Free Anne McCaffrey Fiction, Audio Fiction, Suspense, Comics, and More.

Some very cool fiction today, including a new SF short story by SF/Fantasy legend Anne McCaffrey, A new Cat Rambo story as well as other great fiction and audio fiction. Also some cool comics, and the irregular Suspense/Noir section has some good stuff.

Congratulations to The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine for reaching its 100th episode!

Today's illustration comes from "The Skin-Rippers" in the comics section. I've loved giant ants ever since I first watched the classic Sci-Fi film Them!.







@Lightspeed Magazine: "Velvet Fields" by Anne McCaffrey.
"Of course we moved into the cities of the planet we now know we must call Zobranoirundisi when Worlds Federated finally permitted a colony there." Online and in MP3 download.

@Daily Science Fiction: "Pippa's Smiles" by Cat Rambo.
"Marcus hadn't thought marriage would be like this after three months. He had expected to love Pippa, but he hadn't thought she would love him so much, that she would follow him from counter to till in his tiny shop where he sold souvenirs and curiosities: stuffed mermaids, filagree jars, and great shark jaws set with more teeth than a carved comb."

@The author's site: "Say Hello to My Little Friend" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
"A handsome man walks into a bar…and can’t pick up women. Sounds like a joke. Or a bar bet. Or maybe, just maybe, a bit of magic follows him everywhere. A short, somewhat malicious bit of magic, with a fondness for Piña Coladas . . . A fantasy short story." Online until next Monday.

@Wizards of the Coast: "Poetry and the Sound of Falling Rain" by Ken Scholes.
"The cemetery on the outskirts of Carthys was layered in mist burned silver by the risen moon. Near the eastern gate, a lantern bobbed, and mumbled curses drifted across row upon row of gravestones."

Classic YA Horror
@Project Gutenberg: Uncanny Tales by Mary Louisa Molesworth (1896).
A collection of not especially scary ghost stories for younger readers.

Flash Fiction
@Flashes in the Dark: "Top of the Food Chain" by Peter McMillan.
@365 tomorrows: "Command Decisions" by Patricia Stewart.







@The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine: "The Battle Of Leila The Dog" by Rick Kennett.
"Cy De Gerch is being pestered by the sound of a whining dog…only dogs aren’t allowed on the bridge of a fighting space vessel in a war zone. What is going on?"


@PodCastle: Episode #154 "Sinners, Saints, Dragons, and Haints, in the City Under the Still Waters" by N.K. Jemisin, read by Laurice White.
"Tookie sat on the porch of his shotgun house, watching the rain fall sideways. A lizard strolled by on the worn dirt-strip that passed for a sidewalk, easy as you please, as if there wasn’t an inch of water already collected around its paws. It noticed him and stopped."


@Lovecraft eZine: Two more classic Lovecraft audios.
"The Music of Erich Zann" "But despite all I have done, it remains an humiliating fact that I cannot find the house, the street, or even the locality, where, during the last months of my impoverished life as a student of metaphysics at the university, I heard the music of Erich Zann…" and "The Rats in the Walls" "The place had not been inhabited since the reign of James the First, when a tragedy of intensely hideous, though largely unexplained, nature had struck down the master, five of his children, and several servants…"


Serial Audio
@The Drama Pod: Journey to the Center of the Earth Part Ten by The Drama Pod.







@The Horrors of It All: "The Skeleton / The Skin-Rippers" even gorier than usual horror.
@Digital Comics Museum: Unseen #6 (Sept. 1952) horror.
@Ditko Comics: "Inside The Crystal Globe" from Tales of the Mysterious Traveller #11 (1959).
@Four-Color Shadows: A humor comic featuring "The Space Bums"
@Savage Tales: Dagar the Invisible #17 - Sword and Sorcery.
@Secret Sanctum of Captain Video: Captain Video in "Dark Side of the Moon" two parts, Part One and Part Two and an adaptation of "The Time Machine" unknown # of parts Part One and Part Two. Sci-Fi.


Suspense / Noir
Pulp Noir @Online Pulps! "Coffin Customer" by H. Q. Masur from Ten Detective Aces (Nov. 1940)
"Detective Ed Travis had to cash in on bargain booty to keep his client from becoming a . . . . Coffin Customer" This and other Ten Detective Aces Stories Here.




Classic Audio @the Internet Archive: Running from 1942 through 1962, Suspense was one of radio's most successful anthologies. During the early years, this program featured traditional suspense stories almost exclusively, but by the last few years, there were as many horror, dark fantasy, and even science fiction episodes as anything else. Truly there is something for nearly everyone in the aproximately 900 available episodes. So many episodes that it takes ten pages to list them at the Internet Archive.

Page One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten.


Fiction @Spinetingler: "Blessing the Bounty" by D.A. Davenport.
"For Leona, five years of daily fear had driven the youth from her heart. By the time she was twenty she felt as worn down as the Tennessee mountains that had bred her"

Audio Fiction @Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine: Episode #20 "Famous Last Words," by Doug Allyn, read by Steve Steinbock.
from the November 2009 EQMM

Audio Fiction @CrimeWAV: Mark Coggins' The Immortal Game is now up to Episode Ten. previous episodes here.


Other Coolness
@Golden Age Comic Book Stories: [Art] Reed Crandall illustrations for Tarzan and John Carter of Mars Here and Here.

@My Star Trek Scrapbook: Scanned articles on Star Trek models from The Monster Times #2.

Yuri Gagarin and Cool Free Items

Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's famous flight, the start of humanity's greatest accomplishment. Just wanted to take a moment to join countless others honoring his accomplishment.

As usual, some cool free items follow.



Fiction
@Lightspeed: "Maneki Neko" by Bruce Sterling.
“It’s only a career,” said Tsuyoshi, sitting up on his futon and adjusting his pajamas. “You worry too much.”
And don't miss the "Author Spotlight" on Bruce Sterling by Erin Stocks.


@The Author's Website: "The First Conquest of Earth" by David W. Goldman, from Analog Science Fiction and Fact (Jan/Feb 2011). [via Free Speculative Fiction Online]
"When the alien fleet was first sighted just beyond the asteroid belt, end-of-the-world riots broke out in cities around the globe. But when astronomers calculated that the huge, silent ships would take nearly three weeks to reach Earth, all but the most committed rioters felt their enthusiasm wilt."

Free Speculative Fiction Online has added several more additions to its massive database of online speculative fiction.

And Free SF Reader has new additions daily to its ginormous collection of free genre links.






@PodCastle: Episode #152: "The Hortlak" by Kelly Link, read by Eric Luke
"Recently Batu had evolved past the need for more than two or three hours’ sleep, which was good in some ways and bad in others. Eric had a suspicion he might figure out how to talk to Charley if Batu were tucked away"

Serial Audio:
@Drama Pod: Journey to the Centre of the Earth Part Nine.
Jules Verne's classic SF adventure.






@Flashes in the Dark: "Laughing Dragon" by Jim Mountfield.
@365 tomorrows: "The Interview" by Jason Frank.
@MindFlights: [Poem] "Starship Astronaut" by Martin Elster.
@The World SF Blog: "The Man Who Was Stronger Than God" by Guy Hasson.
@Daily Science Fiction: "The Rules of the Regeneration Manual" by Andrew L Findlay.
@Daily Science Fiction: "Wings for Icarus" by P. Djeli Clark.

Gaming
@The Land of NOD: "Monsters of Mu-Pan III"
Gyuki - Ox-Ogre, Kasha, Ninja, and Shamshir.


Underworld Ink: [Art] "An online portfolio consisting of old school rpg illustrations, maps, and diagrams lovingly handcrafted by John Larrey and Jason Sholtis" [via The Land of Nod]



@Emerald Press: Combat Advantage #21: Power Surges. [4e] 50 pages.
"digs deeper into the rules of 4e and offers up the opportunity to bend, twist, and assume control of your campaign." (also has some potentially convertible new monsters) [Via DriveThruRPG]

Short But Sweet Gaming Items
@A Character For Every Game: [Adventure] "Infinite caves of the Shroom Goblins – Final Entry"
@The Land of NOD: [Encounter] "Mu-Pan Encounter XXI"
@Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets: [New Monster] "Watcher in the Woods"
@Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets: [New Spell] "False Tome"
@Blog on the Borderlands: [New Spell] "Alizaar's Arc of Lightning"
@Big Ball of No Fun: [New Monsters] "Ieles"and "Jaculus"
@Sea of Stars: [New Spell] "Iris’ Cape" and "Janus’ Doorway"
@The Zhodani Base: "Traveller inspiration - free e-books"

Other Coolness
@My Star Trek Scrapbook: "1978 Article on Trek's Computers" scanned from Science Fantasy Film Classics

An Owomoyela, Classic SF, Comics, and More Freebies

More fiction and audio fiction today, as well as some cool comics.





Fiction
@Lightspeed Magazine: "All That Touches the Air" by An Owomoyela.
"The fog crawled out of the water and over his body, colonizing his pores, permeating bone and tissue, bleeding off his ability to yell or fight back. He was on his side in a convulsion before the Vosth parasites took his motor functions and stood his body up." Author spotlight here.



Expanded Horizons has its 28th issue up with
Issue Twenty-Eight (Apr 2011)

"God in the Sky" by An Owomoyela
"Three hours after the light flared into the sky,‭ ‬I finally got in touch with Dad.‭ ‬We were frantic,‭ ‬both talking at once:‭ ‬he said‭ “‬But we don’t know anything yet‭” ‬while I was saying‭ “‬There are already theories on the internet‭;” ‬I said‭ “‬This isn’t the dark ages,‭ ‬this isn’t an omen‭” ‬when he started laughing,‭ ‬saying‭ “‬People are lining up at church already.‭” ‬That was Tuesday."

"In Orbit" by Katherine Fabian
"In Oliver Twist, Fagin’s golems were powered by — of course — stolen pocket watches. Sarah remembered her grandfather’s easy smile as she had complained to him about this grave injustice. He had given her a big hug that smelled, as it always did, of cigar smoke and clay and Grandfather, then said, 'Would that were the most ignorant thing Mr Dickens had ever graced us with, my love.'"

"Updates Available" by Ryan Leeds
"My test data came back insufficient.‭ ‬They said my emotional range wasn’t prime for community integration.‭ ‬You usually hear these things when you’re a child,‭ ‬and they just go ahead and fix you,‭ ‬but in my case,‭ ‬it took them too long to notice."

"Conrad" by Kristine Ong Muslim
"Two knocks on the door.‭ ‬My father let him in. Conrad wanted to talk about his trip,‭ but his tongue kept on sliding out of his mouth."


@The Author's Website: "The Amazing Quizmo" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
"Darren has a secret identity. At night, he becomes the Amazing Quizmo, the Great God of Answers. He presides over bar trivia contests and no one can beat him. Until a girl appears. A pretty girl. A very pretty girl who just might be smarter than Darren. And for Darren, that just won’t do."

@Book View Cafe: "Mad Bad Richard Dadd" by Amy Sterling Casil.
"It was inevitable that Sir Thomas would take us to the storied city of Missolonghi in Greece — for the ruins. And of course, he must see the place where the hero Byron had died of fever. As a hero himself, Sir Thomas had a natural interest in the doings of others of like mind."

@Book View Cafe: "Chromosome Circus" by Amy Sterling.
“He’s a freak,” Montego said. Amid the fur were two delicate pointed ears. The boy growled deep in his throat as Joshie touched the tip of his right ear.

Serial Fiction:
@Strange Horizons: "Pataki (Part 1 of 2)" by Nisi Shawl.
"Now, though, a new leaf. A new life. A new career as a diviner. Rianne's ancestors had told her to take on any clients that came her way."

Classic SF
@Project Gutenberg:"The Hero" by Elaine Wilber, from If: Worlds of Science Fiction (Feb. 1958)
"Willy was undoubtedly a hero. The difficulty lies in deciding which side he was on...."




"At the Post" by Horace Leonard Gold, from Galaxy Science Fiction (Oct. 1953)
"How does a person come to be scratched from the human race? Psychiatry did not have the answer—perhaps Clocker's turf science did!"
@Project Gutenberg and Munseys.

"Queen of the Flaming Diamond" by Leroy Yerxa, from Amazing Stories (Jan. 1943)
"There it was, in a night club, the biggest diamond in the world. Why was it here when a whole race depended on it for existence?"
@Project Gutenberg and Munseys.

"The Black Tide" by Arthur G Stangland, from IF: Worlds of Science Fiction (March 1953)
"Space in its far dark reaches can be fickle with a man; it can shatter his dreams, fill him with fear and hate. It can also cure a man—if he is strong enough."
@Project Gutenberg and Munseys.

"Way of a Rebel" by Walter Miller, Jr, from If: Worlds of Science Fiction (April 1954)
"No one knows the heart of a rebel until his own search for the reason of right or wrong is made. Lieutenant Laskell found the answer to his own personal rebellion deep beneath a turbulent Atlantic, and somehow, when the time came, his decision wasn't too difficult...."
@Project Gutenberg and Munseys.



Audio Fiction:





@PodCastle: Episode #151 "Wizard’s Apprentice" by Delia Sherman, read by Peter Wood.
"At first he just thought he was doing some chores in return for food and a night’s shelter. But next morning, after a breakfast of oatmeal and maple syrup, Mr. Smallbone handed him a broom and a feather duster."

@19 Nocturne Boulevard: "Countdown" by Julie Hoverson, performed by a full cast.
"A haunted mine attracts amateur filmmakers."

@LibriVox: American Fairy Tales by L. Frank Baum, read by Matthew Reece.
"collection of fantasy stories was originally serialized in regional newspapers [...] lack the high-fantasy aspect of the best of Baum’s work, in Oz or out. With ironic or nonsensical morals attached to their ends, their tone is more satirical, glib, and tongue-in-cheek than is usual in children’s stories"


Flash Fiction and Poetry



@Every Day Fiction: "Tethered" by Kevin Shamel.
@365 tomorrows: "Monitor" by Duncan Shields.
@Flashes in the Dark: "A Posting on Craigslist" by Bruce L. Priddy.
@The New Flesh: "Of Mice and Men and Cats" by Garrett Cook & Ash Lomen.
@Daily Science Fiction: "Written Out" by Terra LeMay.
@Strange Horizons: [Poem] "Medical History" by F.J. Bergmann.

Comics
@Crosseyed Cyclops: Astonishing issues 12,13,& 26 and previously posted issues. Horror/SF, In CBR format.

Also
Jungle Jim #22 & #5. Adventure. The Thing #9 (Old horror - not the superhero), and several issues of This Magazine is Haunted.






@Diversions of the Groovy Kind: "Above and Beyond the Call of Duty!" Drawn by Neil Adams. Horror.








@The Warriors Comic Book Den: "The Man-Eating Lizards!" Drawn by Joe Kubert, from Eerie Comics #1 (1947). Adventure/Horror.






Other Coolness:
@My Star Trek Scrapbook: "1985 Interview with Nichelle Nichols" from issue #30 of SF Movieland.

Cat Rambo, Asteroids, Science, Kirk's Middle Name and More

It's Friday and pleasant weather, at least here in Illinois, so I'm in a very good mood as I post this, despite still using an emergency backup computer that is old enough to be considered steam-punk. Lots of good reading and more today, with a slightly off topic final section of science podcasts, but I'll likely be going off topic more frequently than in the old days. It's more fun that way.

E-Fiction
At Daily Science Fiction,

"Swallowing Ghosts" by Cat Rambo.
"Grandma always said, "Don't yawn with your mouth open, a ghost will fly in."

I didn't believe her until it happened."

Online HERE.

"The Birdcage Heart" by Peter M Ball.
"One She likes watching him dress. He likes to be watched, so he goes through the motions: yesterday's underwear; Levis, left leg following the right; the belt threaded through the loops, tugged tight and fastened; yesterday's black socks; the crimson sneakers, the laces, the left foot before the right. The shirts always last, always the struggle. 'No undershirt,' she says. 'Leave it off today.'"

Online HERE.


At Munseys,

"The Honored Prophet" by William Bentley (1954).
"The black dwarf sun sent its assassin on a mission which was calculated to erase the threat to its existence. But prophesies run in strange patterns and, sometimes, an act of evasion becomes an act of fulfillment."

In ebook downloads HERE.

"Tangle Hold" by F. L. Wallace (1953).
"Jadiver objected to being the greatest influence for good on Venus ... because what was good for Venus was bad for Jadiver!"

In ebook downloads HERE.


"Chain of Command" by Stephen Arr (1954)
"By going through channels, George worked up from the woodwork to the top brass!"

In ebook downloads HERE.


At Lightspeed Magazine,

"Simulacrum" by Ken Liu.
"[A] photograph is not only an image (as a painting is an image), an interpretation of the real; it is also a trace, something directly stenciled off the real, like a footprint or a death mask. —Susan Sontag"

For online reading, online listening, and MP3 download HERE.


"The Passenger" by Julie E. Czerneda.
"At last, one gave him a purpose to match the unknown one sending the aliens sliding past his prison day in, day out. It was a child’s box of markers."

For online reading HERE.


"Long Enough and Just So Long" by Cat Rambo.
"He talked about rain, about slow gray clouds and tearing nor’easters. Rain drumming on a tin roof versus its sound on slate. Fine spring mist and the hot rain that fell during drought, coin-sized and evaporating too quickly."

For online reading, online listening, and MP3 download HERE.


Audio Fiction
At Dunesteef, "The Alarm" by Harris Tobias.
"An alarm has started ringing, but no one knows what it’s for. Old Havermayer, the beggar, says it’s a signal to alert the town that the dragon wakes. Could it be true? What will become of this peaceful town?"

Listened to this one yesterday. Quite enjoyable, though somewhat predictable.

Streaming and in MP3 download HERE.


Online Video
At StarTrek.com, The complete Star Trek animated series (TAS) available for free streaming. These have rather clunky animation and are quite abrupt due to the 30 minute format, but are still entertaining. Trek Trivia, Kirk's middle name "Tiberius" was first used in the animated episode "Bem" not in the original Star Trek series.

These free streaming episodes are online HERE. [via SFSignal [via Bureau 42]]



Comic Books
SF with an asteroid setting theme today

At Golden Age Comic Book Stories, Journey Into Unknown Worlds #20, July/1952. This issue features horror and SF stories including "The Secret of Asteroid #85."



Online HERE.






And at The Comic Book Catacombs, Science Fiction/Double Feature featuring "Asteroid Treasure" from Amazing Adventures #4 (Jul-Aug 1951).

Online HERE.






Science Podcasts
A trio of recommended ones this time.

First up is This Week @NASA a weekly audio podcast covering the latest news. Updated every Friday, this is always interesting even when there is too little going on at NASA.

Available in separate audio and video downloads HERE.




NPR Science Friday is an outstanding weekly science program covering breaking science news as well as ongoing controversies. The archive is especially convenient with each episode broken into topics so that you can download those that interest you.

The archive is HERE.




And Beam Me Up. Although its perhaps better known for its readings of SF stories, one of my favorite parts of this podcast/radio program is the roundup of Science and SF news at the start of most episodes. Topics range from the biggest science stories to odd, easy to miss stories, all presented in a friendly, informal matter. Always worth a listen.


Streaming and in MP3 download HERE.