Review of Joshua Jones Lofflin, “Lizzie Williams’ Swampy Head,” Flash Fiction Online 138 (March 2025): 14-16 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I often find short stories told in the voice of a child annoying, because far too often that voice feels cloying and fake. Not so at all with Lofflin’s story, which had all the sorcery inherent in a passel of young girls — he nails it.
(First published in MetaStellar May 2021.)
Review of Damon Young, “Henrietta Armitage Doesn’t Read Anymore,” Flash Fiction Online 138 (March 2025): 9-13 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: suicidal ideation.
In this compelling story, Young takes a metaphor and pushes it to the extreme. While Henrietta tells her doctor, “You can’t get sick from a metaphor,” Young manages to construct a believable story where this statement itself becomes no longer all that believable.
Review of Beth Goder, “Mirror-Hole,” Flash Fiction Online 137 (February 2025): 34-37 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was a deliciously odd and creepy little story. It felt unlike anything else I’ve ever read, which is increasingly rare the longer this blog has been around!
Review of Kiernan Livingstone, “Schism,” Flash Fiction Online 137 (February 2025): 28-32 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This is a pretty depressing story about how everything ultimately all falls apart, and what is lost when it does.
Review of Faith Allington, “The Lonely Eldritch Hearts Club,” Flash Fiction Online 137 (February 2025): 18-21 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
I’ve never had to partake in online dating fora myself, but I’ve heard the horror stories. Given how bad actuality is, could it be any worse to swipe right on an eldritch beast instead? Not according to this absolutely sweet and romantic little story of love and heartbreak.
Review of Samir Sirk Morató, “galactic oracle eulogy,” Flash Fiction Online 137 (February 2025): 9-12 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
The setting and characters in this story are so unusual and distinctive that I spent quite a bit of my time trying to figure out just who and what everything is. I like the way that so much is left ambiguous (is it fungus? parasites? metaphor? weird aliens? bio-ship or metal-ship? macroscopic or microscopic?), so that I have no confidence at all that my interpretation is accurate, but every confidence that my interpretation is just as valid a way of reading it as anyone else’s.
SFF Reviews