At the beginning of each month, we here at Tor.com will post the next two months of our schedule of original short fiction. Check back monthly to get excited for upcoming short stories, novelettes, and novellas on Tor.com! Below the cut you’ll find information on stories in March and April by Veronica Schanoes, Sabrina Vourvoulias, Usman T. Malik, and more.
March and April’s fiction contains jinni, doomed boys, and the Spanish Inquisition.
March 4
“The Shape of my Name”
Written by Nino Cipri
Illustration by Richie Pope
Edited by Ann VanderMeer
“The Shape of My Name” by Nino Cipri is a time travel story about what it means to truly claim yourself.
March 11
“Thyme Fiend”
Written by Jeffrey Ford
Illustration by John Jude Palencar
Edited by Ellen Datlow
“The Thyme Fiend” by Jeffrey Ford is a dark fantasy novelette about a young man who can only prevent seeing visions by eating or smoking thyme. When he finds the skeleton of a missing man the skeleton begins to haunt him. What does it want?
March 18
“The Museum and the Music Box”
Written by Noah Keller
Illustration by Victo Ngai
Edited by Ann VanderMeer
A neglected museum gradually succumbs to the elements. A music box rusts beneath a bell of glass. Fragmented texts are pieced together which tell the history of a lost love, the destruction of a civilization, and the origin of the museum.
March 25
“Dog”
Written by Bruce McAllister
Illustration by Scott Bakal
Edited by Ellen Datlow
“Dog” by Bruce McAllister is a chilling horror story about a young American couple who encounter dogs in Mexico very unlike any domesticated variety north of the border.
April 1
“Ballroom Blitz”
Written by Veronica Schanoes
Illustration by Anna and Elena Balbusso
Edited by Ellen Datlow
“Ballroom Blitz” by Veronica Schanoes is a contemporary fairy tale about a young man, who along with his eleven brothers, have been cursed to remain in a rock club for their bad behavior. Their only shot at freedom might be the twelve sisters who one day enter the club.
April 15
“The Ways of Walls and Words”
Written by Sabrina Vourvoulias
Illustration by Tran Nguyen
Edited by Carl Engle-Laird
Anica and Bienvenida pass prayers and small comforts through the gaps in the prison walls. Incarcerated by the Inquisition for the faith she won’t surrender, Anica longs for solace for her family and freedom for herself. And Bienvenida, heir to her mother’s Nahua magic, now practiced out of sight of the Spanish religious authorities, will trade a great deal for the fragile chance at friendship and snippets of poetry.
April 22
“The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn”
Written by Usman T. Malik
Illustration by Victo Ngai
Edited by Ellen Datlow
“The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn” by Usman T. Malik is a fantasy novella about a disenchanted young Pakistani professor who grew up and lives in the United States, but is haunted by the magical, mystical tales his grandfather told him of a princess and a Jinn who lived in Lahore when the grandfather was a boy.
April 29
“Ambiguity Machines: An Examination”
Written by Vandana Singh
Illustration by Pascal Campion
Edited by Ann VanderMeer
This tale is an unusual take on an engineering exam that explores new concepts in machine design and function. All new machine discoveries must be investigated and classified. This is the story of three such machines and the truth or lie of their existence.
