Free Fiction from Frogs to Dragons

Let the weekend begin!  A few good free fiction links to begin the day, including a pair of links swiped from Regan Wolfrom at SF Signal, a free Kristine Kathryn Rusch story, a complete e-zine, flash fiction, audio fiction, and some quite cool classic comics.  More to come.




[Art From "Dragon Slayer" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.]






Fiction
• At Baen: "Frog Water" by Tony Daniel. Science Fiction.
     "The ship soothed my legs with the slop wands. Aleria had ordered it to do so. She thought I was upset about the blisters on my thighs and shins, but the truth was that I was used to those now. I let her keep thinking that was what it was, though. This was something I’d learned to do back home, even though maybe I didn’t know I’d learned it at the time: you know, act like something bad that happened is much worse than it actually is until you can figure out your next move"

• At Baen: "She Sells Sea Shells" by Paul Darcy Boles. Dark Fantasy.
      "Humans seem to be nature's xenophobes, hell-bent on conquest, ravaging the land and everything growing and living on it in order to "possess" it. We destroy and conquer out of fear . . . fear of anyone or anything unlike ourselves."

• At WMG Publishing: "Dragon Slayer" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Fantasy. Noir.
      "Rumaad, a different kind of dragon, collects information about the killings the way some dragons collect jewels. So he’s perfectly suited to see the differences in the latest crime scene, the murder of a dragon he knows all too well."
 
• Now Posted: Yellow Mama #39. Noir. Horror.

• "Summer Job"-Fiction by Joe Malone
• "Pike N Flytrap"-Fiction by Richard Godwin
• "No Effect on Me"-Fiction by Willie Smith
• "Dick Dyce-The A-B-C's"-Fiction by Paul Dick
• "Road Kill"-Fiction by Rex Sexton
• "Minnesota"-Fiction by Kenneth James Crist
• "Hangdog"-Fiction by Cindy Rosmus
• "My Gypsy Girl" from Bluefield-Fiction by Robb White
• "My Salad Days"-Fiction by Rudy Ravindra
• "The Judge"-Flash Fiction by Rob Pierce
• "Mom Met the New Neighbors"-Flash Fiction by Paul Beckman
• "John Doe"-Poem by Mark Rosenblum
• "Killing the Poetry Professor"-Poem by Doug Draime
• "Running on Empty"-Poem by Marc Carver
• "Van Gogh"-Poem by Marc Carver
• "Scalp"-Poem by Ian Mullins
• "Bottled Up"-Poem by Ian Mullins

Flash Fiction

• At Every Day Fiction: "Here Today…" by Rob Butler. Mystery. Ghost.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Of Quints and Quads" by Joshua Ginsberg. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
• At Radio Drama Revival: "Kaboom!" - Supernatural noir with Harry Strange.
     "Harry Strange is a noir detective of a different stripe – solving supernatural crimes. Weird frequencies come to a head with “Kaboom!”, an episode from that podcast’s second season."

Comics

• At Atomic Kommie Comics: "Cosmic Brain" Sci-Fi. 1951.
• At Atomic Kommie Comics:"Winged Death on Venus" Sci-Fi. 1950.
• At Captain Video's Secret Sanctum: "Space Pirates" Sci-Fi. 1952.
• At The Horrors of It All: "That Stray Cat"  Horror. 1954/1985.
• At Pappy's Golden Age Comics Blogzine: "Morass of Death" 1953. Adventure. Dinosaurs.

Other Genres
• Audio at Selected Shorts: "Pushing the Limits"

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.

TGIFFF (Thank God It's Friday Free Fiction)

Another great day for free fiction with free fiction, flash fiction, and audio fiction from all the big three genres (Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror).  And be sure to check out "SF Signal," "Free SF Reader," "Free Speculative Fiction Online," "BestScienceFictionStories.com," "Variety SF," and "SFFaudio" for more free fiction links.

 [Art from "The Plague" by Ken Liu in flash fiction.]


Fiction
• At Daily Science Fiction: "Memories of Mirrored Worlds" by Barbara A. Barnett. Fantasy.
      "The voice had no source that Alison Marie could find, for the people around her did not talk of magical realms; they did not speak with the cadence of a butterfly's flight. They filled the funeral parlor with floral-scented death and spoke of memories and such an unfortunate accident for one so young."

• At HiLobrow: "The Man with Six Senses - Part 1" by Muriel Jaeger. Science Fiction. (1927).
     "When Hilda, a beautiful young member of England’s cynical postwar generation, meets Michael, a hapless mutant capable of perceiving the molecular composition of objects and the ever-shifting patterns of electromagnetic fields, she becomes his apostle."

• At Tor.com: "Wave of Infection" by Jason Hough.
      "The aircraft rested in a windswept field a few hundred meters up from the beach. Her crew, a pilot and co-pilot, sat nearby. Gulls wheeled overhead, their occasional calls as lazy as the Mediterranean whitecaps stretching north as far as Skyler could see."

Flash Fiction

• At Every Day Fiction: "For The Empire" by Alexander Burns. Fantasy.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Ocean" by Gabriel E. Zentner. Science Fiction.
• At Tor.com: "The Plague" by Ken Liu. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
• The Classic Tales Podcast: "Through the Looking Glass, Part 5 of 5" by Lewis Carroll. Children's Fantasy.
      "At long last, Alice becomes a queen. But it’s bittersweet, really. For her new cronies, the Red and White Queens drive her crazy. It’s Lewis Carroll– Today on The Classic Tales Podcast." Parts One, Two, Three, and Four.

• At Escape Pod: "Zebulon Vance Sings the Alphabet Songs of Love" by Merrie Haskell. Science Fiction.
     "Today, Robot!Hamlet is afire with Edwin Booth’s mad vigor, and runs his improv algorithms at full throttle; he kisses me dreamily, and rips my bodice in a way that would never have been allowed in Victorian America. The FACfans don’t look hyperpleased about this; it tarnishes their precious authenticity"

• At The Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs: "Episode 05 - The People That Time Forgot"
      "Tom Billings has been captured by a tribe of Band-Lu. He has been taken through caverns and caves deep into the cliffs, where he is tied and left to await the next day – and the “dance of death”.  In the darkness, he hears the sound of padded feet approaching him"

• At PodCastle: "The Phoenix on the Sword, featuring Conan the Barbarian" by Robert E. Howard. Fantasy.
     "The room was large and ornate, with rich tapestries on the polished-panelled walls, deep rugs on the ivory floor, and with the lofty ceiling adorned with intricate carvings and silver scrollwork. Behind an ivory, gold-inlaid writing-table sat a man whose broad shoulders and sun-browned skin seemed out of place among those luxuriant surroundings. He seemed more a part of the sun and winds and high places of the outlands."

• At Tales to Terrify: Episode #79. Horror.

“The Scratch of an Old Record” by Cate Gardner
“Breathe My Name” by Christopher Golden
      "A group of miners are trapped underground; as the time passes and they start to lose their strength, one of them recalls an old bedtime story his father used to tell him." - Horror World.

It's All Right, Little Brother... There is More Free Fiction!

More free goodies today, with more to come.  A mix of new and "catch up" links.


[Picture for the post title]




Fiction
• At BuzzyMag: "Shadow Transit" by Ferrett Steinmetz. Science Fiction.
     "Last night’s blizzard had choked the roads, leaving the cabinet factory short-handed for the Friday shift. So Michelle’s boss had called to give her a choice: she could come in for an emergency shift today and keep her job, or she could keep the day off she’d requested to visit her daughter at Shadow Transit"

• At Cast of Wonders: "Patterns (Part 1)" and  "Patterns (Part 2)" by Susan Oke. YA Speculative Fiction.
     "There’s no stopping Mikey in this mood. He grins at me, blue eyes bright in the moonlight, and a surge of excitement snatches at my breath. He always does this to me; it’s one of the things that I love about him. Blake and Hari stride ahead –– the Hulk and Spiderman –– full of restless energy. Mikey grabs my hand and together we run to catch up."

• At HiLoBrow: "The Clockwork Man (16)" by E.V. Odle. Science Fiction. 1923.
     "Several thousand years from now, advanced humanoids known as the Makers will implant clockwork devices into our heads. At the cost of a certain amount of agency, these devices will permit us to move unhindered through time and space, and to live complacent, well-regulated lives. However, when one of these devices goes awry, a “clockwork man” appears accidentally in the 1920s, at a cricket match in a small English village. Comical yet mind-blowing hijinks ensue"

• At HiLoBrow: "The Moon Men Part One and Part Two" by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
     "It was early in March, 1969, that I set out from my bleak camp on the desolate shore some fifty miles southeast of Herschel Island after polar bear. I had come into the Arctic the year before to enjoy the first real vacation that I had ever had. The definite close of the Great War, in April two years before, had left an exhausted world at peace — a condition that had never before existed and with which we did not know how to cope."

• At Pseudopod: "Neighbourhood Watch" by Greg Egan. Horror.
     "Only those who break the law, says the contract. A list of statutes is provided, to be precise. Parking offences, breaking the speed limit and cheating on income tax are not included; decent people are only human, after all. Breaking and entering is there, though, and stealing, well, that dates right back to the old stone tablets."

• At Pseudopod: "Immortal L.A." by Eric Czuleger. Horror.
     "I went to the bathroom. Before I opened the door I tried to convince myself to chew a piece of gum instead. Saliva roused in my mouth and convinced me otherwise. I placed my head on the door with a gentle thunk, and thought, Am I hungry? Then, no I’m just depressed. I opened the door to the bathroom. The girl was lying in the bathtub where I left her."

• At The WiFiles: "Box 3053"  by Steve Shilstone. Speculative Fiction.
    "Harrison Banes prepares to leave for work. He stuffs his lunch into grocery bags. Shaved and combed, he takes one last look in the mirror. Uneasy, frightened, this is the night he’s been dreading. He does not want to face it. Or maybe he does. Six of one, half dozen of the other. Let’s leave it there."

• At The WiFiles: "Van Helsing Escapes" by James Lewelling.
     "I couldn’t take it anymore—her “Harker this” and “Harker that.” I had to get out of that place. I didn’t even wait for her to start into it. As soon as she had stepped into the room, I rushed the door. It took her completely off guard. The last thing I saw was the “O” of her open mouth."
 
Flash Fiction
• At Every Day Fiction: "Grounded" by Jonathon Mast. Science Fiction.
• At Quantum Muse: "The Platters" by Harris Tobias. Science Fiction.
At 365 Tomorrows:

• "The Web" by Townsend Wright. Science Fiction.
• "Robot Dance Party" by Bruce Lin. Science Fiction.
• "Topside" by Desmond Hussey. Science Fiction.
• "Street Preacher" by Bob Newbell. Science Fiction.
• "Long Live The Resistance!" by Eric C. Prichard. Science Fiction.
• "Penalty Claws" by Jae Miles. Science Fiction.
• "Hands and Eyes" by Duncan Shields. Science Fiction.
• "Titan" by Bob Skoggins. Science Fiction.
• "Matchmaker" by George R. Shirer. Science Fiction.
• "Parallel" by Bob Newbell. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
• At Cast of Wonders: "Patterns (Part 1)" and  "Patterns (Part 2)" by Susan Oke. YA Speculative Fiction.
     "There’s no stopping Mikey in this mood. He grins at me, blue eyes bright in the moonlight, and a surge of excitement snatches at my breath. He always does this to me; it’s one of the things that I love about him. Blake and Hari stride ahead –– the Hulk and Spiderman –– full of restless energy. Mikey grabs my hand and together we run to catch up."

• At Escape Pod: "Saving Alan Idle" by Katherine Mankiller. Science Fiction.
     "In the beginning, there was darkness.  And in the darkness were the words.  And the words were, _AI process starting."

• At The Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs: "Episode 04 - The People That Time Forgot"
     "Tom Billings, stranded in Caspak by his own stupidity, is making his way north. On the way, he has found and rescued a beautiful primitive girl, Ajor. Together they have traveled, sheltering in caves at night. However, tonight they have been trapped in their cave by a huge bear who begins tearing through the rock barrier they have erected."

• At Tales to Terrify: "Part One of “The Willows” by Algernon Blackwood. Horror.
     "After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest, the Danube enters a region of singular loneliness and desolation, where its waters spread away on all sides regardless of a main channel, and the country becomes a swamp for miles upon miles, covered by a vast sea of low willow-bushes. On the big maps this deserted area is painted in a fluffy blue, growing fainter in color as it leaves the banks, and across it may be seen in large straggling letters the word Sumpfe, meaning marshes."

• At Tales to Terrify: Episode #78. Horror.

• “The Willows,” Part 2 by Algernon Blackwood.
• “Mr. Bird Whistling in the Night” by T. Fox Dunham.
• “The Good Doctor Sullivan” by T. Fox Dunham.

Other Genres
• Audio at Forgotten Classics: The Mouse in the Mountain - now complete. by Norbert Davis. Mystery.
• Flash at Every Day Fiction:

• "Oscar’s Ten Commandments" by M. Eigh.
•  "Portraits" by Robert Searway.
• "The Same Song" by Alisa Alerin.
• "Reuben and the Roundabout" by Carroll Dale Short.
• "Trope" by Robert J. Santa.

Land of the Free Fiction

A few more goodies to finish the weekend.  I'll be back Monday with more.





Fiction
• At Short-Story.Me: "The Plight of Thaddius Bia" by Kevin Brennan. Science Fiction.
     "Thaddius Bia rose drearily, typical of the day that was in it. Silly to feel such dread about a procedure that he had undergone so many times.  Purely psychological."

Flash Fiction

• At Short-Story.Me: "Crépescule" by Charles D. Tarlton. Fantasy.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "The Locket" by Mae Thann. Science Fiction.

E-Books
• At Amazon: Island of Fog by Keith Robinson. YA Fantasy. [via Pixel of Ink]
At Smashwords:

• "Sleepwalker" by Ley David. Fantasy.
• "£3.50" by Billy Young, Sr. Horror. Weird.
• "The Enigma" by Silena Buckelew. Science Fiction.
• "Advertising on the Brain" by Vaughan W Smith.

Audio Fiction
• At Author's Site: "The MVP Episode #37" by Scott Sigler. Science Fiction. Football.
      "The Galaxy Bowl is over and a new champion has been crowned. As a universe tunes in to the most-watched event in the history of everything, the winners celebrate and trophies are raised."

• At The Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs: "Episode 10 - The Land That Time Forgot (Final)"
     The conclusion of Burroughs' classic adventure story.

• At Journey Into: "Respite" by Autumn Rachel Dryden.
       "Edward and Ann, who carries their child, race against time to travel to the safety of the caves before the ravenous scupp shells hatch."

Old Time Radio

• At Boxcars711: "Let Me See Your Face" - Beyond Midnight  (1950) Horror.
• At Plot Spot:  "Omegapoint" - BBC (1950) and "The Dream" - Lights Out! (1938)
• At Relic Radio: "The Leech" - Nightmare (1954) Horror.

 Other Genres

• Audio at LibriVox: Curious Myths of the Middle Ages by Sabine Baring-Gould. 
• Audio at Selected Shorts: "Alternative Endings"
• Fiction at Online Pulps: "The Baron Practices Malpractice" by Curtiss T. Gardner. 1946 and "Dead Reckoning" by Herbert L. McNary. 1947.  Noir/Pulp.
• Fiction at Short-Story.Me: "Kiss of Life" by Manfred Gabriel.
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "A Jar of Jokes" by H.S.
• Flash Fiction at Short-Story.Me: "No Wiggle Room" by April Winters.

May the Free Fiction Be With You!

     Today's free fiction is highlighted by the latest issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies, a new novelette at Tor.com (hate to see what the word "porn" in the title does to my Google ads), and several continuing serialized stories, including one by D&D legend Ed Greenwood. There are also many e-books and flash fiction stories of interest.  And as always check out "My Blog List" and "Free Fiction Sites" especially SF Signal's free fiction links by the always cool, Nixon Dogruns Regan Wolfrom for more free fiction pointers.




[Art for Episode 8 of The Land That Time Forgot - linked below]


Fiction
At HiLobrow: "The Devolutionist - part 17" by Homer Eon Flint. Occult-Science-Fiction. (1921)
     "“You may as well make your apologies now, Powart; you’re out of it! I’ve won, and you’ve lost! I’ve done a bigger thing than you have!”"

• At Paizo: "A Matter of Knives - Chapter Two: When Someone Wants You Dead" by Ed Greenwood. Fantasy.
     "Tantaerra cursed foully, then cursed even harder as she felt swords biting into the far sides of the crates she was now clinging to. The manyswords thing was hacking and hewing crates as high as it could reach, cleaving wood that was a lot older and damper than the lid it had just flung aside; its blades were through one crate-side already."

• At Tor.com: "Porn & Revolution in the Peaceable Kingdom" by Micaela Morrissette.
     "In a possible far future animals have taken over and democratized the world where humans once ruled. Tim, a lonely slime mold, is worried about his human pet Mimi and her recent animal urges. He only wants her to be happy, but he doesn’t know how to keep her from sneaking out and cavorting with the human pet next door or any number of feral humans in the neighborhood. But through his relationship with her, he learns what it truly means to make a commitment to someone else."   

• Now Posted: Beneath Ceaseless Skies #106.

• "Cold, Cold War" by Ian McHugh. Fantasy.
       "Masaru peered past the struts and wires between his biplane's wings, trying to take the sight in. The tower's base was a madman's helter-skelter ziggurat, made of impossible stone blocks the size of townhouses, that cut a swath across the city's snow-covered grid of tenement blocks and terraces. From the ziggurat’s peak, the ragged-toothed tower reached up to a dark stain of cloud fixed in the sky directly above."
• "A Sixpenny Crossing" by Don Allmon. Fantasy.
       "'Stolen,' the General hissed. 'Stolen!' he shouted, enraged. 'It was Easric Dane, I know it! Upon my soul, it must have been he!' Not only was it awful, but Pearl couldn't possibly be suggesting there was any truth to it. Earsic thought of drowning the book in the river. But Pearl Snow had a wicked pack of cards. They brooked none of Easric's sass and weren't lightly ignored"

Flash Fiction

• At Daily Science Fiction: "True Love" by Alex Shvartsman. 
• At Flashes in the Dark: "Chessie" by Lindsey Beth Goddard. Horror.
• At Nature: "Mortar Flowers" by Jessica May Lin. Science Science.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Mathmagicians" by Desmond Hussey, Science Fiction.

E-Books
• At Amazon:  Essential Reading in Science Fiction by David Scholes. 
• At Free eBooks Daily:

• H2O by Irving Belateche. Science Fiction.
• Never Too Far by Thomas Christopher. Dystopian Adventure.
• The Talent Seekers by Jemima Pett. YA Fantasy.
• The Dream Rider by Ernest Dempsey. SciFi Adventure.
• The Ryn by Serena Chase. YA Fantasy. 
• House of Cards by Ilana Waters. YA Paranormal Romance.  
• Vampire in Denial by Dale Mayer. YA Paranormal Romance. 
• The Remedy by Serena Chase. Fantasy.

Audio Fiction
• At Beneath Ceaseless Skies: "The Penitent" by M. Bennardo. Fantasy
      "No. 17596 let the book fall out of his hands. It would tell him what? It would tell him that the world went on—that somewhere, out there, men and women were carrying on their affairs while he sat alone in his cell, sentenced to ruminate in silence and isolation."

• At Classics on the Go: "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Chapter 3" by Lewis Carroll
     "Alice, the Mouse and other creatures swim to shore. They find themselves all wet and try to get dry by having a 'caucus-race.'"

• At The Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs: "Episode 08 - The Land That Time Forgot"
     "The German crew of the U-33 have managed to refine the oil that has been discovered near the camp.  They pilot the U-33 downstream back toward the outlet to the sea – shelling the camp along the way.  In the meantime, Lys has disappeared from the camp – with anthropoid footprints indicating she has been abducted by Caspak’s native ape creatures."

Other Genres
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "She Smelled Pretty" by Kristi Charish

Give Me Free Fiction or Give Me Death

The free fiction keeps on coming and will hopefully continue for many years.  There are many good ones today, so I'll stop boring you here and let you get to them.




[Art from Crime City Central, linked in Other Genres]






Fiction
• At Author's Site: "Solo For Concert Grand" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Science Fiction.
      "Emily Trencheon lives life as a prodigy—and a successful experiment. She provides a shining example for the Academy of Universal Languages to continue its program with the Miaslan. But she alone knows the truth. And she fears her final act of communication—a piano composition meant to be played in total darkness—will be forever lost in the shadows of misinterpretation."

• At Cast of Wonders: "Mr. Scampers’ War" by J. S. Bell. YA.
     "An explosion of leaves, a swirl of dust and the fierce jungle cat leaps from the verdant forest and is on the gazelle in one bound. Claws rend and jaws clamp shut. The gazelle dies with a bleat of terror."

• At HiLobrow: "Theodore Savage - part 14" by Cicely Hamilton.
     "When war breaks out in Europe — war which aims successfully to displace entire populations — British civilization collapses utterly and overnight. The ironically named Theodore Savage, an educated and dissatisfied idler, must learn to survive by his wits in the new England, where 20th-century science, technology, and culture are regarded with superstitious awe and terror."

• At L5R: "Scenes from the Empire" by Robert Denton & Seth Mason. Fantasy.
     "Suzume Tatsu stretched his back as he surveyed his meager crop. In four consecutive years, he’d had no luck with this new soil, which too-often alternated between parched and dry or flooded and swollen."

• At Strange Horizons: "Collateral Memory" by Sabrina Vourvoulias.
     "Friends or not, there is one guiding rule in the game: it's got to be genuine. Like life. Real. Anything else would be a cheat. And despite all of our other differences, no one in the shed is that. Except me."

• At The WiFiles: "Sixty-Five Going on Zero" by Tara Campbell. Speculative Fiction.
       "Harry St. Clair was through with life. Well, clinically that may not have been true, but that was how he felt. He felt especially lousy on this particular day, and he wasn’t even completely awake yet. Eyes closed, he lay in bed and contemplated his first day of retirement."

Flash Fiction

• At Daily Science Fiction: "Pictures in Crayon" by Elizabeth Shack.
• At Quantum Muse: "The Curse of Metal" by Timothy O. Goyette.
• At Strange Horizons: "Maidenhead" by Adriana Tosun. Speculative Poem,
• At Toasted Cake: "Taking Care of Ma" by Lee Hallison. Audio. Science Fiction.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Player Pianos" by Duncan Shields. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
• At Author's Site: "The MVP Episode #35" by Scott Sigler. Science Fiction. Football.
      "Quentin faces his biggest challenge yet, and must draw from his inner warrior to show unparalleled toughness. Becca "The Wrecka" Montagne steps in for late-game heroics, while the will of Yhitzak Goldman's is put to the test."

• At Beam Me Up: "Episode  # 369" Science Fiction.
      "A World’s New Destiny" by Kallamis and "No Great Magic - ch7" by Fritz Leiber.

• At Cast of Wonders: "Mr. Scampers’ War" by J. S. Bell. YA.
     Described Above.

• At The Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs: "Episode 07 - The Land That Time Forgot" Adventure
     "Our hero and the crew of the U-33 are leaning about their new land, Caspak.  A secure palisaded camp has been built.  Hunting expeditions bring home meat and knowledge to the camp – and now, oil has been discovered nearby."

• At LibriVox: "Lord Tony's Wife" by Baroness Emmuska Orczy. Adventure.
      "Another adventure of the Scarlet pimpernel! As the title suggests, it follows the story of Lord Tony and his wife, Yvonne. It is full of suspense adventure and romance. Lord Tony and Yvonne elope after some disturbing happenings including an angry mob and an assault on Yvonne by her own father."

• At SFFaudio: "The Pit And The Pendulum" by Edgar Allan Poe.
     "I WAS sick -- sick unto death with that long agony; and when they at length unbound me, and I was permitted to sit, I felt that my senses were leaving me. The sentence -- the dread sentence of death -- was the last of distinct accentuation which reached my ears."

• At Strange Horizons: "Collateral Memory" by Sabrina Vourvoulias.
     Described Above

Other Genres

• Audio at Crime City Central: "Back Star Canyon" by Robert Ward.
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "Changing in the Pale Light" by Jack N. Waddell.

How beauteous free fiction is! O brave new world, That has such speculation in't!

Some great free fiction today, not a ton, but enough to keep you busy for a while.  Be sure to check back frequently for free fiction links, and occasionally more. And check out SF Signal, where, despite implications to the contrary, Regan Wolfrom has full permission to use QD links.

[Art from Cosmos, linked below]



Fiction
• At Aurora Wolf: "The Charlatan Chronicler" by Diana Rohlman.Fantasy.
     "The words, for the first time, were not coming easily. I sat back, the glass of wine in my hand glimmering in the lamplight. I took a sip. For words to fail me was an anomaly. I went so far as to touch pen to paper, willing characters to form, a story to flow onto the page in bold, black letters. The ink merely bled into the paper, a spreading black blemish."

• At Cosmos: "Red Star Falling, in Multimedia" by Eric Cline. Science Fiction.
     "The truth of that control room would be hard to dramatise: a thousand urgent side-conversations among groups of engineers; ideas pitched, batted around, and tossed to the ground; everyone running their brains on overdrive to come up with a solution."

• At Daily Science Fiction: "Ghosts in the Walls" by Shannon Peavey.
      "The baby in the north-side wall of Laura's apartment never cries during the earthquakes. Other times it will scream and wail loud enough to keep her up at night, even with a pillow over her ears--but when the shaking starts it quiets. Like it's being rocked to sleep."

Flash Fiction

• At Every Day Fiction: "The D-Day Diorama" by Paul A. Freeman
• At Nature: "Rondo Code" by Tony Ballantyne. Science Fiction.
• At 355 Tomorrows: "Symbiosis" by Bob Newbell. Science Fiction.

E-Books at Free E-Books Daily

• Destined for Harmony by Leia Shaw. Fantasy Romance. 
• Descent of Blood by Elizabeth Marx. Vampire Romance.
• Empath by HK Savage. Vampire Fiction.
• Connected by Simon Denman. Science Fiction Thriller.
• Waking Dreams by Ashley Stoyanoff. Paranormal Romance.
• Cursed Kiss by Helen Scott Taylor. Paranormal Romance.

Video
• At The Lovecraft eZine: “The Earth Rejects Him” Horror.
      "A young boy discovers a corpse while biking in the woods, then faces unexpected and macabre consequences when he tries to bury it…"

Audio Fiction
• At The Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs: "Episode 06 - The Land That Time Forgot" Adventure.
      "The survivors of the U-33 have now made their way deep into the heart of Caprona.  The crew has successfully survived an attack by an Allosaurus.  It has become clear that their survival depends upon the construction of a palisaded  camp."

Monday Free Fiction - Part One

 More cool free items this morning, including a complete fantasy novel at Black Gate, several classic SF stories given new audio readings, continuing serialized audio and more.


 [Art from Astounding Stories #02 in Audio Fiction]










Fiction
• At Black Gate: The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells. Fantasy.
      "Despite the frosty night air and the chill wind off the river, there were other guests milling around on the wide marble portico, admiring the famous pediment. Madeline tucked her hands more firmly into her muff and shivered, partly from the cold, partly from anticipation. Her coachman received his instructions and urged the horses away, and her escort Captain Reynard Morane strolled back to her." A complete novel.

• At Cosmos: "Tranquility" by O.J. Cade.Science Fiction.
     "The cryonics case reminded her of a coffin, and Mary had to bite back a comment about rising from it like the undead. Making light of it wouldn’t make her feel any less claustrophobic."

• At The WiFiles: "Dreamweaver" by David Bridge. Speculative Fiction.
     "I just had a horrible dream. I dreamt a hundred gibbering goblins were ripping me apart, pulling my intestines out through my bellybutton."

Flash Fiction

• At Daily Science Fiction: "The Bargain" by Henry Szabranski. 
• At Every Day Fiction: "Drawn to the Glow" by K.C. Ball. Audio. Fantasy.
• At New Myths: "Kitt the Shadow" by Rachel A. Dowling.
• At Quantum Muse: "The Future is in the Past" by Gordon Rowlinson.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "The Time Goblin" by Clint Wilson. Science Fiction.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "The Mathematics of Future Paradox" by Joe Malone. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
• At Author's Site: "The MVP Episode #34" by Scott Sigler. Science Fiction. Football.
     "The Galaxy Bowl is heating up! It's Quentin and the Krakens vs. Don Pine and the Jupiter Jacks. Injuries have started to take their toll on both teams, and the gridiron runs red (and purple, and black) with blood."

• At Cthulhu: "The Shadow over Innsmouth, part 2" by H. P. Lovecraft.
     "The story describes a young man's discovery of a strange hybrid race, half-human and half an unknown creature that resembles a cross between a fish and a frog, that dwell in Innsmouth – a coastal town that had seen better days" - Wikipedia.

• At Drabblecast: "The Eyes Have It"  by Philip K. Dick. Science Fiction.
      "It was quite by accident I discovered this incredible invasion of Earth by lifeforms from another planet. As yet, I haven’t done anything about it; I can’t think of anything to do. I wrote to the Government, and they sent back a pamphlet on the repair and maintenance of frame houses. Anyhow, the whole thing is known; I’m not the first to discover it. Maybe it’s even under control"

• At The Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs: "Episode 05 - The Land That Time Forgot"
     "The U-33 has discovered a land mass. Seemingly surrounded by impenetrable cliffs, Bradley remembers the legend of Caprona, discovered but never explored by an Italian navigator centuries before. Finding an undersea river pouring into the sea from the land mass, the U-33 submerges and travels upstream."

• At LibriVox: "Astounding Stories 02, February 1930" Science Fiction.
     "This is the second issue of the classic science fiction Astounding Magazine. It contains the finale of The Beetle Horde by Victor Rousseau, as well as stories by Harl Vincent, Charles Willard Diffin, Hugh B. Cave, Sophie Wenzel Ellis, Sterner St. Paul, Anthony Pelcher and Captain S. P. Meek." Issue One Here (Contains part one of "The Beetle Horde"}

• At 19 Nocturne Boulevard:  "The Amazing Mrs. Mimms!" by David C. Knight.
     "There was a muffled rushing noise and the faintly acrid smell of ion electrodes as the Time Translator deposited Mrs. Mimms back into the year 1958. Being used to such journeys, she looked calmly about with quick gray eyes, making little flicking gestures with her hands as if brushing the stray minutes and seconds from her plain brown coat."

Other Genres

• Audio at CrimeWAV: “Luck” by Johnny Shaw.
• Audio at Selected Shorts: "About Time"
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "Down, on the Farm" • by Lyn Brown.
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "The Horses" by Rebecca Schwarz

Memorial Day Freebies

Some great free speculative fiction this holiday Monday (the best kind of Monday).  Hopefully there will be a second post today, but either way, be sure to check out the free links from the infamous Regan Wolfrom at SF Signal.



 


Fiction
• At AE: "Hope and the Void" by Conor Powers-Smith. 
     "McCray was smearing sealant liberally around the edges of the loose panel near the port aft airlock when the circular yellow lights lining the outer hull every twenty meters flashed off all at once, flashed back on a moment later a deep, urgent red, and began to pulse."

• At Cast of Wonders: "Little Tear" by Philip Meeks. YA 
     "In her gilt cage at night she’d hear the sounds of sirens, crumbling stone and worse. Feel the shudder and cracking of timbers beneath the shelf where she was stored. The fall of dust like kisses from the dead followed by a silence so deep and terrifying you could almost hear it."

• At The WiFiles: "Weather is a Zero-sum Game" by Judith Field. Speculative Fiction.
     "Sam wheeled his new invention up the garden. It was a metal box about the size of a pillow, with an array of switches, instrument panels and levers down one side. At the top was a sort of axle attached to a horizontal row of plastic drainpipes of different widths and lengths, looking like a set of organ pipes on their sides."

Flash Fiction

• At Beware the Hairy Mango: "Fingerless Pants" by Matthew Sanborn Smith. Audio.
• At Beware the Hairy Mango: "Fight for Yule Life" by Matthew Sanborn Smith. Audio.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Past Tense" by Robin de Graaf. Science Fiction.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Fun Slows Us Down" by Duncan Shields. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
• At Beam Me Up: "Episode #367"  Science Fiction.
     "In Plain Sight - episode 20" by Jason Kahn. - "detective Jack Garrett falls a bit further down the rabbit hole and finds information can come from the most unlikely of sources." and  "No Great Magic - Part 5" by Fritz Leiber. "A ghostly hole an inch and a half across seemed to char itself in the program. As if my eye were right up against it, I saw in vivid memory what I'd seen the two times I'd dared a peek through the hole in the curtain: a bevy of ladies in masks and Nell Gwyn dresses and men in King Charles knee-breeches and long curled hair"

• At Cast of Wonders: "Little Tear" by Philip Meeks. YA 
     Described Above

• At The Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs: "Episode 03 - The Land that Time Forgot" Dinosaurs.
     "Rescued from the Atlantic by a tugboat, our hero, and the new found love of his life have a brief respite from catastrophe. The U-boat that sank them attacks the tug. With ingenuity, the tug crew overpowers the U-Boat and seizes command, just in time as their tug sinks. Now they are in the predicament of manning an enemy vessel in British waters with no way to let the world know they are friends."

• At The Internet Archive: NBC University Theater 49 03 06 - "Tales Of Edgar Allen Poe" Horror.
      "This production of the NBC Theater includes three tales from Edgar Allen Poe, begining with Noseology, followed by The Cask of Amontillado and then the The Fall Of The House Of Usher."

Other Genres

• Audio at Crime City Central: "Fragile" by Brock Adams and "Letter to my Son" by Laura Nealis.
• Audio at Every Photo Tells: "Obscurities – Part 05" by Mick Bordet.
• Audio at The Internet Archive: "Molle Mystery Theatre" OTR. Mystery. Suspence. 
• Audio at Selected Shorts: "Convergence"
• Fiction at The New Yorker: "Thirteen Wives" by Steven Millhauser.
• Fiction at The Western Online: "One Life Between Earth and Sky" by Kenneth Mark Hoover.
• Fiction at The Western Online: "East of Revenge" by John Laneri.
• Flash Fiction: At Every Day Fiction: "That Special Day" by Richard William Bradford
• Flash Fiction: At Every Day Fiction: "Tommy, Through a Glass" by Sarah Crysl Akhtar

Comics, Gaming, and Science News and Viewpoints #2

Some more miscellaneous coolness including comic news, lots of science news, including a new dinosaur, Xenoceratops. [I have created OGL/OSRIC compatible stats for it at the end of this post]. Some medieval articles for those of you who play FRPs with a pseudo-medieval setting, or just find pre-modern history fascinating. Hobbit news as we approach the movie release. Some more gaming news and freebies. And a bit more.  

 [The image is for "Meet Xenoceratops: Canada's Newest Horned Dinosaur"
 not the OGL monster]


 

 Comics News

• "5.2 Reasons Jeff Lemire Rocks" (Profile)
• "Where Monsters Dwell - A Goon Intro by Jon Schnepp"
• "Dani Moonstar, Misty Knight And Valkyrie Join An All-New All-Female Superhero Team From Marvel – The Fearless Defenders"
• "What Has DC Comics Done To Alfred?"
• "Mark Millar Talks Kick-Ass 2 Editing" 
• Comic Book Resources Announces the new LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES Creative Team"

 Science Headlines

•  "Super-Earth Planet: Potentially Habitable Alien World Explained (Infographic)"
•  "7 Best-Case Scenarios for the Future of Humanity"
•  "Planetary scientists propose two explanations for true polar wander"
• "Astronomers find tantalizing hints of a potentially habitable exoplanet"
• "It moves! Lab-made blob can crawl"
• "Space for the Cost of a Movie Ticket"
• "'Twisted light' idea faces doubts"
• "Vesta: A Protoplanet’s Mutable Surface"  
• "8 bizarre tentacled snakes born at zoo" Ai! Ai! Cthulhu fhtagn?
• "Possible Dark Matter Signal Spotted"

 History/Paleontology

• "Meet Xenoceratops: Canada's Newest Horned Dinosaur"
• "Tomb of Ancient Egyptian Princess Discovered in Unusual Spot"
• "Stash of Ancient Jewelry, Full-Figured Statues Discovered"  
• "New details on the medieval ‘vampire’ burial"
• "MAP#34 – Medieval Zombies" (Podcast)
• "Anglo Saxon Cures: Bloody Hell" (Podcast)
• "Of Kings and Popes and Law"

Hobbit News

• "Happy Hobbit: Blackberrying – Episode 03"
• "Hobbit TV spot #4 — extended!"
• "The Hobbit Invites You To An Unexpected Dinner With New Featurette And Posters"
• "The Hobbit': Peter Jackson’s unexpected journey to three films" 
• "More Spoiler Imagery from The Hobbit!"

Gaming News and Views

• "Mega Review: Class Acts"
• "Card Game Review: A Game of Thrones: The Card Game"
• "Leave the Starting Line" (Becoming a GM)
• "Fantasy Class Blending Rules (for Pathfinder)"
• "D&D Next Q&A: Two-Weapon Fighting, Distinctive Maneuvers & At-Will Spell"
• "The Dungeon Is Safer Than the City"

Gaming Freebies

• At DriveThruRPG: "R.E.A.C.T. Campaign Sample Adventure" Multi-system

Magic Items

• "Fletcher’s Ointment" - "Attractant Elixir" - "Guardian Stones"

Retro-reviews and Miscellanea.

• "Spy Smasher" (Film)
• "SHAZAM! (1974) DVD Review"
• "Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Tidbits for 11/9/12"

 
New Monster
Dinosaur, Xenosaurus
FREQUENCY: Uncommon
NO. APPEARING: 2-8
ARMOR CLASS: 2/6
MOVE: 12"
HIT DICE: 10
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-6/1-8/1-8
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Animal.
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: L (20'+ long)
PSlONlC ABILITY: Nil
      Attack/Defense Modes: Nil

This early ceratopsid dinosaur is in many ways, a smaller, less developed version of its later, more famous, relative Triceratops.  Living in small family groups or herds, these animals are extremely territorial and will attack anything that could be perceived as a threat to its young (even when there are no young present).  Even smaller, non-threatening, creatures may be attacked if they are perceived by these ill-tempered creatures as being unusual or non-native to the area.  Smaller animals are often simply trampled for 2-16 points.


[All stats are OGL, the name is public domain, the description is technically copyright 2012 Dave Tackett, but you may use it freely as long as credit is given] 


OSRIC™ and OGL licenses after break [or click on title of this post if "read more" isn't displayed]

Flying Disc Man From Mars and Cool Free Comics

It's Sunday so that means it's Moooooviiiiieeee and comics time again.








Streaming online at Youtube, the 1950 Republic Serial Flying Disc Man From Mars.
"A strange craft spying on industrialist Bryant's plant is brought down by Bryant's new atomic ray. Bryant meets the one survivor... Mota from the planet Mars! Not exactly benevolent, Mota enlists the aid of Bryant (a former Nazi) in a scheme to bring Earth under control of a supreme dictator, for its own good of course, using advanced atomic weapons." IMDb


Chapter 1/12-A, 1/12-B, 2/12, 3/12, 4/12, 5/12, 6/12, 7/12, 8/12, 9/12, 10/12, 11/12, and 12/12.

Comics
@Pappy's Golden Age Comics Blogzine: A few short comic book stories including "Where Dinosaurs Dwell" from Marvel Tales #143 (1956) and "The Flying Horse" from Uncanny Tales #37 (1955).






@Beware, There's a Crosseyed Cyclops in my Basement: Chilling Tales of Horror #4 - classic B&W horror tales.








@Diversions of the Groovy Kind:"Harry" from Comix International #5 (1975). An unusual horror story, accurately described as "Poetic. Haunting. Sad. Ironic. Gorgeous."




Online @Four-Color Shadows: Sci-Fi humor "Adonis 2 PX-89" (1951) by Henry Enoch Sharp.

Also supernatural horror "The Evil Eye" from Chilling Tales (1953)



@Digital Comics Museum: Jumbo Comics #24 and Jumbo Comics #80.

Featuring the adventures of Sheena: Queen of the Jungle, the nautical adventures of the Hawk, and the supernatural adventures of Stuart Taylor. Both in CBR format [free membership required.]





@The Comic Book Catacombs: "The Man Who Killed A World" from Amazing Adventures #6 (Fall 1952). Golden age sci-fi.

And "Nyoka the Jungle Girl and the Human Leopards" (Oct-Nov 1954)




@DriveThruComics: Snatcher Bodies "Old sci-fi invasion movies get a kick in the fanny ... We've been invaded by aliens, there's a mad scientist on the loose, and someone has kidnapped Miss America! Can we defeat the alien horde before Earth becomes an inter-galactic rest stop and petting zoo?"

More SF humor with Akashik issue one, two, and three. (later issue not free) "Taus tricks her boyfriend into letting her steal his ship and leave him stranded on some undock spaceport. From there she runs out of wine, captures a stowaway and creates a strange sandwich." [free membership required].