A Few Friday Freebies

TGIF! A few cool items today. Two of the biggest free audio fiction sites have new episodes today - horror at Pseudopod and SF at Escape Pod. There's some good free fiction and gaming items (The Land of NOD has been working overtime on the cool Mu-Pan setting), and more enjoy. And if any of the creaters/posters of these fine, free items happens to read this, thanks again for your hard work! See you all some time this weekend - space-time warp isn't always accurate.


Fiction
@Daily Science Fiction: "Newfangled" by by K.G. Jewell.
"No, sir, I don't think your problem is with the fridge elf." I watched the technician bend his thin frame behind the refrigerator as he spoke, flashing his light through the cooling fan into the inner recess of the unit. "He looks pretty happy. He's got himself satellite TV and a case of Fritos."



4 Star Stories has its first issue out with

"Meet Me at the Grassy Knoll" by Lou Antonelli.
"I was a teenager, my grandfather was almost 90, when I asked him straight out, looked him in the eye, and asked him--just like I’m talking to you--if he had anything to do with it. You know what he said?"
"Defiance" by Rhonda Eudaly.
"It seemed like such a good idea at the time. A bargain struck with a beautiful woman over too much ale and sealed with blood magic."
"Collateral Damage" by David L. Gray.
"Inside the space helmet, the rasping sound of her breathing was loud in her ears. SEAs Corporal Kathleen “Blaze” O’Donnell strained against the inertia of the spherical, all-terrain mobile container she was dragging. Only the near-zero gravity allowed her to tow the full load of weapons and ammunition over the rough terrain at all."
and "A Beast Named Winter" by William Ledbetter.
"Monia turned, prepared to answer the question with a glare, but was taken aback by the teacher’s appearance. He was by far the ugliest male she had ever encountered." [via SF Signal]

Classic SF
"The Animated Pinup" by Lewis Parker, from Imagination: Stories of Science and Fantasy (July 1953).
"You're not expected to believe this story since it's the kind of thing that science calls impossible. But anyway, she happened. Who? Why—"

@Munseys and Project Gutenberg.


Flash Fiction:



@Every Day Fiction: "Genesis" by JR Hume.
@Flashes in the Dark: "Statues" by Neil Leckman.
@365 tomorrows: "The First Warp Drive"by Patricia Stewart.
@The Daily Cabal: "Staff Disaster Plan #24" by Jon Hansen.


Audio Fiction:
@Escape Pod: Episode #285 "Jaiden’s Weaver" by Mary Robinette Kowal, read by Kij Johnson.
"I was never one of those girls who fell in love with horses. For one thing, on our part of New Oregon they were largely impractical animals. Most of the countryside consisted of forests attached to sheer hills and you wanted to ride something with a little more clinging ability. So from the time I was, well, from the time I can remember I wanted a teddy bear spider more than I wanted to breathe."

@Pseudopod: Episode #222 "Terrible Lizard King" by Nathaniel Lee, read by Steve Anderson.
"That night, Patrick’s dreams were troubled, full of rumbling sounds like drums or distant guns. Patrick woke up several times in the darkness and lay frozen beneath his blanket, unwilling to peep out because he knew what would be at the window."

Serial Audio
@The Guild of Cowry Catchers: Cowry Catchers Book 3 – Episode 6 by Abigail Hilton, performed by a full cast.
"a dark, nautical fantasy for people who shop in the grown-up section of the bookstore."

Gaming
@DriveThruRPG: "The Haunted Fort - An Oathbound Eclipse Adventure"
"Far off in the deep of the mists, the village of Blackhold is in trouble. Villagers are disappearing at an alarming rate, and the nearby ancient sorcerer's stronghold appears to have acquired some new, sinister residents. Will you come to their rescue?" Pathfinder compatible.

In a free PDF download HERE [free membership required]

Small, But Cool, Gaming Items
@Ode to Black Dougal: [Chart] Random Sword Description Table.
@Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets: [New Magic Item] Windlewine’s Bugbeer.
@Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets: [New Magic Item] Homing Mushroom.
@Sickly Purple Death Ray: [Map] Interesting Places: Beneath the Cemetery.
@The Land of NOD: [Encounters] Mu-Pan - Encounter IX, Mu-Pan - Encounter X, and Mu-Pan - Encounter XI.