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Historical Fantasy

221 free-to-read stories tagged “Historical Fantasy”

The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington

P. Djèlí Clark Fireside 2018 ShortStory Historical Fantasy 3,648 words

In which we learn about the donors of each of the nine teeth and what effects they had on Washington.

AfrofuturismColonialismEpistolary Adjacent

Content warnings 8

abuseanimal-harmdeathracismsexual-violenceslaverysuicideviolence

For He Can Creep

Siobhan Carroll Tor.com 2019 Novelette Historical Fantasy 7,908 words ♪ audio

A poet’s cat fights fiercely to defend him from the demons that plague him, but it’s much harder to stand against Satan himself.

Historical FantasyEarnestWhimsical

Content warnings 3

animal-harmmental-illnessviolence

How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub

P. Djèlí Clark Uncanny 2023 ShortStory Historical Fantasy 7,159 words

"Ambition!” Trevor emphasized, rapping knuckles hard on the wood table. “That is what makes the great men!” He took a satisfied swallow from his mug. Across from him, Barnaby put down the daily he’d been reading and sipped from his own beer. Pulling out a...

Historical FantasyHubrisSatirical

Content warnings 3

deathracismviolence

You'll Surely Drown Here If You Stay

Alyssa Wong Uncanny 2016 Novelette Historical Fantasy 9,938 words

In a magical Old West, young Ellis has a love for the desert and an affinity for dead things. Both of these attract unwelcome attention from strangers visiting from back East.

Historical FantasyQueer IdentityAmerican Southwest

Content warnings 4

abusebody-horrordeathviolence

Colors of the Immortal Palette

Caroline M. Yoachim Uncanny 2021 Novelette Fantasy 12,910 words ♪ audio

"I will always remember the view of Paris from his window. Snow, pure and untouched, softens the outline of the buildings and covers the grime of the streets. White, the color of beginnings. His canvas is primed and ready to be painted, and stark winter...

Historical FantasyColonialismHistorical Europe

Content warnings 2

death-of-a-loved-onewar

If the Martians Have Magic

P. Djèlí Clark Uncanny 2021 ShortStory Science Fantasy 7,099 words

"The first Martian War was won not by man, but microbes. The second we fought with Martian weapons that nearly broke the world. The third invasion we stopped by our own hands, using magic.” —Wei-Yin Sun, Imperial Historian in the Court of the Empress...

First ContactColonialismPhilosophical

Content warnings 2

deathwar

Botanica Veneris: Thirteen Papercuts By Ida Countess Rathangan

Ian McDonald Old Venus 2015 Novelette 13,400 words

Lady Ida's visit to Venus was memorialized by the beautiful floral papercuts she made there, but this sensational story reveals the secret of the real purpose of her visit.

SlipstreamColonialismRestrained

Content warnings 4

deathsubstance-useviolencewar

The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections

Tina Connolly Tor.com 2018 Novelette High Fantasy Dystopia 7,845 words ♪ audio

The Regent rules as a tyrant, and he has separated Saffron from her husband to force him to bake the amazing confections that let you relive bits of the past.

Historical FantasyRevengeSlow Burn

Content warnings 2

death-of-a-loved-oneviolence

On the Fox Roads

Nghi Vo Tor.com 2023 Novelette Historical Fantasy 10,129 words

While learning the ropes from a crafty Jazz Age bank robber, a young stowaway discovers their authentic self, a hidden gift, and that there are no straight lines when you run the fox roads…

Historical FantasyTrans IdentityMidwest USA

Content warnings 3

deathracismviolence

And Now His Lordship Is Laughing

Shiv Ramdas Strange Horizons 2019 ShortStory Historical Fantasy Horror 6,843 words

In 1943 India, during the Bengal Famine, the Governor of Bengal tries to force an old woman to make a doll for his wife.

Historical FantasyColonialismDefiant

Content warnings 5

child-deathdeathracismviolencewar

A Stranger Knocks

Tananarive Due Uncanny 2024 Novelette Horror 7,617 words

"1926 Washington, D.C. Shaw District “There’s a man on the front stoop.” The words spilled from her in a much more mundane way than Judy had expected, considering how her neck was fluttering with her excited pulse. Alvin looked up from the new Langston...

Historical FantasyArt And CreationHistorical USA

Content warnings 3

abusedeathviolence

Waters of Versailles

Kelly Robson Tor.com 2015 Novella 18,872 words ♪ audio

Sylvain de Guilherand secretly uses a captive water spirit to provide indoor plumbing to Louis XV's Versailles, but the spirit is childish, playful, and getting bored.

Historical FantasyAmbitionHistorical Europe

The Millay Illusion

Sarah Pinsker Uncanny 2025 Novelette Fantasy 9,210 words

"For the whole of the year that I now look back on as the best of my life, Susanna Miller’s act began twenty-three minutes after mine ended. I went first, to warm up the crowd, followed by the dog trainer, the hypnotist, Susanna, the twin acrobats, the...

Historical FantasyMentorshipNew York City

Content warnings 2

mental-illnessmisogyny

Marginalia

Mary Robinette Kowal Uncanny 2024 ShortStory Fantasy 7,488 words

"Margery crouched in front of the fireplace, skirts tucked back to avoid the flames, and raked coals out onto the hearth. She’d pushed the shutters open this morning to let a breeze but even at this hour sweat beaded on her brow and stuck her chemise to...

Historical FantasyMotherhoodWarm

Content warnings 2

deathdeath-of-a-loved-one

Two Hands, Wrapped in Gold

S.B. Divya Uncanny 2022 Novelette Fairy Tale 14,739 words

"My parents taught me to lie as soon as I could speak. Before I knew the meaning of the words, before I understood heat or fire, and long before I felt the pain of singed flesh, I learned to tell strangers that I burned myself by grasping a hot iron pot."

Fairy Tale RetellingDiasporaHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence

City of Red Midnight: A Hikayat

Usman T. Malik Tor.com 2020 Novelette Dark Fantasy 14,051 words

In this spell-binding tale, a Pakistani storyteller captivates a group of wide-eyed tourists with a nesting doll of interlocked stories about a trickster and a hidden city ruled by the Queen of Red Midnight.

Historical FantasyTrans IdentityIntertextual

Content warnings 4

abusebody-horrorchild-deathviolence

Blood Is Another Word for Hunger

Rivers Solomon Tor.com 2019 ShortStory Folk Tale 6,968 words

When her master dies in the American Civil War, a teen-age slave girl murders the rest of his family to gain her freedom, but she unwittingly opens a door to the spirit world, and she has to deal with the thing that comes through.

Historical FantasySlaveryHistorical USA

Content warnings 5

body-horrordeathgoreslaveryviolence

Come See the Living Dryad

Theodora Goss Tor.com 2017 Novelette Mainstream 8,904 words

In 1888 a woman suffering a hideous deformity was murdered in London. Today, her descendent wants to find the culprit.

Historical FantasyBodily AutonomyHistorical Europe

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

Foxfire, Foxfire

Yoon Ha Lee BCS 2016 Novelette Military Fantasy 8,500 words

Baekdo, a fox who wants to become human, needs one more kill to achieve his goal. A collapsing city in the middle of a civil war seems like a good place to do it but there are complications.

Science FantasyFriendshipLyrical

Content warnings 3

deathviolencewar

Stitched to Skin like Family Is

Nghi Vo Uncanny 2024 ShortStory Fantasy 4,517 words

"My stitches laddered their way up the split seam, in and out one side, across, and then in and out the other. When you pulled the thread through, if you had done the job right, it closed the seam like it had never been torn at all. The salesman kept...

Historical FantasyRacismHistorical USA

Content warnings 3

death-of-a-loved-oneracismviolence

A Song of Home, the Organ Grinds

James Beamon Lightspeed 2018 ShortStory Military Steampunk 5,990 words

An orphan recruit on a Turkish airship tends the brainwashed monkeys that constitute one of their principle weapons. He fears them deeply, but the ones with mechanical parts he fears the worst.

Science FantasySurvivalHistorical Europe

Content warnings 4

deathgoreviolencewar

Children of Thorns, Children of Water

Aliette de Bodard Uncanny 2017 Novelette Alternate History Fantasy 11,966 words

Two people from a secret, underwater House try to infiltrate a troublesome surface House that rules much of a Paris still recovering from long-ago magical wars.

Historical FantasyColonialismHistorical Europe

Content warnings 1

violence

Because I Held His Name Like a Key

Aimee Ogden Strange Horizons 2025 ShortStory Fantasy 5,750 words

"When I met the young Mr. Turing, I had not yet ascended as Autumn’s King. Nowadays it has become fashionable for the sons and daughters of the lesser fey gentry to improve their position in the shifting hierarchy of the Courts by virtue of intrigue,...

Fairy Tale RetellingQueer IdentityHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

deathsexual-contentsexual-violence

Another Girl Under the Iron Bell

Angela Liu Uncanny 2024 Novelette Fantasy 9,679 words

"There is no limit to the number of curses in the world. For each one the monks try to exorcise, ten more take its place. We are not here because we enjoy it though. Please don’t misunderstand. As you dip into steaming bath waters, entwine your bodies...

Fairy Tale RetellingBodily AutonomyHistorical Japan

Content warnings 4

cannibalismsexual-violencesuicideviolence

Queen Lily

Theodora Goss Lightspeed 2018 Novelette Mainstream 7,720 words

As Lily dies from tuberculosis, she relives fantasies from “Through the Looking Glass,” by Lewis Carroll

Fairy Tale RetellingMotherhoodIntertextual

Content warnings 3

child-abusedeathillness-and-pandemic

The War of Light and Shadow, in Five Dishes

Siobhan Carroll BCS 2018 ShortStory High Fantasy 6,929 words

In which we learn how an over-enthusiastic chef inadvertently brought about the end of the war.

Historical FantasyPolitical ResistanceSecond Person

Content warnings 3

deathviolencewar

The Story of Kao Yu

Peter S. Beagle Tor.com 2016 ShortStory Chinese Fantasy 7,382 words

Sometimes a unicorn assisted Judge Kao Yu, and because he was so just and honest, he never feared its judgment. Until now.

Fairy Tale RetellingJusticeHistorical China

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

Katya Vasilievna and the Second Drowning of Baba Rechka

Christine Hanolsy BCS 2024 Novelette Fantasy 9,915 words

"Once, in a certain kingdom, at a certain time, a river flowed under a bridge. It flowed under a bridge and past a willow tree, and in that willow tree dwelled the spirit of a girl who had drowned. I dwelled in that willow tree, and I was content."

Fairy Tale RetellingQueer IdentityTender

Content warnings 1

death

The Worshipful Society of Glovers

Mary Robinette Kowal Uncanny 2017 Novelette Historical Fantasy 10,070 words

A young apprentice at making magic gloves considers breaking the rules to make a special pair to control his sister’s epilepsy.

Historical FantasyFound FamilyHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

deathillness-and-pandemicviolence

The Astrakhan, the Homburg, and the Red Red Coal

Chaz Brenchley Lightspeed 2015 Novelette Martian Steampunk 7,534 words

A group of Englishmen sharing an evening in a pub near a canal on "Old Mars" meet a stranger who knows their secret and makes them an offer.

Science FantasyColonialismIntertextual

Content warnings 1

substance-use

The River Judge

S.L. Huang Reactor 2024 Novelette Epic Fantasy 10,936 words

In this prequel novelette to the critically acclaimed The Water Outlaws, nine-year-old Li Li is introduced to a web of community secrets and family intrigue when she helps her mother bury the corpse of a man that has somehow wound up in the storeroom of...

Historical FantasyRevengeRestrained

Content warnings 4

cannibalismdeathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence

The Rain Remembers What the Sky Forgets

Fran Wilde Uncanny 2023 ShortStory Fantasy 6,710 words

"The following documents have been uncovered by the Bromley Independent with regards to recent events at the local cemetery: the unofficial statements of Mr. Cyril Harris, city councilman; the recently discovered journals of Miss Celia Smith; letters from...

Fairy Tale RetellingPolitical ResistanceHistorical USA

Content warnings 1

death-of-a-loved-one

The Demon Sage's Daughter

Varsha Dinesh Strange Horizons 2021 Novelette Fantasy 7,828 words

"In one version of the story, nobody dies, and you get to keep the princess as your maid. She chafes against this, longing for her silks and jewels. You scoff, tugging her after you, a tangle of jasmine wound around her arms. She’s tried to break free many...

Fairy Tale RetellingRevengeMetafictional

Content warnings 4

body-horrordeathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence

How to Swallow the Moon

Isabel Yap Uncanny 2018 Novelette High Fantasy 11,208 words

When the princess marries, Amira’s duty to her will end and she’ll be free. But she doesn’t want freedom on those terms.

Fairy Tale RetellingFriendshipSecond Person

Content warnings 2

body-horrorviolence

The Privilege of the Happy Ending

Kij Johnson Clarkesworld 2018 Novelette Dark Fantasy 15,501 words

In 12th-Century England, six-year-old Ada flees the vicious reptilian wastoures who swam the countryside eating people and animals alike.

Fairy Tale RetellingFriendshipMetafictional

Content warnings 4

body-horrorchild-abusedeathviolence

Red As Blood And White As Bone

Theodora Goss Tor.com 2016 Novelette Historical Fantasy 9,484 words

In Eastern Europe between the wars, Klara works as a kitchen maid. One night she admits a woman she thinks is a lost fairy-tale princesses into the castle.

Fairy Tale RetellingFriendshipHistorical Europe

PodCastle 879: The Tawlish Island Songbook of the Dead

E.M. Linden PodCastle 2025 ShortStory 3,689 words ♪ audio

Author : E. M. Linden Narrator : Louise Hewitt Host : Alasdair Stuart Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 879: The Tawlish Island Songbook of the Dead is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for grief, infant death, and a reference...

Historical FantasyDiasporaHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

child-deathdeath-of-a-loved-onesuicide

Blackjack

Veronica Schanoes Reactor 2024 Novelette Dark Fantasy 12,307 words

A woman visiting Las Vegas for a fun weekend encounters her ne’er-do-well ex-husband, who begs her for a favor that gambles with life and death…

Historical FantasyRevengeNew York City

Content warnings 3

deathdeath-of-a-loved-onesuicide

Quintessence

Andrew Dykstal BCS 2021 Novelette Fantasy 14,804 words

"He could hear her voice more clearly now, as though the notepad were merely a synchronizing gear between the two minds caught in his head. She sounded sick and frightened and tired—like a young woman trapped alone in a strange place, not like a witch...

Science FantasyCorporate PowerPhilosophical

Content warnings 4

body-horrordeathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence

Do Not Look Back, My Lion

Alix E. Harrow BCS 2019 ShortStory High Fantasy 6,021 words

In an empire obsessed with war, a healer married to a warrior seeks to escape the endless fighting, killing, and dying.

Historical FantasyMotherhoodDefiant

Content warnings 4

deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolencewar

His Footsteps, Through Darkness and Light

Mimi Mondal Tor.com 2019 Novelette Indian Fantasy Adventure 7,526 words

In modern India, Binu’s a master of the trapeze and he plays “Alladdin” in the illusion show, but unbeknownst to his friends and colleagues, he has a real lamp with a real Jinni in it.

Historical FantasyColonialismHistorical India

Content warnings 1

slavery

Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Memphis Minnie Sing the Stumps Down Good

LaShawn M. Wanak FIYAH 2018 Novelette 14,843 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

Historical FantasyRacismHistorical USA

Content warnings 4

deathracismsexual-violenceviolence

The Hidden Girl

Ken Liu The Book of Swords 2017 Novelette Chinese Fantasy Adventure 9,551 words

She was only ten when they kidnapped her to train as an assassin, but now she’s sixteen and she needs to prove herself.

Historical FantasyPolitical ResistanceHistorical China

Content warnings 1

violence

The Painted Skin and the Final Stroke

Zhu Yixuan Clarkesworld 2024 ShortStory Science Fiction 5,130 words

"The sun sets again over Chang’an. The remaining light of dusk shines through thick clouds like melted gold, flowing down over the glazed tiles of the palace roofs. The first drumbeat of the evening rings out from the Cheng Tian Gate, followed by a series...

SlipstreamAI PersonhoodHistorical China

Content warnings 1

death

Your Great Mother Across the Salt Sea

Kelsey Hutton BCS 2023 Novelette Fantasy 8,695 words

"Kwayask nātohta. Listen carefully. There once was a woman who sewed clothes so powerful they made you become the person you needed to be. Children’s feet wrapped in her flower-beaded moccasins never stumbled. Otipēyimisowak orators, backs held straight by...

Historical FantasyDiasporaHistorical Europe

PodCastle 721: A Chestnut, A Persimmon, A Cunning Lie

Michelle Denham PodCastle 2022 ShortStory Fantasy 4,680 words ♪ audio

Author : Michelle Denham Narrator : Isabel Kim Host : Shingai Njeri Kagunda Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 721: A Chestnut, A Persimmon, A Cunning Lie is a PodCastle original. Content warning for the loss of a child....

Fairy Tale RetellingFound FamilyHistorical Korea

Content warnings 2

deathdeath-of-a-loved-one

Claudette Dulac and the Devil of the North

Genevieve Sinha BCS 2020 ShortStory Steampunk 5,583 words

When the Demon of the North takes her father, young Claudette teams up with a university professor to hunt it down and kill it.

Science FantasyFatherhoodAdventurous

Clever Jack, Heavy with Stories

R.K. Duncan BCS 2020 ShortStory Portal Fairy Tale 6,002 words

Teenage Jack, the cook’s boy, and Roderick, Lord Robert’s son, are unlikely but unshakable friends, even when Roderick has to marry a grown woman. Even when Jack has to venture to elf-land to rescue them.

Fairy Tale RetellingFriendshipWhimsical

Judge Dee and the Limits of the Law

Lavie Tidhar Tor.com 2020 ShortStory Dark Fantasy 5,712 words

No vampire is ever innocent… The wandering Judge Dee serves as judge, jury, and executioner for any vampire who breaks the laws designed to safeguard their kind’s survival. This new case in particular puts his mandate to the test.

Historical FantasyJusticeIntertextual

Seven Dreams of a Valley

Prashanth Srivatsa BCS 2020 ShortStory Indian Fantasy 3,501 words

The night watchman was warned not to look at the imprisoned witch, Kalmashi, but it was hard not to, and now he’s having strange dreams.

Historical FantasyArt And CreationLyrical

Content warnings 2

deathwar

Slipping the Leash

Dan Micklethwaite PodCastle 2020 ShortStory 1,698 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

Historical FantasyGuiltHistorical USA

Content warnings 2

body-horrorwar

Canst Thou Draw Out the Leviathan

Christopher Caldwell Uncanny 2019 ShortStory Historical Fantasy 5,655 words

The carpenter on a Nantucket whaler hears a dreadful warning from an African god his ancestors once called upon when they were taken into slavery. But will anyone listen to him?

Folk HorrorRacismHistorical USA

Content warnings 2

deathracism

An Aria for the Bloodlords

Hannah Strom-Martin BCS 2018 Novelette High Fantasy 10,063 words

As a composer, D’Isle knows that the Bloodlords tightly control music because it can attract demons from the forest. He’s alarmed when his new prima donna starts improvising illegally.

Historical FantasyRevengeDefiant

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

From the Root

Emma Törzs Lightspeed 2018 ShortStory Historical Fantasy 6,654 words

The narrator, a young regenitrix in Victorian London, tries to help an older one have her baby. For a regenitrix swiftly regrows any lost body parts, but childbirth is always fatal.

Historical FantasyFriendshipHistorical Europe

Content warnings 2

deathsexual-violence

The Thule Stowaway

Maria Dahvana Headley Uncanny 2017 Novelette Fantasy Horror 11,412 words

Edgar Allan Poe’s writing has brought a creature into this world and it inhabits a young woman who wants to be rid of it. It has its own agenda.

Historical FantasyBodily AutonomyHistorical USA

Content warnings 3

deathdeath-of-a-loved-onesuicide

PseudoPod 963: Mavka

A.D. Sui Pseudopod 2025 ShortStory Horror 3,953 words ♪ audio

PseudoPod 963: Mavka is a PseudoPod original. CW: cannibalism, suicide, starvation, use of second person perspective You pray to forget this. You pray to forget the cold. Even under two wool blankets you’re always cold now. Skin and bones, you. A February...

Folk HorrorGuiltUnreliable Narrator

Content warnings 3

cannibalismchild-deathsuicide

Thirteen Swords That Made a Prince: Highlights from the Arms & Armory Collection

Sharang Biswas Strange Horizons 2025 ShortStory Fantasy 2,988 words

"The Alamgir Dynasty has been guiding the Kingdom of Hindustan through centuries of peace, prosperity, and stability. Yet, credit does not rest solely on the wisdom of our modern kings; from the earliest days of what was then called the Alamgiri Empire,...

MetafictionalFriendshipAmbiguous Ending

Content warnings 1

death-of-a-loved-one

Judge Dee and the Executioner of Epinal

Lavie Tidhar Reactor 2024 Novelette Dark Fantasy 9,278 words

Unknown forces attempt to stop Judge Dee and Jonathan from transporting a mysterious and possibly dangerous prisoner, who holds a secret about the Judge, to an executioner in France…

Historical FantasyMentorshipIntertextual

The Vessels of Song

Avram Klein BCS 2024 ShortStory Fantasy 6,562 words

"Your payment first. The Badchen Yankel is too aged, too well-traveled, and too experienced to extend credit to an audience. Now pinch your lips and listen. It was the year of their lord 1618, and we’re two days outside Grodne when we run into the demons....

Historical FantasyArt And CreationHistorical Europe

Our Grandmother's Words

M.H. Ayinde BCS 2023 ShortStory Fantasy 5,711 words

"Our storytellers sing that the Great River Gimamu brought life to the world when the gods first stepped out of it. But when I saw the ships that morning, I knew that it also brought death. As I sat at my stall, weaving the final threads of a new basket, I...

Historical FantasyColonialismDefiant

Content warnings 3

deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence

The Miraculous Account of Khaja Bairaq, Pennant-Saint of Zabel

Tanvir Ahmed Strange Horizons 2022 ShortStory Fantasy 5,419 words

"The narrators of histories and tellers of tales relate that, in the God-guarded town of Qalati Zabel, there was once a holy woman with a mind to rebel. Her name was Bibi Siti, and she had come to Zabel from her native country to the west. Some believe she...

Historical FantasyColonialismIntertextual

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

A Bird in the Window

Kate Francia BCS 2021 ShortStory Fantasy 5,712 words

"The first time I saw her, she stood in the arch of the gate, a black spindle against the open stretch of road. I looked up from where I was kneeling in the garden and couldn’t look away. Head to toe in black, her face veiled. The air smelled like new...

Historical FantasyFriendshipHistorical Europe

Mishpokhe and Ash

Sydney Rossman-Reich Apex 2021 ShortStory Alternate History 4,615 words

"When Golem opened her eyes for the first time, she saw Magda. “You are Golem,” Magda whispered, her oil-stained fingers prodding Golem’s metal joints. “Golem,” the machine repeated, the rust along the two half-tin cans forming her jaw chipping onto...

Historical FantasyRacismHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

deathviolencewar

The Burning Girl

Carrie Vaughn BCS 2021 Novelette Fantasy 10,669 words

"I was told I must swear fealty to William the Bastard. He had taken England, made himself king, fealty was required. But I did not swear and none could make me. He could kill me, or rather order his men to kill me. But he would not, because he wanted to...

Historical FantasyFound FamilyHistorical Europe

Content warnings 1

violence

Yearning

Maya Beck Strange Horizons 2021 ShortStory Fantasy 2,928 words

"I called it "yearning" at first, but by the time word had spread to all twenty-two of us croppers, a divide had resulted: half called it firesouling, and half called it firesailing."

AfrofuturismDiasporaHistorical USA

Content warnings 2

sexual-violenceviolence

February Moon

Josh Rountree BCS 2020 ShortStory Horror 5,037 words ♪ audio

In 19th-Century Texas, a German immigrant mother defends her farm and family (in the absence of her husband and eldest son) against a vicious wolf as well as some of the local townspeople.

Historical FantasyMotherhoodHistorical USA

Content warnings 3

deathdeath-of-a-loved-onegore

Forgive Me, My Love, for the Ice and the Sea

C.L. Clark BCS 2020 ShortStory Fantasy Adventure 5,737 words

Laema joins the Pirate Queen’s voyage to the south pole but secretly plots to assassinate her.

Historical FantasyQueer IdentityEpistolary Adjacent

Content warnings 1

death

The Garden Where No One Ever Goes

P.H. Lee BCS 2020 ShortStory Fantasy 1,519 words

"Now, dry and dead, the gardens sulk in the center of the city; not our pride, but our shame. Now the beds and planters are dry with dust, the carvings are chipped away for lime, the paths are run only by rats and ragged dogs. Now it is a place where no...

Historical FantasyQueer IdentitySecond Person

Content warnings 2

death-of-a-loved-oneviolence

The Nine Scents of Sorrow

Jordan Taylor Uncanny 2020 ShortStory Clockwork Fantasy 5,709 words

Sorrow Farregon is a master perfumer, but the Queen wants something to make her conceive a child—which is challenging when the King is a clockwork automaton.

Historical FantasyArt And CreationHistorical Europe

Content warnings 2

deathsuicide

One Found in a World of the Lost

Shweta Adhyam BCS 2019 ShortStory Indian Post-Apocalypse Fantasy 6,979 words

In a hostile, ruined Earth, a teenage girl struggles with the consequences of the death of her twin sister.

Historical FantasySacrificeLyrical

Content warnings 3

deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence

The Virtue of Unfaithful Translations

Minsoo Kang New Suns 2019 Novelette High Fantasy 7,867 words

In which we learn how bad translations averted a war and led to lasting peace.

MetafictionalWarHistorical China

Content warnings 2

misogynywar

Harry and Marlowe and the Secret of Ahomana

Carrie Vaughn Lightspeed 2018 Novelette Steampunk Adventure 9,971 words

In a storm, in an alternate 1890s South Pacific, their airship crashes on a Pacific Island occupied by surprisingly high-tech natives.

Science FantasyColonialismHistorical Europe

Speak Easy, Suicide Selkies

E. Catherine Tobler BCS 2018 Novelette Historical Fantasy 7,599 words

They say that when women throw themselves into the sea, they turn into seals. Teen-age Louise, dying of tuberculosis, finds a magical seal skin that turns her into a new person. Then the owner shows up.

Folk HorrorTrans IdentityHistorical USA

Content warnings 3

abusesuicideviolence

A Dead Djinn In Cairo

P. Djèlí Clark Tor.com 2016 Novelette Historical Fantasy 12,557 words

In 1912 Cairo, the police investigate the apparent murder of an immortal Djinn.

Historical FantasyColonialismHistorical Egypt

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

Wednesday's Story

Wole Talabi Lightspeed 2016 ShortStory Fairytale Fantasy 6,725 words

A member of a group of powerful beings who make stories real tells us the truth about Solomon Grundy and why he had to die.

MetafictionalArt And CreationWest Africa

Content warnings 3

deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence

The Thyme Fiend

Jeffrey Ford Tor.com 2015 Novelette 13,911 words

In 1915 Ohio, 14-year-old Emmett's night terrors get worse after he finds a dead body in an abandoned well.

Folk HorrorGuiltMidwest USA

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

Unearthly Landscape by a Lady

Rebecca Campbell BCS 2015 ShortStory Literary 3,597 words

From childhood, Flora, painted disturbing paintings, and her nurse fears the young lady carried this obsession into adulthood.

SlipstreamMentorshipHistorical Europe

Content warnings 2

deathillness-and-pandemic

Bitter as the Sea

M.E. Bronstein Strange Horizons 2026 Novelette Fantasy 10,606 words

"Dear Francesca, First off: I know that’s not your name. I haven’t gone and mistaken you for another woman—one of my many conquests, I imagine you imagine (what must imaginary you think of imaginary me?). You’ll notice, if you glance ahead, that I’ve...

Historical FantasyArt And CreationUnreliable Narrator

Content warnings 1

sexual-content

Lotus Dew for the Emperor’s Tea

Vanessa Fogg Lightspeed 2026 Novelette Fantasy 7,593 words

The First Emperor was the first and last of true immortals on earth, and no winter touched his realm. No autumn wind blew. His orchards bloomed and fruited and bloomed again. In his court, death and old age were shut out. And every day, he drank a cup of...

Fairy Tale RetellingFatherhoodHistorical China

Mother, Darling

Allison Pottern Strange Horizons 2026 Novelette Fantasy 12,566 words

"Wendy knew it wouldn’t be long now before her daughter was taken. She had put the idea from her mind as long as she could, but now Jane was days away from turning thirteen. From the window of the nursery, Wendy saw Jane wobbling her way down Kensington...

Fairy Tale RetellingMotherhoodHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

death-of-a-loved-oneviolencewar

Memories of Temperance

Anya Ow Lightspeed 2025 ShortStory Fantasy 5,683 words

"Night to day. In Diyu, the Earth Prison, Chun Wei opened her eyes. “Day” in the realm of the dead registered only as a less pervasive chill to the stagnant air. Not that Chun Wei needed to breathe any longer. She unfolded from the lotus position she’d...

Historical FantasyFound FamilyHistorical China

Content warnings 1

death

Red Leaves

S.E. Porter Reactor 2025 ShortStory Dark Fantasy 4,540 words

The spirit of a recently deceased young boy helps a group of ghosts seek revenge on a corrupt and abusive town minister.

Historical FantasyRevengeHistorical USA

Content warnings 3

child-deathdeathviolence

Till Earth and Heaven Ring

K.S. Walker Strange Horizons 2025 ShortStory Fantasy 5,746 words

"The Henrietta, passenger, cargo, and slave ship, was routinely used to transport goods from the Florida Keys up as far north as Rhode Island, and is also said to have made at least six voyages transporting enslaved African peoples from the Gold Coast of...

Southern GothicTrans IdentityHistorical USA

Content warnings 2

racismslavery

Dragons of Paris

Michael Swanwick Reactor 2024 ShortStory Fantasy 6,845 words

In celebration of the 50th World Fantasy Convention’s Toastmaster, Michael Swanwick, Reactor presents a new Mongolian Wizard story about a battle to save Paris from an unexpected new enemy.

Science FantasyGuiltHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

goreviolencewar

The Feast of Baku & the Yume no Seirei

Cheri Kamei Uncanny 2024 ShortStory Fantasy 1,758 words

"The women of Dejima Island could never pinpoint when their dreams began to change, but they knew it had something to do with the tradesmen’s tales. The foreigners who arrived at the docks were hard men, chiseled by salt and wind and all the horrors of two...

Folk HorrorDiasporaHistorical Japan

The Gulmohar of Mehranpur

Amal Singh Reactor 2024 ShortStory Fantasy 4,756 words

In the small city of Mehranpur, the Nawab suspects there may be a connection between the slow wasting of a beloved tree and the fate of the city itself.

Fairy Tale RetellingColonialismTender

Clio's Scroll

Brenda W. Clough Clarkesworld 2023 Novelette Historical SF 8,780 words

"You are an exile.” “Yes. And no.” Confined in the narrow neck of the vase, Asmidiske’s voice was tiny and metallic. “An oracle is ambiguous.” They considered and rejected terminology: galaxy, light speed, time warp, circumpolar orbit. “There are not words...

First ContactMentorshipIntertextual

Discreet Services Offered for Women Ridden by Hags

Stephanie Malia Morris BCS 2023 ShortStory Fantasy 6,566 words

"My sister Angélique found me on a warm spring night. She was not looking for me but for a doctor who could treat women ridden by hags. (Such creatures were properly called soucouyants, but the printers took such liberties with the spelling in my weekly...

Folk HorrorSisterhoodHistorical USA

Content warnings 2

body-horrordeath

Life Wager

Lucy Zhang Apex 2023 ShortStory Fantasy 3,279 words

"Because Waigong ran out of money due to the rice shortage, he gambled away my mother, an eighteen-year-old girl known for her beauty and dance prowess. She danced like a majestic water dragon, elegant and unstoppable while flowing through the atmosphere,...

Fairy Tale RetellingClass InequalityHistorical China

Content warnings 1

misogyny

The Cuckoo of Vrežna Mountain

Filip Hajdar Drnovšek Zorko BCS 2023 ShortStory Fantasy 5,922 words

"I realized I was in love with Ivor the day he went up the mountain to speak with the goddess. We were at that age when the affectionate ease of childhood tips over into something different, when every touch could be the casual brush of friendship or...

Historical FantasyDiasporaLyrical

Content warnings 1

death

The Dying Lover of Nogorod

R.K. Duncan BCS 2023 ShortStory Fantasy 4,798 words

"Nogorod is built of black rock and dull iron and pale ivory, a city of high towers rising like petrified trees beside the rough grey seas. The common folk are whale-fishers, hunting with harpoons from their ships, but the nobles are all wizards, and they...

Historical FantasyQueer IdentityLyrical

Content warnings 2

deathdeath-of-a-loved-one

The God of Minor Troubles

Megan Chee Strange Horizons 2023 ShortStory Fantasy 2,970 words

"Many eons ago, when the first dawn broke over the newborn mortal world, the children of the Heavenly Realm assembled at the Golden Sky Palace. They knelt before the Immortal Emperor, their foreheads pressed respectfully to the floor. One by one, he bid...

Historical FantasyMentorshipHistorical China

The Light of Setting Suns

Samuel Chapman BCS 2023 ShortStory Fantasy 6,038 words

"It is the shared birthday of the isle of Barradwyth. As a gift, Cyfris has promised his granddaughter Cydovan the one story he has never told her. They are sitting on the balcony of their home on Barradwyth Station, overlooking a street paved with mosaic...

Historical FantasyFatherhoodAmbiguous Ending

Content warnings 2

deathdeath-of-a-loved-one

The Star-Bear

Michael Swanwick Tor.com 2023 ShortStory Historical Fantasy 3,276 words

A Russian émigré poet living in Paris is visited by a mysterious bear with an agenda…

Historical FantasyDiasporaIntertextual

Clockwork Bayani

EK Gonzales Strange Horizons 2022 ShortStory Fantasy 4,375 words

"There was a small store in Manila, inside the walls of Intramuros, accessible to the wealthy and powerful, between a clothing store and a jewelry store. Children in clean crisp clothes, usually with parents or carers, stood before the store window,...

Science FantasyAI PersonhoodHistorical Philippines

Content warnings 2

deathdeath-of-a-loved-one

Earth Dragon, Turning

Anya Ow Uncanny 2022 ShortStory Fantasy 5,023 words

"Downwind from the encampment, the wind stank of refuse. The stench of people weeks into an unwashed trek intensified as Yue Ling limped out of the tree line, raising her hands over her head as she slowly approached the sentries. Both were young, younger...

Historical FantasyMotherhoodHistorical China

Content warnings 2

deathdeath-of-a-loved-one

The Sisters of Saint Nicola of The Almost Perpetual Motion vs the Lurch

Garth Nix Tor.com 2022 Novelette Science Fantasy 7,931 words

In this raucous, steampunk tale a sacred order of scientist nuns battle against vicious Invaders from Mars and their murderous machines in an ongoing conflict that has lasted centuries.

Science FantasyMentorshipHistorical Europe

A Better Way of Saying

Sarah Pinsker Tor.com 2021 ShortStory Historical Fantasy 6,073 words

The year is 1915, and a young man hired to shout the words on title cards for silent films experiences the magic of movies. This spurs him to edit some of the worst dialog, leading him in a weird direction that utterly changes his life.

Historical FantasyDiasporaNew York City

Bast and Her Young

Tegan Moore BCS 2021 Novelette Historical Fantasy 10,515 words

"She was different. She was distinguished by the oracles. She spoke to the gods, who descended on her in disorienting, frightening fits that made her vision blank out and caused her to fall down. As God’s Wife of Amun she had been closer to the gods than...

Historical FantasyMotherhoodHistorical Egypt

Colombina

Jelena Dunato BCS 2021 ShortStory Fantasy Romance 3,236 words

"Pick me up, girl. I’m such a pretty, delicate thing, hidden behind the gondola’s cushion. You feel me before you see me: the soft velvet of the cushions suddenly replaced by the roughness of my lace and the cool touch of my silk. Your fingers are smooth...

Fairy Tale RetellingArt And CreationHistorical Europe

Immortal Coil

Ellen Kushner Uncanny 2021 ShortStory Fantasy 6,044 words

"Marlowe is going to outlive him. Of this, he is sure. He has seen him on the streets of Blackfriars, of Southwark, in Bladder Lane, near Aldgate… He can pretend to be anything, young Kit. Not so young Kit. The two men are of an age: born the same year...

Historical FantasyMortalityIntertextual

The Clock, Having Seen Its Face in the Mirror, Still Knows Not the Hour

Adam Stemple Clarkesworld 2021 Novelette Steampunk 8,302 words

"And I am a curious thing. “Are you broken?” they asked by way of hello, in the direct way children have. I shook my head, neck creaking and scraping with the movement. “No, child. Just old.” “Oh.” The child looked me up and down, trying to decide whether...

SlipstreamFriendshipHistorical Europe

The Fox's Daughter

Richard Parks BCS 2021 ShortStory Fantasy 4,945 words

"When the messenger arrived at my Kamakura estate, I knew he wasn’t human, and that meant trouble. I read the letter three times, as if repetition would lead to better understanding. Foolish of me, as Lady Kuzunoha’s direct nature would not allow for...

Historical FantasyMentorshipHistorical Japan

The Palace in the Moonlight

Howard Andrew Jones Lightspeed 2021 Novelette Fantasy 8,083 words

"Dabir and I shrouded the Syrian in his saddle blanket and spent a few hours digging a hole for him in that lonely land. He had been the last of our companions. Bandits and desertion and, finally, illness, had whittled our numbers down from the score of...

Historical FantasyFriendshipAdventurous

Content warnings 1

death

Girls with Needles and Frost

Jenny Rae Rappaport BCS 2020 Novelette Fantasy 8,265 words

"We learn to live without sweet berry jam, cabbage cooked with apples, and wine. We train ourselves not to miss the flowers, and we toe the line. We always toe the line. When the soldiers ransack our homes, collecting any purple item of clothing, we hand...

Historical FantasyFriendshipHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence

Juvenilia

Lavie Tidhar Uncanny 2020 ShortStory Fantasy 4,166 words

"In the winter of 19–, having newly arrived in England, and still recovering from the nervous indisposition which had afflicted me greatly ever since my circumstances during the war, I responded to an advertisement placed in the Yorkshire Post, for the...

MetafictionalArt And CreationIntertextual

The Last Days of Old Night

Michael Swanwick Clarkesworld 2020 ShortStory Science Fiction 7,154 words

"Through chaos and old night, the three brothers journeyed. Sometimes they rode and sometimes they strode. When they rode, their steeds snorted cold steam from their nostrils and obsidian hooves struck sparks from the rock. When they strode, their feet...

Fairy Tale RetellingArt And CreationIntertextual

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

The Past, Like a River In Flood

Marissa Lingen BCS 2020 ShortStory Fantasy 4,463 words

"They’d built a new Vault of Potions after the flood—of course they’d had to, with the thaumatically cursed mess that had become of the old one. Still, it made me twitch and reach for my wand, walking along the familiar tree-lined quad and hearing the...

Historical FantasyPolitical ResistanceSlow Burn

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

The Transubstantiation

Evan Dicken BCS 2020 Novelette Fantasy Adventure 11,386 words

Deff and his team hunt the countryside for illegal Heroes, whom they kill and then sell the body parts. Something truly terrible happened with these “Heroes” in the recent past, and it’s not entirely done.

Historical FantasyPolitical ResistancePhilosophical

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

Weaving in the Bamboo

Eliza Chan Translunar Travelers Lounge 2020 ShortStory 4,788 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

Fairy Tale RetellingArt And CreationHistorical China

Content warnings 2

child-deathdeath-of-a-loved-one

Abacus of Ether

Stephen Case BCS 2019 Novelette High Fantasy 9,150 words

Madam Grey sells life insurance to the young men recruited by the Empire to fight in the Grass War. The war goes badly, but she has a chance to end it—at great cost.

Historical FantasyMentorshipRestrained

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

Adrianna in Pomegranate

Samantha Mills BCS 2019 ShortStory High Fantasy 4,328 words

Benedetto makes his living running a calligramancy shop, where he makes magic via writing. Today, he snapped, closed the shop, and started an elaborate spell of unknown purpose.

Historical FantasyArt And CreationHistorical Europe

Content warnings 1

child-death

Malinche

Gabriela Santiago Clarkesworld 2019 ShortStory Meso-American Alternate History Fantasy 6,888 words

Cortez invades a Mexico that has electricity, and he gets help from an unhappy slave girl.

Historical FantasyRevengeIntertextual

Content warnings 3

deathslaveryviolence

O Have You Seen the Devle with his Mikerscope and Scalpul?

Jonathan L. Howard Apex 2019 Novelette Time-Travel Horror 9,543 words

Someone from our era look back to 1888 London and the Jack-the-Ripper murders.

MetafictionalRevengeHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

deathgoreviolence

Seonag and the Seawolves

M. Evan MacGriogair Tor.com 2019 Novelette Scottish Folktale Fantasy 8,459 words

This is the story of Seonag and how she crossed the waves ahead of the hunters and how she found the wolves and what happened then.

Folk HorrorColonialismIntertextual

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

Swimming Apart

R.Z. Held BCS 2019 ShortStory Fantasy Adventure 4,844 words

Two selkie women, childhood friends who’ve drifted apart, get together for an adventure in an abandoned human mine.

Historical FantasyFriendshipSecondary World

The Thirty-Eight-Hundred Bone Coat

R.K. Duncan BCS 2019 Novelette High Fantasy 8,408 words

A nobleman offers Navid’s family a vast fortune if they’ll make him a magic coat more powerful than anything they’ve ever made, and in the span of a single month. It will change their lives, one way or the other.

Historical FantasyFamilySlow Burn

I Frequently Hear Music in the Very Heart of Noise

Sarah Pinsker Uncanny 2018 ShortStory Non-fiction 5,344 words

An account of various famous artists, writers, and musicians who lived in Manhatttan in the 1930s.

MetafictionalArt And CreationNew York City

In the Ground, Before the Freeze

Margaret Ronald BCS 2018 ShortStory Dark Fantasy 6,631 words

They say the mountain women have “unnatural habits” so when Katrin falls in love with a lowland man, no good can come of it.

Folk HorrorTraumaFragmented

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

Magic Potion Behind-the-Mountains

Jaymee Goh BCS 2018 ShortStory Chinese Historical Fiction 6,307 words

When the young magistrate arrives at his remote posting, he sees that some of the villagers are amazingly strong, and he decides to learn how to make the magic potion that makes them so.

Historical FantasyMentorshipSlow Burn

Content warnings 1

violence

Suite for Accompanied Cello

Tamara Vardomskaya BCS 2018 ShortStory Clockwork Fantasy 5,947 words

Rielle accepts an offer from her husband’s rival to play accompaniment for his daughter in a competition. They need the money, but there’s something too perfect about this daughter.

Historical FantasyArt And CreationHistorical Europe

What Gentle Women Dare

Kelly Robson Uncanny 2018 ShortStory Historical Horror 6,578 words

As a prostitute in Liverpool in 1763, Lolly has a hard life. She steals from a well-dressed corpse she finds in the river, with unexpected results.

First ContactColonialismHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

child-deathsexual-contentviolence

An Unexpected Boon

S.B. Divya Apex 2017 ShortStory Modern Fantasy (India) 6,100 words ♪ audio

Little Kalyani might be autistic, but no one in her village knows what that means. A passing sage offers her a boon, but it’s not at all a cure.

Historical FantasyDiasporaHistorical India

The Şiret Mask

Marie Brennan BCS 2017 ShortStory Fantasy Adventure 5,683 words

Viorica attempts to steal the famed Şiret Mask from Codruţ, brother of her dear friend. There are lots of complications, not least of which that Codruţ expects someone to try to take it.

Historical FantasyArt And CreationWhimsical

Her Sacred Spirit Soars

S. Qiouyi Lu Strange Horizons 2016 ShortStory Alternate History 5,428 words

In 1949, researchers attempt to harness "oriental lovebird energy" to cure human comas.

Historical FantasyDiasporaHistorical USA

Content warnings 3

death-of-a-loved-oneracismsuicide

The Great Detective

Delia Sherman Tor.com 2016 Novelette Steampunk 12,752 words

In 1880s London, Sir Arthur's "Illogic Engine" has gone missing, so he seeks help from Mycroft Holmes.

Science FantasyMentorshipEarnest

Told By An Idiot

K.J. Parker BCS 2016 Novelette Historical Fantasy 11,000 words

In Elizabethan London, an entrepreneur skilled in identifying legitimate antiquities ends up with a bottle that happens to have a demon in it.

MetafictionalArt And CreationSardonic

What I Saw Before the War

Alaya Dawn Johnson Reactor 2025 Novelette Fantasy 7,560 words

A woman losing her sight turns to small family magics to save the lives of those she loves the most.

Historical FantasyRacismLyrical

Content warnings 1

war

The Four Gifts of Empress Lessa

Myna Chang BCS 2023 ShortStory Fantasy 1,529 words

"I remember the night I became a ghost. My husband, the Emperor, served the tainted tea himself; my punishment for giving him yet another girl-child. I was not the first Empress to drink from this cup. My newborn daughter lay on my bed, wailing. The...

Historical FantasyRevengeHistorical China

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

Three Songs to Fill Up the Shadow

Spencer Ellsworth BCS 2022 Novelette Fantasy 12,193 words

"The ferryman’d had a poor, cold day, is how it starts. There’s other ways to start this one, but this time, we’ll start with the ferryman. It was shadows-eve, the coldest, longest night of the year, when the blackbird breathes all over the world. He’d...

Southern GothicRacismHistorical USA

Content warnings 3

child-deathracismviolence

Stronger

K.J. Parker BCS 2021 Novelette Fantasy 11,287 words

"Right,” I said. “Well, it’s a letter to the parents of the girl I love with all my heart and soul, telling them how I’ve just watched their daughter being dragged away screaming by soldiers and loaded on a ship to be taken as a sacrifice to the Black...

Historical FantasyRevengeSardonic

Content warnings 1

violence

The Black-Eyed Goddess of Apple Trees and Farmers' Wives

Erin Eisenhour BCS 2020 Novelette Fantasy 8,574 words

"Really, I don’t see what all the fuss is about. Shamans drag away poor farm girls from the outlying provinces all the time (particularly in seasons of great calamity, as everyone insists we are in now). Even then their lives stray little from their...

Historical FantasyMotherhoodHistorical China

Content warnings 3

body-horrordeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence

The Night Soil Salvagers

Gregory Norman Bossert Tor.com 2020 ShortStory Horror 6,617 words

Night Soil, of course, is human feces, but the salvagers to more than just collect that; they deliver other things too—if you’re willing to deal with them, that is.

MetafictionalArt And CreationIntertextual

Hide Me in the Shadow of Your Wings

Christopher Caldwell Strange Horizons 2018 ShortStory Historical Fantasy 4,694 words

In early 19th-Century New Orleans, a teenage boy learns he can fly, but doesn’t understand why he must keep it a secret.

Historical FantasyColonialismCaribbean

Content warnings 3

sexual-contentslaveryviolence

In Memory of Jianhong, Snake-Devil

Richard Parks BCS 2017 ShortStory Chinese Historical Fantasy 5,982 words

Jing and her father climb a mountain to find and kill a Snake-Devil that has been killing people and goats, but she’s not exactly what they expected.

Fairy Tale RetellingMentorshipHistorical China

On the Road to the Hell of Hungry Ghosts

Richard Parks BCS 2017 ShortStory Chinese Historical Fantasy 7,226 words

Pan Bao, his daughter Jing, and their snake-devil friend, Mei Li, encounter a ghost who needs help. They usually expect to be paid for their sorcery, but the ghost is very persistent.

Folk HorrorMentorshipHistorical China

Content warnings 3

child-deathdeathviolence

5.4 Her Right Arm by Natalia Theodoridou

khōréō 2026 ♪ audio

A man sets out on a voyage accompanied by his fiancée's right arm. Content warnings: Violence (graphic), threat of bodily harm, covert misogyny Copyright © 2026 khōréō magazine. Story by Natalia Theodoridou, edited by Isabella Kestermann. Audio edition...

Historical FantasyGuiltSardonic

Content warnings 2

body-horrormisogyny

DP FICTION #136B: “The Monster’s Wife” by Stewart Moore

Diabolical Plots Diabolical Plots 2026

Content note (click for details) Threatened harm to women and children; non-graphic mentions of death by drowning; poverty edited by Ziv Wities The monster came out perfectly. The head of an ass. A human left arm, delicate in comparison to the elephant’s...

Mythic FictionFaithHistorical Europe

Content warnings 1

death-of-a-loved-one

DP FICTION #138A: “Njiran Folk Beliefs, Volume II” by Claire Jia-Wen

David Steffen Diabolical Plots 2026

Content note (click for details) Sexual assault, child abuse, violence, abduction, death, blood, racism, colonization edited by Hal Y. Zhang ***RAW TRANSCRIPT, FIRST PASS EDIT NOTES*** Njiran Folk Beliefs VOLUME II Collected by Ven Nakai, retired Njiran...

MetafictionalRacismUnreliable Narrator

Content warnings 3

racismsexual-violenceviolence

PodCastle 925: The Immortal Rabbit

PodCastle 2026 ♪ audio

Author : Audris Candra Narrator : Zilla Paramita Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 925: The Immortal Rabbit is a PodCastle original. Content notes for homophobia, violence, the death of a spouse, and second-person...

Fairy Tale RetellingTrans IdentityHistorical China

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 926: TALES FROM THE VAULTS – The Gold Silkworm

PodCastle 2026 ♪ audio

Author : Tony Pi Narrator : S. Qiouyi Lu Host : Graeme Dunlop Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Previously ran as episode 423 and first published in Fantasy Magazine Rated PG-13 The Gold Silkworm by Tony Pi When I first became keeper of the Spirit of Grass, she...

Historical FantasyMentorshipHistorical China

Content warnings 1

violence

PodCastle 942: TALES FROM THE VAULTS: Burning Season

PodCastle 2026 ♪ audio

Author : C. L. Clark Narrator : Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali Host : Wanini Kimemiah Audio Producer : Wilson Fowlie Previously ran as episode 519 as a PodCastle Original Rated PG-13 Burning Season By C. L. Clark It was burning season in Rashid. Again. Even in the...

Historical FantasyColonialismBleak

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 951: TALES FROM THE VAULTS: ‘Til Death

PodCastle 2026 ♪ audio

Author : C. J. Lavigne Narrator : Nicola Chapman Host : Tarver Nova Audio Producer : Eric Valdes PodCastle 951: TALES FROM THE VAULTS: ‘Til Death is a PodCastle original. Content note for grief Rated PG-13 ‘Til Death by C. J. Lavigne My dear Clarinda, They...

Historical FantasyFriendshipHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 957: Of Black Town’s Monster by Chaitanya Murali – PART ONE of Two

PodCastle 2026 ♪ audio

Author : Chaitanya Murali Narrator : Kaushik Narasimhan Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Previously published by Kaleidotrope, 2024 Contents Notes for colonisation, enslavement, torture, racism, and references to sexual assault Rated R Of...

Historical FantasySlaveryHistorical India

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 958: Of Black Town’s Monster by Chaitanya Murali – PART TWO of Two

PodCastle 2026 ♪ audio

Author : Chaitanya Murali Narrator : Kaushik Narasimhan Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Previously published by Kaleidotrope, 2024 Contents Notes for colonisation, enslavement, torture, racism, and references to sexual assault Rated R Of...

Historical FantasySlaveryHistorical India

Content warnings 3

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Podcast: Because I Held His Name Like a Key

Aimee Ogden Strange Horizons 2026

In this episode of the Strange Horizons Fiction podcast, Michael Ireland presents Aimee Ogden's 'Because I Held His Name Like a Key' read by Jenna Hanchey. Subscribe to the Strange Horizons podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠

Mythic FictionMortalityIntertextual

Content warnings 3

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PseudoPod 1013: The End Of The Story

Pseudopod 2026 ♪ audio

“The End Of The Story” was originally published in Weird Tales, vol. 15, no. 5 (May 1930). Link: Weird Tales original text Original layout from Weird Tales The Emperor of Dreams documentary Best collection of Smith’s poetry The following narrative was...

Historical FantasyGuiltHistorical Europe

PseudoPod 1019: Superstition

Pseudopod 2026 ♪ audio

‘Superstition’ was first published in the anthology 120 Murders: Dark Fiction Inspired by the Alternative Era Remote Viewing Clerks 1 Donnie Darko The Destructors Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand by Primitive Radio Gods The...

Historical FantasyClass InequalityRestrained

Content warnings 2

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PseudoPod 1030: Keeping Up With the Conan Doyles

Pseudopod 2026 ♪ audio

PseudoPod 1030: Keeping Up With the Conan Doyles is a PseudoPod original. C/W: disordered eating, fat-shaming May 22nd is Conan Doyle’s birthday and Sherlock Holmes Day Jess Whitecroft’s Patreon Cautionary Tales: Photographing Fairies From the Journals of...

Historical FantasyRevengeSatirical

Content warnings 3

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PseudoPod 1045: Turquoise Waters

Pseudopod 2026 ♪ audio

“Turquoise Waters” was first published in Women of the Weird West, edited by KC Grifant, in 2026 C/W: guns, misogyny, strong violence Author’s note: “I lived in New Mexico for six years where I taught Navajo, Zuni, and Hobi students in the Four Corners...

Historical FantasyRacismAmerican Southwest

Content warnings 3

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The Knacker Man

Scott Dalrymple Lightspeed 2026

A year of living in the ground had not accustomed Moyer to the smell. He wondered how the French, who’d been at this business so much longer, could stand it. But if the officers who had trained his unit in the intricacies of trench life were any...

Historical FantasyConsciousnessHistorical USA

Content warnings 2

deathwar

Escape Pod 987: In the Palace of Science (Part 1 of 2)

Chris Campbell Escape Pod 2025 ♪ audio

In the Palace of Science (Part 1 of 2) By Chris Campbell Track One– If you’ve found this recording, two things can be said for certain. The first is that I have passed my greatest test as a man and, in doing so, have passed from this world. The second is...

Science FantasyRacismRestrained

Content warnings 2

racismwar

Escape Pod 988: In the Palace of Science (Part 2 of 2)

Chris Campbell Escape Pod 2025 ♪ audio

In the Palace of Science (Part 2 of 2) By Chris Campbell (...Continued from Part 1) B-Side Track Five– The automaton was unfinished, but even in a transitory state, it was a thing of marvel. In form, it was like a man. With two legs meant for bipedal...

Science FantasyRacismHistorical USA

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 888: TALES FROM THE VAULTS – This Sullied Earth, Our Home

PodCastle 2025 ♪ audio

Author : Mimi Mondal Narrator : Elizabeth Green Host : Kaitlyn Zivanovich Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums Originally published as PodCastle 349 Content warnings for violence and disturbing imagery Rated R This Sullied Earth, Our Home by...

Historical FantasyFatherhoodHistorical India

Content warnings 2

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PodCastle 889: The O’Brien and Palmer Show – PART ONE of Two

PodCastle 2025 ♪ audio

Author : L. S. Johnson Narrators : Nicola Chapman, Matt Dovey and Peter Seaton-Clark Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by G Is for Ghosts, Poise and Pen Publishing Content warning for era-specific...

Historical FantasyQueer IdentityEarnest

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 890: The O’Brien and Palmer Show – PART TWO of Two

PodCastle 2025 ♪ audio

Author : L. S. Johnson Narrators : Nicola Chapman, Matt Dovey and Peter Seaton-Clark Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by G Is for Ghosts, Poise and Pen Publishing Content warning for era-specific...

Historical FantasyQueer IdentityEarnest

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 901: Moths in a Fluttering Heart

PodCastle 2025 ♪ audio

Author : Christine Lucas Narrator : Kat Kourbeti Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Abyss & Apex Content warnings for ableist slurs and attitudes, violence, and misogyny Rated PG-13 Moths in a...

Folk HorrorRevengeHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 906: DOUBLE EPISODE: The House, The Witch, and Sugarcane Stalks and To Pluck a Twisted String

PodCastle 2025 ♪ audio

Authors : Amanda Helms and Anne Leonard Narrators : Cherrae L. Stuart and Christiana Ellis Host : Eric Valdes Artist : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums “The House, The Witch, and Sugarcane Stalks” Previously published by Lightspeed, “To Pluck a Twisted...

Fairy Tale RetellingArt And CreationHistorical USA

Content warnings 1

slavery

PodCastle 909: Resurrection Rum

PodCastle 2025 ♪ audio

Author : Stephanie Malia Morris Narrator : Dominick Rabrun Host : Wilson Fowlie Audio Producer : Eric Valdes PodCastle 909: Resurrection Rum is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for death, gun violence, and racism Rated PG-13 Resurrection Rum by...

Southern GothicRacismHistorical USA

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 912: TALES FROM THE VAULTS – The Tanuki-Kettle

PodCastle 2025 ♪ audio

Author : Eugie Foster Narrator : Tina Connolly Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously ran as episode 28 and first published by Cricket Magazine Rated G The Tanuki-Kettle by Eugie Foster When Hisa was a baby, her mother...

Fairy Tale RetellingFriendshipHistorical Japan

PseudoPod 1000: Novel of the White Powder

Pseudopod 2025 ♪ audio

“Novel of the White Powder” first appeared in The Three Impostors in 1895. C/W: drug abuse, delusions The Angels of Mons: The Bowmen and Other Legends of the War by Arthur Machen The Angel of Mons Jess Nevins on The Novel of The White Powder White Lines by...

Folk HorrorGuiltHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

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PseudoPod 983: Grave Worms

Pseudopod 2025 ♪ audio

“Grave Worms” originally appeared in Cassilda’s Song: Tales Inspired by Robert W. Chambers’ King in Yellow Mythos an anthology edited by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. The grey flannel suit might have looked masculine on the rack, or on another woman, but the close...

Historical FantasyArt And CreationNew York City

Content warnings 2

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PseudoPod 994: The Bride

Pseudopod 2025 ♪ audio

“The Bride” was originally published in Black Static in 2020 C/W necrophilia, sexual assault, physical assault, control As you drive south, the heat rushes up to greet you like your name is in the guestbook and it has your room prepared. A wet, eager heat,...

Southern GothicBodily AutonomyHistorical USA

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 822: Your Great Mother Across the Salt Sea – Part One

PodCastle 2024 ♪ audio

Author : Kelsey Hutton Narrator : Samantha Loney Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Beneath Ceaseless Skies Content warning for racism and racial slurs Rated PG-13 Your Great Mother Across the Salt Sea...

Historical FantasyColonialismHistorical Europe

Content warnings 1

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PodCastle 823: Your Great Mother Across the Salt Sea – Part Two

PodCastle 2024 ♪ audio

Author : Kelsey Hutton Narrator : Samantha Loney Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Beneath Ceaseless Skies Content warning for racism and racial slurs Rated PG-13 Your Great Mother Across the Salt Sea...

Historical FantasyColonialismHistorical Europe

Content warnings 1

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PodCastle 831: The Adventure of the Faerie Coffin: Being the First Morstan and Holmes Occult Detection – Part One

PodCastle 2024 ♪ audio

Author : Rebecca Buchanan Narrator : Nicola Chapman Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums Previously published by Sherlock Holmes and the Occult Detectives 1 (Belanger Press) Rated PG The Adventure of the Faerie Coffin: Being...

Folk HorrorMentorshipIntertextual

PodCastle 832: The Adventure of the Faerie Coffin: Being the First Morstan and Holmes Occult Detection – Part Two

PodCastle 2024 ♪ audio

Author : Rebecca Buchanan Narrator : Nicola Chapman Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums Previously published by Sherlock Holmes and the Occult Detectives 1 (Belanger Press) Rated PG ~ Five ~ Dinner was not silent. While we sat...

Folk HorrorMentorshipIntertextual

Content warnings 1

violence

PodCastle 833: This Wooden Heart

PodCastle 2024 ♪ audio

Author : Eleanna Castroianni Narrator : Kat Kourbeti Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 833: This Wooden Heart is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for death and references to war and genocide. Rated PG-13 This...

Historical FantasyGuiltHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 841: Pirates

PodCastle 2024 ♪ audio

Author : E. F. Benson Narrator : Devin Martin Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Originally published by Hutchinson’s Magazine, October 1928 Content warning for references to grief Rated PG Pirates by E.F. Benson For many...

Historical FantasyMemoryHistorical Europe

Content warnings 2

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PodCastle 847: The Golem Lover

PodCastle 2024 ♪ audio

Author : J.H. Siegal Narrator : Rebecca Fraimow Host : Eleanor R. Wood Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 847: The Golem Lover is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for the death of a spouse and for sexually explicit themes and...

Historical FantasyBodily AutonomyHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 855: Shim Hyeon and the Ocean God

PodCastle 2024 ♪ audio

Author : Seoung Kim Narrator : Yoon Ha Lee Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 855: Shim Hyeon and the Ocean God is a PodCastle original. Rated PG Shim Hyeon and the Ocean God by Seoung Min Kim “They usually send...

Fairy Tale RetellingFatherhoodHistorical Korea

PodCastle 856: TALES FROM THE VAULTS – Clouds in a Clear Blue Sky

PodCastle 2024 ♪ audio

Author : Matt Dovey Narrator : Matthew James Hamblin Host : Eleanor R. Wood Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 856: TALES FROM THE VAULTS – Clouds in a Clear Blue Sky is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13 Clouds in a Clear Blue Sky By...

Science FantasyFatherhoodEarnest

Content warnings 1

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PodCastle 859: John Gladwin Says…

PodCastle 2024 ♪ audio

Author : Oliver Onions Narrator : Matt Dovey Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums Originally published in The London Magazine, August 1928. Content warnings for the off-screen deaths of a spouse and sons Rated PG John Gladwin...

Historical FantasyFatherhoodUnreliable Narrator

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 861: A Most Lovely Song

PodCastle 2024 ♪ audio

Author : Albert Chu Narrator : Curtis C. Chen Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin PodCastle 861: A Most Lovely Song is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for war, parental death, assault, a racial slur, and references to torture, genocide,...

Historical FantasyColonialismHistorical China

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 868: Two Hands, Wrapped in Gold – PART ONE

PodCastle 2024 ♪ audio

Author : S.B. Divya Narrator : Kaushik Narasimhan Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Uncanny Content warnings for fire, violence (including domestic violence), references to rape, and parental deaths....

Fairy Tale RetellingRacismHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 869: Two Hands, Wrapped in Gold – PART TWO

PodCastle 2024 ♪ audio

Author : S.B. Divya Narrator : Kaushik Narasimhan Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Uncanny Content warnings for fire, violence (including domestic violence), references to rape, and parental deaths....

Fairy Tale RetellingDiasporaHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

abusedeathviolence

PodCastle 870: Two Hands, Wrapped in Gold – PART THREE

PodCastle 2024 ♪ audio

Author : S.B. Divya Narrator : Kaushik Narasimhan Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Uncanny Content warnings for fire, violence (including domestic violence), references to rape, and parental deaths....

Fairy Tale RetellingDiasporaHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

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PseudoPod 913: The Vengeance Of Nitocris

Pseudopod 2024 ♪ audio

“The Vengeance Of Nitocris” was first published in Weird Tales, August 1928 Hushed were the streets of many-peopled Thebes. Those few who passed through them moved with the shadowy fleetness of bats near dawn, and bent their faces from the sky as if...

Historical FantasyRevengeMetafictional

Content warnings 3

deathgoreviolence

PseudoPod 927: Three Nights With the Angel of Death

Pseudopod 2024 ♪ audio

“Three Nights With the Angel of Death” was originally published in the anthology ALONG HARROWED TRAILS from Timber Ghost Press in July 2023 The Quick and the Dead Arizona, 1884—Day One The people of Vulture City are calling him the Angel of Death. But that...

Historical FantasyGuiltAmerican Southwest

Content warnings 3

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PseudoPod 939: Cheating Death

Pseudopod 2024 ♪ audio

CW: Ableist slur This material originally appeared in The Hitherto Secret Experiments of Marie Curie edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt & Henry L. Herz published by Blackstone Publishing (©2023) I didn’t join in as my surviving family members conversed over...

BiopunkRevengeHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

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Escape Pod 878: Budo (Flashback Friday)

Tade Thompson Escape Pod 2023 ♪ audio

Budo By Tade Thompson “Being desirous, on the other hand, to obviate the misunderstanding and disputes which might in future arise from new acts of occupation (prises de possession) on the coast of Africa; and concerned, at the same time, as to the means...

Science FantasyRevengeWest Africa

Content warnings 3

goreviolencewar

Flower, Daughter, Soil, Seed

Eugenia Triantafyllou Uncanny 2023 ShortStory Fantasy 4,246 words

"There isn’t a more resilient thing than a small flower. Your great-great-grandmother was a yellow daffodil. Where she was born people called her narcissus. Her many heads blossomed from a loamy opening in the forest on a particularly chill spring day....

Historical FantasyDiasporaHistorical Europe

Content warnings 2

deathwar

PodCastle 773: Housing Problem

PodCastle 2023 ♪ audio

Authors : C. L. Moore and Henry Kuttner Narrator : John Bell Host : Alex Hofelich Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Originally published by Charm, October 1944 Rated PG Housing Problem by C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner Jacqueline said it was a canary, but I...

Historical FantasyFriendshipEarnest

PodCastle 775: The Morthouse

PodCastle 2023 ♪ audio

Author : Maria Haskins Narrator : Eleanor R. Wood Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums Previously published by The Deadlands #12 Content Warning for the death of a child Rated PG-13 The Morthouse by Maria Haskins In her...

Folk HorrorMotherhoodHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 785: ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: Biographical Notes to ‘A Discourse on the Nature of Causality, with Air-planes’ by Benjamin Rosenbaum

PodCastle 2023 ♪ audio

Author : Benjamin Rosenbaum Narrator : Graeme Dunlop Hosts : Matt Dovey and Ann Leckie Audio Producers : Eric Valdes and Pria Wood Discuss on Forums Originally published in All-Star Zeppelin Adventure Stories, edited by David Moles and Jay Lake. Previously...

MetafictionalIdentitySatirical

PodCastle 788: An Anklet Broken

PodCastle 2023 ♪ audio

Author : Chaitanya Murali Narrator : M. L. Krishnan Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 788: An Anklet Broken is a PodCastle original. An Anklet Broken by Chaitanya Murali There is a man I am meant to love. He is the...

Fairy Tale RetellingRevengeHistorical India

Content warnings 2

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PodCastle 798: ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: Squalor and Sympathy

PodCastle 2023 ♪ audio

Author : Matt Dovey Narrator : Louise Ratcliffe Hosts : Matt Dovey and Graeme Dunlop Audio Producers : Devin Martin and Pria Wood Discuss on Forums First published in Writers of the Future volume 32, May 2016 Originally aired as PodCastle 427 Originally...

Historical FantasyCorporate PowerHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

child-abusedeathviolence

PodCastle 808: ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: The Settlement

PodCastle 2023 ♪ audio

Author : WC Dunlap Narrator : Kimberly Taylor Hosts : Matt Dovey and Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali Audio Producers : Eric Valdes and Pria Wood Discuss on Forums PodCastle 808: ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: The Settlement is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for...

Historical FantasyColonialismHistorical USA

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 809: The Woman on the Balcony

PodCastle 2023 ♪ audio

Author : Dorothy Quick Narrator : Valerie Valdes Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Weird Tales Content warnings for murder and references to torture Rated PG-13 The Woman on the Balcony by Dorothy...

Historical FantasyGuiltHistorical Europe

Content warnings 2

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PseudoPod 883: Ba’alat Ov

Pseudopod 2023 ♪ audio

“Ba’alat Ov” originally appeared in The Jewish Book of Horror In the night, the spirits spoke with hisses and gurgles like serpents wrapped around my head. I awoke covered in sweat, barely able to breathe, so afraid of what they would ask me to do. They...

Mythic FictionFaithVisceral

Content warnings 3

body-horrorgoresuicide

PseudoPod 897: The Red Lady

Pseudopod 2023 ♪ audio

“The Red Lady” was originally published in the 2023 anthology Collage Macabre presented by the Future Dead Collective SHOW NOTES The Whoniverse The Full Lid ‘Art is never finished, only abandoned.’ – This week’s closing quote has a fascinating, and very...

Cosmic HorrorAmbitionHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 723: Just One Last Mango

PodCastle 2022 ♪ audio

Author : Chaitanya Murali Narrator : Prashanth Srivatsa Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 723: Just One Last Mango is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13 Just One Last Mango by Chaitanya Murali “Do you want...

Folk HorrorRevengeFast Paced

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 730: The Augur and the Girl Left At His Door

PodCastle 2022 ♪ audio

Author : Greta Hayer Narrator : Wilson Fowlie Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by Beneath Ceaseless Skies Rated PG-13 The Augur and the Girl Left at His Door by Greta Hayer The augur looked at...

Historical FantasyFatherhoodHistorical China

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 732: Fire in His Eyes, Blood on His Teeth

PodCastle 2022 ♪ audio

Author : R.S.A. Garcia Narrator : Omega Francis Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by Devil’s Ways anthology Content warning for domestic violence Rated R Fire In His Eyes, Blood On His Teeth By...

Folk HorrorMotherhoodCaribbean

Content warnings 3

abusedeathviolence

PodCastle 734: An Incomplete Account of the Case of the Bird-Talker of Yaros

PodCastle 2022 ♪ audio

Author : Eleanna Castroianni Narrator : Alethea Kontis Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by Fireside Content warnings for war, imprisonment, and torture Rated PG-13 An Incomplete Account of the...

Historical FantasyMotherhoodIntertextual

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 736: The Gorgon’s Glass

PodCastle 2022 ♪ audio

Author : M. E. Bronstein Narrators : Rachael K. Jones and Dave Thompson Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 736: The Gorgon’s Glass is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13 The Gorgon’s Glass by M.E. Bronstein...

Historical FantasyRevengeIntertextual

Content warnings 2

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PodCastle 737: The Eight Hundred Legs of the Rio-Niterói Bridge

PodCastle 2022 ♪ audio

Author : Renan Bernardo Narrator : Diogo Ramos Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 737: The Eight Hundred Legs of the Rio-Niterói Bridge is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for death of a parent, grief, and...

Historical FantasyFatherhoodRestrained Prose

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 739: ‘Til Death

PodCastle 2022 ♪ audio

Author : C. J. Lavigne Narrator : Nicola Chapman Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 739: ‘Til Death is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for grief Rated PG-13 ‘Til Death by C. J. Lavigne My dear Clarinda, They...

Historical FantasyFriendshipHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 746: Colors of the Immortal Palette – Part 1

PodCastle 2022 ♪ audio

Author : Caroline M. Yoachim Narrator : Miyuki Jane Pinckard Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producers : Devin Martin and Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Uncanny Magazine Rated R The music for the promotion intro is “Sneaky Snitch” Kevin...

Historical FantasyArt And CreationSardonic

Content warnings 1

sexual-content

PodCastle 747: Colors of the Immortal Palette – Part 2

PodCastle 2022 ♪ audio

Author : Caroline M. Yoachim Narrator : Miyuki Jane Pinckard Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producers : Devin Martin and Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Uncanny Magazine Rated R “The Traveler’s Guide to the Goblin Fells is an expansion book...

Historical FantasyArt And CreationHistorical USA

Content warnings 1

death-of-a-loved-one

PodCastle 748: Colors of the Immortal Palette – Part 3

PodCastle 2022 ♪ audio

Author : Caroline M. Yoachim Narrator : Miyuki Jane Pinckard Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producers : Devin Martin and Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Uncanny Magazine Rated R “The Traveler’s Guide to the Goblin Fells is an expansion book...

SlipstreamRacismHistorical USA

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 751: Flash Fiction Extravaganza – Mortality

PodCastle 2022 ♪ audio

Authors : Samantha Murray, Lindsey Godfrey Eccles and Stewart C Baker Narrators : Emma Osborne, Dave Robison and Eleanor R. Wood Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums “On the Corner of Fulton and West” is a PodCastle Original!...

Historical FantasyGuiltNew York City

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 759: INDIGENOUS MAGIC – Anu and the Vetala

PodCastle 2022 ♪ audio

Author : Srikripa Krishna Prasad Narrator : S.B. Divya Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Artist : Cindy Fan Discuss on Forums PodCastle 759: INDIGENOUS MAGIC – Anu and the Vetala is a PodCastle original. Content Warnings for references to...

Fairy Tale RetellingQueer IdentityHistorical India

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 761: INDIGENOUS MAGIC – The Bone Pickers

PodCastle 2022 ♪ audio

Author : Kelsey Hutton Narrator : Laurie McDougall Host : Sofía Barker Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Artist : Cindy Fan Discuss on Forums PodCastle 761: INDIGENOUS MAGIC – The Bone Pickers is a PodCastle original. Content Warning for themes of genocide...

Science FantasyColonialismHopeful

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 763: INDIGENOUS MAGIC – Dying Rivers and Broken Hearts

PodCastle 2022 ♪ audio

Author : Gabriella Buba Narrator : Vida Cruz-Borja Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Artist : Cindy Fan Discuss on Forums Previously published by Strange Religion: Speculative Fiction of Spirituality, Belief, & Practice (Strange Concepts: Big...

Historical FantasyColonialismHistorical Philippines

Content warnings 3

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PodCastle 764: The Science and Artistry of Snake Oil Salesmanship – Part 1

PodCastle 2022 ♪ audio

Author : Timothy Mudie Narrator : Jairus Durnett Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Beneath Ceaseless Skies Rated PG-13 The soundtrack featured in this story was composed by our audio engineer Eric...

Historical FantasyCorporate PowerAmerican Southwest

PodCastle 765: The Science and Artistry of Snake Oil Salesmanship – Part 2

PodCastle 2022 ♪ audio

Author : Timothy Mudie Narrator : Jairus Durnett Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Beneath Ceaseless Skies Rated PG-13 The soundtrack featured in this story was composed by our audio engineer Eric...

Historical FantasyRevengeAmerican Southwest

Content warnings 1

violence

PseudoPod 796: The Horse Leech Has Two Maws

Pseudopod 2022 ♪ audio

“The Horse Leech Has Two Maws” was originally published in The Jewish Book of Horror This story deals with the Holocaust. This story has an academic frame and that the text on the website has a number of scholarly footnotes that provide additional context....

Mythic FictionWarHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

body-horrorgenocidewar

PseudoPod 799: February Moon

Pseudopod 2022 ♪ audio

“February Moon” originally appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies in May, 2020, and was the first in a series of monster stories I’m writing that take place in old Texas. Something killed our rooster and three of our brown hens during the night. Thin ice...

Folk HorrorFamilyAmerican Southwest

Content warnings 3

deathgoreviolence

PseudoPod 833: Cockcrow Inn

Pseudopod 2022 ♪ audio

“Cockcrow Inn” was first published in the collection Who Wants a Green Bottle? and Other Uneasy Tales in 1926 Cockcrow Inn stands defiantly facing the sea. For countless years it has stood thus, holding at naught the greatest strength of wind and water,...

Folk HorrorFamilyNostalgic

Content warnings 2

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PodCastle 675: Blush Response

PodCastle 2021 ♪ audio

Author : E. Catherine Tobler Narrator : Tatiana Grey Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published in No Shit, There I Was (2017), an anthology edited by Alex Acks Rated PG-13. Blush Response by E....

Historical FantasyQueer IdentityHistorical USA

Content warnings 2

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PodCastle 689: Gitl Schneiderman Learns to Live With Her In-Laws

PodCastle 2021 ♪ audio

Author : Rebecca Fraimow Narrator : Barbara Krasnoff Host : Benjamin C. Kinney Audio Producers : Peter Adrian Behravesh and Jim Freund Discuss on Forums PodCastle 689: Gitl Schneiderman Learns to Live With Her In-Laws is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13...

Historical FantasyQueer IdentityHistorical Europe

PseudoPod 759: The Withered Heart

Pseudopod 2021 ♪ audio

“The Withered Heart” was originally published in the November 1939 issue of Weird Tales As this was originally published as a novelette and a bit long for an episode of PseudoPod, staff turned this into an abridgement project to see if we could trim out...

Historical FantasyHubrisHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

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PseudoPod 763: Charged

Pseudopod 2021 ♪ audio

“Charged” was first published in Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells (Tor Books, 2011) The reader, Joe Williams, would like to dedicate the reading to their Father who recently passed away: “Allan Williams was Joe’s hero. Never short of experiences to share or...

Historical FantasyAmbitionHistorical USA

Content warnings 3

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PseudoPod 787: On Seas of Blood and Salt

Pseudopod 2021 ♪ audio

“On Seas of Blood and Salt” originally appeared in The Jewish Book of Horror This is what Reb Palache does when he finds a ship crewed by the dead. He does not know it is crewed by the dead, not at first. He is in his cabin, discoursing with the nameless...

Historical FantasyFaithHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

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PseudoPod 790: The Humbug

Pseudopod 2021 ♪ audio

PseudoPod 790: The Humbug is a PseudoPod original. Joshua caught it in a glass jar with holes poked in the lid. He came running up to the cabin with it, shouting, “I found a bug! I found a bug!” “There aren’t any bugs in winter,” Amanda said crossly,...

Historical FantasyMortalityHistorical Europe

PseudoPod 791: Flash on the Borderlands LIX: Down in the Park

Pseudopod 2021 ♪ audio

“Feast for Small Pieces” was originally published in The Bronzeville Bee in 2019 and reprinted in the collection Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy. “MeeMee” first saw print in the anthology Georgia Gothic. “The Shimmer of Trees” was originally published...

Cosmic HorrorJusticeHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

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An Incomplete Account of the Case of the Bird-Talker of Yaros

Eleanna Castroianni Fireside 2020 ShortStory 2,396 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

Historical FantasyPolitical ResistanceHistorical Europe

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

The Ordeal

M. Bennardo BCS 2020 Novelette Ruritanian Romance 8,126 words

A young American in the early 20th Century visits a remote principality and is shocked at their notion of justice.

SlipstreamPolitical ResistanceAmbiguous Ending

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

La Héron

Charlotte Ashley F&SF 2015 ShortStory 6,544 words

In France in 1699, a magical fighter comes to Caen to duel with creatures from faery.

Folk HorrorFound FamilyAdventurous

Content warnings 1

violence

The Pyramid of Krakow

Michael Swanwick Tor.com 2015 ShortStory Alternate-History Fantasy 4,932 words

Part six of the Mongolian Wizard, in which Ritter goes to Krakow in disguise to find evidence of atrocities so grave that London cannot believe them.

Historical FantasyPolitical ResistanceHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

child-deathviolencewar