Cryptic Frog
@crypticfrogpub.bsky.social
Fantastical fiction for readers with fantastic taste. https://crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61582008144332
Detective Pra, protagonist in Evan Wellbrock’s “Spokes on the Wheel,” is staunchly religious & prodigiously talented. What happens when everything he believes in is challenged? “Samhet woke to the sound of screaming from...” Continue reading at crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/2026/07/31/i...
It's all fun and games in Jeff Raderstrong’s “The Secret Internet” (Sci-Fi). But is there more to life than waiting for a screen to appear? “I was trying to make a box within a box the first time the secret internet...” Continue reading at crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/2026/07/27/i...
There is just one thing the astronaut has to remember in Jacob Bergstresser’s “The Astronaut’s Mantra” (Sci-Fi). Is the mantra going to work? “Don't crash into the sun. Don't crash into the sun. ... ” Continue reading at crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/2026/07/24/i...
A feline struggles to survive the long, harsh night in Joe Christopher’s “An Unfathomable Crisis” while the Hind-Walkers ignore its tactics to scrounge food. “Fourteen. “I count fourteen elliptical kernels of...” Continue reading at crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/2026/07/20/i...
The death of a loved one in Andrew Milliken’s “Nothing in the Box” fills a man with questions. But he may not be prepared for the answers. “Mourners file out, all in black. Why? White’s just as good. Wear black, wear white...” Continue reading at crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/2026/07/17/i...
A haunting tale, Simon MacCulloch’s poem “The Ghost Who Guards the Gold” tells of a tyrant and his hoard of cursed gold. “At the dark of year, in a town quite near, There’s an eldritch tale that’s told ... ” Continue reading at crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/2026/07/13/i...
In Steven Mathes’s “Pursuit of Happiness,” the minimum requirement is happiness. So what do you do when something, anything, goes horribly wrong? “The greatest happiness for the greatest number was a ...” Continue reading at crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/2026/07/10/i...
An unexpected opportunity in @jamielackey.bsky.social’s “For Want of a Dog-Friendly Workplace" forces Tori to choose between leaving her distressing world forever, and her dog. “Tori checked her purse for the eighth time...” Continue reading at crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/2026/07/06/i...
Living in his grandfather’s room, a teen in @ajlnoda.bsky.social’s "Opportunity Cost" discovers the destructiveness of a lingering tradition. “I move into Grandfather’s room after Uncle Bill and Aunt Marie get rent-hiked..." Continue reading at crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/2026/07/03/i...
In @deborahldavitt.bsky.social’s “Balance of Evidence,” an attorney must prove it was actually a doppelganger who killed the bride. “The case had rock-solid evidence, proof; the police thought the young man had done it, ...” Continue reading at crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/2026/06/29/i...
About Lev Working’s “Dream Halls," you should know adventures are a lot safer if you know how to get back. “Dream Halls... is my favorite Magic: the Gathering card. I’ve decided you haven’t played before, so bear with me. ...” Continue reading at crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/2026/06/26/i...
You really have to see it to believe it. Gabriel Page's "BIG" is a sci-fi essay on a really big cube and its effects on anyone near it. “BIG is a marathon tall, a marathon deep and a marathon wide. It sits on the border of...” Continue reading at crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/2026/06/22/i...
Today is the day! Issue #3 is here! You may also note that it is the summer solstice and Father's Day.👔👑 We'll let you decide how to celebrate. Find Issue #3 on Amazon here: www.amazon.com/Cryptic-Frog... If you'd rather wait, the stories will also drop twice a week for free on our website.
Cryptic Frog Quarterly: Issue 3 - Summer 2026
Cryptic Frog Quarterly: Issue 3 - Summer 2026 [Call, Caleb, Call, Abbie] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Cryptic Frog Quarterly: Issue 3 - Summer 2026
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Let the anticipation begin! Issue #3 of Cryptic Frog is coming in print and digital formats on June 21. BIG Opportunity Cost For Want of a Dog-Friendly Workplace and more... See crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/issues/crypt... if curious about genres, authors, availability, and cover art.
Deep questions and silly side quests. That's our magazine; that's our marriage. New side quest: Frog Meme Mondays, filed under #FrogMemeMondays. It's pretty self-explanatory. Join us as we 1) post memes of frogs 2) on Mondays 3) use our hashtag. Those are the only rules. 👑 #frogmememondays
Thank you to all of our Issue #2 authors for your unforgettable work. Truly, monsters, catastrophes, sociopaths, & eternal consequences will leave a mark. Good luck with your future endeavors, and keep an eye out for the next issue of Cryptic Frog! @flintyflop.bsky.social @chadgayle.bsky.social
When a Mother's children across the Grid begin to suffer harmful effects from Her illness, one child in Chad Gayle's "Mother May I" decides to take action against it. "Like you, I grew up in the shadow of Mother’s illness..." Continue reading at crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/2026/05/04/i....
The Dome protects the village. The Maintainers take care of the Dome. But how the Dome works and why it is there is a mystery to everyone in Matt Flintoff's "Maintainer" (Sci-Fi). Continue reading at crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/2026/05/01/i....
What to say? Colleen Anderson's untitled horrorku is a horror + haiku mix. It cannot be previewed. Go read it (at least once!) and let us know when the horror sets in. Enjoy! Continue reading at crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/2026/04/27/i....
In Floyd Largent's "From Hell," a preteen's "grisly hobby" turns into something much worse after a mysterious man attempts to change fate. "J.A. was gilding a badger’s skull when the haggard man appeared in his room. ..." Continue reading at crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/2026/04/24/i....
If villains are unstoppable, how are they always stopped? Jeff Mach's "Nature's Immutable Laws Of things Going Wrong" makes a case for the answer. "One of Nature’s immutable Laws: All castle guards must have glass jaws. ..." Continue reading at crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/2026/04/20/i....
In D. Thomas Minton's "Internal Wellness" an employee finds a scrap of meaning in his dead-end job and reacts quickly. "Contrary to what the day-shifters believed, night shift at the Department of Universal Salvage wasn’t..." Continue reading at crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/2026/04/17/i....
Daniel Stride's "Gilding the Lily" follows a charmer who takes his friends out on his estate—to show off, yes—but also to prove his uncanny abilities. "'Did you know this house once belonged to Robert Whiddon?' I frown, ..." Continue reading at crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/2026/04/13/i....
There is a pathogen in Christopher Collingwood's poem "Eyes Burn to the Neon Fever"—a disease slowly taking hold. Whatever is lost to this sickness may never be found. "Pathogen in the electric pulse—luminous stage to ..." Continue reading at crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/2026/04/10/i....
Octopus-ostrich aliens and multitudes of mysterious passengers make first contact on Earth in Trenton White's "The Passengers". But why bring passengers? "It was dawn when the first ship touched down. Spiraling lights... " Continue reading at crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/2026/04/06/i....
One cold, dark night a struggling musician in S.L. Newton's "Leave a Message" must confront more than meager funds & aging vocals as she drives home alone. "Amber echoes of neon filled all the puddles in the parking lot. ..." Continue reading at crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/2026/04/03/i....
