Share

cover art for 75.4 An Arm and A Leg

The Other Stories | Sci-Fi, Horror, Thriller, WTF Stories

75.4 An Arm and A Leg

This episode has been sponsored by the Getting Started Writing Short Horror Stories MiniCourse. Find out more at https://theotherstories.net/minicourse.

An Arm and a Leg

'Keegan Gibson's mother has one failing kidney left and only four months to live. A man offers Keegan a bit of hope, but it comes at a heavy price.'

Written by Lawson Ray (https://www.twitter.com/RealLawsonRay)

Narrated by Grant Patrizio (https://www.grantpatrizio.com/)

Edited by Duncan Muggleton (http://soundcloud.com/duncanmuggleton)

With music by Duncan Muggleton (http://soundcloud.com/duncanmuggleton)

And Thom Robson (https://www.thomrobsonmusic.com/)

The episode illustration was provided by Luke Spooner of Carrion House (https://carrionhouse.com/)

And sound effects provided by Freesound.org.

A quick thanks to our community managers, Joshua Boucher and Jasmine Arch

And Carolyn O'Brien for helping with our submission reading.

And to Ben Errington for content marathons he runs in the name of social media... and really tight shorts. Go on, Ben!


Lawson Ray is a fiction/horror writer who posts short stories every other week to his website at lawsonray.com. You can also find him on Twitter @RealLawsonRay.


Grant Patrizio has lent his skills to a variety of audiobooks, animated works, video games, and audio dramas, one of which got him nominated for an Audioverse Award in 2019! It's been an incredible ride so far, and the best is yet to come!


You can help support the show over at Patreon.com/HawkandCleaver

You can join our Bookclub, Movieclub, and writing exercises over at Facebook.com/groups/hawkandcleaver

T-shirts, mugs, posters, and comic books are available at www.gumroad.com/hawkandcleaver

Get help with your short stories and your podcasts by heading to TheOtherStories.Net/services


The Other Stories is a production of the story studio, Hawk & Cleaver, and is brought to you with a Creative Commons – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. Don’t change it. Don’t sell it. But by all means… share the hell out of it.

More episodes

View all episodes

  • S3.2 Like Silver

    12:35|
    S3.2 Like SilverGrappling with the loss of his significant other, a haunted man struggles to allow her spirit -- and his own -- to rest.Written by Derek Alan JonesNarrated by Justin Fife (https://www.threads.net/@justin.fife)Produced by Georgia Triantafyllopoulou (https://www.instagram.com/audiogeekgr )With music by Epic Stock Media (https://epicstockmedia.com/)And Grzegorz Rusin (https://freemusicarchive.org/)And Thom Robson (https://www.thomrobsonmusic.com/)And sound effects provided by https://getsoundly.com/The episode illustration was provided by Matt Seff Barnes (https://www.mattseffbarnes.com/)Joshua Boucher is our story programmer.Jasmine Arch manages our community.Mary Pastrano helps orchestrate the chaos.And the show would collapse into static and screams without the ongoing work of Karl Hughes, Georgia Triantafyllopoulou, and James Barnett — AKA Jimmy Horrors.Justin Fife is an audiobook narrator and voice actor, and he can be found on Threads @Justin.fifeJoin TOS+ to access over 90 exclusive episodes, get regular stories in higher quality audio, a week early, and ad-free, at https://theotherstories.net/plus/Support the show, get audiobooks, and more at https://www.patreon.com/hawkandcleaverJoin our communities for book clubs, movie clubs, writing exercises, and more at https://theotherstories.net/community/Leave a voicemail or get in touch at https://theotherstories.net/submissionsCheck out our writing courses at https://theotherstories.net/courses/Grab some merch at https://gumroad.com/hawkandcleaverThe Other Stories is a production of the story studio, Hawk & Cleaver, and is brought to you with a Creative Commons – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. Don’t change it. Don’t sell it. But by all means… share the hell out of it.
  • S3.1 The Collecting

    13:32|
    S3.1 The Collecting*The young ones would appear strange on most days, but tonight they draw no notice. Tonight is the night of the collecting, and it is the one night of the year when the young ones move about in peace.*Written by Cassandra Daucus (https://linktr.ee/residualdreaming)Narrated by Georgia Cook (https://www.georgiacookwriter.com/)Produced by Georgia Triantafyllopoulou (https://www.instagram.com/audiogeekgr )With music by Guided meditation (https://freemusicarchive.org/)And Kirk Osamayo (http://www.kirkosamayo.com/)And Thom Robson (https://www.thomrobsonmusic.com/)And sound effects provided by Soundly And sound effects provided by Freesound.orgThe episode illustration was provided by Matt Seff Barnes (https://www.mattseffbarnes.com/) Joshua Boucher is our story programmer.Jasmine Arch manages our community. Mary Pastrano helps orchestrate the chaos. And the show would collapse into static and screams without the ongoing work of Karl Hughes, Georgia Triantafyllopoulou, and James Barnett — AKA Jimmy Horrors.**Inspired by H. P. Lovecraft, M. R. James, Shirley Jackson, Robert Aickman, and a ton of fan fiction, Cassandra Daucus (she/her) writes soft horror and dark romance. She is intrigued by how the human mind responds to the unknown, and also enjoys a good gross-out. Her story "Teething" is published in Ooze: Little Bursts of Body Horror, edited by Ruth Anna Evans, and she has also published drabbles in Trembling With Fear and Hungry Shadow Press's Deadly Drabble Tuesday. Cassandra lives outside of Philadelphia with her family and three cats. She tweets at @residualdreamin and her website is https://residualdreaming.com/****Georgia Cook is an illustrator and writer from London. She has written for publications such as Baffling, Vastarien Lit, and Flame Tree press, as well as the Doctor Who range with Big Finish. She can be found on twitter at @georgiacooked and on her website at https://www.georgiacookwriter.com/**Join TOS+ to access over 90 exclusive episodes, get regular stories in higher quality audio, a week early, and ad-free, at https://theotherstories.net/plus/Support the show, get audiobooks, and more at https://www.patreon.com/hawkandcleaverJoin our communities for book clubs, movie clubs, writing exercises, and more at https://theotherstories.net/community/Leave a voicemail or get in touch at https://theotherstories.net/submissionsCheck out our writing courses at https://theotherstories.net/courses/Grab some merch at https://gumroad.com/hawkandcleaver**The Other Stories is a production of the story studio, Hawk & Cleaver, and is brought to you with a Creative Commons – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. Don’t change it. Don’t sell it. But by all means… share the hell out of it.**
  • S2.8 My Brother Roy

    14:24|
    S2.8 My Brother RoyDuring a hot, humid, summer night in downriver Detroit, a lonely man looking for love meets a woman at a local bar. Unfortunately for her, the man and his brother prove to be more bizarre than her most deranged nightmare.Written by Edward. R. RosickNarrated by Justin Fife (https://www.threads.net/@justin.fife)Produced by James Barnett (https://www.JamesBarnettCreative.com)With music by North Without End (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/north-without-end/)And Mantis Shrimp (www.freemusicarchive.org)And Alex Mason (https://soundcloud.com/alexmason-1-1)And Thom Robson (https://www.thomrobsonmusic.com/)And sound effects provided by Freesound.orgThe episode illustration was provided by Matt Seff Barnes (https://www.mattseffbarnes.com/)Joshua Boucher is our story programmer.Jasmine Arch manages our community.Mary Pastrano helps orchestrate the chaos.And the show would collapse into static and screams without the ongoing work of Karl Hughes, Georgia Triantafyllopoulou, and James Barnett — AKA Jimmy Horrors.Justin Fife is an audiobook narrator and voice actor, and he can be found on Threads @Justin.fifeJoin TOS+ to access over 90 exclusive episodes, get regular stories in higher quality audio, a week early, and ad-free, at https://theotherstories.net/plus/Support the show, get audiobooks, and more at https://www.patreon.com/hawkandcleaverJoin our communities for book clubs, movie clubs, writing exercises, and more at https://theotherstories.net/community/Leave a voicemail or get in touch at https://theotherstories.net/submissionsCheck out our writing courses at https://theotherstories.net/courses/Grab some merch at https://gumroad.com/hawkandcleaverThe Other Stories is a production of the story studio, Hawk & Cleaver, and is brought to you with a Creative Commons – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. Don’t change it. Don’t sell it. But by all means… share the hell out of it.
  • S2.7 Confession

    15:13|
    S2.7 ConfessionAfter being arrested for a murder he didn’t commit, Paul is relieved to discover that everyone believes him. However, he soon finds that even though they know he is innocent, they want him to confess.Written by Harley CarnellNarrated by Josh CurranProduced by Karl Hughes (https://bsky.app/profile/karlhughes.bsky.social)With music by Cyberleaf Studio (https://andreabaroni.com/)And Thom Robson (https://www.thomrobsonmusic.com/)And sound effects provided by Freesound.orgThe episode illustration was provided by Matt Seff Barnes (https://www.mattseffbarnes.com/)Joshua Boucher is our story programmer.Jasmine Arch manages our community.Mary Pastrano helps orchestrate the chaos.And the show would collapse into static and screams without the ongoing work of Karl Hughes, Georgia Triantafyllopoulou, and James Barnett — AKA Jimmy Horrors.Harley Carnell lives and writes in London, England. His work has been published, or is forthcoming, in Vastarien, Riptide Journal, Litro and Penumbra, among others. It has been performed on the NoSleep Podcast, the Drabblecast and Nocturnal Transmissions.Josh Curran is a narrator and writer. He has narrated many episodes of The Other Stories over the show’s lifetime. He is also the creator of the horror Audio-Drama podcast, Miscreation.Join TOS+ to access over 90 exclusive episodes, get regular stories in higher quality audio, a week early, and ad-free, at https://theotherstories.net/plus/Support the show, get audiobooks, and more at https://www.patreon.com/hawkandcleaverJoin our communities for book clubs, movie clubs, writing exercises, and more at https://theotherstories.net/community/Leave a voicemail or get in touch at https://theotherstories.net/submissionsCheck out our writing courses at https://theotherstories.net/courses/Grab some merch at https://gumroad.com/hawkandcleaverThe Other Stories is a production of the story studio, Hawk & Cleaver, and is brought to you with a Creative Commons – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. Don’t change it. Don’t sell it. But by all means… share the hell out of it.
  • S2.6 Holiday Bonus

    16:51|
    S2.6 Holiday BonusA well-intentioned bonus by a department manager leads to chaos in the workplace.Written by Russell Richardson (https://www.russellrichardson.org)Narrated by Justin Fife (https://www.threads.net/@justin.fife)Produced by James Barnett AKA Jimmy Horrors (https://www.JamesBarnettCreative.com)With music by Boom Library (https://www.boomlibrary.com/)And Dark Fantasy Studio (http://darkfantasystudio.com/)And Thom Robson (https://www.thomrobsonmusic.com/)And sound effects provided by Freesound.orgThe episode illustration was provided by Matt Seff Barnes (https://www.mattseffbarnes.com/)Joshua Boucher is our story programmer.Jasmine Arch manages our community.Mary Pastrano helps orchestrate the chaos.And the show would collapse into static and screams without the ongoing work of Karl Hughes, Georgia Triantafyllopoulou, and James Barnett — AKA Jimmy Horrors.For more information about Russell Richardson’s work, head to https://www.russellrichardson.orgJustin Fife is an audiobook narrator and voice actor, and he can be found on Threads @Justin.fifeJoin TOS+ to access over 90 exclusive episodes, get regular stories in higher quality audio, a week early, and ad-free, at https://theotherstories.net/plus/Support the show, get audiobooks, and more at https://www.patreon.com/hawkandcleaverJoin our communities for book clubs, movie clubs, writing exercises, and more at https://theotherstories.net/community/Leave a voicemail or get in touch at https://theotherstories.net/submissionsCheck out our writing courses at https://theotherstories.net/courses/Grab some merch at https://gumroad.com/hawkandcleaverThe Other Stories is a production of the story studio, Hawk & Cleaver, and is brought to you with a Creative Commons – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. Don’t change it. Don’t sell it. But by all means… share the hell out of it.
  • S2.5 Alina's Ring

    14:30|
    S2.5 Alina's RingDuring World War II, a wounded German soldier stumbles into the home of an Italian peasant family. As the daughter nurses the soldier back to health, she falls madly in love with him without realizing—or does she?—that it was his comrades who murdered her mother and father. Her obsessive, uncompromising passion can lead only to a grisly finaleWritten by Nicola LombardiAnd translated by Joe WeintraubNarrated by Justin Fife (https://www.threads.net/@justin.fife)Produced by Georgia Triantafyllopoulou (https://www.instagram.com/audiogeekgr )With music by Epic Stock Media (https://epicstockmedia.com/)And Free Music Archive (https://freemusicarchive.org/)And Thom Robson (https://www.thomrobsonmusic.com/)And sound effects provided by https://getsoundly.com/The episode illustration was provided by Matt Seff Barnes (https://www.mattseffbarnes.com/)Joshua Boucher is our story programmer.Jasmine Arch manages our community.Mary Pastrano helps orchestrate the chaos.And the show would collapse into static and screams without the ongoing work of Karl Hughes, Georgia Triantafyllopoulou, and James Barnett — AKA Jimmy Horrors.After thirty years of writing--3 novels, six collections, one film adaptation, multiple translations from the English--Lombardi is considered a master of the horror genre in Italy (his website can be found here:at www.nicolalombardi.com). His first collection in English, The Gypsy Spiders and Other Tales of Italian Horror, was published by UK's Tartarus Press in Dec. 2021.Justin Fife is an audiobook narrator and voice actor, and he can be found on Threads @Justin.fifeJoin TOS+ to access over 90 exclusive episodes, get regular stories in higher quality audio, a week early, and ad-free, at https://theotherstories.net/plus/Support the show, get audiobooks, and more at https://www.patreon.com/hawkandcleaverJoin our communities for book clubs, movie clubs, writing exercises, and more at https://theotherstories.net/community/Leave a voicemail or get in touch at https://theotherstories.net/submissionsCheck out our writing courses at https://theotherstories.net/courses/Grab some merch at https://gumroad.com/hawkandcleaverThe Other Stories is a production of the story studio, Hawk & Cleaver, and is brought to you with a Creative Commons – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. Don’t change it. Don’t sell it. But by all means… share the hell out of it.
  • S2.4 Child in a Mirror Dark

    12:52|
    S2.4 Child in a Mirror DarkA horror took his daughter from him years ago. He hasn't stopped searching for a way back to her, but what has he sacrificed in the process?Written by Chris DeStefano (social media link)Narrated by Justin Fife (https://www.threads.net/@justin.fife)Produced by Georgia Triantafyllopoulou (https://www.instagram.com/audiogeekgr )With music by Epic Stock Media (https://epicstockmedia.com/)And Thom Robson (https://www.thomrobsonmusic.com/)And sound effects provided by https://getsoundly.com/Joshua Boucher is our story programmer.Jasmine Arch manages our community.Mary Pastrano helps orchestrate the chaos.And the show would collapse into static and screams without the ongoing work of Karl Hughes, Georgia Triantafyllopoulou, and James Barnett — AKA Jimmy Horrors.Chris DeStefano has been fascinated with horror and the macabre since reading a story of spontaneous human combustion as a child. He currently lives, works and writes in New Jersey with his wife, daughters and two black cats. His work has been previously published in Cosmic Horror Monthly, the dark fiction anthology Mixtape:1986, and can be found on X and BlueSky @chrisdestefanoJustin Fife is an audiobook narrator and voice actor, and he can be found on Threads @Justin.fifeJoin TOS+ to access over 90 exclusive episodes, get regular stories in higher quality audio, a week early, and ad-free, at https://theotherstories.net/plus/Support the show, get audiobooks, and more at https://www.patreon.com/hawkandcleaverJoin our communities for book clubs, movie clubs, writing exercises, and more at https://theotherstories.net/community/Leave a voicemail or get in touch at https://theotherstories.net/submissionsCheck out our writing courses at https://theotherstories.net/courses/Grab some merch at https://gumroad.com/hawkandcleaverThe Other Stories is a production of the story studio, Hawk & Cleaver, and is brought to you with a Creative Commons – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. Don’t change it. Don’t sell it. But by all means… share the hell out of it.
  • S2.3 Never Use the Last Page

    21:40|
    S2.3 Never Use the Last PageA woman seeks revenge upon the person who killed her fiancé in a most unusual manner.Written by Morgan Chalfant (https://www.instagram.com/eyesonly34/)Narrated by Erika Ventura (https://instagram.com/efventu)Produced by Karl Hughes (https://bsky.app/profile/karlhughes.bsky.social)With music by Chris Logsdon (https://chrislsound.com/)And Thom Robson (https://www.thomrobsonmusic.com/)The episode illustration was provided by Matt Seff Barnes (https://www.mattseffbarnes.com/)Joshua Boucher is our story programmer.Jasmine Arch manages our community.Mary Pastrano helps orchestrate the chaos.And the show would collapse into static and screams without the ongoing work of Karl Hughes, Georgia Triantafyllopoulou, and James Barnett — AKA Jimmy Horrors.Follow Morgan Chalfant on Instagram at @eyesonly34Erika Ventura is an artist, mother, bilingual narrator, and a painting instructor. How does she manage it all? No idea, but her artwork can be seen on Instagram (@efventu) or you can visit her artist page www.facebook.com/BioArtsyJoin TOS+ to access over 90 exclusive episodes, get regular stories in higher quality audio, a week early, and ad-free, at https://theotherstories.net/plus/Support the show, get audiobooks, and more at https://www.patreon.com/hawkandcleaverJoin our communities for book clubs, movie clubs, writing exercises, and more at https://theotherstories.net/community/Leave a voicemail or get in touch at https://theotherstories.net/submissionsCheck out our writing courses at https://theotherstories.net/courses/Grab some merch at https://gumroad.com/hawkandcleaverThe Other Stories is a production of the story studio, Hawk & Cleaver, and is brought to you with a Creative Commons – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. Don’t change it. Don’t sell it. But by all means… share the hell out of it.
  • S2.2 Long Live The Prom King

    17:27|
    S2.2 Long Live The Prom King*Bobby never expected himself to die. Nobody with a girlfriend like Clara Jones in their life was about to die.*Written by Georgia Cook (https://x.com/georgiacooked)Narrated by Josh CurranProduced by Karl Hughes (https://bsky.app/profile/karlhughes.bsky.social)With music by Dark Fantasy Studio (http://darkfantasystudio.com/)And Thom Robson (https://www.thomrobsonmusic.com/)And sound effects provided by Freesound.orgThe episode illustration was provided by Matt Seff Barnes (https://www.mattseffbarnes.com/)Joshua Boucher is our story programmer.Jasmine Arch manages our community. Mary Pastrano helps orchestrate the chaos. And the show would collapse into static and screams without the ongoing work of Karl Hughes, Georgia Triantafyllopoulou, and James Barnett — AKA Jimmy Horrors.**Georgia Cook is an illustrator and writer from London. She has written for publications such as Baffling, Vastarien Lit, and Flame Tree press, as well as the Doctor Who range with Big Finish. She can be found on twitter at @georgiacooked and on her website at https://www.georgiacookwriter.com/****Josh Curran is a narrator and writer. He has narrated many episodes of The Other Stories over the show’s lifetime. He is also the creator of the horror Audio-Drama podcast, Miscreation.**Join TOS+ to access over 90 exclusive episodes, get regular stories in higher quality audio, a week early, and ad-free, at https://theotherstories.net/plus/Support the show, get audiobooks, and more at https://www.patreon.com/hawkandcleaverJoin our communities for book clubs, movie clubs, writing exercises, and more at https://theotherstories.net/community/Leave a voicemail or get in touch at https://theotherstories.net/submissionsCheck out our writing courses at https://theotherstories.net/courses/Grab some merch at https://gumroad.com/hawkandcleaver**The Other Stories is a production of the story studio, Hawk & Cleaver, and is brought to you with a Creative Commons – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. Don’t change it. Don’t sell it. But by all means… share the hell out of it.**