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Queer Identity

232 free-to-read stories tagged “Queer Identity”

Nine Last Days on Planet Earth

Daryl Gregory Tor.com 2018 Novelette Alternate History Alien Invasion 11,874 words

LT is ten when the alien seeds fall, and he spends the rest of his life studying them as they take over more and more of the planet.

First ContactQueer IdentityNostalgic

Content warnings 1

death-of-a-loved-one

Seasons of Glass and Iron

Amal El-Mohtar Starlit Wood 2016 ShortStory Fairy Tale 5,617 words

Tabitha has been walking a long time, trying to wear out seven pairs of iron shoes; Amira has been sitting alone on a glass hill that suitors try to climb.

Fairy Tale RetellingFriendshipIntertextual

Content warnings 2

abuseviolence

Things With Beards

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

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

Psychological HorrorQueer IdentityNew York City

Content warnings 5

body-horrordeathillness-and-pandemicsubstance-useviolence

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

AirBody

Sameem Siddiqui Clarkesworld 2020 ShortStory SF Drama 4,981 words

AirBody is like AirB&B except you rent out your body, not your home. Arsalan doesn’t expect any trouble from a middle-aged Pakistani woman, but everything she does reminds him of lost opportunities in his own past.

Near FutureDiasporaTender

Content warnings 2

death-of-a-loved-onesubstance-use

D.I.Y

John Wiswell Tor.com 2022 ShortStory Fantasy 4,886 words ♪ audio

When the the elitist institution of Ozymandias Academy and its headmaster, Vamon Kinctuarin, can't find a solution to the city's worsening drought, 2 self-taught magicians, Noah and his partner Manny, take it upon themselves to find a solution to the crisis.

Social SatireFriendshipHopeful

If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God with the Informal You

John Chu Uncanny 2022 Novelette Superhero 9,886 words

"That first video of the flying man goes viral on social media and gets featured on the news. No jet pack. No hang glider. Just him, unaided, soaring over the cable-stayed bridge that leads into the city. The video looks like it was shot on a cellphone...

Superhero FictionRacismWarm

Content warnings 2

racismviolence

A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers

Alyssa Wong Tor.com 2016 ShortStory Magical Realism 3,477 words

Hannah watched her sister Melanie die, incinerated with her own magic. Hannah can't accept that and sets out to use her own magic to put things right.

SlipstreamTrans IdentityAmerican Southwest

Content warnings 4

abusedeath-of-a-loved-oneself-harmsuicide

Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!

TJ Klune Reactor 2024 Novelette Science Fiction 11,046 words

An android who knows nothing besides his work in a factory, is given one final week to explore the world before he is forced to undergo mandatory reprogramming, in this bittersweet precursor to TJ Klune’s In the Lives of Puppets.

AI FictionAI PersonhoodIntertextual

Content warnings 2

body-horrordeath

That Story Isn't the Story

John Wiswell Uncanny 2021 Novelette Fantasy 9,033 words

"Everything Anton owns goes in one black trash bag. His ratty yellow sketchpad, which he bought to draw the other familiars when he moved here, and only ever used three pages of. The few shirts and khakis that he paid for with his own money, before Mr....

Contemporary FantasyQueer IdentityTender

Content warnings 3

abusesuicideviolence

Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island

Nibedita Sen Nightmare 2019 ShortStory 1,421 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

Folk HorrorRevengeMetafictional

Content warnings 7

abusebody-horrordeathgoreracismsexual-violenceviolence

Extracurricular Activities

Yoon Ha Lee Tor.com 2017 Novelette Space Opera 14,259 words

A Heptarchate undercover mission lead by one of Jedao’s friends has gone missing, so Jedao goes undercover to try and rescue them.

Space OperaFriendshipDeep Space

Content warnings 3

deathsexual-contentviolence

Fabulous Beasts

Priya Sharma Tor.com 2015 Novelette 9,393 words

Lola (aka Eliza) has had problems dealing with people ever since she was a child, but she's always been good with snakes.

HorrorMotherhoodVisceral

Content warnings 6

abusechild-abusedeathdeath-of-a-loved-onesexual-violenceviolence

Dick Pig

Ian Muneshwar Nightmare 2022 ShortStory Horror 7,293 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

Psychological HorrorQueer IdentitySardonic

Content warnings 4

body-horrordeathsexual-contentsubstance-use

Let All the Children Boogie

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

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

SlipstreamFriendshipHistorical USA

Madeleine

Amal El-Mohtar Lightspeed 2015 ShortStory 5,899 words

Madeline is having an adverse reaction to an experimental drug--she revisits episodes in her past.

Speculative FictionDiasporaHopeful

We Begin Where Infinity Ends

Somto Ihezue Clarkesworld 2025 Novelette Science Fiction 9,270 words

"Atop a ladder was Naeto, reaching for the lights. The lights flickered as his touch neared. Down below, Gozi held the ladder, rooting it to the ground. A small breeze came, and the ladder tilted, and the ladder swayed, but Naeto did not waver. Gozi was...

Near FutureDiasporaWest Africa

The Heart's Filthy Lesson

Elizabeth Bear Old Venus 2015 Novelette Retro SF 10,400 words

Fun adventure on Old Venus. Dharthi risks her life in an unexplored part of Ishtar Terra looking for evidence of a vanished civilization that would save her career.

BiopunkColonialismSlow Burn

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

Six People to Revise You

J.R. Dawson Uncanny 2025 ShortStory Fantasy 4,622 words

"The form is one page long. No back. Just a front. It should be longer. There are six copies of the form, all different colors. Like I’m working my way through the rainbow to the end where I’ll finally find peace. Red. A parent or guardian. I meet my...

Speculative FictionTrans IdentityMidwest USA

Content warnings 3

abuseillness-and-pandemictransphobia

Even If Such Ways Are Bad

Rich Larson Tor.com 2023 Novelette Science Fiction 8,400 words

A two-person crew embark on a mind-bending deep space mission inside a living wormship capable of burrowing through space. What lies on the other end is unknown—as is what they will do once they get there.

BiopunkRevengeSlow Burn

Content warnings 2

body-horrorviolence

A Stick of Clay, in the Hands of God, is Infinite Potential

JY Yang Clarkesworld 2020 Novelette Military SF 10,682 words

Stick was made to pilot Phoenix in the war against the apostates. Stick never feels entirely human, but the final battle approaches, and Stick looks forward to it.

Science FantasyTrans IdentityIntrospective

Content warnings 4

abusedeathviolencewar

The Substance of My Lives, the Accidents of Our Births

José Pablo Iriarte Lightspeed 2018 Novelette Modern Fantasy 7,525 words

Jamie’s a non-binary teenager in a small town, but they remember at least a dozen past lives, one of which relates to a forty-year-old murder.

Contemporary FantasyQueer IdentityHopeful

Content warnings 1

violence

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 Spindle of Necessity

B. Pladek Strange Horizons 2024 ShortStory Fantasy 6,142 words

"Andrew was convinced the writer had been trans. By this point his friends were tired of hearing about it, but he had no one else to tell besides the internet, and he was too smart for that. That would be asking for it. Samantha Finnes was a minor...

SlipstreamTrans IdentityMidwest USA

Interstate Mohinis

M.L. Krishnan Diabolical Plots 2023 ShortStory 3,045 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

HorrorQueer IdentityVisceral

Content warnings 4

abusedeathgoreviolence

St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid

C.L. Polk Tor.com 2020 ShortStory Modern Fantasy 5,551 words ♪ audio

Her mom has grown rich by telling people’s fortunes, but all Theresa Anne wants is for her girlfriend to be safe. And to be brave enough to actually talk to this “girlfriend.”

Contemporary FantasyMotherhoodHistorical USA

Content warnings 1

death

No Placeholder for You, My Love

Nick Wolven Asimov's 2015 Novelette 9,000 words ♪ audio

Claire meets a handsome older man at a dinner party held in a virtual reality where something has gone subtly wrong.

SlipstreamQueer IdentityAmbiguous Ending

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

Courtney Lovecraft's Book of the Dead

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

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

Psychological HorrorTrans IdentityUnreliable Narrator

Content warnings 4

child-abusedeath-of-a-loved-onesuicideviolence

The Name Ziya

Wen-yi Lee Reactor 2025 Novelette Fantasy 9,300 words

A girl reckons with what she must lose–and who she has become–in order to be accepted at the empire’s most prestigious university.

Secondary WorldDiasporaIntrospective

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

Sacrid's Pod

Adam-Troy Castro Lightspeed 2019 Novelette SF Thriller 8,741 words

On the eve of her 20th birthday, Sacrid Henn’s parents send her to an AI prison for her failure to conform. It’s a pleasant prison, but prison nonetheless, and she’s determined to get out.

AI FictionAI PersonhoodSecond Person

Content warnings 1

abuse

The Message

Vanessa Fogg The Future Fire 2019 ShortStory 4,221 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

First ContactMotherhoodMidwest USA

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

Escape Pod 994: Magical Girl Antifa War Machine

Esther Alter Escape Pod 2025 ♪ audio

Magical Girl Antifa War Machine By Esther Alter XYLIA We were at the bottom of a hole, a new construction site that went deep into the bedrock. I was the first to touch the artifact, a thing that didn’t quite have shape or color. I grabbed it. My new...

Superhero FictionTrans IdentityEarnest

Content warnings 5

deathgoresexual-contentviolencewar

The Life and Times of Alavira the Great as Written by Titos Pavlou and Reviewed by Two Lifelong Friends

Eugenia Triantafyllou Uncanny 2025 Novelette Fantasy 7,620 words

"As always, I’m doing a buddy read with MariaReadsALot because she talked me into it, and boy, was she right! What a strange world and what powerful characters Titos Pavlou has created! I can’t stop thinking about this book even though this might be for...

MetafictionalFriendshipIntertextual

Content warnings 1

death

A Slightly Different Sunrise from Mercury, Nevada

Íde Hennessy Strange Horizons 2024 ShortStory Science Fiction 4,416 words

"One hundred and eighty days. Today was it—the longest Annie had ever managed to stay at one job. The last time she had texted Charlie, it was to tell her “Charlie” was the name of a bomb and “Annie” was the name of another—this hadn’t gone as well as she...

Near FutureQueer IdentityAmerican Southwest

Content warnings 2

illness-and-pandemicsubstance-use

Reconstructing "The Goldenrod Conspiracy," Edina Room, Saturday 2:30-3:30

Gabriela Santiago Lightspeed 2024 ShortStory Science Fiction 5,622 words

"Can someone get the doors? Thanks. Please remember we’re on an honor system for chairs—if you’ve eaten today, please leave them for someone who hasn’t. We don’t need another fainting incident. First of all, if you’re looking for a technical look at...

MetafictionalColonialismSecond Person

The Weight of Your Own Ashes

Carlie St. George Clarkesworld 2024 ShortStory Science Fiction 5,700 words

"Alice wants to hold a funeral for me, which is disconcerting because I’m not dead. But humans, like all aliens—and certainly all single-forms—have their own idiosyncrasies. I’m used to the idiosyncrasies, of course: I’ve lived on Earth—in my tertiary...

Social SFQueer IdentityIntrospective

Content warnings 1

death

The Woods All Black

Lee Mandelo Tor Novella 2024 Novella Horror

Forged in the fires of the Western Front and reborn in the cafes of Paris, Leslie believes he can handle whatever is thrown at him—but Spar Creek holds a darkness beyond his nightmares. Something ugly festers within the local congregation, and its malice...

Folk HorrorTrans IdentityHistorical USA

Content warnings 3

abusetransphobiaviolence

Brincando Charcos (Jumping Puddles)

Ben Francisco Strange Horizons 2023 ShortStory Fantasy 4,163 words

"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...

Contemporary FantasyDiasporaNew York City

Bruised-Eye Dusk

Jonathan Louis Duckworth BCS 2023 Novelette Fantasy 7,809 words

"Rugg the spellbreaker was only passing through the Devil’s Palm on his way down to the coast, where he hoped to find his mother. He’d have avoided Ganvill, except he was running low on boom powder and salt, and the little settlement was the last tame...

Folk HorrorRevengeWarm

Content warnings 3

deathsexual-contentviolence

How to Stay Married to Baba Yaga

S.M. Hallow Baffling 2023 ShortStory 1,229 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

Fairy Tale RetellingQueer IdentitySecond Person

Content warnings 3

body-horrorcannibalismviolence

All Us Ghosts

B. Pladek Strange Horizons 2021 ShortStory Science Fiction 6,853 words

"Today’s the day I have to make Emma break up with Cameron. I do it in the morning, to get it over with. As I queue Emma up in the Elaffin interface, Gray texts on our private channel, Good luck, Jude. And remember to follow through, even if he bawls. Of...

Near FutureTrans IdentityRestrained

Gray Skies, Red Wings, Blue Lips, Black Hearts

Merc Fenn Wolfmoor Apex 2021 ShortStory Dark Fantasy 5,334 words

"A girl has lost her soul down deep in the City. It wandered away while she chipped out another grave in the catacomb brickyards. She set down her pickax, wiped grit from her cheek, and noticed how empty her body was. Looked down at her wrist and found it blank."

Dark FantasyTrans IdentityDefiant

Content warnings 2

self-harmviolence

In the Garden of Ibn Ghazi

Molly Tanzer F&SF 2021 Novelette Lovecraftian Horror 13,711 words

"INTERVIEWER We’ve spoken about your use of the “weird” in your stories, but have you personally ever experienced anything akin to something that might happen to one of Lovecraft’s characters? BOEKNER Yes — despite all evidence to the contrary, I remain...

SlipstreamColonialismHistorical Europe

Dresses Like White Elephants

Meg Elison Uncanny 2020 ShortStory Uncanny Horror 2,538 words

Beni’s a drag queen who reads minds, and he’s shopping for a new dress and the story that goes with it.

Contemporary FantasyQueer IdentityLyrical

Content warnings 3

abusechild-abusepregnancy-loss

Rat and Finch Are Friends

Innocent Chizaram Ilo Strange Horizons 2020 ShortStory Modern Fantasy 4,385 words

When he’s caught kissing another boy, one of Izuchukwu’s two big secrets comes out. But if they find out he can turn into a bird and fly, he’ll be in real trouble.

Contemporary FantasyFriendshipWest Africa

Content warnings 2

abusehomophobia

Real Animals

Em North Lightspeed 2020 Novelette Alien Invasion Apocalypse Horror 7,768 words

The aliens occupied and controlled the bodies of animals, destroying most of humanity. A few survivors in a ski resort pass the time preserving the bodies of friends who didn’t make it.

SlipstreamFriendshipPost Apocalyptic

Content warnings 4

animal-harmdeathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence

Before the World Crumbles Away

A.T. Greenblatt Uncanny 2019 ShortStory SF Apocalypse 5,996 words

Intensifying earthquakes are gradually destroying the world, but Marina still has her art, and Elodie is building a robot.

Near FutureQueer IdentityTender

Content warnings 3

deathmental-illnesssuicide

The Faerie Tree

Kathleen Kayembe Lightspeed 2017 ShortStory Modern Fantasy Horror 6,286 words

Only Marianne can see that her new brother-in-law is a horror, and although she knows she can summon the faeries to get rid of him, she also knows the price will be very high.

Folk HorrorQueer IdentityElegiac

Content warnings 4

child-deathdeath-of-a-loved-onepregnancy-lossviolence

Grandmother-nai-Leylit's Cloth of Winds

Rose Lemberg BCS 2015 Novelette High Fantasy 14,023 words

Raised by her grandmothers, Aviya thinks about her future, and thinks about trying to find the source of a magical scrap of "cloth of the wind."

Secondary World FantasyTrans IdentitySlow Burn

Content warnings 2

death-of-a-loved-oneviolence

The Karen Joy Fowler Book Club

Nike Sulway Lightspeed 2015 ShortStory 6,623 words

What if rhinoceroses behaved like human beings and talked about their upcoming extinction during book club meetings?

SlipstreamMotherhoodIntertextual

Content warnings 1

death-of-a-loved-one

When Your Child Strays From God

Sam J. Miller Clarkesworld 2015 ShortStory 5,875 words

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

Speculative FictionMotherhoodDarkly Comic

Content warnings 3

abusechild-abusesubstance-use

Godskin

C.L. Hellisen Strange Horizons 2024 ShortStory Science Fiction 7,295 words

"Dead gods,” says Aunte Gull as she heaves the shimmering nets, “are almost as useless as live ones.” We work together, numb to the sea cold. We haul our catch back to shore, and I save my breath for work, knowing my aunte’s way of speaking. She is...

Secondary World FantasyRevengeVisceral

Content warnings 3

deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence

Miz Boudreaux's Last Ride

Christopher Caldwell Uncanny 2023 ShortStory Fantasy 6,337 words

"You ever love the pretty right off someone? When I was a kid, had me a BMX, bright red like a candy apple. I rode it all summer long, cresting hills trying to catch the perfect gleam in the sunlight."

Southern GothicQueer IdentityAmerican Southwest

The Big Glass Box and the Boys Inside

Isabel J. Kim Apex 2023 ShortStory Fantasy 6,186 words

"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 &...

Social SatireTrans IdentityNew York City

In Mercy, Rain

Seanan McGuire Tor.com 2022 Novelette Fantasy 9,263 words

Jack Wolcott was only twelve years old when she and her twin sister Jill, descended the impossible staircase and found herself in the Moors, a world of drowned gods and repugnant royals. After abandoning her sister to a vampire lord, and under the tutelage...

Secondary World FantasyMentorshipTender

Content warnings 1

death

Root Rot

Fargo Tbakhi Apex 2021 ShortStory Science Fiction 7,349 words ♪ audio

"By the time I hear that my brother is looking for me, and has somehow scraped together enough credit to get on a commercial flight to New Tel Aviv, and that he’s also brought his three-year-old daughter on her first interplanet trip, my insides are...

Social SFDiasporaVisceral

Content warnings 3

deathsubstance-useviolence

Submergence

Arula Ratnakar Clarkesworld 2021 Novella Science Fiction 20,825 words

"As the people began to die, desperation drove us to the depths of the sea for cures. We mined mineral-rich vents until the tube worms went extinct, stripped polymetallic nodule fields bare, squeezed sludge out of sea sponges to treat the new diseases,...

BiopunkQueer IdentitySlow Burn

Content warnings 2

deathillness-and-pandemic

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

To Balance the Weight of Khalem

R.B. Lemberg BCS 2020 Novelette Allegory 9,229 words

The story of how Belezal, a war refugee in Khalem managed to escape to a better country and how he came to terms with having lost not one but two homelands.

SlipstreamDiasporaFragmented

Where You Linger

Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam Uncanny 2020 Novelette SF Drama 10,018 words

The narrator undergoes a special treatment that lets her revisit (and change) key memories that trouble her—all of which involve people she had sex with.

Magical RealismQueer IdentityIntrospective

Content warnings 3

sexual-contentsexual-violencesubstance-use

Beyond the El

John Chu Tor.com 2019 ShortStory Modern Fantasy 5,989 words

Connor works at a restaurant in New York where he has a magical touch with food (literally). Problems with his family keep interfering with his career, though.

Magical RealismQueer IdentitySlow Burn

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

Shattered Sidewalks of the Human Heart

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

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

SlipstreamQueer IdentityNew York City

Content warnings 1

racism

The Sun from Both Sides

R.S.A. Garcia Clarkesworld 2019 Novelette Space Opera 16,497 words

Eva and Didecus lived together happily in exile on an obscure planet, but they were important people once, and the universe has a way of coming looking for important people—even when they thought they were retired.

Space OperaQueer IdentitySlow Burn

Content warnings 2

deathslavery

Unpublished Gay Cancer Survivor Memoir

Caspian Gray Lightspeed 2019 ShortStory Uncanny Horror 5,348 words

Since her cancer, Sydney has just been drifting through life, but when she lets a friend move in, things change in an unexpected way.

Magical RealismQueer IdentityHopeful

Content warnings 1

illness-and-pandemic

Coyote Now Wears a Suit

Ani Fox Apex 2018 ShortStory Modern Fantasy 5,392 words

A closeted young Hawaiian man bails a devious Native-American god out of a Honolulu jail and watches his life spiral out of control.

Contemporary FantasyTrans IdentityDarkly Comic

Content warnings 1

substance-use

Some Personal Arguments in Support of the BetterYou (Based on Early Interactions)

Debbie Urbanski Strange Horizons 2018 ShortStory Near-Future Dark Fantasy 6,334 words

The narrator’s homelife has fallen apart since she told her husband she’s asexual, so they order a device that looks and talks like her, but with “improvements.”

AI FictionArtificial IntelligenceSardonic

Content warnings 3

mental-illnesssexual-contentsuicide

Ten Deals with the Indigo Snake

Mel Kassel Lightspeed 2018 ShortStory Slipstream 3,423 words

The narrator makes a deal with the Devil—or one of his snakes, at least. She thinks she’s clever, but one deal leads to another.

Contemporary FantasyQueer IdentityDark

Content warnings 4

animal-harmself-harmsubstance-useviolence

Neptune's Trident

Nina Allan Clarkesworld 2017 Novelette Post-Apocalypse 14,011 words

The world is gradually being destroyed by what seems like an alien plague that attacks people and software alike. Caitlin lives in a seaside Scottish town, nursing her dying lover.

SlipstreamQueer IdentityIntertextual

Content warnings 2

death-of-a-loved-oneviolence

Angel, Monster, Man

Sam J. Miller Nightmare 2016 Novelette 11,367 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

Psychological HorrorQueer IdentityNew York City

Content warnings 8

abusedeathgoreillness-and-pandemicsexual-contentsubstance-usesuicideviolence

Secondhand Bodies

JY Yang Lightspeed 2016 ShortStory SF 5,706 words

Agatha wants a svelte replacement for her plump body, but since she can't get one grown in a reasonable time, she looks into an illegal swap.

BiopunkRacismUnreliable Narrator

Content warnings 2

body-horrorviolence

Emily of Emerald Starship

Ng Yi-Sheng Clarkesworld 2025 ShortStory Science Fiction 3,860 words

"He told me his mother was a spacecraft. We had just made love, and our bodies were spent and sweat-slicked, the scent of our seed mingling in the stables with the sweet musk of the drowsing horses. Our lids were heavy, but his muscles grew tense in my...

Diaspora SFColonialismIntertextual

Content warnings 1

death

Shadow Jack

C.L. Hellisen GigaNotoSaurus 2025 Novelette 12,999 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

Psychological HorrorQueer IdentityDread

Content warnings 3

body-horrorgoresuicide

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

Whale Fall of Yours

M.M. Olivas Uncanny 2025 ShortStory Science Fiction 6,858 words

"Notebooks, Conchas, y Un Café con Leche Those are the items that make up your world the day the girl with the side buzz and brown bomber jacket says to you, in the back of a crowded cafetería, “Explícame pues—¿Qué sabes acerca del concepto de la...

Space OperaColonialismSecond Person

Content warnings 3

deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence

Look at the Moon

Dominique Dickey Lightspeed 2024 Novelette Horror 9,420 words

"We drove out to Joshua Tree for the star party—a gathering of amateur astronomers under a clear, dark sky. It was Holly’s idea, an impromptu adventure on a Friday after work: “Hey, Lou, do you want to go look at the moon tonight?” Holly had the best ideas...

Magical RealismTrans IdentityAmerican Southwest

Content warnings 2

child-deathviolence

Pelt

Steven Archer Strange Horizons 2024 ShortStory Fantasy 5,826 words

"Half-painted in the angled mirror, I ignore my mother’s calls and sweep blush onto my temples. The face of Luz Divinity takes shape beneath my brush. My mother tries again as I tug a wig onto my shaved head, the unit sleek and long, and again as I zip a...

Contemporary FantasyFamilyLyrical

Season of Weddings

Sharang Biswas Lightspeed 2024 ShortStory Fantasy 2,974 words

"Nate doesn’t often receive wedding invitations. This year, he gets seven. To be fair, the first one is work, so he doesn’t even get to pick his outfit. But an olive-scented breeze squirrels joyfully through his hair; waiters bring out little triangles of...

Mythic FictionFriendshipWarm

Content warnings 1

death

¡Sangronas! Un Lista de Terror

M.M. Olivas Uncanny 2024 Novelette Fantasy 10,770 words

"Never forget you are their monster. That’s the first rule we tell you, crammed between us in the back of Paola’s dad’s vintage ’22 Dodge Challenger, his project car he lets her borrow, with slick wheels and faux-leather seats that make our Sangrona noses...

HorrorDiasporaIntertextual

Content warnings 3

deathgoreviolence

A Witch's Transition In The City Of Ghosts

Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe BCS 2023 ShortStory Fantasy 4,909 words

"The fireflies lead me to the clearing where my lover waits patiently. I can see her illuminated by the light of the moon. She stands under the udala tree, an image of perfection, her dark skin glowing in the silvery moonlight. The warmth of excitement...

Secondary World FantasyTrans IdentityDefiant

Content warnings 1

violence

Maladaptive Camouflage

Ann Leblanc Strange Horizons 2023 ShortStory Horror 1,601 words

"Ask me something only I would know.” You say this to your wife because you know you’re human. You can feel it in the familiar ache in your back, and the fear writhing in your guts. You feel it in the cold seeping into your bare feet from the kitchen...

Psychological HorrorQueer IdentityAmbiguous Ending

Content warnings 3

body-horrordeathviolence

Park's All-Night Ramyun and Snack Emporium

Seoung Kim Cast of Wonders 2023 ShortStory 2,720 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

Contemporary FantasyQueer IdentityNew York City

Saturday's Song

Wole Talabi Lightspeed 2023 Novelette Fantasy 8,677 words

"The seven siblings sit in a place beyond the boundaries of space and time, where everything is made of stories. Even them. Especially them. People are made of stories too, but only the versions of their stories that they tell themselves. Curated, limited,...

MetafictionalRevengeWest Africa

Content warnings 2

death-of-a-loved-oneviolence

Something That Has Never Touched the Ground

Marilyn Hope BCS 2023 ShortStory Fantasy 1,017 words

"His Majesty plights his troth to the boy by the failing light of the waxing Luster Moon, an auspicious night for waterfowl, prayer, and paladins. Wrong, all of it. Child-groom Softwind Sunder is hellebore and winter sun, plantcraft and rage. When he spits...

Secondary World FantasyQueer IdentityAmbiguous Ending

Content warnings 3

child-deathdeathdeath-of-a-loved-one

The Monster Fucker Club

A.V. Greene Apex 2023 ShortStory Dark Fantasy 2,398 words

"For Julie, it was the cryptid out in the woods behind our old elementary school. Wings, red eyes. Yes, Julie came back knowing exactly when everyone she loved was going to die, but it was worth it, she told us. The six of us—well, five after Sophie...

Southern GothicFriendshipDarkly Comic

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

Apolépisi: A De-Scaling

Suzan Palumbo Lightspeed 2022 ShortStory Fantasy 2,384 words ♪ audio

"I find Aleda’s scale, sticky with ichor, tucked between the tentacles of our pink anemone bed. I tweeze it out from the undulating appendages with my thumb and index finger and flounder against my escalating heart rate. Aleda’s swishing back and forth,...

Secondary World FantasyQueer IdentityElegiac

Space Pirate Queen of the Ten Billion Utopias

Elly Bangs Lightspeed 2021 ShortStory Multiverse 4,352 words

"Ursa Major got right the fuck out of our universe on the very afternoon she learned there were other options. It was the lucky break of her life that she just happened to be there, a short sprint from one of those points where the alien aethertrain...

Space OperaQueer IdentityHopeful

The Captain and the Quartermaster

C.L. Clark BCS 2021 ShortStory Fantasy 5,968 words

"Commander Maeb Len knows that, more than anything, an army needs hope in order to struggle onward. They need a vision to fight for and faith that the future will be better than the past. Better than the present. The People’s Army itself is one such hope....

Secondary World FantasyFriendshipSlow Burn

Content warnings 2

deathwar

The Constellations Are Unrecognizable Here

Andrew Joseph White Strange Horizons 2021 ShortStory Science Fiction 6,134 words

"When Jenea and I sneak out to the observation deck of the SSE Patroclus after lights-out, I think he’s going to kiss me, but instead he waits until I’m distracted by the stars and tells me he set himself on fire. I tear my gaze from the outer edges of the...

Social SFTrans IdentityAmbiguous Ending

Content warnings 3

body-horrorself-harmwar

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

Black Flowers Blossom

Vina Jie-Min Prasad Uncanny 2019 ShortStory Hardboiled Fantasy 7,498 words

An occult detective and a creature work and love together across multiple lifetimes.

Psychological HorrorQueer IdentityHistorical Europe

Content warnings 3

deathsexual-contentviolence

In This Moment, We Are Happy

Chen Qiufan Clarkesworld 2019 Novelette SF 12,725 words

Four different groups of people explore the pros and cons of different ways to reproduce in the future.

BiopunkMotherhoodMetafictional

Content warnings 1

death

The Sloppy Mathematics of Half-Ghosts

Charles Payseur Strange Horizons 2019 ShortStory Surreal 5,827 words

A half-ghost gets a premonition that the Emperor has died, and his ghost ship flies off to Homeworld because whoever gets the Emperor’s ghost first gets free wishes.

Space OperaQueer IdentityWhimsical

Content warnings 3

deathsexual-contentviolence

Tiny Bravery

Ada Nnadi Omenana 2019 ShortStory 4,980 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

Near FutureQueer IdentityWest Africa

Content warnings 1

death-of-a-loved-one

Nitrate Nocturnes

Ruth Joffre Lightspeed 2018 Novelette Slipstream 7,608 words

Everyone has a timer on their wrists counting down the years, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds until they meet their soul mates. Fiona’s just 24, and her timer says she’ll have to wait 40 years. So what to do until then?

SlipstreamArt And CreationLyrical

Salt Lines

Ian Muneshwar Strange Horizons 2018 ShortStory Horror 2,211 words

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.

Contemporary FantasyDiasporaNew York City

Content warnings 2

sexual-contentviolence

The Ways Out

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

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

DystopiaQueer IdentityEpistolary Adjacent

Content warnings 2

deathsubstance-use

Waiting Out the End of the World in Patty's Place Cafe

Naomi Kritzer Clarkesworld 2017 ShortStory Apocalyptic 4,137 words

The narrator wants to spend the last hours before the asteroid strike with her parents, but she runs out of gas in the middle of South Dakota.

Speculative FictionTrans IdentityMidwest USA

Waiting on a Bright Moon

JY Yang Tor.com 2017 Novelette Space Opera 9,957 words

Xin’s orderly life on Eighth Colony changes forever when she ushers a mutilated body through the portal.

Space OperaColonialismSecond Person

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

5.1 möbius loop by Samir Sirk Morató

Samir Sirk Morató khōréō 2025 ShortStory 4,900 words ♪ audio

A traumatized time traveler keeps traveling back to his past to punish his younger self. Over multiple loops, he learns to forgive himself. Copyright khōréō magazine 2025. Story by Samir Sirk Morató, edited by Danai Christopoulou. Audio edition read by...

Near FutureQueer IdentityBleak

Content warnings 3

child-abuseself-harmviolence

Compass Rose, Running

Julie Reeser BCS 2025 ShortStory Fantasy 4,414 words

"You ever love a place more than people? Mama Patch’s house held me and all my running and snooping without ever forcing me to slow down or stay put. I could run from the rafters down the bang-bang spiral case, then sideways through the six rooms of...

Social SatireQueer IdentityIntrospective

Content warnings 3

homophobiasexual-violenceviolence

Dirge and Gleam

Micah Dean Hicks Lightspeed 2025 Novelette Fantasy 10,203 words

"My ghost bled through the shadows, an icy wind stirring the leaves. Eyes like candle flames shuddering and crescent moon mouth, it had found me as a girl and never let go—the only thing that was really mine. It led me to an overgrown graveyard, pelts of...

Contemporary FantasyQueer IdentityUnreliable Narrator

Content warnings 3

deathdeath-of-a-loved-onesexual-violence

Every Ghost Story

Natalia Theodoridou Reactor 2025 ShortStory Paranormal 5,500 words

Following a mysterious world-wide event that makes ghosts visible, a young woman is invited to attend Ghost Camp.

Psychological HorrorTrans IdentityUnreliable Narrator

Content warnings 3

deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence

Full, Empty Houses

Plangdi Neple Kaleidotrope 2025 ShortStory 4,534 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

Folk HorrorRevengeWest Africa

Content warnings 3

gorehomophobiaviolence

Last Meal Aboard the Awassa

Kel Coleman Lightspeed 2025 ShortStory Science Fiction 1,792 words

"Gardener ladled dark-purple porridge into her primary digestion sac, staring absently out the viewport at black space and the distant smudge of the planet they had come to study. The simple meal and the gesture it represented soothed her after a long,...

First ContactQueer IdentityTender

Content warnings 1

death

PodCastle 916: Woodpecker, Warbler, Mussel, Thrush

Ruth Joffre PodCastle 2025 ShortStory Fantasy 2,511 words ♪ audio

Author : Ruth Joffre Narrator : Julia Rios Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Dean Kidd Discuss on Forums PodCastle 916: Woodpecker, Warbler, Mussel, Thrush is a PodCastle original. Rated G Woodpecker, Warbler, Mussel, Thrush by Ruth Joffre Yesterday, I...

Contemporary FantasyQueer IdentityTender

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

Un-Pragmagic: A Tyler Moore Retrospective

Spencer Nitkey Lightspeed 2025 ShortStory Fantasy 1,507 words

"Tyler Moore’s spells strive to exist in and of themselves. They make no excuse or justification for their existence: no promise to speak to the dead, predict next year’s grain or gold prices, or read the mind of lawyers during a hostile takeover. They are...

Social SatireRevengeSardonic

What the Crab Apple Tree Near Miranda Spaceport Saw

Elijah J. Mears Apex 2025 ShortStory Science Fiction 962 words

"1.8 billion miles from the sun, my roots dig deep into the soil of a small garden. I am a curious thing—an aspiration. Everything else on Miranda is ruthlessly utilitarian, but I am ornament. I am beauty. This garden nominally exists to facilitate some...

Social SFQueer IdentityTender

Cicadas, and Their Skins

Avra Margariti Strange Horizons 2024 ShortStory Fantasy 5,301 words

"I spent my first summer as an orphan watching cicadas fuck, scream, and molt. Wasn’t long before I plucked one of the cicada skins from the dry village soil. I brushed it clean against my secondhand clothes I was already beginning to outgrow. Dappled by...

Folk HorrorRevengeUnreliable Narrator

Content warnings 3

body-horrorgoresexual-content

Phosphorescence

Ben Berman Ghan Clarkesworld 2024 ShortStory Science Fiction 6,190 words

"In the belly of the ship, the Machinist toiled. Beyond the walls of her workshop, ships of dark metal pursued her across the Atlantic, their hulls unaffected by the gnashing teeth of thunderstorms. Lightning flashed horizontally across the bay. Those dark...

BiopunkQueer IdentityPost Apocalyptic

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

Whale Fall

J.L. Akagi Strange Horizons 2024 ShortStory Fantasy 4,061 words

"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...

Contemporary FantasyFriendshipNew York City

Content warnings 2

body-horrorgore

Escape Pod 919: Emotional Resonance

V.M. Ayala Escape Pod 2023 ♪ audio

Emotional Resonance By V.M. Ayala Arbor’s favorite part of a mission was always the first view of a planet. Even after seven hundred years of being a giant robot, it never got old. Green and blue clouds churned over purple seas, imposing storms that...

Space OperaTrans IdentityHopeful

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

Four Words Written on My Skin

Jenn Reese Uncanny 2023 ShortStory Fantasy 999 words

"When the Fae stole my wife, I followed them into the dark woods to win her back. Jess dropped breadcrumbs along the trail, except she had no bread, so she dropped other things instead. Not far from the house, I found a blue sweater, embroidered with gold...

Contemporary FantasyQueer IdentityTender

Loving Bone Girl

Tehnuk Apex 2023 ShortStory Fantasy 2,703 words

"When I die, I want you to keep my bones.” Vasanthi floats in the dark pool, the softness of her voice punctuated by softer drops of water from stalactites. “You mean your ashes.” The best misunderstandings come from our language differences. “I’ll find...

Contemporary FantasyDiasporaTender

Content warnings 2

death-of-a-loved-onewar

Queen of the Andes

Ruth Joffre Lightspeed 2023 ShortStory Science Fiction 6,744 words

"Every morning before work, I measure the Queen of the Andes. I’ve nicknamed her Nova because her trunk is a ball of spikes that reminds me of a supernova in slow motion, an explosion of leaves pointing in two hundred and three directions from the core of...

Climate FictionDiasporaPost Apocalyptic

Content warnings 1

death-of-a-loved-one

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 FantasyDiasporaSecondary World

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 IdentityElegiac

Content warnings 2

deathdeath-of-a-loved-one

What the Mountain Takes, What the Journey Offers

Jae Steinbacher BCS 2023 Novelette Fantasy 12,041 words

"When my lover gets the Burning, I prepare to go to the Binding Place, where the mountain meets the sea. Even in her delirium, she smells the offering meal cooking and sees my half-full pack. She begs me not to go. It’s a journey lovers and pilgrims...

Secondary World FantasyQueer IdentityTender

missed connections - Central square today around 930

Jess Cameron Strange Horizons 2023 ShortStory Fantasy 3,318 words

"Hi, we were both in Central Square on Friday, around 9:30 PM. I’m a tall trans lady with brown hair and glasses. You were standing in front of Sonia with some people. You were looking at your phone and then you looked up at me. Our eyes met for—I’m sorry,...

SlipstreamTrans IdentityEpistolary Adjacent

Everything the Sea Takes, It Returns

Izzy Wasserstein Lightspeed 2022 ShortStory Science Fiction 2,704 words

"Everything the sea takes, it gives back in its own way and its own time. That was what Jess’s grandmother believed, what she’d told Jess as they stood in the shadow of the giant red cedar that had washed ashore, its severed roots thicker than Jess’s body....

Speculative FictionQueer IdentityPost Apocalyptic

Content warnings 3

deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence

Four Glass Cubes (Item Description)

Bogi Takács Baffling 2022 ShortStory 990 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

MetafictionalArt And CreationIntertextual

I Will Sing Your White Bones Home

Cat Hellisen BCS 2022 ShortStory Fantasy 3,421 words

"We cannot go landwise. Too vulnerable for a start, and the finless watch their beaches like crabs, scuttling this way and that, their eyes pinched and ugly. They have set a line of posts on the edge of the world, deep in the sands. Each spike bears the...

Secondary World FantasyQueer IdentityElegiac

Content warnings 2

deathdeath-of-a-loved-one

PseudoPod 807: The Bleak Communion of Abandoned Things

M.A. Blanchard Pseudopod 2022 ShortStory 4,700 words ♪ audio

PseudoPod 807: The Bleak Communion of Abandoned Things is a PseudoPod original. I accept the house in lieu of a settlement. I don’t want Ashley’s dirty money. The house is the least ill-gotten thing she owns, an isolated property she won in a card game and...

Psychological HorrorQueer IdentityUnreliable Narrator

Content warnings 3

abusedeathmental-illness

Wanderlust

LP Kindred Anathema 2022 ShortStory Time Travel 3,975 words ♪ audio

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

First ContactQueer IdentityWhimsical

Content warnings 1

death

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

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

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

MetafictionalArt And CreationEpistolary Adjacent

Content warnings 1

death

Deep Music

Elly Bangs Clarkesworld 2021 ShortStory Science Fiction 5,086 words

"The emergency call came in before the seagulls had even started crying. It found Quinn lying sleepless on the leaky air mattress she’d set up in the back of the shop... She fumbled for her phone and raised an eyebrow at the severity rating the user had...

First ContactFriendshipAmbiguous Ending

Femme and Sundance

Christopher Caldwell Uncanny 2021 ShortStory Fantasy 5,677 words

"I was 19 when I met Tommy. A day and a bit into a two-day Greyhound trip from bumfuck, Nevada to Saint Paul, Minnesota. Going to meet some trick from the internet. Thought it was true love. Funky and itching for a smoke when we pulled into a truck stop in...

Contemporary FantasyQueer IdentityAmerican Southwest

Superbloom

Lynne Peskoe-Yang Metaphorosis 2021 ShortStory 3,751 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

First ContactQueer IdentityPost Apocalyptic

The Mathematics of Fairyland

Phoebe Barton Lightspeed 2021 ShortStory Science Fantasy 2,945 words

"If you had a warp drive, it would be easy. The mathematics are strange the way ley lines are strange, invisible yet divinable. You’ve pulled your way up sterner mountains, fingertip by fingertip. You’ve already compensated for stellar motion, spacetime...

Science FantasyArt And CreationSecond Person

Vanishing Point

Robert V.S. Redick Clarkesworld 2021 Novelette Science Fiction 11,569 words

"Disaster, betrayal, and the ship already blasting its horn. The family clusters around the packing crates, destitute, stunned. We must go regardless, says their father, this is the last ship, what else can we do? Their mother nods, frowning so as not to...

Diaspora SFDiasporaSlow Burn

Content warnings 1

death-of-a-loved-one

Women Want Me, Fish Fear Me

Paris Green Strange Horizons 2021 ShortStory Science Fiction 2,036 words

"Nobody remembers exactly when it started. Probably back in the ’90s when they cloned that sheep, back in the ’10s when they started working on cloning people on the DL, back in the ’20s when the retrovirus broke our genetic virginity. If you’re rich you...

BiopunkTrans IdentityDarkly Comic

Content warnings 1

sexual-content

Everything and Nothing

Jenny Rae Rappaport Lightspeed 2020 ShortStory Science Fiction 2,659 words

"Start with a romance: a man and a woman who are wildly and irrevocably in love with each other. Or two men. Or two women. Or two people, because life is beautiful and complex. Just know that these Lovers are important. The fate of the galaxy rests on...

Space OperaMotherhoodSecond Person

Content warnings 3

deathdeath-of-a-loved-onewar

Still You Linger, Like Soot in the Air

Matthew Kressel Lightspeed 2020 ShortStory Far-Future SF 5,664 words

Gil teaches students how to communicate with the Numens, vast, star-spanning alien intelligences indistinguishable from gods.

Speculative FictionQueer IdentitySlow Burn

Content warnings 2

deathsuicide

The Fenghuang

Millie Ho Lightspeed 2020 ShortStory Uncanny Horror 5,370 words

When Candice gets upset, she sometimes spontaneously combusts and then comes back to life. She needs to get this under control because her family can’t afford the medical bills.

Contemporary FantasyQueer IdentitySlow Burn

Content warnings 2

deathillness-and-pandemic

We're Here, We're Here

K.M. Szpara Tor.com 2020 ShortStory SF Drama 7,437 words

Tyler loves being in a boy band, but the label doesn’t want him showing affection for one of the other boys in the band.

Near FutureTrans IdentityDefiant

Deriving Life

Elizabeth Bear Tor.com 2019 Novelette Medical SF 9,163 words

Marq knew their spouse would die from the intelligent alien parasite they’d accepted some years ago, but now that the time has come, they have a lot of trouble dealing with it.

BiopunkQueer IdentityIntrospective

Content warnings 2

death-of-a-loved-onesuicide

Water: A History

K.J. Kabza Tor.com 2019 ShortStory Colony SF 3,452 words

Quányuán colony struggles because the planet is much drier than expected, but the last colonist born on Earth likes taking walks outside, and she’s joined by a young girl who’s curious about her world.

Social SFFriendshipTender

Content warnings 1

death

Fitting In

Max Gladstone Tor.com 2018 Novelette Superhero 13,710 words

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.

Superhero FictionQueer IdentityNew York City

Content warnings 1

violence

I Sing Against the Silent Sun

A. Merc Rustad & Ada Hoffmann Lightspeed 2018 Novelette Future Fantasy 8,854 words

A few years ago, the Gray Sun killed millions to silence the subversion of Li Sin’s revolutionary poetry. Li Sin faked their own death to escape, but somehow the Gray Sun learned the truth, and now it hunts again.

Space OperaArt And CreationHopeful

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

The Crow Knight

Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam BCS 2018 Novelette Epic Fantasy 11,440 words

When an unkillable black crow haunts the princess, Wynn goes beyond the kingdom to find the only weapon that can destroy it.

Secondary World FantasyFriendshipSlow Burn

Content warnings 1

death

Unplaces: An Atlas of Non-existence

Izzy Wasserstein Clarkesworld 2018 ShortStory Apocalypse 1,750 words

Hand-written notes in a book about imaginary places tell a woman’s story of her attempt to survive a fascist takeover of the United States.

MetafictionalQueer IdentityPost Apocalyptic

Where Would You Be Now?

Carrie Vaughn Tor.com 2018 Novelette Post-Apocalypse 8,998 words

It has only been five years since The Fall, but the clinic where teenage Kath works is the only medical service for two hundred miles.

DystopiaQueer IdentityRestrained Prose

Queen of Dirt

Nisi Shawl Apex 2017 ShortStory Contemporary Fantasy 5,600 words

Teenage Brit enjoys teaching little kids at a Seattle Experience Outreach camp, even though she senses that something evil haunts the abandoned bunkers up the hill.

HorrorMentorshipUnsettling

Content warnings 1

suicide

First Light At Mistaken Point

Kali Wallace Clarkesworld 2016 ShortStory Hard SF 6,864 words

Charlie's team has been out of touch with the Mars mission for a month. While she's attending her mother's funeral, a mysterious 47-second-long message arrives.

Near FutureQueer IdentityRestrained

Content warnings 1

death-of-a-loved-one

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

Crisis Actors

Maddison Stoff & Corey J. White Strange Horizons 2025 ShortStory Science Fiction 5,232 words

"Michael sips his coffee, watching the screen automatically cycle through vidfeeds coming in from across the country, lingering just long enough to hit the relevant button. He knows the dominionist rhetoric, had heard it in the media, read it when he...

DystopiaRevengeMidwest USA

Content warnings 3

deathgoreviolence

Escape Pod 1007: 35 / F / Lane’s Creek, Oklahoma

Hans Ege Wenger Escape Pod 2025 ♪ audio

35 / F / Lane's Creek, Oklahoma By Hans Ege Wenger Sandra loaded. Boxes and pallets, mostly. Full of avocados, computer chips, plastic toys, etc. All carefully placed by her rubber-faced grippers into the trucks that darted in and out of the warehouse...

Near FutureFriendshipMidwest USA

It Holds Her in the Palm of One Hand

Lowry Poletti Lightspeed 2025 Novelette Science Fiction 13,174 words

"On Miphre, a planet hardly larger than a moon, jagged mountaintops stab above the cloud cover and harbor small ecosystems in the palms of their hands: rock eels and ribbon mosses and seabirds with rodents clutched to their breasts, each one nestled...

BiopunkQueer IdentityDread

Content warnings 3

animal-harmbody-horrordeath

Pandora's Formula

Hannah Yang Strange Horizons 2025 ShortStory Science Fiction 5,231 words

"The formula for how to end the world got published the same day I married the girl who used to bully me in middle school. We found out about it the morning after, on the first day of our honeymoon in Cozumel. I got out of the shower in our small bungalow...

Speculative FictionQueer IdentityCaribbean

Content warnings 2

mental-illnessracism

The Ache of Hollow Places

Avra Margariti Strange Horizons 2025 ShortStory Fantasy 6,799 words

"Valentini doesn’t flinch when the purple-bellied storm shakes the house, heedless of the film being shot within its derelict husk. Scene fifteen, take three. The Hollow Places crew rushes to stop the windows’ skeletal rattling before the atmospheric...

Psychological HorrorQueer IdentityMetafictional

Content warnings 3

child-deathgoreself-harm

Things You Learn As a Werewolf (That Will Come In Handy Later)

Morgan Wilson Baffling 2025 ShortStory 837 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

HorrorTrans IdentityTender

Content warnings 3

goretransphobiaviolence

Tell the King

Natalia Theodoridou BCS 2024 ShortStory Science Fantasy 7,384 words

"I watch the King sleep beside me and worry over the rapid movements behind her eyelids. The air in the bedroom smells faintly of something burning. My mouth is dry—I wet my lips and hold my breath so as not to disturb my King’s sleep. I can hardly see the...

Science FantasyTrans IdentityIntrospective

Content warnings 1

death

Bee Season

Michelle Kulwicki Strange Horizons 2022 ShortStory Fantasy 5,013 words

"The girls of our town float down the middle of the street, cheap fabric wings pinned to their clothes. I watch them walk, hobbled by coat hanger curves that refuse to bend with the bow of their backs. I see Min towards the back. She’s been doing this for...

BiopunkQueer IdentityBleak

Content warnings 3

body-horrorsexual-violencesubstance-use

Blood in the Thread

Cheri Kamei Tor.com 2021 ShortStory Contemporary Fantasy 2,867 words

Nothing tears two women apart like the men who want and take indiscriminately. In this retelling of “The Crane Wife”, a makeup artist and her actress lover struggle to stay together as the glitz and glamour of old Hollywood transforms into a cruel and...

Fairy Tale RetellingArt And CreationIntertextual

Content warnings 3

abusemisogynyviolence

Never a Butterfly, Nor a Moth With Moon-Painted Wings

Aimee Ogden BCS 2020 ShortStory Fantasy 6,301 words

After war destroys their homeland, the Butterfly People come to Ksmal as refugees. They’re welcome, but only if they assimilate, and not everyone is happy with that.

Secondary World FantasyDiasporaEpistolary Adjacent

Content warnings 2

death-of-a-loved-onewar

Windrose in Scarlet

Isabel Yap Lightspeed 2019 Novelette Fairy Tale 7,910 words

Red Riding Hood escapes the wolf after years of living together and finds asylum with Beauty while the Beast is overseas on business.

Fairy Tale RetellingQueer IdentityTender

Content warnings 3

abusedeathviolence

Contingency Plans for the Apocalypse

S.B. Divya Uncanny 2018 ShortStory Dystopia 3,925 words

A non-binary disabled woman flees with her infant and toddler from the Arizona Christian secret police who’ve learned they and their wife were running an illegal abortion clinic.

DystopiaQueer IdentityAmerican Southwest

Content warnings 3

death-of-a-loved-oneviolencewar

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

Waterbirds

G.V. Anderson Lightspeed 2018 ShortStory SF Mystery 5,915 words

With Celia’s mistress missing, and presumed dead, the old, failing android is a prime suspect, but she herself doesn’t remember what happened.

AI FictionQueer IdentityRestrained

Content warnings 2

sexual-contentsexual-violence

About Face

editor GigaNotoSaurus 2026 ShortStory 6,263 words

Gerry and I didn’t have kids though we’d tried. I’d lost those babies in the fourth month, the fifth month, the fourth month again. By then I was so exhausted by hope and disappointment that I didn’t want to do it again. Gerry didn’t push me since we had...

Contemporary FantasyTrans IdentityTender

Content warnings 2

death-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemic

Coming Home

Dhiyanah Hassan Strange Horizons 2026 ShortStory 5,165 words

If only Serthe'P had been able to fit in, maybe she could have protected —. No. This thought was dangerous. Mnth’R had helped her understand that their isolation had more to do with the Raja’s exploitation of their cast’s fears than any shortcomings of...

Science FantasyDisabilityVisceral

Content warnings 3

deathgoreviolence

Ghost in the Tank

M.R. Robinson Lightspeed 2026

The first time you killed me, I cried like a baby. Stupid, stupid, to cry over something make-believe—stupid and ugly and pathetic, too, when already the only thing I wanted in the world was for you to find me pretty. I couldn’t help it. I hadn’t expected...

DystopiaCorporate PowerBleak

Content warnings 3

abusegoresexual-content

Hell Is Empty

J.R. Dawson Lightspeed 2026

And all the devils are here. “What’s that from?” Millie asks as she gets her coat. I stand at the back window, looking out. Usually, you can see the downtown skyline from this position. Today, it’s just the hellmouth. A long tube that looks like an...

Social SatireQueer IdentityRestrained

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

Immigrant Girl from the End of the World

Hannah Yang Uncanny 2026 ♪ audio

Before the world ends, Miri’s family saves up enough money to escape to 2004. 2004: a safe haven. The year lilts off the tongue, like a promise. Miri and Lise spend their last evening together in their favorite spot, sitting on the top of the holotower at...

DystopiaDiasporaRestrained

Learning the Loom

P. Djèlí Clark Uncanny 2026

Content note: suicidal ideation   I am a star, falling. “Awake now?” My eyes open to words as an unknown face greets me, small with a curious gaze. She parts full lips to bare teeth and I tense. A threat? No. A smile. I stare back. “I didn’t think you’d...

Secondary World FantasyQueer IdentityWest Africa

Content warnings 3

slaverysuicidewar

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

death-of-a-loved-onehomophobiaviolence

PodCastle 928: FLASH FICTION EXTRAVAGANZA: Things Left Unsaid

PodCastle 2026 ♪ audio

Authors : Rachel Gutin, Christina Trujillo and Toshiya Kamei Narrators : Jess Lewis, Sandra Espinoza and Amal El-Mohtar “Peppermint Tea” previously published by Baffling Magazine “Ghosts” previously published in Gingerbread House Literary Magazine. This...

Contemporary FantasyDiasporaTender

Content warnings 1

death-of-a-loved-one

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

deathviolencewar

PodCastle 944: Mail-Order Magic

PodCastle 2026 ♪ audio

Author : Stephanie Burgis Narrator : Tina Connolly Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Wilson Fowlie Previously published in The Sunday Morning Transport March 2, 2025 Rated G Mail-Order Magic by Stephanie Burgis Shopping online during a bout of brain fog...

Contemporary FantasyQueer IdentityMidwest USA

Content warnings 1

illness-and-pandemic

PodCastle 948: DOUBLE EPISODE: How I Did Not Make Friends With Teniel eu Letxie and The Gift of Her Light

PodCastle 2026 ♪ audio

Authors : Bree Wernicke and AnaMaria Curtis Narrators : Kat Kourbeti and C. L. Clark Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Wilson Fowlie PodCastle 948: DOUBLE EPISODE: How I Did Not Make Friends With Teniel eu Letxie and The Gift of Her Light is a PodCastle...

Secondary World FantasyDiasporaTender

PodCastle 949: The Troll Road

PodCastle 2026 ♪ audio

Author : Tony Dunnell Narrator : Devin Martin Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes PodCastle 949: The Troll Road is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13 The Troll Road by Tony Dunnell Sir Lederick dismounted in the Humble Woods on the southern flank...

Fairy Tale RetellingFriendshipEarnest

Promises, Promises

Cara Masten DiGirolamo Strange Horizons 2026 ShortStory 6,665 words

His app was called Promises Promises, and its download page was one of the last things in Ellie’s search history—behind two hundred chapters of Fruits Basket and six clickbait articles with titles all on the pattern of “17 Spectacular Strategies to...

Contemporary FantasyTrans IdentityDread

Content warnings 1

body-horror

Saint Zero of the Hollows and the Eagle Knight

V.M. Ayala Lightspeed 2026

The only sound Zero heard in their helmet was their own hyperventilating and the gentle pings from their pegasus. > waiting . . . > waiting . . . > communication received > confirmation of countdown initiation: 30 seconds  

Science FantasyRevengeVisceral

Content warnings 3

deathgoreviolence

The Last God of Talam Dor

editor GigaNotoSaurus 2026 Novelette 10,773 words

Content Warning: religiously motivated ableism and homophobia, both internalized and external; self-harm; and depictions of ritual sacrifice including drowning, hanging, and burning, not very graphic. Alone but for the crows, the priestess peers through...

Secondary World FantasyQueer IdentityRestrained

Content warnings 3

deathhomophobiaself-harm

The Last Season of Your Life

Christopher Barzak Lightspeed 2026

On a wooded hillside outside Pittsburgh, where the rivers braid together and the bridges flash yellow in the sun, there stands an old private school no one ever remembers enrolling in. Ivy grips its cracked bricks. Moss blurs the leaded windows. To almost...

Contemporary FantasyMentorshipTender

Content warnings 2

deathdeath-of-a-loved-one

Up the Line to Death by Carrie Vaughn

Carrie Vaughn Clarkesworld 2026

“We have a problem,” Major Needham said, marching into the office, but since she said that almost every day, Lucas didn’t really pay attention. He was a civilian contractor, so […]

AI FictionArtificial IntelligencePhilosophical

Content warnings 1

war

Up the Line to Death by Carrie Vaughn (audio)

Clarkesworld Magazine Clarkesworld 2026 ♪ audio

This episode features "Up the Line to Death" written by Carrie Vaughn. Published in the June 2026 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine and read by Kate Baker. The text version of this story can be found at: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/vaughn_06_26 Support...

AI FictionArtificial IntelligenceEarnest

Content warnings 1

war

Waru Waru

Ruth Joffre Lightspeed 2026

Abuelita has been feeding me her memories. Yesterday, it was the time she trudged up the mountain carrying a basketful of offerings for Pachamama (flowers, incense, a llama sculpted out of animal fat and adorned with gold leaf) in hopes the Earth Mother...

Contemporary FantasyDiasporaTender

Content warnings 3

deathillness-and-pandemicsubstance-use

White Lines on a Green Field

Catherynne M. Valente Uncanny 2026

For Seanan McGuire. And Coyote.   Let me tell you about the year Coyote took the Devils to the State Championship. Coyote walked tall down the halls of West Centerville High and where he walked lunch money, copies of last semester’s math tests, and unlit...

Folk HorrorMotherhoodMidwest USA

Content warnings 1

sexual-content

Conversations With You

Teresa Milbrodt Baffling 2025 ShortStory 914 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

Speculative FictionArtificial IntelligenceRestrained Prose

Content warnings 1

death-of-a-loved-one

Escape Pod 1001: Death by Pink in the Lollipop Apocalypse

Ryan Cole Escape Pod 2025 ♪ audio

Death by Pink in the Lollipop Apocalypse By Ryan Cole In the dark of her bed, curled up in her sheets, Susie tried to hide from the next few days and the reckoning they’d bring: of prom and graduation and the dozens of goodbyes she’d have to force herself...

BiopunkFatherhoodWhimsical

Content warnings 2

body-horrorhomophobia

Escape Pod 1003: Billionaire’s Tears

Vanessa Ricci-Thode Escape Pod 2025 ♪ audio

Billionaire's Tears By Vanessa Ricci-Thode I wake up to the sound of screaming, and know I’m going to die. I shoot out of bed, calling for my mother. First thing I’ve spoken clearly in two days. “Maria!” My mother bursts into my room. “Baby, what’s wrong?”...

Social SatireRevengeSatirical

Content warnings 3

deathillness-and-pandemictransphobia

Escape Pod 1006: When the Oracle Speaks (Part 2 of 2)

Escape Pod 2025 ♪ audio

Author : Albert Chu Narrator : Hugo Jackson Host : Valerie Valdes Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “When the Oracle Speaks” was first published in Metaphororsis, July 2023 When the Oracle Speaks (Part 2) by Albert Chu Outside the warehouse, the rain fell in...

Science FantasyColonialismPhilosophical

Content warnings 1

war

Escape Pod 1015: Space Pirate Queen of the Ten Billion Utopias

Escape Pod 2025 ♪ audio

Author : Elly Bangs Narrator : Christiana Ellis Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “Space Pirate Queen of the Ten Billion Utopias” was first published in Lightspeed Magazine in November 2021 Copious amounts of casual strong language. This...

Social SatireQueer IdentityUnreliable Narrator

Escape Pod 1020: When They Come Back (Flashback Friday)

Escape Pod 2025 ♪ audio

Author : Natalia Theodoridou Narrator : Ibba Armancas Host : Alasdair Stuart Audio Producer : Summer Brooks When They Come Back was originally published in Crossed Genres (Issue 22), in October 2014, and in Escape Pod Episode 550 Frank though not explicit...

SlipstreamQueer IdentityBleak

Content warnings 3

body-horrorsexual-contentviolence

Escape Pod 1023: Mackson’s Mardi Gras Moon Race

Escape Pod 2025 ♪ audio

Author : David DeGraff Narrator : Brian Lieberman Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “Mackson’s Mardi Gras Moon Race” originally appeared in the Winter 2024 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Mackson’s Mardi Gras Moon...

Near FutureQueer IdentityHopeful

Content warnings 1

death

Escape Pod 978: Oak Hill Lane

Alasdair Stuart Escape Pod 2025 ♪ audio

Oak Hill Lane By Alasdair Stuart The day the world ended, Scotch picked a fight. Not that there was much choice. Two fellow Canary Detailers, heads full of redtop bigotry and guts full of Tesco beer, had jumped Scotch’s work partner Billy the previous week...

DystopiaQueer IdentityHopeful

Content warnings 2

homophobiaviolence

Escape Pod 985: The Interdimensional Rift at the Lucky Sunrise Bingo Palace

Escape Pod 2025 ♪ audio

Author : Ryan Cole Narrator : Elie Hirschman Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Escape Pod 985: The Interdimensional Rift at the Lucky Sunrise Bingo Palace is an Escape Pod original. The Interdimensional Rift at the Lucky Sunrise Bingo...

Contemporary FantasyQueer IdentityWhimsical

Content warnings 2

death-of-a-loved-onehomophobia

How To Rob A Bullion Van

Plangdi Neple Baffling 2025 ShortStory 1,123 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

Contemporary FantasyRevengeWest Africa

Content warnings 1

violence

Standardized Test

Seoung Kim Lightspeed 2025 ShortStory Fantasy 931 words

"DIRECTIONS: Fill in the correct letter with a #2 pencil on the answer sheet. Do not use ink or ballpoint pens. Questions left blank will be marked incorrect. Completely fill in each circle."

Social SatireQueer IdentitySatirical

Escape Pod 932: The Walking Mirror of the Soul

Escape Pod 2024 ♪ audio

Author : Renan Bernardo Narrator : Julia Rios Host : Valerie Valdes Audio Producer : Summer Brooks This story was originally published at Apex Magazine #134 in December 2022. The Walking Mirror of the Soul by Renan Bernardo My desire was written all over...

First ContactQueer IdentitySlow Burn

Escape Pod 933: Summitting the Moon

Pragathi Bala Escape Pod 2024 ♪ audio

Summitting the Moon By Pragathi Bala T-7 days The moon Landed, the Rut appeared, home equity plummeted, jobs disappeared, and Ghis liked riding the moon. It was the last item on this tragic list that her wife couldn’t accept. It was the leaf that broke the...

DystopiaQueer IdentityPost Apocalyptic

Content warnings 1

pregnancy-loss

Escape Pod 935: Old People’s Folly (Part 1 of 2)

Nora Schinnerl Escape Pod 2024 ♪ audio

Old People's Folly (Part 1 of 2) By Nora Schinnerl Setti knew the woman for a ghost the moment she appeared. It was the pink hair that gave her away, short and spiky. Real people didn't have hair like that. Also, you couldn't see the scratchmarks on...

DystopiaMentorshipRestrained Prose

Content warnings 2

child-abusehomophobia

Escape Pod 936: Old People’s Folly (Part 2 of 2)

Nora Schinnerl Escape Pod 2024 ♪ audio

By Nora Schinnerl (...Continued from Part 1) Kite was still curled into a bundle of blankets in front of the stove when Setti woke. The old woman sniffed, torn between surprise and annoyance. She'd have figured him for a quitter, sneaking out before dawn...

DystopiaMentorshipRestrained Prose

Content warnings 2

child-abusehomophobia

Escape Pod 949: A Foundational Model for Talking to Girls

Brian Hugenbruch Escape Pod 2024 ♪ audio

A Foundational Model for Talking to Girls By Brian Hugenbruch “Hey Marty,” Mom asks, “got a moment?” I cringe whenever Mom's voice has that tone to it. I don’t know what she’s going to say; but if I’ve learned anything in my thirteen years on this...

AI FictionArtificial IntelligenceEarnest

Escape Pod 951: The Scientist Does Not Look Back

Kristen Koopman & Valerie Valdes and Adam Pracht Escape Pod 2024 ♪ audio

The Scientist Does Not Look Back By Kristen Koopman Feb. 17, 3:40 AM. Audio notebook for new project: revival of a clinically dead patient, 36 year old male, died of hypothermia and shock. The technician at the morgue hesitated when releasing him to me....

BiopunkQueer IdentityMidwest USA

Content warnings 2

body-horrordeath

Escape Pod 962: To Catch a Flieff (Part 1 of 2)

Escape Pod 2024 ♪ audio

Author : Julia Rios Narrators : Abra Staffin-Wiebe and Tatiana Grey Host : Valerie Valdes Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “To Catch a Flieff” was originally written as a bonus for backers of the Bridge to Elsewhere Kickstarter (an anthology of stories set...

Space OperaFriendshipWhimsical

Escape Pod 963: To Catch a Flieff (Part 2 of 2)

Escape Pod 2024 ♪ audio

Author : Julia Rios Narrators : Abra Staffin-Wiebe and Tatiana Grey Host : Valerie Valdes Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “To Catch a Flieff” was originally written as a bonus for backers of the Bridge to Elsewhere Kickstarter (an anthology of stories set...

Space OperaQueer IdentityTender

Escape Pod 879: Triptych

Escape Pod 2023 ♪ audio

Author : Avi Burton Narrator : M. Darusha Wehm Host : Valerie Valdes Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Escape Pod 879: Triptych is an Escape Pod original. Content warnings for gender dysphoria, and threats of gun violence Triptych by Avi Burton Delaney didn’t...

BiopunkTrans IdentityHopeful

Content warnings 2

transphobiaviolence

Escape Pod 880: A Cosmonaut’s Guide to Talking to Your Parents

Adriana C. Grigore Escape Pod 2023 ♪ audio

A Cosmonaut's Guide to Talking to Your Parents By Adriana C. Grigore You have (3) unopened voicemails on your personal line. Last received 31 minutes ago, Aurea Minor Time. > Read? > No. Switch to broadcast. > Engage deep space satellite? > Yes. On, say…a...

Space OperaQueer IdentityEpistolary Adjacent

Content warnings 1

illness-and-pandemic

Escape Pod 881: Wild Geese

Escape Pod 2023 ♪ audio

Author : Lavie Tidhar Narrator : Kyle Akers Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Summer Brooks This story first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (December 2020) Wild Geese by Lavie Tidhar With rustling wings the wild geese fly Round...

Science FantasyArt And CreationWhimsical

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

Escape Pod 886: If My Body Is a Temple, Raze It to the Ground

Lauren Ring Escape Pod 2023 ♪ audio

If My Body Is a Temple, Raze It to the Ground By Lauren Ring Thea helped me with my upload today. Decent response speed. Props to whoever designed her—so realistic! — anonymous customer review for Acheron Uploads, four out of five stars I know, I know....

DystopiaAI PersonhoodEpistolary Adjacent

Content warnings 3

abusemisogynyslavery

Escape Pod 891: Wanderlust

Escape Pod 2023 ♪ audio

Author : LP Kindred Narrator : LP Kindred Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Summer Brooks This story originally appeared in Anathema: Spec from the Margins (July 2022) Content warning for NSFW language, sex Wanderlust by L. P. Kindred When he first...

SlipstreamQueer IdentityTender

Content warnings 2

death-of-a-loved-onesexual-content

Escape Pod 905: Six Ways to Get Past the Shadow Shogun’s Goons, and One Thing to Do When You Get There

Stewart C Baker Escape Pod 2023 ♪ audio

Six Ways to Get Past the Shadow Shogun's Goons, and One Thing to Do When You Get There By Stewart C. Baker 1. Dust 'em "Listen, little lady," the guy in front of the door is saying with a sneer. "There's two types of swordsman..." Chiyome's already heard...

Science FantasyQueer IdentityWhimsical

Escape Pod 908: Harvest Moon

Escape Pod 2023 ♪ audio

Author : Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe Narrator : Somto Ihezue Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “Harvest Moon” was previously published in Solarpunk Magazine Harvest Moon by Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe “We cannot sustain the farm, Gozie.” I don’t like the...

DystopiaQueer IdentityWest Africa

Content warnings 1

death-of-a-loved-one

Escape Pod 916: Anna and Marisol in Time and Space (Flashback Friday)

Escape Pod 2023 ♪ audio

Author : Tim Pratt Narrator : Amy H. Sturgis Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Summer Brooks This story originally aired in Escape Pod 622 (April 2018) Some cursing. Suggestions of violence and death. Anna and Marisol in Time and Space by Tim Pratt The...

Near FutureRevengeHopeful

Content warnings 3

deathhomophobiaviolence

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

Escape Pod 822: Lions and Tigers and Girlfriends, Oh My!

Escape Pod 2022 ♪ audio

Author : Tina Connolly Narrator : Bria Strothers Host : S.B. Divya Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Discuss on Forums Lions and Tigers and Girlfriends, Oh My! originally appeared in Escape Pod: The Science Fiction Anthology in October 2020. Lions and Tigers...

Generation ShipMentorshipWhimsical

Escape Pod 823: Build-A-Body

Avi Burton Escape Pod 2022 ♪ audio

Build-A-Body By Avi Burton When I was eighteen, I ordered a body off the internet. It was actually kind of easy. I was old enough to remember when the first successful human transfer was performed— the consciousness of a paralyzed young man was dropped...

Near FutureTrans IdentityTender

Content warnings 1

mental-illness

Escape Pod 836: Philia, Eros, Storge, Agápe, Pragma (Part 2 of 4)

Escape Pod 2022 ♪ audio

Author : R.S.A. Garcia Narrator : Maxine Moore Host : Valerie Valdes Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Discuss on Forums This story first appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine (Issue 172, January 2021), and is a finalist for the 2022 Ignyte Award for Best Novella...

Space OperaQueer IdentityCaribbean

Content warnings 1

war

Escape Pod 842: Love and Supervillains

Caroline Diorio Escape Pod 2022 ♪ audio

Love and Supervillains By Caroline Diorio The gals here at the Raleigh Women’s Asylum for the Nefariously Gifted have a little saying they like to share with the newbies: fuck a superhero once, shame on him; fuck a superhero twice, shame on you. Well,...

Superhero FictionRevengeDarkly Comic

Content warnings 3

cannibalismgoresexual-content

Escape Pod 845: Across the River, My Heart, My Memory

Ann LeBlanc Escape Pod 2022 ♪ audio

Across the River, My Heart, My Memory By Ann LeBlanc 1. I am Michelle’s artificial pancreas, stolen cleanly and carefully from her gut. The surgeons are quick; before I can finish my hard reset, they place me inside you. I don’t even have time to say...

CyberpunkQueer IdentitySardonic

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

Escape Pod 868: Any Other Customer

Rachel Gutin Escape Pod 2022 ♪ audio

Any Other Customer By Rachel Gutin Lewis was poking at his tablet, trying yet again to open the training module from Station Commerce, when the sensor above his shop door chimed. “Not now!” he snapped without looking up. “But… but I….” Blast it! His tailor...

Near FutureMentorshipTender

Your Eyes, My Beacon: Being an Account of Several Misadventures and How I Found My Way Home

C.L. Clark Uncanny 2022 Novelette Fantasy 8,722 words

"She is light. Until she is not, and the lighthouse goes dark as the waves crash against the cliffside, the rocks at its foot jutting and jagged, a peril to even the most skilled navigators’ ships. “Fuck me,” I swear at the sudden black spot in my vision....

Secondary World FantasyQueer IdentityTender

Content warnings 2

deathsexual-content

CatsCast 341: Bargain

Escape Pod 2021 ♪ audio

Author : Sarah Gailey Narrator : Trendane Sparks Host : Laura Pearlman Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums “Bargain” first appeared in Mothership Zeta (Dec 2015) Bargain by Sarah Gailey Malachai loved his work. He loved wandering...

Contemporary FantasyQueer IdentityWhimsical

Content warnings 1

illness-and-pandemic

Escape Pod 766: The Unrepentant

Escape Pod 2021 ♪ audio

Author : Derrick Boden Narrator : Ibba Armancas Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Discuss on Forums Escape Pod 766: The Unrepentant is an Escape Pod original. This story has content notifications for language and violence. The Unrepentant...

CyberpunkCorporate PowerUnreliable Narrator

Content warnings 3

deathviolencewar

Escape Pod 769: Deal

Eris Young Escape Pod 2021 ♪ audio

Deal By Eris Young Beulah wonders what it would be like to touch the Visitor. Oil-slick iridescent, it is tennis ball-sized and scaled with an animated crystalline skin—or shell—or carapace. It floats, stationary, a foot above the rug in the corner of the...

First ContactTrans IdentityAmerican Southwest

Content warnings 3

illness-and-pandemicself-harmtransphobia

Escape Pod 777: The Dame With the Earth at Her Back

Sarah Pauling Escape Pod 2021 ♪ audio

The Dame With the Earth at Her Back By Sarah Pauling That’s the trouble with Teegarden’s northern latitudes: the sun never sets in summer. The red glow assaults Maryellen’s stage long after midnight, pushing in through the picture window alongside the...

DystopiaColonialismSardonic

Escape Pod 790: AirBody

Escape Pod 2021 ♪ audio

Author : Sameem Siddiqui Narrator : Arun Jiwa Host : S.B. Divya Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Discuss on Forums AirBody first appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine (April 2020), and was the Winner of the 2020 Clarkesworld Readers Poll Contains some harsh...

Near FutureDiasporaTender

Content warnings 1

sexual-content

Escape Pod 796: One Hundred Seconds to Midnight

Escape Pod 2021 ♪ audio

Author : Lauren Ring Narrator : Alethea Kontis Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Escape Pod 796: One Hundred Seconds to Midnight is an Escape Pod original. One Hundred Seconds to Midnight By Lauren Ring I wake before the plane lands. It’s...

Near FutureCorporate PowerDread

Content warnings 1

violence

Escape Pod 814: Oddments, Pasha’s Autodiary of 07 MAR 2032

Christopher Noessel Escape Pod 2021 ♪ audio

Oddments, Pasha’s Autodiary of 07 MAR 2032 By Christopher Noessel I woke you up two hours before, so you would have time to get into face. You sat in the rattling shoebox lavatory of an interstate bus with a handheld mirror and terrible lighting, sang...

AI FictionArt And CreationAmerican Southwest

Presque vue

Tochi Onyebuchi Uncanny 2021 ShortStory Fantasy 1,857 words

"People often spoke about hearing voices: commands, cajoling, or observations made by a chorus of individuals, a collective. But for Sam, it was always just one voice. It had sounded vaguely like her mother’s, and as she fought her way through girlhood and...

SlipstreamQueer IdentityRestrained Prose

Content warnings 2

death-of-a-loved-onemental-illness

Across the Ice

Ada Hoffmann Strange Horizons 2020 ShortStory Vignette 999 words

When she’s not helping study a giant alien artifact, Neela enjoys ice skating on Europa’s endless ice plains.

First ContactQueer IdentityTender

Escape Pod 763: No Spaceship Go

Annie Bellet Escape Pod 2020 ♪ audio

No Spaceship Go By Annie Bellet The boys lay on their backs side by side staring up through the open roof of the abandoned building. Dylan clutched Meek's hand in anticipation as the ground shook and a roar filled the air. Tiny pebbles danced up from the...

DystopiaQueer IdentityAmerican Southwest

Hearts in the Hard Ground

G.V. Anderson Tor.com 2020 ShortStory Fantasy 7,099 words

Following the death of her mother, Fiona buys a new house in order to start a new chapter of her life, one with fewer reminders of painful memories. Unbeknownst to Fiona, this house has a melancholy history, and slightly more ghosts than she anticipated....

Psychological HorrorMotherhoodTender

Content warnings 3

child-deathdeathdeath-of-a-loved-one

Carborundorum > /dev/null

Annalee Flower Horne Fireside 2018 ShortStory 3,955 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

Near FutureFriendshipDefiant

Content warnings 2

sexual-violencesubstance-use

Bodies Stacked Like Firewood

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

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

MetafictionalTrans IdentityNew York City

Content warnings 3

body-horrorsuicidetransphobia