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crowkeys.bsky.social
Crow & Cross Keys || SUBS CLOSED
@crowkeys.bsky.social
470 followers 440 following 210 posts
Seeking the wonderful and the bizarre, the beautiful and the dark.

Home to all things dark and lovely.

crowcrosskeys@gmail.com

EIC: @keychild.bsky.social (she/her)

https://linktr.ee/crowcrosskeys
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crowkeys.bsky.social
Crow & Cross Keys || SUBS CLOSED @crowkeys.bsky.social · 3d
It is a new year and we are alive. We're not 100% certain what manner of 'alive' we are yet, but we'll work it out eventually. For now, we're enjoying our first flash fiction of 2026.

"The Psychopomps are Dead" by Jenna Grieve

crowcrosskeys.com/2026/01/03/t...
A muted greyscale banner for flash fiction, The Psychopomps are Dead by Jenna Grieve published on crowcrosskeys.com, featuring overlaid images of lined paper, peaches and hibiscus.
crowkeys.bsky.social
It is a new year and we are alive. We're not 100% certain what manner of 'alive' we are yet, but we'll work it out eventually. For now, we're enjoying our first flash fiction of 2026.

"The Psychopomps are Dead" by Jenna Grieve

crowcrosskeys.com/2026/01/03/t...
A muted greyscale banner for flash fiction, The Psychopomps are Dead by Jenna Grieve published on crowcrosskeys.com, featuring overlaid images of lined paper, peaches and hibiscus.
January 3, 2026 at 6:13 PM
Reposted by Crow & Cross Keys || SUBS CLOSED
amadolaila.bsky.social
Some stories take longer to find a home. "Our Mother, the Dark Damp Earth" was like that, but it was all worth it in the end because it was picked up by the best possible magazine, @crowkeys.bsky.social 🙏

Here it is: crowcrosskeys.com/2025/11/16/o...
Our Mother, the Dark Damp Earth—Laila Amado
On the first day of the sowing, Nena wakes up before dawn, tense with the half-remembered uneasiness of her dream. In the weak light, her husband’s face is a cragged outline with deep grooves, like…
crowcrosskeys.com
December 31, 2025 at 7:39 PM
crowkeys.bsky.social
And just like that, we've reached our last post of 2025. It's a beauty, folks. Join us as we in the tower bid goodbye to 2025 with one final poem.

"A Life That Might Be Yours / Flashes Before Someone's Eyes" by Stephanie Jones

crowcrosskeys.com/2025/12/31/a...
A muted greyscale banner for poem, A Life That Might Be Yours / Flashes Before Someone's Eyes" by Stephanie Jones published on crowcrosskeys.com, featuring an abstract image with light trails.
December 31, 2025 at 6:14 PM
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ramccafferty.bsky.social
Little 2025 publication thread, with thanks to @crowkeys.bsky.social and @templeinacity.bsky.social and @bendinggenres.bsky.social: (And send me your lists!)
December 31, 2025 at 2:55 PM
crowkeys.bsky.social
It's the perfect night for a haunting here at the tower. Dark and cold and windy. Be careful where you sit. You never know what might end up sitting there with you to enjoy today's short story...

"The Ever After" by Laura Mullen

crowcrosskeys.com/2025/12/27/t...
A muted greyscale banner for short story, The Ever After by Laura Mullen reprinted on crowcrosskeys.com, featuring a long-exposure photo reminiscent of a woman's soul leaving her body.
December 27, 2025 at 6:34 PM
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ezhang77.bsky.social
Thrilled to have a poem in @crowkeys.bsky.social!
crowkeys.bsky.social Crow & Cross Keys || SUBS CLOSED @crowkeys.bsky.social · 17d
There is a ghost in the tower. It doesn't do much. Just lingers, and watches. It has seen many things. It has even seen you. It has also seen this poem.

"The Mother of Ghosts" by @ezhang77.bsky.social

crowcrosskeys.com/2025/12/20/t...
A muted greyscale banner for prose poem, The Mother of Ghosts by Elena Zhang published on crowcrosskeys.com, featuring a moon above water.
December 20, 2025 at 8:35 PM
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ezhang77.bsky.social
"The Mother of Ghosts" - @crowkeys.bsky.social crowcrosskeys.com/2025/12/20/t...

"I Gave Birth" - Rinky Dink Press rinky-dink-press.square.site/product/seri...

"The Moon, My Heart" - @tinywrenlit.bsky.social www.tinywrenlit.com/product-page...
The Moon, My Heart (Elena Zhang) | Tiny Wren Lit
Evocative micro-poems inspired by Chinese folklore
www.tinywrenlit.com
December 23, 2025 at 11:25 PM
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neilwillcox.bsky.social
I read A Swarm Unto Herself by Barlow Adams in @crowkeys.bsky.social a bee-related story nightofthehats.blogspot.com/2025/12/i-re...
I Read Stories: A Swarm Unto Herself by Barlow Adams
A Swarm Unto Herself by Barlow Adams in Crow And Cross Keys Our narrator sits near the woman with a beehive for a head, bigger than y...
nightofthehats.blogspot.com
December 27, 2025 at 8:17 AM
crowkeys.bsky.social
There is a ghost in the tower. It doesn't do much. Just lingers, and watches. It has seen many things. It has even seen you. It has also seen this poem.

"The Mother of Ghosts" by @ezhang77.bsky.social

crowcrosskeys.com/2025/12/20/t...
A muted greyscale banner for prose poem, The Mother of Ghosts by Elena Zhang published on crowcrosskeys.com, featuring a moon above water.
December 20, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Reposted by Crow & Cross Keys || SUBS CLOSED
femalehysteria.bsky.social
🌳
crowkeys.bsky.social Crow & Cross Keys || SUBS CLOSED @crowkeys.bsky.social · 20d
We've had our fair share of strange visitations from beings who want to make bargains. We never accept them. We know better. Bargaining is dangerous. On bargains...

"Black Walnut" by @femalehysteria.bsky.social

crowcrosskeys.com/2025/12/17/b...
A muted greyscale banner for short story, Black Walnut by Annie Russo published on crowcrosskeys.com, featuring a glass sphere on concrete.
December 17, 2025 at 6:17 PM
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avadevries.bsky.social
“Only Carrion,” a gothic flash piece originally published in print by The Ghastling, appeared online in @crowkeys.bsky.social

crowcrosskeys.com/2025/05/28/o...
December 17, 2025 at 7:51 PM
crowkeys.bsky.social
We've had our fair share of strange visitations from beings who want to make bargains. We never accept them. We know better. Bargaining is dangerous. On bargains...

"Black Walnut" by @femalehysteria.bsky.social

crowcrosskeys.com/2025/12/17/b...
A muted greyscale banner for short story, Black Walnut by Annie Russo published on crowcrosskeys.com, featuring a glass sphere on concrete.
December 17, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Reposted by Crow & Cross Keys || SUBS CLOSED
neilwillcox.bsky.social
6. The Skill Of The Sculptor by Joyce Bingham in @crowkeys.bsky.social where the sculptor is commissioned to make a very particular bronze crowcrosskeys.com/2025/07/12/t...
The Skill of the Sculptor—Joyce Bingham
Below my window the harbour master of Mathurn was busy preparing for the storm due to arrive in the next few hours. Fishing boats were being lashed together and the hum of activity reached even my …
crowcrosskeys.com
December 15, 2025 at 10:27 AM
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neilwillcox.bsky.social
1. Opus Hades by Kimberley White in @crowkeys.bsky.social a poem in seven parts about death, Hades, Persephone and love. crowcrosskeys.com/2025/08/27/o...
Opus Hades—Kimberly White
He breathes in the depth before the air is formed primeval dust of inner earth Continue reading…
crowcrosskeys.com
December 15, 2025 at 10:27 AM
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chellechampagne.bsky.social
Thrilled to see this flash online again! Thank you @crowkeys.bsky.social for the opportunity to reprint this long defunct story!
crowkeys.bsky.social Crow & Cross Keys || SUBS CLOSED @crowkeys.bsky.social · 24d
We remember every haunting. Not just our own. The tower has a whole wing dedicated to the recording of haunted happenings. It comes and goes as it pleases. For a different breed of ghost...

"Hauntings" by @chellechampagne.bsky.social

crowcrosskeys.com/2025/12/13/h...
A muted greyscale banner for reprinted flash fiction, Hauntings by Michelle Champagne, featuring shadowy figures viewed, perhaps, from behind a textured window.
December 13, 2025 at 7:17 PM
crowkeys.bsky.social
We remember every haunting. Not just our own. The tower has a whole wing dedicated to the recording of haunted happenings. It comes and goes as it pleases. For a different breed of ghost...

"Hauntings" by @chellechampagne.bsky.social

crowcrosskeys.com/2025/12/13/h...
A muted greyscale banner for reprinted flash fiction, Hauntings by Michelle Champagne, featuring shadowy figures viewed, perhaps, from behind a textured window.
December 13, 2025 at 6:15 PM
crowkeys.bsky.social
We're filled with longing in the tower this evening, but we don't know for what we long. It's troubling, to be sure. So we're distracting ourselves with poetry. This poetry, specifically.

"The unwell will be fed" by Haley Green

crowcrosskeys.com/2025/12/10/t...
A muted greyscale banner for poem, The unwell will be fed by Haley Green published on crowcrosskeys.com, featuring a face enveloped in shadows aside from a strip of light across their closed eyelids.
December 10, 2025 at 6:32 PM
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braegrosz.com
Good news today! I've just learned that an old flash fic of mine has been accepted by @crowkeys.bsky.social 🎉

This will be my second publication with Crow & Cross Keys. You can check out my first here: crowcrosskeys.com/2024/09/07/i...
Inconsequent—B. Rae Grosz
The house Mare Symonds lived in was at the end of a long dirt lane, not too far past the bridge on Pine Gap Road. You’ll find the door to the house open. You’ll find a mug on the kitchen table. Som…
crowcrosskeys.com
December 8, 2025 at 9:34 PM
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klm-writes.bsky.social
This is her story!
crowcrosskeys.com/2021/09/18/a...
An Occurrence at Nantasket—L. Reed Walton
Due to their publication schedule, neither the Sunrise nor the Weekly Explorer had yet printed photos of the giant, pale, unmoving woman who had washed up on Nantasket Beach. Disappointed, Red cons…
crowcrosskeys.com
December 8, 2025 at 11:03 PM
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klm-writes.bsky.social
Super excited about placing two of my Salem poems with the fabulous @crowkeys.bsky.social and even more tickled that the wife was previously published with them!
December 8, 2025 at 11:02 PM
crowkeys.bsky.social
We run into the odd beast from time to time. They like to loiter in the tower's corridors. We don't meet their eyes lest they eat us. For a tale about one beast in particular, today' short story...

"Sheep's Clothing" by Beatrix Zwolfer

crowcrosskeys.com/2025/12/06/s...
A muted greyscale banner for short story, Sheep's Clothing by Beatrix Zwolfer published on crowcrosskeys.com, featuring a close-up wolf face with fierce-looking eyes.
December 6, 2025 at 6:14 PM
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rosa174.bsky.social
Your post got me to snoop around and found this very interesting post that may interest you. Perhaps you already read it.✌️
bsky.app/profile/crow...
crowkeys.bsky.social Crow & Cross Keys || SUBS CLOSED @crowkeys.bsky.social · May 28
You have been gathering around the link again. Click it.

crowcrosskeys.com/2025/05/28/o...
An excerpt from flash fiction, Only Carrion by Ava DeVries published on crowcrosskeys.com, presented on a muted greyscale banner featuring the profile of a vulture, leering. The excerpt reads: The vultures have been gathering around my house again. Only three or four, for now. But more will be here soon. They will perch on my picket fence and roost on my roof until it creaks with the weight of them.
December 5, 2025 at 2:20 AM
crowkeys.bsky.social
It's chilly in the tower tonight, but the fires refuse to burn. The logs tell us it is out of respect for today's flash fiction; firewood is always a considerate creature.

"The Pyre" by Mathieu Parsy

crowcrosskeys.com/2025/12/03/t...
A muted greyscale banner for flash fiction, The Pyre by Mathieu Parsy published crowcrosskeys.com, featuring a bright pyre against a dark background.
December 3, 2025 at 6:11 PM
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amadolaila.bsky.social
This story journeyed long and hard from first draft to publication. Some stories are like that for their own reasons 🤷🏻‍♀️

I never lost faith in it, and I’m so happy that it found a home in one of my favorite magazines. Forever grateful @crowkeys.bsky.social 🖤
crowkeys.bsky.social Crow & Cross Keys || SUBS CLOSED @crowkeys.bsky.social · Nov 16
Due to unforeseen circumstances, we're a day late, but we promise it's worth the wait. (Our seers are in the tower dungeon as we type. Their foretellings cannot be trusted.) This short story, however...

"Our Mother, the Dark Damp Earth" by @amadolaila.bsky.social

crowcrosskeys.com/2025/11/16/o...
A muted greyscale banner for short story, Our Mother, the Dark Damp Earth by Laila Amado published on crowcrosskeys.com, featuring a field of plowed soil.
December 3, 2025 at 5:40 PM
crowkeys.bsky.social
We were nigh hopelessly lost on our way home this evening. The tower was calling us, but its voice was swallowed up. We're consoling ourselves with today's poetic duo. We love a titled poetic duo. Oh, yes, we do.

"The Five Walled Hell" by Hannah Rae

crowcrosskeys.com/2025/11/29/t...
A muted greyscale banner for poetic duo, The Five Walled Hell by Hannah Rae published on crowcrosskeys.com, featuring passionflowers overlaid with stormclouds.
November 29, 2025 at 7:22 PM