Eternally Yours by Joy Williams

‘The Wedding Cake in the Middle of the Road’ is anthology where every story has the central image of a Continue reading →

Wine on the Desert by Max Brand

This is a story about thirst. It is entirely designed to make you feel as if you are trudging through Continue reading →

Fool’s Mate by Stanley Ellin

George is resigned to his unhappy marriage with Louise. She controls his life, never letting him out to make new Continue reading →

The Adder by Fred Chappell

In most Lovecraftian fiction the cosmic horror is either played straight – and therefore horrific – or played for laughs, Continue reading →

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 →

Two Sadnesses by George Alec Effinger

This comprises two thematically similar stories: one with a thinly disguised version of Winnie the Pooh (here called ‘The Bear’), Continue reading →

Somehow, I Don’t Think We’re in Kansas Anymore, Toto by Harlan Ellison

I’d never heard of the TV show ‘The Starlost’ before I found this essay. By Ellison’s account, the show is Continue reading →

26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss by Kij Johnson

Aimee has a circus trick. A bathtub is hoisted ten feet above the stage, 26 monkeys climb into it via Continue reading →