Decorating with Luke by Adam-Troy Castro (Horror)
In a second I’m going to ask you to turn around and look at that spot to the right of the door. But you’ll need to brace yourself. It’s going to be a shock. Just keep one thing in mind: you’re safe. This room may smell of him and you will see soon that it also feels like him, but I promise you hat he will never hurt you, or anybody else, ever again.
Basileus by Robert Silverberg (Science Fiction)
In the shimmering lemon-yellow October light, Cunningham touches the keys of his terminal and summons angels. An instant to load the program, an instant to bring the file up, and there they are, ready to spout from the screen at his command: Apollyon, Anauel, Uriel, and all the rest. Uriel is the angel of thunder and terror; Apollyon is the Destroyer, the angel of the bottomless pit; Anauel is the angel of bankers and commission brokers. Cunningham is fascinated by the multifarious duties and tasks, both exalted and humble, that are assigned to the angels. “Every visible thing in the world is put under the charge of an angel,” said St. Augustine in The Eight Questions.
Horizontal Rain by Mary Robinette Kowal (Fantasy, Science Fiction)
Something large moved through the dusk. Max gripped the arms of his chair, white-knuckled, and stared out the window. The trailer shuddered forward and slid off the foundation blocks holding it up. For an unbelieving moment, Max watched the floor fall away from him, as the trailer tipped on its side and then gravity snared the room.
Lair of the Dragonbird by Robert Silverberg (Fantasy, Science Fiction)
It had taken him five years, but it was worth it. The insurance money from the crashed Space Needle had just barely covered the down payment on the new ship, and it had taken five years to pay for the rest of it. But now—the ship was his. And he was celebrating. The only trouble was the final payment had nearly left him penniless, and the only place he could afford to bend an elbow was a dive like the Vestend.
The Omniplus Ultra by Paul Di Filippo (Science Fiction)
Everyone wants an Omniplus Ultra, and I am not immune to the urge. But of course they are almost impossible to purchase — for love or money. Since their debut nine months ago at the annual Consumer Electronics Show, more than 40 million units have been sold worldwide, exhausting the initial stockpile but barely sating a fraction of consumer demand. The Chinese factories that produce the Omniplus Ultra are tooling up as fast as possible to make more, but retailers cannot guarantee delivery any sooner than six months.
Your Mamma’s Adventures in Parenting by Mary Robinette Kowal (Fantasy, Science Fiction)
Your mama stared at the moon through the viewport of the space station. The goddamn airlock was jammed. How the hell was she supposed to get outside before the change hit without the key? And who thought that a chain was a good idea for an airlock? Her bones ached. The inside of her spacesuit was starting to chafe.
After the Myths Went Home by Robert Silverberg (Science Fiction)
For a while in those years we were calling great ones out of the past, to find out what they were like. This was in the middle twelves—12400 to 12450, say. We called up Caesar and Antony, and also Cleopatra. We got Freud and Marx and Lenin into the same room and let them talk. We summoned Winston Churchill, who was a disappointment (he lisped and drank too much), and Napoleon, who was magnificent. We raided ten millennia of history for our sport.
Events Preceding the Helvetican Renaissance by John Kessel (Science Fiction)
A scraping noise came from behind us. I turned to find that the giant male figure in the center of the fountain had moved. As I watched, its hand jerked another few centimeters. Its foot pulled free of its setting, and it stepped down from the pedestal into the empty basin. We fell back from the fountain. The statue’s eyes glowed a dull orange. Its lips moved, and it spoke in a voice like the scraping together of two files: “Do not flee, little ones.”