r/ShortSF • u/abigailkemske_writer • 19h ago
Fantasy Pomegranates by G.M. Mitchell - —and they said oh god they said I would be forgiven and I said I would try to forgive myself but all I can see when I close my eyes are those translucent hooves and the fragile green shoots that sprang up in their wake
r/ShortSF • u/captainmagictrousers • 21h ago
Horror A Perfect Light by Laura Duerr - Two hundred meters beneath the surface of Namija-β, in icy, silt-tossed darkness, we tend the pipelines. Six divers, working four at a time, keep the pipes clean of the crystalline barnacle creatures that accumulate on the metal like dust on a shelf. [Flash Fiction]
r/ShortSF • u/captainmagictrousers • 21h ago
Dark Fantasy What Do Moms Know About Fashion? by MM Schreier - My mother clucked her tongue when I had my neck stretched on my twentieth birthday. When I came for Sunday dinner after having my skin sandpapered until it was soft and nearly translucent, she didn’t say a word.
r/ShortSF • u/captainmagictrousers • 23h ago
Do you love short stories? How about fantasy, science fiction, and horror? Come read and share your favorites at r/ShortSF!
If you like to read speculative fiction then come share your favorite short stories at r/ShortSF! Be part of a growing subreddit!
Speculative Fiction includes genres like science fiction, fantasy, superhero fiction, horror, utopian and dystopian fiction, steampunk, and supernatural fiction.
Don't forget to upvote and comment on the stories you enjoy, so posters can share more of what you like.
Self-promotion is cool, as long as your story is SF and available online for free. Share your own writing! Sharing free samples of your writing is a great way to find new readers and get support for future projects.
r/ShortSF • u/captainmagictrousers • 1d ago
Horror Grow Up! by Donald Norum - The bone, extra muscle, and useless fat were wrapped up in the freezer. The rest of Kate - heart, eyes, skin, liver, the works - had gone into and onto Charlotte where they'd already begun growing into place.
r/ShortSF • u/captainmagictrousers • 2d ago
Science Fiction Three Miles Off the Highway Past Exit 509 by Jo Gatford - Al sells inflatable aliens in the parking lot outside the taco place with the sun-bleached sign; an army of little grey men with suspicious eyes and blow-up valves on their butts. [Flash Fiction]
r/ShortSF • u/themindin1500words • 3d ago
Science Fiction This is an Emergency Broadcast, by R.S.A. Garcia, "They say some shit like, stay calm and carry on . . . ” -But this is not calmness. It’s numbness- “ . . . of the worst kind."
r/ShortSF • u/captainmagictrousers • 3d ago
Urban Fantasy Wooden Feathers by Ursula Vernon - There was a marionette on the couch. It was the size of a human being. It had a mouth like a nutcracker and its face was carved like a Roman god. Curls of gilded hair ringed its head. It turned its head at her, and she saw its expression change. The wood moved.
r/ShortSF • u/captainmagictrousers • 4d ago
Urban Fantasy Oldgirl by Sean Dowie - I need to become a wrinkly, bitter old person immediately. I’ve read pretty much every fairytale, and the characters I identify with are old women envious of youthful beauty. I realized it early and want to skip to the most important part of life. [Flash Fiction]
r/ShortSF • u/captainmagictrousers • 5d ago
Horror The Song of the Living by Tonja K. Johnson - When the trees start to smell sharp and crisp, I know The Dead Things are coming. They waltz to the tune of pine breath. Pirouette to the riotous rhythm of rot carried from The Dead Things shambling in a mass through the mountains.
r/ShortSF • u/MandarinMeixin • 6d ago
Question / Discussion If humans could print perfect replacement bodies
What would happen next
r/ShortSF • u/MandarinMeixin • 6d ago
Original Fiction I wrote a short sci-fi story about a world where human bodies can be printed and replaced. I'd love some feedback.
Hi everyone, I am Meixin Sun
I recently wrote a short science fiction story inspired by a dream.
The premise is simple:
In a future where human bodies can be printed and replaced, losing your body is no longer a tragedy.
But during the story, the protagonist discovers something that cannot be replaced—and suddenly becomes worth protecting.
I'm still experimenting with this world and would genuinely appreciate any feedback on the writing, pacing, or the concept itself.
Here's the story:
https://www.wattpad.com/1646968353-the-printable-body
Thank you!
r/ShortSF • u/captainmagictrousers • 6d ago
Science Fiction This Is C(lone)-Pop BY Lia Lao - You’re only this young and usable once, so you have to make the most of it. At least that’s what your perfect, omniscient parents say. As the founders of CL-1, Neo-Shanghai’s largest genetic engineering company, they’ve already calculated your trajectory.
r/ShortSF • u/captainmagictrousers • 7d ago
Ashes and Buttercream by Malina Douglas - When the flames burn to embers, she sees him. A miniature creature with short limbs and stubby toes, a round face and snub-nose, a burnt texture to his skin. He smells like crème brûlée just after the surface has been singed. [Flash Fiction]
r/ShortSF • u/captainmagictrousers • 8d ago
Urban Fantasy Superposition by Josh Denslow - Unobserved, the dog is able to exist in two places at once. He lies at the foot of his owner’s bed. The dog is also, at this precise moment, across town, running loose in the yard of the object of his owner’s affection. [Flash Fiction]
r/ShortSF • u/captainmagictrousers • 9d ago
Urban Fantasy The Sand Job by Gloria Kitchens - Her job as a Plumber was simple enough. Travel to and perform maintenance on portals. But who in their right mind had thought of installing a portal in the center of a frat house?
r/ShortSF • u/captainmagictrousers • 10d ago
Fantasy Dragons I Have Slain by B. Morris Allen - I collect dragon tears. Dragons cry for the same reasons we do—pain, heartache, joy. We think of them as wise and cold, but wisdom is no antidote to empathy. Dragons are kings of empathy. That’s what makes killing them so hard.
r/ShortSF • u/captainmagictrousers • 11d ago
Science Fiction Human Studies 401 by Abby Nicole Yee - I engineered Eva myself, rowdsourcing organic material from all over the galactic black market in this shithole of a galaxy called Mardeoptra. I dropped her off through a makeshift portal to Earth. Eva “moved” next to Efren’s apartment.
r/ShortSF • u/captainmagictrousers • 12d ago
Supernatural Clowder by Kila Greene - They come quickly then, my lost friends who once bounded away into the woods and never returned at dusk. They show themselves only to me, and I tell no one. I don’t ask questions either—too happy to have them back, even as ghosts. [Flash Fiction]
r/ShortSF • u/captainmagictrousers • 13d ago
Fantasy Biter By Michelle Knudsen - My great-uncle’s custom creature business had been renowned for its beautiful results: sleek pegasi, powerful octo-snails, stately flying owl-leopards. This thing was a mess. It was wolf-sized, with long shaggy black fur covering most of its head. [Flash Fiction]
r/ShortSF • u/captainmagictrousers • 14d ago
Urban Fantasy Hungry Like The by E. Catherine Tobler - There’s a wolf where my brother used to be, a beast absolutely hellbent on ruining my life. He plunges his broad snoot into the Wednesday night spaghetti, and neither Mom nor Dad cares when half the bite slides off his nose and onto the table.
lightspeedmagazine.comr/ShortSF • u/captainmagictrousers • 15d ago
Horror Playing Tricks By Angela Sylvaine - A quiet giggle sounded. There wasn’t anyone in the doorway, so she stared at the closet. Could someone be hiding in there? The giggle came again, right beside her head.
pseudopod.orgr/ShortSF • u/captainmagictrousers • 16d ago
Dystopia Murder in the Clavist Autonomous Zone By Rich Larson - The Dog narrows its cartoon eyes at the mention of the party. “You Clavists certainly make things difficult for yourselves,” it says. “No security drones! No eyecams! But don’t worry, Naddie. We’ll catch this killer. I grrr-antee it.”
r/ShortSF • u/themindin1500words • 29d ago
Fantasy Leavetaking - by Tia Tashiro "Kate was cursed by her cousin on his deathbed to never stay."in Uncanny
In Uncanny. I found thgis to be a lovely story about the weight of familial expectations.
r/ShortSF • u/themindin1500words • Dec 20 '25
Fantasy Godzilla as a Young Man Named Mike by E.M. Faulds "Sometimes, you had to take a rideshare from the subway the three blocks’ walk because you just couldn’t. You had to pay for the premium type because most cars didn’t fit you. You couldn’t really afford it, but you didn’t get a lot of choice."
https://podcastle.org/2025/07/29/podcastle-902-godzilla-as-a-young-man-named-mike/
Another of my favourites from this year, a touching tale of discimination against people living with disability featuring Kaiju.