The Strange Horizons Editorial Collective
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Speculative fiction and poetry, literary criticism, and interviews from award-winning Strange Horizons magazine, updated weekly on Mondays/Tuesdays. Find us online at strangehorizons.com
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Strange Horizons pairs performed speculative writing with candid craft and editorial conversations that reveal how unusual stories are conceived, selected, and shaped.
Strange Horizons moves between narrated fiction and conversations about how speculative writing reaches the page. Michael Ireland introduces performances such as "BRIDE / BUTCHER / DOE," while Kat Kerbetty leads anniversary interviews with writers including Charlie Jane Anders.
A white doe hangs in a butcher's lab; your appetite for the uncanny has somewhere to go.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A warm anniversary chat about career zigzags, editorial taste, and one very weird sentient-currency story.
Strange Horizons uses its 25th anniversary to look at Charlie Jane Anders in two roles at once: guest and case study. She first appeared in the magazine in 2002, and her path runs through short stories, novels, digital journalism, and awards including the Hugo, Nebula, Sturgeon,…
A dark gothic story where tenderness and horror keep pressing against each other.
"Bride Butcher Doe" starts in a butcher's laboratory, where body horror and heartbreak keep pressing into each other. A woman drags a white doe out of the ice room, expecting a clean specimen, and gets something far stranger.
A brotherly argument becomes a clinical, quietly unnerving science-fiction reckoning.
Reprise tracks brothers Mark and Carl from a rain-slick car ride into a clinical, unsettling process that makes apology, memory, and self-judgment feel hard to untangle.
A craft-first anniversary episode where a reading and interview settle into grief, form, and Strange Horizons history.
Strange Horizons at 25 uses Jordan Corella's "This Tree is a Eulogy" to anchor a conversation that stays close to the work itself. Kat Kerbeti keeps the focus on the magazine's history, Jordan's first publication there in 2019, and the appeal of writing in first person plural,…
A small AI story that becomes a tender question about what creation asks of the creator.
A lazy AI class project turns unexpectedly intimate when Anji's shortcut creates something much harder to dismiss than a good grade: a sentient little being with a voice, a song, and immediate emotional consequences.
A Hugo-season magazine discussion that turns editorial process into the main event.
Strange Horizons at 25 uses the Hugo nominations deadline to frame a grounded look at what the magazine published in 2024 and how its fiction and poetry desks work.
A quiet speculative story about memory, care, and the lies that keep love going.
Samantha Murray puts a daughter at her mother's door and lets recognition blur under the weight of memory, while a mentor's offer of a space station gives the story its speculative spark. The best parts are where those two moods press against each other.
A warm anniversary conversation about community, craft, and small magic taking shape.
This episode circles Strange Horizons' 25th anniversary, but its real pull is the quieter work behind the fiction: local writers' groups, mutual support, and the small spark that grows into a story. Kat Kerbetty and E.M.
Disability talk after the polite version ends.
Practical access, lived experience, real independence.
Live rooms where accessibility work happens.
This episode features an interview with award-winning author Tim Pratt discussing his prolific writing career, early publications with Strange Horizons magazine, and his journey in speculative fiction.
This episode features an interview with award-winning author John Scalzi, discussing his early career, first publication with Strange Horizons in 2001, and his writing journey including his novel 'Agent to the Stars'.
This episode explores how speculative fiction is written and critiqued during difficult times, focusing on themes like climate change and AI through discussions with writers Octavia Cade and M.L.
This episode features a Hugo Award-nominated fantasy novelette about a wizard named Furion who encounters a mysterious boy arriving at her door during a stormy midnight.
This episode features an interview with award-winning author Mary Robinette Kowal, discussing her career and connection to Strange Horizons magazine as part of its 25th anniversary celebration.
This episode features an interview with Brandon O'Brien, a performance poet and writer from Trinidad and Tobago, discussing his varied career in speculative poetry, writing, and his connection to Strange Horizons magazine.
This episode features an interview with Kyle Tam about his multifaceted career in speculative fiction writing, tabletop games, and media criticism, exploring his origins in fan fiction and connection to Strange Horizons magazine.
This episode features a reading of the short story 'The Spindle of Necessity' by B.
This episode features a fiction reading of 'Little Lila' by Susanna Rand, exploring a young girl's changing relationship with her friend Amelia as she enters puberty.
Host Kat Kerbetty interviews award-winning author Naomi Kritzer about her early publication with Strange Horizons in 2002 and the evolution of speculative fiction publishing.
This episode features an interview with poet Vivian Xiao Wen Li and a soundscaped reading of her poems 'Ave Maria' and 'The Mezzanine'.
This episode features an interview with author Donyae Coles about her debut gothic horror novel 'Midnight Rooms' and discusses writing while living with ADHD.
This episode features a speculative fiction story about a young god experiencing themes of transformation, violence, and identity, read by Emmie Christie.
This episode features a reading of the science fiction short story 'Time is an Ocean' by Angela Liu, performed by Emmie Christie, about a time traveler who arrives with a broken machine and forms a connection with the narrator.
This episode features a narrated speculative fiction story about a character who experiences different aquarium exhibits each time they die, exploring themes of death and transformation.
This episode discusses ageism and ableism in convention spaces, focusing on how to support moderators and create more inclusive environments for disabled participants.
This episode discusses cozy horror, its evaluation in SFF reviewing, and how reviewers handle shortcomings in horror texts from Gothic to modern examples.
This episode features a narrative reading of the speculative fiction short story 'I Wish You Died Laughing' by Leo Abendan, performed by Jenna Hanchey.
This episode explores the concept of style in science fiction and fantasy literature, discussing its definition, recognition, and relationship with authors and reviewers through a conversation with critics Paul Kincaid and Dawn MacDonald.
This episode features a fiction podcast reading of 'City Grown From Seed' by Diana Deamer, a short story about a magical seed that comforts a girl during immigration and domestic violence.
A fiction podcast episode featuring a horror/speculative story about a nine-year-old girl named Lena, the last person in the world, waiting alone in a tower for her family to return.
This episode explores the relationship between fantasy literature and history, examining how the genre engages with historical narratives and what it can teach about history writing.
This episode explores the critical analysis of science fiction and fantasy literature, focusing on how reviewers assess works that feel too short or too long, using examples like Margaret Atwood and discussing the nature of novellas.
A fiction podcast episode featuring a short story about a college student who dates a sun god, exploring themes of warmth and discomfort through poetic prose.
This episode features the narrated short story 'A City on Its Tentacles' by award-winning queer immigrant author R.B.
This episode features an interview with award-winning author Nghi Vo, discussing her career, creative process, and the influence of Strange Horizons on speculative fiction.
This episode explores how critics approach reviewing popular, populist, or ephemeral SFF texts like cozy fantasy, pulp fiction, and film franchises, questioning what makes them worthy of serious criticism.
Host Kat Kerbetty interviews author Debbie Urbanski about her 13-year journey of submitting to Strange Horizons before getting published, discussing the magazine's 25th anniversary and its impact on speculative fiction.
This episode features an interview with R.B.
This episode introduces a new podcast series interviewing disabled authors about their writing journeys, accessibility tools, and advice for others.
This episode features an interview with award-winning writer and critic Bogi Takács, discussing their history with Strange Horizons and their journey into reviewing speculative fiction.
This episode features a reading of the short story 'Bee Season' by Michelle Kulwicki, performed by Emmie Christie, exploring a town's traditions and changes through poetic prose.
This episode explores how designing aliens in science fiction can help us think about accommodations and accessibility for people with disabilities.
This episode features a discussion with members of an Ursula K.
A science fiction story about an employee at Optionality who discovers a mysterious housing development called Orchard Village after struggling to find affordable living near work.
This episode features a fictional short story about sisters who fish from cliffs while being taught to fear the ocean, exploring themes of rules, adventure, and mythology.
This episode explores the role of hope and optimism in speculative fiction through discussions of recent novels and critical essays, examining how writers express these themes and their pitfalls.
This episode features a speculative fiction short story about a character grappling with solastalgia and their mother's advice as they navigate a changing world.
This episode discusses science fiction and fantasy in translation, exploring why it's read or not, and how to expand its audience amid political challenges.
This episode celebrates the 25th anniversary of Strange Horizons, reflecting on its history and impact on speculative fiction genres.
Dan Hartland, Anushri Nande, and Jenny Hamilton examine why romantasy sales and visibility have risen sharply, including a Nielsen-reported 41% increase in SF sales in 2024.
Twenty-five years sets the frame here.
A woman enters the lab as a butcher.
In this episode of Writing While Disabled, host Christiane Cox and co-host Kate Johnston interview Farah Mendlesohn, a retired professor and award-winning writer, about her experiences writing with disabilities like dyslexia and ADHD.
Reprise opens on a careful goodbye.
Strange Horizons at 25 opens with grief.
A student named Anji creates an AI-powered Kermit the Frog robot for a class project, only to discover it exhibits signs of sentience, such as original creativity and emotional depth.
In this special episode, host Kat Kerbetty interviews fiction and poetry editors from Strange Horizons to discuss 2024 publications eligible for Hugo Awards nominations.
A scientist grapples with her mother's dementia while working on a first-contact mission with aliens who have memory issues, exploring themes of truth, loss, and identity.
This holiday special features 'Little Brother' by Bruce Holland Rogers, a speculative fiction story about a boy named Peter who receives a robotic brother for Christmas.
Host Kat Kerbetty interviews author E.M.
Strange Horizons Fiction Podcast presents 'Embroidery of a Bird's Heart' by Nelly Geraldine Garcia-Rosas, read by L.W.
Strange Horizons at 25 uses Arkady Martine's "Cloud Wall" and a career interview to revisit the magazine's 25th-anniversary role in speculative fiction.
KT Bryski's "Folk Hero Motifs in Tales Told by the Dead," read by Devin Martin on Strange Horizons Fiction Podcast, opens with a corpse named Skullbone staring into a "great moor" where no one returns.
["Strange Horizons at 25 opens with Kat Kerbetty and Kate Hartfield tracing \"Limestone Lie and the Buzzing of Flies\" to childhood bike rides at Lower Fort Garry in Manitoba.", "Hartfield says she spent about 15 years trying to get an agent, wrote four novel manuscripts, and used short fiction after 2012 to practice endings and character arcs.", "She connects novels such as Armed in Her Fashion, The Chatelaine, The Embroidered Book, and The Tapestry of Time to Dulegrit, Marie Antoinette, the Bayeux Tapestry, and Heinrich Himmler's 1944 theft attempt.", "The interview closes with Mercutio, a Shakespeare prequel involving Dante Alighieri and a fairy door, plus discussion of Choice of Games, Assassin's Creed, and interactive fiction."]
A reading of a speculative short story about a woman trying to cure her dying father with a magical recipe.
A 25th anniversary celebration episode introducing a new co-host and discussing expanded podcast formats.
A discussion about science fiction and fantasy criticism, canon building, and a report from Worldcon.
A narrated fantasy short story about a woman who loses her arm, exploring fairy tale tropes.
A reading of the speculative fiction story 'Temporal Slider' by Blaze Forbes, about a person navigating sliding jobs and life in New Zealand.