Algernon Blackwood and More Horrors

Goo morning!  There's some quite good stuff today, including a collection of dark fantasy stories by Algernon Blackwood that ere praised by H. P. Lovecraft, a continuing serial, audio horror at Pseudopod ( a trio of flash horrors), a collection of audio horror stories at LibriVox (including Poe, Lovecraft, Blackwood, Clark Ashton Smith, Hawthorne, and more), flash fiction, comic books, and more.










Fiction
• At Project Gutenberg: Incredible Adventures by Algernon Blackwood. Weird. Dark Fantasy. 1914.
      "In the volume titled Incredible Adventures occur some of the finest tales which the author has yet produced, leading the fancy to wild rites on nocturnal hills, to secret and terrible aspects lurking behind stolid scenes, and to unimaginable vaults of mystery below the sands and pyramids of Egypt; all with a serious finesse and delicacy that convince where a cruder or lighter treatment would merely amuse. Some of these accounts are hardly stories at all, but rather studies in elusive impressions and half-remembered snatches of dream. Plot is everywhere negligible, and atmosphere reigns untrammelled:" H. P. Lovecraft quoted at Wikipedia.

• At Silver Blade: "The Greatest Shade – Part 4" by Bryan Wein. Fantasy.
       "You see any red uniforms?” Adewale replied curtly as his fingers flew across the keys. The glow lamps along the walls dimmed, as did the luminescence on the ceiling. “Those men could be with anyone.”

Flash Fiction

• At Every Day Fiction: "The Ghosts of Becca Wolf" by Richard M. O’Donnell. Horror.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Breaking Barriers" by Aron White. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
• At LibrVox: "Short Ghost and Horror Collection 022" Horror.
      "A collection of twenty stories featuring ghoulies, ghosties, long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night. Expect shivers up your spine, the stench of human flesh, and the occasional touch of wonder. "

• At Pseudopod: "Flash on the Borderlands XVII: Keeping Up Appearances" Horror.
      “Down By The Sea Near The Great Big Rock” by Joe R. Lansdale, “The Demon Fields” by Keith McCleary, and “Pawn” by Jaki Idler.

Comics

• At Atomic Kommie Comics: Lars of Mars "Villain or Hero?" Sci-fi. 1951. 
• At Atomic Kommie Comics "Invincible Eranus" Sci-fi. 195x.
• At Atomic Kommie Comics: "How the 3 Rocketeers Teamed Up!" Sci-fi. 196x.
• At Four-Color Shadows: "Famous Explorers of Space # 5" Sci-fi. 1954.
• At Heroines: Agar-Agar "Forest of Life and Death" Sci-fi. 1971.
• At The Horrors of It All: "Man at the Grave / Fangs of the Vampire" Horror. 1954.
• At The Horrors of It All: "Mummy's Hand / Curse of Frankenstein" Horror. 196x.

Other Genres

• Audio at WMG Publishing: "The Ghost of Willow’s Past" by M.L. Buchman.
• Fiction at WMG Publishing "The Amazing Quizmo" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
• Fiction Online Pulps: "Mementos of Murder" by John L. Benton. 1948, "Green-eyed Vengeance" by Arthur J. Burks 1936, and "Thief in the Cupboard " by Ray Fulbright. 1947. Pulp. Noir.

It's So Easy, Easy, When Everybody's Postin' Free Fiction, Baby

A few more good freebies! Tor.com has a new Charles Stoss story, The Internet Archive has all 78 episodes of the classic old time radio series Weird Circle available in a convienient, though large (555 Mb) zip file, and there's much more.  E-books will likely return tomorrow.  For more free links (including some e-books) see Regan Wolfrom's links at SF Signal.







Fiction
• At HiLobrow:  "Herland - Part 11" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Science Fiction. 1915.
      "We have a well-founded theory that it is best to marry “in one’s class,” and certain well-grounded suspicions of international marriages, which seem to persist in the interests of social progress, rather than in those of the contracting parties."

• At Medium: "Zero Hours" by Tim Maughan. Near Future SF.
      "She sighs, dismisses it. She’s not even sure why she still keeps that notification running. Starbucks, the holy fucking grail. But she can’t go there, can’t even try, without that elusive Barista badge."

• At Tor.com: "Equoid" by Charles Stross.
      "Charles Stross’s “Equoid” is a new story in his ongoing “Laundry” series of Lovecraftian secret-agent bureaucratic dark comedies, which has now grown to encompass four novels and several works of short fiction. “The Laundry” is the code name for the secret British governmental agency whose remit is to guard the realm from occult threats from beyond spacetime."

Audio Fiction
• At BBC Radio 4: "The Exuberant" by Jeff Young.
     "Jack 'Space' Hopper is an Exuberant - meaning he hunts for meteorites. So if your house has been hit by a rock from outer space, he'll turn up on your doorstep with money in his pocket, a magnet on a stick and a mad desire to touch your fridge. A comedy about the mad desire to catch a falling star."

• At 19 Nocturne Boulevard: "The Black Lamp" by Captain S.P. Meek (part 1 of 2), read by Julie Hoverson.
      "Dr. Bird, from the Federal Bureau of Standards must investigate when vitally dangerous inventions are stolen!  And how were they stolen?  SCIENCE!" from Astounding Stories, February 1931.

Old Time Radio
• At The Internet Archive: The Weird Circle
     "The Weird Circle was a 30-minute, syndicated, supernatural/fantasy series that ran from 1943 through 1945. There were 78 episodes produced. The show's strength was stories from famous writers of the two genres, including Robert Lewis Stevenson, Victor Hugo, Edgar Alan Poe and even Charles Dickens. Most all of the stories came from the Victorian era or older."

Free E-Books, Vampires, and Zombies

There are a few goodies for you this evening.  In addition to the e-books, there's a vampire story by the master story-teller Kristine Kathryn Rusch, new episodes of Pseudopod (always great) and The AntiSF Radio Show, and some good stuff in other genres for those willing to leave their spec. fiction comfort zones. [Art from "Victims" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.]









Fiction
• "Victims" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Paranormal.
     "Reese Catton manages campaigns. The dirty side of campaigns. And he has dirt suggesting that his candidate’s opponent is a vampire’s slave."


E-Books
At Free eBooks Daily:

• A Question of Will by Alex Albrinck Science Fiction.
• Taste For Blood: Stir by Jenna Bernel. YA Paranormal.
• Fang Chronicles: Amy's Story by D'Elen McClain. Paranormal Romance.
• End of Dreams by Kim Faulks. Dark Fantasy. Horror. 
• Sapphire Magic: Breaking Glass by John Booth. Fantasy.
• Cipher by Cindi Madsen. Fantasy. 
• Lost by Ren Cummins. Fantasy.
• Dark Legacy by M. A. Anderson. Vampire Crime Fiction.
• Returning Home by Molli Fields. Dark Fantasy.
• Jane, Actually by Jennifer Petkus. Science Fiction Romance.

Audio Fiction
• At Antipodean: "The AntiSF Radio Show 182" Speculative Fiction.
     "G'day fellow flash speculative fiction hominids. Oh yes, perhaps other life-forms as well. This is the AntipodeanSF Radio Show 182, featuring all of the stories from Issue number 182 of the online magazine and e-book"

• At Pseudopod: "Enough With The Crazy" by Emile Dayne, read by Joe Scalora. Horror. Zombies.
     "People – men and women and children – faces twisted into grimaces, attacking an elderly couple from all sides, bringing them down, tearing at their clothes and at their flesh. By this exact hydrant. Blood falling where the ketchup was now."

Other Genres
Audio at Selected Shorts: "High Society" and "Dorothy Parker's Wicked Pen"
Fiction at The New Yorker: "Bad Dreams" by Tessa Hadley.
Fiction at The Western Online: "Across Time" by Kathy Otten. Western.

Celebrating the Birth . . . Gertrude Barrows Bennett

Gertrude Barrows Bennett A.K.A. Francis Stevens ( 18 September 1883–1948)
      Bennett "was the first major female writer of fantasy and science fiction in the United States" (Wikipedia) and an influential early "dark fantasy" whose writing influenced A. Merritt, and possibly H. P. Lovecraft. With the exception of a story published when she was 17, Bennet's writing career was confied to the short period of time that she was caring for her invalid mother and therefore unable to work as a stenographer.








Fiction
At Manybooks:

• Citadel of Fear serialized in Argosy, September 14, 1918 - October 26, 1918.
     ""The stupendous fantasy of the Aztec hounds turned loose on the modern world!" A lost world story that focuses on a forgotten Aztec city rediscovered during World War I."

• The Heads of Cerberus serialized in The Thrill Book, August 15, 1919 - October 15, 1919.
     "The novel concerns people who are transported to a future totalitarian Philadelphia in 2118, after inhaling a grey dust."

• "Friend Island" from All-Story Weekly, September 7, 1918,
     "In a future world where society is matriarchal, an old sailoress tells a story of being shipwrecked on a strange, sentient tropical island which seems to want to cater to her every need." - Skulls in the Stars.

At University of Adelaide:

•  Nightmare 1917. from All-Story Weekly, April 14, 1917
      "A man riding on the doomed passenger liner the Lusitania awakens suddenly halfway around the world, on a tropical island filled with monstrous creatures, where competing expeditions fight over the island’s ultimate prize." - Skulls in the Stars.

• Claimed!  serialized in Argosy, March 6, March 13, and March 20, 1920.
    "in which an elemental being recovers an ancient artefact." -SFE.

• "Behind the Curtain" 1918. from All-Story Weekly, September 21, 1918.
    "A man’s obsession with an Egyptian sarcophagus and its dessicated occupant leads to an act of horrific revenge."- Skulls in the Stars.

• "Unseen-Unfeared" from People's Favorite Magazine Feb. 10, 1919.
     "A man’s sanity is threatened when a sinister scientist uses a new form of radiation to reveal the invisible monstrosities always around us." - Skulls in the Stars.

• "Elf Trap" from Argosy, July 5, 1919
     "Recovering myself, I surmised that Elva must have sent this boy, and sure enough, at my insistence he managed to stop prancing long enough to deliver her message."

• "Serapion:" serialized in Argosy Weekly, June 19, June 26, and July 3, 1920
     "When a seance goes awry, a man finds himself stalked by an evil which has crossed over and threatens his very soul."

E-Books and Peppermints, the Color of Time

Just the usual afternoon roundup of cool e-book links.















E-Books
• At Amazon: Shadows by Jennifer L. Armentrout. YA Science Fiction Romance. [via Pixel-of-Ink]
At Free eBooks Daily:

• The Oval World by Mary Clare Evans. Science Fiction / Fantasy.
• Zoe Thanatos by Crystal Cierlak. Science Fiction.
• Maggie Again by John Husband. Science Fiction.
• Soul Catcher by E. L. Todd. Fantasy Romance. 
• Shadowplay by Jon Gerrard. Science Fiction.
• Evil In Mind by Shaun Adams. Horror. 
• Shotgun Rites by Stephany Simmons. Dark Fantasy.
• Mosquitoes by Marc R. Soto. Horror.
• The Gift of Flame by Erin McManaway. YA Fantasy.
• Trail of Bones by Chris Salisbury. YA Fantasy.

At Smashwords:

• "Kim Hyejin (Something Super)" by Brent Meske. Superhero.
• "Adventures In The Moonlight" by Stephen Walker. Historical Fantasy.
• Revelation by B. E. Van Loon. Contemporary Fantasy. 83k words.
• "Whither Must I Wander" by David Haywood Young. Science Fiction.
• "Velvet Manor" by J Niessen. Science Fiction.
• Songs of a Peach Tree by Michael Ciardi. Horror. Ghost. 84k words.
• "Aldedaros" by Mike Brandish. Horror.
• Forever Tomorrow: Book One of The Book of Tomorrows by Alexander Ulysses Thor. Science Fiction. 140k words.
• The Final Battle by Anna Wu. Hard SF. 109k words.

At Amazon: [via Freebook Sifter]

• Adrian's War (A Distant Eden) by Lloyd Tackitt. Post-Apocalyptic.
• Dragon Over Washington (The Third War Of The Bir Nibaru Gods) by Bruno Flexer.
• The Eldridge Conspiracy by Stephen Ames Berry. Science Fiction. Techno-thriller.
• Mind Trace by Holly McCaghren. Science Fiction.
• BlackBlade: The Forging of a Legend by Greg Baldwin. Fantasy.
• Psinapse by Andrew Ives. Cyberpunk.
• The NPC by Thomas A. Gilly. Cyberpunk.
• Copperback by Tarah R. Hamilton. Science Fiction. Romance.
• The Parasomniac by Derek Rasmussen. Paranormal.
• Yuen-mong's Revenge by Gian Bordin. Science Fiction.
• Runefool (The Rune Series) by Macaulay C. Hunter. YA Paranormal.
• The Hopfield Tales by Mike Evers. YA Fantasy.

Celebrating the Births . . . China Tom Miéville and Arthur Cheney Train

China Tom Miéville (born 6 September 1972)
      An outspoken, award winning author, Miéville is extremely well known and needs little in the way of an introduction.  Only a few of his story are freely available.










Fiction
• At The Register: "An End To Hunger"
     "I met Aykan in a pub sometime late in 1997. I was with friends, and one of them was loudly talking about the internet, which we were all very excited about."

• At Socialist Review: "'Tis the Season"
      "Call me childish, but I love all the nonsense - the snow, the trees, the tinsel, the turkey. I love presents. I love carols and cheesy songs. I just love Christmas™. "

• At The Guardian: "Covehithe"
      "A trip to the Suffolk coast takes on a new urgency when Dughan decides the time is right for a night-time adventure"

Arthur Cheney Train (6 September 1875 – 22 December 1945)
    While best known for his legal thrillers, Train did occasionally write Science Fiction (or proto-science fiction) at a time crucial to the development of the genre. His most important work, to sf, is likely The Man Who Rocked the Earth (1915) in which, "the Near-Future course of World War One is interrupted by messages from a mysterious Scientist known only as PAX threatening superscientific punishments if war is not stopped. After some demonstrations, featuring Rays, a flying ship, atomic energy and the slowing of Earth's orbit, which causes vast earthquakes" - SFE



Fiction 
At Project Gutenberg:

•  The Man Who Rocked the Earth with Robert Williams Wood.
     "It is difficult, however, to conceive of any way in which a sudden liberation of atomic energy could have been brought about by any terrestrial agency; so that the first theory, though able to account for the facts, seems to be the less tenable of the two. The meteoric theory offers no especial difficulty."

• Mortmain. 1906.
     "Like many another in the medical world whose material wants are guaranteed, he found solace and amusement only in experimentation along new lines of his peculiar hobbies. His days were spent between his book-lined study with its cheery sea-coal fire and his adjacent laboratory, where three assistants, all trained Bachelors of Science, conducted experiments under his personal direction."

Midday Free Fiction

  And the good stuff keeps coming.  There are two good e-zines, flash fiction, and some old time radio in this post alone.  And yes, there's more to come.  [Art from SQ Mag linked below]












Fiction
Now Posted: New Myths: Issue 24, September 1, 2013. Speculative Fiction.

• "A Slender Darkness" by D. A. D'Amico
      "The sweeping curve of indigo reminded Rhyse of Daisha's lithe body, the way her smooth shoulder had moved under his clumsy fingers as he applied the ink. She'd gasped when he'd used the hot wire to set the line, her voice exploding in breathless sighs of pleasure."

• "The Hidalgo's Domain" by Thomas Canfield.
        "The light took Bradshaw by surprise. He hung suspended in the water, moving his fins just enough to maintain his depth, wondering how he could have miscalculated so badly. The water had a beautiful rich tint to it, a silky, sensuous blue, not unlike waters Bradshaw had dove in the Caribbean. But why here, he wondered. There was a spring five miles further to the west, a small one that scarcely warranted a name. But here the network of caves ran uninterrupted through miles of porous limestone. No natural light ever penetrated these waters. Bradshaw should not have breached the surface till he returned to his original point of entry again. This was not his point of entry."

• "Cerebral Vortex" by Sean Hazlett
       "The hollow-skulled dolphin carcasses started washing ashore about a week ago. No matter how many times Dr. Janet Kimball examined the bodies, she was at a loss as to what was behind these mutilations. Dr. Kimball observed an atrocity that had become so common she was almost numb to it – almost, if not for the dolphins’ missing gray matter. In all her forty years, she’d never come across such a peculiar and gruesome sight."

• "Butterfly Weather" by Hannah Lackoff
      "On Monday morning, there were ants in the kitchen. I searched under the sink in vain for the traps I knew I had bought. I tried the medicine cabinet, the hall closet, and finally found them on top of the refrigerator, out of my reach without the assistance of the step stool. I was twenty minutes late for work."

Now Posted: SQ Mag: Edition 10

• "Shoe Shine Picture" by Robert Datson. Dark Fantasy.
     "Concrete lies under Sam’s thin sleeping bag and he keeps still, knowing the moment he moves, bones will push through the thin material and his comfort will disappear, bringing him firmly into contact with his current situation."

• "Intangible (Part 5 of 6)" by A.A. Garrison. Fantasy.
      "It was the fall of '89, late September, no different than the thirty-seven she'd known previously. But that changed on a Thursday afternoon, as she motored down the road in the family minivan, Kyle and Tia in tow."

• "That Blasts the Roots of Trees is My Destroyer" by David Halpert. Dystopian Science Fiction.
      "Tenement apartments hugging the Green Zone show their true colors in the sober light of day. Moss and climbing ferns hide the cracked foundations and graffiti courtesy of resident syndicates. Charlie’s disposable Sanyo reads yellow for this district, advising citizens to express caution when venturing out in broad daylight."

• "Drunks" by Michael C Schutz-Ryan. Horror.
       "When I first met Neil, he was drinking Heineken at Jim’s party. Well dressed and very drunk gay men stood around a veritable garden of potted plants; they watched each other watching each other and tried to appear disinterested."

• "Mr Strawn and the Book" by Morgan Knight. Steampunk.
      "Mr. Strawn stepped off the sleek magnetic train and walked down the wooden boardwalk of the depot, boots clunking. He carried a canvas bag shaped around the thick book inside of it. It made him think of a snake that had misjudged its meal every time he picked it up."

Flash Fiction
• At SQ Mag: "Visiphorical Art" by Michelle King. Horror.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "The Morrow Upon Midday" by Timothy Marshal-Nichols. Science Fiction.
At New Myths: Speculative Poems.

• "Morrighan" by Steve Gordon
• "Before the Sun" by Jeffrey Graessley
• "The Shaman's Daughter" by Alexandra Seidel

Old Time Radio

• At Boxcars 711: "The Graveyard Mansion 2 Pts. Complete" - The Witch's Tale 1933.
• At OTR Plot Spot!: "Incident at Switchpath" - Beyond Tomorrow 1950, "The Third Man's Story" - Quiet, Please 1948, and "Hunter's Moon" - Part 05 of 08. Science Fiction and Horror.
• At Relic Radio: "The Wendigo" - Theater 10:30. Horror.

Celebrating the Births . . . Michael P. Kube-McDowell, Renee Carter Hall, and Jenn Reese

This time its three very good young (or youngish) writers who have already made contributions to the imaginative genres and show future promise.  All have free fiction available at their sites so give 'em a read, and if you hurry, you can wish happy birthdays.  The free fiction and a a bit of biographical detail is available after the jump break.

Finally Here Free Fiction

What a day. The fiction just didn't want to come today. In order to get it we had to wrestle a troll, fly a broom, play chess, solve a logic puzzle, look into a dangerous mirror, and . . . or was that Harry Potter? I always forget whose life is whose.  But the fiction is here, finally!  [Art from The Ark Plallas in E-books]

 








Fiction
• At Project Gutenberg: The Bright Messenger by Algernon Blackwood. 1922. Dark Fantasy.
       "Edward Fillery is the child of a brief but passionate liaison between an engineer and a strangely beautiful peasant girl. Blessed with special insight and with a 'primal quality' in his blood, Edward becomes a doctor, helping and healing those with distressing psychological illnesses. When he hears of an unusual case in Switzerland he is intrigued and moved. The young male patient, apparently born of a 'magical experiment', is a man of mystical tendencies, a worshipper of natural forces. And when he sees a portrait of the patient, there is a brief, indefinable spark of recognition.." -Amazon.

• At SciFi Ideas: "Second Victim" by Harry de Vries. Science Fiction. [via SF Signal]
     "Amelia sighed. The infernal rain drizzled on, and her breath flew from her mouth like smoke from the distant CentraCont Industry factories. Despite the late Mr. Debenhall, their industry powered on. A white-winged street skimmer dived over her head, the water falling from beneath it’s chromium chassis giving her in a redundant not to mention unwanted shower. Cursing under her breath, she turned at River street and powered on."

Flash Fiction
• At Daily Science Fiction: "Tomorrow Is Winter" by Callie Snow. Science Fiction.
• At Nature: "The Speed of Dark Energy" by Jeff Hecht. Science Fiction.
• At Omni Reboot : "Our Knuckles Drenched Dionysian" by Ken Baumann. Science Fiction. [via SF Signal]
• At 365 Tomorrows: "FilmScape" by Lindsey McLeod. Science Fiction.
At Silver Blade: Poems,

• "Electricity" by Lyn Lifshin.
• "Scheherazade" by Lyn Lifshin.
• "Those Nights She Is" by Lyn Lifshin.

Updated

• At Project Gutenberg: Astounding Stories of Super-Science June 1930 and Aug. 1930.

E-Books
At Amazon: [via Pixel-of-Ink]

• Death’s Servant by C.J. Ellisson. Urban Fantasy.
• There's Only One Quantum by William Bryan Smith. Cyberpunk.
• Red by EJ Koh. Dark Fantasy.

At Amazon: [via Freebook Sifter]

• Future Past by Pamela Caves. Fantasy.
• Dark Migration (Butterfly Harvest) by Sandra R Campbell. Paranormal.
• Redemption (The End of the Iron Age) by Seth M. Baker. Science Fiction.
• The Amulets; A tale of magic and monsters by Michael Alexander Card-Mina. Fantasy.
• The Artificial Mirage by T. Warwick. Science Fiction.
• Wolf Battle and the Hidden World by Manuel Fernandez. YA Science Fiction.
• A Million Little Gods: the Clearwater Chronicles by Dave Burns. Time Travel.
• In Shrouds of Darkness by RL Barrett. Fantasy.
• Michael and the Monkey King by Alan James Brown. Paranormal.
• Volition Agent by Richard Flores IV. Science Fiction.
• A History of the World's Ending by Sebastian Galen. Science Fiction.
• A New Soul Trilogy A Werewolf's Saga by Michael Lampman. Paranormal.
• Alys (The Terra Mirum Chronicles) by Kiri Callaghan. Dark Fantasy.
• Revelations for a New Age by Mark Wheeler. Post-Apocalyptic.
• The Ark of Pallas by Leanne Hume. Science Fiction.
• 2012 Lunar Contact by JD Clarke and Gary Hocker.
• The Brothers Crunk by William Pauley III. Science Fiction. Horror.
• Dissolution of Peace by Richard Flores IV. Military Science Fiction.
• Dying To Live & Fighting To Live - Double Edition (Zombie Overload Series) by C. M. Wright.
• The Sea Inside (Cerulean Songs) by Vickie Johnstone. YA Time Travel.
• Eve (Eden) by Marie E Swift. Apocalyptic.
• My Vacation in Hell by Gene Twaronite. YA Fantasy.
• City of Gold (Lost City Chronicles) by Daniel Blackaby. Fantasy. 
• The Dark Caravan (Tides of War) by Shawn Weaver. Fantasy.
• The Nan Tu - Southern Swallow Book II (Nan Ya) by Edward C. Patterson. Fantasy.

At Smashwords:

• "The Thatcher Files: Spiders In The Park" by Sara Walker. Urban Fantasy.
• "The World According to CHAD" by Alexander Ulysses Thor. Science Fiction.
• "Shades of Black" by Quelli di ZEd. Paranormal.
• "Eyes of the Valkyrie" by John Enright. Zombies.
• Govicide: Resist by Edward Dentzel. Dystopian. 116k Words.

Comics

• At Atomic Kommie Comics: "Lunar Goliaths" Sci-fi. 1965.
• At Atomic Kommie Comics: "Danger! Atoms!" Sci-fi. Humor. 1965.
• At Four-Color Shadows: "Death Lies Ahead" Horror. 1952.

Other Genres

• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "Punk-Ass Mattresses" by Christina Dal Santo. 
• Fiction at the New Yorker: "The Colonel’s Daughter" by Robert Coover.

Celebrating the Birth . . . Ray Bradbury

Ray Douglas Bradbury (August 22, 1920 – June 5, 2012)
      Ray Bradbury was, first and foremost, a great storyteller. Whether writing Science Fiction, Horror, or Dark Fantasy, his stories were always very accessible.  Among the many awards he has received are World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement in horror fiction, and being named a  SFWA Grand Master.  While he probably best known for Fahrenheit 451 which has been required reading in many schools, it is my humble opinion that his best works are his short stories, including those in The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man.  And although Bradbury was extremely diligent about copyright renewals, a few of his works are legally available.




Free fiction after fold

Many Doors to Free Fiction

The start of what should be a great free fiction day.  With free fiction from Nightmare and Tor, the first non-insect issue for The Journal of Unlikely . . . (hat tip to John DeNardo for beating by several hours on that one), several flash fiction stories (including the very welcome return of Yesteryear Fiction), audio fiction, and other genres ( Mediæval London looks quite interesting).  Much more to come with at least three more posts within the next 24 hours. [Art form The Journal of Unlikely Architecture]



Fiction
• At Nightmare Magazine: "All My Princes Are Gone" by Jennifer Giesbrecht. Horror. Dark Fantasy.
     "When the world was young, it was filled with monsters."

• At Tor.com: "Work Sets You Free" by David Barnett.
       "Gideon is a young fisherman in Yorkshire, England, in an alternate 1890, who embarks on a journey to find Captain Lucian Trigger, the famed Hero of the Empire, to deal with a mystery plaguing his home village. This story takes place as the naive Gideon sets off for London, but on the way encounters a very dark side to the British Empire's insatiable hunger for resources...."

• Now Posted: Journal of Unlikely Architecture #6. Speculative Fiction.

• "Go Through" by Alma Alexander
     "Pain. There is always pain. I think I carry it with me. I brought it here. I wear it. I leave it in the tracks I leave behind on the cobblestones."
• "Three Adventures of Simon Says, the Elder" by Daniel Ausema
     "When the first balloon fell, Simon was climbing a piece of asphalt that jutted up from the ground. He scrambled over and dropped into the lee of the jumbled ruin as the balloons fell harder. Some splashed acid as they popped, some turned into a rain of razor-sharp jacks, but most floated down intact"
• "The Painted Bones" by Kelly Simmons.
     "As Jamie is no longer speaking to Lily, she is currently considering switching strategies. But not this Wednesday. No, not quite yet."
• "The Tower" by Kelly Lagor
     "Dana looked up at the polished black tower before her, which stretched heavenward through the emerald canopy of the Enchanted Forest. Its apex had finally breached the cloud."
• "The Dross Record" by Matthew Timmins
     "The archives themselves were a strange mix of ancient and modern: the main rooms were gigantic open spaces hardly ever encountered in nature, but the floor, ceiling, and walls that were present were all original stonework; a water channel had been left in its natural angular course"
• "Geddarien" by Rose Lemberg.
     "The old man closed his heavy eyelids. 'These cities like ours, my boy, they have a life of their own. And sometimes, you should know,' he whispered, 'the city dances.'"
• "The Latest Incarnation of Secondhand Johnny" by Mark Rigney.
      "That this world might be their own — and of their own devising — was not a proposition with which the regulars bothered themselves. It was both too awful and too obvious to require mention."

Flash Fiction

• At Daily Science Fiction: "Seaweed" by Mari Ness. Science Fiction.
• At Every Day Fiction: "Singularity of Attachment" by Sarah Crysl Akhtar. Science Fiction.
• At Flashes in the Dark: "Memoir" by George Brannen. Horror.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "My Orbit is Not Done" by Duncan Shields. Science Fiction.
• At Yesteryear Fiction: "Flowers" by Earl S. Wynn. Fantasy.

Audio Fiction
• At Internet Archive by LibriVox: "Anthem" by Ayn Rand. Dystopia.
     "It takes place at some unspecified future date when mankind has entered another dark age characterized by irrationality, collectivism, and socialistic thinking and economics. Technological advancement is now carefully planned (when it is allowed to occur at all) and the concept of individuality has been eliminated (for example, the use of the word "I" is punishable by death)."

• At Nightmare Magazine: "All My Princes Are Gone" by Jennifer Giesbrecht. Horror. Dark Fantasy.
     "When the world was young, it was filled with monsters."

Other Genres

• Audio at Internet Archive by LibriVox:  Pony Rider Boys in the Grand Canyon. YA Adventure.
• Fiction at Spinetingler: "No Good Reason" by Christopher Ford. Crime.
• Non-Fiction At Project Gutenberg: Mediæval London by William Benham and Charles Welch. 1901.

Goodbye, Free Fiction Tuesday, Who Could Hang a Name on You?

Wow! Three free Ezines on the same day, Apex Magazine, Black Treacle, and Sorcerous Signals.  These three cover it all, science fiction, speculative fiction, horror, fantasy, and dark fantasy.  And as if that weren't enough, there are new stories.at Mad Scientist Journal and Phantasmacore. HiLobrow continues its serialization of Herland, there are some comics from very cool sites, plenty of ebooks, and even an audio short. Can I get a Huzzah?

It's only goodbye to free fiction Tuesday for a week.





Fiction
• At HiLobrow: "Herland - Chapter 4: Our Venture" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. 1915.
     "We were standing on a narrow, irregular, all too slanting little ledge, and should doubtless have ignominiously slipped off and broken our rash necks but for the vine. This was a thick-leaved, wide-spreading thing, a little like Amphelopsis."

• At Mad Scientist Journal: "The Warning Sign: Dr. Maxwell’s Notes on First Contact" by S. R. Algernon. Science Fiction. [via SF Signal]
     "The Star-Weavers have contacted us! For decades, they have ignored our transmissions, even as they scattered their interstellar beacons across the solar system. This morning, everything changed. A Star-Weaver was here, on our little campus, and not just for a recon flyby, but to see us face-to-face. What follows below is for posterity."

• At Phantasmacore: "Procedural Generation" by Tom Graham. Science Fiction.
     "The days of the hermitage, his small urban sanctuary. Steven, for as long as he could remember, had been agoraphobic. His food was delivered (meals-on-wheels) and he spent his time between an indoor orchid garden, reading stacks of old newsprint, and mindlessly computing, data entry his method of maintaining his seclusive lifestyle."

• Now Posted: Apex Magazine #51 August 2013.

• "Victimless Crimes" by Charlie Jane Anders. Science Fiction.
     "The baby that had been Florence sighed. 'Okay fine. I have to do everything myself. I assume you at least brought an exo? Not that this body isn’t lovely and all, but these hands aren’t going to be karate–chopping henchmen any time soon.'"
• "A Matter of Shapespace" by Brian Trent
     "It stabbed up from the center of his otherwise empty room, its three sides so steep they were nearly vertical, converging to a sharp point that aimed towards the skylight. Jacob gaped at it, disbelieving the sight. The rest of his house was a blank desolation, bereft of furniture, color, and of course, pyramids"
• "Sister Twelve: Confessions of a Party Monster" by Christopher Barzak
     "It didn’t take with me, the world and its rules, the things it expected of me. In the end, that’s the only reason why I find myself still here after all these countless years, and still I refuse to leave the scene. If you drop a beat, I’m on it. If I hear the slightest scratch, I’m ready to spin. If my shoes give out, if I split a sole or break a heel, it doesn’t matter. I kick them off and keep on dancing like the music and my body can’t be put on pause"

• Now Posted: Black Treacle #4. Horror. Dark Fantasy.

• "The Devil’s Due" by Mike Rimar.
    "I leaned forward hoping to appear sufficiently inquisitive and peered at the Soul List. Created from the flayed skin of the eternally damned, the scroll unfurled across his obsidian desk. Smoke trailed from the blackened rim of the hole he’d made with his stiletto-like finger. Around the hole the remaining letters of a name fading from view."
• "Nainaine of the Bayou" by Christopher Keelty.
     "The white lady’s gun lay in the dirt. Nell thought about taking it, but it was too heavy and too long–at least twice as long as the rifle Mama was teaching her to shoot. Instead she dragged it into the shadows and hid it beneath some scrap wood. The spyglass on top looked valuable, but Nell didn’t have time to salvage it."
• "Corn-fed Baby and Gravy" by Christian Riley
     "The stink of shit and animal parlayed with a cloud of dust, rising up and through the opened windows of the Cadillac. Lawrence cursed, reached for a handkerchief and covered his nose. When the dust settled, he grabbed his clipboard and stepped outside, shielding his eyes against the rays of a setting sun."

• Now Posted: Sorcerous Signals Aug - Oct '13. Fantasy.

• "Blood Will Out" by Edward Ahern. . Fantasy.
     "The deadly downside to the obligations of nobility."
• "A Close Call" by Matthew Wilson.  Poetry
• "The Heart of a Diamond" by Lillian Csernica. Fantasy.
     "When murderous conspirators armed with magic attack the House of Treymorr, Lady Tavia's only ally is the Spirit trapped inside a prize diamond." 
• "A Legendary Snooze" by Brandon Barrows. Flash Fiction
• "The Men From the Council" by Robina Williams. Fantasy.
     "A modern twist to an ancient myth: When two besuited men drive up in their smart sedan to the hillside home of Baucis and Philemon to talk about planning issues, the old couple fear they are about to lose their home."
• "The Oak Witch's Helper" by Anna Sykora. Fantasy.
      "Maybe I'm a little batty, but every witch needs a helper like me."
• "The Odyssey of the Penelope Ann" by Ken Goldman. Fantasy.
     "Richard, the captain of the Penelope Ann ship, hardly qualifies as a mythic hero -- although he has some appeal to the local Sirens."
• "The Ragnarok Interrupt" by Mike Jansen. Fantasy.
    "Thor is his name, Norse God of Thunder and Lightning, always in for a good fight. With the end of times approaching, he departs for the battlefield, filled with divine anticipation. But the world has changed and Thor discovers he may just be a little outdated."
• "Sunniva" by David W. Landrum.    "The sorceress Sunniva wins the heart of Prince Dalin when they are very young. His parents do not approve and send her into exile. Dalin also travels far away. But to a sorceress, distances mean very little."
• "To The Fates" by John Grey. Poetry.
• "The Woodcarver's Angel" by E. M. Sole.
    "Lord Hennin finds a marvel to delight a king."

E-Books
• At Amazon: Exile of Lucifer: Chronicles of the Host, Vol 1 by D. Brian Shafer. [via Freebook Sifter]

At Free eBooks Daily:

• Hive by Rachel Starr Thomson. Fantasy.
• Meg: Origins by Steve Alten. Fantasy.
• UnEmbraceable by Precarious Yates YA
• Moorehead Manor by David McMullen-Sullivan. YA Horror.

Comics

• At And Everything Else Too: "Curiosity Kills / Assignment in Fear" Horror. Humor. 1972
• At And Everything Else Too: "The Cameo's Curse / Sonny's World" Horror. Humor. 1972
• At Atomic Kommie Comics: "Into the 4th Dimension" Sci-fi. 1954.
• At Digital Comics Museum: The Complete Spirit Of Frankenstein from  ACG's Adventures Into The Unknown. Horror.
• At Four-Color Shadows: "The Space Court" Sci-fi. 1965.
• At The Horrors of It All: "The Boy Who Cried Vampire / Behold the Beast" Horror. Humor. 1972
• At The Horrors of It All: "Ultimate Cure / Measure of the Monster" Horror. Humor. 1972

Audio Fiction
• At Apex Magazine: "The Face of Heaven So Fine" by Kat Howard. Flash.

Free Fiction That Time Will Remember

Another day, another great batch of free fiction.  There's new fiction from Anotherealm, Daily Science Fiction, and Buzzy Mag.  There's horror from Chilling Tales for Dark Nights, Cthulhu, and Tales to Terrify.  The People That Time Forgot audiobook is now complete, so get it quick - they don't stay up long there. And More.  E-books and more free fiction to come later.









Fiction
• At Anotherealm: "Rockland" by Teresa Dovalpage.
     "Linda Mendez's mission was to get rid of an infestation of killer rocks, as the Board had called it. She felt excited about her first real job after college, but still found it strange to consider rocks (or anything coming from the earth) as an enemy."

• At Buzzy Mag: "Crypt Of The Abernathys" by Matthew Acheson. Horror. Dark Fantasy.
     "Sabryna watched the old traveler recline in an oak rocking chair by the fireplace, taking one final draw from his clay pipe before setting it down beside him. After a dramatic pause, he leaned forward, and with a wry smile, he put the finishing stroke on the latest of his many tales."

• At Chilling Tales for Dark Nights: "Plot Holes" by David Knoppel. Horror.
     "One of the boards or…something must’ve fallen at just the right angle that when Jake hit the ground, it speared up right through his stomach. I could see him shift and try to grab at it. Even hear him gurgle…and then he stopped."

• At Daily Science Fiction: "By the Hands of Juan Perón" by Eric James Stone. Science Fiction.
     "An average Argentine citizen would be almost paralyzed with fear upon opening the door at three in the morning to find two Imperial Police officers. But despite his wishes to the contrary, Tomás Alejandro Perón was not an average Argentine citizen."

Flash Fiction

• At Every Day Fiction: "Side Pocket" by Matthew Harrison. Science Fiction.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Sepulchre" by Bob Newbell. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction

• At Chilling Tales for Dark Nights: "Plot Holes" by David Knoppel. Streaming. Horror.
     "One of the boards or…something must’ve fallen at just the right angle that when Jake hit the ground, it speared up right through his stomach. I could see him shift and try to grab at it. Even hear him gurgle…and then he stopped."

• At Cthulhu: "The Wrong side of the Tracks, Part 1" T.C. Mcqueen. Horror.
     "However, the Department of Homeland Security seemed to prefer 'What have you done for me lately?' Sure, I had prevented a long dead pagan witchdoctor from staging a bloody comeback tour and plunging the east coast into a new dark age, not to mention taking a severe ass kicking in the process. That, however, didn’t carry much weight with the payroll section at Homeland."

• At Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs: The People That Time Forgot - Episode 11 (Final)
      "Tom Billings, accompanied by Nobs, is now searching through Galu country for Ajor. He has discovered a herd of horses running free, and he has determined to capture on of these magnificent beasts. He tells Nobs, 'Fetch.'" [Episodes One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten]

• At Norther Audio: "Alice in Wonderland - Chapter 6 – Pig and Pepper" by Lewis Carroll. Children's Fantasy.
     "In Chapter Six, Alice visits the house of the Duchess and has a talk with a Cheshire Cat."

• At Tales to Terrify:  "At the Mountains of Madness - Part 1" by H. P. Lovecraft. Horror.
     "Doubt of the real facts, as I must reveal them, is inevitable; yet, if I suppressed what will seem extravagant and incredible, there would be nothing left. The hitherto withheld photographs, both ordinary and aerial, will count in my favor, for they are damnably vivid and graphic. Still, they will be doubted because of the great lengths to which clever fakery can be carried."

Other Genres

• Audio at The Classic Tales Podcast: "The Gardener" by Rudyard Kipling.
• Fiction at Project Gutenberg: The Story of Rolf and the Viking's Bow by Allen French. 1918. Vikings. Legend.

Free Fiction to Rule Them All

I love Beneath Ceaseless Skies Thursdays.  We have some very good free fantasy today thanks to BCS, Paizo, and PodCastle.  And there's good dark fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Remember, nothing lasts forever on the internet, except anything embarrassing that you post, so get the fiction you like before it is gone.



[Art from "Best Served Cold" linked below]






Fiction
• At Author's Site: "Waltzing on a Dancer’s Grave" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Dark Fantasy.
     "When Greta arrives at Grayson Place with her ballet company, her memories haunt her. Karl Grayson died there twenty years earlier, but she returns to the mansion for the company’s fiftieth-anniversary gala anyway, just as he wished. Karl’s death freed her once. Or did it?"

• At Beneath Ceaseless Skies: "Artificial Nocturne" by E. Catherine Tobler. Fantasy.
       "Rosemary and mint drip from the impossibly long fingers of Maman Floss as she spreads cooling bat grease across my shoulder. I keep my eyes closed, her voice wrapping around me in a contralto so soothing I forget the constant pain that radiates from shoulder to fingertips."

 • At Beneath Ceaseless Skies: "Last Rites for a Vagabond" by Justin Howe. Fantasy.
      "Wraiths, like dark whispers— And Beryl danced with them in the abandoned house, alder-wood sword in hand. Steady then. Masterful in deed and action. Not what he was, but something more: an exorcist."

• At Daily Science Fiction: "Join Our Team of Time Travel Professionals" by Sarah Pinsker. Science Fiction.
     "The sounds of half-tuned electric guitars blasted from the doorways of Manny's and Sam Ash, dueling across the grimy patch of 48th St known as Music Row. Magda waited until the group of time tourists she was following had turned the corner, then plunged her arm into the nearest garbage can. Her hand encountered something slimy."

• At Pathfinder: "Best Served Cold  - Chapter Three: An Array of Evils" by Ari Marmell. Fantasy.
      "The other, the speaker, was a scarlet-haired half-elf who wore his chainmail awkwardly. His sleeves shone gold in the brigands' torchlight, and his left hand fiddled absently with a silver pendant that dangled from his neck."

Flash Fiction

• At Every Day Fiction: "Filling" by Lindsey Barlow. Horror.
• At Nature: "Surrendered Human" by Deborah Walker. Science Fiction.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Mom And Pop Only" by Clint Wilson. Science Fiction.

E-Books
At Free eBooks Daily:

• Prince of Alasia by Annie Douglass Lima. Action Adventure / Fantasy. 
• Tannic and the last Woolly Mammoth by Jay Grewal. YA Adventure.
• Ships of My Fathers by Dan Thompson. Science Fiction.
• The Keeper and the Rune Stone by Paige W. Pendleton. YA Fantasy.
• Ghosts of Rosewood Asylum by Stephen Prosapio.  Paranormal Suspense.
• Fettered Soul by Caprice Hokstad. Fantasy.
• The Survivors by Daniel Harvell. Fantasy. 

Audio Fiction
• At Beneath Ceaseless Skies: "The Girl Who Welcomed Death to Svalgearyen" by Barbara A. Barnett. Fantasy.
     "Adda looked up and down the snowy lane, but Grandma Marit had already disappeared into the darkness. The only movement came from flickers of firelight sneaking out of neighbors' windows. The darkness groaned in annoyance at the tittering flickers, who flitted up and down the sides of the box-like wooden homes. The flickers skipped over the ground and tickled Adda's feet, even through her heavy boots."

• At PodCastle: "The Secret of Calling Rabbits" by Wendy Wagner. Fantasy.
      "The breeze shifted as Rugel ran, and he caught a scent upon it, sweet and strong, a scent that reached into the depths of his memories and twanged them. He lost his footing at the power of it, and he threw himself into a bush beside the path, gasping. He preferred running to hiding, but he couldn’t run with that scent thickening the air."

The Free Fiction Maneuver

There's some great free fiction this morning, including an audio reading of the SF classic "The Cold Equations," new fiction at Lightspeed, e-books, and much more.  And be sure to check out SF Signal for more free fiction posts by my honorable peer, Sir Regan Wolfrom.







Fiction
•  At The Colored Lens: "Primordial" by Jamie Killen. Speculative Fiction.
     "For a moment, he feared that Magda would stand up and slap him. After a few seconds of staring at him in icy rage, she looked away and bit a thumbnail. “Don’t know where people get these stupid ideas, like I’m a witch or something."

•  At Daily Science Fiction: "Tell Them of the Sky" by A. T. Greenblatt. Magic Realism.
        "She is too small, Kitkun thinks, the first time she enters his tiny workshop tucked between the market's stalls. Too young to have left the nest alone. Yet, despite the years of waiting, he still feels a prick of hope as she steps out of the city's unrelenting smog and over the threshold, thinking, perhaps she will be the one. Perhaps she will ask."

•  At Lightspeed: "Cancer" by Ryan North. Science Fiction.
      "Not everyone got tested at birth, and Tina hadn’t. Not getting tested had been her parents’ choice, but in university it had become her choice. She and Helen were hanging out in Helen’s dorm room, alone, lying side by side on her bed. It was the only comfortable place in the room."

•  At Lightspeed: "Ushakiran" by Laura Friis. Fantasy.
      "The earliest movements she knows are not her mother’s movements but the sea rocking her mother, who lies unconscious on the ship’s deck, rescued. In that way, the sea can be said to be her mother. She is born under the morning star, and so is named Ushakiran. The surgeon delivers her into a world of storms and blood, of darkness and creaking wood, of a blanket wrapped close around her, cold arms that cannot hold her."

•  At The Night Land: "Lute" by Don Webb. Dark Fantasy.  [via SF Signal]
     "The People gave me an ugly human name Lute. I am very ugly, for I am the product of twelve generations of breeding made to pass for human. I have their hateful symmetry. I have been surgically altered to have only two eyes, and unlike the People I cannot see what is behind me. When I was newly harvested, the other young ones took great pleasure in sneaking up on me. My Teacher Alvan would punish them and tell them that I was the one who would be the Trojan Horse."

•  At Weird Fiction Review: "Wunderkindergarten" by Marc Laidlaw.
     "I used to start talking right after an injection, when everyone else was sitting around addled and drowsily sipping warm milk from cartons and the aides were unfolding our luxurious padded mats for nap-time. The words would start pouring out of me in a froth, quite beyond my control, as significant to me as they were meaningless to the others"

Flash Fiction

• At Every Day Fiction: "The Dark" by Yancy Caruthers. Surreal.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Inferiority Complex" by Bob Newbell. Science Fiction.

E-Books
At Free eBooks:

• The Exile's Violin by R.S. Hunter. Fantasy.
• Mortality by Kellie Sheridan. YA Zombies. 
• The 13th by Shadow Stephens. Fantasy.

At Smashwords:

• "Stumped: A Tale of Taloria" Samuel J. Plum. Fantasy.
• "Carpe Diem" by Michael Loring. Fantasy.
• "Divine Blood: Smoke over Grimsvotn" by Luke Green. Urban Fantasy.
• "Divine Blood: Serious Matter" by Luke Green. Urban Fantasy.
• "Divine Blood: High School Hel" by Luke Green.Urban Fantasy.
• "Return to Bryn Mairwyn" by Daniel Huber. Fantasy.
• "The Horror From The Blizzard" by Morris Kenyon. Horror.
• "The Svinnvif" by David Hunter. Fantasy. Horror.
• "The World Was Too Small" by E.S. Wesley. Horror. Weird.

Audio Fiction
•  At 19 Nocturne Boulevard: "No Moving Parts" by Murray F. Yaco. Science Fiction.
      "Hansen was sitting at the control board in the single building on Communications Relay Station 43.4SC, when the emergency light flashed on for the first time in two hundred years. With textbook-recommended swiftness, he located the position of the ship sending the call, identified the ship and the name of its captain, and made contact."

•  At Drabblecast: "The Cold Equations" by Tom Godwin. Science Fiction.
      "There was nothing to indicate the fact but the white hand of the tiny gauge on the board before him. The control room was empty but for himself; there was no sound other than the murmur of the drives — but the white hand had moved"

•  At Lightspeed: "Cancer" by Ryan North. Science Fiction.
      "Not everyone got tested at birth, and Tina hadn’t. Not getting tested had been her parents’ choice, but in university it had become her choice. She and Helen were hanging out in Helen’s dorm room, alone, lying side by side on her bed. It was the only comfortable place in the room."

Other Genres

•  Audio at Protecting Project Pulp: "The Hand of the Mandarin Quong" by Sax Rohmer. Noir.

I Get By with a Little Help from Free Fiction.

Some great free fiction this morning, including items from Tor, Nightmare Magazine, StarShipSofa, and more.  More posts to come today.




 [Art from  "Homecoming" by Susan Palwick]







Fiction
• At AE: "Science Can't Fix Everything" by Shane D. Rhinewald. Science Fiction.
      "He still fights them in his mind. They come from the foliage after dark, shadows that hardly make a sound. He can smell them before he can see them, muck and gun oil and basa fish. They yell in a language he can’t understand, and his heart thumps like an out-of-balance clothes dryer. Guns crack, the air sings with bullets, and people die around him. They gurgle and scream, clawing at the dirt while their blood deserts them."

• At HiLobrow: "The Clockwork Man - Part 17" by: E.V. Odle. Science Fiction. 1923.
      "Oh, God, it’s the end of all things, Gregg. It’s the end of all sane hopes for the human race. If it is true that in the future man has come to this, then the whole of history is a farce and mockery. The universe is no more than a box of conjuring tricks, and man is simply a performing monkey. I tell you, Gregg, this discovery, if it is made known, will blast everything good in existence."

• At Nightmare Magazine: "The Krakatoan" by Maria Dahvana Headley. Horror.
      "The summer I was nine, my third mother took off, taking most of the house off with her. The night she left, I found my dad kneeling on the floor in front of the open refrigerator, and he looked at me for too long. He was supposed to be at work."

• At Tor.com: "Homecoming" by Susan Palwick. Dark Fantasy.
     "The sea is a crazy whore. That’s what Granny Crimson always said, in the village where I was born. Stay on land, she said, stay to shore, farm and grow and provide for your families, eh, lads. You’ll get nowt from that strumpet Ocean, na, na, she’ll take everything you have, life and riches and beauty, and leave you barren and dead, washed up broken on the rocks, a thing for the crabs to eat."

Flash Fiction

• At Daily Science Fiction: "Scramble!" by Melissa Mead., Fairy Tale.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Flux" by J.D. Rice. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
• At Gypsy Audio: "The Baba Yaga Saga -  Parts One and Two" by Colin McRobert. Fairy Tale.
      "The story of Baba Yaga was adapted for audio from the great Russian Fairy Tale by Colin McRoberts."

• At 19 Nocturne Boulevard: "The Hated" by Frederik Pohl. Science Fiction.
      "After space, there was always one more river to cross ... the far side of hatred and murder!" - Text here.

• At StarShipSofa: "Walking Stick Fires" by Alan DeNiro. Science Fiction.
     "A buddy story, the buds in question being aliens, but still most excellent and savoury. Their gnarly adventures are set on (and under) and Earth that is under terrible onslaught from a wide range of alien species, both small and very, very large"  - Best SF.

Other Genres
• At Every Day Fiction: "Ice Cubes" by Gwyn Ruddell Lewis

Sunday Night

Some of the great the great freebies from this weekend. The rest and more Monday night.




[Art from Test of a Prince, linked in e-books below]






Fiction
• At The WiFiles: "Planet 239" by Jeremiah Sater.
     "Planet 239, in Sector 12, was the target of a unique comet. It traveled faster than any other object that had been studied by the National Galaxy Alert Program or NGAP. The NGAP, though identified as the alert program, specialized in defensive measures also. Each sector held a minimum of one defensive space station in each of the 140 galaxy sectors, within the Galactic Counsel’s planetary systems."

E-Books
At Free eBooks Daily:

• Run, Witch, Run by Jonathan Grimm . Fantasy.
• Shark & The Wolf: Predators and Prey by Daniel D. Shields. Science Fiction.
• Beacon by Jonathan C. Gillespie. Science Fiction.
• Heaven 2.0 by Scott Haworth. Science Fiction.
• Stolen Heart by Sawyer Bennett. Fantasy. Romance.
• Forbidden Touch by K. S. Haigwood. Fantasy. Romance.
• The Choosing by Jeremy Laszlo. Fantasy.
• The Master of Boranga by Mike Sirota. Science Fiction.
• Zombie Attack by Robert Bevan. Fantasy. 
• Test of a Prince by T.L. Barrett. Dark Fantasy. 
• Fear and Aggression by Dane Bagley. Science Fiction.

Flash Fiction

• At 365 Tomorrows: "Steampunk" by David Stevenson. Science Fiction.
• At 365 Tomorrows:"Flip Man" by James Zahardis.

Audio Fiction
• At Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs: "Episode 04 - The Beasts of Tarzan"
     "John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, has reverted entirely to his Tarzan of the Apes persona in his new jungle surroundings.  He has encountered a tribe of apes and killed their king.  Not wishing to take up the burden of kingship, he relinquishes the position to Akut, who challenges Tarzan unsuccessfully."

Other Genres

• Audio at Every Photo Tells: "Cold as Steel" by Katharina Maimer Bordet.
• Audio at Selected Shorts: "Odd Couples" Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” and TC Boyle's "Dating Jane Austen.”
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "The Day My Neighbor Amputate One of My Grandmother’s Limbs" by Chance Lee. Surreal.
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "Makeup Artist" by Sheila McIntyre Good.