The Green Arches by Joan Aiken

It’s highly subjective whether a story feels magical, as opposed to merely containing magic. This story succeeds at both, and Continue reading →

93990 by George Saunders

This is written in the style of a lab report. A toxicity study looks at the effects of Borazadine on Continue reading →

The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories by Neil Gaiman

Following on from yesterday, here’s an equally disastrous look at a writer’s encounter with Hollywood. While fictional, the main thread Continue reading →

The Bottle: A Provincial Tale by Charlotte Hobson

 “Overnight, and against all precepts of logic, Mayor Vyipivkin had turned into a vodka bottle – and an empty one Continue reading →

Winter Dreams by F. Scott Fitzgerald

At one point Fitzgerald described this story as “a sort of first draft for the Gatsby idea.” And while both Continue reading →

The Distributor by Richard Matheson

A newcomer moves into a quiet suburb. He goes to the eight nearest houses and greets the families. There are Continue reading →

Freebie Friday: London Bone by Michael Moorcock

It is bone that has been buried for hundreds, thousands of years. The specific blend of soil components in certain Continue reading →

Freebie Friday: The Midlist Bombers by Charles Stross

London, 1992: the accountants of a major publishing company decide it would be more profitable to stop publishing all their Continue reading →