Must Read Short Speculative Fiction: November 2024

I don’t know about you, but this has been a rough fall for me. Lotta big things happening all at once that have left things for me in a state of disarray and uncertainty. In tough times, I often turn to fiction to help me process my feelings. These ten short science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories were my rage, my joy, my sorrow, my righteous revenge, my “screw you,” and my catharsis.

“Because Flora Had Existed. And I Had Loved Her | Porque Flora Existiu. E Eu A Amei” by Anna Martino

This story is structured as a collection of quotes and text by and about Pedro Zephyr, a postal worker turned writer. Pedro dreams of a woman named Flora, and these dreams feel almost as real as the real world. He has a whole life with Flora in those dreams. What is real and what is fantasy? Is Pedro mad or prophetic? Does it matter? A fascinating story of a fractured life. I love the way this was pieced together, that it feels like puzzle pieces being put together. (Samovar—October 28, 2024)

“Confessions of a Mech Made of Flesh” by KJ Sabourin

“At times, the version of girl I acquired at my conception grates away at my ability to exist in the sight of others. At others, I’m reminded of how puppeteering the boy inside of me will always inflect my girlhood. For now, I use the fluid to suspend myself between the two, rippling between girl and boy with every touch to my surface.” Our narrator needs the “gender fluid” to pilot their mech, but they also feel like the machine itself. The mech is more than themself and also makes them more themself. A powerful story about gender, transitioning, and giant humanoid machines. (Augur—November 2024; issue 7.3)

“Dead Notice” by Ruth EJ Booth

“It is with great joy and not a little relief that the family of Harry Hetherington announce his passing on April 24th. Loved ones of Harry may be a little confused to hear this news, not least after the four previous notices the family have posted in this newspaper over the past two weeks.” This obituary for a guy who keeps dying then coming back cracked me up. His deaths keep getting more elaborate until finally someone succeeds in killing him for good. A great piece of flash. (Flash Point Science Fiction—November 29, 2024)

“The Husband” by Seema Yasmin

Bibi and her second husband Babu finally have guests after several years of marriage. Bibi spends hours prepping meals and decorating their home. Oddly, their guests are not as friendly as Bibi expected. I’ll admit, it took me a hot minute to figure out what was going on here. Like Amina and Arif, the couple visiting our main character Bibi and her husband Babu, I kept thinking “no, Seema Yasmin can’t be doing what I think she’s doing,” but oh yes, my friends, she did. I won’t spoil the surprise, but it’s a hoot. This story was published in the anthology Djinnology: An Illuminated Compendium of Spirits and Stories from the Muslim World about the same time as in State of Matter. (State of Matter—November 2024; issue 15)

“The Last Word” by Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe

An “angel of creation” escapes their prison in the “prosperous and wicked” city of Nitsha. A priest had their tongue cut out and left them wordless, or so he thought. Eleda has found a way to speak magic Words that don’t require language. Now free, Eleda turns their ire onto the people that captured and tortured them. It packs a punch greater than you’d expect for a story barely over 1200 words. What a world! (Lightspeed—November 2024; issue 174)

“Let Her Collect Stamps” by Juniper White

“And she knew it to be the most powerful spell she had ever written. And so when she wrote my life, she started with an obituary, because she knew I would die someday, but within she could cause a life to blossom.” A woman escapes Death and travels to a new country, unable to ever return home. She keeps a key to the life she left behind and passes it down. For her daughter, she casts a spell granting her a “boring” life, knowing that there is more living in the “mundane” than in being a hero. I was tearing up by the end of this story, not because it’s sad but because it’s full of hope in the face of devastation and violence. The protagonist reminds me of my own ancestors who endured centuries of slavery. My ancestors didn’t have wild dreams for their descendants. My ancestors only wanted their children to survive and live happy, safe lives. (Apex Magazine—November 2024; issue 147)

“The Lighthouse Keeper” by Melinda Brasher

After the death of their infant daughter, our narrator takes a job running a lighthouse. There are three rules: don’t talk to locals, never go down to the beach, and never let the light go out. At first, things go smoothly. Our narrator has everything they need and isn’t tempted to break any rules. Until one night when a storm crashes through. Melinda Brasher’s story about a person who loses everything is chilling in the best way. It’s a haunting tale of desperation. (Diabolical Plots—November 15, 2024; #117B)

“Margeaux Poppins: Monster Hunter” by L. D. Lewis

I was never much for Mary Poppins as a kid. She was too saccharine for my taste. You can jump into chalk drawings and fly with a magical umbrella and all you’re going to do with it is teach kids to be nicer to their finance bro dad? Pass. L. D. Lewis gives me the Poppins I never knew I needed with her new story about Mary’s black sheep sister. Margeaux jumps into paintings not to impart morality lessons on the importance of the nuclear family or whatever but to battle demons and hit on cute, buff ladies. A much better use of her time, frankly. (Sunday Morning Transport—November 3, 2024)

“A Slightly Different Sunrise from Mercury, Nevada” by Íde Hennessy

Set several decades into the future, this story is set at Base Camp Mercury in the Nevada desert. For much of the latter half of the 20th century, the US military conducted nuclear bomb testing there. The story veers from historical fact to science fiction with the revelation that all that atom-splitting created a time portal. During the “Great Privatization” of the 2060s, the land was sold off to become a tourist trap where customers could dress up in old-timey clothes and watch bombs go off in the 1950s through the portal. Annie’s job is to watch for alterations in the timeline, big and small. Any changes to the past can alter the future…which may not be such a bad thing. A story about people stuck in late stage capitalism and holding onto a tiny piece of rebellion. (Strange Horizons—November 18, 2024)

“Worse than a Wolf” by Wen Wen Yang

Little Red Riding Hood for the 21st century. Our narrator is a young woman who immigrated with her family from China to rural Oregon. They’re assisted by Mu, who immigrated years before. At first he seems kind, but then he sets his cruel sights on our narrator. While foraging in the woods one afternoon, she encounters two classic fairytale figures intertwined: an old woman who turns out to be something far more powerful and a wolf with an appetite for humans. I love a good revenge story, especially one where a young person finds their power and takes back what was stolen from them. (Cast of Wonders—November 16, 2024; #616)