Anthologies & Short Stories

A boy and his dog. A girl and her tank. Tropes have been with us throughout all of history. Any girl would gladly trade in her skimpy armor for a tank. While a little bit of chainmail can take a chick far, heavy armor can take one even farther.

E. E. Isherwood presents Books 1-3 of the Neighborhood Watch series.

A rural town finds itself under the authoritarian sway of a tree that punishes children. A pair of old friends navigate their fraught history as strange happenings escalate in a Mexican restaurant. A pair of narcissistic friends wreak havoc on an activist community. An aloof young man finds himself living through his lover’s memories. And a day of LARPing takes a cosmic turn. In each of the seven stories in this collection, characters pursue their obsessions on paths to glory and destruction while around them their worlds twist and warp, oscillating between reality and impossibility.

James L. McCray, a hard-working farmer, and his son, Orson, seem like ordinary folks until a chilling discovery rocks their small community to its core. As darkness descends upon the once-peaceful town, Orson's experiment with a pheromone-laden cologne unleashes a wave of primal desire, turning the women of Honeyville into frenzied beasts driven by insatiable lust and violent impulses. In a terrifying twist of fate, the McCrays find themselves trapped in a nightmarish landscape where every corner hides a new threat, and trust becomes a luxury they can ill afford.

The Unfortunate Problem with Grandmother’s Head and Other Stories is an eclectic collection of short stories carefully selected from over three decades of professional works that are intriguing, thought-provoking, and entertaining.

Harlan Ellison’s work shaped the science-fiction, fantasy, and horror genres in the twentieth century, and this collection of his best-known and most-acclaimed stories is a perfect treasury for old Ellison fans as well as listeners discovering this zany, polyphonic writer for the first time.

A VIEW FROM THE STARS features a range of short works from the past three decades of New York Times bestselling author Cixin Liu's prolific career, putting his nonfiction essays and short stories side-by-side for the first time. This collection includes essays and interviews that shed light on Liu's experiences as a reader, writer, and lover of science fiction throughout his life, as well as short fiction that gives glimpses into the evolution of his imaginative voice over the years.

Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke award-winner Ann Leckie is a modern master of the SFF genre, forever changing its landscape with her groundbreaking ideas and powerful voice. Now, available for the first time comes the complete collection of Leckie's short fiction, including a brand new novelette, “Lake of Souls.”

In truth the mastery of flying was the work of thousands of men—this man a suggestion and that an experiment, until at last only one vigorous intellectual effort was needed to finish the work. But the inexorable injustice of the popular mind has decided that of all these thousands, one man, and that a man who never flew, should be chosen as the discoverer, just as it has chosen to honor Watt as the discoverer of steam and Stephenson of the steam-engine.

Join us for a fascinating, dangerous, and often irreverent romp through the most bizarre aviary ever encountered. Discover the wily machinations of the friendliest show-crows, negotiate borders between territorial landfowl, and take a trip through the stars to find your alien-parasite self stuck in a chicken. Each story in the Murderbirds anthology features a different species of feathered fiend, who is either the villain or intended victim of a deadly scheme.

The long and prolific career of Clifford D. Simak cemented him as one of the formative voices of the science fiction and fantasy genre. The third writer to be named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America, his literary legacy stands alongside those of Robert A. Heinlein and Ray Bradbury. This striking collection of nine tales showcases Simak's ability to take the everyday and turn it into something truly compelling, taking listeners on a long journey in a very short time.

DARK MATTER PRESENTS: HAUNTED REELS is the newest anthology in our 'Dark Matter Presents' series. In April 2020, the world faced imminent lock-down, so a group of filmmakers started a virtual support group. Once a week, these diverse voices would assemble to do what they do best: tell each other stories. Campfire horror tales, emotional cosmic mysteries, and anything else that either made them take their minds off what was happening to the world, or help them understand it. HAUNTED REELS is the best of those stories.

The world ends in a slew of blue notification boxes, bringing with it a game-like existence including monsters and Classes. Now, John has to make his way from Kluane National Park in the Yukon to Whitehorse through monster infested forests. But, that's not enough; because he'll need to help rebuild civilization itself around the System, aliens and monsters. And, as always, humanity will be its own greatest enemy.

Purpose defines us. It will define the people we leave behind when we are gone. We are children playing with the powers of a god. Our creations will be as flawed as their creators. The gift of intellect comes with doubt. In the not-too-distant future, tools will become beings in their own right. Factory floors will be the womb of an entire people. Androids will struggle to exist alongside the lesser gods who created them, even as they surpass us. These stories explore that struggle.

What happens when hitchhikers conspire to find a missing black box? Surfers wipe out in a parallel Jim Crow universe? An L.A. courier travels to white suburbia for an alternative fuel source? A coffee shop Noah loads up her ark with humans? An infant apparition speaks its truth from a busted skateboard? A court martialed soldier confronts his demons? And two drifters misremember their shared past?