I was selected to moderate a panel at the Seattle Worldcon 2025, “SF&F Short Stories from the Mists of Time”. I signed up for this because I love short SFF, I have an affection for older SFF, and I like to moderate. The description was: What were the first modern science fiction and fantasy tales […]| A Deep Look by Dave Hook
This is Essay #1 from the panels I was on at the Seattle Worldcon 2025. I was the moderator for “Tales for Eternity: A Reading List”. The description for the panel read: Much earlier sc…| A Deep Look by Dave Hook
Diabolical Plots 4/25 Zooscape 4/25 Worlds of Possibility, Version One 4/25 The April Diabolical Plots closes with Hannah Yang’s “The Octopus Dreams of Personhood”, in which Shun is dealing with be…| Locus Online
The Short: I have been reading speculative fiction for the 1949 panel at the 2025 Seattle Worldcon. My favorites include superlative short stories “The Long Watch“, by Robert A. Heinlein, and “The Martian” (AKA “Impossible”), of The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury, superlative novelettes “Opening Doors“, by Wilmar H. Shiras, and “The Witches of Karres“, […]| A Deep Look by Dave Hook
The Short: The Last Space Ship, a collection by Murray Leinster, 1949 Frederick Fell, includes three Kim Rendell stories. My average rating for the three stories included was an anemic 2.9/5, or &#…| A Deep Look by Dave Hook
By Carter Kaplan Wave IX J.G. Ballard’s story “Studio 5, The Stars” appeared in Science Fantasy magazine in 1961. The story is set in “Vermilion Sands”, a desert art colony suggesting the post-war “hothouse” desert compounds created in the American Southwest by painters like Max Ernst and Georgia O’Keefe. In Ballard’s Vermillion Sands, art, artists, … Continue reading Wave IX: a compressed essay-review by Carter Kaplan→|
The Short: The Man Who Ate the Phoenix, Lord Dunsany, 1949 Jarrolds, was his 21st collection. It includes 40 short stories and one novella, of fantasy, non-genre fiction, a few that are more horror…| A Deep Look by Dave Hook
The Short: I read or attempted to read, the contents of the first Shirley Jackson collection, The Lottery, or, The Adventures of James Harris, 1949 Farrar, Straus. My favorite is the classic short …| A Deep Look by Dave Hook
The Short: I just read a Nelson S. Bond collection, The Thirty-First of February, 1949 Gnome Press. My favorite of the 13 stories included is “The Monster from Nowhere”, a science ficti…| A Deep Look by Dave Hook
In this short story, Rachel Newton tells a story of intergenerational guilt and the lengths one will go to for the sake of atonement.| The Lehrhaus
The Short: The Fox Woman and Other Stories, A. Merritt, 1949 Avon Publishing Co., is his first collection, published six years after his death in 1943. Although no clear favorites jumped out at me,…| A Deep Look by Dave Hook
The Short: I reread my copy of The Wheels of If, and Other Science Fiction, the second collection by L. Sprague de Camp, 1949 Shasta. It’s a tough choice, but my favorite is the very good …| A Deep Look by Dave Hook
The Short: I just read the latest of Neil Clarke’s Best Science fiction of the Year series, The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 8, 2024 Night Shade Books. Along with his very generou…| A Deep Look by Dave Hook
Strange Horizons 3/10/25, 3/17/25, 3/31/25 Flash Fiction Online 3/25 Fiyah Spring ’25 The March Strange Horizons features a great mix of fiction and poetry, including Nico Martinez Nocito’s poem “T…| Locus Online
I'm delighted to announce that my new short story, "Last" (with a nifty illustration by Marco Megrati), has just appeared at Seat14C.com, an online science fiction anthology and writing competition presented by XPRIZE. XPRIZE, as you may know, is a non-profit organization that designs and manages public science competitions intended to encourage technological development that could benefit all of humanity. (No small goal, there.)...| William Shunn
Canon Fodder is an occasional series in which I write about classic works of horror fiction. This particular part of the series is devoted to the complete published works of Thomas Ligotti which I …| Taskerland
The Short: I read the Frank Belknap Long collection John Carstairs: Space Detective, 1949 Frederick Fell, for my project of reading 1949 SFF. Frank Belknap Long has written some wonderful science f…| A Deep Look by Dave Hook
Clarkesworld 3/25 The March issue of Clarkesworld kicks off with a sweet, gentle, and hopeful story, “From Enceladus, With Love” by Ryan Cole. Dezzi stows away on a ship headed for Enceladus, look…| Locus Online
Diabolical Plots 3/25 GigaNotoSaurus 3/25 Small Wonders 3/25 Moving into March, Diabolical Plots features R.J. Becks’s strange historical sci-fantasy, “The Witches Who Drowned”. In it, the narrator…| Locus Online
Reactor 1/22/25, 2/5/25, 2/19/25, 2/26/25, 3/5/25, 3/12/25 The Sunday Morning Transport 2/2/25, 2/16/25, 2/23/25, 3/9/25, 3/16/25 Weird Horror Spring ’25 Reactor (formerly Tor.com) offered up sever…| Locus Online
The Short: With John O’Neill’s help, I finished reading The Girl with the Hungry Eyes, and Other Stories, Donald A. Wollheim editor, 1949 Avon. It’s the first anthology of origina…| A Deep Look by Dave Hook
The Short: The Other Side of the Moon, August Derleth editor, 1949 Pellegrini & Cudahy, includes 20 stories and an introduction by August Derleth. While I think Derleth’s definition of sc…| A Deep Look by Dave Hook
The Short: I read Invasion from Mars: Interplanetary Stories, Orson Welles “editor”, 1949 Dell (there is controversy about the actual editor). Including the 1938 “Invasion from Ma…| A Deep Look by Dave Hook
The Short: I recently read Burning Brightly: 50 Years of Novacon, Ian Whates editor, 2021 NewCon Press. My favorite story is “The Ships of Aleph”, a novelette by Jaine Fenn, rated 4.1/5…| A Deep Look by Dave Hook
The Short: I recently reread one of my favorite SF anthologies as a much younger person, A Treasury of Great Science Fiction, Volume One and Volume Two, Anthony Boucher editor, 1959 Doubleday/1960 …| A Deep Look by Dave Hook
Canon Fodder is an occasional series in which I write about classic works of horror fiction. This particular part of the series is devoted to the complete published works of Thomas Ligotti which I …| Taskerland
Think of Marston as the human embodiment of negative space—like the vase framed by two faces, you know: a person consisting only of the spaces around him. To the point that it makes no sense to describe the man, only his surroundings. Here’s a morning: sour-gold sweat stains in his mattress; wire-rimmed glasses, car keys, empty beer cans on the floor beside his nightstand. A granular waterfall of Eggo crumbs tumbling below the seat of a pickup truck. Arms raised in incoherent indication...| FIVE SOUTH
“Seriously? What in the world do Sondheim and crime fiction have in common?” That question, gracing the back cover of Josh Pachter’s eighth “Inspired by . . . “ story anthology, Every Day a Li…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
March 25th, 2025 marks 100 years since the birth of acclaimed author, Flannery O’Connor. Though she only published two novels and two collections of short fiction in her life (the lupus that circumscribed her geography ever increasingly to Milledgeville, GA took her life in 1964, when she was just 39), she continues to entrance scholars of American literature and devotees of the short story alike.|
Ruth stood on the narrow iron bridge, gripping her father’s obsidian necklace, and wondered how many years it would take before the river wore them both down to nothing.| FIVE SOUTH
BIO: Usually found out in the middle of nowhere, R.A. Busby is the author of CORPORATE BODY, WORDS MADE OF FLESH, and YOU WILL SPEAK FOR THE DEAD. The 2020 winner of the Shirley Jackson Award for short fiction, Busby spends her time researching weird things and writing about them until she’s out of coffee.| The Bram Stoker Awards
It’s in the car park we bump into them. I stand back like the other man, before our wives can have a go at introducing us. He makes a business out of locking up their Focus and I bend down to tie my youngest’s shoelace. Then I see the second one is loose, so I go to undo it and tie it again. It’s hard to get the double knot in it to come free and she won’t keep her leg still. The other man has found a smudge on his wing mirror so he’s at that with a lick of spit and a tissue. His fa...| The Stinging Fly
EIF is excited to announce the release of a new fiction title next month, the stunning short story collection, I Might Trust You, by Sam Moe. These tales of love and betrayal, trauma and healing wi…| Experiments in Fiction
Canon Fodder is an occasional series in which I write about classic works of horror fiction. This particular part of the series is devoted to the complete published works of Thomas Ligotti which I …| Taskerland
Canon Fodder is an occasional series in which I write about classic works of horror fiction. This particular part of the series is devoted to the complete published works of H.P. Lovecraft, which I…| Taskerland
I've been following Korean literature in translation now for around 25 years. Back in the day, I'd buy everything I could lay my hands on - after all, there wasn't much of it around, so there wasn't much financial commitment involved. At the time, most of the literature available was originally written more than thirty| London Korean Links | Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006
Canon Fodder is an occasional series in which I write about classic works of horror fiction. This particular part of the series is devoted to the complete published works of Thomas Ligotti which I …| Taskerland
I no longer harangue every desk nurse at every hospital for a taxonomic breakdown of her bills. I don’t ask for the numbers of the Benadryl, the water cups, the abdominal touches done with gloved hands. I am the most American I’ve ever been—she costs what she costs and I eat it.| fivesouth.net
Canon Fodder is an occasional series in which I write about classic works of horror fiction. This particular part of the series is devoted to the complete published works of H.P. Lovecraft, which I…| Taskerland
Clarkesworld 10/24 “Space O/pera” by Abby Nicole Lee in the October issue of Clarkesworld centers on Clara, whose family dog, Daki, is sent into space. When footage of Daki’s shuttle exploding is r…| Locus Online
Canon Fodder is an occasional series in which I write about classic works of horror fiction. This particular part of the series is devoted to the complete published works of H.P. Lov…| Taskerland
They wanted to get married. Something very small. They imagined what they were planning was modern and subversive and uniquely romantic, as if couples haven’t been rushing to courthouses every day for decades and decades.| FIVE SOUTH
The Short: I just finished reading Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror, Jordan Peele and John Joseph Adams editors, 2023 Random House. I am not typically a fan of horror, but I re…| A Deep Look by Dave Hook
The Short: I recently read “The Experience Arcade and Other Stories” by James Van Pelt, 2017 Fairwood Press. It includes 24 short stories, an Introduction by Patrick Swenson, an Afterwo…| A Deep Look by Dave Hook
The Short: I recently read the Nalo Hopkinson collection Falling in Love with Hominids, 2015 Tachyon Publications. I loved her Foreword and the story introductions, and most of the stories. While I…| A Deep Look by Dave Hook
The Short: I was recently thinking about co-written, co-authored or collaborative short SFF with more than one author. Here is a direct link to my favorite 10 short speculative fiction works. My fa…| A Deep Look by Dave Hook
The Short: I loved Volume 2 (1953-1957) first. This lead me to read “Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women (1958-1963)” (Volume 1), Gideon Marcus managing editor, 2019 Journey Press, wh…| A Deep Look by Dave Hook
TENacity Brilliant Flash Fiction 10th Anniversary Anthology Congratulations to the 42 writers whose stories will appear in our upcoming anthology. Stories were selected by our editors from 472 subm…| BRILLIANT FLASH FICTION
SofteeBy Elizabeth Gassman Anthony arrived in his truck on a Tuesday in June. It was the summer I learned to shave my legs. I was working the register at Bodiddley’s market, where I had to wear a s…| BRILLIANT FLASH FICTION
This month we feature the winners of our Pop-Up Writing Contest, who submitted stories for the prompts “Melting Icicles” and “Cold Wave.” The winning authors are Cath Barton…| BRILLIANT FLASH FICTION
If you’re in or near Manhattan tonight, I hope you’ll drop by to hear fiction by me and a few other excellent writers, in support of an excellent cause . . . Wednesday, October 2: 7:00-9:00 pm , 85 E. 4th St., Manhattan...| Sinister Regard
New Yorkers! I’m participating in two events next week that I hope you’ll be able to come out and see: Monday, September 30: 7:30-10:30 pm , 603 Vanderbilt Ave., Brooklyn At the “Back to School” edition of this new...| Sinister Regard
Announcing the ebook release of my rare 2007 chapbook, An Alternate History of the 21st Century, which includes two original stories.| Sinister Regard
My novelette "Our Dependence on Foreign Keys" is now available as a 99¢ ebook! I hope you'll check it out, especially since I'm hoping to get to work on more Franny and Hondo stories. "Our Dependence on Foreign Keys" was...| Sinister Regard
My novelette "After the Earthquake a Fire" is now available as a 99¢ ebook. This story tells a fictionalized version of some of my experiences as a Mormon missionary in Idaho after I was ejected from Canada. If you finished...| Sinister Regard
The top-rated audio series returns with stories adapted from the XPRIZE anthology Seat 14C, following the lives of hapless air travelers who find themselves transported to a world twenty years in their future.| William Shunn
If you’re in or near Manhattan tonight, I hope you’ll drop by KGB Bar to hear fiction by me and a few other excellent writers, in support of an excellent cause . . . Wednesday, October 2: 7:00-9:00 pm. Liars’ League NYC presents Accident & Emergency. KGB Bar, 85 E. 4th St., Manhattan. At this long-running series, original short stories are read by professional actors. My new...| William Shunn
New Yorkers! I’m participating in two events next week that I hope you’ll be able to come out and see: Monday, September 30: 7:30-10:30 pm. Write This Down: A Creative Nonfiction Reading Series. Branded Saloon, 603 Vanderbilt Ave., Brooklyn. At the “Back to School” edition of this new nonfiction series, I’ll be reading “Words and Phrases You Must Never Use in Utah,” a personal...| William Shunn
Announcing the ebook release of my rare 2007 chapbook, An Alternate History of the 21st Century, which includes two original stories.| William Shunn