Review of Sasha Brown, “Citizens!” Flash Fiction Online 152 (May 2026): 28-31 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
There was something both very real and very surreal about this story. I really enjoyed it!
REVIEW: “This Is Your Village” by Charlie Kieft
Review of Charlie Kieft, “This Is Your Village,” Flash Fiction Online 152 (May 2026): 23-27 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This is probably the most depressing story that I have read in years.
REVIEW: “The Screaming Garden” by Em Starr
Review of Em Starr, “The Screaming Garden,” Flash Fiction Online 152 (May 2026): 20-22 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was an absolutely delicious piece of horror. I don’t normally expect to enjoy horror pieces because of their humor, but I absolutely enjoyed this one because of that.
(First published in Flame Tree Fiction Newsletter 74, 2025.)
REVIEW: “Soon It Would See Eyelessly, Turn Corners On Its Own” by John K. Peck
Review of John K. Peck, “Soon It Would See Eyelessly, Turn Corners On Its Own,” Flash Fiction Online 152 (May 2026): 11-14 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
The FFO editors categorized this story as horror, but while it definitely had a delicious Gothic feel to it, I found it too serene to be truly horrific.
REVIEW: “After Enlightenment, the Sewage” by Joelle Killian
Review of Joelle Killian, “After Enlightenment, the Sewage,” Flash Fiction Online 152 (May 2026): 7-9 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Addiction and rehab.
I had expected the title to be somewhat more metaphorical than it turned out to actually be. I think I would preferred it to be a little less literal.
REVIEW: “She Said Yes and a City Died” by Liz Levin
Review of Liz Levin, “She Said Yes and a City Died,” Flash Fiction Online 152 (May 2026): 16-18 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was a strong little piece, with a lot of beauty and strangeness in it.
(First published in MetaStellar July 2024)
REVIEW: “Europan Culture (Seven Theses)” by Meagan Kane
Review of Meagan Kane, “Europan Culture (Seven Theses),” Flash Fiction Online 151 (April 2026): 28-31 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I’m really not sure what I think about this story. Perhaps my cognitive dissonance comes from the title, which led me to think the story was going to be very different from how it was. But I also wonder if I would’ve liked the story even if it had a different title; there was just something unsettling about the way Conamara’s very being and existence was handle, by the unnamed narrator, or maybe by the author.
REVIEW: “A Bone Deep Ache” by Francesco Levato
Review of Francesco Levato, “A Bone Deep Ache,” Flash Fiction Online 151 (April 2026): 24-27 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
An apocalypse, monsters, religion gone wrong…all of these could have provided a foundation for a horror story on their own, but Levato combined them all into something truly gruesome.
REVIEW: “Ten and Out” by Myna Chang
Review of Myna Chang, “Ten and Out,” Flash Fiction Online 151 (April 2026): 20-23 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This story was both perfectly formed in its flash fic form, and something where I would happily read the 300-page version of the same story. The characters could have been put into pretty much any genre or context, and I would have loved them just as much.
REVIEW: “For Solomon Fishkowski Who Carved Chess Sets in Siberia” by Kid Casey
Review of Kid Casey, “For Solomon Fishkowski Who Carved Chess Sets in Siberia,” Flash Fiction Online 151 (April 2026): 17-19 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was a curious little piece, not intended to be speculative even though it felt like it was, deep in its bones. I would have enjoyed it more had it not been in my least favorite POV, 2nd person.
SFF Reviews 