More Cool Free E-Zines

Another great batch of free fiction as a few more good free fiction e-zines are up online.  All are worth checking out because each is unique, quite good, and best of all free! And don't miss all the flash fiction from several varied sites.  And there's some good audio fiction for when your eyes fall out from over-reading.











Fiction

Now Posted: Expanded Horizons #38 Speculative Fiction.

"Scales as Pale as Moonlight" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

      "A child wailed in the dark, in the scrubland. The serpent screams like that as it waits in the thickets. Laura opened the window and stood still, listening. The cry did not repeat itself."

"He Can Pull Out of the Soil and Walk Away" by EA Hopson.

        "I look up and see the dog playing with a dropped branch in the drive. He is shaking it back and forth, trying to break the imaginary neck beneath the bark. It takes me a full two minutes to realise that it’s not a branch at all, but a broken prong from the antlers of the moose they towed away this morning."

At Fear and Trembling: "A Fixer-Upper" by Mark Silcox. Horror. Ghost.

      "It was the sort of road that might have been frightening to travel in the dark. It turned and wound to and fro through the rugged countryside like a weird carnival ride. The hedges on either side were unruly and hopping with life, and there certainly wasn’t enough space for two cars to pass alongside one another without incident."

Now Posted: Fusion Fragment #19

"The Crows Dance While The Baby Cries" by Daniel Davis. Science Fiction.
       "Some sort of vision Portholes occasionally experienced, potent enough to be depicted on the medallion, mysterious enough to garner only a few mentions in official research. No explanation was known, though it had been hypothesized that the drug affected the human mind in some primal way, going back thousands of years, to when fears and joys and all of life's experiences were basic. A shared hallucination.

"Every Breath You Take" by Don Norum. Science Fiction.
       "The lady on the television said that she could sense them. $3.99 a minute, she'd tell you where they were. Bathroom, bedroom, kitchen - how many, what they were doing, what they looked like."

"Evaporated Government" by John Skylar. Science Fiction.
        "Apparently I am the President of the United States of America. It's not something I've processed all the way yet."

Now Posted Interstellar Fiction Dec. 2012:  Science Fiction.

"Cold Pride" by James K. Isaac. Science Fiction.
      "Quinn was impulsive; according to the assessment of his masters anyway. But he dismissed their words as “the counter intuitive judgments of those who had been too long out the field.” His masters were old, unlike Brother Quinn who possessed both youth and talent, who was gifted with speed of foot and mind, a quick study."
"One Good Turn" by Edward H. Park. Science Fiction.
      "Michael didn’t sense anything wrong until he was almost back to the ship. He had no communications with the rest of the crew when his orbit took him to the other side of the planet, of course, but even when the ship showed up again on the scanner he didn’t bother to call in. He was still going over the data gathered on the planet’s tiny moon."
"Maximum Law" by Martin Clark. Science Fiction.
      "Rolling in the deep, wired to the max. Adele playing on Retro FM, Jim driving, me hugging the 12-gauge to my chest, head bobbing in time to the beat. We were both fired up on Godz — methamphetamine with a ketamine bumper — and feeling pretty damn invincible."

Now Posted: Quantum Muse: December 2012 Edition.

"Beyond the Rift" by Jeromy Henry. Fantasy.
      "Everyone who tries the ritual ends up insane or altered into something... unpleasant. But Jed has nothing to lose. Can he be the first one to master magic? Will he unlock the secrets of the world, or destroy it?" 
"Grulym" by Astrid Nielsen. Fantasy.
     "Dark forces are at work in the city of Grulym, and Raduz, an exiled doctor, is unkowingly tied to the changes aubout to happen."
"Paradoxical" by Impotent Verse. Science Fiction.
     "What is stranger, the notes Jack finds tucked inside his library books, or that he takes their messages very seriously?"
"Eye of the Trapped Animal" by Gordon Rowlinson. "Alternative"
      "What would you do if you had an out of body experience and witnessed a crime. You couldn't prove it."

Now Posted: Perihelion - Dec. 2012:  Science Fiction.

"Who By Fire" by Jeff Samson. Science Fiction.
      "THE LIFT DESCENDS, GRINDING and shuddering down the station’s spine. Through the smoky glass doors I watch the hangar names slide across my line of sight in thick, jet-black characters crosshatched with colors that change from level to level. They shift from cool purples and blues to warm greens and ambers to hot rusts and reds, their palette specified long ago by some methodical, color-minded engineer."
Shit Eatin’ Dog by Bob Sojka. Science Fiction.
      "The spacecraft’s gazetteer and botanary had sparse entries for this location, and only a few features were identified with earth names. What mattered more was that the air was promisingly redolent with a blend of organic volatiles emanating from the profusion of living and decaying carbon-based life forms all about."
Joshua Who Could See by Elizabeth Streeter. Science Fiction.
     "Joshua keeps his head down, black sunglasses shielding his eyes. He focuses on nothing. The doctors taught him this technique. It will calm you, they said. Keep you from getting overwhelmed. Keep you from hurting yourself."
Calliope Muse by Rebecca L. Brown. Science Fiction.
     "CALLIOPE MUSE IS a Breeder. You can tell by the way she wears her hips; full— not shaved down widthways like all the other girlies. If not by that, then you can tell by the hang of her tits—almost down to her waist if she didn’t have that clasp contraption on and buckled up tight. Calliope Muse is a Breeder and that makes her desirable."
Waver of the Image by Joe Occhipinti. Science Fiction.
      "His eyes ran along the camber of the world, along the seam to where the arch of green grass gave way to the bend of sky. Every hundred paces or so an elbow of dull gray pipe the size of his waist jutted out of the land and plunged into the silver hue; the elbows were like stitches that cleaved the sky to the earth."
Salvation of Sam by Ellen Denton. Science Fiction.
       "IT WAS NOW TWO YEARS since Sam had gotten out of prison and been posted on Rika 4. He shook his head with disgust as he looked at the expanse of flat, brown sand stretching as far as he could see in all directions. He still had a hard time accepting that he was on some dump of a planet that didn’t even have virtual reality-escape machines. Even prisons had them these days."
Three Into Two Won’t Go by Ann Gimpel. Science Fiction.
       "CORINA TROTTED SMARTLY down the well-worn dirt track. She’d gotten a shred off course, but astute orienteering had fixed that. The angle of the sun was a bit of a puzzle. She didn’t see how it could have shifted to the western sky so quickly. And she was worried about Josh. What had happened to him? One minute they’d been together, the next she was walking by herself, feeling out of it."
3rd Dragoon Regiment and the Liberation of Contagor’e-Mare by Don C. Ciers. Science Fiction.
       "Our timing is perfect, Commodore. Balesti and Aipian are at aphelion. ESR shows 17 civilian transports in orbit of Aipian and her moons and stations, half of them are running cold. Even if they power up in time they won’t reach the 9-3 lanes before we do,” the S-3 asserted."
Collector’s Item by Doug Donnan. Science Fiction.
      “A hundred bucks? Why that’s highway robbery,” Mandelbrite replied as he waved his pudgy hands aloft like some crazed televangelist. “I don’t think you realize the potential of this little robot.”

 Flash Fiction

• At Expanded Horizons: "A New Word" by Rachel Manija Brown. Fantasy Poem.
• At Fear and Trembling:  "Song of the Frogs" by M. T. Nagel. Horror.
• At Fear and Trembling: "Unprepared" by Celesta Thiessen. Zombies.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Two’s a Crowd" by Tom Coupland. Science Fiction.
• At Antipodean: Speculative Fiction:

"Faerie Blues" by Chris Andrews.
"Corporate Body" by D.W. Walker.
"The Past Is A Good Place" by Antoinette Rydyr.
"Solipsism" by Kevin J. Phyland.
"Dogtrap" by Dr. Michael Schaper.

Audio Fiction
At Beam Me Up:  Episode #342. Science Fiction and Fact.
    Featuring part 4 of Poul Anderson’s "Call Me Joe" and "Make Mine a Macchiato" by Mark Webb. As well as science news and commentary.

At Cthulhu: The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson (Parts 8 & 9) Horror.
      "I suppose I must have swooned; for, the next thing I remember, I opened my eyes, and all was dusk. I was lying on my back, with one leg doubled under the other, and Pepper was licking my ears. I felt horribly stiff, and my leg was numb, from the knee, downward. For a few minutes, I lay thus, in a dazed condition; then, slowly, I struggled to a sitting position, and looked about me."

At The Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs: Episode 07 - The Return of Tarzan Adventure.
      "Tarzan’s sojourn in Paris has come to an end. Through his friendship with the Count De Coude, he has been presented with a position as special agent of the French ministry of war."

Other Genres
Audio at Tales of Old: "When Grandpa Played Baseball" Historical Fiction.
Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "Deeper" by Douglas Campbell.

Free Fiction Part 2: Clarkesworls and Much More.

Even more great freebies, including the latest issue of Clarkesworld Magazine, one of the best magazines available (free or not).  There's more worthwhile free fiction, including a few quite good ezines, audio fiction, old time radio, and more.Check everything out; you won't be disappointed.



[Art from Clarkesworld]








Fiction
At Aurora Wolf: "In a Dragon’s Age" by Eric J. Juneau. Fantasy.
      “Get off my lawn, ya damn kid,” the old dragon slayer said.

At L5R: "Scenes from the Empire" by Robert Denton & Yoon Ha Lee. Fantasy.
      "Few ever visited theTempleofVigil. Indeed, few even knew of the temple’s existence. Far from the settlements on theIslandofSilk, it was connected only by an unfrequented road ever-fading into tropical brush. The canopy masked it, except for its pointed pagoda, which jutted abruptly from the green landscape like a broken ship’s bow. On this night, it was nearly invisible, even to the gilding touch of the waning moon."

Now Posted:  Aoife's Kiss - Issue #43.: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror.

"Just Another Cothoc Vys" by D. Gansen. Science Fiction.
     "He knew the enemy, even if he didn’t understand them. The Cothoc Vystrians who were trying to kill him were humans in that they had emigrated from Earth in the Great Exodus with the ancestors of everybody else who now lived in the galaxy. There were, however, subtle differences between Renfro and them."
"Broken" by Jennifer Juneau.
     "Had she left the baby in the changing room?  No, she hadn’t taken the baby shopping today.  Others began staring at her as she stood stock still.  A woman rolled her eyes in disgust.  A man gazed at her and shook his head.  That was it—it was her head.  She had forgotten her head."
"Property Values" by Wayne Carey.
     "I didn't see the necessity of my joining the entourage as it trekked through the forests of Enyo from the landing site. Robert “Bobby” Carter, owner and CEO of Carter Industries, led the way, his huge form in its cream-colored suit stomping along the path. I followed dutifully behind, wishing to be back in the yacht and out of the stifling heat"
"Forever Love" by Rone Wisten. Poem
"Rusted World" by JD DeHart. Poem.
"The Monolith" by Christina Sng. Poem.

Now Posted: Clarkesworld Magazine Issue #75, December 2012 Science Fiction and Fantasy.

"Your Final Apocalypse" by Sandra McDonald .

      "This is not a story about the end of the world, although Casual Visitor arrived here in search of such a tale approximately .03 seconds ago. (It, not him or her or they. There is no gender in this corner of the future. There is nothing physical about Casual Visitor, but I’m a different story.)"

"The Wisdom of Ants" by Thoraiya Dyer.

     "As I plunged shoulder-deep into fetid sink-silt, I had time to think, I’m not fit to take Mother’s place, before the arboreal ant’s nest I’d been reaching for dropped after me, cracking open on my upturned face."

"Sweet Subtleties" by Lisa L Hannett.

     "Javier calls me Una, though I’m not the first. There are leftovers all around his studio. Evidence of other, more perishable versions. Two white chocolate legs on a Grecian plinth in the corner, drained of their caramel filling."

 Now Posted: The Fifth Dimension - Edition 14, #4--December 2012. Fantasy and science Fiction.

"Crimes of Passion" by Daniel C. Smith.
       "Diane Greenwood. She had had it all, young, beautiful, from a good family, officially confirmed within a fine church and excelling at a reputable college. And then she pissed it away for one of them-- an Antarian no less."
"What the Dormouse Said" by Tessa Bennett.
       "Looking in the bathroom mirror, she was could see the bags under eyes, the pimples on her face, and the cracks in her chapped white lips. It was becoming harder and harder to deny the reality of her situation and the more she tried to rationalize the physical ailments away, the more acutely aware she became of just how bad it had become."
"Six Step Recovery for Hacker-Inventors" by Marilyn K. Martin.
       "I hear I'm like most of you. Hacked a Roompa and built a mobile android," began Bruce nervously. "Called mine Robby, after a Classic TV Series with a robot named Robby."

Now Posted Nightblade - Issue 22 - The Language of Flowers: Fantasy and Horror.

"Tonight, Tonight" by W.P. Johnson
      "The harmonics ring out and he winds the tuning peg down for the E string. The two notes start to shimmer and throb against one another, creating a wave of sound that fluctuates slower and slower until a single harmony is created."
"The House That Did Not Breathe" by Gwendolyn Edward and Andrew Austin     "I remember a volume I had seen once in the rare book room at my university, and how there was a locking hinge made of rusted metal, attached to the wooden, worm eaten covers, and how when the hinge was unlatched the book sprang open as if begging to be read, the folded pages of the manuscript parched and dry and written upon in black ink with illustrations of many colors and the occasional golden embellishment."
"The Garden" by Christopher DeWan.     "We shined the light through the glass. The windows looked dirty and thin. Somewhere, there was a beast outside. We thought we heard the sound of breathing but realized maybe it was our own. We didn’t see a thing." "Hieronymus" by Megan ArkenbergThe alcove is always full of papers. I leave them stacked on the floor around me, and between toasting muffins, sending maids for laundry and tallying fees for the few and increasingly shabby guests, I sit by the window with a cup of tea and a scissors and search for Hieronymus.

Now Posted:  Spaceports & Spidersilk -.Vol. 5 No. 4: Children's Fantasy and Science Fiction.

Flash Fiction and Poems
At 365 Tomorrows: "Android CG" by Alice Brook.
At The Fifth Dimension: Fantasy and Science Fiction Poems

• Beachhead by Marge Simon and Michael Fosburg
• Battle Hymn of the Robot Army by Robert Hanson
• What Martian Wouldn't by Ruth Sabath Rosenthal
• In the Arena by Bruce Boston

At Nightblade: Fantasy and Horror Poems

• The Maiden-Harp by Sara Cleto
• The Language of Flowers by Alicia Cole
• Orphean Habit by Erik Amundsen
• Glacial Raft by Carolyn Agee 
• Curse of the Reaper's Wife by Bruce Boston

Audio Fiction
At Cast of Wonders: "The Quarrel of the Monkey and the Crab" by Yei Theodora Ozaki. Fairy Tale.
      From a book called Japanese Fairy Tales (published 1908). "Long, long ago, one bright autumn day in Japan, it happened, that a pink-faced monkey and a yellow crab were playing together along the bank of a river. As they were running about, the crab found a rice-dumpling and the monkey a persimmon-seed."

At Clarkesworld: "Your Final Apocalypse" by Sandra McDonald
     Described above..

At Decoder Ring Theater: The Red Panda in "Last Flight of the Valkyrie" Adventure. Superhero. 
      "These days even the arrival of old friends almost always seems to mean trouble. They never seem to show up without news of some new doomsday menace, hurtling through the sky at terrible speed. Will the Red Panda and the Flying Squirrel catch The Last Flight of the Valkyrie?"

At LibriVox: "Brood of the Dark Moon" by Charles W. Diffin. Science Fiction.
      "Once more Chet, Walt and Diane are united in a wild ride to the Dark Moon—but this time they go as prisoners of their deadly enemy Schwartzmann."  [The audio version of the first story "Dark Moon" is here]

Old Time Radio

• At Journey Into: "The Black Door" - Suspense.
• At OTR PlotSpot: "The Snowman Killing" - Fear on 4 (1988). Horror.
• At OTR PlotSpot: "The Black Room" - CBS Radio Mystery Theater (1974).
• At Relic Radio: "Fever" - The Hermits Cave. Horror.
• At Relic Radio: "The Planet Zevius" by The Mysterious Traveler. (1951) Sci-Fi.

Other Genres

• Fiction at The New Yorker: "Literally" by Antonya Nelson.
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "A Geronimo Autumn" by Ruth Schiffmann.

Vonnegut, Poe, and More Freebies

Monday's not all bad when great sites like these give us free fiction like this. There are four short stories and three audio stories (plus one audio serial) of note, and good flash fiction.  There are also a few good comic book stories including a pair of Poe adaptations at the always cool The Horrors of It All. And there are some interesting stories from other genres.


[Art from "Hop Frog" in Comics below]


Fiction
At Black Gate: "Awakening" by Judith Berman. Fantasy.
     "The nightmare began when, thinking someone had called out, she opened her eyes and saw the leathery face of a corpse as close to her as a lover’s. She started up with a cry, heart pounding, certain she would find herself in her bed with her own warm and living lover. But she found only bony hands tangled in her hair, and the smell of cold decay."

At Daily Science Fiction: "You're Heads," She Says. "You're Tails." by M. Bennardo.
     "It's all because, a few minutes earlier, she studied the two of us--me and that other guy. Because she pulled out her magnifying glass and scrutinized every line of our bodies and faces, peered into our eyes, tapped our knees, checked how our hair met our scalps."

At Short-Story.me:  "Fluff" by Joshua Flowers. Horror.
      "Oh how I love fluff! I love the sight of fluff. Ever since I was little the sight of fluff has been the most beautiful thing in the world to me. From the way it looks to the way it feels, fluff was truly a miracle of God. My dad would give me strange looks, saying little boys shouldn’t be doing such inappropriate things, but I didn’t care. The fluff was just too beautiful."

At WiFiles: "MAD" by Keith G. Laufenberg. Speculative Fiction.
      "The year was 2045 and the world was on the brink of nuclear disaster, a war from which no one was very likely to survive, and yet those in the know were scrambling to do just that—to survive. The president and most of his cabinet were intending to take up residence in a nuclear submarine the likes of which had never been seen before."

Flash Fiction

• At Quantum Muse: "The First Story Ever Told" by Patrick Wiley.
• At Short-Story.me: "The Life and Times of Mr Jack Murdoch" by Derek Robinson. Fantasy.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "The Message" by Clint Wilson. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
At Author's Site: "The MVP Episode #7" by Scott Sigler. Science Fiction, Football.
      "Quentin sets foot on a new world. His interpersonal skills are brought into play, and we all know how well he does in those situations."

At LibriVox: "2 B R 0 2 B & The Big Trip Up Yonder" by Kurt Vonnegut. Science Fiction.
"The population of the US has dropped from 80 billion to 40 million." and "a comical yet scary description of what over population was going to do to society after aging was conquered and a simple daily dose of "anti-gerosone" would keep you forever the same age."

At Toasted Cake: "Gutterpunk Cheese" by Eric Stoveken. Speculative Fiction.
     "It was three o'clock in the morning and Steve stood in an alley, awaiting the underground cheese tasting."

Comic Books

• At Atomic Kommie Comics:  Lars of Mars in "Secret Origin" Sci-Fi. 195x.
• At Atomic Kommie Comics: "The Purple Mists" Sci-Fi. 1953.
• At Four Color Shadows: "The Asteroid Witch" Sci-Fi. 1950.
• At The Comic Book Catacombs: "The Lost Princess" Adventure. 1949.
• At The Horrors of It All: "Hop Frog by Edgar Allan Poe" Horror. 1954.
• At The Horrors of It All: "The Curse of Metzengerstein" Horror. 1953.

Other Genres

• Audio at Crime City Central: "Lessons" by Laura van den Berg. Crime.
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "Sell Yourself Short" by Sarah Crysl Akhtar.
• Fiction at The New Yorker: "Bull" by Mo Ya.
• Fiction at Short-Story.me: "In a Heartbeat" by April Winters. Romance.
• Fiction at Short-Story.me: "Blood Raven" by Shalom Jacobs. Mystery.

Sunday Goodies

A bit later than usual, but with lots of cool freebies including, the latest issue of the Lovecraft eZine, classic SF from Project Gutenberg, and good audio fiction, flash fiction. e-books, and items from other genres.



[Art from the Lovecraft eZine, linked below.]








Fiction At Project Gutenberg: "A World by the Tale" by Randall Garrett. Science Fiction. 1963.
      "This is about the best-hated author on Earth. Who was necessarily pampered and petted because of his crime against humanity...."

Now Posted:  The Lovecraft eZine #19

"A Thousand Smokes" by W.H. Pugmire.
      "It towered, the twisted entity, above the ground-mist that enveloped me as I swept into that hollow of old oaks. I confess that it felt strange, knowing once again the uncanny sensations that I had experienced as a youngster"
"The Strange Case ofCrazy Joe Gallo" by Jeffrey Thomas.
       "Gallo first learned of the infamous, ancient book while serving a ten year sentence for extortion. Gallo was widely read – in prison he devoured the writings of Sartre, Machiavelli, Kafka, Nietzsche, and Camus – and so it was not unnatural for him to become intrigued by talk of this legendary tome."
"In the House of the Hummingbirds" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
       "If you think about it, it makes sense. After all, Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec god of War and patron of the city of Tenochtitlan, was the Hummingbird of the Left. The souls of dead warriors return to our world in the shape of hummingbirds. Why shouldn’t war be a flower?"
"The Treatment Room" by Kevin Crisp.
       "I have not long been a vagrant, nor will I be much longer.  This much has been determined.  I continue to run and hide, but it is merely animal instinct at work.  The man in me knows it to be futile.  My date approaches."
"Obsidian Capra Aegagrus" by Christopher Slatsky.
       "It was early afternoon- how much heroin had I mainlined already? Two grams? I could stand a lot more. I’d anticipated and funded this drug acquisition over a period of months by selling several boxes of my beloved vinyl collection"
"The Dig" by Monica Valentinelli.
        "The Voice is soft, plain, urgent. It speaks to me through shadows and sunbeams, reflections and dreams. The words creep in between my waking thoughts, insisting that I dig. I try to tell It to stop, but It won’t listen."
"Amtopians" by Logan Davis.         "I’m not going to make this sound like this is like some fairy tale or mythical tale or something like that.  It’s just a night I will never forget."

At Project Gutenberg: "Astounding Stories, March, 1931" Science Fiction.

"When the Mountain Came to Miramar" by Charles W. Diffin
      "It is Magic against Magic As Garry Connell Bluffs for His Life with a Prehistoric Savage in the Heart of Sentinel Mountain."
"Beyond the Vanishing Point" by Ray Cummings.
       "The Tale of a Golden Atom—an Astounding Adventure in Size. (A Complete Novelette.)"
"Terrors Unseen" by Harl Vincent.
       "One after Another the Invisible Robots Escape Shelton's Control—and Their Trail Leads Straight to the Gangster Chief Cadorna." 
"Phalanxes of Atlans" by F. V. W. Mason.
        "Never Did an Aviator Ride a More Amazing Sky-Steed Than Alden on His Desperate Dash to the Great Jarmuthian Ziggurat. (Conclusion of a Two-Part Novel.)"
"The Meteor Girl" by Jack Williamson.
        "Through the Complicated Space-Time of the Fourth Dimension Goes Charlie King in an Attempt to Rescue the Meteor Girl."

Flash Fiction

• At Silverblade: "Midnight in the Garden of Light" by Elizabeth Hopkinson. Fantasy.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Don’t Look" by Duncan Shields. Science Fiction.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "The Loneliness of Time Travel" by George R. Shirer. Science Fiction.
• At Weirdyear: "Benny" by Tony Rauch. Weird.

E-Books
At Amazon: Speculative Fiction The Ultimate Collection [Kindle Edition] by David K Scholes.

Via Pixel of Ink:

• Triangle: False Mirror by Lea-Ellen Borg. Science Fiction.
• Fallen, A New Draycott Abbey Series by Christina Skye. Fantasy.
• Opal Fire by Barbra Annino. Paranormal.
• A Gift of Ghosts by Sarah Wynde. Paranormal.

At Free eBooks Daily:

• Claus: Legend of the Fat Man by Tony Bertauski. Science Fiction
• Valley Of The Shadows: Kingdom Of Hillael by Amre Cortadino. Fantasy.
• Daisy Cooper and the Sisters of the Black Night by Robert Dee. YA Adventure.
• Aisle 13 by Zachary Stone. Horror. Zombies.
• Contagious by Emily Goodwin. Horror.
• Ruby Blue by Julie Cassar. YA Fantasy.
• Poet's Blood by Marie Symeou, Fantasy.
• Night Sea Journey, A Tale of the Supernatural by Paula Cappa. Horror. Paranormal.
• Upon This World of Stone by James A. Hillebrecht. Fantasy.
• Heart of the Hunter by Lara Adrian. Paranormal Romance.
• Troll Or Derby by Red Tash.  YA Dark Fantasy.
• Traphis: A Wizard's Tale by James D. Maxon
• Dark Passage by Griffin Hayes. Horror.
• The Zul Enigma by J M Leitch. Science Fiction.
• You Are Not a Planet and Other Stories by Sean Manseau. Speculative Fiction.
• Godmachine by Jack Thompson. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
At Beam Me Up: "Episode #341" Science Fiction.
      Kevin Pickett’s “Bedtime Story” which ask, what do you think would be society’s reaction to a robot that become sentient? and part 3 of Poul Anderson’s “Call me Joe”

At Escape Pod: "A Querulous Flute of Bone" by Cat Rambo.  Science Fiction.
       "Aaben was such a collector. S/he was one of the geniod, whose gender varies according to mood, location, and other private considerations, and who are known, in the face of great trauma, to forget who they are and become entirely different personalities, their old selves never to be resumed or spoken of."

At The Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs: "Episode 05 - The Return of Tarzan" Adventure.
     "Tarzan of the Apes, now in Paris, has become a confidante of the Countess Olga De Code."

At The Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs: "Episode 06 - The Return of Tarzan" Adventure.
      "Tarzan has paid a visit to the evil Nicholas Rokoff. After choking the villain until his face turns black, the nefarious Rokoff has given Tarzan a signed confession of his part in the trumped-up scandal involving Olga De Coude."

At The Lovecraft eZine: Issue #19. Horror
       All stories listed in fiction have audio versions.

At SFFAudio: Two versions of Algernon Blackwood’s "The Man Who Found Out" Horror.
      "And the young doctor, thanking the gods of science that his leader's aberrations were of so harmless a character, went home strong in the certitude of his knowledge of externals, proud that he was able to refer his visions to self-suggestion, and wondering complaisantly whether in his old age he might not after all suffer himself from visitations of the very kind that afflicted his respected chief."

Other Genres

• Audio at Classic Tales Podcast: "The Chimes, Part 1 of 4" by Charles Dickens
• Audio at Tales of Old: "A Passing Pleasing Toungue" by Kara Race-Moore. Historical Fiction. England 1528.
• Audio at PRI: Selected Shorts - "Remembering Isaiah Sheffer"   T.C. Boyle’s Lassie parody “Heart of a Champion,” two hilarious tales by Ian Frazier, “Dating Your Mom” and “Lamentations of the Father,” and Allan Gurganus’ mystical “It Had Wings.”
• Fiction at Online Pulps:  "Murdered Twice" by Norman A. Daniels. Crime 1935. and "Man of the Abyss" by Hapsburg Liebe. Western 1948.
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "Knowledge" by Ken Elkes.
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "The Big Game" by Greg Chase.
• OTR at Relic Radio: "The Headstrong Corpse"  - CBS Radio Mystery Theater. 1974.

Fiction at The Western Online:

• "Fool's Gold" by D. M. Harrison.
• "Four Bullets to Leadville" by Benedict J. Jones
• "The Cold Trail" by Jerry D. White

Free Fiction for Nov. 1

 Awesome free fiction (in several categories), likely more later.





Fiction
At Beneath Ceaseless Skies: "After Compline, Silence Falls" by  M. Bennardo. Fantasy.
       "As I rub down the pony after returning from Biyen’s farm, Frère Bruno steps silently into the stable, his hands and forearms still smelling of the sweet wort he has been straining from the barley mash. He has something to say, but he is waiting to be spoken to."
 At Beneath Ceaseless Skies: "They Make of You a Monster" by Damien Walters Grintalis. Fantasy.
      "The Healers, three women draped in robes of red, enter her cell. They don’t say a word. She keeps silent when they grab her. Twists away from their grasp. Fights against them with all the strength she can summon."
At GigaNotoSaurus: "Woman of the Sun, Woman of the Moon" by by Benjanun Sriduangkaew. SF.
      "It is the aftermath of the world’s end, and nine birds–nine suns–lie dead while Houyi cradles the curve of her bow, her fingers locking around the taut hardness of its string. The tenth sun, the last, has fled. Chastise them, Dijun said, a father’s plea."
At Kasma SF: "The Unfortunate Necessity of Regular Upgrades" by C.J. Page. Science Fiction.
      "Ahead the remains of a man hang, held up by a crystalline something that's grown from the wall and into him. He's swollen as though overinflated, full of the stuff, and a mass of crystal shards sprouts from his mouth, nostrils, and empty eyesockets."

Flash Fiction

• At Daily Science Fiction: "Susumu Must Fold" by Tony Pi. Science Fiction.
• At Eschatology:  "Just Your Average Tuesday at the Slaughterhouse" by Ives Hovanessian. Horror.
• At Flashes in the Dark: "Part of Me" by Sue Sekar. Horror.
• At Innsmouth Free Press: "You are never supposed to open the door" By David C. Kopaska-Merkel. Horror. Poem.
• At Lovecraft eZine: “Halloween in a Suburb” by H.P. Lovecraft. Horror. Poem.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "End of the Universe Theories" by James Bambury. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
 At Beneath Ceaseless Skies: "Luck Fish" Peta Freestone. Fantasy.
      "Masozi holds the twitching fish carcass above his head, out of Themba's reach. "Make your own luck this year, little lion." He takes another bite and tries to grin, but it's all he can do not to cringe as a single fish scale cuts into the gum between his two front teeth."
At Decoder Ring Theater:  Red Panda - "The Missing Links" Noir. Superhero.
      "The city is held in a grip of terror as ordinary men and women go missing in a series of freakish electrical storms. Is it an occult menace? A Nazi plot against the city?"
At Drabblecast: "My True Lovecraft Gave to Me" by  Eric Lis. Horror.
      " I have loved working here, and I am very sorry to leave, but I fear that if I remain any longer, my health and my sanity will be forfeit. Perhaps if I explain the events of weeks, it will become clearer why I have to quit."
At Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs: Episode 27 - Tarzan of the Apes. Adventure.
      "Tarzan and D’Arnot have made their way to civilization. Arriving in Paris, D’Arnot has taken Tarzan to visit his friend, a police inspector who is an expert in fingerprints."
At SFFAudio:  "The Pit And The Pendulum" by Edgar Allan Poe. Horror.
     "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."


Comics
At Atomic Kommie Comics: "Twice Alive" Sci-Fi.  Horror.
At The Comic Book Catacombs: "Ghost of the Un-Dead" Horror.
At Diversions of the Groovy Kind:"Never Walk on a Grave!" Horror.
At The Horrors of It All: "Change... into Something Comfortable / Trick or Treat" Horror.
At Pappy's Golden Age Comics Blogzine: “We Ain't Got No Body! / Tombs-Day" Horror.
At Seduction of the Innocent: "I am a Zombie!" Horror.

Other Genres
At Every Day Fiction:  "Souvenir" by Vaidehi. Flash.

Freebies to start the weekend.

More good freebies. There are quite a few very good audio fiction stories today, as well as very good fiction, flash fiction, and more.  Back soonish.




Fiction
At Cosmos: "Anterior View" by Brenda Kalt. Science Fiction.
      "The display was impressive, but the box was heavy – full of data leaves, potentially a full view. Of something."

At Daily Science Fiction:  "Phone Booth" by Holli Mintzer. Science Fiction.
      "There aren't a lot of zeppelins these days to anchor at them, just like there aren't many ships in the harbor, but the masts are still there: two or three big freight elevators apiece, caged in a lattice of iron struts and steel cable."

At Project Gutenberg:  The Scarlet Plague by Jack London.  Science Fiction. 1912/1915.
      "is a post-apocalyptic fiction novel written by Jack London and originally published in London Magazine in 1912." Wikipedia.

At Tor.com:  "A Ghost Story" by Mark Twain. 1888. Horror.
      "The fire had burned low. A sense of loneliness crept over me. I arose and undressed, moving on tiptoe about the room, doing stealthily what I had to do, as if I were environed by sleeping enemies whose slumbers it would be fatal to break."

Reviewed at Variety SF: "Tumithak of the Corridors" by Charles R Tanner. Science Fiction. 1932.
      "It is only within the last few years that archeological science has reached a point where we may begin to appreciate the astonishing advances in science that our ancestors had achieved before the Great Invasion"

Flash
At 365 tomorrows: "Fallen" by Steve Smith. Science Fiction.
At Weirdyear: "Skull Collection" by Rob Bliss.

Audio
At Cast of Wonders: "The Great Game, Part 5 – The Dark Continent" by James Vachowski. YA.
      "Light a lamp, child, and be quick about it. The day is fading, and my eyes are not what they once were. Ah, that’s the rub. This room closes in when night falls."

At Classic Tales Podcast: Carmilla part 4 of 4 by J. Sheridan Le Fanu.
      "The General’s story comes to its horrifying conclusion, and the mystery of Carmilla is finally unearthed" Also parts one, two, and three.

At Escape Pod:  "Lion Dance" by Vylar Kaftan. Science Fiction.
      "Matt was loud–even a flu mask didn’t muffle his bellowing.  I swear, even though every restaurant in San Francisco Chinatown had been closed since February, tourists still cruised the streets.  Even a pandemic couldn’t stop them completely."

At Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs:  Episode 25 - Tarzan of the Apes. Adventure.
      "Tarzan has fled into the jungle upon discovering that Jane Porter has departed his cabin. Paul D’Arnot remains there. Considering D’Arnot’s helplessness in the jungle, Tarzan reconsiders and starts back for the cabin."

At LibriVox: Fifty-One Tales by Lord Dunsany. Flash Dark Fantasy.
      Horned Pan was still and the dew was on his fur; he had not the look of a live animal. And then they said, "It is true that Pan is dead."

At LibriVox: Tales of Folk and Fairies by Katharine Pyle. Children's Fantasy.
     "Once upon a time there was a poor widow who had only one son, and he was so dear to her that no one could have been dearer. All the same she was obliged to send him out into the world to seek his fortune, for they were so very poor that as long as he stayed at home they were like to starve."

At Pseudopod: "Pumpkinhead" by Rajan Khanna. Horror.
     "He was my employer, but more than that, he was a celebrity, and a close personal friend of the queen. In fact, if it weren’t for his imminent need, she would be the one about to carve this pumpkin for him. He was basically part of the royal family."

At Tales to Terrify: "304 Adolph Hiltler Strasse" by Lavie Tidha.
     "They called him by his real name, which was Hanzi, but they knew who he really was and he knew then that it was over; the knowledge washed him in lethargy, and a sense of futility made him open his hands as if in a shrug, his fat fingers opening limply, sweat dampening his palms."


Old Time Radio
At Relic Radio: "Carmilla" by Columbia Workshop. Horror. 1940.

Other Genres
Audio at Ellery Queen: “Safe and Loft” by John Lutz. Mystery.
Flash at Every Day Stories:  "Uncle Fida’s Eid" by Sarah Crysl Akhtar. Humor.
Flash at Spinetingler: "Pool and Ice Cream" by Peter Anderson.
Text at Project Gutenberg: The Siege of Norwich Castle by Matilda Maria Blake. Historical Fiction. Medieval. 1983.

Free Enough

Some great fiction today including the conclusion of Eric Scott de Bie's "Proper Villains,"  new fiction from Tor and Nature, classic ghost stories from the Nineteen Teens at Project Gutenberg and Tor, four more stories at Phantasmacore, flash fiction, and audio fiction. And don't miss today's free fiction links at SF Signal.

 Concerning e-books: Information has been brought to my attention that complicates matters [thank you]. While I still consider free as being something that is given to, or taken by, you that cannot be taken away, the fact that some companies at Amazon do not use DRM and the fact that I don't have time to check them individually means that e-book listings will continue irregularly (just like before). So concerning yesterday's notice about e-books, I'll just quote the classic Gilda Radner character Emily Litella, "Never mind."
 
[Art from "Foundation" below].
 
Fiction
At Nature: "Glass Future" by Deborah Walker. Science Fiction.
      “Do you think she's post-human?” I whisper to my husband. She looks too good to be real.
At Paizo:  "Proper Villains - Chapter Four: The Reward"  by Erik Scott de Bie. Fantasy.
     Link is to all four parts. "He awoke in a cold spray of brackish water. The Hellknight who'd roused him drew back the half-empty bucket, then brought it forward again for another go. This time, Tarrant inhaled half the putrid stuff and gagged. "Is that really necessary?" he coughed."
At Project Gutenberg:  Great Ghost Stories by Various. Horror. 1918.
         "The Were-Wolf" - "We waited for some time, but the report of the gun did not reach us, and my elder brother then said, 'Our father has followed the wolf, and will not be back for some time. Marcella, let us wash the blood from your mouth, and then we will leave this corner, and go to the fire and warm ourselves.'"
At Tor.com:  "Foundation" by Ann Aguirre. Horror.
    "I don’t remember how the sun feels.It’s an abstract concept for me, something I know exists, but doesn’t have the meaning it once did."
At Tor.com:  "The Shadowy Third" by Ellen Glasgow. Horror. Ghost. 1916.
     “He didn’t mention me by name. Can there be a mistake?” I stood, incredulous yet ecstatic, before the superintendent of the hospital.
At Pantasmacore: 

"Dangerous Rendezvous" by Grove Koger.
     "No doubt about it, Eric Francis was my father’s meal ticket. Oh, Dad corresponded now and then with Talbot Mundy and knew Sax Rohmer well enough to have a drink with him when they happened to be in Manhattan at the same time, but the big markets had them sewn up tight."
"Dying Day" by Michael C. Keith.
     "TAKE THE DREAD OUT OF DEAD! SCHEDULE YOUR PRACTICE DYING DAY NOW BY CALLING 1-800-DEAD-DAY. DON’T WAIT UNTIL IT’S TOO LATE, read the huge digital billboard along Route 95 between Boston and Providence."
"Montalov’s Box" by Michael Griffin.
      "Some wives fear losing their husband to an office affair, some to a heart attack. Each morning Sveta watches her husband leave for work and thinks maybe today’s the day he annihilates the universe."
 "Assignment" by Sayuri Yamada.
     ‘All the students have spent their time on this project. It’s not only you. Look at this. The temperature is rising unnaturally. The air is dirty. Many species are disappearing. It’s a shambles.’

Flash Fiction
At Daily Science Fiction: "My Mother's Body" by Christie Yant.
At Every Day Fiction: "Rags to Riches" by Robert Swartwood. Horror. Jinn.
At 365 Tomorrows: "Old Cars Never Die" by Clint Wilson. Science Fiction.


Audio Fiction
At SFFAudio: Two Versions of "Time And Time Again" by H. Beam Piper. Science Fiction.
     "To upset the stable, mighty stream of time would probably take an enormous concentration of energy. And it's not to be expected that a man would get a second chance at life. But an atomic might accomplish both—"
At Drama Pod: Unhinged Worlds (Season Premiere) S02 Ep01 "Exit 34"
At Drama Pod: Unhinged Worlds (Season Premiere) S02 Ep02 "The Bench"

Many Good Free Stories

Quite a few good stories today from many great sites. Thanks to OldMiser for the heads up about the latest Eclipse Online story.  And don't miss the free fiction roundup at SF Signal.




Fiction
At AE: "Tough Crowd" by Holly Schofield. Science Fiction.
     “Hey, Ship? How about this one: A skeleton walks into a bar and says, ‘Give me a beer and a mop.’”
At Daily Science Fiction:  "The Chosen One" by Huston Lowell.
     "Singh watched with a skeptical eye as the little boy came woohooing down the cyclone slide. Could this be the snotty nose of the Chosen One?"
At Eclipse Online: "One Little Room an Everywhere" by K.J. Parker. Fantasy [via OldMiser]
     “Well now,” he said, giving me a sad smile. “What on earth are we going to do with you?” A valid question, to which I’ve never been able to think of an answer. “I thought,” I lied, “maybe teaching?” He shook his head slowly. “I wouldn’t, if I were you,” he said. “It takes a [...]
At Lightspeed: "The Suicide’s Guide to the Absinthe of Perdition" by Megan Arkenber. Fantasy.
     "You cannot stop an angel who truly wants to fall. This is the first thing you learn in Pandemonium. The second thing you learn in Pandemonium is how to drink absinthe."
At Lightspeed: "Bear and Shifty" by Benjamin Parzybok. Science Fiction.
      "I ambled around the side of the after-market armored minivan and helped Mr. and Mrs. Perkinson load in the rest of the grocery goods, stashing them in the back and strapping them down. They were going to have a hell of a ride home, we all knew it, so when the work was done, I lingered there."
At Tor.com:  "The Terrible Old Man" by H.P. Lovecraft. Horror. 1921.
     "The inhabitants of Kingsport say and think many things about the Terrible Old Man which generally keep him safe from the attention of gentlemen like Mr. Ricci and his colleagues, despite the almost certain fact that he hides a fortune of indefinite magnitude somewhere about his musty and venerable abode."
At Tor.com:  "Too Fond" by Leanna Renee Hieber. Horror.
     "Eloise Browne's leaden heart becomes softened by the entrance into her world of Mr. McGill, the owner of the nearby mill. His tragic story and her compassionate gift tangle themselves into something altogether new... and not altogether welcome."
At World SF Blog: "Don’t Move a Muscle, Mr. Liberty" by Jordan Ellinger.
     "Crumpled leather the colour of a fisherman’s tan, it sits on its head in the middle of the cobblestone plaza. It is a great fisher of men, my hat. It sweeps up passing tourists and holds them before me, their jowls hanging loose like gasping catfish as I ply my trade"

Flash Fiction
At Every Day Fiction:  "Hunted" by Paul A. Freeman. Fantasy. Horror.
At Strange Horizons: "Torah and Secular Learning" by Bogi Takács. Speculative Poetry.
At 365 Tomorrows: "Food Chain" by Jae Miles. Science Fiction.


Audio Fiction
At Lightspeed: "The Suicide’s Guide to the Absinthe of Perdition" by Megan Arkenber. Fantasy.
At PodCastle: "Unpossible" by Daryl Gregory. Fantasy.
     "Twenty feet from the far wall his way is blocked by a heap of wicker lawn furniture. He pulls apart the barricade piece by piece to make a narrow passage and scrapes through, straws tugging at his shirt. On the other side he crawls up and onto the back of a tilting oak desk immovable as a ship run aground."
At PodCastle: Miniature #72. "The Best Worst Monster" by Peter S. Beagle. Fantasy.

Other Genres
Audio at LibriVox: "An Outcast Of The Islands" by Joseph Conrad. Classic. Adventure.
Audio at Protecting Project Pulp: “Kali” by Eric Taylor. Noir.
Audio at Tales of Old: "Memories of Light and Sound" by Steven Saus. Historic. Ellis Island.

Freebies - Leinster, Lovecraft, Doctorow, Stoss, and More

 More good free fiction today, including the start of a three part serial at Black Gate and much more..  There may be a second post today, time permitting. And be sure to check out the latest updates at  Free Speculative Fiction Online (many stories were added on the 17th).



 Fiction
At Author's Site: "Rapture of the Nerds" by Cory Doctorow and Charles Stross. [Via SF Signal]
     "This is by no means unusual, but for once Huw’s head hurts more than his bladder. He’s lying head down, on his back, in a bathtub. He scrabbles for a handhold and pulls himself upright. A tub is a terrible place to spend a night."
At Black Gate:  "A Phoenix in Darkness - Part 1" by Donald S. Crankshaw. Fantasy.
     "Quian’s serf village spilled out of the city’s grim walls like rotten apples from an overturned basket. The city gate, an iron-bound door barely wide enough to accommodate a cart, opened up to a snarl of muddy pathways through the weather-worn hovels."
At Short-Story.Me: "Breath of Lisetta" by Jordan E. Miere. Fantasy.
     "Lisetta breathed against her fingers as they clutched the bone handle of her knife.  Her breath enfolded her purplish digits where the threadbare gloves no longer covered them."
At Short-Story.Me:  "The Quarry" by Jack Coey. Horror.
     "They walked single file, the sun was beating down, and the men sweated. One of the hobos stopped and wiped his face with his shirt tail. He’d been in Vietnam and his life hadn’t gone that well since."
At Short-Story.Me: "Colors" by Catina Noble. Fantasy.
      "I feel odd, not like my usual self. Something is different; I cannot put my finger on it. I think for a few minutes. I look inside myself. I do not like what I see. I am an empty shell, I just sit here. I occupy space for others."
At The WiFiles:  "Human/Nature" by Mireille Wells. Speculative Fiction.
      "The formerly white structure is now veined with greenish brown mold. The windows are all black squares, decorated with shards of broken glass. I stand and watch, but nothing moves inside the building. This is all that remains of the laboratory where I labored to end the world."

 Audio Fiction
At LibriVox: "The Ambulance Made Two Trips" by Murray Leinster. Science Fiction.
     "Murray Leinster gives us another wonderful product of 'what if' from his limitless imagination to enjoy in this gem of a story" First published in Astounding Science Fiction April 1960.
 At Radio Drama Revival: "The Statement of Randolph Carter" by HP Lovecraft. Horror.
    "Again I say, I do not know what has become of Harley Warren, though I think--almost hope--that he is in peaceful oblivion, if there be anywhere so blessed a thing. It is true that I have for five years been his closest friend, and a partial sharer of his terrible researches into the unknown."
At SFFaudio: "Out Of The Storm" by William Hope Hodgson. Horror.
     "It is a little after midday: but the sky is the color of mud--do you understand?--gray mud! Down from it there hang vast lappets of clouds. Not such clouds as I have ever before seen; but monstrous, mildewed-looking hulls. They show solid, save where the frightful wind tears their lower edges into great feelers that swirl savagely above us, like the tentacles of some enormous Horror."
At Toasted Cake: "The Foreigner" by M. Darusha Wehm.
     "I have about an hour before the shareholders' meeting, but I have to stop by the day care first, so I want to make this snappy."

Flash Fiction
At Daily Science Fiction: "Trophy Wife" by Samantha Murray.

Sunday

 Hopefully all problems with Chrome and prior links are fixed now.  There's a rather eclectic collection of links today with something for almost everyone. And since the malware alarm has cause the removal of old links, a new category "From the Vaults" will act as a best of past posts - all re-checked for accuracy.


 






Fiction
At Adventures in Fiction: Thieves' Honor, ep 12: "The Game: Investigation" by Keanan Brand.
     “More than enough to find incriminating evidence of theft, smuggling, or illegal salvage.” Commander Wilkes slid a small screen across the table. “And yet neither your personal or ship logs contain such evidence.”
At L5R: "Seeds of Decay: the Scorpion" by Seth Mason. Fantasy.
     "Hawado lay on her mat in the darkness, her breathing coming heavily as she felt a weight on her torso and a grip on her mouth. Her eyes adjusted quickly, and she recognized the eyes of Soshi Kodanshi looking down on her. She had been dreaming, again."
At Phatasmacore: "-PHILE"  by Osmond Arnesto. Speculative Fiction.
     " He blinked for the first time, causing a dull picture of a Mason jar to shake from its perch and drop to the ground. “Sometimes it is a good thing when the airport loses your baggage.” It is something he heard once, during a time when students sat at the tables."
Reviewed at Variety SF:  "Aristotle and the Gun"  by L Sprague de Camp. Science Fiction. 1958.

Flash Fiction
At Every Day Fiction: "The Writer’s Curse" by JR Hume.
At Every Day Fiction: "The Golem" by Arif Khan.
At Phatasmacore: "Cool" by James Valvis. Speculative Fiction.
At Phatasmacore: "Naiveté" by Harry F. Kane. Speculative Fiction.
At Spinetingler: "Unrestricted Diet" by Gary Clifton. Crime.
At 365 Tomorrows: "Thought Supplier" by R. Michael Cook. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
At Author's Site: "THE MVP Episode #2" by Scott Sigler.Science Fiction. Football.
      "Quentin Barnes and the Ionath Krakens find themselves in dire straits. Captured by the Prawatt Jihad, their Touchback engulfed by the largest ship ever constrcuted, Quentin & Co. must prepare to play 'the game.'"
At Beam Me Up: "The Devil Wears Shapeless Ugly Garments, Covered in Dog Hair" by Mark Webb "The Earth has been destroyed and the Humans that were lucky enough to be off planet are now only capable of the lowest form of menial labor" and by Jason Kahn In Plain Sight:  episode 13 "Home to Roost."
At Drabblecast: "Trifecta XXIII" Fantasy. Horror.
     Featuring "Constant Companion"  by  David Steffen, "Gorgon"  by  Teresa Milbrodt, and "Blue"  by  Sandra Odell.
At Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs:  Episode 24 - Tarzan of the Apes. Adventure.
    "Tarzan has rescued Lt. D’Arnot from the torture stake in Mbonga’s village and taken him to recover at the amphitheatre of the apes. He dares not leave Paul alone during his recovery."
Gaming
At Ancient Vaults: "Lantern of Dread" and "Dust of Rabbits" Magic Items.
At Blog on the Borderlands: "Alter Alignment" Spell.
At Geek Related: RPG Podcast Roundup.
At Heretic Works:  "Lipophage" and "Maelstrom" Monsters.
At Kobold Quarterly: "Transmutation: New Spells" 4E spells.
At The Land of NOD: "Six Delightful Demons" and "Six Malevolent Mummies" Monsters.
At RPG Creatures: "Theemian Vampire" Monster. Vampire Demon.
At The Savage AfterWorld: "Corpse Owl"  Monster. Gamma World.
At Sea of Stars: "Pike of Uprisings" Magic Item.
At WotC: "Bringing a City to Life" by Ed Greenwood. Article.

Other Genres
Audio at PRI-Selected Shorts: "Great Beginnings"
     "First Etgar Keret’s “Healthy Start,” in which a man abandoned by his wife embarks on a series of bizarre impersonations that help him to reconnect to the human race. In Ann Beattie’s “Hoodie in Xanadu,” a strange neighbor has a private paradise, while Wal-mart is the unlikely backdrop for a fateful encounter between a man and a former child prodigy in Juan Martinez’s “Best Worst American”

From the Vaults
Dimension X is one of the all time great science fiction anthologies in any medium. Predating The Twilight Zone by nine years and The Outer Limits by thirteen, this brilliant radio program set the standards for broadcast science fiction (standards which have all too rarely been met). The fifty, roughly half-hour, episodes are mostly based on published stories by SF greats such as; Leinster, Bloch, Bradbury, Simak, Heinlein, Asimov, and other greats. Many of these stories were published in the classic science fiction magazine, Astounding (now known as Analog) .

There are many excellent stories here including; Mars is Heaven (Bradbury), Martian Death March (Kinoy), Nightfall (Asimov), Pebble in the Sky(Asimov), Requiem (Heinlein), and Universe (Heinlein). A good plot summary of individual episodes appears here.

This series is available here in .mp3 for free downloading, perfect for burning to CD for long trips or late night listening (note these are on three pages so don't miss the second and third pages). Many episodes are also available for streaming here.

Saturday Freebies

 We have quite a bit of free reading for a Saturday morning.  There's a new issue of the wonderful fantasy poetry magazine Goblin Fruit (illustrated to the left) and a new issue of the long-running Science Fiction magazine Aphelion (there's much more there than just the linked stories). There are some good sounding E-Books (hurry as the ones not at Smashwords are often only free for a very limited time).  Two great audio SF stories, the always great Escape Pod has a new episode and LibriVox has a story by the classic SF writer Poul Anderson.  And, as if that wasn't enough, there are a few flash and pulp fiction stories.  And to keep up ny evil plot to work SF Signal to death, there will almost certainly be more posts this weekend.  


Magazines
Now Posted: Goblin Fruit Autumn 2012 featuring fantasy poetry.

• "The Vigil" by Mike Allen.
• "Blueshift" by Sonya Taaffe.
• "A body that is bold to come" by Rose Lemberg.
• "Stone" by Kelly Rose Pflug-Back.
• "Feral" by Ruth Jenkins.
• "In the Sun-Sweet Desert" by Alex Dally MacFarlane.
• "lisa" by Brock Marie Moore.
• "Vigor Mortis" by C. W. Johnson.
• "The Last Wife" by Jennifer Crow.
• "Cardiomythology" by Virginia M. Mohlere.
• "Kingdom" by Rachel Dacus.

 Now Posted: Aphelion #167 Featuring Science Fiction including

• "Obscured by Madness" by Gary W. Feather.
• "From the Depth" by Sam Best.
• "The Crystal Ghost" by Matt Spencer.
• "Living the Lie " by J. I. Charles.
• "Lord of Snakes" by John Rovito.
• "Microwave" by P. C. Van Slyke.
• "In Shadows I'm Gone" by Evan Davies.
• "Indigo Puree" by Connley (Lee) Landers.
• "Sleeping Dogs Lie" by I. Verse.

E-Books
Via Pixel of Ink:  The Girls From Alcyone by Cary Caffrey. Science Fiction.
At Amazon: Alien Hunter, Star Trooper by David Scholes. Science Fiction.
At Smashwords:

• "The Lady in the Forest" by Jeanne Olivier. Fantasy. 4k.
• "Destined To Be Damned" by David Blake. Fantasy. Horror. 1k.
• "Army of Skeletons" by W. Freedreamer Tinkanesh. Urban Fantasy. 11k.
• "The Green Loch" by W. Freedreamer Tinkanesh. Urban Fantasy. 4k.
• "Mondays with Langford" by Johnny Rivas. Horror. Humor. 2k.

Flash Fiction
At 365 Tomorrows: "The Uprising" by Bruce Meyer. Science Fiction.
At Flashes in the Dark: "Hollow" by Mike McLaren. Horror.

Audio Fiction
At Escape Pod:  "Some of Them Closer" by Marissa Lingen. Science Fiction.
      "Coming back to Earth was not the immediate shock they expected it to be for me. It was something, certainly, but I’d been catching up on the highlights of the news as it cascaded back to the ship on our relativistic return trip"
At LibriVox: "The Chapter Ends" by Poul Anderson. Science Fiction.
     "Far, far in the future the Earth is still spinning around the Sun, on the edge of the galaxy, dozing in obscurity, forgotten by it's trillions of progeny and completely irrelevant."

Other Genres 
At Online Pulps Site:  "Ace Killer" by Bruce McAlester from Sky Fighters, May, 1937 and "Harlequin's Death Mask" by Lawrence Treat from Ten Detective Aces, Feb, 1941. [Pulp/Noir]