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Text Content

 * EA Prime
 * Escape Pod
 * PodCastle
 * PseudoPod
 * Cast of Wonders
 * CatsCast
 *  
 *  


THE FANTASY FICTION PODCAST


THE FANTASY FICTION PODCAST

 * 
 * 
 * 



Toggle navigation
 *  
 * About
   * About Us
   * Our Crew
   * Press Kit
 * News
 * Episodes
   * All Episodes
   * 2023 Original Fiction
   * 2022 Original Fiction
   * For New Listeners
 * Submissions
   * Guidelines
   * Schedule
   * Moksha Portal
   * Narrator Guidelines
 * 2023 Award Voter Packet

Search for: Search
 *  
 * About
   * About Us
   * Our Crew
   * Press Kit
 * News
 * Episodes
   * All Episodes
   * 2023 Original Fiction
   * 2022 Original Fiction
   * For New Listeners
 * Submissions
   * Guidelines
   * Schedule
   * Moksha Portal
   * Narrator Guidelines
 * 2023 Award Voter Packet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 * EA Prime
 * Escape Pod
 * PodCastle
 * PseudoPod
 * Cast of Wonders
 * CatsCast
 *  
 *  



 * 
 * 
 * 

 * April 9, 2023


PODCASTLE’S 15TH ANNIVERSARY – LISTENER’S RECOMMENDATIONS



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As part of our 15th anniversary celebrations, we want to gather recommendations
from you, our listeners, for favourite stories from our archive. We’ll read
selected recommendations out at the end of our shows through the end of 2023;
you just need to complete this short form, anonymously if you prefer, and we’ll
take it into consideration.

Thank you for celebrating with us!


 * November 21, 2023


PODCASTLE 814: CHEWING THROUGH WIRE

 * Author : Chris Kuriata
 * Narrator : Tatiana Grey
 * Host : Matt Dovey
 * Audio Producer : Devin Martin
 * Discuss on Forums

Previously published in the anthology Food Of My People in 2021

Content warnings for human and animal death

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SHOW NOTES

Rated PG-13

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


CHEWING THROUGH WIRE

BY CHRIS KURIATA

 

Each evening, Auntie Shanta washes her muddy feet in the same bowl she eats her
dinner from. She keeps clean bowls stacked in her cupboard, but those are
reserved for company only. Auntie Shanta needn’t say so, but it’s been painfully
long since the bowls last served company. The deep, wooden basins rumble like
empty bellies after a long journey.

“She’s a darling.”

Auntie Shanta’s ancient arms strain under Emery’s weight, but she finds a
reserve of strength in her ailing body and hefts the baby over her head.
Sunlight beams through a hole in the roof, warming Emery and making her smile.

Pucks of dried mud in the shape of boot heels litter the front hall. I locate a
broom and sweep them out into the acreage’s breeze. “When do the neighbours
visit?”

Auntie Shanta makes faces at the baby. “Every goddam day.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Auntie Shanta welcomes us with tea. “Keep an eye on him,” she warns of the great
lizard who lies basking on the stone window sill. He looks too lazy to take an
interest in Emery, but given the circumstances under which he and Auntie Shanta
met, he cannot be trusted around a baby.

More years ago than I’ve been alive, during a routine walk to the fences, Auntie
Shanta kicked a pile of hot dust, wanting to see the individual grains sparkle
in the red setting sun, unaware the lizard was sleeping within. As payback for
her inconsiderate act, the lizard bit her ankle and would not let go, no matter
how much Auntie Shanta sweet-talked him. She told her funniest jokes, but got
not so much as a giggle. Only a switch to sad stories set the lizard’s jaw
quivering until he finally released the grip on her ankle. (Continue Reading…)


 * November 14, 2023


PODCASTLE 813: STITCH BY KATHLEEN SCHAEFER

 * Author : Kathleen Schaefer
 * Narrator : Ant Bacon
 * Host : Matt Dovey
 * Audio Producer : Eric Valdes
 * Discuss on Forums

PodCastle 813: Stitch by Kathleen Schaefer is a PodCastle original.

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SHOW NOTES

Rated PG-13

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


STITCH

BY KATHLEEN SCHAEFER

Dalia doesn’t like how the stale hospital air pricks at her cheeks, and Aden
doesn’t understand why no one else notices. He snatches his newborn daughter
back from his husband.

“There you are,” he says, adjusting Dalia’s blanket to shield her face. “You
need to keep her comfortable.” He holds Dalia to his chest and finds she likes
the beat of his heart.

“She wasn’t even fussing,” says Garret, and only then does Aden realize that
maybe new fathers don’t always know that their daughter’s left foot itches (he
massages it beneath the swaddling blanket) or that a buildup of gas from her
last feeding pushes against her stomach.

There’s something in Aden’s head. His daughter’s mind is in his head. Or rather,
there’s a knot through which he slips in and out of his daughter’s thoughts.

“A mind stitch,” the nurse diagnoses by shining a flashlight in Aden’s eyes. His
daughter’s pupils contract in response — a two-way bond, Dalia watching the
world through his eyes.

The nurse pulls her away from him. “Mind melds with children. That’s wrong.
Illegal and wrong.” She holds her hand over the infant’s head like a shield. An
ineffective one, as Aden still feels the blanket slip from around Dalia’s face,
exposing her once more to the stinging air.

“Wrong?” The nurse blocks him from comforting his child, and Aden’s throat
constricts in anger — an anger he knows how to contain, but his daughter does
not. Dalia screams, bellowing fury on his behalf.

He is supposed to protect his child from his pain and fears, not reflect them
back to her. Aden leans on the wall, closing his eyes against his tiny
daughter’s all-encompassing rage. Garret squeezes his hand. (Continue Reading…)


 * November 7, 2023


PODCASTLE 812: ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: NO MERCY TO THE REST

 * Author : Bennett North
 * Narrator : C. L. Clark
 * Host : Matt Dovey
 * Audio Producers : Devin Martin and Peter Adrian Behravesh
 * Discuss on Forums

PodCastle 812: ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: No Mercy to the Rest is a PodCastle
original.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:25:06 — 117.4MB)

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SHOW NOTES

Rated PG-13

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


NO MERCY TO THE REST

BY BENNETT NORTH

Sadie parked in the lee of Castle Inferno, where she would be spared from the
wind, and sat while the engine ticked, trying to convince herself to let go of
the steering wheel.

The castle stood stark against the sky, dark stone walls leaching the saturation
from the blue. One tower was burned out and soot-streaked. No sign of repair.
Was Dr. Inferno hard up for cash or did fresh tarmac interfere with the mad
scientist aesthetic?

Sadie grabbed the swinging St. Christopher medal from the rearview mirror and
squeezed it. “Keep an eye on me, Gemma,” she said. “This is for you.”

The stairs that hugged the foundation ended at a pair of wooden doors set into a
stone arch that had to be thirty feet tall. Sadie ducked into the corner of the
arch, out of the wind, and pressed the plastic doorbell button.

Something heavy thunked inside, then one of the doors opened enough for a woman
to lean out. She was white, with frizzy, graying hair, a Red Sox T-shirt, and
jeans.

“Sadie Jones?” the woman asked, looking her up and down.

“That’s me,” said Sadie. “I’m looking for an . . . Igor?” (Continue Reading…)


 * October 31, 2023


PODCASTLE 811: APOLÉPISI: A DE-SCALING

 * Author : Suzan Palumbo
 * Narrator : Shingai Njeri Kagunda
 * Host : Matt Dovey
 * Audio Producer : Devin Martin
 * Discuss on Forums

Previously published by Lightspeed Magazine

Content warning for terminal illness

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:13 — 35.1MB)

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SHOW NOTES

Rated PG-13

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


APOLÉPISI: A DE-SCALING

BY: SUZAN PALUMBO

I find Aleda’s scale, sticky with ichor, tucked between the tentacles of our
pink anemone bed. I tweeze it out from the undulating appendages with my thumb
and index finger and flounder against my escalating heart rate.

Aleda’s swishing back and forth, getting ready for work near the mouth of our
cave. It’s time for her to catch the current to the school where she teaches
merlets the whisper of the sea.

“I love those ‘mussel heads’,” she’ll say when she returns and rests her hands
on my shoulder later tonight. I’ll swivel around and squeeze her so close a
longing will bloom in my chest. Except this time, the need won’t fade with the
dwindling evening. It will deepen like a cavern and devour me.

I should call out; show her the errant piece of her body that signals the end of
our days together before she’s off to the currents.

Let’s have this last carefree day.

The thought crests and seals my mouth mollusc tight. When she’s gone, I pretend
it’s the cold moment she’s left forever and let desolation creep over me like
the shadow of a shark. (Continue Reading…)


 * October 24, 2023


PODCASTLE 810: AND IN RAIN, BLANK PAGES

 * Author : Lora Gray
 * Narrator : Joe Moran
 * Host : Matt Dovey
 * Audio Producer : Devin Martin
 * Discuss on Forums

Previously published by Fantasy & Science Fiction

Content warnings for a surgical procedure, homophobia (including slurs),
assault, sexual assault, and domestic violence

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:30 — 50.6MB)

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SHOW NOTES

Rated R

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


AND IN RAIN, BLANK PAGES

BY LORA GRAY

 

It’s 1981, I’m nineteen and now I know the truth.

It rains in New York just like it rains in Indiana.

I’m wretched as a wet kitten and drunk, trudging through Brooklyn in a cardigan
and combat boots. My lip is split. My left eye is beginning to swell.

I’m not even sure I know how to write poetry anymore.

Funny that I grabbed the notebook Tony gave me before running from his
apartment, as if the potential of those blank pages was somehow more vital than
an umbrella. A jacket. Fucking socks.

By the time I find an open diner, my feet are soaked and I’m shivering so hard
it takes three tries to open the door. It looks empty and nobody greets me, but
the stink of old grease presses over me like a damp palm. I sniffle, card my
fingers through my hair, tacky with Aqua Net, and squelch my way to a booth.
(Continue Reading…)


 * October 17, 2023


PODCASTLE 809: THE WOMAN ON THE BALCONY

 * Author : Dorothy Quick
 * Narrator : Valerie Valdes
 * Host : Matt Dovey
 * Audio Producer : Eric Valdes
 * Discuss on Forums

Previously published by Weird Tales

Content warnings for murder and references to torture

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 43:02 — 59.6MB)

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SHOW NOTES

Rated PG-13

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


THE WOMAN ON THE BALCONY

BY DOROTHY QUICK

 

Sherry thought she had never seen anything more beautiful than the Villa del
Quisce.

White and shining it nestled halfway up one of the Italian foothills like a
snowy flower sheltered by greenery. The glass glistened in the sunlight. Its
marble columns were perfection and at its foot was the violent blue of a lesser
lake than Como but having the same intense loveliness. Green lawns, lemon trees,
oleanders and flower beds sloped down from the Villa to the sandy shore. Tall
cypresses outlined the road that curved upwards. Small spring flowers grouped
around the roots of the trees. Violets sprinkled the grass in abundance.

“It looks like some heavenly stage set designed by Bel Geddes,” Sherry thought,
“ too beautiful to be real.” Then, suddenly looking at Gio sitting tall and
straight beside her, “But it is real, and its ours — our honeymoon house —”

Just at that moment Gio slowed the car and turned to her. “Do you like it, my
darling?” he asked. (Continue Reading…)


 * October 9, 2023


PODCASTLE 808: ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: THE SETTLEMENT

 * Author : WC Dunlap
 * Narrator : Kimberly Taylor
 * Hosts : Matt Dovey and Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali
 * Audio Producers : Eric Valdes and Pria Wood
 * Discuss on Forums

PodCastle 808: ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: The Settlement is a PodCastle original.

Content warnings for violence and adult themes

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:29:49 — 123.8MB)

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SHOW NOTES

Rated R

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


THE SETTLEMENT

BY WC DUNLAP

They file out into the predawn chill before the rest of the settlement is awake.
Cloaked by a thick fog and the still darkness of a waning night, they carry
shovels and picks. Despite the high collars and low hats that conceal their
faces, their attempts at anonymity are wasted. I recognize them instantly
through the frost of the kitchen window, their layers of clothing stitched by my
own hand or those of my brethren.

I see you Reverend John Able, Matthias Smith, Thomas Gore, William Roe and
Matthew Surgeon. And God sees you too.

They are silent in their duties, barely even looking at one another. Their
breath visible in heavy puffs that quickly condense into white frost, as they
pound the hard, frozen earth. They dig deeper, until the ground cracks, and
still farther until they hit bone. It is hard work and it takes an hour before
the first body is pulled up.

(Continue Reading…)


 * October 3, 2023


PODCASTLE 807: DOUBLE FEATURE: GENTLER THINGS AND THE SIGILIST’S NOTES ON THE
FELL LORD’S STAFF

 * Authors : Thomas Ha and Stephen Granade
 * Narrators : Stephen Granade and Lucy McLoughlin
 * Host : Matt Dovey
 * Audio Producer : Eric Valdes
 * Discuss on Forums

“Gentler Things” is a PodCastle Original

“The Sigilist’s Notes on the Fell Lord’s Staff” was previously published by
Baffling Magazine

Content warning for the death of a parent in “Gentler Things”

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SHOW NOTES

Rated PG

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


GENTLER THINGS

BY THOMAS HA

 

Of course they don’t tell you about the Prince Who Lost.

Theirs are only the stories of victories.

It’s true they once described the steadiness of the Prince’s hands when raising
the three-bladed spetum, the potent poise and power he possessed when clearing
the fields of invaders rising from oceans of the dead. Or the celestial runes
inscribed along the fuller of his sword, the very same weapon wielded by his
King-father, before the weight of years kept the old man to the warmth of the
keep. Or of Abhainn, the Prince’s flare-steed, who carried him unfathomable
distances, a blood horse gifted from the apogeic families, so conjoined with his
thoughts that the two moved like a curved leaf on gusts of wind, slipping past
walls and abatises and outstretched hands. But all of the stories stopped after
the Ossean Caves, when the Prince sought the Last Wyrmlet and never returned,
because grim tales do little to fill the purses of poets.

Men preferred to hear of the Conqueror — the knight-rough who later did what the
Prince could not — the one to finally slay the Wyrmlet and carry its bloodied
body to the sun at the surface. Better, they thought, to speak of him than dwell
on all of those men before, whose bones were ground beneath his boot-heel in his
advances through the hollowed caverns. This is what they want to hear, my father
always told us: the ones who win, not the ones who lose.

And who could blame them? (Continue Reading…)


 * September 26, 2023


PODCASTLE 806: DIAMONDS AND PEARLS

 * Author : JL George
 * Narrator : Jordan Price Williams
 * Host : Matt Dovey
 * Audio Producer : Devin Martin
 * Discuss on Forums

Previously published by Fireside

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:20 — 38.0MB)

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SHOW NOTES

Rated R

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


DIAMONDS AND PEARLS

BY JL GEORGE

 

Diamonds are two a penny, but everybody wants them anyway.

At first, Osian thinks it’s because they hurt. Every time he speaks a new word
in the common tongue and a diamond comes up, it feels like dying, like its hard
angles will tear his throat open. Something you have to suffer for like that,
you hold on to. You want to believe it’s worth something.

On the other hand, once you’ve brought it up, wiped away the blood and sucked on
a lozenge to soothe the soreness, you can pretend a diamond didn’t come out of
you at all. It’s such a sharp, mineral thing. Pearls are different — stubbornly
organic. They roll out of the throat with ease, sticky only with saliva, and
they come with the old tongue. Rounded, with a dull shine, they look like a
product of the flesh.

At the end of each week, Mrs. Toms has the class empty out their handfuls of
diamonds onto their desks, with a bar of chocolate or a book token for whoever
has the most. The stones spill everywhere, and the classroom becomes a cold,
bright place, an ocean of diamonds whose images glitter behind Osian’s eyelids
when he blinks.

They don’t count up the pearls. Some of the other kids have strings of them,
pale shimmering legacies from grandparents, worn discreetly beneath their school
shirts. Osian doesn’t. Grandmother never passed the old tongue down. Her
knuckles were rapped when she spoke it in school, and later, friends would
hesitantly say, Well, I suppose we have to move with the times, and You want
your kids to get good jobs, don’t you? and What’s the point? (Continue Reading…)


 * September 19, 2023


PODCASTLE 805: THE SOMNAMBULANT

 * Author : Sam W. Pisciotta
 * Narrator : Nicola Chapman
 * Host : Matt Dovey
 * Discuss on Forums

PodCastle 805: The Somnambulant is a PodCastle original.

Content warning for assault

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SHOW NOTES

Rated PG-13

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


THE SOMNAMBULANT

BY SAM W. PISCIOTTA

 

The moon sits plump within a windowpane as if plucked from the sky and framed
for safekeeping. Bound by forces beyond our control, the moon and I share a
yearning to pull free. I touch my finger on the icy glass and dream of leaving
this place.

But I’m often reminded that such dreams are not for me.

Waiting in the small antechamber, I rise to the tips of my toes, an elevé to
focus the mind — legs quiet, core taut, head tilted just so. A dancer’s body.
Countless hours of plié, relevé, and sauté. I hold this pose and listen.

Murmurs from the next room. The clink of wine glasses. A shred of laughter.
Outside, the final night of winter. The tight drone of propellers slices the
evening air as the bulk of an airship moves to block the moon’s full light. The
last of the guests have arrived.

Father enters the room. He glowers and pulls me toward the closed door leading
to the dining room. “Katya, what are you wearing? Where’s the gown I laid out
for you?”

Icy-white layers of tulle drape from my hips, a romantic tutu in the style of
Taglioni flowing just past my knees. A white leotard beneath a soft-pink bodice,
and slippers laced with pink ribbon. Perfection. My feet move into the fifth
position. I bend at the knees and push into a small assemblé. Since that night
in London’s West End at Her Majesty’s Theatre, I have lived for one purpose.
This evening, I’ll find my soul and gain my freedom. (Continue Reading…)


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