Madge leaned against a large elm, facing the blue ridge of the Shenandoahs. A flash of fiery red caught her eye and took her breath; a pair of cardinals fluttered [...]
Dark Fantasy
Gift Horse
They were waiting for Haji on the platform. He squinted at them through the window grime. They were the only whites waiting for the train. The woman’s golden hair spilled [...]
Ruin
The ruin has history. No, histories. A Roman Villa cannibalized by the Britons; a Saxon Castle besieged by the Normans; a Catholic Monastery sacked on Henry VIII’s order.
In the present, [...]
Five Songs and a River
I was born in darkness, in a cool, shadowed spring lined by smooth rocks, and that’s why I didn’t know. I grew up to the sound of my sisters, Madlenka [...]
Ptomaine
I.
Miss Covington is dead before Frederick finds me.
Despite the damages, she is still attractive. A swathe of unbound hair curls across the snow. Her cheeks aren’t so round and fleshy [...]
A Little Bit Like the Tooth Fairy (Only Not Quite)
There are three hares in my bedroom when I wake up on Wednesday. Long-legged and soft-furred, they hop about agitatedly. One of them has made a nest out of yesterday’s [...]
Der Führer’s Bunker
The Soviet artillery is a steady heartbeat above our heads now. Reminds me of a child stomping about the house inside his daddy’s oversized boots, moving from room to room. Footsteps instead of detonations. I rather like the image. So do a few others in here with me. It lessens the fear. And down in our hole, there’s a lot to fear these days…
Viy
An ogre’s worth five minutes. Demons are ten. Double that if you’re working with two people; triple it for three. Multiply it by six if you want a horde. Increase [...]
Pullen & Bumber’s Catalogue of Particulars
As we at Pullen & Bumber are familiar with your particular proclivities, we hope to interest you in a series of items that have just come into our possession. They were delivered to the auction house mere days ago, and I assure you that no other customers yet know…
The Boy Band
You have to understand: I’m putty in the hands of sad Asian men. Ever since I saw Jet Li’s wife get killed in “The One,” I’ve been the world’s biggest [...]
The Mistress of Baby Breath
When I find little babies left alone by their mothers, I take them and kiss them until their bright baby eyes shine with laughter, with joy. I carefully tuck the [...]
Brother Zimmy Fly
Bob and I dragged ourselves out of bed and were at the church by five, but six other families had camped out overnight and were already in line. Macy was [...]
Dragon’s Food
“You are the funniest-looking kid I’ve ever seen,” Wyatt said.
Indeed, he was a funny-looking kid. His hair was wispy and white, his skin scaly and a bit leathery. He wore [...]
Desert of Sharp Sorrows
There was Myra and there was the sun, descending.
The sun hung low on the horizon, a blood orange crushed, its pulp smearing the sky, leaving a yellow and purple band [...]
Heroic Measures
Rip, tie, cut toy man—Greg Egan, Permutation City
It ain’t a popular stance these days, but me, I still hang with Velvet. It ain’t his fault, yo. Somebody sold him a bill [...]