“Human Studies 401” by Abby Nicole Yee – 3.0
Clarkesworld, April 2026 Narrated entirely in the clipped, clinical voice of an alien researcher named Hecrimona, “Human Studies 401” unfolds as a set of research notes documenting one of the…
“Eternity in Their Hearts” by K. J. Khan – 3.8
Clarkesworld, April 2026 Valentine is an AI companion — humanoid, skin-regenerating, professionally trained in the art of human emotional need. Her current client is Liam, a middle-aged man whose illness…
“D0G” by Tania Fordwalker – 4.0
Clarkesworld, April 2026 In a post-apocalyptic near future, a woman known as Billie survives alone on a small island in a river near Moosehead Lake, Maine, somewhere upstream from a…
“Tatterdemalion” by Michael Cisco – 3.5
Reactor, March 2026 Presented as a traditional folktale from the fictional Alak Empire, “Tatterdemalion” is framed by an introductory scholarly apparatus explaining its cultural context before the story proper begins.…
“Middle Song” by Thomas Ha – 3.8
Bourbon Penn #38, April 2026 On the planet Sirami — a colonized desert world of oil fields, refinery towers, and dust walls — a roadhouse called The Gwyd stands as…
“Rope” by Michael Kelly – 3.0
Bourbon Penn #38, April 2026 On a gray, electric December beach, the narrator — a quietly isolated, self-described loner who visits the shore to manage dark moods — encounters a…
“Atomic Chess” by Josh Pearce – 2.6
Bourbon Penn #38, April 2026 Set during the Cold War, “Atomic Chess” weaves together two parallel narratives — one aboard a Soviet nuclear submarine, the other in a Havana café…
“Queen of Hell” by Jan Stinchcomb – 3.5
Bourbon Penn #38, April 2026 The story is narrated by an unnamed woman living in Los Angeles who observes, with skeptical detachment, the unraveling of her childhood friend Jenn Ryan.…
“The Bookpusher” by Cody Goodfellow – 3.4
Bourbon Penn #38, April 2026 Gary Wittkow, a teenager with a petty criminal record, wakes up in a sheriff’s holding cell babbling in what turns out to be Old English,…
“The Island of Sea Turtles and Blood” by Angela Liu – 3.8
Apex, February 2026 A group of friends — the unnamed narrator, Agnes, Peter, Lina, and Jin — are vacationing on a remote Japanese island known for its sea turtles, staying…