Nightmare Magazine, Jorge Luis Borges, and More Freebies

A few very good free items for you this morning. There's a horror story  by Sarah Pinborough at the always impressive Nightmare Magazine, and a longer than usual story at Yesteryear Fiction. There's new audio from three of the better audio fiction podcasts (PodCastle, StarShipSofa, and Protecting Project Pulp) and a bit of Magical Realism from The New Yorker.  Finaly, the icing on the cake, there's some good flash fiction.  I shall return with e-books and more later today.



[Art the cover for the magazine in which "The X-Gas" first appeared]






Fiction
At Nightmare Magazine: "The Nowhere Man" by Sarah Pinborough. Horror.
      "“I’ve had enough. I’m getting out of here, I swear to God I am.” Amy had been sitting cross-legged on the end of Ben’s bed, wearing the same jeans, t-shirt, and trainers she would disappear in later that night, when she whispered the words to herself, or to him or to the pitch black outside. Ben wasn’t sure which or even if she’d meant to say the words aloud at all. He just sat silently in the dark and listened."

At Yesteryear Fiction: "The Cat's Private Eye" Mark Slade. Fantasy.
     "Johnny zero," The cat said, licking his black paws, and sneering. "We have you cornered. there is no way out."

Flash Fiction

• At Daily Science Fiction: "MiracleMech" by Tim Deans.
• At Flashes in the Dark: "The Taste of Hate" by Ethan Swage. Horror.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Fliers" by Duncan Shields. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
At The New Yorker: "Shakespeare’s Memory" by Jorge Luis Borges. Magical Realism.
     "which tells the story of a Shakespeare scholar named Hermann Sörgel who is offered an unusual gift: the Bard’s memory—all his recollections and impressions—will be transferred to Sörgel’s mind."

At PodCastle: "Crossroads" by Laura Anne Gilman. Fantasy.
     "John came to the crossroads at just shy of noon, where a man dressed all in black stared up at another man hanging from a gallows-tree. No, not hanging; he was being hung, the loop still slack around his neck, his body dangling in mid-air. That, John thought, his pack heavy on his shoulder and his hat pulled low, was not something a wise man would get involved in. And yet, he could not resist asking, “What did he do?” "

At Protecting Project Pulp: "The X-Gas" by Cyril Plunket. Science Fiction.
      "The ship drifted lower and lower. Two ladders were lowered and they swarmed upward: hard, evil-looking creatures. All were heavily armed. The lives of the entire crew were at stake." Text versions at Munseys.

At StarShipSofa:  "The Colour Least Used by Nature" by Ted Kosmatka.
     "A solid piece of world-building and characterisation, albeit with a fairly minimal fantasy element. Set on a Pacific island, we follow the life(and death) of a ship-builder, as we see his loves, his losses, his actions, and his mistakes." - Best SF.

Other Genres
At Every Day Fiction: "Proof" by Christian A. Winn.