Thursday Online Freebies

A few gems today, including the latest issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies (awesome 'zine), ongoing serial fiction (both quite good), another episode of StarShipSofa (always worth a listen), a complete audio story at Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences (part one was incomplete? so the released the whole story in one file), two versions of Robert E. Howard's weird tale "The Fire Of Asshurbanipal," some ongoing fan audio, and many cool comics including the source for today's illustration.








Now Posted: Beneath Ceaseless Skies #73.
"And Her Eyes Sewn Shut with Unicorn Hair" by Rosamund Hodge.

"Why should she hope to see a unicorn now, when she never had in all her life?"

"Walls of Paper, Soft as Skin" by Adam Callaway.

"Tomai awoke to whispers. Hundreds of whispers. All whispering at once. A whirlwind of soft sound. Whispers in a dozen different languages."

Serial Fiction
@Paizo.com: "Plow and Sword (part 3 of 4)" by Robert E. Vardeman.

"Rorr used the shovel to turn dirt amid the tree roots until he struck the buried packages. He dropped to his knees and used his hands to brush away the remaining dirt, revealing several small packets and one larger one. That last one he ignored, instead pulling the oilcloth wrappings free from one of the smaller bundles."

@More Red Ink:"Guerrilla Mural of a Siren's Song (Part 2 of 3)" by Ernest Hogan.

"But I did need her to bring me out of it. Willa Shembe, the pride of the scientific community of Zululand. A girl used to experiencing the universe through other peoples' minds."

@StarShipSofa: "The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers Beneath The Queen’s Window (Part 2 of 3)" by Rachel Swirsky, read by Amy H. Sturgis.

@MoPO: "The Shadows of Calcutta" by Phil Rossi. Steampunk.

@SFFaudio: Two versions of "The Fire Of Asshurbanipal" by Robert E. Howard. Weird Tales.








Fan Audio
@Pendant Productions: Issue 35 of the Catwoman: Queen of Thieves podcast.
@Pendant Productions: Issue 66 of the Batman: The Ace of Detectives podcast







@The Bloody Pulp: "Lighthouse Of Horror" & "The Hungry Slime" B&W. Horror.
@The Horrors of It All: "The Moon Was Red" Horror. (1953)
@The Horrors of It All: "Graveyard of Ghost Ships" Horror. Pirates. (1953).
@Pappy's Golden Age Comics Blogzine: Flying Saucer Comics Sci-Fi. (1954 & 1967).
@Comic Book Catacombs: Cave Girl in "Prey of the Headhunters" Adventure (1953)
@Comic Book Catacombs: Ty-Gor "Trap For Ty-Gor's Uncle" Adventure (1940).
@Grantbridge Street: "Rainmaker" Horror / Weird Tale.
@Diversions of the Groovy Kind: "Gran'ma Died Last Year" B&W. Horror.
@Secret Sanctum of Captain Video: Captain Video in "Creatures of Doom" Sci-Fi.
@Atomic Kommie Comics: "Thing on Sputnik 4" Sci-Fi.
@War: Past, Present and Future: "Counter Attack" from Atomic War. Sci-Fi.
@Western Comics Adventures: "Sun Masters" Sci-Fi from Space Western

Free Fiction (Verne, Swirsky, VenderMeer, Vardeman), Comics, Fan Audio, More

Another day of cool freebies, and even though it has been a rough week here at QD (too little time and too much fatigue), the freebies must go on.

Some cool free fiction, including two complete 'zines and an Electric Velocipede classic. Continuing serial fiction by greats Jeff VanderMeer and Robert E. Vardeman. The start of an audio serial at StarShipSofa by also great Rachel Swirsky and a continuing one by Jules Verne (I think I might have heard of him) and Star Trek fan audio. And for the icing on the cake - some very fun classic comics.

Today's illustration is from "Plow and Sword" in the fiction section.







Now Posted: On the Premises #14 (July 2011). Speculative Fiction.
"Three-Quarter Martian" by C. R. Hodges. Science Fiction.

"The first man to walk on the moon was a hero to five generations. The first woman to walk on Mars was forgotten even before her boots plunked into the red dust."

"The Knuth Number" by Micah Joel. Science Fiction.

"Vivek dropped his naan. It actually worked?"

"Marma Shells" by Deborah Walker.

“I’ve seen the patterns, Marma. You said I should come and tell you, if I ever saw them.”

"Advertise Here" by Kelli D. Meyer.

"Vampires don’t pay much attention to advertising."

"Time Was" by Alyson Hilbourne. Science Fiction.

"The fractions disappeared first."

@Electric Velocipede: "The Bear Dresser’s Secret" by Richard Bowes. Fantasy.

"Early one morning Sigistrix the Bear Dresser left the Duchess and her castle. He gave no warning before he slammed the golden tricorn hat, the sign of a Grand Master of the Animal Dressers Guild onto his head and picked up his suitcase."

Now Posted: Aphelion June/July 2011. Science Fiction.

With science fiction by Francisco Mejia, E. S. Strout, P. B. Hampton, Andrew Nagel, C. B. Lovas, P. F. White, John Dougherty, Bruce Memblatt, Richard Tornello, David Barber, Kurt Heinrich Hyatt, Christopher Berry, Kurt Heinrich Hyatt, Benjamin Green, James O'Sullivan, George Morrow, Richard Tornello, Francis Bass, Mike Wilson, Jeremy Kuban, Dave Weaver, Dave Weaver, Matthew Acheson, and S. H. Hughes. (And poetry and filk music)

Serial Fiction
@Author's Site: "The Journals of Doctor Mormeck (Mountain)–Entry #12" by Jeff VanderMeer.

"Everything that rises must resolve. But when I drift, I drift, and a mountain can drift for a long time. A mountain can drift and still function. This language cannot convey the concept so I must repeat, must keep trying in different ways. I drift, I resolve, I fold inward while turning outward. No, it’s no use."

@Paizo.com: Pathfinder Tales "Plow and Sword - Chapter Two: The Lord's Due" by Robert E. Vardeman

"Rorr exploded through the wall of flames and stumbled past, finding relative cool beyond. The fire arrow had not yet spread its fury deeper into the granary, but he knew that the building and its grain stores were already far past saving."

Serial Audio
@StarShipSofa: "The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers Beneath The Queen’s Window Pt 1 of 3" by Rachel Swirsky, read by Amy H. Sturgis.

"My story should have ended on the day I died. Instead, it began there. Sun pounded on my back as I rode through the Mountains where the Sun Rests. My horse’s hooves beat in syncopation with those of the donkey that trotted in our shadow. The queen’s midget Kyan turned his head toward me, sweat dripping down the red-and-blue protections painted across his malformed brow."

@Drama Pod: Journey to the Centre of the Earth - Part Fifteen by Jules Verne

The cool classic continues.

Fan Audio
@Pendant Productions: Episode 58 of Star Trek: Defiant.

"Murder and espionage are exposed as Captain Bridges vies with the Klingons for a world!"

@Atomic Kommie Comics:"Return of the Azteks" "Strong Bow meets up with Aztecs from the stars in this tale from Space Western Comics #42." Sci-Fi.




@Diversions of the Groovy Kind: "Slime World" cool black and white horror from Nightmare #5 and "Mr. Beazely's Ghosts" a ghost story from Ghost Manor.







@The Horrors of It All:"Master of the Undead" "Time to walk with the zombies, from the Sept. '53 issue of Baffling Mysteries #17" Horror.

Robert Vardeman Serial, Good Free Fiction, and a Bad Free Movie.

Some very good stuff today. Beneath Ceaseless Skies has another great issue out as does Four Star Stories, which should be a treat. Lots of good fantasy. Some very good classic and reviewed SF, including a Northwest Smith story by C.L. Moore (one of my favorite early SF writers). And a Pathfinder fantasy serial by Robert Vardeman! starting at Paizo. Great audio, including some episodes of Mindwebs (an e1970s radio equivalent of today's best fiction podcasts), BCS audio-fiction, and the latest BtHM.

And very much not in the good category, a 1960 TV movie The Cape Canaveral Monsters. With a 2.4 IMDb rating, this is only for connoisseurs of bad films, people who feel they must watch every professional Sci-Fi film ever made, and those exceptionally deranged people who fall into both categories (I'll likely be watching it this weekend)


Image from "Clever Love" in the fiction section.







Now Posted: Beneath Ceaseless Skies Issue #72. Fantasy.
"Sightwolf" by Erin Hoffman. Fantasy.

"In Astralar, middling flint-walled city pressed against the chill bosom of the Windsmouth Mountains, a woman will be banished for failure to pay taxes."

"The Moral Education of a Mad Bastard" by Joe L. Murr. Fantasy.

I was twelve when I, like my father before me, was sentenced to transportation to Sutterland. My crime was the theft of a leg of lamb. I stole to feed myself and, if Governor Bidwell was to be believed, because I could not do otherwise.

Now Posted: Four Star Stories Summer 2011

"Mak Siccar" by Lou Antonelli.

"It looks like it is going to be a fine morning." The Second Mate looked sideways at his companion. "I hope you enjoy this little liberty. Ten minutes, and it’s back in cuffs and down below for you."

"Clever Love" by R. L. Copple. Fantasy.

"The forest beckoned Jal'ra to return. His elvish kinsmen romped among those branches. Memories of children chasing squirrels and each other demanded he not leave. No longer sensing the familiar melody of the trees resonating in his heart didn't help either."

"Strawman at the Door" by David L. Gray.

"Mark Jacobs materialized in the dark alley, stumbled hard, then had to twist 180 degrees to break his fall with his left buttock against the side of an empty dumpster. It produced a low, metallic booming sound and a throbbing pain in his left hip."

"Fish Story" by Selina Rosen.

"'All right buddy where are you going in such a hurry,' The trooper said shining a flashlight in the guy’s window. The guy was filthy covered with mud and what might have been blood."

Reviewed Free SF
@BestScienceFictionStories.com: "The Cassandra Project" by Jack McDevitt (2010) science fiction. In text and MP3.

"It is about an ancient dome discovered on the far side of the Moon."

Classic SF/ Weird Tales
@Internet Archive: "Gunner Cade" by Cyril Judd, from the March, April, May 1952 issues of Astounding Science Fiction magazine.

"Gunner Cade, a professional soldier of the Realm of Man, is captured by rebel forces on Mars but escapes, only to find that he is being hunted by fellow gunners."

@Munseys and Gutenberg: "When the Mountain Shook" by Robert Abernathy. Science Fiction. From IF Worlds of Science Fiction March 1954.

"Dark was the Ryzga mountain and forbidding; steep were its cliffs and sheer its crevasses. But its outward perils could not compare with the Ryzgas themselves, who slept within, ready to wake and conquer...."

@Munseys and Gutenberg: "Piper in the Woods" by Philip K Dick. Science Fiction. From Imagination: Stories of Science and Fantasy February 1953. Science Fiction.

"Earth maintained an important garrison on Asteroid Y-3. Now suddenly it was imperiled with a biological impossibility—men becoming plants!"

@Munseys and Gutenberg: "A Woman's Place" by Mark Clifton. Science Fiction. From Galaxy Science Fiction May 1955.

"Home is where you hang up your spaceship—that is, if you have any Miss Kitty along!"

@Munseys and Gutenberg: "The Door into Infinity" by Edmond Hamilton. Weird. From Weird Tales August-September 1936. Weird.

"An amazing weird mystery story, packed with thrills, danger and startling events."

@Munseys and Gutenberg: "The Tree of Life" by C L Moore. Science Fiction. From Weird Tales October 1936. Weird.

"A gripping tale of the planet Mars and the terrible monstrosity that called its victims to it from afar—a tale of Northwest Smith"

@Munseys and Gutenberg: "The Genius" by Con Pederson. Science Fiction. From IF Worlds of Science Fiction May 1954. Weird.

"Sethos was a great artist, a talented man, quite possibly the most famous man of his time and world. But, alas!—there were other worlds. And is not the grass always greener...?"

Serial Fiction
@Paizo.com: "Plow and Sword - Chapter One: Smoke on the Horizon" by Robert E. Vardeman.
"It took several minutes for the cougar's ululating screech to make Rorr look up from his autumn plowing. The day was unseasonably warm for Neth, and sweat trickled down his back. He knew the heat was an illusion—cutting through the dried brown chaff remaining in his field and plowing it under for spring fertilizer had to be completed soon, before snow buried the land."











@Internet Archive: Eleven episodes of the classic "semi-dramatized" radio series Mindwebs. Science Fiction.

"Many of the readings were enhanced by music, periodic sound cues, and the occasional character voice, however they are not completely dramatized. In a way Mind Webs stories are a cross between radio drama and audio books."

@Beware the Hairy Mango: Episode 81 "They Call Me Johnny Eggroll" by Matthew Sanborn Smith. Weird Fiction. [via SF Signal]


@Beneath Ceaseless Skies: "The Nine-Tailed Cat" by Michael J. DeLuca

"The cat departs from the moonbeam, flicking its tails."

@Internet Archive: The Cape Canaveral Monsters. 1960 TV Movie. Streaming and for download. Sci-Fi.

"When a couple are killed in an auto accident their bodies are immediately inhabited by extraterrestrial beings. Taking refuge in an underground cave, the aliens attempt to sabotage the U.S. space program."