📚 Read on Royal Road 📚

👻

📖 Moving notice

From November 2022 to March 2024, I had an incredible experience sharing a big part of this story with the community here on Hive. I think HM is ready for a larger audience, and its genre and style would be a good fit for the avid readers over at Royal Road.

All content here on Hive will be edited to point that way—thank you for all your input over the nearly 2 years we ran this serial publishing experiment.

— Hive account@jfuji (ashgreyfog on RR), March 2026

 

Synopsis

Alena moved to a small town to start a restaurant, not to tangle with a demon. But when the monster messes with her wifi, ruins her roommate's date, and threatens to commit mass murder, she's forced to put her plans on hold.

Impossible phenomena and a chaotic stalker lead her to a grandfather clock with backward numbers. The ghost inside believes she's there to help it escape, and offers to show her the world through its eyes. With one fateful glimpse, Alena ignites a journey that becomes much more than a trade of sanity for safety, and enters a long entrenched battle for the sovereignty of the soul.

The Ghost in the Clock is the inaugural episode of Hunting Midnight, a paranormal adventure series that shatters genre expectations by delivering as much charm as it does creepshow, as many smiles as it does spooks, and an unforgettably unique cast of villains and heroes.

Contains strong language, sexual themes and scenes of violence.

 

Episode	Parts	🔖 NFTs
Episode 1: The Ghost in the Clock	Wifi • Explosion • Book	View
Review & Readlist challenge #1	Breakfast • Date • Lamppost	View
	Taxi • Networks • Office	View
	Halls • Five • Persimmon	View
	Minutes • Seconds • Parks	View
	Stages • Blankets • Split	View
	Keys • Shroud • Bed	View
	Cop • Hut • Grandstands	View
	Feelings • Latch	View
Episode 2: Girl of Gold	Sanity • Parlor • Ring	View
	Castle • Sconces • Minder	View
	Field • Jailer • Weapons	View
	Stairwell • Knights • Keeper	View
	Coins • Cells • Gold	View
Episode 3: The Trouble with Vines	Monitor • Hunch • Superimposition	View
	Diner • Shoots • Defenses	View
	Vision • Alley • Runes	View
	Jimena • Flower • Brain	View
	Dream • Roman • Void	View
	Shotgun • Crab • Farmhouse	View
	Battlecharge • Trade • Moths	View
	Door	^^^^^
Episode 4: All Squares are Diamonds	Version • Jeans • War	View
	Security • Spines • Hyperspace	View
	Lessons • Diamonds • Squares	View
	Indelible • Note • Range	View
	Hotspot • Facesucker • Chemistry	View
Episode 5: An Alliance of Queens	Destruction • Laughter • Dinner	View
	Lab • Friar • Turns	View
	Revenant • Hurry • Sink	View
	Penthouse • Egress • Wings	View
	Wolf • Shards • Sounds	View
	Merlon • Veilbound • Spoon	View
	Queens • Maw • Waterfall	View
	Illusion • Terradyne • Mayflower	Collect!
Episode 6: The Lobster Manifesto	Variables • Zoo • Trickle
	Raiders • Distractions • Cargo
	Persuasive• Audience • Help
	Linger • Solitude • Tent
	Earlier • Trouble • Cream
	Autocannibalism • Efficiency • Spermless
	Offer • Muffins • Manifesto
	Contract • Vandalism • Hijacked
	Anchor • Clip
Episode 7: Summit of the Manyrealms	Find the continuation on Royal Road

 

🎁 Giveaways 🎁

• The Hunting Midnight giveaways will run more or less weekly, as separate posts
• If publishing goes to plan, this will span almost all of 2023 (or more!) It’s a big story 😅
• Giveaways will be hosted in various communities for greater exposure
• Entry mechanism: leave a comment that quotes a line from any part in the The Hunting Midnight story (not here! In the giveaway posts!)
• Each giveaway will feature:
  • 🎁 Standard prizes for up to 10 winners
  • 🎡 Spins on a bonus prize wheel for meeting certain conditions, such as being a member of Scholar and Scribe
• Prizes will reflect the host community (e.g. DEC in Splinterlands, STARBITS in Rising Star). Check out one of the giveaways for my last publication, The Childseeker’s War to get a sense of how they work.
• Winners will be announced in the giveaway posts themselves (i.e. winners of #1 will be announced in #2, etc.)
   

Estimated giveaway schedule and status

Giveaway posts	Main Prize	Est. Start Date	Status
Giveaway #1	STARBITS	Sun Dec 4	✅ Finished
Giveaway #2	WOO	Mon Dec 12	✅ Finished
Giveaway #3	INK	Mon Dec 19	✅ Finished
Giveaway #4	SPS	Mon Jan 2	✅ Finished
Giveaway #5	PIZZA	Mon Jan 9	✅ Finished
Giveaway #6	STARBITS	Tue Jan 17	✅ Finished
Giveaway #7	HIVE & SBI	Wed Jan 25	✅ Finished
Giveaway #8	SLOTHBUZZ	Mon Feb 6	✅ Finished
Giveaway #9	STARBITS	Mon Feb 13	✅ Finished
Giveaway #10	WOO	Tues Feb 21	✅ Finished
Giveaway #11	LEO	Tues Feb 28	✅ Finished
Giveaway #12	DREEM	Tue Mar 13	✅ Finished
Giveaway #13	SPS	Thu Mar 23	✅ Finished
Giveaway #14	PIZZA	Mon Apr 3	✅ Finished!
Giveaway #15	INK	Tues Apr 11	✅ Finished!
Giveaway #16	WOO	Tues Apr 18	✅ Finished!
Giveaway #17	LEO & HSBI	TBD	✅ Finished!
Giveaway #18	STARBITS	Sun, May 28	✅ Finished!
Giveaway #19	SCRAP	Mon, Jun 5	✅ Finished!
Giveaway #20	PART	Thu, Jun 15	✅ Finished!

 

 

📚 Get on (or off) the readlist by asking in the comments	🔮 Read The Childseeker’s War: a full fantasy novel on Hive	👻 Check out Starlight Spectre: a horror novella on Hive
✒️ Learn about the Scholar & Scribe writing community	🍕 Join the Hive Pizza Guild: a community of creatives

 

Thank you for reading. I own the license for all images in this post. Original Hunting Midnight cover art by Liz Mac.