written by David Steffen

Pseudopod is the weekly horror podcast edited by Shawn Garrett and Alex Hofelich.

In February Pseudopod once again participated in the Artemis Rising theme across the Escape Artists podcasts, publishing horror stories by women (including some originals picked out from a special slushpile just for this purpose).

Pseudopod publishes episodes weekly, with occasional Flash on the Borderlands episodes that collect 3 similar-themed flash stories for a single episode, for a total of 63 stories published in 2018, by my count.

Stories that are eligible for this year’s Hugo and Nebula Awards are marked with an asterisk (*), all of which would be credited to Pseudopod as the original publisher.

The List

1. “Emperor All” by Evan Marcroft*
What would you do if you realized you could control everything with your mind?

2. “The Good Mothers’ Home For Wayward Girls” by Izzy Wasserstein*
You don’t want to be the new girl.

3. “Fool’s Fire” by Tim Pratt
Modern day will o’ wisp tales.

4. “Beyond the Dead Reef” by James Tiptree Jr.
Classic horror from one of the masters.

5. “The Challenge From Beyond” by H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, C.L. Moore, A. Merritt, and Frank Belknap Long
An epic story written round-robin style by some of the most famous writers of their time.

6. “Free Balloons For All Good Children” by Dirck de Lint*
There’s no so thing as a free lunch.

Honorable Mentions

“The Town Manager” by Thomas Ligotti

“Mofongo Knows” by Grady Hendrix

“A Visit to the Catacombs of Via Altamonvecchi” by Joe Weintraub