Table of Contents: September 2025
The short stories hitting the web in September
Here's the latest installment of Table of Contents, which rounds up this month's short fiction releases. You can check out the list of stories from August here (which I've updated with new links) and past installments of this series here.
Here are the short stories coming out this month:
Apex Magazine (July-September, Issue 150)
Subscribe here.
Fiction
- "Changeling" by Frey Lylark (9/9) (Flash)
- "Mother Sun" by Amy Nagopaleen (9/23)
Nonfiction
"Words for Thought: Short Fiction Review" by AC Wise (9/30)
"Review of The Inescapable March by Hana Carolina" by Rebecca E. Treasure (9/4)
Analog Science Fact and Fiction (September / October 2025 Vol., XCV No. 9 & 10 )
Subscribe here.
Fiction
- "Suspended Animation" by Jay Werkheiser & Julian Michael Carver
- "Not in My Valley" by M.L. Clark
- "In a Desolate Garden" by Auston Habershaw
- "Donacon" by Paul E. Franz
- "Elector" by Stephen Case
- "Rust" by David D. Levine
- Ontario Lacus" by Pauline Barmby
- "You are Hearby Notified That You Are the Future of Art" by Anya Markov
- "Scarecrow" by Timothy Quinn
- "Boys and Girls Together" by Larry Niven
- "Genius, Borrowed and Brief" by Julia Darcy
- "Analog Equivalent Foodstuffs" by Kate Macleod
- "A Shot in the Dark" by Avery Parks
- "Temple in the Night" by Louis Evans
- "Seedling" by Al Onia
- "Carried on the Wind" by Steven Mohan, Jr.
- "The New People" by David McGillveray
- "A Simple Martian Burial" by Tom Jolly
- "Girl With the Tattooed Soul" by Mark W. Tiedemann
- "Music of the Spheres" by Jim Murdoch
- "Looking Back" by Arthur H. Manners
Nonfiction
- Drycanes and Wasps, Kevin Walsh
- Guest Editorial: The Blind Men and the Hurricane, Stanley Schmidt
- The Alternate View by John G. Cramer
- In Times to Come
- Guest Alternate View: The Solar Storm That Nearly Created Armageddon by Richard A. Lovett
- The Reference Library by Sean CW Korsgaard
- Brass Tacks
Asimov's Science Fiction (September / October 2025 Vol. 49 Nos. 9 & 10)
Subscribe here.
Fiction
- "The Ghost" by John Kessel
- "The Signal and the Idler" by Ted Kosmatka
- "A Tide of Paper" by Leah Cypess
- "The Last of Operation Shroud" by Alexander Jablokov
- "Tenth Contact" by Bruce Sterling and Paul Di Filippo
- "Strays" by Scott William Carter
- "The Expurgator" by Shiwei Zhou
- "The Night Heron Rescue" by Alice Towey
- "Lolo’s Last Run" by E.M. Kerkman
- "Frankenstein’s Book Launch" by Karen Heuler
Poetry
- "Lover Lost" by Richard Schiffman
- "Eating With the Dead #2" by Mary Soon Lee
- "History" by Vonnie Winslow Crist
- "Fine Print" by Ursula Whitcher
- "Ten Indicators of Time Drift" by Robert Frazier
- "The Last Gods" by David C. Kopaska-Merkel
Nonfiction
- Editorial: 500 by Sheila Williams
- Reflections: History as Blip by Robert Silverberg
- On the Net: Car Talk by James Patrick Kelly
- Thought Experiment: The Shining and the Shining and the Shining by Kelly Lagor
- On Books by Kelly Jennings
Augur Magazine (Issue 8.1)
Subscribe here.
Fiction
- "Fateful Reinventions" by Toria Liao
- "Orders" by Grace Seybold
- "Beachside Sundays" by Ash Wahking
- "If gender is a performance, then all the world’s a stage. Either we should get season tickets, or go on a whim" by Jonathan Bessette
- "Strange Children of the Sour Gas" by EC Dorgan
- Phi Nang Lum" by P.W. Jarungpiterah
- The Belly of The Rock" by Busayo Akinmoju
- Welcome to Spruceway" by Brianne Battye
- Elegy with Transformation Myth" by Sarah Hilton
- The Epitaph of Antigone" by Fatima Shafiq
- Letter from Distant Star to the Earth" by Jesse Holth
- Dark Night Suffused with Stars" by Huijia Li
Beneath Ceaseless Skies (Sept. 4th / Sept 18th, Issue 440/441)
Subscribe here.
Fiction
- "The Nature of Spells, the Nature of Children" by Aimee Ogden
- "Holly on the Mantel, Blood on the Hearth" by Kate Francia
- "The Good Life and the Gaze of Staivash" by Jonathan Olfert
- "Compass Rose, Running" by Julie Reeser
Clarkesworld Magazine (September 2025, Issue 228)
Subscribe here.
Fiction
- "Abstraction Is When I Design Giant Death Creatures and Attraction Is When I Do It for You" by Claire Jia-Wen
- "Wireworks" by Sheri Singerling
- "Four People I Need You to Kill Before the Dance Begins" by Louis Inglis Hall
- "Aperture" by Alexander Jablokov
- "The Fury of the Glowmen" by David McGillveray
- "Five Impossible Things" by Koji A. Dae
- "A World of Their Own" by Robert Falco
Nonfiction
- What A Cup of Coffee Can Teach Us About Science by Douglas F. Dluzen
- Brutality and Whimsy: A Conversation with Martin Cahill by Arley Sorg
- Fear, Indecision, and Doubt: A Conversation with Thomas Ha by Arley Sorg
- Editor's Desk: Aftermath of a Worldcon by Neil Clarke
The Dark (September 2025, Issue 124)
Subscribe here.
Fiction
- “The Light Over the Lake” by Malena Salazar Maciá
- “The Witch Trap” by Jennifer Hudak (reprint)
- “The Toddler” by Sanni Omodolapo
- “Prairie Teeth” by EC Dorgan (reprint)
Dark Horses Magazine (September 2025, Issue 44)
Fiction
- "Angles on an Obscure Plane" by M. M. Valencia
- "Dead People Problems" by Simon Berry
- "Astyanax and the Red Spider" by Travis Flatt
- "Mr. Rumple's Revenge" by George Larson
- "The Big Empty" by Wayne Kyle Spitzer
- "Passing the Torch" by Thomas Drake
- "The Smell" by Ethan Cordeta
- "The Replacement" by David Lewis
- "The Haze" by Kate Bergquist
- "Yellow Eyes" by Jordan Miller
Flash Fiction Online (September 2025, Issue 144)
Donate here.
Fiction
- “Silence, in the Doorway, with the Gun” by Nadia Radovich
- “The Last Items of the Forgotten Hero or The Grandchild’s First Dragon” by Guan Un
- “Yet Another Unforgettable Luncheon” by Leo Rein
- “Out of Print” by Wen Wen Yang
- “Emerald Gears” by Beth Goder
- “The Things You Bought for the Robot” by Stefan Alcalá Slater
- “The Forest Through the Teas” by Wendy Nikel
khōréō (Volume 5, Issue 3)
Subscribe here.
Fiction
- "Closed Doors" by Mary Miseon Wu
- "Island Getaway" by Sonia Focke
- "Toothpaste Feelings" by Sharang Biswas
- "The Moon’s Forests Burn All Your Life" by brandon brown
- "Symbiote" by T. Chiu-Chu
- "Deep Down Inside: Parasitism and Symbiosis" by Premee Mohamed
Future Tense Fiction (September 2025)
Fiction
- "The Way Out" by Pippa Goldschmidt
Nonfiction
- "The Disaster Flaneur" by Kate Gordon
Lightspeed Magazine (September 2025, Issue)
Subscribe here.
Fiction
- "Last Meal Aboard the Awassa" by Kel Coleman (9/4)
- "Beginning Before and After The End" by Jake Stein (9/4)
- "The Place I Came To" by Filip Hajdar Drnovšek Zorko (9/7)
- "Apeiron" by Cadwell Turnbull (9/11)
- "The Girlfriend Experience" by C.Z. Tacks (9/18)
- "On an Unusual Kind of Spatially Distributed Haunting" by Bogi Takács (9/18)
- "City of One" by Stephen S. Power (9/25)
- "Human Voices" by Isabel J. Kim (9/25)
Nonfiction
- Editorial: September 2025 by John Joseph Adams (9/4)
- Book Review: Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon by Mizuki Tsujimura, translated by Yuki Teijima by Chris Kluwe (9/4)
- Author Spotlight: Kel Coleman by Alex Puncekar (9/7)
- Author Spotlight: Cadwell Turnbull by Mayookh Barua (9/11)
- Book Review: Novic by Eugen Bacon by Melissa A Watkins (9/11)
- Author Spotlight: C.Z. Tacks by Phoebe Barton (9/18)
- Book Review: Where Are You Really From by Elaine Hsieh Chou by Arley Sorg (9/18)
- Author Spotlight: Isabel J. Kim by Delia Cullity (9/25)
Luna Station Quarterly (September 2025, Issue 063)
Subscribe here.
Fiction
- "Daisies for Going Out, Pansies to Return Home" by Amy Power Jansen
- "Going to sea, mother" by Luscha Makortoff
- "Underhill Wines" by Tanya Pond
- "The Accidental" by K.M. Veohongs
- "Top Five Places to Worship Him, Most Terrible" by L. Fox
- "To the Moon, Not Back" by Emma Francois
- "Grandma and the Krampus" by Teresa Milbrodt
- "For Love and Country" by Yelena Crane
- "The Price of Gold" by Sanya Dimova
- "Women of Nowhere" by Lyra Bird
- "Conveyance" by Isobel Mackenzie
- "HeartsEase" by Brittany Hague
- "The Three Songs" by Gio Clairval
- "Where the Wind Sleeps" by Emmie Christie
- "Terra" by Laura Stone
- "Self-Portrait as ChatGPT" by Sarah Chin
- "The Penitent" by M. J. Klimmek
- "A Spell for Summer" by Robin Cassini
- "The Visitor" by Frances Koziar
Nightmare Magazine (September 2025, Issue 156)
Subscribe here.
Fiction
- "Autogas Ferryman" by Champ Wongsatayanont
- "Finishing Touches" by Adam-Troy Castro (9/10)
- "Safe Face" by Ash Huang (9/17)
- "Blood-Orange" by L.M. Harris (9/24)
Nonfiction
- Editorial: September 2025 by Wendy N. Wagner
- Author Spotlight: Champ Wongsatayanont by Alex Puncekar
- The H Word: On Tod Browning’s Undead Memes by Dan Chaon (9/10)
- Author Spotlight: Ash Huang by Devin Marcus (9/17)
- Reviews: September 2025 by Adam-Troy Castro (9/24)
Reactor (September 2025)
Fiction
- "If a Digitized Tree Falls" by Ken Liu and Caroline M. Yoachim
- "Laurie on the Radio" by Sam Davis
- "Freediver" by Isabel J. Kim
Small Wonders Magazine (September 2025, Issue 27)
Donate here.
Fiction
- "Gifted and Talented" by Marika Bailey
- "Cutting the Cord" by Marie Brennan
- "An Insect Who Dreamt She Was a Woman" by Melanie Mulrooney
- "Five Hundred Defects" by Michael Zahniser
- "ACCESS DENIED" by Lydian Kind
- "The Last Sentinels" by Dawn Lloyd
- "Princess Lilaclaire and the Witch’s Frog Faire" by Indigo Rue
- "Dr. Hypha’s Laboratory" by Brian U. Garrison
- "Bee Kept" by Jordan Hirsch
Strange Horizons (September 2025)
Donate here.
Fiction
- "The Heartbreak Hotel on Plutonic Planet" by Carolyn Zhao
- "The Path Continues" by Joyce Chng
Poetry
- "Graft Versus Host" by S. Chaudhuri-Perelló
- "Lake Monster Fishing in the South" by Charles Richard Livesay
- "Watching Migrations" by Keyan Bowes
- "The Black Death" by Andrew Kozma
- "I Love You like an Apple Tree in Full Bloom" by Niina Tsuyuki Dubik
- "the jacarandas are unimpressed by your show of force" by Gwynne Garfinkle
- "Promised Detonations" by Christopher Morgan
- "Pterosaur" by M. Frost
Nonfiction
Reviews
- Monday: Don’t Sleep with the Dead by Nghi Vo by Jenny Hamilton
- Wednesday: If the Stars Are Lit by Sara K. Ellis by Redfern Jon Barrett
- Friday: Supergiants by Kyle Flemmer by Dawn Macdonald
- Monday: There are Reasons for This by Nini Berndt by E. C. Barrett
- Wednesday: Orphan Planet by Madeehah Reza by Nileena Sunil
- Friday: Memories From The Jungle by Tristan Garcia, translated by Christopher Beach by Will Emmons
- Monday: Uncertain Sons and Other Stories by Thomas Ha by William Shaw
- Wednesday: Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: Issue V edited by Olivia Kidula & Somto Ihezue by Amritesh Mukherjee
- Friday: Gifted & Talented by Olivie Blake by Subham Rai
- Monday: Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones by Phoenix Scholz
- Wednesday: Menacing Environments by Benjamin Bigelow by Octavia Cade
- Friday: The Afterlife Project by Tim Weed by Jacqueline Nyathi
The Sunday Morning Transport (September 2025)
Fiction
- "Large Emotional Models by Cecilia Tan
- "The Forest Final" by Brenda Cooper
- "A Fallen Angel Rings the Doorbell" by Jennifer Hudak
- "Ino’s Hideaway" by Mari Ness
Uncanny Magazine (September / October 2025, Issue 66)
Subscribe here.
Fiction
- "Whale Fall of Yours" by M. M. Olivas
- "The Caravan" by AnaMaria Curtis
- "The Lure of Stone" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- "Brooklyn Beijing" by Hannah Yang
Poetry
- "Dreamscape with the Devil" by Taylor Byas
- "The Mourning Robot" by Angela Liu
Nonfiction
- The Uncanny Valley by Michael Damian Thomas
- Cat Physics, Deconstruction, and the Shape of Love by LaShawn M. Wanak
- Dream Journals by Senaa Ahmad
- Thank You, Patreon Supporters! by Michael Damian Thomas
- Thank You, Year 11 Kickstarter Backers! by Michael Damian Thomas
Check back at the end of the month: I'll update the links to the stories that haven't come out at the time of publication.