Anandhu S. The sun sank below the horizon, painting the sky a deep red before twilight took over. Birds flitted across the evening sky racing to their nests as darkness wrapped around the village of Panchavankadu. Adithyan Namboothiri, the youngest of the Kizhekkeparabil family, walked quickly along the shadowy path holding a flambeau made from … Continue reading The Femme Fatales: The Enigmatic Yakshis of Kerala
Periodicals in South Asian Children’s Literature
What are those periodicals you read growing up in India? What are those periodicals from your part of the country that we hardly know about? How did these periodicals shape your childhood and adulthood? Write to us!
Editorial: Childhood “Prets” and Other Premonitions
Introduction My (Ahona’s) earliest memories of the supernatural blend with memories of hot rice, white steam like spirits rising from my plate, the sounds of shakha-pola (bangles) on Dida’s hand clamouring as she approached with a ladle full of dal and the words from Dadu’s stories taking on strange shapes and colours, as the ghosts … Continue reading Editorial: Childhood “Prets” and Other Premonitions
The House of Rizwan
I am telling a friend about an incident back in school. He is not even listening to what I have to say. I start narrating, nonetheless. I cannot recall what prompted me to begin. Maybe need to get his attention. Or, just say something interesting to enjoy his company for a few more minutes. So, … Continue reading The House of Rizwan
Inexplicable
Dr. Krishnendu Das Gupta Teacher and Scholar We Bengalis have a tradition of ghost stories. Compared to the occidental vampires and werewolves or the genie of the Middle East, ghosts, ghouls are part and parcel of Bengali rural life. They are very many in number and their ghost class depends on their nature of death, … Continue reading Inexplicable
The Cult of the Great Tree-Witch
By Payal Priya “Paya I ate ....now play round and round.” My 3-year old niece Myra came running with my phone in her hands. YouTube can make her do anything; she can eat while listening to CoComelon, she learns rhymes and alphabets from Shafa/ Vlad and Nikki , she dances to the tunes of Chak … Continue reading The Cult of the Great Tree-Witch
That Night
By Plabi Pradhan Even in the 21st century we often witness or sense so many unearthly things which cannot be explained by any logic or science. We can't articulate them by any framework of cause and effect; we just feel or experience them. A very weird kind of feeling. Twenty eight years old now, I'm … Continue reading That Night
To Believe or Not to Believe: Bengali Childhoods and Indigenous Horror Fiction
By Dr. Stella Chitralekha Biswas Born in a quintessentially Bengali household, I grew up listening to a fascinating plethora of bhooter galpa that catered to my ever-increasing appetite for the same. In fact, having doting grandmothers and other female kin within the household meant endless evenings and nights of storytelling that sent shivers down our … Continue reading To Believe or Not to Believe: Bengali Childhoods and Indigenous Horror Fiction
The End
by Maryam Sikander Studying in a convent school means you grow up with stories of dead nuns haunting cemeteries and unrequited love stories of star-crossed lovers who die for love and old statues of Angels and Apostles who walk around in the dead of the night in empty school premises and so on. I wrote … Continue reading The End
A Tale of Murkatta, the Headless Monster
By Saundarya It is often the fear of the unknown that lies at the core of a horror story. The element of horror is mostly used in order to keep the dust under the rug. This maintenance of the status quo may look like a piece of cake but believe me, it does not taste … Continue reading A Tale of Murkatta, the Headless Monster