Vonda McIntyre, E-Zines, Undead, and More

A ton of good free reading this morning, and more.

E-Fiction.
The latest Strange Horizons is up with:

FICTION: "The Same Old Story" by Naomi Bloch.
"Sarah was trying to come up with something friendly, but not empty, to say to her husband. Since the conversation in the lab they had kept their dialogue to a few safe, neutral subjects."

and POETRY: "Bardo Crossing" by Suzette Haden Elgin.
Leave her alone. / She is a poor small huddled thing,

With reviews HERE.

New at Fantasy Magazine, "A Trail of Demure Virgins" by Sara Saab.

"Whenever she found herself stumbling mid-step over prickly weeds or a clump of dirt, cracked and rusty red, Glory would retrace her steps, exhaling, and find a place further down the mountain path from which to take those most civilized fourteen paces into no-man’s land. Frequently, she would turn back for ..."

Online HERE.


Speculative fiction magazine idomancer has its latest quarterly issue out with,

"Zorroid" by George S. Walker (science fiction).
"She tumbled up through the air, wind rushing in her ears. The black wall flashed past, replaced by sky. The giant and the catapult shrank below her, spinning wildly. There was a loud pop behind her, and she saw the gossamer parachute unfurling. It was translucent, nearly invisible in the twilight."

"Cloth from Flesh, Flesh from Bone" by A.C. Wise (slipstream).
"Marietta. The name sings in her bones. This, she thinks, is love—a name written on flesh, blood carrying it to the heart with every beat. But the dead soldier's heart doesn't beat anymore—only its ghost, tucked inside Samantha's skin."

As well as flash fiction and poetry by Rachel Swirsky, Marsheila Rockwell, David Kopaska-Merkel, and J.C. Runolfson.

Online and in PDF download HERE. [via SF Signal and The Elephant Forgets]


And Vonda McIntyre has made some of her fiction available for free download in PDF, mobi, and html, including her 1997 Nebula award winning novel The Moon and the Sun.


All online HERE. [via Grasping for the Wind].









Audio Fiction
Variant Frequencies has "The End of Flesh - Part One" written and read by Matt Wallace.

"Meet New York City Police Detective Jon “Busboy” Pacs. Pacs walks a secret beat that takes him through the dirty underground of what may be Humanity’s last taboo. But even in the starved and not-so-distant future, the final taboo is still all about flesh . . ."

Streaming and in MP3 HERE.


Gaming
RPG Blog II looks at the classic H. G. Wells (yes, that H. G. Wells) wargames Little Wars and Floor Games, considered to be the first modern wargames. Easily adaptable to SF, fantasy, or other genres.

The article is HERE. Free e-book versions are at Manybooks for Little Wars and Floor Games.


Comics
The Horrors of it All has a very cool story of the undead returning from the sea.

"Lighthouse of the Dead" from Web of Evil #14 is online HERE.







Grantbridge Street & other misadventures has the classic, futuristic humor story "Blobs!" by Wally Wood.



Online HERE.




And Crosseyed Cyclops has a "megapack" of the old Gold Key comic book The Occult Files of Dr. Spektor. (Vaguely like the old Kolchak TV series)





In a large rar file HERE.




Other Cool
Cool author G. W. Thomas has page of classic horror story links "Ghoultide Greetings" for the holidays. Among the included favorites are "The Old Nurse's Tale" by E. Gaskell, "An Account of Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street" by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, "The Secret Chamber" by M. Oliphant, "Eveline's Visitant" and "the Cold Embrace" by Mary Braddon and "The Upper Berth" by F. Marion Crawford.

Online HERE.







BestScienceFictionStories.com reviews, and links to a free online version of, Harlan Ellison's classic "Jeffty is Five." One of my favorite magical realism stories (It really isn't science fiction).

The review and link are HERE.



Variety SF reviews, and links to a free online version of, Anil Aggarwal's "The Weird House"

A story inspired by Heinlein.

The review and link are HERE.






And Vinnie Rattolle's Records has a scanned American Film article on Star Wars "George Lucas Goes Far Out!" from 1977.



In PDF and zipped JPEGs HERE.






And more sites pay tribute to Forrest J. Ackerman.

Hairy Green Eyeball has a scanned article "The Amazing Ackermonster" from Famous Monsters of Filmland #25, October 1963. Online HERE.

Diversions of the Groovy Kind and Beam Me Up also have nice tributes.