Award-winning short stories of all shapes and sizes from around the world published in various litmags during 2025 featuring Try Luigi's Pizza by Rachel Henderson, We Were Never Afraid of the Spider by Timothy Fox, An Infestation of Elliotts by Galen Gower, Blotter Acid by Devin James Leonard, Bone-eater Earth by...

An examination of the word “speculative”I’ve always disliked the term “speculative fiction.” I don’t mean I dislike actual works classified as speculative fiction, mind you, but the term itself. There have been arguments over the meaning of this term for going on almost a hundred years now, and it’s fallen in and...

Read Your Daily Tear Away Horoscope now!I’m a bit scared to ask… but gone through any rough breakups lately?No, (I’ve actually been happily married for about 5 years now), but if you read any of my stories, you’ll notice that I do have a (small) obsession with doomed relationships. I’m intrigued by people who stay...

FEB 1The new month dawns upon you. With Mercury and Venus by your side, forget the transgressions of the past and grow into the awakening of the new. Take chances, discover truths, and live without regrets.Mantra of the day: Forgetting is growing.FEB 2Focus your energy on social obligations today. Friends need your...

—Rusty Epstein

I could have been born in Canada, but the family cleaved the space between wars. In the smelter’s shadow the grass bled arsenic the day great grandpa was born. The mines didn’t stop for VE day, but he did.He shot out of that shaft like an artillery shell into the Bismarck Sea of Papua New Guinea chasing phantom...

Another week, another weekend. Our second annual prompted writing contest kicked off, but it's not too late to enter! If you're interested in trying your hand at writing a short story over the course of ten days, now's your chance! We are one entry away from our goal of 75, which will unlock five honorable mentions...

You know what's hilarious? Scientology speedruns.If you, too, are late to the party, this is a shadowbanned TikTok trend from April of 2026. It takes effort to run down actual footage without feeding the attention economy lampreys, but hey, wait, was that a “Subway Surfers” meme‽ ((Bonus points for the Jesus and...

Read Deer Xing now!Do you live near any deer?There are deer all over Long Island, but I’m in a residential neighborhood without any woods in the development⁠—there is a sump across the street though. A couple years ago, a neighbor told me there were deer grazing the sump, and I kind of shrugged it off like Alex at...

“Hey, Alex, you seen the deer?” Web called. He was in his driveway, mostly tucked behind the old Ford F-150, a hand-me-down from his father, and leaning over to grab a cigarette from the little Nissan beater he used for his daily commute to the garage.“Deer?” I asked. “No. You been hunting upstate?”“Naw, season...

Zack Rhodes is a Northern CA based cartoonist enjoying the many jokes that life and fatherhood throw at him. Innovator of Free Art Friday in Sonoma County. Receiver of a Community Enrichment Merit award. Currently getting beat up by his 2 year old son, Wade, while typing this biography.

I wanted to earn enough to buy the sun, but here on earth I started hyperventilating and ran out of air. I didn’t breath again until I gasped at the sight of a cream and midnight striped tent. I stopped everything to watch the circus. The acrobats wore the night sky speckled with stars and held a little bronze bird,...