is on the page. Can you solve it before she does?
Read itFantasy
Other worlds, old magic, and prices nobody mentions up front.
Idris has never told the truth when a lie was available. Today he is on trial before the sea.
Romance
Slow burns, crossed wires and the moment it turns out to be real.
Someone is arguing with her favourite book in pencil. She needs to know who.
A seaside town in winter, a broken pinball machine, and a boy who is only here until March.
Horror
Read with the lights on. Or don’t.
By day, Gran’s staircase has twelve steps. After dark, it has one more.
The messages are from her own number, and they arrive three minutes early.
Mystery
Every clue is a door. Some of them lead somewhere you didn’t want to go.
She appears in six photographs and no records. Someone worked hard to make her disappear.
Murder Mystery
One victim, five suspects, and everyone has a reason to lie.
A storm, a washed-out bridge, one dead cryptographer, and five people who all had a reason.
Sci-Fi
Tomorrow, but with worse news.
On the day Kes is assigned her job for life, she notices the engines have stopped.
Adventure
Maps run out. People keep going anyway.
Two siblings, one canoe, and sixty miles of wilderness between them and help.
Rated by what’s in them
Every story has a rating and a list of content notes before you start, so you know what you’re getting into. Scary and sad things happen. Nothing is graphic. How we rate stories.