Table of Contents, May 2026

The year is trucking right along: the spring flashed right by, and already there's a daunting list of short stories to read. May brings a whole new crop, and I'm looking forward to checking some of these out in the coming weeks.

You can check out last month's (newly updated!) installment here, and past installments here. Here are the short stories coming out this month. Check back later in the month for a fully updated list!

Amazing Stories (May 2026)

Fiction

• "Dactyl" by Humphrey Price
• "Marco Swims on Titan" by Jeff Gaba
• "Sword of Guilt" by Robert Marcus
• "Planet Leave KL-28" by Alex Gurevich

Analog Science Fact and Fiction (May/June 2026)

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Fiction

• "Imprint" by Zach Poulter
• "Carpenter" by Jay Werkheiser
• "Some Plates Get Eaten" by Thoraiya Dyer
• "In The Overlap" by Eric Del Carlo
• "The Cold Embrace" by C. Stuart Hardwick
• "Camino Mundo" by Brian Hugenbruch
• "The Enshittification Of Dogs" by Tom R. Pike
• "Amel And The Bride" by Julie Duffy
• "Awkward Incident Transpiring While Exploring The Neighborhood" by Timons Esaias
• "A Lesson In Orbital Mechanics" by Michael Johnston
• "Children Of A Sunnier Star" by Gregory Feeley
• "The Two Thousand And Seventieth Time Sara Deletes Her Family" by J.R. Dewitt
• "Whispers Of Twilight" by Ken Miura
• "An Arm For Every Tooth" by Colin Alexander
• "My Next Duchess" by Anna Kahn
• "Nirvana and Mr. Sparks" by Kevin J.E. Walsh
• "Telling The Bees" by Eóin Dooley
• "Hetero Sapiens" by Sarina Dorie
• "Fossil Record" by Rick Hollon
• "Schismogenesis" by E.G. Condé
• "For Sojourner" by Adegboyega Kayowa

Nonfiction

• Editorial: The Editor’s Page by Trevor Quachri, Emily Hockaday & Kevin Wheeler
• The Reference Library by Sean CW Korsgaard
• The Doctor Will Scan You Now by Douglas F. Dluzen
• The V-2 In Astounding by Edward M. Wysocki, Jr.
• In Times To Come
• Unknowns Edited by Alec Nevala-lee
• Interplanetary Hive by Patrick Berry
• Guest Alternate View by Howard V. Hendrix
• Alternate View by John G. Cramer

Asimov's Science Fiction (May/June 2026 Vol. 50 Nos. 5 & 6)

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Fiction

• "Hot" by Cecelia Holland
• "Failed Attempts at Predation" by A.M. Dellamonica
• "The Girl Who Stole Life" by Zhou Wen (Translated by Xueting C. Ni)
• "The Sky Above the Earth Below" by Steve Rasnic Tem
• "The Language of Machines" by Betsy Aoki
• "A Penrose Dirge" by Chris Campbell
• "Sophie Simpson’s Whizz-Bang Day at World War I" by Dale Bailey
• "Half Inside the Spirit Box" by Stephanie Feldman
• "Unspeakable Knowns" by Donald McCarthy
• "Alpha Gal" by Greg Egan

Poetry

• "Love Letter to Nuclear Fusion by Connor Yeck
• "Jukebox for the Interplanetary Traveler by Brian U. Garrison
• "Your Regular College-Town Climate Elegy by Ursula Whitcher
• "Image as a Stone on the Water by Ruth Berman

Nonfiction

• Guest Editorial: A Reader’s Perspective by Piet Nel
• Reflections: The End of an Era by Robert Silverberg
• On the Net: Tomorrow’s Bots by James Patrick Kelly
• Thought Experiment: Iterations in and of Planet of the Apes by Kelly Lagor
• On Books by Kelly Jennings

The Atlantic (May 2026)

Fiction

• "Dinah's Hat" by Stephen King

Beneath Ceaseless Skies (Issue # 457 and #458)

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Fiction

• "Slayer of Dreams" by Auston Habershaw
• "Through the Corpse Door" by R.I. Sutton
• "The City of Tears" by Molly Tanzer
• "The Voice and Her Knife" by AnaMaria Curtis
• "Boxwood" by M.E. Bronstein

Clarkesworld Magazine (Issue 236, May 2026)

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Fiction

• "The Profitable Sentience of Household Goods" by Louis Inglis Hall
• "Archaeological Evidence for the Time Traveler" by Tia Tashiro
• "Conquerors" by Nick Wolven
• "Paper Airplane Poet" by Sheri Singerling
• "Aly" by Grace Chan
• "Decimation Circles" by Raahem Alvi
• "The Scent of Memory" by Zhao Haihong, translated by S. Qiouyi Lu

Nonfiction

• Three Curious Animal Strategies for Immortality by Gunnar De Winter
• Torn From Context: A Conversation with Ray Nayler by Arley Sorg
• Immortal Trauma: A Conversation with Martha Wells by Arley Sorg
• Editor's Desk: The Stars in Our Sky by Neil Clarke

The Dark (Issue 132, May 2026)

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Fiction

• "Chicken Finger" by NM Whitley
• "Obedient Son" by Kelsea Yu
• "Mercy" by Nelson Stanley
• "Red God Waiting" by Ai Jiang

Dark Horses Magazine (May 2026, No. 52)

Fiction

• "A Child Without Sin" by Diana Ionita
• "A Minor Revolution" by Lee Clark Zumpe
• "A Night At The Castle" by Lee Clark Zumpe
• Vorpal" by Wayne Kyle Spitzer
• "Dark Timber" by Lee Clark Zumpe
• "Among The Dead 101" by Dennis Kohler
• "Psychosomatic" by Terry Sanville
• "Way Station" by Michael Fontana
• "The Trade" by Bradley J. Collins
• "A Rulebook For Ghosts" by Ausiàs Tsel
• "Circle Of Stones" by Joe Prosit
• "Drains" by David Castlewitz
• "Hell Hath No Fury" by James Callan
• "Lost In The Stacks" by Peter Emmett Naughton
• "Pyrrhic Proof" by Mark J. Schultis
• "Releasing The Chesapeake Bay" by Griffith Pound
• "Ekkle-rog And Menk" by Taylor Layne
• "Plunge" by Anuel Rodriguez

Diabolical Plots (May 2026)

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Fiction

• “Afterimage” by Anna Zumbro
• “Dourglamis” by Derek Wagner

Fabulist Magazine (May 2026)

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Fiction

• "What a Wonderful World" by Esther Lee Deitch
• "Wigs" by Kelly Dignan
• "A New Day" by Amanda Anderson
• "Spring Flight" by Kevlin Henney
• "A Tyranny of Desire" by LeeAnn Perry
  

Flash Fiction Online (May 2026)

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Fiction

• "After Enlightenment, the Sewage" by Joelle Killian
• "Citizens!" by Sasha Brown
• "This Is Your Village" by Charlie Kieft
• "The Screaming Garden" by Em Starr
• "She Said Yes and a City Died" by Liz Levin
• "Soon It Would See Eyelessly, Turn Corners on Its Own" by John K. Peck

Nonfiction

• Editorial: The Myth of Civilization by Rebecca Halsey

Future Tense Fiction (May 2026)

Fiction

• "Golden Rule" by Monica Byrne

Nonfiction

• The Purpose of Punishment by Randy McDonald

GigaNotoSaurus (May 2026)

Fiction

• "Year of the Tangram" by Ichabod Cassius Kilroy

Lightspeed Magazine (May 2026, Issue 192)

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Fiction

• "The Knacker Man" by Scott Dalrymple (5/7)
• "Sarah’s Laugh" by Melissa A Watkins (5/7)
• "The Star Where We Meet" by Sam W. Pisciotta (5/14)
• "The Aerialist" by Yoon Ha Lee (5/14)
• "The Stars Look Away From This Vessel" by dave ring (5/21)
• "Ten Unsent Letters to the Dark Lord" by Ada Hoffmann (5/21)
• "The Test of Time" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (5/28)
• "The Last Season of Your Life" by Christopher Barzak (5/28)

Nonfiction

• Editorial: May 2026 by John Joseph Adams
• Author Spotlight: Melissa A Watkins by A Humphrey Lanham (5/7)
• Author Spotlight: Sam W. Pisciotta by Robin Jeffrey (5/14)
• Book Review: The Quarter Queen by Kayla Hardy by Arley Sorg (5/14)
• Author Spotlight: Ada Hoffman by Phoebe Barton (5/21)
• Book Review: The Republic of Memory by Mahmud El Sayed by Melissa A Watkins (5/21)
• Author Spotlight: Kristine Kathryn Rusch by Robin Jeffrey (5/28)
• Book Review: The Dorians by Nick Cutter by Chris Kluwe (5/28)

Nature Futures (May 2026)

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Fiction

• "The imperfect legacy" by Fei Qi
• "Origin story" by Alex Shvartsman
• "Matter of taste" by Mari Harrison
• "The futile beauty of flightless birds" by Wendy Nikel
• "Serebral" by Kevin Power
• "The CAPTCHA protocol" by Shiao Wang
• "Neuroflix" by John McLaughlin
• "Scraping" by Laura O’Meara
• "Sarcophagus" by Dan Peacock

Neon Dystopia (May 2026)

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Fiction

• "Idol" by Joshua Mannix
• "Hunger" by Scum
• "Gen. Ed" by Elle Burnett

New Edge Sword & Sorcery (Issues 6 and 7)

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Issue 6 authors:

• Melissa Burlock
• Andrew Whalen
• June Orchid Parker
• Sarah Macklin
• Sara Century
• Steve Hugh Westenra
• Oliver Brackenbury
• Alec Worley
• Eric Williams
• Bryn Hammond
• Robin Marx

Issue 7 authors:

• Dariel R. A. Quiogue
• James Enge
• Prashanth Srivatsa
• Kirk A. Johnson
• Larissa Glasser
• Jay Wolf
• Cora Buhlert
• Anthony Perconti

Nightmare Magazine (May 2026, Issue 164)

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Fiction

• "Hollow Cast" by Sarah Grey (5/6)
• "A Magic Kingdom" by Bruce McAllister (5/23)
• "consumed" by Ash Vale (5/27)

Nonfiction

• Editorial: May 2026 by Wendy N. Wagner (5/6)
• Author Spotlight: Sarah Grey by Carrie Finch (5/6)
• The H Word: An Intimate Gaze at Headless Horror by Eugen Bacon (5/13)
• Art the Clown attends the Jane Hirschfield poetry reading at the Anchorage Museum by Audrey Coble
• Author Spotlight: Audrey Coble by Kevin Figueroa Quiñones (5/20)
• Plumbing the Depths: The Origins and Omissions of Apocalyptic Horror by Lizzie Wade (5/27)

Reactor (May 2026)

Fiction

• "This Fleshy Side of the Bone" by John Langan
• "This Is Not My Timeline" by J.R. Dawson
• "The Perpetual Post" by Isabel J. Kim

Small Wonders Magazine (May2026, Issue 35)

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Fiction

• "Trevor is Hungry" by Sasha Brown
• "A Fine Powder" by Alicia Maskley
• "Windows to the Soul" by Gerri Leen
• "Clowder" by Kila Greene
• "A moment on the lips" by Brian Hugenbruch
• "Charley Coavins" by Gretchen Tessmer
• "The Arborist" by Sara Omer
• "When Death Comes, Look to The Tower" by Ali Trotta
• "1,001 Best Hikes on Mars: The Peterson Historic Trail (“Peterson’s Folly”)" by Ron Fein

Solarpunk Magazine (May / June 2026, Issue 27)

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Fiction

• “Radio Free Luna, Signing Off” by Sylvie Althoff
• “Between Mortar and Magic” by Alex Vossler
• “What the Sea Remembers” by Dennis Mombauer

Poetry

• “Pulsar, Phlox” by Devan Barlow
• “The Prayer Shrub” by Zoleikha Baloch

Nonfiction

• “Occupation of Palestine” by Aya Al-Hattab
• Repair is Not a Gadget: A Review of The Wildcraft Drones by T.K. Rex by Justine Norton-Kertson

Strange Horizons (May 2026)

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Fiction

• "Senescence" by aegor ray
• "Coming Home" by Dhiyanah Hassan
• "Hymn To Scylla" by Elena Goh

Poetry

• "The Dragon" by Michael Janairo
• "Beetles" by Ewan Downie
• "Gone" by Greg Fewer
• "The Mermaid Speaks of Social Justice from the Bathtub" by Nico Martinez Nocito
• "My Grandmother Turned Dead Souls into Sugar" by Mary Salas Robles
• "Death of the Emperor’s Nightingale" by Shantell Powell
• "How to Get Around It" by Holly Hunt
• "So This Is A Week" by Mary Soon Lee

Nonfiction

• Tempered And Spiced: A Recipe for Mythic Fiction by Shveta Thakrar

Reviews

• Monday: The Illuminated Man by Christopher Priest and Nina Allan by Martin Petto
• Wednesday: Rabbit Test and Other Stories by Samantha Mills by William Shaw
• Friday: Planet of Ghosts and Other Stories by Wesley R. Bishop by Tim Lockette
• Monday: The Curve of the World by Vonda N. McIntyre by Kate Macdonald
• Wednesday: The Apple and the Pearl by Rym Kechacha by Anushree Nande
• Friday: Zoi by Jane Mondrup by A. Bristow-Smith
• Monday: Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf by C. L. Clark by Catherine Baker
• Wednesday: Loss Protocol by Paul McAuley by Duncan Lawie
• Friday: The Midnight Shift by Cheon Seon-Ran, translated by Gene Png by Sneha Pathak
• Monday: Radiant Star by Ann Leckie by Cameron Miguel
• Wednesday: The Coffin of Honey by Geoffrey D. Morrison by Dawn Macdonald
• Friday: The Witch by Marie Ndiaye by Akankshya Abismruta

The Sunday Morning Transport (May 2026)

Fiction

• "The Moon Carver" by Ken Liu
• "Alpha and Omega" by LaShawn M. Wanak
• "The Only Thing Older, The Only Thing Wiser" by Scott Edelman
• "Now is a Kind of Forever" by Kelly Robson

Uncanny Magazine (May/June 2026, Issue 70)

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Fiction

• “The Snatchers” by Eugenia Triantafyllou (5/5)
• “The Glass City” by AnaMaria Curtis (5/5)
• “Extracted from an unravelled braid” by Aline-Mwezi Niyonsenga (5/5)

Poetry

• “A Mermaid Looks at 40” by Fran Wilde (5/5)
• “Empty Music” by Prosper Ìféányí (5/5)

Nonfiction

• “The Uncanny Valley” by Michael Damian Thomas
• “The End of This Day’s Business—Or, My Life as Repetitive Epic” by Una McCormack (5/5)
• “The Mopey Ghost Nightmare Girl: The Character of Hari in Three Filmed Versions of Stanisław Lem’s Solaris” by Alex Bledsoe (5/5)
• Interview: AnaMaria Curtis by Caroline M. Yoachim (5/5)

As always, drop what you've read and would recommend in the comments!