Slake by Victor Manibo – 2.2
The Sunday Morning Transport, January 2026 “Slake” is a haunting horror story set during an unprecedented two-week rainstorm that has flooded a city to catastrophic levels. The protagonist, Calix, is…
Let the Gods Drown With Us by R.K. Duncan – 2.4
Beneath Ceaseless Skies, January 2026 In a dying coastal settlement called the narrow shore, the Favored—descendants of a people whose green land was drowned by the gods—cling to ritual and…
Jennifer’s Body by Sara S. Messenger – 3.4
Nightmare Magazine, January 2026 Lane is a thirteen-year-old homeschooled girl living with her mother in rural Florida. Her mother, who was tortured to death as a teenager in a scenario…
The Spew by Jeffrey Ford – 3.7
Reactor, January 2026 Eben Cull, an unemployed warehouse worker desperate for money, responds to a mysterious “WRITER WANTED” ad and meets Arathusia, a peculiar woman with raven-black hair who possesses…
Fingerprints on Glass and Clay by Fernanda Coutinho Teixeira – 3.7
Strange Horizons, January 2026 Lúcio is a goldfish with human vocal cords, created by the Lifemaker as a simple project during a period of estrangement from his sister Olga. He…
A Formal Academic Review of “Joiner and Rust” by Lavie Tidhar – 4.3
Introduction Lavie Tidhar’s “Joiner and Rust” (2026) represents a significant contribution to contemporary science fiction’s exploration of post-human consciousness and artificial sentience. Published as a novelette of approximately 8,500 words,…
Joiner and Rust by Lavie Tidhar – 4.3
Reactor, January 2026 In this poignant science fiction novelette, an aging robot named Rust journeys through rural China to visit an old friend, Joiner, carrying a watermelon as a symbolic…