short fiction

Must-Read Speculative Short Fiction: June 2021

Alex Brown

Wed Jul 21, 2021 2:00pm

1 Favorite [+]

Skin Deep

Alan Brennert

Wed Jul 21, 2021 9:00am

Original Fiction

Edited by: George R. R. Martin

16 Favorites [+]

In Alan Brennert’s “Skin Deep,” we see for the first time the events of September 15, 1946 from the viewpoint of someone living on the West Coast of the United States. Trina Nelson is a pretty, popular sixteen-year-old high school student whose idyllic life took a turn for the tragic because of the Wild Cards virus. Now, she wants nothing more than to live out her days in the shadowy anonymity of the Jokertown on the Santa Monica Pier. But life, it turns out, has still another wild card to deal Trina…

Read “Five Ghost Stories” by Ghost Forest Author Pik-Shuen Fung

Pik-Shuen Fung

Tue Jul 20, 2021 3:00pm

Favorite This

Black Leg

Glen Hirshberg

Wed Jul 14, 2021 9:00am

Original Fiction

Edited by: Ellen Datlow

8 Favorites [+]

Jeffrey Ford’s Big Dark Hole Offers Stories to Fall Into

Matthew Keeley

Thu Jul 8, 2021 2:00pm

3 Favorites [+]

Here Are the Finalists for the 2021 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award

Andrew Liptak

Wed Jul 7, 2021 12:27pm

4 Favorites [+]

Now We Paint Worlds

Matthew Kressel

Wed Jul 7, 2021 9:00am

Original Fiction

Edited by: Ellen Datlow

25 Favorites [+]

Orna, a representative of a universe-wide trade union, undergoes a drastic change in perspective while investigating the disappearance of three planets and their inhabitants on a newly terraformed world.

The Red Mother

Elizabeth Bear

Wed Jun 23, 2021 9:00am

Original Fiction

Edited by: Jonathan Strahan

29 Favorites [+]

Auga, a wandering sorcerer, follows his brother's fate-thread into the village of Ormsfjoll, where he expects to deliver good news and continue his travels. What he doesn't anticipate is that to meet his brother he must first contend with the truth at the heart of the volcano that wreaks havoc on Ormsfjoll.

The Far Side of the Universe

noc

Wed Jun 16, 2021 9:00am

Original Fiction

Edited by: Ruoxi Chen, Lindsey Hall

9 Favorites [+]

When young Ira arrives for her appointment, she is prepared to be transported to The Gateway to Heaven, 6,070 light years away. But the technicians shepherding her through the process fear there’s more to it than what’s advertised.

The Fragmented Horrors of Josh Malerman’s Goblin

Tobias Carroll

Fri Jun 11, 2021 12:00pm

1 Favorite [+]

An Easy Job

Carrie Vaughn

Wed Jun 9, 2021 9:00am

Original Fiction

Edited by: Ann VanderMeer

23 Favorites [+]

Graff's official role is muscle for the Visigoth - but his personal mission is internally cataloguing all of his experiences to relay to the other beings from his home planet when they cross paths. His professional life rarely clashes with his identity, but when he realizes his newest mission is to take down one of his kind, everything becomes a bit less simple.