Good Stories
Short stories and books I recommend. Last updated 02-02-23.
Short Stories
Science Fiction
The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin
- free to read; 1 hour 20 minutes
- far future sci-fi, existential questions, published in the 1950s
- A stowaway on an emergency space ship presents a terrible ethical dilemma. Truly emphasizes the destructive indifference of nature and space.
- Briefly mentioned here
Cale and Stardust Battle the Mud Gobblers of Hudson Valley by Lincoln Michel
- free to read; 1 hour
- near future sci-fi, climate anxiety, millenial adult problems, where is housing, strangely funny
- Struggling artists from the city adjust to life in the suburbs as their modest home is chomped away by corporate-owned land reclamation whale machines.
- Read the full post
Fantasy
The Genetic Alchemist's Daughter by Elaine Cuyegkeng
- free to read; 27 minutes
- creepy, fantasy, Philippines, body horror
- Magic genetic engineering rewrites the minds and bodies of the defective progeny of the Manila elite
- Read the full post
Contemporary SFFH
Speculative short fiction set in our cursed times.
- free to read; 35 minutes
- working class people, possible time travel, rich customers being dipshits
- A mysterious woman claiming to be from the future becomes a food service worker. Hataraku Mao-sama can only wish he wielded half her power.
- Briefly mentioned here
The Empath by Raquel S. Benedict
- free to read; 10 minutes
- flash fiction, pretty sure this is I'm an empath discourse taken to the next level
- How feeling other people's emotions can turn you into a hateful misanthrope. Beware the empaths online.
- Briefly mentioned here
NSFW for Sex Or Violence
I specialize in finding hot or gross things, don't you worry.
YOUNG FRESH MEAT by Morgan (S.T.)
- free to read; 10 minutes
- body horror, cybernetics, hella violence
- Gory slasher set in Guangzhou restaurant. Extremely unappetizing in the best way.
- Briefly mentioned here
- free to read; 24 minutes
- feudal Japan, body horror, possession, hella violence
- Tale of a persecuted samurai who had murdered his demon-possessed master. It doesn’t end well for him.
- Briefly mentioned here
- free pdf; 14 minute read
- body horror, digital culture, cybernetics, alienation
- Beautifully paranoid chatroom discussions. Bloody sacrifices made to mysterious software that promises to remove a person’s corpse flesh from their astral body.
- Briefly mentioned here
In the Shape of the Emperor by June Martin
- free to read; 15 minutes
- sex that makes you laugh, secondary world
- Dude serves as an emperor's body double for concubines to practice their sex on. He's not allowed to actually come or else he dies. It’s a problem.
- Briefly mentioned here
The Procreation Myth by June Martin
- free to read; 10 minutes
- sex that makes you laugh, Greek mythology
- Zeus being unable to get it up for consensual sex.
- Briefly mentioned here
General Fiction
The Buddhist by Alan Rossi- free to read; 30 minutes
- general fiction, Thailand, monks, unsettling, alienation
- A sick Buddhist monk in Thailand practicising ill-advised lessons in suffering.
- Briefly mentioned here
Man of the House by Kim Coleman
- free to read; 40 minutes
- general fiction, America, hoarders, segregation, family, sad shit
- A Black man in America from a family of hoarders makes sense of his family’s life after segregation.
- Read the full post
Books
Twenty Days of Turin by Giorgio De Maria
- translated novel
- Italian, creepy, weird, political violence, cosmic horror, bleak as all hell
- Oddly prescient 1970s cosmic horror novel that vibes with the insanity of the modern internet complete with social alienation, paranoia, and the rise of fascism.
The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
- short story anthology
- literary, horror, creepy, horny, folktales
- extremely horny and creepy takes on folk tales with gothic vibes to the max.