Smilers by Chip Houser   Aiden rests his chin on the back of the living room couch, watching his older brother mow down zombies in ZomPlex. The zombies grab at Zach’s avatar, mouths moving like they’re chewing. Aiden’s not sure if they’re supposed to be hungry or angry or both. Their facial expressions don’t match […]

2021 was quite the year here at the Flying Castle. We published fifteen original stories and thirty-one new reprints; we were nominated for Hugo, British Fantasy, Ignyte, and Aurora awards; and we bid farewell to former Co-Editors Jen R. Albert and Cherae Clark, as well as to Assistant Editor and Host Summer Fletcher at the […]

Memoirs of a Magic Mirror by Julia Knowles It started when three magicians, two fairies, a couple of wizards, a witch, and one very drunken sage decided it was a good idea to give consciousness to a mirror that had to answer any question truthfully. Personally, I blame the alcohol. The sage ended up keeping […]

The Stiffening by Nicole D. Sconiers I was eight years old when I realized that I never saw my mother sitting. Ever. Or lying in bed or immersed beneath a blanket of suds in our old clawfoot bathtub. She was always upright. Afternoons would find her in the kitchen, tending something on the stove or […]

Tadpole Prophecy Avi Burton It is cold, twilight on the cusp of true night, and they have sent you down to kill a monster. The uncut gems of frost crunch underneath your feet. The dark lord’s castle is onyx and steel, and it is beautiful. It is a fortress that lurches out over the cliff […]

Why I Bought Satan Two Cokes on the Day I Graduated High School by Nathaniel Lee When I came out of the coffee shop with my latte and my fresh walnut brownie, the Archangel Michael was beating the ever-loving shit out of Satan down on the corner.  I could see the impact crater, right in […]

Nightfall in the Scent Garden by Claire Humphrey If you read this, you’ll tell me what grew over the arbor was ivy, not wisteria. If you are in a forgiving mood, you’ll open the envelope, and you’ll remind me how your father’s van broke down and we were late back. How we sat drinking iced […]

Candy Canes, Comics, and Christmas by Gary McKay I met Marlene atop Lily Hill on December 17th 1983, two weeks after my tenth birthday. The news of the Harrods bombing — the IRA’s crime against Christmas — was all the talk in Ballykey that afternoon, but I was too young to understand. I’d popped out […]

Thorns by Martha Wells We reached the landing above the Hall.  Below, Electra’s husband, Mr. John Dearing, was personally receiving a guest, a young man in the act of handing his greatcoat to the butler. There were no guests expected, and just before the dinner hour is not considered an appropriate time for casual calls, […]

The Red Priest’s Vigil by Dirk Flinthart Your Grace: I believe you are correct. Tomaso Dellaforte is the most dangerous man I have ever met. I followed your instructions to the letter. Your information as to the whereabouts of the condottiere de Mortibus was accurate. It was with very little difficulty that I purchased the […]

A Hollow Play by Amal El-Mohtar Dear Paige, So, I’m here, but Anna’s not, and I awesomely left Memoirs of a Space Woman at home in spite of knowing I’d have two hours to kill, so I figure I’ll just keep writing to you. Cabaret! I have no idea what to expect. Have you ever […]

America Thief by Alter S. Reiss I looked around the table. Most of the people there weren’t paying much attention. Lansky looked a little embarrassed, and Siegel shook his head. “You want me to find out if Chaim Goldberg can turn lead into gold, or if he’s running some sort of scam,” I said. “Of […]

Ilse, Who Saw Clearly by E. Lily Yu Once, among the indigo mountains of Germany, there was a kingdom of blue-eyed men and women whose blood was tinged blue with cold. The citizens were skilled in clockwork, escapements, and piano manufacture, and the clocks and pianos of that country were famous throughout the world. Their […]

Feed Me the Bones of Our Saints by Alex Dally MacFarlane Jump up! Take arms! Bare teeth! We fight for these sands. Sink iron knives and white teeth into their scented flesh, their soft city flesh, those stealers of our homes. This is our city now, this desert with its winds that scour our cheeks, […]

The Newsboy’s Last Stand by Krystal Claxton She stood up on her tip-toes, extending a slightly wilted white daisy up to Romulus, her whole body pointed and straight in the effort of reaching something that was entirely beyond her reach. For his part Romulus knelt down and took the flower and gave her a sad […]

Selected Program Notes From the Retrospective Exhibition of Theresa Rosenberg Latimer by Kenneth Schneyer 34.     Magda #4 (1989) Oil on poplar wood, 30 x 21″ Private collection Sometimes called “Devotion” by critics, this nude the earliest extant work featuring Magda Ridley Meszaros (1963-2023), Latimer’s favorite model and later her wife.  The lushness of the […]

Where Virtue Lives by Saladin Ahmed Doctor Adoulla Makhslood, the best ghul hunter in the great city of Dhamsawaat, was weary. Two and a half bars of thousand-sheet pastry sat on his plate, their honey and pistachio glazed layers glistening in the sunlight that streamed into Yehyeh’s teahouse. Adoulla let out a belch. Only two […]

Super-Baby-Moms Group Saves the Day by Tina Connolly From: Stef Jones-Tanaka To: Subject: Intros Hey Super Moms! Here’s the email group I mentioned to a couple of you at preschool today. Teacher Stacie said there are four of us families in the system right now at Little Darlings Preschool and shared your emails […]

ACT ONE SCENE 1: INSIDE A RECORDING STUDIO (WITCH, brightly) PseudoPod, The Sound of Horror! The familiar strains of PseudoPod’s opening music, “Bloodletting on a Kiss” begins. A moment of distortion interrupts, followed by a saxophone-driven 90’s talk show cover of the same song. Canned studio audience applause as the song concludes. WITCH (saccharine, without […]

Hummingbird by Eisuke Aikawa and Toshiya Kamei The translucent Ōe-san steps out of the bathroom and sits at the table as usual. He spreads butter on an invisible slice of bread, takes a bite, and chews it, holding the morning paper in his other hand. Just like a mime. I sit on the floor and […]

Catch By Ally Chua “There’s a monster under my bed,” my son said, stifling his yawn. I looked at Timmy, his sleepy eyes hidden beneath a mop of messy hair. I ruffled his head and nodded. “I’m sure.” “It keeps kicking my bed at night, Dad. He wants to play.” “Oh, yeah? Is that why […]

Rulebook for Creating a Universe by Tashan Mehta In an island that floats at the beginning of time, there is a Rulebook for Creating a Universe. This book is old, with instructions on how to make forever-worlds. It says, “When stitching a universe, think carefully about the kind of sun you want. Will it be […]

The Last Petal by Anna Madden Miss Lily Dale preferred hands to faces. Hands told a story that faces could hide. Her father’s hands had become so gaunt, so fidgety. A shipping merchant without ships was a man without a livelihood. He spent his days inside their new home writing letters to the port master. […]

Solace of the Keeper by Woody Dismukes If you watch the wind for long enough, you may find yourself a wisp. And though we call ourselves the Keepers, not even we can keep what is not there. We tell the living that we keep the dead, but only because that is what they want to […]

Down to Niflhel Deep by Maria Haskins The dog’s name is Roan. He doesn’t know how long he’s been running. Maybe it’s been hours, or days, or maybe it’s only been fifteen minutes since he slipped out of the backyard through the open gate, but however long it’s been, he hasn’t stopped running since. The […]

Tend to Me by Kristina Ten Nora is a serial becomer. She has become many things in her life, though rarely on purpose. The first time, it just sort of happened. The second time, it was a coincidence. Now, it is a habit she cannot seem to break. In the past, she has become a […]

Black Wings, White Kheer by Rati Mehrotra The wings knock against the closet door on full moon nights, trying to escape. The sound terrifies Sarita, because if it wakes Amit, he might think there’s an intruder in the apartment. He might arm himself with something (what? Sarita settles on the kids’ baseball bat), throw open […]