The days are longer and longer and the sun burns hotter and hotter. It’s summertime in the northern hemisphere, and where I live that means hiding in the shade as the heat bakes everything into oblivion. Good thing, then, that I have a plethora of excellent short science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories to keep me company. Here are my ten favorite stories from June 2021, full of haunted mirrors, monstrous men, tricksy curses, and climate crises…

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May’s featured short science fiction, fantasy, and horror brings a rather unexpected trend of melancholy. Stories of death and anger, of learning painful lessons, of carving a life out of grief. Some of these stories have moments of hope peeking through the cracks while others are bleak and brutal, but each of them are excellent in their own ways…

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This month I bring you an eccentric mix of short speculative fiction stories. Necromancy and ghosts, trauma and chronic pain, power and identity, sentient fruits and killer security units. Come for the weird, stay for the even weirder…

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A new batch of awesome short speculative fiction coming your way! March delivered a ton of narratively innovative short stories, several of which earned a spot on this list. I also have for you tales of murder and retribution, not-so-distant futures, and the mundane made hilarious…

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This year, I thought I’d do something a little different for my February short speculative fiction spotlight. Instead of a general round-up, I’m going to feature new works by Black writers. And because there were so many great pieces to choose from, I even added a couple extras as honorable mentions. Enjoy these talented creators as we dip back into Black History Month for one last hurrah…

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Ah, January! The start of a new year. Hope springs, life goes on, and new short speculative fiction appears in my inbox like magic. We have some returning favorites in this month’s spotlight and some brand new names. Lots of creepy fantasy and some distressing science fiction. Sorry to those looking for light and fluffy. This month, my ten picks are deep and dark…

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So long 2020. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. 2020 may have been a trash fire of epic proportions, but at least the short speculative fiction was good. These ten science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories were some of my favorites of the end-of-the-year crop. Genderqueer knights, resurrections, people made of fungi, sentient robots, it’s all here, and then some…

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November had a treasure trove of interesting short speculative fiction. I read stories about a sentient spaceship, a dead warrior, chain emails, trauma, resistance, hope, and more…

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By the time you’ll read this, Halloween season will be over and done, but for me right now the world is nothing but decorative gourds and creepy decorations and weird costumes. And, of course, scary stories. Okay, so not every short speculative fiction piece on this list is of the horror variety, but don’t let that stop you from indulging in ten absolutely excellent stories…

Read the rest of this spotlight at Tor.com.