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.
Content warnings 2
abuseviolence
Tender
338 free-to-read stories tagged “Tender”
A plague killed all the colonists before Saki’s ship arrived, and she has to investigate it while mourning the man she loved, who died down there.
Content warnings 3
deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemic
Zee lives with her father in a windup world. Bored with her life, she decides to visit the carnival. She meets a boy, and things go from there.
Content warnings 2
deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 1
death-of-a-loved-one
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.
Content warnings 2
death-of-a-loved-onesubstance-use
Alyssa seeks out the aliens who can give her an augment that will let her exchange thoughts and feelings with other humans. But why does she want it, and what is the cost?
Content warnings 2
body-horrordeath
"I’ve ferried two hundred and twenty-one souls across the river of death, and I can already tell my two-hundred-and-twenty-second is going to be a real shitkicker. I know by the lightness of the manila folder in my hand, the preemptive pity in the...
Content warnings 3
child-deathdeathdeath-of-a-loved-one
Despite not being a telepath, Calla worked out a way to play chess with her captor, Major Larn, during the recent war. Now they're going to finish their game.
Content warnings 3
deathmental-illnesswar
Alzheimer's patient's family can't visit her very often, so they buy a robot to fool her into thinking they're visiting her. The robot tells the story.
Content warnings 3
deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemic
"A ship glides through the night, behemoth mother, swollen with ten thousand human lives. Her path is a single shining vector. There has been no stopping, no rest for the decades she has traveled, and there will be nothing but void for the two years to...
Content warnings 3
child-deathpregnancy-lossviolence
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.
Content warnings 2
body-horrordeath
"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....
Content warnings 3
abusesuicideviolence
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.
"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...
"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...
Content warnings 3
abuseillness-and-pandemictransphobia
"You are born not long after the disaster. The city center has lain evacuated for two days by the time your mother makes her nest. She builds a small burrow from packing blankets, rags, her own sinewy body behind a row of waste containment units, and you...
Content warnings 2
animal-harmdeath-of-a-loved-one
"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."
Content warnings 1
death
"I think of you most when the sun sets on Atlas. The skies are so bright there you can feel the colors on your skin. I find myself repeating this to my granddaughter, Lila. The night she was born, I took her onto the terrace to watch the daylight roll back...
Content warnings 1
death-of-a-loved-one
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Ostap can’t wait to visit his girlfriend and see her big project that’s trying to use quantum mechanics to develop faster-than-light travel.
Content warnings 2
deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
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.
Content warnings 2
body-horrorviolence
Misunderstanding threatens a commune whose survival is dependent on precise communication with another species…
Content warnings 1
death-of-a-loved-one
"My son can’t think of the word “spoon.” It’s there, at the tip of his tongue. The waitress looks at him with a patient smile. She can see he’s fidgeting and getting hot. A boy his age would typically know how to ask. “Could I please have another... ” But...
"There’s nothing quieter than the sound of dreams not coming true. The moment when reality sinks in and Gwen realizes she’s never going to have the one thing she’s been yearning for since high school—the thing she made so much space in her life to...
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.
Content warnings 2
abusehomophobia
Intensifying earthquakes are gradually destroying the world, but Marina still has her art, and Elodie is building a robot.
Content warnings 3
deathmental-illnesssuicide
Two top-notch time-travelling assassins get an assignment to expose a corrupt aristocrat by killing a magistrate and later bringing her back from the land of the dead.
Content warnings 3
deathsubstance-useviolence
This story follows Amir and Mani’s careers starting when they’re teenagers in water-starved Beirut.
Content warnings 1
sexual-content
The time travelers across the road think they’re being clever, but Jade’s family spotted them right away. Even so, they’ve got a daughter her age, and she wants to make friends.
A disabled human veteran takes in a disabled AI veteran. The AI doesn't talk anymore due to trauma, but Tawn tries to get through to it, even though his mother thinks it's dangerous.
Content warnings 1
war
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."
Content warnings 2
death-of-a-loved-oneviolence
"There is a future in which a hellgate opens off the coast of California. It happens at midnight on the first day of the new year, which is sooner than anyone expected. The waters rise and we are forced to abandon our home, but one of the neighbors has a...
Content warnings 4
deathillness-and-pandemicmental-illnessviolence
A disabled son care-taking for a disabled father tries to understand the mysterious blur haunting them.
Content warnings 2
death-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemic
"It turns out you’ve missed your favorite season. Your wheelchair rolls along a path strewn with ginkgo leaves, and you catch sight of the SWAILS building complex: fourteen dome-shaped structures surrounding a flat monument of what looks like black marble....
Content warnings 2
death-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemic
"Six hours left. “What do you want to eat sweetheart?” She looks at me expectantly, holding out her phone to show me the menu. “It is your special day. I’ll get you anything you want.” I smile, shake my hands. “Eomma, it’s fine. You don’t have to do this.”...
Content warnings 3
deathdeath-of-a-loved-onewar
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
"Modern bodies are made in large quantities. Factories line the edge of the Fissure Basin. Workers scoop sand and mud into large churning vats, feeding extruders that empty into molds in the standard shapes. Factory supervisors smooth out imperfections and...
Content warnings 1
death-of-a-loved-one
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...
Content warnings 1
death
Author : Michelle Denham Narrator : Isabel Kim Host : Shingai Njeri Kagunda Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 721: A Chestnut, A Persimmon, A Cunning Lie is a PodCastle original. Content warning for the loss of a child....
Content warnings 2
deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
"Sergey hummed under his breath as he walked to the Marith temple. His steps retraced a path he knew so well, he could have walked it at night, in the dark, even under assault. Yet the Marith enclave was the most peaceful place he’d ever been—so calm that...
Content warnings 3
child-deathviolencewar
"Today one of the minders rolls one Veena Kaur Chan into my hairbay for a shampoo and cut. New client, transferring in from Palliative. Brainstem stroke. Unsuccessful rehabilitation. Pancreatic cancer. Ouch. Triple whammy. As the newly implemented...
Content warnings 2
deathillness-and-pandemic
Pauly is a good son. When he brings home three beautiful Masquerades, he’s expecting that his mother will be proud of him. But when his mother begins asking favors of his Masquerades, he realizes that being a good son sometimes means disobeying.
"I know a nanomask when I see one, especially when the wearer’s making eye contact. There’s something about how the mask melds around the lids — it’s just a little bit stiff, but you have to really know what you’re looking for to tell. But people in...
Content warnings 3
abusedeathviolence
"Seated on the balcony of the house across the street is a man. He is slumped in his chair and has remained unmoving for several hours. The tattered frays of his agbada spreads about his person like an old sailcloth, snapping in the wind. His equally...
Content warnings 1
death-of-a-loved-one
Judith takes a job as companion to a young man who appears to be terminally ill and has retired to a family estate by the sea.
The prince’s huntsman finds himself trapped in an abandoned castle, prisoner of a once-human beast.
Content warnings 2
violencewar
"The apartment is dark when I return, the blackout curtains doing their job of keeping the late afternoon sun out. It doesn’t matter, though. The air is stifling hot, thick and oppressive. Sweat gathers on my skin, sticking clothes to flesh. But I welcome...
Content warnings 1
death-of-a-loved-one
Author : Eden Royce Narrator : Laurice White Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes PodCastle 914: The Magnolia Returns is a PodCastle original. Rated PG The Magnolia Returns By Eden Royce The Magnolia blooms out of nowhere at any time of year it...
Content warnings 2
abusebody-horror
"Don’t start with the birth certificate. No, take an obituary-out approach. Pick an age, a date, what to do in lieu of flowers. Yes, she must die. I know how hard it is to kill her, but the spell won’t work without it, for every story ends in death. We set...
A mother, left behind on Earth, receives a birthday card from her son, who is worlds away. How much time do we have together with the ones we love, especially when they grow up and away? How much is remaining? Copyright khōréō magazine 2023. Story by...
Content warnings 1
death-of-a-loved-one
In "Kwong's Bath" by Angela Liu, Kwong is visited by the ghosts of the people she has trouble letting go. Copyright khōréō magazine 2023. Story by Angela Liu, edited by Sachiko Ragosta. Audio edition read by Lauren Kong, with casting and production by...
Content warnings 3
death-of-a-loved-oneself-harmsuicide
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
"Today is upgrade day and Gabriel, a model 2098 post-human intelligence robotic service assistant, wears an appropriately festive hat. The perfect cone of polka-dotted purple paper slopes to one side of his head, his glossy plastic surface giving the weak...
"Grandma died last year, yet she comes every Saturday to have lunch with me. When she was still alive, she loved telling everyone that we were roommates. She would say to her embroidery club friends that her roomie had landed a very hip job in the city...
Content warnings 2
deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 1
death-of-a-loved-one
Children have always disappeared under the right conditions—slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else. Adventures are always interesting, but they’re...
"The intact remnants of Tess’ pressure suit sat alone at the bar, slumped before an untouched pint of beer. No one around the Waystation blamed Hae’cera for what they did after the reactor blew. According to the logs recovered after the accident, the blast...
Author : Leah Ning Narrator : Graeme Dunlop Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 679: Pull is a PodCastle original. A content warning for end of life care. Rated PG-13 with a content warning for end of...
Content warnings 3
animal-harmdeathillness-and-pandemic
"They say the universe was created when a Giant lit a matchstick. That her great sigh fanned the flames that danced and wept into stars and constellations. They say some seas are blue and Slugs are naturally submissive. They also say that I cannot exist....
Content warnings 1
child-death
"The first time Rang died, it stopped a typhoon. The typhoon raged at the entire Orphan Cousin enclave. Torrents rolled in for hours, swallowing the harbor in foam and brine, dashing fishing trawlers against the shore. Storage houses were dragged into the...
Content warnings 3
deathself-harmsuicide
A middle-aged man settling his dead mother’s estate discovers he can still slip through the wardrobe into a different world.
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 1
death-of-a-loved-one
Adriana’s going to be all alone when her best friend moves away, she’s bracing herself to be all alone, and she’s starting to have strange dreams that affect the real world.
Content warnings 2
deathillness-and-pandemic
Interspersed with the narrator's account of her work on an intelligent AI for a Saturn mission, she describes how her daughter fell three kilometers on the moon.
Graff and his crew face a particularly nasty challenge – an opponent so low-tech they might just have the advantage in this fight.
Content warnings 2
deathviolence
"Sing. Sing the world into being. The world’s misty valleys and sunlit hills are described by the song of all things. So is the work of skilled hands and the begrudging march of soldiers’ boots. Every action, every object, in the past and the present and...
Content warnings 1
violence
"Sparrow retired from the battlefield at the height of her powers and couldn’t be persuaded to change her mind. She was done with fighting, armies, blood, death, and taking orders. Now, she ran a salon at the edge of Florelia, Tira City’s entertainment district."
Content warnings 1
war
Two ex-military nurses, one human and one alien, share a friendship in a city following an alien invasion.
Content warnings 3
racismviolencewar
"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,...
Content warnings 1
death
"I learned from Bernadette that there are two ways a star can go supernova. The first is in a double star where one partner dies first, turning into a white dwarf, and the surviving partner swells in grief and dumps mass onto the compact star. But the...
Content warnings 2
death-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemic
Mel relishes running the “Enchanted Jungle,” a roadside attraction in the Everglades filled with live parrots, concrete dinosaurs, and other unexpected wonders.
Content warnings 1
death-of-a-loved-one
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...
"We called it the monster because we could, though none of us found the label to be particularly satisfying. After a certain point, Yerim started calling it the Logos Pilgrim. Which was understandable, seeing as how she was the most mystically inclined...
"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...
Content warnings 2
racismslavery
"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...
"Good stone, like water, wrought truce by necessity. Here, the river became a waterfall and ate the earth like honeycomb. Here, teardrops of flint washed up at a stone knapper’s feet. Bands of every people in the vastness of the world came for the stone....
Content warnings 3
animal-harmgoreviolence
"A syringe with a magnetite needle that would frighten even the boldest of souls. A torture device. But for my sister Kata, it would be a piece of the divine that shouldn’t be on the Aldarish Society Museum for Byrnyan Culture. That pretty much sums up how...
"Good morning, Akasma.” I say these words to my spaceship every day, whether it is a good morning or not, because she is the only being I can safely talk to, and she has said she likes my voice, froggy and raspy though it may be. My spaceship is not, for...
Content warnings 3
body-horrordeathdeath-of-a-loved-one
"Elodie finds a pair of old opera glasses in the empty husk of an abandoned silo. The gleam of the metal catches her flashlight beam and throws it back, and Elodie squats and fishes out the glasses with tentative fingers. The silo is huge and dark around...
"Joy catches my eye, shuffles my direction. Her face lights the dining room. Her curly gray hair is the sun’s corona, and she seems to float above her walker, needless of her stiff little legs. In seeming slow motion she arrives at the seat across from me....
Content warnings 2
death-of-a-loved-onesuicide
"The last picture that Karu has of her father alive is on the day of her graduation. She has this big smile that by the placing of her dimples makes it obvious that she is his daughter. He stands next to her holding her waist in the space between his...
Content warnings 1
death-of-a-loved-one
In the small city of Mehranpur, the Nawab suspects there may be a connection between the slow wasting of a beloved tree and the fate of the city itself.
"The Lightning Road cuts far across the Cosmos, a streak of dazzling gold amidst the star-studded void. Paved in otherworldly stone, the road climbs over sleeping giants, past ringed planets and frozen worlds, connecting one unknown to the next. Xiaofei...
Content warnings 1
war
"A whale soars over Brooklyn. Clouds spread in streaks over the pale blue sky like cold butter. And the whale cleaves right through. Dar spots it from his perch on the rooftop, smoking a contraband cigarette. At first, it looks like the whale is just...
Content warnings 2
body-horrorgore
"It’s only after they’ve loaded the moving truck halfway with boxes that the parents finally notice Parker’s gone. They spend three days yelling for him. Mom waits the longest, wanders the farthest into the forest in the dark. Her voice is a plea, an...
Content warnings 1
death-of-a-loved-one
"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...
"According to orbital observations, the aliens wouldn’t rise from their hibernation caves today. The three moons weren’t in position yet. Leena dialed a cup of coffee, checked her instruments, and settled down with her knitting. Observing the Amphim’s...
Content warnings 2
deathviolence
"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...
Content warnings 2
death-of-a-loved-onewar
"The cadaver drone makes an incision along the inside of each finger. My stomach curls, waiting for the blood, but of course there’s none left. The body has been dead for days, all the blood drained and replaced with a sweet-smelling formaldehyde formula....
Content warnings 2
deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
"THE HOUSE SOARED NORTH, then veered west, where the land went up and up, and the buildings went up and up, like a metallic wave cresting ahead of the distant mountains. The house could see the prairies from where it crouched but could not see the thing it...
"War meant a new life for refrigeration unit B3RT4A—or Bertha, as her now-dead family liked to call her, before they’d been buried in the rubble of their kitchen. It meant she had to listen to the bomber-planes flying overhead day and night, had to hide in...
Content warnings 2
death-of-a-loved-onewar
"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...
"Like their battleship, Maddox was born for war. They emerged from the nursery with one purpose alone: to expand the Consortium’s borders, a bloody mission that had lasted generations, and would last generations to come. Any civilian raised in the...
"There was a small store in Manila, inside the walls of Intramuros, accessible to the wealthy and powerful, between a clothing store and a jewelry store. Children in clean crisp clothes, usually with parents or carers, stood before the store window,...
Content warnings 2
deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
"Red for temperature. Blue for ignition. Green for airflow. It takes four hours and forty-two minutes for you to finish your transformation into a pile of white ashes. I keep a patient vigil over those three primary colors on the cremator’s monitor, making...
Content warnings 3
deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemic
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 1
death
"Marcus was meant to be going to the moon today. Years of training, years of anticipation. I can’t imagine the letdown. Instead, he’s in the community garden, as usual, weeding. Marcus hates weeding. He’d rather prune the fruit trees or tie up the bean...
Content warnings 2
child-deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
"Witchcraft is a gift. Imelda would wave her steel spoon at Mercer and insist on this as he measured ingredients for her, whether she was boiling potions or a pot of farfalle pasta. Watch the salt, a teaspoon only, never pour too much. Don’t overheat the...
Content warnings 2
death-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemic
"Kia ora te whānau, Welcome back to term 3! I hope you are all safe and well. I’m sure the holidays were a little different from usual. My name is Kara and I’m the teacher allocated to the year 1 to 3 children in your sector. I know it can be hard...
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 1
illness-and-pandemic
"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...
Content warnings 3
deathdeath-of-a-loved-onewar
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.
Content warnings 2
deathillness-and-pandemic
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.
Content warnings 1
death
In 1949, researchers attempt to harness "oriental lovebird energy" to cure human comas.
Content warnings 3
death-of-a-loved-oneracismsuicide
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...
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 3
goretransphobiaviolence
"She rose, feeling the aches where the dead had touched her, and gathered him in her arms. She’d hold him tighter this time. Oh, he’d fight her all the way, but they could get back on their way to the isle and the elf-king, and it would be over at last."
Content warnings 2
deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
While all her friends’ fish are changing into mermaids, is 12-year-old Anissa’s fish becoming something else?
Content warnings 1
death-of-a-loved-one
"Not so very long ago but before you were born, an idle lordling went riding through one of the great forests that sweep across the Isles. You may guess which forest, and which man, but I will not tell you. ... None of the stories his mother had told him...
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 1
illness-and-pandemic
"You don’t know who we are, but we promise you we are harmless, and we made this village for you. Well, for you and for us, and for all the others that might follow. Each of us built their own little house. Some are made from hard candy, with gingerbread...
Content warnings 2
deathviolence
"Do you remember the war? No, of course not. You were too small, a solemn-eyed toddler in Má’s arms. You were born in the year of the rat, a lucky, ambitious year. I was two years older, year of the dog, loyal to the end. You were little souris, little Em,...
Content warnings 2
death-of-a-loved-onewar
"You, on the day of your birth. You blink into existence, and the first thing you hear is: We are at war with the Uilai. The Uilai must be eliminated. Well, “hear” is an understatement, for the sentiment is injected through multiple channels: auditory,...
Content warnings 3
abuseviolencewar
An acclaimed musician and her apprentice travel to the newly freed country of Skinnere to play a complex and culturally fraught song that will lay bare the wounds of empire, occupation, and sacrifice of its players and listeners.
Content warnings 3
body-horrorracismwar
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 1
death
Two little children come to a gingerbread house in the woods. The lady of the house is a witch, but so are the kids, and one of them is already dead anyway. The real problem is the people looking for them.
Content warnings 3
child-abusechild-deathgore
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 1
abuse
Red Riding Hood escapes the wolf after years of living together and finds asylum with Beauty while the Beast is overseas on business.
Content warnings 3
abusedeathviolence
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 1
death-of-a-loved-one
In early 19th-Century New Orleans, a teenage boy learns he can fly, but doesn’t understand why he must keep it a secret.
Content warnings 3
sexual-contentslaveryviolence
With Celia’s mistress missing, and presumed dead, the old, failing android is a prime suspect, but she herself doesn’t remember what happened.
Content warnings 2
sexual-contentsexual-violence
Tamalat has come to a priest to find out how to restore her friend Brio's shadow, in the hopes it will restore him to what he once was.
Content warnings 2
suicideviolence
An Arab-American girl and her mother wander the Dakotas while the girl tries to get in touch with a boy she once knew.
Content warnings 2
death-of-a-loved-onewar
When her mother is absorbed into the local flesh monolith, Kayla struggles with her identity and looks for a way in. Content warnings: Violence, nudity, racism/discrimination, body horror Copyright © 2026 khōréō magazine. Story by Mary Miseon Wu, edited by...
Content warnings 3
body-horrorracismviolence
Able Seaman Pol has a lot of problems — getting the cats fed, watered, and reporting for duty, keeping tree roots from destroying the wiring, the monkeys out of the pantry and the mines from exploding on deck. Talking octopuses, though? That was new....
Content warnings 2
deathwar
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...
Content warnings 2
death-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemic
This episode features "Aly" written by Grace Chan. Published in the May 2026 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine and read by Kate Baker. The text version of this story can be found at: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/chan_05_26 Support us on Patreon at...
Content warnings 2
mental-illnesswar
Teresa finds the first site right after she gets back from maternity leave, Daniel snug in a baby sling at her chest. He’s quiet as far as babies go, sleeping […]
Content warnings 1
death
This episode features "Archaeological Evidence for the Time Traveler" written by Tia Tashiro. Published in the May 2026 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine and read by Kate Baker. The text version of this story can be found at:...
Content warnings 1
death
You’d expected the gravity on Vixiv-11 to be fractionally more than that on Earth. It is not something you ever notice much, even in the beginning, beyond an exhaustion that […]
This episode features "Burning Day" written by Samantha Murray. 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/murray_06_26 Support us on...
When Cliff came back home for Casey’s wake, he brought his robot Will, and he also brought a girl. A woman, Morag corrected herself. Just as she shouldn’t think of […]
Content warnings 1
death
This episode features "Cliff's Girl" written by Fiona Moore. 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/moore_07_26 Support us on...
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death
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...
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deathgoreviolence
edited by Amanda Helms The first god on our list wears the skull of a polar bear. The god is shrunk to the width of my little finger and almost transparent. Darkness seeps like squid ink from their eyes. “Sir,” I address the tiny god. “Can you give me an...
Content note (click for details) oppression of marginalized groups, references to self-harm edited by David Steffen The antler people are exceedingly rare, but I’ve made sure my daughter knows about them. Not just as myth or stereotype, but as people like...
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self-harm
edited by David Steffen The bay air felt strange on Domenico’s skin. He’d been here every evening for weeks, but this was the first time in a while — years, really — that he’d taken his body with him. He’d forgotten the kiss of breeze on flesh. The rental...
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death-of-a-loved-one
Content note (click for details) Threatened harm to women and children; non-graphic mentions of death by drowning; poverty edited by Ziv Wities The monster came out perfectly. The head of an ass. A human left arm, delicate in comparison to the elephant’s...
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death-of-a-loved-one
When we moved Dad to the care facility, his only complaint was the Wi-Fi. “Laggy,” he called it when he was having a good day. “Fucking piece of shit,” he called it the rest of the time. At first I was relieved. I’d been worried that he’d bristle at the...
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death-of-a-loved-one
Author : Victoria N. Shi Narrator : Tatiana Grey Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “milt” first apeared in Fission #5 by the British Science Fiction Association (June 2025) Contains Injury/body horror, climate grief, implied sexual...
Content warnings 3
body-horrorsexual-contentviolence
Author : G. M. Paniccia Narrator : Christiana Ellis Host : Valerie Valdes Audio Producer : Adam Pracht Escape Pod 1033: The Automatic Grocery Store is an Escape Pod original. The Automatic Grocery Store By G. M. Paniccia It took thirty-six days, four...
Author : ace tilton ratcliff Narrator : Jordan Kurella Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Escape Pod 1038: Meet the Mets is an Escape Pod original. Contains brief moments of violence and bigotry towards a transgender character Sponsored by...
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transphobiaviolence
Author : Rio Lombana Narrator : Hugo Jackson Host : Valerie Valdes Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Escape Pod 1040: Gods and Spirits Our Witnesses is an Escape Pod original. Loss of an infant Sponsored by Mixtape Stories Gods and Spirits Our Witnesses by...
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child-death
Author : Sharon Joss Narrator : Torin Andrus Host : Valerie Valdes Audio Producer : Adam Pracht Love in the Time of Dust and Venom originally appeared in 2013 Fiction River – Time Travelers. Includes a form of assisted suicide. Sponsored by Mixtape Stories...
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death-of-a-loved-onesuicide
Author : Sierra Bibi Narrator : Laurice White Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Adam Pracht Escape Pod 1043: The Smokejumpers is an Escape Pod original. Includes wildfires and peril. The Smokejumpers By Sierra Bibi When Fern jumps from the plane into...
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death-of-a-loved-one
Author : Rati Mehrotra Narrator : Joe Moran Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Adam Pracht The Library of the Apocalypse was first published in Clarkesworld, May 2025, Issue 224. Includes death and cursing. The Library of the Apocalypse By Rati Mehrotra...
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deathviolencewar
Author : Kiran Kaur Saini Narrator : Kaushik Narasimhan Host : Alasdair Stuart Audio Producer : Adam Pracht Amrit originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, May/June 2023. Kiran Kaur Saini https://kirankaursaini.com/ Kaushik...
Author : Kathleen Schaefer Narrator : Heather Thomas Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Escape Pod 1059: A Little Freedom Makes Us Rebels is an Escape Pod original. Mild mentions of parental abuse This episode is sponsored by Sleepphones!...
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abuse
This episode features "Eternity in Their Hearts" written by Katherine Khan. 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/khan_04_26...
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death-of-a-loved-one
I had a daughter and then I didn’t. I woke in the cradle of midnight, shivering from a supernatural cold. I thought at first that she was crying, that she had woken me, like so many midnights before. But there was silence all around me. I sat up on one arm...
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body-horror
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...
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deathviolence
There’s a wolf where my brother used to be, a beast absolutely hellbent on ruining my life. He plunges his broad snoot into the Wednesday night spaghetti, and neither Mom nor Dad cares when half the bite slides off his nose and onto the table, to later be...
Iridescent algae glowed upon the ice and rock of the world, signaling the start of a new day. The patterns of their light, which we had trained over many estrous […]
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body-horrordeathviolence
Rachel sat at the edge of the sparkling pond in the secluded glen that had taken her five years to find. The air smelled of roses and lavender and pine. Tiny white sparks, like fireflies, floated upward, almost as if they were watching her.
Verity crawled through the endless dark of the tunnel, the false safety of her Colony home now half a mile behind her. All she could see in the dim light […]
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deathillness-and-pandemic
This episode features "Macaroni Art in the Age of Filtration" written by Ryan Cole. Published in the April 2026 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine and read by Kate Baker. The text version of this story can be found at:...
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deathillness-and-pandemic
This episode features "Piece de Resistance" written by D.A. Xiaolin Spires. Published in the August 2026 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine and read by Kate Baker. The text version of this story can be found at: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/spires_08_26...
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death-of-a-loved-one
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...
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death-of-a-loved-onehomophobiaviolence
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...
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death-of-a-loved-one
Author : Natalie Zutter Narrator : Valerie Valdes Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes PodCastle 930: Parsley Girl, Parsley Girl, Let Down Your Trichobezoar is a PodCastle original. content notes for pregnancy loss, post-natal depression, and...
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body-horrormental-illnesspregnancy-loss
Author : Kelsey Hutton Narrator : Christiana Ellis Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Originally published in Zooscape, Issue 23, April 15, 2025 Rated PG Birds of Fortune by Kelsey Hutton Water droplets still glistened on each...
Author : Beth Goder Narrator : Tatiana Grey Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published in Strange Horizons, February 2025 Content note: spiders Rated PG Arachnomorphosis by Beth Goder At night, Olivia becomes a...
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mental-illness
Author : Amanda Helms Narrator : Stephanie Malia Morris Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes PodCastle 939: The Worth of Ashes is a PodCastle original. Content notes for death of family members to illness (off-page), grief Rated PG THE WORTH OF...
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death-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemic
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...
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illness-and-pandemic
Author : J. L. Akagi Narrator : Jo Moran Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes PodCastle 947: Why a Spider Needs a Parachute is a PodCastle original. Content notes for domestic violence and spiders. Big — friendly! — spiders Rated R Why a Spider...
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abusetransphobiaviolence
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...
Author : C. J. Lavigne Narrator : Nicola Chapman Host : Tarver Nova Audio Producer : Eric Valdes PodCastle 951: TALES FROM THE VAULTS: ‘Til Death is a PodCastle original. Content note for grief Rated PG-13 ‘Til Death by C. J. Lavigne My dear Clarinda, They...
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deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence
Author : Erin Keating Narrator : Heather Thomas Host : Kaitlyn Zivanovich Audio Producer : Wilson Fowlie PodCastle 954: The Grief Eaters is a PodCastle original. Rated PG The Grief Eaters By Erin Keating There was a time when grave dirt could summon grief...
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death-of-a-loved-one
PseudoPod 1017: In the Hands of a Different God is a PseudoPod original. C/W for body horror, child abuse/neglect, implied homophobia Jim Kristofic novels Coyote Stranger The Sundown Killers Why Miitaries Must Destroy Cities To Save Them (Add your own air...
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body-horrorchild-abusehomophobia
There is no formula for forgetting. No precise way to erase the pain. Complete healing is impossible. Because there is always a little needle sticking inside. A pain so slight […]
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death-of-a-loved-one
This episode features "The Forgetting Code" written by Malena Salazar Maciá. 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/macia_04_26...
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death-of-a-loved-one
The wall of the city is made of glass, smooth and clear, slippery and strong. The stranger and his dog wear a path outside it every day, watching, listening, waiting to be ready. The wall is about three times the stranger’s height, perhaps a bit taller. As...
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body-horrordeathdeath-of-a-loved-one
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...
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deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
It was night on Endymion, and the pollen hovered, blue and luminescent, in the trees. Isaac’s camp lantern also burned blue. It was designed to interfere with the sensory systems […]
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deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
This episode features "The Life and Times of the Extraterrestrial Potoo" written by K. J. Khan. Published in the July 2026 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine and read by Kate Baker. The text version of this story can be found at:...
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death-of-a-loved-one
This episode features "The Scent of Memory" written by Zhao Haihong and translated by S. Qiouyi Lu. Published in the May 2026 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine and read by Kate Baker. The text version of this story can be found at:...
The bus jerked, waking Shijun. The Greyhound was speeding down a wide North American road. What am I doing here? The coach window framed the landscape: White clouds floated against […]
Content Warning: Mentions of hurt children On Saturday morning, Amélia received a call from the Santa Minerva Nursing Home for the Empowered Elderly. They didn’t use to call except for urgent matters. It could only mean one thing: Vovó had passed away....
Because it’s Carnaval, Iara wears a striped pirate shirt and a red pirate headband. And because of who she is, she sits on the bathroom floor, closes her eyes, and wears the perspectives of seven alley cats, three stray dogs, and a single pigeon for the...
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sexual-content
On the morning Gwen woke with the ability to manipulate time, it was already too late. She didn’t immediately realize she could stretch or compress time—that would come later. At first, all she knew was Dianne was gone, and she wasn’t coming back.
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...
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deathillness-and-pandemicsubstance-use
I warn my child about speaking to the humans: it kills them. Why? Awakened From Glacially Eroded Foliated Schist With Garnets And A Uranium Heart asks. Their bodies are like […]
This episode features "You Are Invited to Our SPRING CELEBRATION" written by Thoraiya Dyer. Published in the March 2026 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine and read by Kate Baker. The text version of this story can be found at:...
In the last blush of autumn, the King of the Forest requested an audience with the King. The King was so delighted that he agreed at once. The audience was held in the King’s hall, the burnished tile laid in gold and green, the fire stoked high with ash...
"At night, Olivia becomes a spider. She scurries down San Francisco streets, floats gently between cotton-candy-colored houses, and hides behind signs for trendy restaurants, like Trough and Instance. By day, she works as a software engineer for a company...
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mental-illness
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
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death-of-a-loved-one
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...
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body-horrorhomophobia
Author : Risa Wolf Narrator : Julia Rios Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Tigers for Sale was first published in Clarkesworld Magazine in July 2023 Content warnings: colonialism, implied genocide, psychological manipulation Tigers for...
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abusedeathgenocide
The Combat Pilot's Dictionary By Arden Baker Boot Rookie pilot. See also - nugget. You called us ‘boots’ when we turned up to the flight deck that first morning I laid eyes on you. The halogen lighting shone down onto the makeshift parade ground with a...
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deathviolencewar
Author : J. R. Dewitt Narrator : Rebecca Wei Hsieh Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Escape Pod 1012: Hot Bot Summer is an Escape Pod original. Contains depictions of war violence. Hot Bot Summer by J. R. Dewitt “God, these bots are...
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goreviolencewar
Baron Quits The Payloaders By Renan Bernardo This story starts with a gig. Half a million people from all corners of the galaxy, hands in the air, heads banging to our vibrant noise. You probably saw the venue on some feed already. It’s the Amplitude, our...
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deathdeath-of-a-loved-onepregnancy-loss
Author : Kal M Narrators : Valerie Valdes, Eric Valdes, Dominick Rabrun and Alasdair Stuart Host : Valerie Valdes Audio Producer : Adam Pracht Butter Side Down originally appeared in Writers of the Future (volume 40) – May 2024. Butter Side Down (Part 1 of...
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violence
Author : Kal M Narrators : Valerie Valdes, Eric Valdes, Dominick Rabrun and Alasdair Stuart Host : Valerie Valdes Audio Producer : Adam Pracht Butter Side Down originally appeared in Writers of the Future (volume 40) – May 2024. Butter Side Down (Part 2 of...
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violence
Once Abandoned By A.P. Hawkins Sappel whistled as he walked to the construction site, the sound echoing off nearby buildings in a muffled way. It was early spring, and the city was bursting with the vibrant green of new growth. Wild edibles sprouted from...
Author : Merc Fenn Wolfmoor Narrator : Joe Moran Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “Steadyboi After the Apocalypse” first appeared in the collection Friends For Robots: Stories by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor (Robot Dinosaur Press, 2022) Steadyboi...
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illness-and-pandemic
Peace by Piece By Erin Cairns Frank thought all the battle-drones had been deactivated. Certainly, none of them had ever looked around with curious little twitches of their front-facing cameras before. This one whirred and clicked like an anxious bird,...
Author : Dale Smith Narrator : Louise Ratcliffe Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “Joy” was previously published in Interzone Digital (June 2023) Joy by Dale Smith Joy knelt on the promenade, shifting the rifle into her shoulder to get a...
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...
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death-of-a-loved-onehomophobia
Holding Patterns By Jennifer Hudak I dream about the trees sometimes. I think we all do, even though none of my generation were alive when the forest was actually growing. We don’t dream about them the way they are now—stunted and dormant—but the way they...
Author : Alexis Ames Narrator : Eric Valdes Host : Valerie Valdes Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “Sanctuary” first appeared in Kyanite Press, Winter 2020 Don’t miss “Sanctuary, Part 1” Sanctuary (Part 2) by Alexis Ames 3. Eilan slept for thirteen...
The Carina Nebula By Kelsey Hutton I heard the soft shit shit shit just when I’d almost floated past the blue hatch door that led into some kind of storage room. I had to laugh. I mean, how many times have I said that? Plus the voice sounded older, a...
Author : Cécile Cristofari Narrator : Wilson Fowlie Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums Previously published by Interzone Content warning for dementia Rated PG The Third Time I Saw a Fox by Cécile Cristofari “You know what I...
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mental-illness
Author : P.C. Verrone Narrator : Eric Valdes Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 874: The Husband is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for sex, violence, and references to the death of a spouse Rated R The...
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goresexual-contentviolence
Author : Osahon Ize-Iyamu Narrator : Takudzwa Sharon Kirimi Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums Previously published by Lightspeed Magazine Content warnings for grief and the death of a spouse Rated PG-13 Last Ritual of the...
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deathdeath-of-a-loved-onewar
Author : J.J. Roth Narrators : Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali, Jen R. Albert, Dagny Paul, Graeme Dunlop, Summer Fletcher, Matt Dovey, Alasdair Stuart, Marguerite Kenner, Eleanor R. Wood and Steven Capps Host : Emmalia Harrington Audio Producers : Eric Valdes and...
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deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneillness-and-pandemic
Author : L. S. Johnson Narrators : Nicola Chapman, Matt Dovey and Peter Seaton-Clark Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by G Is for Ghosts, Poise and Pen Publishing Content warning for era-specific...
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deathhomophobiasuicide
Author : L. S. Johnson Narrators : Nicola Chapman, Matt Dovey and Peter Seaton-Clark Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by G Is for Ghosts, Poise and Pen Publishing Content warning for era-specific...
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deathhomophobiawar
Author : Mitchell Shanklin Narrator : Elie Hirschman Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 891: Trending Now! Help With Legal Fees for Reluctant Swordsman is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for child...
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body-horrorself-harmviolence
Author : Victoria Dixon Narrator : Eleiece Krawiec Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 893: Counting Fairies is a PodCastle original. Content warning for injury to an animal Rated PG-13 Counting Fairies By Victoria...
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animal-harmdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence
Authors : J. R. Dawson and John Wiswell Narrator : John Bell Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Haven Spec Rated PG This Mentor Lives by J.R. Dawson & John Wiswell Abraham was rushing through his...
Author : A. D. Ellicott Narrator : Emma Osborne Host : Wilson Fowlie Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously Published by Body of Work, ed. C.Z. Tacks, Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild (2023) Content warnings for fatphobia and eating...
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fatphobiamental-illnessself-harm
Author : Beth Goder Narrator : Tatiana Grey Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Rated PG Mycelium by Beth Goder I only travel to the golden head when the dragonflies are in...
Author : Eugie Foster Narrator : Tina Connolly Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously ran as episode 28 and first published by Cricket Magazine Rated G The Tanuki-Kettle by Eugie Foster When Hisa was a baby, her mother...
Author : Adriana Kantcheva Narrator : Kat Kourbeti Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Trollbreath Magazine CW for drowning Rated PG Vedritsa of the River by Adriana Kantcheva The Kamchia river had grown...
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deathsexual-content
Author : Diana Dima Narrator : Matt Dovey Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 918: Waterways is a PodCastle original. Content warning for self-harm and coercive control Rated PG Waterways by Diana Dima When his father...
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abuseself-harm
Author : Anita Harris Satkunananthan Narrator : Chang Yiun Yee Host : Eric Valdes Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Previously published by GiGaNotosaurus Rated PG A Long Tango Across A Canopy of Whispering Leaves By Anita Harris Satkunananthan The return of...
Authors : Tim Pratt and Heather Shaw Narrator : Tina Connolly Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Eric Valdes PodCastle 923: The Sun Globe is a PodCastle original. Rated G The Sun Globe Heather Shaw & Tim Pratt Grace Morley was singing “Silver Bells”...
Author : Leah Ning Narrator : Ibba Armancas Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes PodCastle 924: Reverent is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13 Reverent by Leah Ning It’s the smell of gravity that tells me Father’s been to my rooms: empty and...
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deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
PseudoPod 967: Two’s Company, Three Might Be A Sign of Demonic Possession is a PseudoPod original. CW: Intimate partner death; Second person point of view Also narrated by Pine Gonzalez: A Relationship in Four Haircuts, by Ai Jiang Tales from the Fringes...
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deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
"We are very, very disappointed.” It was her third try, and it still came out feebly. “We thought we made it super clear that any, any change in material, maker hand, machine, or method, however small or irrelevant it may seem, must be notified...
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body-horrorchild-abuseself-harm
Author : Merrie Haskell Narrator : Amanda Ching Hosts : Valerie Valdes and Norm Sherman Audio Producers : Summer Brooks and Eric Valdes Originally published in Apex Magazine, February 2013, and was previously published in Escape Pod 404 (July 2013)....
The Library By N. B. Andersen Every morning at ten to ten, Dot powered on. Its hands lay flat against the thick glass of the reading room window, which let the photoreceptors on its palms feast on the sun. The window overlooked a modest lot where cars had...
Author : Jack Windeyer Narrator : Matt Dovey Host : Alasdair Stuart Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Escape Pod 930: Fulfillment in Purpose is an Escape Pod original. Zima Blue Zima Blue episode of Love, Death & Robots Get Excited and Make Things! Ezekiel’s...
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...
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child-abusehomophobia
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...
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child-abusehomophobia
Author : E J Delaney Narrator : Eliza Chan Host : Valerie Valdes Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Escape Pod 942: The Eye of Applethorpe is an Escape Pod original. The Eye of Applethorpe by E J Delaney Úna’s dad once said to her: “You never know what you’ve...
Author : Stetson Bostic Narrator : Samuel Poots Host : Valerie Valdes Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Escape Pod 945: Walking with Thorny is an Escape Pod original. Walking with Thorny by Stetson Bostic Hitchhikers clung to Tasi’s pants as he neared the...
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....
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body-horrordeath
Author : Erin Brown Narrator : Cherrae L. Stuart Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “Skyscrapers That Twist to the Sun” appeared in Fantasy Magazine Issue 87 (January 2023) Skyscrapers That Twist to the Sun by Erin Brown Shaundra took the...
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...
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...
Author : Cat Rambo Narrator : Tina Connolly Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “Red in Tooth and Cog” originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, 2016, and was previously published in Escape Pod 607 Red in Tooth and...
Author : Craig Church Narrator : Rosie Sentman Host : Alasdair Stuart Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Escape Pod 972: The Bargain of Death and Saint Nicholas is an Escape Pod original. The Bargain of Death and Saint Nicholas by Craig Church “What’s your...
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deathviolence
Author : Simone Heller Narrator : Hugo Jackson Host : Valerie Valdes Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “Forever the Forest” was first published in “Life Beyond Us: An Original Anthology of SF Stories and Science Essays” (April 2023) Forever the Forest by...
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death
Authors : Sarah Pinsker, Katie McIvor and Andy Oldfield Narrators : Eliza Chan, Devin Martin and Eleanor R. Wood Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums “A Strange and Terrible Wonder” Previously published by Zooscape “The Dog Who...
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deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
Author : Lavie Tidhar Narrator : Eleanor R. Wood Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums Previously published by Uncanny Rated PG The Portal Keeper By Lavie Tidhar October 1st The rabbit was back this morning. It stopped outside...
Authors : Samantha Murray, Avra Margariti and Devin Miller Narrators : Eliza Chan, Matt Dovey and Srikripa Krishna Prasad Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums This Blue World Previously published by Fantasy Magazine (Issue 83)...
Author : Sherwood Smith Narrator : Kaitlyn Zivanovich Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums Originally published by Realms of Fantasy Rated PG-13 Mom and Dad At the Home Front by Sherwood Smith Before Rick spoke, I saw from his...
Author : Ryan Cole Narrator : Hugo Jackson Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published in Museum Piece, from Metaphorosis Publishing Rated PG-13 The Museum of Living Color by Ryan Cole Red lust, as usual, comes in...
Author : Marisca Pichette Narrator : Julia Rios Host : Kiran Kaur Saini Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 834: All the Better to Taste You is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for end of life and misgendering. Rated PG-13 All...
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deathtransphobia
Author : Sara S. Messenger Narrator : Cherrae L. Stuart Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums Previously published by Fantasy Magazine (Reprinted in The Year’s Best Fantasy, Vol. 2, 2023, Pyr Books) Rated PG-13 Potemora in the...
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violence
Authors : C.S.E. Cooney and Carlos Hernandez Narrators : C.S.E. Cooney and Carlos Hernandez Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Clockwork Phoenix and as PodCastle episode 669 Content warnings for illness...
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Author : Rati Mehrotra Narrator : Shweta Adhyam Host : Kaitlyn Zivanovich Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by The Deadlands Content warnings for death and injury Rated PG-13 Amma’s Kitchen by Rati Mehrotra I can always...
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Author : Renan Bernardo Narrator : Diogo Ramos Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Samovar Magazine Content warning for off-screen parental death Rated PG A Short Biography of a Conscious Chair by Renan...
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Author : Renan Bernardo Narrator : Diogo Ramos Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Samovar Magazine Content warning for off-screen parental death Rated PG – 4 – “There’s been a fire over at the Bosque...
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Authors : Diana Dima and Sara Omer Narrators : Tanja Milojevic and Kitty Sarkozy Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 854: DOUBLE FEATURE: City Grown From Seed and Harvest House is a PodCastle original. City Grown...
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Author : Seoung Kim Narrator : Yoon Ha Lee Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 855: Shim Hyeon and the Ocean God is a PodCastle original. Rated PG Shim Hyeon and the Ocean God by Seoung Min Kim “They usually send...
Author : Matt Dovey Narrator : Matthew James Hamblin Host : Eleanor R. Wood Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 856: TALES FROM THE VAULTS – Clouds in a Clear Blue Sky is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13 Clouds in a Clear Blue Sky By...
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Author : Joshua Lim Narrator : Marcus Chen Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 858: Roti Time Travel is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for grief, addiction, and the deaths of a spouse and child Rated PG-13...
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Author : H. K. Payne Narrator : Eric Valdes Hosts : Matt Dovey and Katherine Inskip Audio Producer : Eric Valdes The Illusionist’s Tent By H. K. Payne I was told we had the night off, but I guess no one told you kids that. Tell me, whose idea was it to...
Authors : Maya Abu-Alhayyat and Yasmine Seale Narrator : Mahtab Chenevix-Trench Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Artist : Iasmin Omar Ata Discuss on Forums Previously published by The Book of Ramallah Content warnings for death, cultural...
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Author : S.B. Divya Narrator : Kaushik Narasimhan Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Uncanny Content warnings for fire, violence (including domestic violence), references to rape, and parental deaths....
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Author : S.B. Divya Narrator : Kaushik Narasimhan Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Uncanny Content warnings for fire, violence (including domestic violence), references to rape, and parental deaths....
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Author : S.B. Divya Narrator : Kaushik Narasimhan Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Uncanny Content warnings for fire, violence (including domestic violence), references to rape, and parental deaths....
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“Be Not Afraid” originally appeared in the 2024 anthology We Mostly Come Out at Night edited by Rob Costello The Mothman The Mothman Prophecies (Book) The Mothman Prophecies (Film) Krampus Krampus (2015 movie) “Take out all the yellow ones,” Mamaw says....
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That’s the question Damon (Earth-X) and Marissa (Earth-Y) were tasked with answering, but they were busy eye-fucking each other.
Like Stars Daring to Shine By Somto Ihezue When the boy opens his housing unit’s steel door and the incandescent lights pour into his face, he does not blink away. “Little suns” — this is what everyone calls them. The massive disks hover in the atmosphere,...
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...
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Zhao and the Flightless Crane By A. J. Mo Quick sapphires danced over sun-silvered water. Soundless, they zipped and wheeled to the quiet rhythm of filtration pumps. Dragonflies, Zhao thought. Other winged jewels joined the flurry, some green as spring,...
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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....
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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...
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Author : Filip Hajdar Drnovšek Zorko Narrator : Andrew K. Hoe Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Adam Pracht The AI That Looked at the Sun originally appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine, January 2020. The AI That Looked at the Sun By Filip Hajdar Drnovšek...
Bishop's Opening (Part 4 of 4) By R.S.A. Garcia The attendants set little bowls shaped like flower petals in front Sebastian and Olly. Steam drifted upward, redolent of fresh herbs and a hint of lime. Bits of white flesh speckled with green seasonings, and...
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...
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Driftwood in the Sea of Time By Wendy Nikel They'd warned us about the paradoxes, but humanity has always had a way of ignoring the things we don't want to think about and disregarding the parts that don't align with how we want the world to operate. One...
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Author : Ava Kelly Narrator : Ben Gideon Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “The Confessionist” was previously published in the anthology: Community of Magic Pens, edited by E.D.E. Bell, released May 2020 by Atthis Arts The Confessionist...
Harvest the Stars By Mar Vincent The summer Sif turned one, the starships were ripe on the vine. They hulked in fields ringing the town where Tuja had always lived. A place far from big cities, where the starlight they fed on came pure and bright. “The...
"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....
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Author : Leah Ning Narrator : Peter Adrian Behravesh Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 768: The Consequences of Microwaving Styrofoam is a PodCastle original. Content warning for terminal illness Rated PG-13 The...
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Author : Harold R. Thompson Narrator : Wilson Fowlie Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 782: The Girl Who Never Was is a PodCastle original. Content Warning for the death of a spouse. Rated PG The Girl Who Never Was...
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Author : Eugenia Triantafyllou Narrator : C. L. Clark Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Beneath Ceaseless Skies Content Warnings for animal death and themes of infant death Rated PG-13 Of the Body By...
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Authors : M. Stevenson and Jo Miles Narrators : Andrew K. Hoe, Eric Valdes and Valerie Valdes Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums “My Custom Monster” was previously published by Fireside Fiction August 2021 “Scales” is a...
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Author : Gregory Marlow Narrator : Scott Campbell Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 797: A Jar of Malice is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for cruelty and references to homophobia Rated PG-13 A Jar of Malice...
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Author : Taryn Frazier Narrator : Dani Daly Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 801: Point of Order is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13 Point of Order by Taryn Frazier Behind his screen, the game master cracks his...
Author : JL George Narrator : Jordan Price Williams Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums Previously published by Fireside Rated R Diamonds and Pearls by JL George Diamonds are two a penny, but everybody wants them anyway. At...
Author : Dorothy Quick Narrator : Valerie Valdes Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Weird Tales Content warnings for murder and references to torture Rated PG-13 The Woman on the Balcony by Dorothy...
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Author : Suzan Palumbo Narrator : Shingai Njeri Kagunda Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums Previously published by Lightspeed Magazine Content warning for terminal illness Rated PG-13 Apolépisi: A De-Scaling By: Suzan Palumbo...
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Author : Kathleen Schaefer Narrator : Ant Bacon Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 813: Stitch is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13 Stitch By Kathleen Schaefer Dalia doesn’t like how the stale hospital air pricks at...
Author : Damini Kane Narrator : Peter Adrian Behravesh Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 817: Creatures in the Walls is a PodCastle original. Content warning for child abuse Rated PG-13 Creatures in the Walls by...
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Authors : Tim Pratt and Heather Shaw Narrators : Kaitlyn Zivanovich, Matt Dovey, Eric Valdes and Devin Martin Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 819: Skipping Christmas is a PodCastle original. CW for child injury...
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PseudoPod 881: How to Win a Dance Contest During an Apocalypse (In Nine Easy Steps!) is a PseudoPod original. From the author: “While I’m a horror fan first and foremost, I’m also a big aficionado of coming-of-age films and romantic comedies, especially of...
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“Douen” was originally published in The Dark Magazine and reprinted in the 2023 collection Skin Thief. From the author: “This story is set at my Grandmother’s house in Trinidad. The story itself is written in dialect the way I would have spoken it. It...
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Tony Roomba's Last Day on Earth By Maria Haskins It’s Tony Roomba’s last day on Earth. After two years of working undercover as a vacuum cleaner bot on this boondock planet, he is finally heading home to the Gamma Sector, but his final day is full of...
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...
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Author : Kristen Koopman Narrator : Sofia Quintero Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Discuss on Forums Escape Pod 826: This Is Our Get-Along Brainship is an Escape Pod original. Contains harsh AI language This Is Our Get-Along Brainship by...
Author : Renan Bernardo Narrator : Tatiana Grey Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Discuss on Forums This story first appeared in World Science Fiction #2: Reloading the Future (July 2021) Anticipation of Hollowness by Renan Bernardo Having...
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...
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Author : Laurence Raphael Brothers Narrators : Adam Pracht and Summer Brooks Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “Houseproud” originally appeared in the SciFutures “City of the Future” anthology and also won the Berkeley Machine Intelligence...
The Pieces that Bind By Carol Scheina The first thing Georgia knew for certain was that the woman rummaging through the canned beans and peas in the pantry was not her grandma, even though she looked exactly like her, right down to the nasty black cigar in...
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Pen Pal By Grant Canterbury December Third, 1996 Meliari Thulissia General Delivery Tharsis Station Dear Meliari, Hello!! My name is Mary and I am nine years old. I got your name for a pen pal and they said you were the first pen pal on Mars. This is the...
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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...
Author : Dani Atkinson Narrators : Andrew K. Hoe, Kitty Sarkozy and Katherine Inskip Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by Daily Science Fiction Rated PG-13 Said the Princess by Dani Atkinson...
Author : Louis Evans Narrator : C. L. Clark Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by GigaNotoSaurus Content warning for torture/bodily harm Rated R Miss Bulletproof Comes Out of Retirement by Louis...
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Author : Rebecca Zahabi Narrator : Mahtab Chenevix-Trench Host : Peter Adrian Behravesh Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 727: [NOWRUZ SPECIAL] “Two Siblings, Seven Fish” is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13 Two Siblings,...
Author : M. L. Krishnan Narrator : Suna Dasi Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by Apparition Lit Rated PG-13 Bride, Knife, Flaming Horse by M. L. Krishnan To Kalavati, it was well known that if...
Author : Greta Hayer Narrator : Wilson Fowlie Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by Beneath Ceaseless Skies Rated PG-13 The Augur and the Girl Left at His Door by Greta Hayer The augur looked at...
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Authors : Marisca Pichette, Dafydd McKimm and Devin Miller Narrators : Scott Campbell, Matt Dovey and Kelly Robson Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums “Water We Made to Breathe” and “A Partial Record of Enchanted...
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Author : Renan Bernardo Narrator : Diogo Ramos Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 737: The Eight Hundred Legs of the Rio-Niterói Bridge is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for death of a parent, grief, and...
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Author : Abra Staffin-Wiebe Narrator : Christiana Ellis Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 740: Beck’s Pest Control and the Case of the Drag Show Downer is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13 Beck’s Pest Control and...
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Author : Jaxon Tempest Narrator : Soleil Knowles Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 741: Between The Island and the Deep Blue Sea is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13 Between The Island and the Deep Blue Sea By Jaxon...
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Author : Kate Heartfield Narrator : Kaitlyn Zivanovich Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums PodCastle 742: The Morning House is a PodCastle original. Content warning for dementia Rated PG-13 The Morning House By Kate Heartfield...
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Author : Natalia Theodoridou Narrator : A. F. Grappin Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by Uncanny Magazine Rated R Ribbons by Natalia Theodoridou Monday’s lover tugs at Jan’s ribbon with his teeth. Jan...
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Authors : Dafydd McKimm and Timothy Mudie Narrators : Alasdair Stuart and Kyle Akers Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums “I Will You Back to Time and Space” was originally published by Flash Fiction Online “The Ocean-Eyed Boy”...
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Author : Deborah L. Davitt Narrator : Karen Menzel (née Bovenmyer) Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums Previously published by NewMyths #51 Content Warning for loss of a spouse Rated PG-13 We Are All of Us by Deborah L. Davitt...
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Author : Srikripa Krishna Prasad Narrator : S.B. Divya Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Artist : Cindy Fan Discuss on Forums PodCastle 759: INDIGENOUS MAGIC – Anu and the Vetala is a PodCastle original. Content Warnings for references to...
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Author : Gabriella Buba Narrator : Vida Cruz-Borja Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Artist : Cindy Fan Discuss on Forums Previously published by Strange Religion: Speculative Fiction of Spirituality, Belief, & Practice (Strange Concepts: Big...
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Authors : Heather Shaw and Tim Pratt Narrators : Shingai Njeri Kagunda, Eleanor R. Wood, Matt Dovey, Devin Martin, Eric Valdes and Sofía Barker Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 766: Lockdown Around the Christmas...
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“The Honey Witch” originally appeared in SHARP AND SUGARTOOTH: WOMEN UP TO NO GOOD edited by Octavia Cade (Upper Rubber Boot Books 2019) The Honey Witch By Kathryn McMahon My hood and gloves are on the table next to the smoker that, for now, remains unlit....
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"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....
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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...
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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...
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The Mercy of Theseus By Rachael K. Jones Greta and Jamal have three arms, two legs, and one working kidney between the two of them. The kidney belongs to Greta. Its twin went to her little sister three years back, and now she has a laparoscopic keyhole...
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Electronic Ghosts By Innocent Chizaram Ilo I If Nneora had died two weeks earlier, her daughter, Anaeto, would not have resurrected her ghost. That was the night Nneora ran a fever, laid convulsing in bed, a slimy froth trickling from the corners of her...
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Author : Jennifer Lee Rossman Narrator : Ellora Sen-Gupta Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Discuss on Forums Escape Pod 786: The Steel Magnolia Metaphor is an Escape Pod original. Contains mentions of cancer and death. The Steel Magnolia...
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Author : Jaxton Kimble Narrator : Mat Weller Host : S.B. Divya Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Discuss on Forums Escape Pod 788: Broken (Flashback Friday) is an Escape Pod original. Contains a couple intimate moments. Broken by Jaxton Kimble My favorite...
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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...
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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...
Author : Erik Grove Narrator : Karlo Yeager Rodriguez Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Discuss on Forums Escape Pod 816: Merely Players is an Escape Pod original. Death and loss. Merely Players by Erik Grove Jester stopped his bicycle in...
Author : Matt Dovey Narrator : Matthew James Hamblin Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 667: Clouds in a Clear Blue Sky is a PodCastle original. Content warning: death, grief Rated PG-13. Clouds in a...
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Author : Jessica Meats Narrator : Jen R. Albert Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 668: Circle of Memories is a PodCastle original. Content warning: plague Rated PG-13. Circle of Memories By Jessica...
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Authors : C.S.E. Cooney and Carlos Hernandez Narrators : C.S.E. Cooney and Carlos Hernandez Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in Clockwork Phoenix. Content warning: illness and death Rated...
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Authors : Jenn Reese, Kate Heartfield and John Wiswell Narrators : Tina Connolly, Kim Rogers and C. L. Clark Host : Ziv Wities Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh “A Mindreader’s Guide to Surviving Your First Year at the All-Girls Superhero Academy”...
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Author : Beth Goder Narrator : Kat Kourbeti Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by MYTHIC in June 2017. Rated PG-13. Pulling Secrets from Stones by Beth Goder In the lakebed by the mountains...
Author : Hester J. Rook Narrator : Danielle Imara Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published in Making Monsters: A Speculative and Classical Anthology Rated PG-13 Aeaea on the Seas by Hester J....
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Author : Kristina Ten Narrator : Nicola Chapman Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in Lightspeed. Rated PG-13 Tend to Me by Kristina Ten Nora is a serial becomer. She has become many things...
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Author : Anna Madden Narrator : Eliza Chan Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in DreamForge Magazine. Rated PG The Last Petal by Anna Madden Miss Lily Dale preferred hands to faces. Hands...
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Author : Tashan Mehta Narrator : Suna Dasi Host : Eleanor R. Wood Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published in Magical Women, an Indian speculative fiction feminist anthology, published by Hachette India Rated PG Novel...
Authors : Sylvia Heike, Ally Chua, Aleks Wittkamp and Drew Czernik Narrators : Andrew K. Hoe, Graeme Dunlop, Srikripa Krishna Prasad and Lalana Dara Host : Craig Jackson Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 701: Flash Fiction...
“Papa’s Wrench and the Wind Chime” was originally published by Mocha Memoirs Press in The Grotesquerie (2014) and reprinted in her collection, Cold Comforts (Crossroad Press, 2019). The patch of fog on the window, expanding and fading with each breath, was...
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When she’s not helping study a giant alien artifact, Neela enjoys ice skating on Europa’s endless ice plains.
In-Body by Vincent H. O’Neil “You’re not supposed to be doing this, Colonel.” Dentzler kept his eyes on the low table and pretended he hadn’t heard. “You said her In-Body chip was damaged?” “When the grenade went off.” Ensign Teel pointed at a spot under...
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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...
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....
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Author : John Wiswell Narrator : Wilson Fowlie Hosts : Matt Dovey and Wilson Fowlie Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 654: 8-Bit Free Will is a PodCastle original. Rated PG. 8-Bit Free Will By John Wiswell They exist, then...
Author : Damini Kane Narrator : Suna Dasi Host : Srikripa Krishna Prasad Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 655: Mariska and Major is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13. Mariska and Major By Damini Kane Mariska is not an...
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Authors : Tim Pratt and Heather Shaw Narrators : Jen R. Albert and Dominik Parisien Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 658: The Cursed Noel is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13. The Cursed Noel By Tim...
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Author : Eugenia Triantafyllou Narrator : Alethea Kontis Host : Summer Fletcher Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in Uncanny Magazine. Rated PG-13. My Country is a Ghost By Eugenia Triantafyllou When Niovi tried...