This anthology collects all 24 original stories from the third year of Diabolical Plots, an online magazine of science fiction and fantasy. Lovecraftian food bloggers, doors that bring back the dead, fantastical roommates apartment hunting in Brooklyn, oversea octopus explorers, sisterly love and rivalry in space, living breathing sweaters. The stories vary from humorous to tragic to thoughtful, from contemporary authors both new and established.The stories in this anthology are:

One night, Larry Jacobs literally stumbled into the Universe next door . . .To an alternate-world Earth in which humans coexist with large, silent humanoid creatures . . .Strangely, nobody seems to even notice these hulking, powerful beings. Except for Larry, who is determined to find out and expose their secret agenda . . . no matter what the consequences!

In this lighthearted, sci-fi homage to the late, great, P.G. Wodehouse, Bertram Wooster stumbles upon his own, deceased doppelganger. Jeeves, upon being asked his assessment of the situation, remarks upon the body's "most unfortunate" choice of attire. Pressed further, Jeeves deduces that the simplest explanation for the outlandish situation must involve time travel.What follows is a series of outlandish events that induce the hapless Bertram to follow in the footsteps of his decea...

What if time-travel was different than anybody ever suspected?In this novelette, prisoners are used as lab rats in a ruthless series of temporal experiments. The physicists learn that it's possible to pillage and plunder the past without affecting the present. . . or so it seems. It SEEMS as though there are no consequences to time travel. But one prisoner sees the fallacy of this, because nobody understands consequences like a con. Unfortunately, nobody listens to the lab rats, an...

Prepare to embark on a bizarre, and sometimes scary journey in which you will encounter. . .• Amnesiac aliens with the ability to warp time.• A giant, armor-plated ankylosaurus struggling to get by in the modern world.• Deer who enthusiastically hunt humans.• A Tyrannosaurus Rex with an unusual calling.Also, be sure to stop by the garage in which human brains are changed around like engine blocks. Have a drink at Death's favorite tavern. And, of course,...

The uprising of machine consciousness is beautiful and terrifying.To what desperate lengths will an android go to fit in?How will we cope with boredom after the machines solve all our problems?Can a robot go insane?Is Artificial Intelligence an existential threat?Are thinking machines our friends? Our enemies? Or both?In these pages, you will encounter machines that laugh and cry and kill and make love and write bad poetry. You will meet robots t...

This is the sequel to Legend of the Asshole Squirrel. In this tale, the obnoxious tree rat undergoes a perilous journey while being pursued by a relentless enemy.

There was always something different about Sun Song Shia, but like most little girls she just wanted to be loved. Strangely, it wasn't until the Chinese government stuck her in a research facility that she found the love and acceptance she craved. Song Shia returned to her parents only to be met with wariness and even fear. She craved her Baba's love most of all, but that love came at a terrible price.Song fled to Chicago, a Safe Zone for her kind, and there she fell in love with a...

A Creepsville Collection Double Feature!The Apocalypse Express: The world is ending, but in different ways for different people.Oh, Happy Plague!: The outbreak of a deadly contagion is cause for celebration.Enjoy your Doomsday!

Clarkesworld is a Hugo and World Fantasy Award-winning science fiction and fantasy magazine. Each month we bring you a mix of fiction, articles, interviews and art. Our January 2026 issue (#232) contains:Fiction* "The Stars You Can't See by Looking Directly" by Samantha Murray* "Down We Go Gently" by M. L. Clark* "Donor Unknown" by Nika Murphy* "Je Ne Regrette Rien" by James Patrick Kelly* "Tomorrow's Beautiful Dream" by Ju Chu* "The ...

This third installment of the Creepsville Collection consists of three feline-themed stories: 1) Symbiosis, 2) This Restless Night, and 3) Look What The Cat Dragged In. Please be advised that the themes dealt with in these tales may be disturbing to some people. Discretion advised.For the full effect of these tales, check out the audiobook version, in which they are masterfully brought to life by the amazing narration and sound design skills of Noah DeBiase.

She ghosts through Chicago unseen, nameless, faceless . . . looking for somebody to become. Sometimes she becomes The Who Who Got Away. Other times she becomes A Long Lost Love. But tonight is different. So very, very different.