Back

Back after a very rough week and weekend.  Here are links to some of the great freebies out there.











Fiction
• At Daily Science Fiction: "Superhero Art" by Cat Rambo. Superhero.
      "You're wondering: superheroes? Yes. Art was one. Genetically created by evil super-scientist Mondomania. And married to a second superhero, the living embodiment of Gaia. We all called her Maggie."

• At Escape Pod: "Southpaw" by Bruce McAllister. Science Fiction.
      "Fidel stands on the pitcher’s mound, dazed. For an instant he doesn’t know where he is. It is a pitcher’s mound. It is a baseball diamond, and there is a woman—the woman he loves—out there in the stands with her beautiful blonde hair and her very American name waving to him, because she loves him, too. It is July. He is sure of this. It is ’51 or ’52."

 • At Mad Scientist Journal: "Monsters Behind the Scenes" by Kate Elizabeth. Science Fiction.
      "We humans are bombarded on a daily basis from telemarketers, door-to-door sales men, infomercials, advertisements … the list goes on. Tempting us to spend more money, change our electricity providers, get rich quick, and lose weight fast. But behind these companies and charities there is a hidden, supernatural, agenda."

• At Short-Story.me: "Tiffany Blue Sunday" by Matthew Barbour. Horror.
      "There were three maybe four of them. When I saw them sneaking in, I grabbed my rifle from atop the mantle and hurried from my house to a position behind a boulder at the front of the mine. It wouldn’t take them long, maybe a minute or so for them to sort through my tailings or chip off a fragment of the turquoise that still clung to the walls. Then they would come out and slink off to their pueblo with prize in hand."

• At The WiFiles: "Catches Burning" by Robin Dunn.
      "Joe’s flesh crisped, and his soul did something or other, perhaps leaving this universe, perhaps opting to stick around as an angry ghost, perhaps both.  As the people threw more faggots on the fire, a fiddler struck up a tune and some of the couples took up dancing, slowly, holding each other tightly, rotating like human spits."

Flash Fiction
• At Daily Science Fiction: "The Frog Prince" by Jonathan Vos Post. Fantasy.
At Every Day Fiction:

• "So This Frog Goes Psst!" by Ed Kratz. Fantasy.
• "Hand in Glover" by Shawna Mayer. Horror.

At 365 Tomorrows:

• "Leave Note at the 7-Eleven" by Aiza Mohd. Science Fiction.
• "Sewing The Seeds" by Clint Wilson. Science Fiction.
• "Beaming Errors" by Duncan Shields. Science Fiction.

• At Toasted Cake: "Zebedee the Giant Man" by Tina Connolly. Audio. Speculative Fiction.

Audio Fiction
• At Author's Site: "Hunter Hunterson & Sons “Home” Part 1" by Scott Sigler.
      "Your favorite monster-hunting family returns for a new tale of rootin’-tootin’ supernatural mischief. As Hunter and his family settle into their new digs in San Francisco, they find out that their new mansion holds far more surprises than they would like."

• At Drabblecast: "The Revelation of Morgan Stern" by Christie Yant. Horror.
     "It is July 31, your birthday, and I can’t reach you. I’ve been trying all day, but the cell networks are down, the internet is down. I even tried a pay phone–there are two left in town that I know of, and I collected all of my change and walked to the 76 in the village. It was on fire." And "Dear John" by  Rachael K. Jones.

• At Escape Pod: "Southpaw" by Bruce McAllister, read by bdoomed. Science Fiction.
      "Fidel stands on the pitcher’s mound, dazed. For an instant he doesn’t know where he is. It is a pitcher’s mound. It is a baseball diamond, and there is a woman—the woman he loves—out there in the stands with her beautiful blonde hair and her very American name waving to him, because she loves him, too. It is July. He is sure of this. It is ’51 or ’52."

• At PodCastle: "The Wanderer King" by Alisa Alering, read by Amy Robinson. Fantasy.
      "We steer clear of the mines–that’s Fixer territory. The Wanderers are dangerous, too, ever since they came fighting back around Day 30. But there’s always been less of them–less in all, and less because they scatter through the woods on their business instead of fixing to the towns and mines."

• At Pseudopod: "The Chair October" by Leah Thomas, read by Justin Riestra.
      "The spiraling piece of inner ear was almost the exact same shade of beige as the tablecloth his Great Aunt had given them at their wedding; Gwen couldn’t have expected him to spot it when he set down the jar of marmalade. She should have left the cochlea in her earhole where it belonged, but she had taken to removing it while she slept and only jamming it back into the side of her skull again moments before stumbling out the door on her way to the unemployment office."

• At Tales to Terrify: "The Pumpkin Man" by John Everson, read by Stephen Kilpatrick. Horror.
      "After her father’s gruesome murder, Jenn needed a place to get away from it all with some friends, to take her mind off her grief. The empty seaside cottage she inherited seemed perfect."

Free Fiction from Dragons to Celsia 9

Good Free Fiction, 'nuff said.







Fiction
• At The Colored Lens: "Remember New Roanoke" by Sean Patrick Hazlett, Science Fiction.
      "Two roiling suns scorched the desert landscape as the gaunt man stumbled toward the bivouac site. Commodore Tina Morales wiped the sweat off her brow and took another glimpse through her binos. More bone than man, the colonist seemed almost feral. His shredded and grimy olive drab coveralls hung from his skeletal frame like a parachute."

• At Daily Science Fiction: "Space Mama" by Karen Heuler. Science Fiction.
     "I joined an exploratory company about ten years ago, and have been traveling ever since. Lately, I met a being on Celsia 9 who exists midway between a corporeal and non-corporeal state. That is, he/she/it (undetermined) feels more like liquid than solid and is somewhat permeable."

• At Nightmare Magazine: "All You Can Do is Breathe" by Kaaron Warren. Horror.
      "Stuart lay trapped underground for five days before the tall man appeared and stared into his eyes. He thought he sensed movement. Flicked on his caplamp. “Barry? Did you make it through the wall?” but there was no one."

• At Strange Horizons: "The Witches of Athens" by Lara Elena Donnelly.
     "There are two diners in Athens, Ohio.  The Court Street Diner serves tuna melts and satin malts in silver mixing cups. The Court Street Diner says it is stuck in the 1960s, but it is too hip to be a throwback. The waitstaff are young and enticing, dressed in gingham and high-waisted jeans."

• At Tor.com: "Slayers: The Making of a Mentor" by C. J. Hill. Fantasy.
      "Before dragon eggs landed on American soil. Before a Slayer camp existed. And before Tori discovered her powers . . . there was an island. Lush forests, jutting peaks, and sloping hills covered St. Helena—the single most remote island in the Atlantic. And it is here where Dr. B grew up, working each summer on the Overdrake plantation alongside his brother. All was well until the day something was discovered on the plantation and things went horribly wrong." 

Flash Fiction

• At Daily Science Fiction: "Willy" by Deanna Kay Morris. Science Fiction.
• At Every Day Fiction: "Little Fish" by Dani Ripley. Horror.
• At Strange Horizons: "How a Mermaid Spends Her Winters" by Marchell Dyon, Poem. Fantasy.
• At Yesteryear Fiction: "Good Weather" by Jerry Guarino. Fantasy.

Audio Fiction
• At Cast of Wonders: "Camp Myth: Phoenix Watching - Chapter 3" by Chris Lewis Carter. YA Fantasy.
      "Last week Felix checked in for his journey to summer camp. We saw more of the creatures Felix shares his world with, and we learned about all the types of supernatural contraband the camp keeps an eye out for. I wonder what golem scrolls do…"

• At 19 Nocturne Boulevard: "The Jovian Jest" by Lilith Lorraine, read by Julie Hoverson.
  "There came to our pigmy planet a radiant wanderer with a message—and a jest—from the vasty universe." - "A familiar story - a meteorite crashes down, scientists show up, stuff happens, right?  With a twist that might make you think shamalyan - and then say meh." and a super short guest story narrated by Rhys Torres-Miller.

• At Protecting Project Pulp: "The Inn of Treachery" by Guido Rengetti. Adventure.
      "first published in Thrilling Adventures, July 1932.  Narrator: Mandy McCall.  A stirring story of Paduan days of old and the thirst for vengeance."

• At StarShipSofa: "Puss in DC" by Pamela Sargent. Urban Fairy Tale.
      A modern Puss in Boots story. "brings the talking cat to the nation’s capital, where he juggles his CIA association with serving the son of his late master, while trying to make a better life for them both." - Michael M. Jones.

• At Strange Horizons: "The Witches of Athens" by Lara Elena Donnelly, read by Anaea Lay.
     "There are two diners in Athens, Ohio.  The Court Street Diner serves tuna melts and satin malts in silver mixing cups. The Court Street Diner says it is stuck in the 1960s, but it is too hip to be a throwback. The waitstaff are young and enticing, dressed in gingham and high-waisted jeans."

Other Genres

• Flash Fiction at Linguistic Erosion: "A Good Marriage" by Jerry Guarino.
• Poem at Leaves of Ink: "Irresistible Yet Insane" by Paul Tristram.

Tuesday

A few good ones this morning - will try to be back with more later.







Fiction
• At Lightspeed: "Enyo-Enyo" by Kameron Hurley. Science Fiction.
       "Enyo meditated at mealtimes within the internod, huffing liquor vapors from a dead comrade’s shattered skull. This deep within the satellite, ostensibly safe beneath the puckered skein of the peridium, she went over the lists of the dead. She recited her own name first."

• At Lightspeed: "The Five Deaths of Marvin Dimitri" by Dylan Otto Krider. Fantasy. 
      "I first met Marvin several years ago, but you don’t have to know Marvin to know his story. That’s the sort of thing that’s just understood, that comes from living in Beaumont, Texas, where Marvin lived most all of his lives."

• Flash Fiction at 365 Tomorrows: "Mary" by Duncan Shields.Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
• At Every Photo Tells: "A Splash on the Big Bridge" by Hugh J O’Donnell. Fantasy.
     "To avoid a political incident and keep peace, the Freelance Hunters have to break into a castle. Not any castle."


• At Lightspeed: "The Five Deaths of Marvin Dimitri" by Dylan Otto Krider, read by Stefan Rudnicki. Fantasy. 
      "I first met Marvin several years ago, but you don’t have to know Marvin to know his story. That’s the sort of thing that’s just understood, that comes from living in Beaumont, Texas, where Marvin lived most all of his lives."

• Other Genres
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "Weird Girl" by Rasmenia Massoud.
• Flash Fiction at Smashed Cat Magazine: "Obsession" by Nikita Gill. 
• Poem at Leaves of Ink: "Hands Holding Scissors" by Taylor Gibbs. 

Monday Free Fiction Part 1.

Beginning the day's free fiction links with a new audio version of Leigh Brackett's Mars adventure. "Black Amazon of Mars," Cat Rambo audio at Escape Pod, and much more.











Fiction
• At Cast of Wonders: "Daphne’s Daughter" by Jennifer Tiemann.  YA
     "When the man came into her sphere of perception, she had almost not realized he was there, concentrating as she was on the new nest of cardinal chicks that rested high on her south side. So occupied was she on shifting her branches just so to protect the nestlings, it wasn’t until the male cardinal reacted with alarm that she turned her awareness down from her branches to her roots."

• At L5R: "Star-Crossed Lovers" by Shawn Carman. Fantasy.
      "Yasuki Tono poured himself a cup of hot tea. It was Jade Sunrise blend, the one he had come to enjoy the most during his time in the Colonies. He missed his favorites from the Empire, but it seemed a small price to pay for the opportunities he had been afforded since his arrival here. From across the room he heard a familiar chuckle, and he did not look in that direction."

• At Mad Scientist Journal: "On Dosing the Water Supply with a High Powered Mind Control Mutagen" by Brandon Miller. Science Fiction.
     "I want to take this opportunity to clear up the misconceptions about the events of April 20, 2013, at the Carson City water reservoir. My former assistant, Gregory, has been telling his side of the story to every National News Agency, as well as to several nasty authoritarian groups. They are now hunting me down as though I were a rabid dog. As if they could actually catch me. I can’t wait to see the look on Gregory’s face when he finally comes to his senses, and comes crawling back to me."

Flash Fiction

• At Daily Science Fiction: "How Hagatha One-Eye Fell Off the Wagon" by Matthew Cote. Fantasy. 
• At Every Day Fiction: "Wish Fulfilment" by Georgina Allen, read by Folly Blaine. Fantasy. Audio.
• At Every Day Fiction: "The Underground" by Rebecca Birch. Horror.
• At Flashes in the Dark: "The Stake and Garlic Factory" by Michelle Anderson, Horror.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Before Resurrection" by Andrew Bale. Science Fiction.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "A New Face" by Alexis Voltaire. Science Fiction.
• At Toasted Cake: "What Makes You Tick" by David Steffen. Audio.

Audio Fiction
• At Cast of Wonders: "Daphne’s Daughter" by Jennifer Tiemann, read by Veronica Giguere.
      "When the man came into her sphere of perception, she had almost not realized he was there, concentrating as she was on the new nest of cardinal chicks that rested high on her south side. So occupied was she on shifting her branches just so to protect the nestlings, it wasn’t until the male cardinal reacted with alarm that she turned her awareness down from her branches to her roots."

• At Escape Pod: "On the Big Fisted Circuit" by Cat Rambo, read by Shaelyn Grey. Science Fiction.
      "This was the biggest suit she’d ever crawled into. It meant money: money dripping through the wires around her, money in the gleaming metal struts, money being made by every step it took, money her family needed, every step a week’s rent and food if they were careful with it."

• At The Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs: "Episode 2 - The Son Of Tarzan" Adventure.
     "Chapter II  It is ten years following the events recounted in The Beasts of Tarzan. Alexis Paulvich has been rescued from the banks of the Ugambi River. Enroute to England, the ship stops at a jungle island, where a great ape seems to bond with Paulvich, now using the name Sabrov. The ape, named Ajax, and Sabrov return to London."

• At LibriVox: "Black Amazon of Mars" by Leigh Brackett, read by Phil Chenevert. Science Fantasy.
     "This gore drenched story finds Eric Stark, the barely civilized warrior raised on Mercury struggling to bring a dying Martian friend back to his home city in the North of Mars before he passes away. Unfortunately his friend does die on the way and lays a most unwanted last request on Stark before the end; to bring a precious stolen talisman back to the city. The journey there introduces the intimidating Black Amazon of Mars."

Other Genres

• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "Justice" by Ken Poyner.
• Flash Fiction at Linguistic Erosion: "What a Wonderful World" by Leonard Treman.
• Poem at Leaves of Ink: "Cherry Blossom Rain" by Paula Ray.
• Poem at Leaves of Ink: "The One I Loved" by Sergio A. Ortiz. 

Sleepy Saturday Free Fiction

A few goodies to start the morning.






Flash Fiction
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Curation" by Cosmo Smith. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
• At Pseudopod: "The Eulogy Of Darien Meek" by Niccolo Skill. Horror.
       "Twin dark wood doors opened up to a high-ceiling-ed main room. The windows were stained half the colors of the rainbow. The room was awash in vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows. A splash of green dotted the refreshment table and the faintest lines of blue hung over the altar. A faint musky smell, not quite strong enough to be offensive, wafted out the door."

• At Radio Drama Revival: "Wormwood ‘Revelations’" Dark Fantasy.
     "where Xander Crowe is being tortured by an evil demonic spirit but finds a way to free himself, and start looking into the other weird mysteries in the town of Wormwood.  What exactly IS going down at the library?"

• At Selected Shorts:  "Too Late" Speculative Fiction.
     "Guest host Wyatt Cenac presents a program of stories about drastic solutions and last chances. Master fantasist Steven Millhauser imagines the world covered by a gigantic plastic sphere in “The Dome,” read by Alec Baldwin. Jim Shepard takes us to the greatest recorded natural disaster in history in “Cretan Love Song,” read by Joe Morton, and Mr. Potato Head is not your friend in Nicholson Baker’s “Subsoil,” read by Thomas Gibson."

• At WMG Publishing: "The Scottish Play" written and read by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
    No Description Found

Other Genres

• Fiction at Author's Site: "Discovery" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Mystery.
• Fiction at Online Pulps: "Death on Deposit" by Frank Johnson. 1942, "Duty" by Donald Francis McGrew. 1913, "Murder in Red" by C. S. Montanye. 1948. Pulp. Noir.
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "The Aquarium" by Darci Schummer.
• Flash Fiction at Linguistic Erosion: "Type A - The Situation" by Anthony Mullinix. 
• Poem at Leaves of Ink: "You Move Me" by Linda M. Crate.

Classic Cover #17 - Soup's On

Mmm Mmm Good!

Full issue, scanned by JVJ-Geo?, is available for free at Digital Comics Museum.

Belatedly Celebrating the Birth . . . Ray Nelson

Radell Faraday "Ray" Nelson (born October 3, 1931)
      A "science fiction author and cartoonist most famous for his 1963 short story "Eight O'Clock in the Morning" which was later used by John Carpenter as the basis for his 1988 film They Live." (Wikipedia).  His website is here.










Fiction
• At Baen: "Eight O'clock in the Morning" from Fantasy & Science Fiction. Nov. 1963.
     "One of the subjects awoke all the way. This had never happened before. His name was George Nada and he blinked out at the sea of faces in the theatre, at first unaware of anything out of the ordinary. Then he noticed, human faces, the faces of the Fascinators. They had been there all along, of course, but only George was really awake, so only George recognized them for what they were. He understood everything in a flash, including the fact that if he were to give any outward sign, the Fascinators would instantly command him to return to his former state, and he would obey."

Audio Fiction
• At SFFaudio: "Eight O'clock in the Morning" read by Gregg Margarite.
      "a complete and unabridged reading of the short story (16 Minutes) followed by a discussion of it with Jesse, Gregg Margarite and Ray Nelson himself!"

It's Friday, I'm In Love with Free Fiction

A little less on an insane day here today so there will be more posts.  This time there are already some good free fiction items. Back soon with more Free Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror.









Fiction
• At Daily Science Fiction: "Marrakech Express" by Milena Benini.
        "Marrakech Express hurdles its great bulk through stringspace. There is no speed in stringspace, but hopping as it does from one planet to the next and trading for a day or two at each, Marrakech Express could be called slow."

• At Drabblecast: "Flying On Hatred of My Neighbor's Dog" by Shaenon Garrity.  Comedy.  Sci-Fi.
     "I know my neighbor’s dog as a bark: a deep, dark, venomous yawp that begins and ends on a snarl. It’s loud, louder than it should be. Earplugs do nothing. It penetrates. Once it starts, it continues, relentlessly, for a period ranging from one to four hours. It can start at any time, day or night, dropping from the veils of morning to where the cricket sings."

• At HiLobrow: "The Man with Six Senses - Part 13" by Muriel Jaeger. Scince Fiction. 1927.
      "I ought, of course, to have warned Hilda of our coming, but it was already late afternoon, and I did not wish to let Plumer’s offer remain unclinched an hour longer than was necessary. Thus it was that we came in upon Michael lying on the couch, his face the colour of lead, while Hilda was bending over him, giving him brandy."

Flash Fiction

• At 365 Tomorrows: "The Indiginous Harvesters Project" by Desmond Hussey. Science Fiction.
• At Weirdyear: "Geese" By Lance Manion. Weird Fiction.

Audio Fiction

• At Classic Tales PodCast: "The Furnished Room" by O. Henry. Horror.
      "Restless, shifting, fugacious as time itself is a certain vast bulk of the population of the red brick district of the lower West Side. Homeless, they have a hundred homes. They flit from furnished room to furnished room, transients forever - transients in abode, transients in heart and mind"

• At Drabblecast: "Flying On Hatred of My Neighbor's Dog" by Shaenon Garrity, read by Nathan Lee.  Comedy.  Sci-Fi.
     "I know my neighbor’s dog as a bark: a deep, dark, venomous yawp that begins and ends on a snarl. It’s loud, louder than it should be. Earplugs do nothing. It penetrates. Once it starts, it continues, relentlessly, for a period ranging from one to four hours. It can start at any time, day or night, dropping from the veils of morning to where the cricket sings." and  Drabble: Crisis of Competence by Travelin' Corpse Feet.

• At LibriVox: Space Platform by Murray Leinster, read by Mark Nelson.

       "SPACE PLATFORM tells the exciting story of a young man helping to build this first station. With scientific accuracy and imagination Murray Leinster, one of the world's top science-fiction writers, describes the building and launching of the platform. Here is a fast-paced story of sabotage and murder directed against a project more secret and valuable than the atom bomb." 1953 Novel.

• At Tales to Terrify: "A Crow Among the Sparrows" by John Dodds, narration and musical bridges by Jonathan Taylor.  Horror.

    No Description Found

Other Genres

• Audio Fiction at Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine: "The Problem of the Old Gristmill" by Edward D. Hoch
• Fiction at Spinetingler: "Time and Tides" by Zen McCann. 
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "In the Beginning" by William L Stolley.
• Poem at Leaves of Ink: "Now That I Desire" by Michael Lee Johnson.

Insane in the Free Fiction-Brane

Thing are a bit insane at QuasarDragon headquarters so the first links are a bit late, but there's some quite good stuff.




Fiction
At Beneath Ceaseless Skies:

• "Cherry Blossoms on the River of Souls" by Richard Parks. Fantasy.
     "The tales varied as to why the well was outside the village rather than inside. Some say that an earthquake and rockfall destroyed the original town site and the survivors rebuilt the village at a safer distance, leaving the now-dry well where it was. Others say that a saké-addled farmer relieved himself in the well one night, so offending the spirit of the well that it had moved itself and had been dry ever since."

• "The Coffinmaker’s Love" by Alberto Yáñez. Fantasy.
      "Miss Lavinia Parrish was a young woman when she chose to apprentice herself to Mr Harid de Borba, a coffinmaker of great skill but odd repute. Though the two were acquainted prior to her request, Miss Parrish had not laid bare her heart to her new master, nor had she otherwise explained her particular reasons for undertaking a trade."

Now Posted: Theaker's Quarterly Fiction #45. Speculative Fiction.

• “The Colour of the Wind Erodes the Shape of Time” by Howard Watts
     "We got chucked out of a club for being out of order in the ladies’ loo one Saturday night, and when we got back to Sully’s around 2 a.m., I started talking about black holes."

• “We Slept Through the Apocalypse” by Howard Phillips
     "I was persuaded against installing a guard tower, but I became so used to the company of our two security guys, Benny and Ivtar, that I doubled their wages and asked them to stick around. They kept an eye out for journalists, discouraging any who came onto our land, kept an eye open for any other miscreants"

• “Kingdom Automata” by Katharine Coldiron
       "It is the last day of the old era. Today marks a new dawn for the species, a greater epoch for every artificial life form on the planet. A time when we shall all be one with our creators, when our taste of mortality will grant us passage at last to the blessed kingdom: family hominidae, genus homo, species H. sapiens."

• “Carcosa, Found” by Robin Wyatt Dunn.
      "I know that I was once a man, and even have a memory of it. I lived in the city of angels, and passed a vacant lot on a sunny day, and had occasion to look in through a broken plank."

Flash Fiction

• At Daily Science Fiction: "The Gifts: Part Three" by Mari Ness. Magical Realism.
• At Farther Stars than These: "The Distant Drums" by Scott Raven. Science Fiction. Poem.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Rivals" by Jae Miles. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
• At Beneath Ceaseless Skies: "The Black Veil" by M. Bennardo, read by Rajan Khanna. Fantasy.
       "For six months, the devil of disease has probed my belly and filled it with hot coals," said Constant Sterry, as he swam half in fever. "But for six years, the devil of deceit has turned public sympathy toward those witches--until even the ministers and governors, who had been the first to urge the proceedings on, have all but condemned we who they asked to sit in judgment."

• At Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs: The Son of Tarzan - Episode 1. Adventure.
     "The long boat of the Marjorie W. was floating down the broad Ugambi with ebb tide and current. Her crew were lazily enjoying this respite from the arduous labor of rowing up stream. Three miles below them lay the Marjorie W. herself, quite ready to sail so soon as they should have clambered aboard and swung the long boat to its davits."

• At PodCastle: "The Devil and Tom Walker" by Washington Irving. Dark fantasy.
      "It was late in the dusk of evening that Tom Walker reached the old fort, and he paused there for a while to rest himself. Any one but he would have felt unwilling to linger in this lonely melancholy place, for the common pople had a bad opinion of it from the stories handed down from the time of the Indian wars; when it was asserted that the savages held incantations here and made sacrifices to the evil spirit. Tom Walker, however, was not a man to be troubled with any fears of the kind."

Other Genres

• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "Muscles" by Cheryl S. Levinson. 
• Flash Fiction at Linguistic Erosion: "Our Lady of Montserrat" by Brandon Mc Ivor. 
• Flash Fiction at Nature: "Quis custodiet?" by Brian Clegg, Science Fiction.
• Poem at Leaves of Ink: "Demoms" by Amanda Williamson. 

The Chimes of Doom - Horror Flash

The Chimes of Doom

by Irwin Shapiro

Charles Hanover Didn't Understand the Real Power of  the Clock!

BACK and forth, back and forth, Charles Hanover paced the broad landing on the upper floor of the old mansion. His glance kept shifting from the closed door of his Aunt Agatha's room to the huge, ornately carved grandfather clock that was solemnly ticking in the corner. Back and forth, tick—tock, back and forth . . .

Celebrating the Births . . . Jack Finney and Vernor Vinge

Jack Finney (October 2, 1911 – November 14, 1995)
     A World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement recipient, Finney was a science fiction and thriller author, best known for his 1955 novel The Body Snatchers, which has been adapted to film  at least four times. 









Old Time Radio
At Internet Archive: (direct download MP3s)

• "After the Movies" Suspense.
       No description.

• "I'm Scared" Sci-fi Radio.
      "A radio DJ receives a tape in the mail from a man who is convinced that the linear structure of Time itself is starting to go awry." - OTR Plot spot

Vernor Steffen Vinge (born October 2, 1944)
    A five time Hugo Award winner, with multiple other award nominations and wins, Vinge is a science fiction author, whose works are frequently focused heavily on a hypothetical upcoming "singularity." Only one of his works is freely available as of this posting. His homepage is here.

"Within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended."

—"The Coming Technological Singularity" 1993.




Fiction
• At Baen: "The Ungoverned" Science Fiction.
     "Al's Protection Racket operated out of Manhattan, Kansas. Despite the name, it was a small, insurance-oriented police service with about 20,000 customers, all within 100 kilometers of the main ship. But apparently "Al" was some kind of humorist: His ads had a gangster motif with his cops dressed like 20th century hoodlums. Wil Brierson guessed that it was all part of the nostalgia thing. Even the Michigan State Police—Wil's outfit—capitalized on the public's feeling of trust for old names, old traditions."

Free Fiction Terrors and More

The terror continues with a new story, in both text and audio formats, at the awesome Nightmare Magazine and two new shorts at the cool Romanian 'zine Revista de Suspans, including one by Bram Stoker award winner Elizabeth Massie.  Not so terrifingly, there's an audio version of  "Cassandra" by C.J. Cherryh (one of my many favorite writers) at the always great StarShipSofa.  And there are other great stories that I know less about.








Fiction
• At Aurora Wolf: "In Absentia Rex" by Traverse Wolverston.
     "Sliding into a chair across from me, the detective leaned forward; his scent was stale cologne and stress-induced sweat. What sort of pieces of work had sat in this chair before me? What hooligans and deviants had he stared down just that morning?"

• At Nightmare Magazine: "10/31: Bloody Mary"  by Norman Partridge. Horror.
     "The boy isn’t very large. The way things are these days, he figures that’s a plus. He is less of a target at night, and for this reason he has come to trust the darkness. Strange to trust darkness in a world overrun with nightmares . . . but that’s the way it is."

At Revista de Suspans:

• "Donald Meets Arnold" by Elizabeth Massie: Horror.
     "He didn’t like to run. He didn’t like to walk. It made him wheeze, and wheezing was uncomfortable. He didn’t like to stand, because it made his hips hurt. He didn’t like the way his puffy feet felt when pressed to the ground, or the way his calves throbbed when asked to hold his body upright."

• "Through Heavy Veils of Dreaming" by Alexandru Dan. Horror.
     "I don’t know about your dreams, but I find comfort mostly in a rather gloomy world, where the evenfall and the night pass their time; and if you ask me about the colors that enliven it, as puzzled as I’d be, I’d be answering: Rather, what’s between color and non-color…"

• At Tor.com: "Wakulla Springs" by Andy Duncan and Ellen Klages.   
       "Wakulla Springs. A strange and unknown world, this secret treasure lies hidden in the jungle of northern Florida. In its unfathomable depths, a variety of curious creatures have left a record of their coming, of their struggle to survive, and of their eventual end"

Flash Fiction

• At Daily Science Fiction: "The Gifts: Part Two" by Mari Ness. Fantasy.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Snuff Artist" by Carter Lee. Science Fiction.
• At Yesteryear Fiction: "The Kitchen Table" by Beth J. Whiting. Fantasy. 

Audio Fiction
• At Cast of Wonders: "Camp Myth: Phoenix Watching - Chapter 2" by Chris Lewis Carter. YA Fantasy.
     "Last week you met Felix, the protagonist of our story. Felix is obsessed with the human world, and he offered to tell you this story in exchange for learning more about human history. Did you take him up on it? Let’s see what Felix has to tell us this week."

• At Nightmare: "10/31: Bloody Mary"  by Norman Partridge, read by Stefan Rudnicki. Horror.
     "The boy isn’t very large. The way things are these days, he figures that’s a plus. He is less of a target at night, and for this reason he has come to trust the darkness. Strange to trust darkness in a world overrun with nightmares . . . but that’s the way it is."
• At StarShipSofa: "Cassandra" by C.J. Cherryh. Science Fiction.
      "The gift of prescience, rather than a blessing, is a curse for Cassandra that she cannot control. She sees the future all the time and cannot turn it off. She leaves her burning apartment each morning and heads for the bombed-out coffee shop, passing charred corpses on the way. She knows it's going to happen but can do nothing about it." (Wikipedia) 1979 Hugo Award Winner for Best Short Story.

Other Genres

• Fiction at HiLobrow: "The Zayat Kiss - Part 4" by Sax Rohmer. Noir.
• Fiction at the The Western Online: "Jehrico's Tub - Part 1" by Tom Sheehan. Western.
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "Silent Songs" by Cathie Menon.
• Poem at Leaves of Ink: "Misted Desire" by Ron Koppelberger. 

Are They Asleep Yet?

Do You Wanna Party? It's Free Fiction Time

Even more free fiction! What a good day!  For even more, including e-books, be sure to check out Regan Wolfrom's fantastic free links at SF Signal.  [Art from Kaleidotrope Autumn 2013, linked below]







Fiction
• At Author's Site: "The Voodoo Project" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Urban Fantasy. 2012.
     "Rebekah uses her Sight to fight for good. She works for the Voodoo Project, although her work involves psy ops, not voodoo. She fears retirement and a normal life. So she keeps working, going on missions, never knowing when her next mission will be her last. Because she can see anyone’s future—except her own."

At Short Story.me:

• "The Boy Who Called The Naga" by Michael Schaper. Fantasy.
      "When Vanchay was born, the old village shaman declared him unusual, one to look out for. A boy who could call naga. The boy's mother looked at him, puzzled and a little frightened, but proud as well. She lay on the small birthing bed whilst below them the mighty Mekong rushed by, and for a minute she thought she could hear the water serpent move below."

• "Message in a Rock" by Stewart Mc Kay. Horror.
     "Finally he forces it into my hand and, right enough, it's incredibly light. The colour and the shape remind me of a terracotta bathroom tile, one with irregular, smoothed edges. Is it made of polystyrene? A film prop?"

Now Posted: Quantum Muse - October 2013.

• "The Haunted House " by Harris Tobias- - Alternative.
     "You shouldn't try to do scary on the cheap."

• "Slacker Zombie" by Stephen Hernandez. Alternative.
     "Short horror story for the Halloween edition"

• "Béba Daio's Prayers" by Chris DelGuercio. Alternative.
      "A failing New Orleans store owner calls on a local voodoo priestess to help his business. But at what cost?"

• "The Mortician's Confession" by Michele Dutcher. Science Fiction.
      "The mortician on a small island comes beating frantically on his best friend's door, whispering about cults, and secret books. What could have him so upset?"

• "Grim Park" by Robert Hegwood. Science Fiction.
      "People hear voices in Grim Park, or rather a voice…sometimes when the need is great. It's clearest near the old hanging tree, and if it's in the mood the voice may tell you more than you want to hear."

• "Dr Mephistopheles" by Alex Mair. Alternative.
      "Halloween submission - Sludworth College has a new GCSE chemistry teacher, a man who comes with dark secrets and harbors diabolical intentions. Can the chemistry class stop him before it's too late? Warning - contains weird British acronyms like 'GCSE', 'BBC' and 'A level'."

Now Posted Kaleidotrope Autumn 2013:

• "Mister Bob" by Dan Campbell     
       “It all began with the chicken in the end of the road,” she said.  

• "Lightning Strikes" by Lindsey Duncan     
      "Storm-clouds gathered over the city of Calrhayas, immense hands catching the smoke from fires below. In her training, Diyesari had learned of diviners who could read the future in fallen ash; there was too much here to interpret, and only one possible answer." 

• "Lone White Seagull" by Geoffrey W. Cole     
      "The first officer announced that the plane was lost three hours after they entered the cloud."

• "Camouflage" by Eden Robins     
      "Today, I’m taking the train to the end of the line. Then I’m going to get on another train and another, and eventually I’ll end up in Wisconsin. And then? I’ll keep going north to where the trains stop. Is there a train to Nunavut? To the Arctic Circle? I intend to find out." 

• "Heart-Song" by Danielle Davis.
       "Nycalla shifts on the dusty ground, unnerved by the shouting of the crowd. The voices of the Men rattle the soil beneath her, cluttering her senses with their vibrations and setting her tail to twitching." 

• "Nice"” by Jamie Mason     
       "It is the anniversary of the Overthrow. The execution of Emile Vonnegut, child frightener, has just been broadcast and Michelle Michelle, host of Group Spank (“your liNk’s social equity enforcement program”) is announcing the round-up of four thousand middle-aged Eurasian grandmothers for their collective violations of the Kindarchy’s Social Consideration Code. A festive mood prevails. People are in the streets."

Poetry
At Kaleidotrope. Speculative Poetry.

• "Picking Up Aliens: A Guide" by John Grey.
• "Propelled by Beauty" by Dan Smith. 
• "Musings of a Tower Jockey" by Bruce Golden.
• "Implants" by Noel Sloboda.

 Audio Fiction
• At Apex Magazine: "Becca at the End of the World" by Shira Lipkin
     "She has about an hour, we think. And I have about an hour on this camera, an obsolete Flip mini. I guess all cameras are obsolete now. I don’t know if I’ll ever have a device on which to play this. But she wants to do it. And right now, Becca gets anything she wants. Ice cream or a visit to the zoo, a stolen car or a cliff dive; for the next hour, Becca gets anything and everything she wants."

• At Clarkesworld: "The Symphony of Ice and Dust" by Julie Novakova read by Kate Baker.
     “It’s going to be the greatest symphony anyone has ever composed,” said Jurriaan. “Our best work. Something we’ll be remembered for in the next millennia. A frail melody comprised of ice and dust, of distance and cold. It will be our masterpiece.”

Clarkesworld and Apex Magazine

Two of the best. Read them or you'll be sorry.

Now Posted: Clarkesworld Issue 85, October 2013

• "The Symphony of Ice and Dust" by Julie Novakova
     “It’s going to be the greatest symphony anyone has ever composed,” said Jurriaan. “Our best work. Something we’ll be remembered for in the next millennia. A frail melody comprised of ice and dust, of distance and cold. It will be our masterpiece.”

• "Bits" by Naomi Kritzer
     "So here is something a lot of people don’t realize: most companies that make sex toys are really small. Even a successful sex-toy manufacturer like Squishies (tm) is still run out of a single office attached to a warehouse, and the staff consists of Julia (the owner), Juan (the guy who does all the warehouse stuff), and me (the person who does everything else)."

• "The Creature Recants" by Dale Bailey
     "During breaks in shooting, the Creature from the Black Lagoon usually rests in a pond on the studio back lot and dreams of home. The pond isn’t much even as ponds go. It’s maybe four feet deep at its deepest point and a hundred yards or so around, an abandoned set carved out of the scorched southern California earth for some forgotten film or other: cattails and reeds and occasionally a little arrow of ripples when a dry breeze skates across the surface."

• "The Ki-anna" by Gwyneth Jones
     "If he’d been at home, he’d have thought, Dump Plant Injuries. In the socially unbalanced, pioneer cities of the Equatorial Ring, little scavengers tangled with the recycling machinery. They needed premium, Earth-atmosphere-and-pressure nursing or the flesh would not regenerate—which they didn’t get."

• "A Night at the Tarn House" by George R.R. Martin. Fantasy.
     "The Deodands moved at a steady trot, eating up the leagues. Being dead, they did not feel the chill in the air, nor the cracked and broken stones beneath their heels. The palanquin swayed from side to side, a gentle motion that made Molloqos think back upon his mother rocking him in his cradle. Even he had had a mother once, but that was long ago" 

Now Posted: Apex Magazine Issue 53 — October 2013.

• "Becca at the End of the World" by Shira Lipkin
     "She has about an hour, we think. And I have about an hour on this camera, an obsolete Flip mini. I guess all cameras are obsolete now. I don’t know if I’ll ever have a device on which to play this. But she wants to do it. And right now, Becca gets anything she wants. Ice cream or a visit to the zoo, a stolen car or a cliff dive; for the next hour, Becca gets anything and everything she wants."

• "Grey in the Gauge of His Storm" by Damien Angelica Walters
     "After the storm has passed, I look down at my arm, just above the elbow. The new tear in the lacework of my lining is small. I pull myself up from the floor and sit on the sofa, breathing hard. I feel as if I’m made of dandelion fluff, as if one puff will blow me into a million pieces, but this feeling, this small weakness, will pass."

• "An Assault of Color" by Mari Ness. Fantasy.
     "The curses were the loveliest, and most satisfying, to paint. She could see them in her mind, even before she picked up a brush, pulsing and glowing with color in careful, delicate patterns. The love spells were surprisingly pale, dull, often almost lifeless on canvas; she supposed this was in part because the purchasers (and she never painted a love spell without a purchaser) wanted them to be overlooked, unnoticeable"

• "Shatter" by Kelly McCullough.
     "With a scream, Sean sat bolt upright throwing off the covers. Eight months after the accident, the crimson dreams still wrenched him from his sleep at least once a night. He staggered to his feet. From past experience he knew that if he stayed in bed, the nightmare would return."

More Great Free Fiction

Another large post of great free fiction as the October free fiction flood continues unabated. [Art from "Speaking to Mother"]






Fiction
• At Anotherealm: "The Comet" by Adrienne Ray.
     "The drug store was quite sparse. Several of the shelves were completely empty. The looters had probably been here already. They were hardly ever prosecuted anymore. Although, as the weeks had gone by, the looters had become less violent, more resigned to their fate. The red haired clerk sat at the cash register reading a girly magazine."

• At Decoder Ring Theater: Red Panda "The Locked Room" Superhero. Noir. Comedy.
     "A daring crime, striking at the very heart of public trust... is it a page from the playbook of a foe thought long gone? If so, what about the lone witness, who is not quite as he seems? The horrifying truth to one of the most sinister mysteries of the Red Panda's career may lay within"

• At HiLobrow: "Herland - Part 12" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Science Fiction. 1915.
      "We had all meant to go home again. Indeed we had not meant — not by any means — to stay as long as we had. But when it came to being turned out, dismissed, sent away for bad conduct, we none of us really liked it."

• At Kasma: "Speaking to Mother" by Tom Doyle. Science Fiction.
     "After long hours observing the black hole devour matter, Lakshmi watched Harry consume spicy squid. From the tension in his jaw, and decades of watching his face, she knew that he wasn't really happy, and that it wasn't the squid's fault. It was the other thing."
• At Mad Scientist Journal: "My Gran the Time Traveler" by Adam Sear. Science Fiction.
     "My Gran is a time-traveler. Not by choice or force, even. It was purely accidental. My parents didn’t believe me when I told them. It was only when a portal opened during a summer barbeque and my Gran came through in Tudor dress, riding a large machine, that they believed. Salad and sausages splattered against their faces as they fainted."

At Strange Horizons:

• "Runaway Cyclone" by Jagadish Chandra Bose.
     "A few years ago a supernatural event was observed which rocked the scientific communities of America and Europe. A number of articles were published in various scientific journals to explain the phenomenon. But till now no explanation of the event has been found satisfactory."

• "Sheesha Ghat" by Naiyar Masud.

      "Father must not have known that I had already heard mention of Sheesha Ghat from visitors in his house. I knew that it was the most widely known and least inhabited ghat on the Big Lake, and that a scary woman by the name of Bibi was its sole owner."

• At Tor.com: "The Rain is a Lie" by Gennifer Albin.    
     "In Arras, space and time aren’t ideas, they are tangible substances woven together by beautiful girls into the very fabric of reality. The looms that create Arras are as controlled as the Spinsters who work them, ensuring a near idyllic world for the average citizen. But at what price? As an election approaches, a surprise weather forecast and a mysterious stranger hint that not all is as it seems, and a young boy learns that in Arras nothing can be trusted, not even memories."

Now Posted: Crossed Genres Magazine 2.0 - Issue 10.

• "Adrenaline" by Priya Chand
      "I was wasting microseconds outside – and not only to gather data. Maybe it wasn’t too late to abandon this ridiculous deal. No shame in one loss, right? And she didn’t play by any rules I ever learned, which was almost cheating."

• "This Dark and Narrow Way" by Memory Scarlett.
     "Dela paused on the landing to peer outside. The house demanded she take ownership of the wide lawn and the willow trees and the cobbled path she had never trod herself. It revelled in the cold, hard ache that came every time she looked upon that which she longed for and couldn’t have."

Flash Fiction
• At Flash Fiction Online: "Swan Maiden" by Barbara Barnett. Fantasy.
• At Flash Fiction Online: "His Brother’s Bite" by Gillian Daniels. "creepily fun fantasy"
• At Strange Horizon: "Tatakai" by Shweta Narayan.
At AntipodeanSF:

• "The Regersek Zone" by Mark Webb
• "Nothing To Something" by Leonie Rogers.
• "Mea Culpa" by Ed Errington.
• "Scavenger" by Leslie Blake.
• "Underground Agency" by D.W. Walker.
• "The Public Transport Virgin" by Kathryn Yuen.
• "Fifty Worders"       

Audio Fiction
• At 19 Nocturne Boulevard: "The Black Lamp" by Captain S.P. Meek, read by Julie Hoverson. (part 2 of 2). Part One here. Science Fiction.
     "Dr. Bird and his friend Carnes unravel another criminal web of scientific mystery."

• At Strange Horizons: "Runaway Cyclone" by Jagadish Chandra Bose, read by Anaea Lay.
     "A few years ago a supernatural event was observed which rocked the scientific communities of America and Europe. A number of articles were published in various scientific journals to explain the phenomenon. But till now no explanation of the event has been found satisfactory."

Other Genres

• Audio Drama at American Radio Theater: "Let Me Tell You About My Operation"
• Audio Fiction at LibrVox: The Heptameron of the Tales of Margaret, Queen of Navarre, Vol. 1. Medieval Literature.
• Fiction at Project Gutenberg: The Boy Chums Cruising in Florida Waters by Wilmer M. Ely. YA Adventure. 1914.
• Fiction at Project Gutenberg: The Galloping Ghost by Roy J. Snell. YA Mystery. 1933.
• Flash Fiction at Linguistic Erosion: "Boxes And Ladders" by E.S. Wynn.
• Flash Fiction at Flash Fiction Online:  "Bats at Dusk" by Jorie Daniels.
• Flash Fiction - Now Posted: SmokeLong Quarterly #41.
• Flash Fiction at Smash Cat Magazine: "Love Choices" by Jerry Guarino.
• Poetry at Leaves of Ink: "Penitentiary Mystic" by David Rutter. 

Celebrating the Births . . . Paul Park, Donald A. Wollheim, and William Beckford

Paul Park (born 1 October 1954)
      A Nebula and World Fantasy award nominated fantasy and science fiction author. Park also taught writing at the Clarion West workshop. 











Fiction 
• At Lightspeed: "Get a Grip" 1997.
     "This kind of storytelling used to drive my ex-wife crazy. 'It’s so pointless. It’s not like you’re pretending you’re an astronaut or a circus clown. That I could see. But a Canadian?'"  Audio at same link.

• At Infinity Plus: "The Tourist" Science Fiction. 1994.
      "Everybody wants to see the future, but of course they can't. They get turned back at the border. 'Go away,' the customs people tell them. 'You can't come in. Go home.'"

 Donald Allen Wollheim (October 1, 1914 – November 2, 1990)
     A Nebula, World Fantasy, British Fantasy, and Locus Poll Award winner, Wollheim was a science fiction editor, publisher, writer, and a founding member of the Futurians.  He founded DAW Books in 1972.









 Fiction
•  At Project Gutenberg: The Secret of the Ninth Planet. Science Fiction. 1959.
      "The drop in channeling from Planet III that had occurred some time ago had thus far not caused too much concern. It was assumed by the other intelligent beings involved that the matter was possibly a weather condition, a volcanic discharge or quite simply that the planet was in unfavorable orbit. Not all the stations ever worked simultaneously. There were always some behind the Sun, or blocked in some other manner. But the main channels were at work, and the different lines and shifts continued to build up satisfactorily."

Old Time Radio 
At Internet Archive: (MP3 Direct Downloads)
• "The Embassy" Dimension X (1950) and X Minus One (1955) Science Fiction.
     "A detective agency is hired by a crackpot who wants them to investigate and expose a nest of Martians sent to prepare the way for an invasion of Earth." - OTR Plotspot.

William Thomas Beckford (1 October 1760 – 2 May 1844)
      An English author and art collector, Beckford is best known for the Gothic novel Vathek (1787).  Vathek, along with Horace Walpole's earlier The Castle of Otranto and  Mary Shelley's later Frankenstein, had a profound influence on later gothic and horror stories, and to some extent on the fantasy genre.









Fiction
At Project Gutenberg: Vathek.
     "The Caliph, in the mean while caused the palaces of the senses to be again set open, and as he found himself prompted to visit that of taste, in preference to the rest, immediately ordered a splendid entertainment, to which his great officers and favourite courtiers were all invited.  The Indian, who was placed near the prince, seemed to think that as a proper acknowledgment of so distinguished a privilege, he could neither eat, drink, nor talk too much.  The various dainties were no sooner served up than they vanished, to the great mortification of Vathek, who piqued himself on being the greatest eater alive, and at this time in particular had an excellent appetite."

Audio Fiction at LibriVox: Vathek, read by Morgan Scorpion.

Fiend of Fire by Eando Binder

Let's kick of this month's bonus terror's with a short tale by Eando Binder (the pen name initially of Earl and Otto Binder, but by the the time of this story, the writing was all done by Otto Binder).  

FIEND OF FIRE

by Eando Binder

HARLOW MAXON felt pretty good as he stuffed his pipe and prepared to settle back for a smoke. He was safe now. His big problem had been settled — completely. He could relax now and enjoy life.

Maxon lit the match and held it to his pipe, ready for a good smoke. But suddenly, the match flame hissed and sprang toward his eyes, like a live thing! With a yelp of pain and fright, Maxon flung it down and stamped on it, breathing hard.

Why had the match acted like that? Maxon calmed down. "Oh, just a defective one," he told himself. "I'll try another."

Lighting another match, he held it gingerly at arm's length, in case it would act up too, but it's flame was normal and steady. Sighing in relief, he brought it to his pipe, puffing. But again, amazingly, the flame suddenly expanded lividly and hissed toward his face as if to burn his eyes out!

Let the Terrors Begin

October begins well as we begin 31 days if terror at QuasarDragon.*  Although we will have as many, if not more, fantasy and science links as usual, there will a greater emphasis on fear until the horrors of All Hallow's Eve are washed away by the insipidness of All Saints' Day.  

 As you can see there's already a bunch of great freebies to start the month, with more to come. [Art for "The Sea Witch" in Audio Fiction]

 *QuasarDragon is not responsible for wet pants, heart palpitations, feeling of paranoia, or embarrassment as you run screaming in terror like a frightened child from these free frights.


Fiction
• At AE: "Nothing, Ventured" by James Beamon. Science Fiction.
     "Dr. Anatoly Iburruri hungered for nothing, and hungered for it relentlessly. It was out there, waiting for him to find — something that wasn’t something. While other scientists flash-heated liquids or supercooled solids trying to find new, undiscovered particles and elements to name after themselves, Anatoly searched for naught."

• At Aurora Wolf: "Home and Garden Show" by Juliana Rew.
       "Failing to decide is a decision. I flip the handmade slugs over and between my fingers like a magician with a coin. I made them myself to a fine tolerance. The action soothes me. I let them fall back into their coffer, slide it to the back of the drawer, and lock it. I wonder if the time has come. . ."

• At The Colored Lens: "Leaky Magic" by Judith Field. Urban Fantasy.
     "It was dark by the time Mark Anderson opened his front door and staggered into the house clutching the dead weight of the shoebox to his chest. He gagged as manure-smelling blue slime oozed from the base of the box, down his suit jacket and onto the hall rug. He pushed the door shut and put the box on the hall floor."

• At GigaNotoSaurus: "Mother Roughcoat and Aunt Far Away" by Patricia Russo.
      "Mother Roughcoat lived in a one-room shack in the center of the city. She wasn’t, and never had been, anybody’s mother, but because she was older than the municipal hall, or looked it–in truth, she looked older than the Foundation Fountain, and that thing was crumbling to sand–people called her Mother out of an old-fashioned sort of politeness."

• At Lightspeed: "Help Fund My Robot Army!!!"  by Keffy R. M. Kehrli. Science Fiction.
       "As late as ten years ago, a mad scientist with a dream could expect to turn a decent profit with his lesser inventions and build enough capital to put his (or her!) real plans into play. Those days are sadly over, although my father, fool that he was, claimed that they never existed."

• At Lightspeed: "Augusta Prima" by Karin Tidbeck, Fantasy.
      "Augusta stood in the middle of the lawn with the croquet club in a two-handed grasp. She had been offered the honor of opening the game. Mnemosyne’s prized croquet balls were carved from bone, with inlaid enamel and gold. The ball at Augusta’s feet stared up at her with eyes of bright blue porcelain."

Flash Fiction

• At Daily Science Fiction: "The Gifts: Part One" by Mari Ness. Fantasy.
• At Every Day Fiction: "Local Woman is 69 but Looks 21" by George S. Walker, Horror. 
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Roboy" by Mae Thann. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction

• At Anthropomorphic Dreams Publishing: "A Place to Belong - part 2" by Eric Luhman. Anthropomorphic Fantasy.
      "Kevin the human decides to face the challenge and prove he has the right to be part of the dragon clan. It will not be easy though. It will take all his strength and cunning and he might very well be fighting for his life…"

• At Lightspeed: "Help Fund My Robot Army!!!"  by Keffy R. M. Kehrli, read by Stefan Rudnicki. Science Fiction.
       "As late as ten years ago, a mad scientist with a dream could expect to turn a decent profit with his lesser inventions and build enough capital to put his (or her!) real plans into play. Those days are sadly over, although my father, fool that he was, claimed that they never existed."

• At Protecting Project Pulp: "The Sea Witch" by Nictzin Dyalhis, read by Fred Himebaugh.  Horror.
     "Out of the sea she came, this gloriously beautiful woman, to compass a weird revenge that had been too long delayed." first published in Weird Tales, December 1937.

Celebrating the Births . . . Nicola Griffith, S. M. Stirling, and H. B. Fyfe

Nicola Griffith (born 30 September 1960)
     A  Nebula, James Tiptree, Jr., World Fantasy Award, Lambda Literary Award winner, Griffith's fiction has been extremely well received.  Her web page is here.











Many! free fiction links after jump break