Welcome to the Ferris Island Tales!
This is the Official List of all available stories set in, on, or around Ferris Island, Washington! New stories are being added regularly.
All of the tales found here were written and edited by S.E. Reid.
What is Ferris Island?
Ferris Island is a landmass in western Washington, located right at the elbow where Puget Sound meets the Salish Sea. The inhabitants are normal folk, just like you and me…except that the place where they live has some strange hidden corners and a very unusual history.
Read on for a collection of cross-genre tales about a mysterious place!
NEW! Ferris Island Souvenirs Available!
Are you a frequent visitor to the island and want to wear your affection on your literal or proverbial sleeve?
Check out the Official Ferris Island Gift Shop on Etsy for apparel, mugs, bags, and other trinkets! More collections are planned, so check back often!
The Tales
Use the links below to jump straight to a particular length of story. Also included is a short list of recommended free tales for first-time visitors, to become familiar with the island regulars.
Jump To:
Flash Fiction: Stories under or around 2,000 words (5-10 minutes reading time)
Short Fiction: Stories between 2,000 and 10,000 words (15-20 minutes reading time)
Serials: Multi-part tales 10,000 words and over (reading time varies by story)
Some Recommended Tales for First-Time Visitors:
NOTE: Some stories on the list below will be from past paywalled seasons and therefore only accessible to paid members of the Talebones Council. These stories are marked with a (P).
Collections
As the Ferris Island Tales grow, some are gathered up into collections to be published in ebook and paperback format! Stories in these collections can be found here on their own dedicated pages, along with information about how you can purchase the published versions:
Flash Fiction
Stories under or around 2,000 words
Old Spiderlegs - a little boy wanders into the woods and meets a peculiar creature
The Orientation - a strange tale from Ferris Island’s past, as told by grocery store assistant manager Hank, in the midst of a new hire orientation
The Knocking - Ferris Island resident Hank Hollister tells us a little piece of his own personal lore. Fact or fiction? With Hank, it’s always tough to tell!
Brokeneck - Cane’s incomplete culling of the alder trees on his property leaves the door open for something sinister to seek its revenge
The White Horse - (unfiction) the author goes on her own ramble in the woods of Ferris Island and contemplates some solstice feelings through a search for the mystical
The Left Hand of Jim Barton - when a dog digs up a mysterious object in an old woman’s backyard, a journalist finds out a strange truth (a Caroline Phelan story)
The Weeper at the Wake - a journalist is faced with a dilemma when she’s caught moonlighting as a ghost-hunter (a Caroline Phelan story)
What Lingers In The Dark (P) and What Chooses To Stay (P) - in this short flash fiction saga, a journalist moonlighting as a paranormal investigator is given a tip that there’s something strange about the city library (a Caroline Phelan story)
Short Fiction
Stories between 2,000 and 10,000 words
The Bone-Stag - a deer hunter makes a grim mistake and discovers that it did not go unnoticed
The Third Rabbit - a stepmother and daughter must face danger together when it lurks outside their cabin one night
The Fair Folk - Dr. Kenneth Strand’s jealousy of his younger brother leads him into a dark supernatural bargain. But who has he really dealt with? And can they be trusted?
Saint Tibb’s Eve - a bootlegger fleeing danger is lost and haunted in a strange place during an annual ritual
Glossy - a shy teacher with a secret dream leaves his comfort zone and comes face to face with the supernatural
Druid - after a new piece of artificial intelligence fails its demonstration, a research assistant on the project is given a moral choice
The Uninvited Guest - 2023 Hallowe’en Special! - when Ivy and her friends attend their first high school party, they find out that someone there has an unusual agenda
Serials
Multi-part tales 10,000 words and over
Freelance and Fishmaids (episodic serial) - After getting fired from her job as a small-town journalist for moonlighting as a paranormal investigator, Caroline Phelan is urged to go freelance by her informant, a mysterious man she knows only as “the Captain”. Caroline travels to Ferris Island’s paranormal hotspots and learns surprising lore along the way, but in her search for the strangest stories on Ferris Island, she comes face to face with a few of the island’s deepest secrets, some of which still echo through time.
Ivy & Ixos (novella) (P) - when young Ivy goes to live with her estranged father during the uncertain days of March 2020, she finds herself caught in a web of mystery and a family secret too strange to be believed.
The Founder’s Week Saga (three-part short; link takes you to part one) - Tamsin Cunningham, the island’s new social media consultant, has big dreams and big ideas, and she’ll do whatever it takes to make them come true. Unfortunately, her new marketing strategy might get her into some trouble…
The New Kid (three-part short; link takes you to part one) - Jake Masoe is a newcomer to Ferris Island with a troubled past, hoping to leave his horrible memories behind. But on a haunted island, it’s tough to truly pass unnoticed for long…
Goldgreen (episodic serial) (P) - In the fall of 1962, an eccentric director and a screenwriter with a hidden past set out to make a most unusual TV show, called “Goldgreen”, but the show only filmed eight episodes before the cast and crew mysteriously vanished. To this day, the reruns of the eight completed episodes are all that remain.
Resources
NOTE: Most resources are for Councilmembers only