I spent the year feeling perpetually behind on reading short things, and I finished it the same way. The thing is, though, that I would rather shout about the things I got to and liked than hold off because I didn’t get to everything. And so here we are.
Do Houses Dream of Scraping the Sky?, Jana Bianchi (Uncanny)
Testimony of an Encounter with the Death-Mage, Taken at the Canal Village of Po-Endenn, Stephen Case (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
This Mentor Lives, J. R. Dawson and John Wiswell (Haven Spec)
For Kristen, Who Would Have Turned 47 Today, Melissa Frederick (The Deadlands)
Father Ash, Rachel Hartman (Sunday Morning Transport)
Reciprocity, Valerie Kemp (Haven Spec)
Carbon Cycle, Lindsay King-Miller (The Deadlands)
Evan: A Remainder, Jordan Kurella (Reactor)
A Series of Accounts Surrounding the Risen Lady of the Orun-Alai and Other Alleged Miracles in the Final Days of the Riverlands War, Aimee Ogden (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
Caring for Your Damage Sponge, Rich Larson (Small Wonders)
Morphology, Jennifer Mace (Strange Horizons)
Pockets Full of Stones, Jennifer Mace (Uncanny)
Sparsely Populated With Stars, Jennifer Mace (Flash Fiction Online)
The Ways the Woods May Answer, Jennifer Mace (Haven Spec)
Hot Hearts, Lyndsie Manusos (Lightspeed)
Further Examination and Capture of Candle Skulls Associated with the Baba Yaga, Mari Ness (Lightspeed)
Letters from Mt. Monroe Elementary, Third Grade, Sarah Pauling (Diabolical Plots)
The Only Writing Advice You’ll Ever Need to Survive Eldritch Horrors, Aimee Picchi (Lightspeed)
Blackjack, Veronica Schanoes (Reactor)
At the Stopping Place, Grace Seybold (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
The Empty Ones, Vivian Shaw (The Deadlands)
The Weight of Your Own Ashes, Carlie St. George (Clarkesworld)
Amitruq Nekyia, Sonya Taaffe (Strange Horizons)
“Hagstone,” Sonya Taaffe (Not One of Us, Issue #78)
An Intergalactic Smuggler’s Guide to Homecoming, Tia Tashiro (Clarkesworld)
Moon Pies, Taylor Thackaberry (Uncharted)
Skinless, Eugenia Triantafyllou (Haven Spec)
Five Answers to Questions You Probably Have, John Wiswell (Uncanny)
The Great Beyond Commands, John Wiswell (Small Wonders)
I’ll Miss Myself, John Wiswell (Reactor)