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PodCastle 386: Flash Fiction Extravaganza! Ghostly Interludes

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Flash Fiction Extravaganza! Ghostly Interludes

“The Spirit of Pinetop Inn” by Renee Carter Hall.

Read by Folly Blaine.

First appeared in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine (#58).

The first ghost showed up right on time, striding into the Pinetop Inn’s front parlor so regally that the proprietors, Emma and Tom, expected a flourish of trumpets to accompany his entrance.

The ghost bowed to Tom and kissed Emma’s hand. “Sir Edward Blackthorn the Fourth, at your service, my lord, my lady.” He straightened and handed Tom a thick leather-bound book. “My references, dating all the way back to 1784. I trust you will find everything in order.”

Tom squinted at the faded calligraphy. “Impressive.” (Continue Reading…)

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EA Metacast, October 2015 (Part 1)

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Hello everyone, Alasdair here. We tend to do a metacast every year around this time, and this year we’ve done something a bit different. This one was recorded LIVE at WorldCon in Spokane in August 2015!

In the past, you’ve let us know our metacasts are too long, so we’ve split this one into three parts:

  • In part one I introduce you to some of the staff at EA, we talk about Mothership Zeta, and there’s a special announcement! If you only want to listen once to get an update on what’s in store for Escape Artists in 2016, you want to listen to this.
  • In part two we’ve more of the Q&A session, along with a great flash story, “Final Corrections, Pittsburgh Times-Dispatch” by M. Bennardo, narrated by Wilson Fowlie. We talk a bit more about what’s been going on behind the scenes at Escape Artists this past year.
  • In part three we offer a special treat: a live narration by Podcastle’s own M.K. Hobson! She reads her original story “The Last Unenlightened”.

Enjoy!

Alasdair

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PodCastle 385: Where Monsters Dance

First published in Inscription Magazine in March 2015.

Domestic violence, transphobia

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Show Notes

Rated R

Where Monsters Dance

by Merc Rustad

It hurts your eyes to stare at the hole. You look away, shaking, and as soon as you do, the memory blurs, fuzzily distorting until you aren’t sure what you were just looking at.

One thing’s always clear, though: Ashley.

You wipe your sweaty palms on your jeans and step into the woods. There, not a yard inside the dark tree shadow, you see a glimmer of color. A red thread–it matches Ashley’s favorite wool sweater. It’s caught on a branch and unravels deeper into the woods.

 

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General Submissions Update

Happy October, everyone!

We received a tremendous number of submissions from this year’s Artemis Rising call. Many thanks to everyone who sent us something — the quantity and quality of the stories has been extraordinary. In order to give proper attention to all the submissions we’ve received, we’ll be temporarily closed to new submissions beginning November 1. We expect to reopen our submissions portal in January 2016.

Thank you for your patience! We look forward to reading your stories.

Best,

Rachael K. Jones and Graeme Dunlop

PodCastle Co-Editors

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PodCastle 384: Flash Fiction Extravaganza! Vintage PodCastle

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Show Notes

Flash Fiction Extravaganza!

Flash Fiction Extravaganza! Vintage PodCastle

(Continue Reading…)

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PodCastle 383: Abandoned Responsibility

First published in Fantastical Visions IV, edited by William H. Horner. (Still available on Amazon.)

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Show Notes

Rated PG-13

Abandoned Responsibility

by G. Scott Huggins

“Ah, Captain.” The pirate bowed. His accent was crisp and strange, and the crowd hushed as they strained to listen. “I thank you for your hospitality—”

Haraad cut him off with his usual tact. “The captain . . . has better things to do. I’m his son. And we aren’t rescuing you, pirate.”

(Continue Reading…)

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PodCastle Miniature 84: The Fox Bride

First appeared in Daily Science Fiction in March of 2015.

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Show Notes

Rated PG-13

The Fox Bride

by Mari Ness

He carried the squirming animal to his – no, their, he had to remember that now, their – bedroom, struggling to avoid her sharp teeth. The oversized ring he had given her glimmered on her left front leg; she had spent most of the evening biting and licking at it, when she had not been growling. He had ordered the musicians to play louder, to cover up the noise, but the growls still lingered in his ears.

When he reached the room, he secured her chain to one end of the bed, and sat gingerly at the other end. The waxing moonlight flooded the bed, giving a silver sheen to her red and snowy fur.

“When you are a woman, I can remove the chain,” he told the fox.

The fox barked.

“I swear it,” he said.

A snarl.

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PodCastle 382: Of Blood And Brine

First published in Shimmer magazine in Jan 2015.

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Show Notes

Rated PG

Of Blood and Brine

by Megan E. O’Keefe

Child walked the edge of the cold shore, bare feet sinking in rough sand. The red glare of the sun cast the pale beige granules in eerie, pink light, as if blood had been spilled across them and then diluted by the waves. Beak-pecked carcasses of sea creatures lay along her path, their poisonous flesh bulbous with tumors even after those few birds who could stomach them had picked them over. Why anyone would desire to smell like those wretched waters, Child could not guess.

The beach was empty, as it always was, save for a small group of mourning. They bundled their dead—two or three, she could not tell—onto a floating bier, set light the wooden slats, and shoved it out to sea. Child caught her breath, anger tightening her fists as flames licked up around the bier, revealing the wraps the dead had been sent to their rest within. Such a waste. But then, they had earned them. It was their right.