edited by Kel Coleman Content note(click for details) Content note: abuse The week I moved into my old family home, the brick one that sat like a triple-layered cake at the end of the street, I spent each day and into the night repainting every wall. Mint living room, yellow bathroom, pink bedroom. I chose … Continue reading DP FICTION #78A: “Fermata” by Sarah Fannon
Editor-In-Chief and Publisher David Steffen is the editor-in-chief and publisher of Diabolical Plots, LLC which publishes Diabolical Plots and The Long List Anthology Series. He is also the co-founder and administrator of The Submission Grinder. Editors Amanda Helms (she/her) is a biracial fantasy, science fiction, and sometimes horror writer whose stories have appeared in or … Continue reading Staff
edited by David Steffen and Ziv Wities At sunrise, I spy on the humans as they arrive. They mill around on the black sand beach; their children splash in the pea-green waves. So many children, born of their brief lives, shorter than those of the elves, shorter by far than mine. The humans clutch their … Continue reading DP FICTION #71B: “Unstoned” by Jason Gruber
written by David Steffen Hello! This is one of those posts where I declare what is eligible for speculative fiction awards (such as the Hugo and Nebula and Locus) and in what category from Diabolical Plots offerings. Semiprozine Diabolical Plots itself is eligible for the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine. Editor (Short Form) David Steffen … Continue reading Diabolical Plots 2020 Award Eligibility
It’s Tony Roomba’s last day on Earth. After two years of working undercover as a vacuum cleaner bot on this boondock planet, he is finally heading home to the Gamma Sector, but his final day is full of challenges. He has to get out of the apartment undetected; has to reach the extraction point in … Continue reading DP FICTION #70B: “Tony Roomba’s Last Day on Earth” by Maria Haskins
Something took a bite out of Mama’s hand. Well, worse than that. Tried to eat it, and judging by the puddle of vomit on the floor, couldn’t keep it down. “Oh, Mama,” I said, not even thinking about how she couldn’t hear me, “I’m so sorry.” Mama’s hand normally stayed inside the dining room cabinet, … Continue reading DP FICTION #69B: “Mama’s Hand of Glory” by Douglas Ford
So I’ve been at the dog park going on three hours now, and even some of the newbies have started looking at me funny. I’m used to it, though. I long ago got written off as one of the crazies, so far as the regulars are concerned. Every park has a couple—the folks who show … Continue reading DP FICTION #67A: “The Last Great Rumpus” by Brian Winfrey
The dancer spins, one limb upraised, precision-bevelled pointe toe poised against the place where a human knee would be. Cassia works leg-like appendages below its central chassis, tossing a frilly grey tutu out in a jellyfish whorl. It has a choice now: it could approximate anthropomorphic performance, occasionally wobbling, rotating its abdominal segment in concert … Continue reading DP FICTION #64B: “The Automatic Ballerina” by Michael Milne
written by David Steffen Onward is a March 2020 CG-animated fantasy action/comedy film from Disney/Pixar. It had a brief theatrical release, but its lower ticket shows were attributed to shelter-in-place orders from COVID-19, and as a result it was published on digital streaming services much earlier than usual (we watched it on Disney+). Ian (Tom … Continue reading MOVIE REVIEW: Onward
Content note(click for details) Content note: domestic violence Max found the box that fit absolutely everything when he was clearing space for Roderick to move in. They had agreed he’d pare down to a single bookshelf, so he drove by the local rental place and bought a half dozen boxes. By the end of the … Continue reading DP FICTION #63A: “Everything Important in One Cardboard Box” by Jason Kimble
