Fiction Writer
The Other Stories
August 2023
'Kevin can’t sleep. Neither can the new friend he’s found under his bed."
The Other Stories
March 2022
"Devin has been going into the woods at night to investigate a local legend about an order of dead nuns who live there. Things get a little out of hand when he decides one night to bring some friends along."
The Other Stories
November 2020
"The troubling predictions of a fortune teller drive Ernest Timmons to seek out an eccentric apothecary who specializes in helping people forget. Some people, however, remember everything."
Unsettling Reads
May 2021
“People come to cemeteries to talk to their lost ones,” she said earnestly. “It’s their way of resurrecting them for a little while. That’s what you’re doing here.”
Eerie River Publishing
February 2021
"He saw the glint of a blade in her right hand; it was sharp, and curved like a tree trimmer tool. Still humming she lifted it high in the air, so it caught the sharp winter sun, the quick flash of reflected sunlight stabbing at his eyes."
Eerie River Publishing
October 2020
"Ted stood at the end of the hallway mesmerized by the brilliant moon filling the window frame. It shimmered and pulsated, as close as it could be to the window without bumping up against the glass."
Weird Christmas Podcast
Annual Holiday Flash Fiction Contest
December 2023
"The Christmas Clowns came when the sun set. They came on unicycles juggling oranges and calling out to us kids to gather round them in the middle of the lane. Oh, how we loved their hijinks, the tricks and dancing and frolicking about."
Eerie River Publishing
Monthly Story
August 2021
"The bell hung here on the hook, and the cord dropped down into the grave, tied around the dead one’s wrist. That way if they came back to life in the grave, they could ring the bell, and the priest would come dig 'em up."
Have you always written, or was there a catalyst that prompted you to begin this journey?
I wrote quite a bit when I was a kid and in my late teens and early 20s. As time went on, I stopped writing stories and poetry to focus more on a career in journalism and later professional communications. I may have stopped writing stories, but I never stopped telling myself stories in my head while driving to work or lying in bed at night. When the pandemic hit, everything was cancelled, and I began working from home. Suddenly, I had a lot more free time on my hands, so I decided to use as much as possible to write stories. And here I am.
Do you have an author that has influenced your writing the most?
I’m a Neil Gaiman super fan. I just love the characters he dreams up and the ease with which his stories and novels unfold. My work is not a lot like his (I sure wish it were), but I do spend a lot of time thinking about how a story moves from one moment to the next, and I attribute that fixation to Gaiman.
I was happy to join fellow authors Ashley Burns, Blaise Langlois, and Austin Shirey to talk about our stories in Midnight Shadows and do a table read of Austin's story, "Dottie."
Chris Lilienthal is a writer and communications professional in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He began writing again in 2020 after a two-decade break.
His fiction has been featured on The Other Stories podcast and published in anthologies from Eerie River Publishing, Unsettling Reads, and Dragon Soul Press.
He lives with his wife and two sons in Central Pennsylvania.
