A gathering of recent speculative flash & micro fiction, each presenting a tiny-yet-powerful universe. How tiny? About one-thousand words for flash; four-hundred words for micro. The word count isn’t as important as the emotion, the adventure, the sense of wonder. Including science fiction, fantasy, horror, and the spaces in between.
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I have to begin with Flash Fiction Online’s October Weird Horror issue, edited by Avra Margariti and Eugenia Triantafyllou. The full issue hasn’t been made public yet, but the first batch of stories are SERIOUSLY WTF WEIRD. The editors have assembled a collection that is truly entertaining, while also exposing the everyday horrors that haunt so many of us. Whether you’re a parent or a sibling or an immigrant trying to survive in a devolving America, you’ll probably see glimpses of yourself in these pieces.
I’ll be watching for the last couple of stories to drop. For now, I especially recommend LM Guay’s gorgeous prose in “The Clockwork Sisters” and the emotional gut-punch of Spencer Nitkey’s “Within the Dead Whale.”
By LM Guay in Flash Fiction Online * 993 Words
Nearby they keep their workshop—our playland—full of gears that glitter like spun sugar and the pearls they use as baby teeth, all for the bespoke children our parents make to sell in the night market.
By Spencer Nitkey in Flash Fiction Online * 999 Words
A dozen children poured out from the hole in the whale’s side, dripping with viscera and laughing tremendously.
If you’ve read my rec lists before, you’ve probably noticed that I’m drawn to pieces with strong feminist themes. The next three pieces are this month’s stellar examples.
By Elena Zhang in Atlas and Alice * 186 Words
We dance until our feet bleed glass.
At only 186 words, this piece accomplishes SO MUCH. Zhang shows us the impossibility of women’s lives through fairy-tale images that have been sharpened to a point. The irony of the title is almost painful. This is one you’ll want to read again and again.
By Addison Zeller in Hex Literary * 974 Words
She mainly laughs in the appropriate place, but sometimes from another body part—her eyes, all her apertures at once, or only inside her head (I can hear it echo in her temples like footsteps on a floor above).
A wonderfully understated send-up of pathetic men and our misogynistic society. I wanted to cheer for Makikobot’s evolution. Extra props to the author for the masterfully-named houseplant.
Every robot has a switch she can’t reach
By Marisca Pichette in Radon Journal * 195 Words
First they drilled my cavities away,
enamel dust rising through sunset air
and inside the holes: my first metal.
The images in this poem are poignant and terrible, especially as the language is so gorgeous. A powerful read.
Lots of other great stories this month, ranging from creepy pre-Halloween horror to battlefield heartbreak and far-future archaeological finds.
By Addison Smith in Bullet Points * 793 Words
The crawlers stood feet away, deactivated and terrifying. Years of fighting had led to the attack, the incursion, and the blown EMP that shut them all down in this tiny area of the global battlefield.
The strength of human connection is what makes this story special. The technology and the frightening future are drawn with visceral details, accentuating the fear and loss of the characters.
By Chris Scott in Flash Frog * 935 Words
Every choice I make reconfigures my ghost’s body somehow, but I’ll never fully grasp the correlation, the chain of dominoes a hundred thousand miles long, way beyond my field of vision.
There’s something enticing about seeing the different ways your ghost might manifest, depending on what you’re doing at the time of death. The author showcases the exhaustion and dread of this situation in a sharp, unsettling narrative. The accompanying artwork by Joana Solà is spot-on perfect for the story.
By Gio Clairval in Nature Futures * 959 Words
We were floating around Sweeps-04, normal-like, when some space storm hit us hard.
This story (I’d classify it as a prose poem) centers a young girl who does not stand out among the stratified society of her ship. All she has going for her is her poetry. The story’s structure and wonderfully abstract language make this a stand-out piece. Read it quickly, before it disappears behind Nature’s paywall.
A Very Short History of the Discovery and Origin of Homo Sapiens Microplasticus in Three Parts
By Joshua Ginsberg in Apex Magazine * 1000 Words
The defining characteristic which sets Homo sapiens microplasticus apart from other hominids of the same time, such as Homo sapiens sapiens, is the fusion of microplastics to the skeletal structure (and, presumably, soft tissue).
A delicious projection of climate apocalypse and microplastics. And as if human stupidity isn’t enough, this piece has an extra layer of ignorance-induced harm. Maybe I shouldn’t admit I found this one to be fun?
By Michelle Kaseler in Penumbric * 1009 Words
She’d received state-mandated growth accelerators over the past year to prepare her body for adult work.
This one is a heartbreaker. The terrifying part of this story is the eerie knowledge that our society is already walking this path.
By Sylvie Althoff in Small Wonders * 996 Words
The last time I saw you, you were driving a wooden spike through my eye socket. This afternoon, you were ringing up my groceries at Dillons.
How did this story come about?? It’s such a unique and sinister premise. The author builds the sense of dread expertly until that last chilling line.
My Mother-in-Law Was Not A Dragon
By Anami Sheppard in Small Wonders * 700 Words
She did not breathe fire, only smoke.
The negative-space approach to this piece brings interest and power that might not have surfaced through a more direct narrative. The suggestion of “not a dragon” does a lot of work in bringing out the character’s true personality. Beautifully done.
Your Body as a Haunted House, or When the Ghost Moves In
By Lynne Sargent in The Cosmic Background * 860 Words
You also realize the fungal-like growth of your endometriosis might have a multi-dimensional ectoplasm-like stickiness to it, strangling your intestines and poisoning the wine of your pleasure with a bitter, cramping aftertaste.
I enjoyed the progression of this story as each new ghost made itself known. No spoilers, but yes, sometimes this is exactly what it feels like.
Bonus Poem!
Traveling at Lightspeed is Easy, Returning to Earth is Hard
By Ian Li in Small Wonders * 152 Words
Come home to discover the moon’s face is unfamiliar,
mottled with mega-mines and starship ports.
A poem about the emotional impact special relativity can have on a traveler? Yes, I’m in! Longing and loneliness thrum through this smart piece.
Myna Chang 