Beneath The Zoo

Some secrets should stay buried. When renowned architect Arania Webb returns to Bristol Zoo — once her childhood sanctuary but now a derelict ruin — she discovers her late father’s hidden underground lab, which harbours a dark obsession. Inside, she uncovers his journals documenting twisted experiments to fuse arachnid DNA with humans, creating unnatural creatures that blur the line between species. As Arania descends into the shadowy depths and explores further, she realises the terrifying extent of her beloved father’s attempts to play god. With demolition charges set to raze the derelict zoo in minutes, Arania has little time to process the ethical transgression and madness that drove her father down an unholy path before the truth is buried forever. But when the site manager stumbles upon her macabre discovery, Arania knows she must act swiftly to protect her family’s legacy — and her own future. Will she find a way to escape the ruins with her father’s monstrous secrets? Or will the horrors hidden beneath the zoo ultimately consume them both? In this short story, J.F. Penn weaves a tale of dark secrets, genetic aberration, and a legacy that blurs the lines between ethical transgression and scientific ambition, a narrative that is as much about the inner darkness of human nature as it is about the monsters we create.