The year I turned ten, the war almost ended. The Chinese army fell back beyond the northern border of Cao Bằng, leaving behind thousands of widows, wide swathes of burned ground, and their great war bells in their haste. via Pocket

Rated R for adult themes. The stagecoach lurches to a halt in a clearing beside the road. Four wild-eyed black geldings rear up and whinny as the top-hatted stage driver cracks a whip over their heads. via Pocket

PodCastle 589: The Horrible Deaths of Helga Hrafnsdóttir Author : Christine Tyler Narrator : Sigríður Gunnarsdóttir Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 589: The Horrible Deaths of Helga Hrafnsdóttir … The day Helga Hrafnsdóttir went up the Ævilok tree, the entire village held its breath. From the time of her birth, the Ævilok that grew beside Helga’s home had sprouted the most horrible flowers. via Pocket

PodCastle 612: She Searches for God in the Storm Within Author : Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali Narrator : Stephanie Malia Morris Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Originally published in Sword and Sonnet. Content warning: domestic v… When I arrived at my grandmother’s, in the stillness of predawn, like some restless cat stalking, she was waiting for me on the front porch. It was as if she’d been expecting me. I suppose if she had been watching the sky, she was, because I could b…

PodCastle 613: TALES FROM THE VAULTS — Hoywverch Author : Heather Rose Jones Narrator : Sarah Goleman Host : C. L. Clark Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums This story was a PodCastle original that aired back in 2015. Rated PG.… Elin verch Gwir Goch oed yn arglwydes ar Cantref Madruniawn wrth na bo i’w thad na meibion na brodyr. A threigylgweith dyvot yn y medwl vynet y hela. Ac wrth dilyt y cwn, hi a glywei llef gwylan. Ac edrych i fyny arni yn troi, a synnu wrthi. A’y the…

PodCastle 614: White Noon Author : Aidan Doyle Narrator : Julie Hoverson Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 614: White Noon is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13. White Noon By Aidan Doyle The do… The dogs’ barking let me know I had visitors. I reluctantly left my chair by the fire, pulled on my boots, and took my thundergun from its place on the wall. I rarely had any visitors apart from Magnus, which was how the dogs and I liked it. via Poc…

PC 594: The Deliverers of Their Country The Deliverers of Their Country By E. Nesbit It all began with Effie’s getting something in her eye. It hurt very much indeed, and it felt something like a red-hot spark — only it seemed to have legs as wel… The Deliverers of Their Country By E. Nesbit It all began with Effie’s getting something in her eye. It hurt very much indeed, and it felt something like a red-hot spark — only it seemed to have legs as well, and wings like a fly. via Pocket

PodCastle 595: The Feast Author : K.C. Mead-Brewer Narrator : Jen R. Albert Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by Carve Magazine. Content warning for violence against women, suicide, and… The Feast By K.C. Mead-Brewer We took Emmaline on what promised to be a particularly stormy night. It wasn’t hard to do, especially since all the police and alarm company people were right there in the mob with us. via Pocket

PodCastle 596: The Satyr of Brandenburg — Part 1 Author : Charlotte Ashley Narrator : Setsu Uzume Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March-Apr… By the inebriated light of dawn, October the 23rd, 1700, a swarthy figure skulked in the rosebushes lining the Villa del Sulcis, outside the Sardinian town of Soleminis. The lurker clambered onto the tavern’s windowsill muttering badly hushed curses… via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io PodCastle 596 The Satyr of Brandenburg — Part 1 - PodCastle via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2MMfDt9

PodCastle 597: The Satyr of Brandenburg — Part 2 Author : Charlotte Ashley Narrator : Setsu Uzume Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March-Apr… Donshead Doombellows accompanied La Héron to confront Piacere, for she knew better than to go alone. “Witnesses,” she told the ogre. “We can remember each other. That will help.” via Pocket

PodCastle 598: The Sound of His Voice Like the Colour of Salt Author : L. Chan Narrator : Leeman Kessler  Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by The Dark. Rated PG-13 for ghosts and the t… The Sound of His Voice Like the Colour of Salt By L. Chan The ghost boy was the colour of bone, of gossamer spider web, of salt trails of dried tears. He still had his shape, his outline. via Pocket

PodCastle 599: The Two-Choice Foxtrot of Chapham County Author : Tina Connolly Narrator : Julie Hoverson Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, S… There were two things we girls all knew that summer. One, that Tony Latham had turned into the finest drink of water ever to strut this two-bit one-horse no-account town. via Pocket

PodCastle 600: Flash Fiction Extravaganza — Flash Fiction Contest V Authors : Nathan Susnik, Michelle Muenzler, KT Bryski and R. K. Duncan Narrators : Kai Hudson, Philippa Ballantine, Jen R. Albert and Wilson Fowlie Host : Craig Jackson Discuss … The Cost of the Revolution in Three Marvelous Confections By R. K. Duncan . . . Do you know what we really lost when Tarvagost’s corpse went over the railing and we got the republic? I managed an invitation to the Spire that last night. I was out on…

PodCastle 590: Labyrinth, Sanctuary Author : A.E. Prevost Narrator : Lisa Hicks Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published in Sword and Sonnet, edited by E Catherine Tobler, Aidan Doyle and Racha… Labyrinth, Sanctuary By A.E. Prevost Constance carves her timeworn tracks into the thirsty rock. With silent steps her footfalls smooth the stone, century into century, grooves and gullies growing green as time and seed take hold. via Pocket

PodCastle 591: His Giant Heartbeat Author : Natalia Theodoridou Narrator : C. A. Yates Host : Jen R. Albert Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 591: His Giant Heartbeat is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13. His Giant… I smoke with my back to the caravan while I wait for B and his client to finish. It’s a drippy afternoon, deep in the fenlands. We’ve parked the caravan next to a mere, marshy and rotten green. via Pocket

PodCastle 592: TALES FROM THE VAULTS — The Axiom of Choice Author : David W. Goldman Narrator : Eric Luke Host : Craig Jackson Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally appeared in The New Haven Review, Winter 2011. Rated … The three of you have lingered outside the darkened club an hour beyond the show’s end. Your palms rest atop your guitar case, which stands vertical before you on the cracked sidewalk. via Pocket

PodCastle 593: Balloon Man Balloon Man By Shiv Ramdas If it hadn’t been for the camel, Mithun might never have noticed the old balloon seller at all. He almost didn’t notice the camel either. If he’d been looking for it, he probably wouldn’t have… If it hadn’t been for the camel, Mithun might never have noticed the old balloon seller at all. He almost didn’t notice the camel either. If he’d been looking for it, he probably wouldn’t have. via Pocket

British Fantasy Award Shortlist! The dragon is getting stuffed on celebratory cake this week! The British Fantasy Society shortlist has been announced and PodCastle and PseudoPod have both been nominated under the Best Audio category! Also, Alasda… The dragon is getting stuffed on celebratory cake this week! The British Fantasy Society shortlist has been announced and PodCastle and PseudoPod have both been nominated under the Best Audio category! via Pocket British Fantasy Award Shortlist! - PodCastle via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2LF9GjY

PodCastle 581: Fathoms Deep and Fathoms Cold Author : Merc Fenn Wolfmoor Narrator : Brian Murphy Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Submerged anthology, edited by S.C. Butler and Joshua Palmatier.  Content w… Fathoms Deep and Fathoms Cold By A. Merc Rustad Tage lights a cigarette and watches the man in the scarlet fedora come nearer. Hat like that’s hard to miss. This one’s his contact. His heartbeat gets quick. The docks are loud, briny, thick with bodi…

PodCastle 582: Life in Stone, Glass, and Plastic Author : José Pablo Iriarte Narrator : Karlo Yeager Rodríguez Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by Strange Horizons. Rated: PG-13, for h… Cleaning up graffiti was an everyday job for Sergio, pero esto . . . Could you even call this graffiti? Graffiti normally was spray-painted. Wait — that wasn’t true. Indoor graffiti typically was done in permanent marker. via Pocket

PodCastle 583: The Resurrectionist Author : J. P. Sullivan Narrator : Wilson Fowlie Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published in the August 2017 issue of Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicin… The Resurrectionist “Yes, I can bring your wife back from the dead,” I told the farmer, who had reasonable doubts about my abilities. “Just realize that it might not be what she wants.” “She wants to see her children again,” he said. He’d told me hi…

PodCastle 584: TALES FROM THE VAULTS — In Metal, In Bone Author : An Owomoyela Narrator : MarBelle Host : C. L. Clark Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in Eclipse Online. You can read it here! Rated R, fo… Colonel Gabriel met him in a circle of canvas-topped trucks, in an army jacket despite the heat of the sun.  he stood a head taller than Benine, with skin as dark as peat coal, with terrible scarring on one side of his jaw. via Pocket

PodCastle 585: Getaway Author : Jennifer Hudak Narrator : Jen R. Albert Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 585: Getaway is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for disordered eating, body dysmorp… Ten days after her family installed themselves in their summer cottage on Greenpenny Lake, Leena separated from her body for the first time. She peeled from herself like a sticker from its backing, and hovered inches from the ceiling. via Pocket

PodCastle 586: The Masochist’s Assistant Author : Auston Habershaw Narrator : Matt Dovey Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Rated PG-13, in… Each morning at precisely seven, Georges, famulus to Magus Hugarth Madswom, stabbed his master in the heart. via Pocket

PodCastle 576: When Leopard’s-Bane Came to the Door of Third Heaven Author : Vajra Chandrasekera Narrator : Peter Behravesh Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by Liminal. Rated: PG-13, f… We stand at attention all day at the top of the green tower. L and I stand on either side of the door to the third nonsensual heaven. The rifle is heavy and I develop a lean as the day wears on, until L hisses at me from the far side of the door and…

PodCastle 577: Temptation Author : Karuna Riazi Narrator : Farah Naz Rishi Host : Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 577: Temptation is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13. A special episode in … When was the last time food glided over her tongue? It was funny how Kayla couldn’t even remember what it was she ate. via Pocket

PodCastle 578: The Bone Poet and God Author : Matt Dovey Narrator : Eliza Chan Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in Sword and Sonnet. Rated PG. The Bone Poet and God by Matt Dovey Ur… Ursula lifted her snout to look at the mountain. via Pocket

PodCastle 579: I Am Not I — Part 1 Author : G. V. Anderson Narrator : Tatiana Grey Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Rated R, for human p… I found the emporium on old Tanners Row. A prime location, to be sure — within pissing distance from a Saps’ slum. Its proprietor, Madame Qlym, boasted better pickings in her own back garden than any other acristologist in the city. via Pocket

PodCastle 587: Strange Waters Author : Samantha Mills Narrator : C. L. Clark Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in Strange Horizons. Rated: PG, for a parent guiding herself home. Strang… Fisherwoman Mika Sandrigal was lost at sea. She knew where she was in relation to the Candorrean coastline and how to navigate back to her home city, Maelstrom. She knew the time of day. She knew the season. She knew the phase of the moon and the pa…