The Cellar Letters · Jamie Petronis

NEW SHOW - Frights by Fire

September 1, 2025·42 min·4 clips
A woman is dragged to her own wedding in a storm, screaming as hands force her into a white dress she never wanted.
The episode opens with a brief explanation of the show's format: a weekly Twitch live stream where horror stories submitted by the community are read off-the-cuff with improvised commentary. The audio is lightly edited for the podcast feed. Guest Isla Hank is introduced; she works at Easy Allies covering video games, has a movie podcast called Reaction Shots, makes music, and has a horror anthology project in progress. The first story, 'Wedding Dove' by Cloud, follows an aromantic woman who discovers the word late at night while engaged to a man she cannot bring herself to marry. Her attempts to explain herself are ignored and dismissed. Her fiancé eventually surprises her with a secret wedding in a rain-soaked forest tent, forcing a dress onto her protesting body. Lightning strikes the tent and she runs, tearing the dress, finally feeling free. The second story, 'It Stays' by Elizabeth, is a short poem about an unspecified persistent pain — something burning and eating from inside — that cannot be dug out, scraped, or silenced. The hosts note its resonance for anyone familiar with that particular experience. The third story, 'Schadenfreude' by Daniel Huris (creator of The Beat of Baleful Wings), concerns Harry Sumner, a call center coworker who has convinced himself that being perfectly average makes him superior. After a forced vacation, Harry returns haunted, warns the narrator to be grateful for his own flaws rather than for not being like others, and disappears. Police later find his home destroyed with more blood than a human body contains. The fourth story, 'Pushed Out' by Carbonated Olive Juice, is told through found video files from the phone of Noah Foster, a disabled man who uses a cane. During a home invasion, each group of friends pushes Noah out because they prioritize their romantic partners. Alone in the kitchen, he is stabbed twice, then forces the intruder's arm into a garbage disposal and escapes. His friends apparently do not survive. A final hospital video shows Noah alone, inferring the worst. The fifth story, 'The Summer Camp Diary' by Cowboy Vacation Room Time, follows Angela, a camp counselor at a theater camp where people have been going missing. She suspects the odd counselor Pamela, investigates with her, and ultimately discovers Pamela is a werewolf who has been hunting and killing covert agents sent to shut down the camp for moral reasons. Angela decides she is entirely fine with this. The episode ends with brief commentary and an indication that Part 2 continues with more stories.

As heard by us

A loose, funny horror stop where casual banter makes the sting hit harder.

This episode goes for spooky-story improv with a loose, friendly frame, then settles into a revenge-by-pride tale that turns mean in the right places. The banter keeps it human and unpolished, which fits the material.

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Why you'd press play

A loose, joking horror session that turns pride into a very bad idea.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
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