The Drabblecast

The energy and personality of a person can get stuck before it evaporates from our world. Wood is a fair dumping ground. Something about its pore size and how cellulose vibrates. A person can get himself pasted inside the wall or the floorboards. The body and brain quit, but the rest of the bastard lingers, and that’s the weird quantum trickery that for thousands of years people have called a ghost...100 word story podcastRobert ReedGuild of the Cowry CatchersMusic by Norm Sherman, David Gosnell and Pete Anthony

It was clown-hunting weather. It was time to gather the musty costumes, clean the slide whistles, bag up the guns, and spin the lures of cotton candy...3rd Annual Drabblecast People’s Choice AwardsU.S. Government gives crappy state back to SiouxChris FurstArtwork by Bo KaierMusic by Gringo Motel, Randy Edelman, Wayra, The Clown Orchestra and Norm ShermanSpecial Closing Music by Evil Masquerade

The other gamblers ignored her. They were a mixed bunch-- middle aged men in ties and shiny suits, women in evening gowns, young men with gleaming teeth and haunted expressions. Roulette was a sucker’s game. Unless you were Cassie...Tim PrattWorld Rock Paper Scissors SocietyAbbie HiltonThe Guild of the Cowry CatchersMur LaffertyI Should Be Writinghttp://munsistories.blogspot.com/ Music by Gringo MotelArt by Philip Pomphrey

Shadows move on the mantelpiece and the end tables. She freezes. The family pictures are moving. Brass frames buckling into bow-shaped mouths. They want to eat her.Don't be scared, she says. Of course they’re hungry. Everything must eat. And there isn't much food...S. Boyd TaylorNominate this story for the Nebula Award!Episode art by Skeet ScienskiSupport Disaster Relief in Haiti

Those damn raccoons were here again. I know it’s raccoons. Rather easy to deduce considering the scores of chocolate footprints everywhere....Steve LoweArt by Rudolpho ArrendondoWarning: Some foul language

This sounds ridiculous, I know. It’s like watching an old movie where everyone has a British accent, even if they’re supposed to be in ancient Rome or something. God is just impossible to translate…Rish OutfieldNick MamatasNaomi MercerArt by Sean AzzopardiMagpie YarnsMusic by Outland, Wes Montgomery, the Flaming Lips, Phil Cuneff, Sarah Ayers, the Gorillaz, Victor Stellar

The crowd was lined up six deep along the parade route. They ignored the Deputy Mayor who sat, lightly sedated, between his doctor and nurse in the Santa sleigh. Instead, they chanted endlessly for the Marshall, who would not leave the stifling warmth of his coach, or even roll down a window to wave. Their applause echoed off the surrounding skyscrapers. "Take off your mask!" they cried...John AegardIn Search of the Monolian Deathworm: Part VDr. SeussMegabeastsArt by Skeet Scienski and Bo KaierMusic by Bela Fleck and the Fleck Tones, Cab Calloway, Glen Miller, Andre Hossein

The Fire Marshall took office with a mask, a slideshow, and some compelling statistics...John AegardThe Comfort GuideMonika VaseyMongolian Deathworm (Just Another Lonely Night) MP3Norm Sherman CDArt by Skeet ScienskiMusic by John Scott Trotter, Cab Calloway and Artie Shaw

We see it happen: the great machines of the merfolk coming up over the shore, rampaging through the city with devastating effect. We watch a robotic mermaid hammer her fist into an apartment block, the dust cloud from the explosion engulfing the nearby camera. It's quick, sudden, a surprise that's ruined by the later repetition of the footage... The MoviegoerPeter M. BallBrent HolmesCowry CatchersMusic by Chopin, Bartok and Schoenberg

Invisibility for Beginners by Michael SwanwickBubbles Surge From Froth by Frank KeyOutside the Box by John HaggertyAlasdair StuartHub MagazinePseudopodThe SignalArt by Chelsea RaganMusic by Fumbata Ash and Rowan The Noisemakerz

"I want to buy a gun," said the Thymomenoraptor. He moved his foreclaw along the glass case of pistols, counting them off: one, two, three, four. "That one." He tapped the case; the glass squeaked."Why would a dinosaur need a gun?" asked the shop owner."Self-defense...."Cala Sith GuesthouseThe Dunesteef PodcastJ.B. GoodspeedStranger ThingsCover Art by Bo KaierMusic by Norm Sherman, Sleaze Patrol and Gringo Motel

Oh, it’s been comin’. You can hear it at night when the refugee traffic quiets down. Distant crashes, muffled thuds. Those spindly trees fall over in the front lines and advance the jungle another 15 meters. Or sometimes, it just sounds like soap bubbles fizzing down to scum...Kay KenyonSkeet ScienskiMusic by Robert Rich and Goma

Sam Android found Gail Galaxy skipping monopoles off the inactive accretion disk of a small black hole on the outskirts of the galaxy. Every once in a while, she shot one in at too large an angle, and it was captured by the black hole and, with a blinding burst of X-rays, swallowed up."I was wondering when you'd get here," she narrowcast while he was still decelerating..."Steve LidsterIgor TeperGeek PantheonSimply ScriptsArtwork by Liz MierzejewskiMusic by Gringo Motel and Phil Cuneff

You must know, Doctor, that I did not choose to seek psychiatric help. I have no faith that I shall exit this room a healed man; I know now that I have been destined for the asylum since childhood. No mere conversation with you can steer me clear of that fate. That said, let us proceed with this court-compelled farce before my mad prattle provokes your crabbiness further...Ayn SauerJohn AegardClosing Music by EskitArtwork by Bo Kaier

“Hello,” said the stick.The soldier stopped, and looked around. He did not touch the hilt of his sword, but he adjusted his stance so he could reach it quickly, if need be. But there was nothing to be seen. The moors stretched flat and empty for miles about. “Who said that?”Michael SwanwickRevsleestaxEscapepodfreemodemediaMusic by Gringo Motel