A woman slowly smokes herself to death to protest an atrocity. When her cigarette supply runs low, a local kid grappling with both the protest and the atrocity brings her a cigar.

Content warnings: Self-harm (smoking), references to genocide, a dead body, autopsy, body horror

Copyright © 2026 khōréō magazine. Story by brandon brown, edited by Kanika Agrawal. Audio edition read by Jordan Moore, with production by Lian Xia Rose and casting by Jenelle DeCosta.

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Music: This Too Shall Pass by Scott Buckley
https://soundcloud.com/scottbuckley
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported CC BY 3.0

When her mother is absorbed into the local flesh monolith, Kayla struggles with her identity and looks for a way in.

Content warnings: Violence, nudity, racism/discrimination, body horror

Copyright © 2026 khōréō magazine. Story by Mary Miseon Wu, edited by Zhui Ning Chang. Audio edition read by Elissa Park and Alice Shuang Wu, with production and casting by Jenelle DeCosta.

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Music: This Too Shall Pass by Scott Buckley
https://soundcloud.com/scottbuckley
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported CC BY 3.0

Able Seaman Pol has a lot of problems — getting the cats fed, watered, and reporting for duty, keeping tree roots from destroying the wiring, the monkeys out of the pantry and the mines from exploding on deck. Talking octopuses, though? That was new.

Content warnings: Mention of a battle in a flashback, threat of bombing, description of a panic attack and disassociation

Copyright © 2026 khōréō magazine. Story by Sonia Focke, edited by Isabella Kestermann. Audio edition read by Chanisha Somatilaka, with production by Lian Xia Rose, casting by Jenelle DeCosta and additional sound by Scottie the cat.

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Music: This Too Shall Pass by Scott Buckley
https://soundcloud.com/scottbuckley
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported CC BY 3.0

It's about the things that become a part of you when you aren't paying attention, without your even realizing they're there.

Copyright © 2025 khōréō magazine. Story by T. Chiu-Chu, edited by Kanika Agrawal. Audio edition read by D Casellian, with production by Aaron Kling and casting by Jenelle DeCosta.

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Music: This Too Shall Pass by Scott Buckley
https://soundcloud.com/scottbuckley
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported CC BY 3.0

An alien-human symbiote tries to sort out complicated feelings at his former friends' wedding.

Content warnings: Brief mention of suicide

Copyright © 2025 khōréō magazine. Story by Sharang Biswas, edited by Danai Christopoulou. Audio edition read by Eli Khanam and J Cuevas, with production and casting by Jenelle DeCosta.

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Music: This Too Shall Pass by Scott Buckley
https://soundcloud.com/scottbuckley
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported CC BY 3.0

A transnational adoptee is haunted by the ghost of his birth mother.

Content warnings: Self-harm, suicidal ideation

Copyright © 2025 khōréō magazine. Story by Woody Dismukes, edited by Isabella Kestermann. Audio edition read by Sam Cavalcanti, with production by Grayson Norman and casting by Jenelle DeCosta.

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Music: This Too Shall Pass by Scott Buckley
https://soundcloud.com/scottbuckley
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported CC BY 3.0

"Wax and Full Circles" is the quiet story of a couple navigating life where one of them is a werewolf.

Content warnings: Death, animal death, grief

Copyright © 2025 khōréō magazine. Story by Stefani Cox, edited by Isabella Kestermann. Audio edition read by Xperience J, with production by Lian Xia Rose and casting by Jenelle DeCosta.

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Music: This Too Shall Pass by Scott Buckley
https://soundcloud.com/scottbuckley
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported CC BY 3.0

In Japanese-occupied Malaya, an older Chinese immigrant reflects on his arrival to this land in his youth and embarks on a daring rescue.

Content warnings: Blood

Copyright © 2025 khōréō magazine. Story by Joshua Lim, edited by Zhui Ning Chang. Audio edition read by Sam Yeow, with production by Aaron Kling and casting by Jenelle DeCosta.

Subscribe to khōréō at Weightless Books or on Patreon.

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Music: This Too Shall Pass by Scott Buckley
https://soundcloud.com/scottbuckley
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported CC BY 3.0