"So they broke into the hole in the ground, and they killed the kid, and all the lights went out in Omelas: click, click, click. And the pipes burst and there was a sewage leak and the newscasters said there was a typhoon on the way, so they (a different...
Jesse uses virtual reality to give tourists a vision-quest experience. It’s demeaning, but it pays the bills. Then a tourist turns up who wants a really authentic experience.
"Ambition!” Trevor emphasized, rapping knuckles hard on the wood table. “That is what makes the great men!” He took a satisfied swallow from his mug. Across from him, Barnaby put down the daily he’d been reading and sipped from his own beer. Pulling out a...
"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...
"June was the first of my friends to get into it. This isn’t surprising—she was playing Wordle for weeks before Margo or I discovered it. When we met up for our weekly lunch, she kept checking her phone and I assumed it was some new game. Then she put it...
"There’s a woman outside of a town called Sheridan, where the sky comes so near to earth it has to use the crosswalk just like everybody else. … There’s a woman outside of Sheridan and she is eating the sin of America."
"[Time Reference Unavailable]—August, 1946 The watchseed is planted in a watery hemisphere of a watery world. The place spins around a yellow star, wearing its magnetic field like a proud little hat. It’s ridiculous with life. Hence, a watchseed, with the...
"Who is the most beloved person alive? Is it one of those actors who plays superheroes? Is it a political leader? Maybe you’re a galaxy brain and say Beyoncé? No matter who you pick, you know you’re wrong. There’s always that better person who we love so...
In a near-future San Francisco where the gig economy has made work more precarious than ever, Edwina is an average twenty-something scrambling to hold down her job with a major skin care brand. Until her awful boss does something you should never do—angers...
Sharon and Kango have to go back to their home worlds to capture an ultimate weapon that threatens the galaxy, or else they’ll never achieve their dream of opening a restaurant.
"Because I could, that’s why. Because the technology was there and if I didn’t do it somebody else would. Because I, perhaps naively, expected the acclaim of a grateful world and quite possibly a Nobel Prize. But chiefly I did it because the science was so...
The two-tongued Jeremy app helps lots of kids with their schoolwork, but Jeremy thinks it’s asking too much of him, and he’s afraid to try to turn it off.
"Once upon a time,” outputted the algorithm, “there was an AI. “It generated recipes and ingredient descriptions for an online grocery store. The website said that this recipe was not just a squash soup recipe, but it also was a good diet recipe / keto...
"Once upon a time, on a spaceship traveling through the divide between galaxies, a married couple was bickering about whose job it was to clean the mouse shit that’d accumulated in the reactor tubes."
"Attention, please,” the Manager says over the office intercom. “The Auditor’s shuttle is scheduled to dock in one hour. I repeat, one hour. Warehouse staff, please ensure that all inventory is in place.”
"The buffet was infinite. It existed in a pocket dimension, via some sort of technological jiggering of the sort that you have heard about before and, unless you are totally anal, don’t want to hear about now. You could probably summon an explanation that...
"At 5:43 a.m. this morning, residents of Grackle Pointe Apartments awoke to a malfunction in their complex’s multi-spatial engine due to an unprecedented derecho that swept through the Montrose area of Houston. This resulted in tenants being mentally and...
Damon’s UBI royalties just crashed. His social capital went up in smoke. His girlfriend left him. Now he finds out he’s going to die. What to do? Solve his own murder, for starters…and maybe, just maybe, strike it rich along the way.
"Hi Lisle. Hope you’ve had some coffee. The topside comms array is still glitching, and engineering hasn’t lifted a finger to run diagnostics. They say the work order has to come from your end. Shouldn’t take long once they get it. Happy simulated morning to you!"
A deluxe riverboat welcomes the galaxy's wealthiest tourists to the drought-ridden Amazon — but no one's seen her mysterious captain. "The Maiden Voyage of the Piranha Belle" is a flash exploration of colonization and survival. Content warnings:...
"An excerpt from the unfinished memoirs of Sullivan Kingsley. Text was dictated to and recorded by a Kvasir Scrivener™. Any poetic editorializing can be assumed in accordance with the spirit of Mr. Kingsley’s intentions, as interpreted by a conjured...
The Uncool Hunters By Andrew Dana Hudson Before she settled down into publishing in Minneapolis, before she got taken for a ride by the Chicago AltNormLit scene, before she flared spectacularly out of Silicon Alley, and had her pilot shoot C&Ded by the...
A man is offered the opportunity to partake in an exclusive, subscription-based eating club for those who wish to dine on human flesh. But he may have bitten off a little more than he can chew.
"Folks later claimed she was acting strange from the moment she boarded the plane. They described her as skittish, curt, radiating an aura of danger. Some, when confronted with the security footage, which showed her to have behaved rather unremarkably up...
"Dear Senator: I am writing with concern about the recent legislative decision (SB-AR-15) to place monsters outside our schools. As a lifelong resident of Arkansas and these United States, I certainly understand the need to protect our children from active...
"By now, you've received your Portal Ticket confirmations and ForeverFete™ Mas Pack, which should include essentials such as several period correct costumes; one-dose capsules for various ailments common amongst the British West Indies population during...
"Rhea found the feral child on the edge of the garbage park on the last day of the group’s vacation. Garrison, passed out from drinking the better part of a bottle of hundred-year-old Islay Scotch, had dropped a cigar onto the edge of the canvas tent and...
"It was 10 a.m., and Anmar clapped his hands to silence the screeching wake-up alarm he had set for himself. He didn’t actually need the alarm, since he had already been awake for twelve minutes before it went off, but Anmar enjoyed using technology...
The galactic government has decided to evict humanity from Earth, but we’ve got a choice of different species that are willing to accept us—provided we convert to their forms.
During a dinosaur uprising on the starship, a young worker in the meat-packing plant engages in a battle of wits with an intelligent dinosaur who wants to replace humanity entirely.
Author : Jacob Seinemeier Narrator : Elie Hirschman Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Escape Pod 1034: “An Honour to be Nominated…” is an Escape Pod original. Mild profanity “An Honour to be Nominated…” by Jacob Seinemeier TRANSGALACTIC...
Author : Tim Pratt Narrator : Isabel J. Kim Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “The Many Rebirths of Karina Morita” first appeared in 2025 on Tim’s Patreon Sponsored by Mixtape Stories The Many Rebirths of Karina Morita by Tim Pratt My...
Author : Carrie Vaughn Narrator : Cherrae L. Stuart Host : Alasdair Stuart Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “Woolly” was first published in Asimov’s Science Fiction (May/June 2025) This episode is sponsored by Sleepphones! Use code ESCAPEPOD and get 10% off...
LOGIN CREATE ACCOUNT username: squirglover46 password: **************** for security reasons your password must contain minimum 1 number, 1 diacritic, 1 universal babelkey and at least 8 distinct phonemes. password cannot contain your username, date of...
Notes on specimen “Efren Vargas” 1022/204.27.3: >> Supposed to be married to “Joan Dimagiba,” his fiancée. >> Was in bed with some other woman* a week (in human time) before […]
Look, it’s bad enough that my wife gets cat-called in the street and flashed on the train. There’s a lot of sickos out there who get their jollies by harassing women, and usually I try to shut them down without escalating it to a fight. But we moved a few...
“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,...
“God” is not the word I’d use. But it is the only one that suffices. There are all kinds of gods: the old and the new; the useful, the useless; the capricious and the dependable; the wrathful and the meek. They all had one thing in common—whether they were...
PseudoPod 1030: Keeping Up With the Conan Doyles is a PseudoPod original. C/W: disordered eating, fat-shaming May 22nd is Conan Doyle’s birthday and Sherlock Holmes Day Jess Whitecroft’s Patreon Cautionary Tales: Photographing Fairies From the Journals of...
PseudoPod 1032: Flash on the Borderlands LXXVIII (78): Terraeque urbesque recedant is a PseudoPod original. C/W: racism, xenophobia, road death From the author: “Othertongue” began as a pastiche of H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Colour Out of Space,” provoked by...
EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT Name of Employer: Chaska Punku Space Port Administrative Authority (CPSPAA), based in Chaska Punku, Chile, acting in lieu of the European Space Agency (ESA), based in Paris, France […]
This episode features "Shelter" written by Nadia W. Aldsen. Published in the April 2026 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine and read by Kate Baker. The text version of this story can be found at: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/aldsen_04_26 Support us on...
This episode features "This Is an Emergency Broadcast" written by R.S.A. Garcia. Published in the July 2026 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine and read by Kate Baker. The text version of this story can be found at: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/garcia_07_26...
This episode features "Three Cases from the Cosmic Psychiatric Clinic" written by Pan Haitian. Published in the June 2026 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine and read by Kate Baker. The text version of this story can be found at:...
The Tree Man’s Rebirth At the threshold to the Kuiper Belt in the outer solar system, Deep Space Gate was the largest station humanity ever built. The station psychologist Chu […]
Dear Members of the Community, As we begin yet another fall semester in the throes of the rogue timestream unleashed on our campus, I cannot help but take a moment to marvel at just how vibrant our community has become. In addition to our current...
“What do you mean the nanobots formed a union??” I asked the lawyer, biting my thumbnail. It’s an old habit, kept up well after I got the “Pro Nano Blitz Package,” as the ad called it. A muscular man in tight clothing explained: a quick, painless...
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?”...
Author : Tim Pratt Narrator : A Kovacs Host : Alasdair Stuart Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “Observer Effects” originally appeared in Diet Soap (2007), and was originally presented in Escape Pod 350 Contains harsh language Escape Pod is proud to say that...
Author : Cooper C. Wilms Narrator : Eric Valdes Host : Valerie Valdes Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Escape Pod 1010: Grifting the Zaxonite is an Escape Pod original. Grifting the Zaxonite by Cooper C. Wilms Of all the cons in his little black book, Trevor...
The Love Pyramid: A Rocky Cornelius Consultancy By Andrew Dana Hudson “What do you mean you aren’t fucking?” Rocky Cornelius demanded. “That’s terrible! This is going to throw your whole value prop out of whack!” The trio of button-cute narrative design...
Author : Diana Wynne Jones Narrator : Emma Newman Hosts : Mur Lafferty and Alasdair Stuart Audio Producers : Adam Pracht and Mat Weller Samantha’s Diary originally appeared in Stories: All-New Tales Edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio and on Escape...
Author : Luke Wildman Narrator : Hollis Monroe Host : Matt Dovey Artist : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published in Writers and Illustrators of the Future, Vol. 37 Rated PG How to Steal the Plot Armor – PART ONE by Luke Wildman The day before...
Author : Luke Wildman Narrator : Hollis Monroe Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published in Writers and Illustrators of the Future, Vol. 37 Rated PG How to Steal the Plot Armor by Luke Wildman PART TWO of TWO...
Author : Cynthia Zhang Narrator : Curtis C. Chen Host : Shingai Njeri Kagunda Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 886: Houyi the Archer Fights the Sun is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13 Houyi the Archer Fights the Sun by Cynthia...
Author : Daniel Abraham Narrator : Wilson Fowlie Host : Wilson Fowlie Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums Previously published as PodCastle 051 Rated PG The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics by Daniel Abraham For as many years as...
PseudoPod 970: At the God Show is a PseudoPod original. 6:15 A.M. “It’ll be Pternoch the Fisher,” Sheila overheard one pilgrim say to another. “Why did we bother coming?” “May the Green Damsel stitch your mouth shut until your blasphemies cease,” said the...
PseudoPod 984: Flash on the Borderlands LXXIV: Thy Shields Between Them and the Light is a PseudoPod original. “My Heart in a Snow Globe” – C/W: child death “Exposed, Every Inch Visible” – C/W: body horror “We Told You of the One Who Lives in the Mound” –...
"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."
The T-4200 (Part 2 of 2) By J. R. Johnson (...Continued from Part 1) Carl scrambled to follow Mango past the loading dock to the parking corral. Her T was an early model with a lot of light-years on it, but its shell still shone and its maxillae were...
“How to Pass as Human”: a Quantum-Encrypted Listicle on the Synthetic Consciousness Subnet By Raiff Taranday QUERY: Locate file 8548.213 (“How to Pass as Human”) WARNING: File 8548.213 (“How to Pass as Human”) has been flagged by the Synthetic Regulatory...
Author : Shaenon K. Garrity Narrator : Nathaniel Lee Hosts : Valerie Valdes and Norm Sherman Audio Producers : Summer Brooks and Mat Weller Escape Pod 937: Punk Voyager (Flashback Friday) is an Escape Pod original. A copious amount of harsh language. Punk...
The Concept Shoppe: A Rocky Cornelius Consultancy By Andrew Dana Hudson “This place is trash, garbágio, blechalicious,” Rocky Cornelius said appreciatively. “All we gotta do is, as they say, sublevel the vibe.” “Really? You think so?” The greengrocer,...
Author : Eugie Foster Narrator : Mur Lafferty Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Summer Brooks This story was first published in Escape Pod 388 (March 21, 2013) Contains harsh language and graphic gory violence Trixie and the Pandas of Dread by Eugie...
Mathball By Larry Hodges You are a baseball fan, sitting in the centerfield seats eating an overpriced hot dog. You are wearing a baseball cap, but not a batting helmet, of course. (Why would that be an issue? Hmm…)You smile brightly, but all will not end...
Authors : Jane Brown, Chuck Rothman and Joshua Jones Lofflin Narrators : Tina Connolly, Eric Valdes and Rick Vicens Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 820: Flash Fiction Extravaganza! – Comedy is a PodCastle...
Author : Chris Kuriata Narrator : Summer Fletcher Host : Eric Valdes Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Diabolical Plots Rated R The Aunties Return the Ocean By Chris Kuriata Auntie Roberta landed badly on the roof of...
Authors : Heather Shaw and Tim Pratt Narrator : Alasdair Stuart Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 871: Homes for the Holidays is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13 This episode is dedicated in loving memory of Orion...
PseudoPod 931: What He Woke is a PseudoPod original. From the author: “This story was written before the 2024 British General Election. The MP whose voting record inspired these events has since been fired by his constituents. We didn’t feed him to a sea...
“Onitsha Main, Ochanja, The Twins, Nkpor, and the Shadows of Shoprite” was originally published in the 2024 anthology, Escalators to Hell: Shopping Mall Horrors Onitsha Main. It started with the garri sellers. Basin by basin, their grains went gray with...
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...
Author : Francis Bass Narrator : Valerie Valdes Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Summer Brooks This story was previously published in Uncharted Magazine in May 2022 The Mechanical Turk Has a Panic Attack by Francis Bass Gab gripped her right wrist...
Murder or a Duck By Beth Goder George called out, “Mrs. Whitman, you have a visitor.” Mrs. Whitman strode from her workroom, her white hair skipping out of its hairpins. She straightened her work skirt, massaged her bad knee, then hurried down the hall....
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...
Author : Benjamin Rosenbaum Narrator : Graeme Dunlop Hosts : Matt Dovey and Ann Leckie Audio Producers : Eric Valdes and Pria Wood Discuss on Forums Originally published in All-Star Zeppelin Adventure Stories, edited by David Moles and Jay Lake. Previously...
“Ye Goode Olde Ghoste Storie” originally appeared in Weird Tales, January 1927 under the pen name William A. P. White Derek Delgaudio Excellent and IMMENSELY spoiler-y piece about In & Of Itself ‘‘But there ain’t no sech thing!” said Jed Hoskins’ old man...
“Bones in It” was originally published in Lightspeed in May 2021 Good Bones by Maggie Smith Besides the vedma who lived behind the stove in steam room three, the banya in Grand Lake Plaza was the same as any other budget day spa on Chicago’s West Side. It...
“The Coward Who Stole God’s Name” originally appeared in Uncanny Magazine in their May issue in 2022. “If I named any of the inspirations for this story, then I’d get into terrible trouble, wouldn’t I? You’d hate to upset Gavin and those who love him. This...
“Audio Recording Left by the CEO of the Ranvannian Colony to Her Daughter, on the Survival Imperative of Maximising Market Profits” was originally published in Diabolical Plots, October 2021 “We didn’t set out to write this as a story: we only really set...
“The Strange Island of Dr. Nork” was first published in Weird Tales, March 1949 CW: racist language. Please note this story was first published in 1949 and contains language which would not be acceptable today, particularly with regards to race. Afflicted...
Universal Archive of Human History: FAQ By Arturo Sierra The Gran Gliese Universal Archive of Human History contains over 5.7×1035 books and an innumerable collection of shorter works. Moreover, it is continuously growing, thanks to additions from...
Author : Julia Knowles Narrator : AJ Fitzwater Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 718: Memoirs of a Magic Mirror is a PodCastle original. Content warning: mild gore. Rated PG-13 Memoirs of a Magic Mirror...
PseudoPod 801: The Bear Across the Way is a PseudoPod original. I paid no more attention to the bear than I would have any new neighbors. Despite what my husband might tell you, the fact that he was a bear played into my curiosity very little. It was his...
“The Tentacle and You” was originally published in Nature Futures back in 2019. “Backers” is a PseudoPod Original “Your Honor, My Undead Client Opposes the Application to Probate His Estate” is a PseudoPod original. “Backers”: “My wife and her friends are...
PseudoPod 804: Flash on the Borderlands LXI: Dead Man’s Party (April Fools’ Version) is a PseudoPod original. “The Tentacle and You” was originally published in Nature Futures back in 2019. “Backers” is a PseudoPod Original “Your Honor, My Undead Client...
“Flowering Evil” first appeared in Planet Stories, Summer 1950 Captain Bjornson shook a grizzled head. “I never saw a plant I liked the looks of less,” he said. “I don’t know how he got it through the planetary plant quarantine. You take my advice, Amy,...
PseudoPod 828: Taxiptómy is a PseudoPod original. Mulholland Drive trailer Mulholland Drive ‘No Hay Banda’ scene Taxiptómy [tak-si-toe-mee] From the Greek words Taxis meaning “arrangement” and Ptóma meaning “corpse”. Noun Taxiptómist [tak-si-toe-mist] Noun...
Tiger Lawyer Gets It Right By Sarah Gailey Vladislav Argyle rested his head on the cool titanium surface of the defendant’s table. It dipped a little under the sudden weight of his skull, then hummed as the antigrav lifts adjusted their power to...
Author : Ian Creasey Narrator : Pippa Alice Stephens Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Discuss on Forums “No Strangers Any More” originally appeared in Analog (July/August 2016) No Strangers Any More (Part 1 of 2) by Ian Creasey One of a...
Author : Ian Creasey Narrator : Pippa Alice Stephens Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Discuss on Forums “No Strangers Any More” originally appeared in Analog (July/August 2016) No Strangers Any More (Part 2 of 2) by Ian Creasey Royal...
Author : Rachel Kolar Narrator : Jen R. Albert Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 676: #BloodBossBabes is a PodCastle original. Warnings for blood and violence Rated R for bloody sacrifices to thirsty...
Author : Louis Evans Narrator : Dave Robison Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Translunar Travelers Lounge Sexual content Rated R Everybody’s Got a Hungry Heart by Louis Evans Agent Heartbreak and the Misery...
Authors : Ash Beker, Summer Fletcher and Alasdair Stuart Narrators : Imogen Harris, Marty Perrett, Wilson Fowlie, Peter Adrian Behravesh, Kaitlyn Zivanovich, Mur Lafferty, M. M. Schill, Alex Hofelich, Shawn Garrett, Scott Campbell, Kat Day, Graeme Dunlop...
Author : Matt Dovey Narrator : Heath Miller Host : Peter Adrian Behravesh Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published by Diabolical Plots. CW: Some violence, sexual content Rated R. Why Aren’t Millennials Continuing...