Meimei dates really bad guys. Who want to use her. Who don't know what they're in for.
Content warnings 5
abusebody-horrordeath-of-a-loved-onegoreviolence
New York City
72 free-to-read stories tagged “New York City”
Following a disaster in Antarctica, MacReady spends summer 1983 in New York and starts to wonder what he might have brought back with him.
Content warnings 5
body-horrordeathillness-and-pandemicsubstance-useviolence
A young hustler discovers that he's supposed to play a big role in transforming New York from a city to a City. If he can survive it.
Content warnings 3
deathracismviolence
"A week before the Season began, as Mrs. Vanessa Saunders held brunch court at the Empire Hotel, a photo appeared on her phone: a large oak door beneath a pale green sign with silver lettering. Impossible, she thought, flipping the infernal device over...
Content warnings 1
death
"At first I thought something had broken in my book. I didn’t notice until the afternoon light from the windows began to recede. I tried to increase the brightness settings of the page, but no matter how I thumbed the margins, they would not change. For...
Content warnings 3
death-of-a-loved-onesubstance-useviolence
"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...
Content warnings 2
mental-illnessmisogyny
"On the island of Manhattan, there’s a building out of time. I can’t tell you where it is, exactly. It has an address, of course, as all buildings do, but that wouldn’t mean anything to you. What I can tell you is that the building is called The Oakmont."
Content warnings 1
war
‘Nisha only has five hours to get across New York to her dead aunt’s apartment before the city comes to throw away all her stuff. She’s not even sure it’s worth it, but they said her aunt was a witch…
Content warnings 3
deathgoreviolence
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…
Content warnings 3
deathdeath-of-a-loved-onesuicide
"I tell Mateo to meet me at a wine bar. It’s a quiet, low-key spot—ideal for first dates, because it’s easy to make a speedy exit in case the red flags start flying—or worse, if the men in blue come knocking. It’s been over an hour, and we’re on our second...
Delilah makes some money modeling, and Crispin offers twice what anyone else does. He never lets her look at the works in progress, though. He has his reasons.
Content warnings 1
violence
"On the day of the fitting, hope flits in Ava’s chest, a frightened sparrow she might stifle or set free. The day unravels languidly from dawn until midmorning, then hurtles toward noon so quickly that Ava must run to catch the subway or risk being late....
"Their power is how they can turn you into one of them. That’s the trick of it, see. You can go in with your swords and sacrifice, you can go in with your red heart and good intentions, and they will grin with their white teeth and say, “Welcome to Grey &...
A woman who fears she’s failing as a painter and as an artist seeks inspiration from one of her favorite poets and finds something even more wondrous, but also more impossible to capture on canvas…
"There was only one freight car down the wall into the Flood District, and it was shared by all bulk service providers who came bearing gifts: maintenance workers, solar installers, grocery and package delivery, and the like. A bing-bong meant another...
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 3
death-of-a-loved-oneracismviolence
"Good art changes you. And that was the point, right? That’s what the social media ad that caught my attention wanted me to believe: Our Shoes: You couldn’t understand our struggle... Until now. I had read the line over and over again during a rare...
Content warnings 1
racism
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 1
body-horror
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.
Content warnings 1
racism
A woman protects an illegal AI from a government team that’s trying to erase it.
Content warnings 1
violence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 8
abusedeathgoreillness-and-pandemicsexual-contentsubstance-usesuicideviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
"I heard this story from my late friend Shelby Weinberg. Like myself, Shel was a science fiction writer. If his byline doesn’t ring any bells, though, don’t feel ignorant; not many SF fans knew him by that name. Even the pseudonym he used, Hamilton Yale,...
A student of multiversal time travel slips from one version of New York to another, discovering that love may transcend timelines, but so too can heartbreak…
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 3
abusechild-abusesexual-violence
It’s been a long time since Ravi left Guyana, but he’s sure he recognizes a Jumbie, even in New York, where they don’t believe in evil spirits. And it’s following him.
Content warnings 2
sexual-contentviolence
Sam is a talented hacker who extracts Jane’s personal info in order to seduce her.
A woman paramedic and her best friend fear that despite their best efforts, they end up causing more pain than they relieve.
Content warnings 2
deathsuicide
"I learned from Bernadette that there are two ways a star can go supernova. The first is in a double star where one partner dies first, turning into a white dwarf, and the surviving partner swells in grief and dumps mass onto the compact star. But the...
Content warnings 2
death-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemic
"You’re not meant to fix what happens in the time loops. Doctor’s orders, and that comes even before they give you the survey and the spiel and the confidentiality speech. The psych fiddles with his tablet in his cozy, yellow-couch office, and talks to you...
Content warnings 2
death-of-a-loved-onesuicide
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
"The theatergoers shuffle in and find their seats, the red velvet torn in some cases and splotchy with stains in others. Frescoes cover the walls, scrunched between goldrimmed ornamentation. A great golden chandelier hangs overhead, lit and dazzling. Only...
"A whale soars over Brooklyn. Clouds spread in streaks over the pale blue sky like cold butter. And the whale cleaves right through. Dar spots it from his perch on the rooftop, smoking a contraband cigarette. At first, it looks like the whale is just...
Content warnings 2
body-horrorgore
"When I was young, I used to fray apart my mother’s tales, seeking the threads of their structure. They were journeys, always, and marked by transition-places: doorway, gate, river. On the other side, someone offered the rules of this new environment. I...
Content warnings 1
violence
"The cadaver drone makes an incision along the inside of each finger. My stomach curls, waiting for the blood, but of course there’s none left. The body has been dead for days, all the blood drained and replaced with a sweet-smelling formaldehyde formula....
Content warnings 2
deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
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.
Nine years after the ace John “The Candle” Montaño first wielded his fire powers as a teenager on the reality TV show “American Hero”, he’s landed a job as the lead investigator for a prestigious arts insurer. His latest assignment, providing security for...
Content warnings 2
deathviolence
"Jesse mopped up the gravy with the last of his bread, gulped down a final mouthful of tea, then took his mug, plate, and utensils into the cooks’ tent. Henry looked up from the dishwashing tub and nodded to him amiably. “What have they got you on now?”...
Content warnings 1
slavery
Michael has done so much recreational time travel that he’s jaded. He’s resentful of the tourists who don’t try hard enough to blend in, and he wants to take his new girlfriend someplace special and authentic.
Content warnings 1
substance-use
A young Wall Street investment banker tells how he lost a billion dollars in a Bitcoin for black people.
Content warnings 1
suicide
In an alternate 2018, A teenage roadie at a Who concert risks his life by using his sonic ability to try to save lives when a fire engulfs the building.
Content warnings 2
substance-useviolence
The Golden Crusader must be getting old or something. He’s not so fast anymore, and he never flies higher than the sixth floor, but he keeps doing super deeds. Or trying to.
A retired superhero and a conspiracy theorist join forces to gather evidence against a mobster who’s trying to force their friend to sell her property to him.
Content warnings 1
violence
An account of various famous artists, writers, and musicians who lived in Manhatttan in the 1930s.
An anorexic woman has an unhealthy co-dependent relationship with her alcoholic roommate, her “friend” since childhood. But she also has a monstrous secret.
Content warnings 1
substance-use
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 3
body-horrorgoreviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 2
deathwar
Cannon-D’s body was spun from a 3D printer. It compiled fiber by artificial fiber, a loving replica of the protein strands and carbons that would have made up the real, […]
Content warnings 1
suicide
This episode features "A Vintage Kind of Death" written by Alex T. Singer. Published in the October 2026 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine and read by Kate Baker. The text version of this story can be found at: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/singer_10_26...
Content warnings 1
suicide
Author : ace tilton ratcliff Narrator : Jordan Kurella Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Escape Pod 1038: Meet the Mets is an Escape Pod original. Contains brief moments of violence and bigotry towards a transgender character Sponsored by...
Content warnings 2
transphobiaviolence
And now I’m home, standing over a recycled Home Depot bucket in my kitchen closet, crumbling bits of old bread into her maw.
“Always just. Always magical.” When the four of us first started working as Magical Girls, we penned the slogan in a McDonalds, giggling about how corny it sounded. Annie joked about how we’d still be calling ourselves magical girls when we were eighty,...
Content warnings 3
deathgoreviolence
Author : J. L. Akagi Narrator : Jo Moran Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes PodCastle 947: Why a Spider Needs a Parachute is a PodCastle original. Content notes for domestic violence and spiders. Big — friendly! — spiders Rated R Why a Spider...
Content warnings 3
abusetransphobiaviolence
Author : Emily Munro Narrator : Sandra Espinoza Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Wilson Fowlie PodCastle 952: Putti Call is a PodCastle original. Rated R Putti Call By Emily Munro Hopefully you’ve never tried to stuff a struggling toddler into a dog...
Content note: suicidal ideation “Please—turn it off!” A pained, painful wail from the room across the hall; soundtrack laughter dissolving into guttural thunder as a film projector slowed to a stop. “Well damn,” said the stranger who was entering the...
Content warnings 3
deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence
No one knows where the doll came from. With its blue glass eyes and ribboned hair, it looks like the ones you see at department stores and wonder who the hell buys them. “It’s gonna kill us in our sleep,” Kathy says, slapping Yuki’s hand away when he tries...
Nena came to consciousness little by little. She was ever present in the air of apartment 5K in the seventy-unit building in Brooklyn, like the wafting scent of sewer gas coming from old drain pipes: it’s easily ignored but still makes you a little sick....
Content warnings 3
goresexual-contentviolence
Author : Mitchell Shanklin Narrator : Elie Hirschman Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 891: Trending Now! Help With Legal Fees for Reluctant Swordsman is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for child...
Content warnings 3
body-horrorself-harmviolence
“Old Things are Meant to Be Found and Shared” first appeared as “Of Lovecraft and ‘He’” in The Book of Starry Wisdom. “The Secret in the Tomb” originally appeared in the May 1935 issue of Weird Tales. From Leanna Renee Hieber: “Much like the introduction...
Content warnings 3
body-horrordeathgore
“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...
Content warnings 2
mental-illnesssexual-content
Author : Tim Chawaga Narrator : James Kaku Pierson Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Escape Pod 938: Chug the Tea Leaves, Chuck the Ads is an Escape Pod original. Chug the Tea Leaves, Chuck the Ads by Tim Chawaga I wake up to a message and...
Content warnings 2
deathsuicide
Author : Linda Niehoff Narrator : Heather Thomas Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Escape Pod 883: Just Us and the Mannequins is an Escape Pod original. Brief mention of suicidal ideations Just Us and the Mannequins by Linda Niehoff It was...
Content warnings 1
suicide
The Revolution, Brought to You by Nike By Andrea Phillips 1. THE BRIEF Corazon clicked to the slide she’d been dreading: long-term trends for brand engagement. It was dire. She focused on the smudgy mirror at the far end of the conference room, looking...
Author : Andrea Phillips Narrator : Julia Rios Hosts : Valerie Valdes and Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Summer Brooks The Revolution, Brought to You by Nike originally appeared in Fireside Magazine in February 2017 and first played on Escape Pod Episode...
Content warnings 1
violence
Author : Alex Fox Narrator : Eric Valdes Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 774: Yung Lich and the Dance of Death is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13 Yung Lich and the Dance of Death By Alex Fox My Christian name...
Content warnings 1
death
Author : Lora Gray Narrator : Jo Moran Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums Previously published by Fantasy & Science Fiction Content warnings for a surgical procedure, homophobia (including slurs), assault, sexual assault, and...
Content warnings 3
abusehomophobiasexual-violence
"Review for: Izakaya Tanuki" is a magical slice-of-life tale about yearning for that special dish from a home you can't return to, told in the form of a restaurant review. Copyright khōréō magazine 2022. Read by Rue Dickey, Produced and Edited by Lian Xia...
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!...
Content warnings 3
child-deathdeathsuicide
"Our Bones Were the Mortar" by Anjali Patel A young woman tries to escape the family business of necromancy – only to realize that Manhattan is just as rife with spirits. An existential horror tackling America's history of slavery. Copyright khōréō...
Content warnings 2
deathslavery
"tragedy of the sugarcane ghost" by Desirée Winns Decades after his death, a murdered man possesses the son of his killer to finally settle the score between them. A harrowing story that explores the cost of vengeance. Copyright khōréō magazine 2021. Read...
Content warnings 3
deathsubstance-useviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 3
child-abusedeathviolence
Cyd’s suicide brings his friend Kelvin to Albany for his memorial.
Content warnings 3
body-horrorsuicidetransphobia