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Sam J. Miller

14 free-to-read stories indexed on Quasar

Things With Beards

Sam J. Miller Clarkesworld 2016 ShortStory Horror 4,712 words

Following a disaster in Antarctica, MacReady spends summer 1983 in New York and starts to wonder what he might have brought back with him.

Psychological HorrorQueer IdentityNew York City

Content warnings 5

body-horrordeathillness-and-pandemicsubstance-useviolence

Let All the Children Boogie

Sam J. Miller Tor.com 2021 ShortStory Science Fiction 6,999 words

As the Cold War stalls and the threat of nuclear warfare dominates the news, small-town misfits Laurie and Fell bond over a shared love of music and the mystery of the erratic radio messages that hint at the existence of a future worth reaching out for.

SlipstreamFriendshipHistorical USA

Calved

Sam J. Miller Asimov's 2015 ShortStory 5,336 words

A refugee from drowned New York City tries to reconnect with his teenage son during a break from the menial work he does on ice boats.

If Someone You Love Has Become a Vurdalak

Sam J. Miller The Dark 2023 ShortStory Horror 4,313 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

Courtney Lovecraft's Book of the Dead

Sam J. Miller Nightmare 2025 Novelette Horror 7,705 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

Psychological HorrorTrans IdentityUnreliable Narrator

Content warnings 4

child-abusedeath-of-a-loved-onesuicideviolence

When Your Child Strays From God

Sam J. Miller Clarkesworld 2015 ShortStory 5,875 words

Fundamentalist mom takes networking drug so she can track down her missing teenage boy.

Speculative FictionMotherhoodDarkly Comic

Content warnings 3

abusechild-abusesubstance-use

Shattered Sidewalks of the Human Heart

Sam J. Miller Clarkesworld 2019 ShortStory King Kong Pastiche 3,792 words

On the eve of World War II, five years after King Kong’s death, a young New York taxi driver meets Ann Darrow and learns they have something in common.

SlipstreamQueer IdentityNew York City

Content warnings 1

racism

Angel, Monster, Man

Sam J. Miller Nightmare 2016 Novelette 11,367 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

Psychological HorrorQueer IdentityNew York City

Content warnings 8

abusedeathgoreillness-and-pandemicsexual-contentsubstance-usesuicideviolence

Planetstuck

Sam J. Miller Asimov's 2023 Novelette Science Fiction 9,385 words ♪ audio

"Llopa gave me leave for the first time in basically forever, so I hopped twenty-six gates across three systems to Menelik Station intending to spend a solid solar day in its legendary mile-square waterslide labyrinth—laughing through an endless looping...

The Ways Out

Sam J. Miller Clarkesworld 2017 ShortStory Mutants 5,889 words

A government agent secretly watches Ryx (age 10) and Hector (age 19) because they both have dangerous “variant” abilities.

DystopiaQueer IdentityEpistolary Adjacent

Content warnings 2

deathsubstance-use

Last Gods

Sam J. Miller Drowned Worlds 2016 ShortStory Climate Change 6,200 words

On the edge of the ruined land, village people worship Orcas as gods. Unbeliever Kelb is up to something, and Adze tries to help him because she loves him.

Notes on Genocidal Interchronological Incursion 57.7.3 (f.k.a. Friends)

Sam J. Miller Baffling 2024 ShortStory 1,080 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

MetafictionalArt And CreationNew York City

A Love That Burns Hot Enough to Last: Deleted Scenes from a Documentary

Sam J. Miller Apex 2021 ShortStory Fantasy 6,176 words

"Ti came to see me, you know. Three four days before she died. Knocked right on my door, and I’ve never been so surprised in all my life. This is a woman who when we were on tour would have the driver drive her halfway down the block rather than walk to...

MetafictionalArt And CreationEpistolary Adjacent

Content warnings 1

death

Bodies Stacked Like Firewood

Sam J. Miller Uncanny 2017 ShortStory Mainstream 6,680 words

Cyd’s suicide brings his friend Kelvin to Albany for his memorial.

MetafictionalTrans IdentityNew York City

Content warnings 3

body-horrorsuicidetransphobia