Lo and behold!

We’ve reached the end of the grand crusade against the Beast itself! 31 legs have been chopped, mauled and destroyed!

Well done, everybody.

P.S. The last Fictionwocky Edition Gupotki, which will be the selection picks for Legs 22–31, is coming this weekend. Why? Because it takes time! The Beast has many limbs, and I am but one scraper-goblin-guy.

Now onto the fun stuff!

The list of survivors of the Fictionwocky challenge:

• 🏅

• 🏅

• 🏅

• 🏅

• 🏅

• 🏅

• 🏅

• 🏅 JW Meyers

• 🏅

• 🏅

• 🏅

• 🏅 RM Greta

• 🏅 Walt Shuler

• 🏅

• Hylia Corvidae

Big (massive) thanks to everybody who supported in any way!

You guys rock!

Now for additional surprises! And there are two.

Fictionwocky Survivors 2026

The Champions who completed all 31 legs are eligible for a piece of Fictionwocky swag (drawn by an amazing ):

More on this soon this week.

Fictionwocky Printed Book Collection

We’ve got enough material to fill at least one hefty collection or anthology. Yes, you heard it right.

The details and selection process will follow, but I’m including a survey to gauge whether there’s enough appetite, interest, and rationale for this.

Let me know by voting.

Third Eye Horror
© Mac Sitko, 2026
All rights reserved.

Welcome to Fictionwocky: Legs 29–31.

Lo and behold! The last batch of three prompts of the 31-day nano/microfiction gauntlet is arriving now, with the Beast itself.

The suggested word count is 30–700 words, which is in the range of nano and microfiction. Why? Because I don’t want you to write full essays and burn yourselves out by Day 4.

Now chop chop (literally).

Legs (29–31):

Leg 29 – The Game Leg: Write a microfiction about a made-up game.

Physical, digital, children’s game, cursed game, board game, whatever.

Explain the rules, write a manual. Make up the rules. Have fun when they bite!

Leg 30 – The Chat Leg: Write a microfiction as a fictional chat exchange.

Texts, Discord, WhatsApp, DMs, Slack, comments. Things like these.

Let the story and/or plot happen through messages only. Use timestamps, deleted messages, typos, reactions, anything you want.

Leg 31 – The Dear Substack Letter Leg: Write your final microfiction as a letter, or a confession, or a bug report addressed directly to “Dear Substack.”

You’ve survived thirty days, but at what cost? Report your trouble to tech support. Demand. Argue. Treat the platform as a sentient, indifferent algorithm, a deity, or anything else that demands constant feeding time.

Sign off. The Beast is slain now. We’ve done it.

Rules and Flexibility

1. Publish (or see Flexibility down below): You post your nano/microfiction on your own Substack. Tag this publication, and drop it in the comments of the main weekly callout.

2. Flexibility: Substack is not required. WordPress, Wrizzit, blogs, Notes, whatever. You don’t have to publish publicly. Here are three options:

   1. Join the Discord community, where you can drop your contribution in the #links channel. It will be linked out to your WordPress, Wrizzit, or any other site or platform (I hope mutually).

   2. Send the link or piece to fictionwocky@gmail.com. I will publish it here in my main publication. If you’re on Substack, I can add you as a byline contributor.

   3. Use Substack Notes if you still hate all the options. Just drop the Substack Notes link.

The Survivor List:

Participant links, the weekly offcuts, scraps, and severed little beauties will be added here as they arrive.

Links to a publication:

• Leg 29 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 29 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 29 — Didrik

• Leg 29 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 29 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 29 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 29 — James Lessing

• Leg 29 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 29 — M. Majeris

• Leg 29 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 29 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 29 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 30 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 30 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 30 — Didrik

• Leg 30 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 30 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 30 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 30 — James Lessing

• Leg 30 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 30 — M. Majeris

• Leg 30 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 30 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 30 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 31 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 31 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 31 — Didrik

• Leg 31 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 31 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 31 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 31 — James Lessing

• Leg 31 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 29-31 — JW Meyers

• Leg 31 — M. Majeris

• Leg 31 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 31 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 31 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 29-31 — RM Greta

• Leg 29-31 — Walt Shuler

Written/emailed entries:

• (Incoming!)

Third Eye Horror
© Mac Sitko, 2026
All rights reserved.

Welcome to Fictionwocky: Legs 22–28.

Lo and behold! The next batch of seven prompts of the 31-day nano/microfiction gauntlet is arriving now, with the Beast itself.

The suggested word count is 30–700 words, which is in the range of nano and microfiction. Why? Because I don’t want you to write full essays and burn yourselves out by Day 4.

Now chop chop (literally).

Legs (22–28):

Leg 22 – The Proverb Leg: Write a microfiction constructed entirely out of proverbs, folk wisdom, or real village sayings for a fictional culture.

The piece can read like some kinda almanac or a chain of warnings passed down by an elder or a spooky grandma.

For example: “When the papa eats salt, lock the pigs indoors.”

Make folk wisdom blow the roof off the local fool’s hut.

Leg 23 – The System Diagnostics Leg: Write a microfiction as a system diagnostic report, boot sequence, or a hardware error log.

This can be any piece of software or hardware you want, even a washing machine or a Roomba. List the failing components, format it programmatically, or show us corrupted memory sectors.

A crash, an enlightenment, a machine turning human, get creative!

Leg 24 – The Bestiary Leg: Write an entry in a bestiary. (Yeah, the fun one, for the Beast.)

You can describe one creature’s habitat, its diet, its entire behaviour, its mating habits, and so on. Someone writing this has either seen the thing, or it is grounded in the myth (made-up or not). A bestiary can also include aliens and more.

Illustrations welcome, as always, if you have time, but they aren’t absolutely required.

Leg 25 – The Prosimetrum Leg: Write a microfiction in the form of a prosimetrum.

A prosimetrum (plural prosimetra) is a poetic composition which exploits a combination of prose (prosa) and verse (metrum); in particular, it is a text composed in alternating segments of prose and verse.

It really is self-explanatory. In a prosimetrum, there is a piece of prose followed by rhythmic poetry, and on and on. Of course, the poetry piece has to have something to do with the prose piece, and vice versa.

Leg 26 – The Philosophy Leg: Write a philosophical piece. It can be a made-up ontology, metaphysics, or aphorism. A fragment of a larger declaration, or self-contained statement. It can also be a message or a letter to someone, a philosophical exchange, that works too (including historical figures).

It really can be anything or any topic, practical philosophy like Epictetus, a crazy-man ramble like Nietzsche, or something very, very convoluted, like Hegel.

It’s up to you what you want it to be, but have fun.

Leg 27 – The Fable Leg: Write a microfiction as a fable. A fable is a fiction that includes:

animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphised, and that illustrates or leads to a particular moral lesson which may at the end be added explicitly as a concise maxim or saying.

You know, talking objects, rogue body organs, and other strange cosmic concepts. All welcome. Let them all behave terribly so. For example, a crow might sell your Da and Ma a new religion, or a shoe might learn humility (if that ain’t wild enough).

The rule here is one: A fable must end with a moral. The moral can be entirely useless, broken, or based on a common misunderstanding.

Leg 28 – The Ballad Leg: Write a very short ballad.

Whether you use prose or verse, rely on a rhythmic drumbeat or a repeated refrain, make sure you tell a story of something worthy of a ballad. Like a tragic act, a murder, a clash, a great return. Things like these.

It should feel like a song that has been carried from mouth to mouth for three hundred years, even if everyone has forgotten why they are singing it.

(Optional refrain for a bonus: “And the Beast went walking, leg by leg by leg.”)

Rules and Flexibility

1. Publish (or see Flexibility down below): You post your nano/microfiction on your own Substack. Tag this publication, and drop it in the comments of the main weekly callout.

2. Flexibility: Substack is not required. WordPress, Wrizzit, blogs, Notes, whatever. You don’t have to publish publicly. Here are three options:

   1. Join the Discord community, where you can drop your contribution in the #links channel. It will be linked out to your WordPress, Wrizzit, or any other site or platform (I hope mutually).

   2. Send the link or piece to fictionwocky@gmail.com. I will publish it here in my main publication. If you’re on Substack, I can add you as a byline contributor.

   3. Use Substack Notes if you still hate all the options. Just drop the Substack Notes link.

The Survivor List:

Participant links, the weekly offcuts, scraps, and severed little beauties will be added here as they arrive.

Links to a publication:

• Leg 22 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 22 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 22 — Didrik

• Leg 22 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 22 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 22 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 22 — M. Majeris

• Leg 22 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 22 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 22 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 22 — RM Greta

• Leg 22 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 22 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 22 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 22 — James Lessing

• Leg 23 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 23 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 23 — Didrik

• Leg 23 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 23 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 23 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 23 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 23 — RM Greta

• Leg 23 — M. Majeris

• Leg 23 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 23 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 23 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 23 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 23 — James Lessing

• Leg 23 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 24 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 24 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 24 — Didrik

• Leg 24 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 24 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 24 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 24 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 24 — M. Majeris

• Leg 24 — RM Greta

• Leg 24 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 24 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 24 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 24 — James Lessing

• Leg 24 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 24 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 25 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 25 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 25 — Didrik

• Leg 25 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 25 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 25 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 25 — M. Majeris

• Leg 25 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 25 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 25 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 25 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 25 — James Lessing

• Leg 25 — RM Greta

• Leg 25 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 25 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 26 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 26 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 26 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 26 — RM Greta

• Leg 26 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 26 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 26 — M. Majeris

• Leg 26 — Didrik

• Leg 26 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 26 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 26 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 26 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 26 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 26 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 26 — James Lessing

• Leg 27 — M. Majeris

• Leg 27 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 27 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 27 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 27 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 27 — Didrik

• Leg 27 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 27 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 27 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 27 — RM Greta

• Leg 27 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 27 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 27 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 27 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 27 — James Lessing

• Leg 28 — Didrik (removed)

• Leg 28 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 28 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 28 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 28 — RM Greta

• Leg 28 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 28 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 28 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 28 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 28 — M. Majeris

• Leg 28 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 28 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 28 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 22-28 — JW Meyers

• Leg 28 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 28 — James Lessing

Written/emailed entries:

• (Incoming!)

Third Eye Horror
© Mac Sitko, 2026
All rights reserved.

Welcome to Fictionwocky: Legs 15–21.

Lo and behold! The next batch of seven prompts of the 31-day nano/microfiction gauntlet is arriving now, with the Beast itself.

The suggested word count is 30–700 words, which is in the range of nano and microfiction. Why? Because I don’t want you to write full essays and burn yourselves out by Day 4.

Now chop chop (literally).

Legs (15–21):

Leg 15 – The 55-Word Leg: Write a microfiction of exactly 55 words. Not 54. Not 56.

Precision is required. Strip away the fat and deliver a single, nano-stab of a fatal story. A half-narrative arc, a dying utterance, or a burst of violence.

Good? Ok.

Count your words. WE’RE watching YOU (me and the Beast).

Leg 16 – The Prayer Leg: Write a microfiction as a desperate litany, a prayer, or more.

Direct your fervour to an entity, a cup of tea, a concept, or a machine. Anything can be worshipped. The tone can be fervent, blind, and highly blasphemous. The language can be modern, archaic, or crazy; up to you.

Get on your knees and beg, or let it beg you. Your damn choice.

Leg 17 – The Catalogue Leg: Write a microfiction as a catalogue entry.

Think IKEA or Avon booklets. Occult objects, objects that violate the laws of the universe, fleshy objects, anything alike.

Include item numbers, dimensions, prices, and some sales copy. Sell an inter-dimensional shitter, a jar of Mummy’s teeth on Etsy, or a biomechanical dildo that integrates with your nervous system. (Images very much welcome!)

Give the beast some stock.

Leg 18 – The Maqama Leg: Write a microfiction in highly stylised, rhythmic prose-poetry with a wild trickster at its centre1.

The maqāma are typically understood to be short picaresques told by a fictitious narrator about a low-class trickster protagonist who uses disguises, refined language and sophisticated rhetoric to swindle onlookers out of their money.

Maqama is an old Arabic literary form2: ornate prose overlapped with poetry, full of wit, boasting, and trickery, featuring a protagonist and a narrator who may or may not realise they’re being played. You can find some examples here.

Your trickster can be a beggar, a prophet, an AI bot, a landlord, a talking crazy fox, a poet, a vending machine, or whatever.

Someone can get outwitted, and someone or something can steal your wallet.

Leg 19 – The Government Document Leg: Write a microfiction as a redacted bureaucratic document.

An incident report, a classified govt file, containment protocols, whatever makes stuff look like paperwork. The point is: something happened. Was it a cosmic flesh event? Radioactive sludge? An ecocide? Something more political? Fine.

You can attach photographic evidence. Use redactions if you want, or numbered clauses.

Leg 20 – The Recursive Leg: Write a microfiction where the first and last sentences are identical, and the story forms a loop.

The Oulipian time-loop, maths loop, or something else dizzying, unending.

You can trap the reader in a claustrophobic nightmare that they can’t escape.

Leg 21 – The Weather Report Leg: Write a microfiction as a meteorological forecast.

Deliver some peppy, standard meteorologist jargon for a region experiencing whatever you want. For example, a metaphysical, apocalyptic event is coming!

The high barometric pressure can drop the anchorman to their knees while they’re describing things like the migration of biblically accurate angels.

The morning dew from hell and back.

Rules and Flexibility

1. Publish (or see Flexibility down below): You post your nano/microfiction on your own Substack. Tag this publication, and drop it in the comments of the main weekly callout.

2. Flexibility: Substack is not required. WordPress, Wrizzit, blogs, Notes, whatever. You don’t have to publish publicly. Here are three options:

   1. Join the Discord community, where you can drop your contribution in the #links channel. It will be linked out to your WordPress, Wrizzit, or any other site or platform (I hope mutually).

   2. Send the link or piece to fictionwocky@gmail.com. I will publish it here in my main publication. If you’re on Substack, I can add you as a byline contributor.

   3. Use Substack Notes if you still hate all the options. Just drop the Substack Notes link.

The Survivor List:

Participant links, the weekly offcuts, scraps, and severed little beauties will be added here as they arrive.

Links to a publication:

• Leg 15 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 15 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 15 — Didrik

• Leg 15 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 15 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 15 — Honeygloom

• Leg 15 — James Lessing

• Leg 15 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 15 — M. Brandon Robbins

• Leg 15 — M. Majeris

• Leg 15 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 15 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 15 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 15 — RM Greta

• Leg 15 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 15 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 15 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 16 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 16 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 16 — Didrik

• Leg 16 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 16 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 16 — Honeygloom

• Leg 16 — James Lessing

• Leg 16 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 16 — M. Majeris

• Leg 16 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 16 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 16 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 16 — RM Greta

• Leg 16 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 16 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 16 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 17 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 17 – Camila Hamel

• Leg 17 — Didrik

• Leg 17 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 17 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 17 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 17 — M. Majeris

• Leg 17 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 17 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 17 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 17 — RM Greta

• Leg 17 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 17 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 18 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 18 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 18 — Didrik

• Leg 18 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 18 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 18 — M. Majeris

• Leg 18 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 18 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 18 — James Lessing

• Leg 18 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 18 — RM Greta

• Leg 18 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 18 — E.D. Jones

• Leg 18 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 19 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 19 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 19 — Didrik

• Leg 19 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 19 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 19 — James Lessing

• Leg 19 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 19 — M. Majeris

• Leg 19 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 19 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 19 — RM Greta

• Leg 19 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 19 — E.D. Jones

• Leg 19 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 20 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 20 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 20 — Didrik

• Leg 20 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 20 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 20 — James Lessing

• Leg 20 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 20 — M. Majeris

• Leg 20 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 20 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 20 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 20 — RM Greta

• Leg 20 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 20 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 20 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 21 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 21 — Didrik

• Leg 21 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 21 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 21 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 21 — M. Majeris

• Leg 21 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 21 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 21 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 21 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 21 — RM Greta

• Leg 21 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 21 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 21 — Honeygloom

• Leg 21 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 15-21 — JW Meyers

• Leg 21 — James Lessing

• Leg 21 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 21 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 21 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

Written/emailed entries:

• (Incoming!)

Third Eye Horror
© Mac Sitko, 2026
All rights reserved.

Welcome to Fictionwocky: Legs 8–14.

Lo and behold! The next batch of seven prompts of the 31-day nano/microfiction gauntlet is arriving now, with the Beast itself.

The suggested word count is 30–700 words, which is in the range of nano and microfiction. Why? Because I don’t want you to write full essays and burn yourselves out by Day 4.

Now chop chop (literally).

Legs (8-14):

Leg 8 – The Nonsense Leg: Write a microfiction as Dada nonsense. You can invent words and chants. You can make the piece bark, cough, wobble, repeat itself, telegraph its own demise, or else.

It can be prose1, poetry2, or prose poetry. It can also be sound poetry. As an example of Dada’s sound poetry, check Hugo Ball’s Gadji beri bimba3 and Karawane4. They are seemingly random, but still very much musical, with words coming out not as meaning but as pure sound, effect, or else.

The piece doesn’t have to be entirely nonsensical. The amount of meaning vs nonsense you infuse is up to your comfort zone.

Make the Beast choke on language!

Leg 9 – The Automatic Leg: Write a microfiction as automatic writing.

It goes like this: sit down and start writing, like anything where your mind wanders, in fact, start writing before thinking even! No outline. No plan. Let it drag you somewhere. If a fish appears in a wardrobe, follow the fish. If your grandmother is a vending machine, ask what snacks she’s got.

This is an exercise courtesy of André Breton and the Surrealists, who wanted writing to bypass the rational police and let the unconscious speak before it got domesticated.

Of course, you can edit, fix typos and go back to it. You can tidy it lightly afterwards, because we are not animals, except when we are.

Leg 10 – The Haibun Leg: Write a microfiction as a haibun, which is a short prose passage followed by a haiku.

Traditionally, haibun was about Japanese travel writing, e.g. Matsuo Bashō’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North, where prose and haiku sit together. The prose gives the scene, memory, or experience, and then the haiku comes in and cuts through it, either deepening it, contradicting it, or else.

But this is Fictionwocky, so you don’t have to write about a lovely pond or anything like it. Make it about anything that floats your boat.

Chop, chop.

Leg 11 – The Quote-Mutant Leg: Take a famous short prose, poem, aphorism, quote, proverb, prayer, song, whatever, and garble it, put it through the mincer. Let a piece come out of it.

But, by all means, misquote it, change rhymes, or translate it badly (or funnily). Make it too literal. Misattribute it even. Let the old meaning suffocate, or extend. Whichever suits you.

This is not only about clever parody. You can do anything with it, really. Just take the old thing and mess with it until it starts feeling funny. It’s all fun in the end.

Leg 12 – The Blueprint Leg: Write your microfiction as a building plan. You heard me.

A floor plan of a haunted estate, of your new house, an evacuation diagram, or a city plan. Not “once upon a time”, but “this is about the dwelling”.

The building is the plot or a part of the plot, you choose! You might check out Strange Houses by Uketsu, which inspired this prompt! His unconventional book is a horror with floor plan information. (Yes, you too can supply the plan itself.)

Or you can think something similar to Borges’s labyrinths, Calvino’s invisible cities, anything else that strikes your fancy!

Leg 13 – The Wake Leg: Write a microfiction in an invented dream language.

Not pure gibberish, really, but language with meaning still. Language that can resemble English, and even acquire strange new meanings. So, make your own private dialect. Break them words. Or glue them together. Mishear them, whatever suits you.

This prompt is inspired by Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, where English melts into puns, funny new words, baby chatter, rivers, multilingual pub gossip, myth, dream, etc. The reader may not understand everything, especially off the bat, but the rhythm should carry them like a river.

Make language dream badly. Make it dream mythically (or deathly).

Leg 14 – The Brawl Leg: Write a microfiction as a fight/brawl scene.

It can be a tavern brawl, a divine wrestling match, a bank raid, an office punch-up, or even a Kaiju fight (for monsters, also brawl). Make the form take damage with interruptions, sounds: WHACK, THUD, KRAK, OOF, THWACK, etc. Maybe the narrator gets hit. Whatever.

It’s up to you! Make it fun.

Rules and Flexibility

1. Publish (or see Flexibility down below): You post your nano/microfiction on your own Substack. Tag this publication, and drop it in the comments of the main weekly callout.

2. Flexibility: Substack is not required. WordPress, Wrizzit, blogs, Notes, whatever. You don’t have to publish publicly. Here are three options:

   1. Join the Discord community, where you can drop your contribution in the #links channel. It will be linked out to your WordPress, Wrizzit, or any other site or platform (I hope mutually).

   2. Send the link or piece to fictionwocky@gmail.com. I will publish it here in my main publication. If you’re on Substack, I can add you as a byline contributor.

   3. Use Substack Notes if you still hate all the options. Just drop the Substack Notes link.

The Survivor List:

Participant links, the weekly offcuts, scraps, and severed little beauties will be added here as they arrive.

Links to a publication:

• Leg 8 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 8 — M. Majeris

• Leg 8 — Steven E.

• Leg 8 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 8 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 8 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 8 — Paul R. Pace

• Leg 8 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 8 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 8 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 8 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 8 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 8 — RM Greta

• Leg 8 — Didrik

• Leg 8 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 8 — James Lessing

• Leg 8 — Honeygloom

• Leg 8 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 8 — M. Brandon Robbins

• Leg 9 — Didrik

• Leg 9 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 9 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 9 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 9 — M. Majeris

• Leg 9 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 9 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 9 — M. Brandon Robbins

• Leg 9 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 9 — Steven E.

• Leg 9 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 9 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 9 — James Lessing

• Leg 9 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 9 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 9 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 9 — Honeygloom

• Leg 9 — RM Greta

• Leg 10 — Didrik

• Leg 10 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 10 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 10 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 10 — M. Majeris

• Leg 10 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 10 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 10 — M. Brandon Robbins

• Leg 10 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 10 — Steven E.

• Leg 10 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 10 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 10 — James Lessing

• Leg 10 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 10 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 10 — RM Greta

• Leg 10 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 10 — Honeygloom

• Leg 11 — Didrik

• Leg 11 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 11 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 11 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 11 — M. Majeris

• Leg 11 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 11 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 11 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 11 — Steven E.

• Leg 11 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 11 — James Lessing

• Leg 11 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 11 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 11 — RM Greta

• Leg 11 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 11 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 11 — Honeygloom

• Leg 12 — Didrik

• Leg 12 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 12 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 12 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 12 — M. Majeris

• Leg 12 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 12 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 12 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 12 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 12 — James Lessing

• Leg 12 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 12 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 12 — RM Greta

• Leg 12 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 12 — Honeygloom

• Leg 12 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 13 — Didrik

• Leg 13 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 13 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 13 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 13 — M. Majeris

• Leg 13 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 13 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 13 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 13 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 13 — James Lessing

• Leg 13 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 13 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 13 — RM Greta

• Leg 13 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 13 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 14.1 — A.P. Murphy (A Trilogy)

• Leg 14.2 — A.P. Murphy (A Trilogy)

• Leg 14.3 — A.P. Murphy (A Trilogy)

• Leg 14 — Didrik

• Leg 14 — M. Majeris

• Leg 14 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 14 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 14 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 14 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 14 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 14 — Paul R. Pace

• Leg 14 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 14 — James Lessing

• Leg 14 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 14 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 14 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 14 — RM Greta

• Leg 14 — M. Brandon Robbins

• Legs 8-14 — JW Meyers

• Leg 14 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 14 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

Written/emailed entries:

• (Incoming!)

Third Eye Horror
© Mac Sitko, 2026
All rights reserved.

Welcome to Fictionwocky: Legs 1–7.

Lo and behold! The first seven prompts of the 31-day nano/microfiction gauntlet are arriving now, with the Beast itself.

The suggested word count is 30–700 words, which is in the range of nano and microfiction. Why? Because I don’t want you to write full essays and burn yourselves out by Day 4.

Now chop chop (literally).

Legs (1-7):

Leg 1 – The AI Leg: Create a piece of fiction of AI-generated text (yes, on any topic, any model, any LLM)1. Then, process it with a cut-up tool. Then fix that mess so that it acquires minimal (or satisfying for you) meaning, or story. So, feed any prompt to an AI, cut it up randomly (as in Burroughs’s cut-up technique), and then “make it make sense” as a short story. You can change, add or remove words at will. The fun is in taming the randomness just enough to make you happy! This is the ultimate William S. Burroughs exercise.

Example:

I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity (Edgar Allan Poe’s quote)
I horrible long with insane intervals sanity became of (Cut up result)
I horribly long with insane intervals of sanity’s becoming (Final)

Leg 2 – The Definition Leg: Write a microfiction in the style of a dictionary definition. For example:

(noun) dream-walker: A largely unknown fella who waltzes through other people’s dreams and devours them. Carries a full belly of stolen, blood-soaked dreamworlds. He often whips a bit of panic into meaning of a dream, (but not for you, oh no, not anymore, for you are awake, my dear). Historically, dream-walkers were the key culprits for the sudden morning loss of consciousness, and the odd feelings of déjà vu.

Here, now you invent a term or find a fun concept and define it as if it were in a dictionary entry. Keep it twisted.

Leg 3 – The Endless Leg: Write a complete microstory in a single sentence with no stopgaps at all (no periods). Just one long breath of text. For example, “He ran and blundered into the dark pool, deserting a man he couldn’t beat up anymore, then (…), and (…)”. So, the entire story must be one–still grammatically intact–sentence without using any sentence-ending punctuation. (You may use commas or conjunctions, or em dashes as needed, but no “.” or “;” to stop.)2

Leg 4 – The Play Leg: Write your piece as a short play. Use dialogue format and character names, e.g.:

MARY: (stirring tea) We’ve always lived here, ever since the Chasm.  
JOHN: (glancing out the window) Can you hear it, Mary? Tonight the attic rattles as hell again.
NARRATOR: A night breeze whacks through the empty house. 
(Sounds of whacking, at this moment. WHACK, WHACK. Use any device that's outside of stage, preferably to induce some wind effect onto the actors. )

Stage directions (in parentheses or italics) are allowed, but the entire story should unfold through spoken lines, not paragraphs of narration.

Leg 5 – The Recipe Leg: Write your microfiction as a recipe3. It can be for an occult meal, a creature, a curse, a city, a saint, a machine, a feeling, a failed summoning, or anything else that can be prepared badly or maliciously in a bowl.

Leg 6 – The Painting Leg: Choose any painting and write a microfiction exactly about that image, of the image, in the image, and nothing else. Describe whatever it is, or whatever is happening, the tension of composition, or what’s in that person’s head (if a portrait). Make it alive. Try not to make too much implied stuff from outside of painting, or what the background of the painting doesn’t show (off-scene events).

Leg 7 – The Love Leg: Write your microfiction as a love letter. It can be addressed to a person, creature, object, disease, city, machine, ghost, god, organ, failed idea, or anything else that probably shouldn’t be loved in the slightest. The content is up to you, but it must still read like a letter: intimate, direct, and addressed to someone or something. The weirder and more inventive, the better (or so I say, but who am I to say?).

Rules and Flexibility

1. Publish (or see Flexibility down below): You post your nano/microfiction on your own Substack. Tag this publication, and drop it in the comments of the main weekly callout.

2. Flexibility: Substack is not required. WordPress, Wrizzit, blogs, Notes, whatever. You don’t have to publish publicly. Here are three options:

   1. Join the Discord community, where you can drop your contribution in the #links channel. It will be linked out to your WordPress, Wrizzit, or any other site or platform (I hope mutually).

   2. Send the link or piece to fictionwocky@gmail.com. I will publish it here in my main publication. If you’re on Substack, I can add you as a byline contributor.

   3. Use Substack Notes if you still hate all the options. Just drop the Substack Notes link.

The Survivor List:

Participant links, the weekly offcuts, scraps, and severed little beauties will be added here as they arrive.

Links to a publication:

• Leg 1 — RM Greta

• Leg 1 — M. Majeris

• Leg 1 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 1 — Didrik

• Leg 1 — Steven E.

• Leg 1 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 1 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 1 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 1 — Paul R. Pace

• Leg 1 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 1 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 1 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 1 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 1 — E.D. Jones

• Leg 1 — Stephen Prime

• Leg 1 — Hylia Corvidae

• Leg 1 — Nick Winney

• Leg 1 — James Lessing

• Leg 2 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 2 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 2 — Didrik

• Leg 2 — M. Majeris

• Leg 2 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 2 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 2 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 2 — E.D. Jones

• Leg 2 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 2 — Paul R. Pace

• Leg 2 — RM Greta

• Leg 2 — Steven E.

• Leg 2 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 2 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 2 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 2 — Hylia Corvidae

• Leg 2 — Nick Winney

• Leg 3 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 3 — Didrik

• Leg 3 — M. Majeris

• Leg 3 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 3 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 3 — RM Greta

• Leg 3 — Steven E.

• Leg 3 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 3 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 3 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 3 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 3 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 3 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 3 — Paul R. Pace

• Leg 3 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 3 — Hylia Corvidae

• Leg 3 — James Lessing

• Leg 4 — Didrik

• Leg 4 — M. Majeris

• Leg 4 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 4 — Steven E.

• Leg 4 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 4 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 4 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 4 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 4 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 4 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 4 — RM Greta

• Leg 4 — Honeygloom

• Leg 4 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 4 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 4 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 4 — Nick Winney

• Leg 4 — James Lessing

• Leg 5 — Didrik

• Leg 5 — M. Majeris

• Leg 5 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 5 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 5 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 5 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 5 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 5 — M. Brandon Robbins

• Leg 5 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 5 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 5 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 5 — RM Greta

• Leg 5 — Steven E.

• Leg 5 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 5 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 5 — James Lessing

• Leg 6 — Didrik

• Leg 6 — M. Majeris

• Leg 6 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 6 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 6 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 6 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 6 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 6 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 6 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 6 — RM Greta

• Leg 6 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 6 — M. Brandon Robbins

• Leg 6 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 6 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 6 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 7 — Didrik

• Leg 7 — M. Majeris

• Leg 7 — Gregory Blair

• Leg 7 — Mind of Matt

• Leg 7 — A.P. Murphy

• Leg 7 — Camila Hamel

• Leg 7 — Klaus Stephens

• Leg 7 — Nathan Hatch

• Leg 7 — Mac Sitko

• Leg 7 — Gerard DiLeo

• Leg 7 — E. D. Jones

• Leg 7 — Paul R. Pace

• Leg 7 — Walt Shuler

• Leg 7 — RM Greta

• Leg 7 — Steven E.

• Leg 7 — Jamie’s Grim Tabulations

• Leg 7 — M. Brandon Robbins

• Legs 1-7 — JW Meyers

• Leg 7 — James Lessing

Written/emailed entries:

Third Eye Horror
© Mac Sitko, 2026
All rights reserved.

This Friday, I’m launching Fictionwocky: a 31-day nano/microfiction gauntlet designed to break your writing habits, rewire your prose, and have fun doing it.

The theme is nano/microfiction.

The suggested word count is 30–700 words, which is in the range of nano and microfiction. Why? Because I don’t want you to write full essays and burn yourselves out by Day 4.

For 31 days (all of May), I will dictate the prompts. (Oh great, more prompts, you think.) But these won’t be normal prompts. They won’t be about Content. I won’t tell you what to write. They’ll be about Form: how you write, how things mutate, repeat, degrade, deform, disintegrate, get cut up, grow, mingle, and get tangled.

They will be fun prompts aimed at the creative structure and mechanics of your prose.

Basically: I provide the container. But YOU donate the meat 🥩

Current Legs (Posted Weekly):

How the Beast Moves and What to do With Legs (Hint: Chop ‘em)

The 31-legged beast moves in weekly walkouts. It’s hungry, so let’s kill it.

The Rules of Participation

1. Cut the Leg off Each Day: Check the weekly post for that day’s prompt.

2. Publish (or see Flexibility down below): You post your nano/microfiction on your own Substack. Tag this publication, and drop it in the comments of the main weekly callout.

3. Tag the Union: I’m planning to run some socials for it and feature your posts with a small artsy piece (made by my kids). Then I’ll use the hashtag #Fictionwocky.

4. Leave the Eraser: This isn’t about perfection. I want to see you writing with blood.

5. Flexibility: Substack is not required. WordPress, Wrizzit, blogs, Notes, whatever. You don’t have to publish publicly. Here are three options:

   1. Join the Discord community, where you can drop your contribution in the #links channel. It will be linked out to your WordPress, Wrizzit, or any other site or platform (I hope mutually).

   2. Send the link or piece to fictionwocky@gmail.com. I will publish it here in my main publication. If you’re on Substack, I can add you as a byline contributor.

   3. Use Substack Notes if you still hate all the options. Just drop the Substack Notes link.

You can jump in late. You can skip a day if a constraint completely breaks your brain. But the only True way is to face the beast, all thirty-one legs.

Week 1 (Legs 1–7) drops on Friday (the monster drops, technically, and it’ll be hungry, oh boy, oh boy).

Third Eye Horror
© Mac Sitko, 2026
All rights reserved.