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PodCastle 832: The Adventure of the Faerie Coffin: Being the First Morstan and Holmes Occult Detection – Part Two

Previously published by Sherlock Holmes and the Occult Detectives 1 (Belanger Press)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 43:07 — 59.7MB)

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Show Notes

Rated PG

~ Five ~

Dinner was not silent. While we sat in the kitchen, sipping soup and munching on bread and mutton, Miss Couper maintained an animated lecture on the tumuli and barrows of the British Isles and the Continent.

“Wayland’s Smithy being a prime Neolithic example. And then there’s Maeshowe up on Orkney. Chambered cairn. Unique to the Orkneys. Don’t see that anywhere else. Well, that we know of. Could change at any moment. Always making new discoveries. Even the Americans are doing good work, digging up Indian mounds —”

“Miss Couper, could you pass the salt, please?” I held out my hand, smile stiff.

“Eh? Oh, aye.”

Miss Baxter hid a smirk behind a bite of mutton. (Continue Reading…)

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PodCastle 831: The Adventure of the Faerie Coffin: Being the First Morstan and Holmes Occult Detection – Part One

Previously published by Sherlock Holmes and the Occult Detectives 1 (Belanger Press)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:58 — 65.0MB)

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Show Notes

Rated PG

The Adventure of the Faerie Coffin: Being the First Morstan and Holmes Occult Detection

by Rebecca Buchanan

 

Dramatis Personae

Miss Mary Morstan — a governess with a secret, fiancée of Dr. John Watson

Mr. Sherlock Holmes — a consulting detective of ruthless logic

Mrs. Edith Fearghasdan — a concerned headmistress

Miss Evelyn Baxter — not a friend of Miss Morstan

Miss Susanna Couper — an opinionated teacher

Ailis, Judith, and Beatrice — students with a shared secret

Miss Maighread MacPherson — a teacher skilled at uncovering secrets

Mrs. MacPherson — her mother

Mrs. Webster — Miss Morstan’s former governess and mentor

Mrs. Forrester — Miss Morstan’s current employer, a supposedly respectable society matron

Dr. John Watson — Mr. Holmes’s flatmate and partner in criminal investigations, Miss Morstan’s fiancé
(Continue Reading…)

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PodCastle 830: TALES FROM THE VAULTS – When Shadow Confronts Sun

Previously published as PodCastle 526

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 37:08 — 51.5MB)

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Show Notes

Rated PG-13

When Shadow Confronts Sun

By Farah Naz Rishi

[Allah] will say, “Enter among nations which had passed on before you of jinn and mankind into the Fire.” Every time a nation enters, it will curse its sister until, when they have all overtaken one another therein, the last of them will say about the first of them, “Our Lord, these had misled us, so give them a double punishment of the Fire.” He will say, “For each is double, but you do not know.” (7:38)

The paan seller’s cart has a very particular smell: burnt roses, sugar syrup, cumin. Spicy and sweet, like Nani’s sticks of sage, the ones she burns every Sunday after fajr to ward off jealous eyes and jealous spirits. But I am hungry and I breathe it in, letting the newfound familiarity of the fragrance settle into my bones.

Perhaps if I smell like paan, this world would accept me as one of its own — because that’s what Pakistan is in Ramadan. Its own world. (Continue Reading…)

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Special Submissions Call: Palestinian Voices

It is in deep solidarity, and continual demand for a ceasefire, that PodCastle would like to announce our special call for fantasy stories by Palestinian writers. As Nina Simone once said: “An artist’s duty… is to reflect the times.” We recognize our position as a publication offers a unique opportunity to insist on art that reflects the times, and as Ursula K. Le Guin offers, “Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.”

We stand in solidarity with Palestinian people and their words. The hope of this call is to insist on the right to create spaces for Palestinian imaginations; imaginations for a future that protects Palestinian lives, a past that restores their right to a home, and a present that centers their dignity and self-determination. We want to see stories from Palestinian authors regardless of where they live – whether in Gaza, the West Bank, or diaspora anywhere in the world.

Whilst we can only consider stories written in English, we strongly welcome translations of stories originally written in Arabic (or any other language), and any story that is previously unpublished in English will be treated as an original regardless of whether it has been previously published in a different language. Payment for translated stories will be split between the author and translator. We also especially encourage stories that incorporate more than one dialect, stories that offer alternative structures to the expected linear standardized arc, and stories that offer a fresh take or new perspective on a history that has not been considered universal. We are not necessarily looking for stories set in Palestinian territories or featuring Palestinian characters, though we of course very much welcome those perspectives. Our only special requirement for this call is that you are a writer who claims Palestinian heritage.

We’re a fantasy publication, so all stories must have a fantasy element that’s crucial to the tale, though it can be subtle. We are unable to consider science fiction or straight-up horror, though dark fantasy is more than welcome. We will consider both originals and reprints for this call, paying our standard rate of 8 cents per word for originals (defined as any story previously unpublished in English) and $100 for reprints. We’re looking for stories between 2,000-6,000 words, though we will consider up to 7,000 words for reprints. These upper limits are strict: unfortunately we cannot consider reprints above 7,000 words or originals above 6,000 for this submissions call.

Our standard guidelines apply to anything not already mentioned here. Please submit your stories via our Moksha portal, which will be open for these submissions from the 8th to the 22nd of April 2024.

Narrator Auditions

We will also be opening to auditions for Palestinian narrators during this submissions call! If you are of Palestinian heritage and would like to potentially lend your voice to one of these stories, we would love to consider you. We offer a token payment of $30.00 for the narration of stories above 1,500 words, and $15.00 for flash pieces of 1,500 words or less. Please read our Narrator Guidelines, particularly the Preparation section, and then record a 2-3 minute sample of yourself reading an excerpt of fiction in English. You can now upload your audition via our audition portal until the 30th of April. In the cover letter section, please include a short, third-person bio to tell us a little about yourself. The word-count box can be filled in with any random number, as it’s not relevant to audio submissions. We prefer samples recorded in mono and saved as .wav files.

 

We very much look forward to reading your stories and hearing your voices.

~Shingai Njeri Kagunda and Eleanor R. Wood
PodCastle Co-Editors

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PodCastle 829: DOUBLE FEATURE: When the Giants Came Through the Valley and Floaters

When the Giants Came Through the Valley – Previously published by Lightspeed

Floaters – Previously published by Pulp Literature Magazine

When the Giants Came Through the Valley – Content warning for references to suicide and parental death

Floaters – Content warning for hospitalisation

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:37 — 45.3MB)

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Show Notes

Rated PG-13

When the Giants Came Through the Valley

by Derrick Boden

 

When the giants came through the valley, they made footprints as long as the Santa Monica Promenade, as wide as Dodgers’ Stadium. They crushed dance studios, keto cafes, a waterpark. They left trails of steep-sided ravines with walls of stratified clay and crumbling asphalt, and this is where we now live. Sunset comes earlier down here, but it could be worse.

Our footprint is deep and arid and full of retooled strip malls. We dwell in the remains of Foot Lockers and tiki bars, tag our names out front in bold blue letters. Lazy Stan, Carmencita, Hot Hot Henri. We didn’t all live here, before the giants came through. We’re a product of collective chance. Grinding out another two-hour commute, heading for happy hour at The Village after working another double, the third this week. Some of us still have homes topside, in buildings the giants happened to miss. But that’s neither here nor there. The footprint is our home, now. (Continue Reading…)

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PodCastle 828: The Museum of Living Color

Previously published in Museum Piece, from Metaphorosis Publishing

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:51 — 41.5MB)

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Show Notes

Rated PG-13

The Museum of Living Color

by Ryan Cole

 

Red lust, as usual, comes in the morning. Red in the way that you whisper my name, in the tender caress of your fingers on my neck, where my dry skin soaks up your technicolor world. Where you are my brush, and I am your canvas: pliant, eager, ready to be drawn.

I smile as your scorched-earth skin comes to life. I swallow the vermilion heat on your tongue.

And I take. I steal as much of you as I can.

But it’s never enough. Not for me, or your family, or the portrait of us that they want you to create. The one that will hang in their gallery forever.

And you and I both know that your red never lasts. (Continue Reading…)

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PodCastle 827: Mom and Dad At the Home Front

Originally published by Realms of Fantasy

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:21 — 42.2MB)

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Show Notes

Rated PG-13

Mom and Dad At the Home Front

by Sherwood Smith

 

Before Rick spoke, I saw from his expression what was coming.

I said the words first. “The kids are gone again.”

Rick dropped onto the other side of the couch, propping his brow on his hand.  I couldn’t see his eyes, nor could he see me. It was just past midnight. All evening, after we’d made sure our three kids were safely tucked into bed, we’d stayed in separate parts of the house, busily working away at various projects, all excuses not to go to bed ourselves — even though it was a work night.

Rick looked up, quick and hopeful. “Mary. Did one of the kids say something to you?”

“No.” I had a feeling; that was all. They were so sneaky after dinner.

“Didn’t you see Lauren —” I was about to say raiding the flashlight and the Swiss Army Knife from the earthquake kit but I changed, with almost no pause, to “— sneaking around like . . . like Inspector Gadget?”

He tried to smile. We’d made a deal, last time, to take it easy, to try to keep our senses of humor, since we knew where the kids were.

Sort of knew where the kids were. (Continue Reading…)

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PodCastle 826: TALES FROM THE VAULTS – Study, For Solo Piano

Previously published by Fantasy Magazine

Originally PodCastle 233

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:43 — 48.2MB)

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Show Notes

Rated PG

Study, For Solo Piano

by Genevieve Valentine

The Circus waits in leaking trailers while Boss takes her lieutenants through the house.

Then, her lieutenants are Elena from the trapeze, and Panadrome the music man, who presses his accordion bellows tight to his side to keep it from sharp edges, and Alec, their final act, who folds his gleaming wings tight against his back so he can fit through the hole in the wall.

Inside, the ceiling is waterlogged and sagging, but when Alec opens his wings even the nails sing for him.

Alec laughs, and the birds in the rafters scatter as if he’s called them down.

(Alec will be dead in a year; these are the last birds he sees.)

 

Unfortunately we don’t have the full text to this one, but you can read the rest of the story here!

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PodCastle 825: Flash Fiction Extravaganza! – Human Connection

This Blue World Previously published by Fantasy Magazine (Issue 83)

The Light At the Edge of the World Previously published by Flash Fiction Online

Directions to the House of Unnumbered Stars Previously published by Flash Fiction Online, October 2022

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:30 — 42.4MB)

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Show Notes

Rated PG

This Blue World

By Samantha Murray

 

You leave while it is still dark. Your lover sleeps on his stomach, the sheet draped only to his waist.

You don’t want to go. You want to slide back into bed and listen to him breathing. And for him to make you coffee later, dark and sweet.

But you’ve never let anyone haunt you. And you’re not about to start now.

Your car takes a few tries to get going, as if it is reluctant to move out of his driveway, as if it wants to stay, not to glide down his street in this blue world that exists just before dawn.

There is light in the sky when you pull off the highway and wind through the suburban streets to your house. A woman is walking down the road, and she is surrounded by her ghosts. You try to count them unobtrusively . . . eleven? Crowding and cluttering behind her. She doesn’t look that much older than you, and how easy is her heart, did it just throw itself at anyone who came along? You wonder if any real people are waiting for her at home or if their ghosts were the only part she kept. (Continue Reading…)

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PodCastle 824: The Portal Keeper

Previously published by Uncanny

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 44:26 — 61.5MB)

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Show Notes

Rated PG

The Portal Keeper

By Lavie Tidhar

 

October 1st

 

The rabbit was back this morning. It stopped outside the portal like it always does and it checked its pocket watch like it always does. It doesn’t matter — the rabbit’s always late.

So far I’ve never found out what the rabbit is late for. It wore a jazzy waistcoat. It looked nervously from side to side and mumbled to itself. Then it hopped through the portal and was gone.

I trimmed the grass hedges and washed the flagstones and placed fresh seeds in the bird feeder. I’m a portal keeper. The portal just sits there, a circle of heavy etched metal the height of three men or one small giant. It shimmers like a mirror inside. I cleaned and wiped the metal, applying polish. The metal is etched with what could be ancient runes or could be manual instructions. I don’t know what it means. I’m just the keeper.

(Continue Reading…)