Podcast

Drabblecast 150- Morris and the Machine by Tim Pratt Drabble- Break Up by J. Alan Pierce
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
"The lock," she said, loud enough to cut me off. "The lock is sort of why I'm thinking about leaving you." She stalked toward me, drink in hand, and I stood up, edging around the table to the far side, closer to the basement door. I wanted to keep the table between us. "You scamper down there after dinner every night. Lock your door and work on the mystery machine, right, Morris, the one that's going to change everything and make us rich, right? That machine?"

Drabblecast People's Choice Finals
Tim Pratt
Monika Vasey
Art by Broken Cyborg

Podcast

Drabblecast 149- So You're Going to Die by Robert Reed Drabble- Smoking Robots by Laurence Simon
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
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 podcast
Robert Reed
Guild of the Cowry Catchers
Music by Norm Sherman, David Gosnell and Pete Anthony

Podcast

Drabblecast 148- The Last Great Clown Hunt by Chris Furst
Friday, January 29, 2010
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 Awards
U.S. Government gives crappy state back to Sioux
Chris Furst
Artwork by Bo Kaier
Music by Gringo Motel, Randy Edelman, Wayra, The Clown Orchestra and Norm Sherman
Special Closing Music by Evil Masquerade

Podcast

Drabblecast 147- Cassie by Tim Pratt Drabble- Time Machine by Christopher K. Monroe
Thursday, January 21, 2010
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 Pratt
World Rock Paper Scissors Society
Abbie Hilton
The Guild of the Cowry Catchers
Mur Lafferty
I Should Be Writing
http://munsistories.blogspot.com/
Music by Gringo Motel
Art by Philip Pomphrey

Podcast

Drabblecast 146- Teddy Bears and Tea Parties by S. Boyd Taylor Drabble- Homeostasis by Phenopath
Thursday, January 14, 2010
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 Taylor
Nominate this story for the Nebula Award!
Episode art by Skeet Scienski
Support Disaster Relief in Haiti

Podcast

Drabblecast 145- Varmits! by Steve Lowe Drabble- Pest Proportions by Ashley Nerbovig
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Those damn raccoons were here again.
I know it’s raccoons. Rather easy to deduce considering the scores of chocolate footprints everywhere....

Steve Lowe
Art by Rudolpho Arrendondo

Warning: Some foul language

Podcast

Drabblecast 144- joanierules.bloggermax.com by Nick Mamatas Drabble- Brush with Greatness by Rish Outfield
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
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 Outfield
Nick Mamatas
Naomi Mercer
Art by Sean Azzopardi
Magpie Yarns

Music by Outland, Wes Montgomery, the Flaming Lips, Phil Cuneff, Sarah Ayers, the Gorillaz, Victor Stellar

Podcast

Drabblecast 143- The Golden Age of Fire Escapes Part II by John Aegard
Thursday, December 24, 2009
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 Aegard
In Search of the Monolian Deathworm: Part V
Dr. Seuss
Megabeasts
Art by Skeet Scienski and Bo Kaier
Music by Bela Fleck and the Fleck Tones, Cab Calloway, Glen Miller, Andre Hossein

Podcast

Drabblecast 142- The Golden Age of Fire Escapes Part I by John Aegard Bbardle- Mongolian Deathworm (Just Another Lonely Night)
Saturday, December 19, 2009
The Fire Marshall took office with a mask, a slideshow, and some compelling statistics...

John Aegard
The Comfort Guide
Monika Vasey
Mongolian Deathworm (Just Another Lonely Night) MP3
Norm Sherman CD
Art by Skeet Scienski
Music by John Scott Trotter, Cab Calloway and Artie Shaw

Podcast

Drabblecast 141- On the Destruction of Copenhagen by the War Machines of the Merfolk by Peter M. Ball Drabble- The Tower by Bryan J. Jacop
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
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 Moviegoer
Peter M. Ball
Brent Holmes
Cowry Catchers
Music by Chopin, Bartok and Schoenberg

Podcast

Drabblecast 140- Trifecta X
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Invisibility for Beginners by Michael Swanwick
Bubbles Surge From Froth by Frank Key
Outside the Box by John Haggerty

Alasdair Stuart
Hub Magazine
Pseudopod
The Signal
Art by Chelsea Ragan
Music by Fumbata Ash and Rowan The Noisemakerz

Podcast

Drabblecast 139- Let Us Now Praise Awesome Dinosaurs by Leonard Richardson
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
"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 Guesthouse
The Dunesteef Podcast
J.B. Goodspeed
Stranger Things
Cover Art by Bo Kaier
Music by Norm Sherman, Sleaze Patrol and Gringo Motel

Podcast

Drabblecast 138- Kingdom Come by Kay Kenyon Drabble- Absent Minded Professor by Peter Recore
Thursday, November 19, 2009
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 Kenyon
Skeet Scienski
Music by Robert Rich and Goma

Podcast

Drabblecast 137- Doubleheader V: Quantum P.I. and The Last Outlaw by Igor Teper Drabble- Yarn by Steve Lidster
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
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 Lidster
Igor Teper
Geek Pantheon
Simply Scripts
Artwork by Liz Mierzejewski
Music by Gringo Motel and Phil Cuneff

Podcast

Drabblecast 136- The Great Old Pumpkin by John Aegard Drabble- And Then the Whole Town Gets Their Brains Eaten by Ayn Sauer
Saturday, October 31, 2009
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 Sauer
John Aegard
Closing Music by Eskit
Artwork by Bo Kaier

Podcast

Drabblecast 135- “Hello,” Said the Stick by Michael Swanwick Drabble- Eat the Dog by Reverend John Sleestaxx
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
“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 Swanwick
Revsleestax
Escapepod
freemodemedia

Music by Gringo Motel

Podcast

Drabblecast 134- Bone Sigh by Tim Pratt Drabble- Squid Ink by Abbie Hilton
Friday, October 16, 2009
I put the tenderizer down on the white formica table and look at my bonsai scar. It is like a flower, a jellyfish, a pinwheel of raised flesh, yellow bruises, subcutaneous hemorrhaging...

In Search of the Mongolian Death Worm: Part Three
Tim Pratt
Abbie Hilton
Super Animal Mega Beast III
Bo Kaier
Drabblecast Fan Archive

Podcast

Drabblecast 133- Over the Walls of Eden by Jay Lake
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
"Why do you remember the books?" he finally asks.
She smiles again. "O Sun, to tell thee how I hate thy beams, That bring to my remembrance from what state I fell, how glorious once above thy sphere, Till pride and worse ambition threw me down..."

Bo Kaier
Jay Lake
Bill Glover

Music by Scott Shannon, Bonnie Mitsch and Norm Sherman

Podcast

Drabblecast 132- Doubleheader IV: A Baker’s Dozen and The Wrong Cart by Bruce Holland Rogers
Thursday, October 1, 2009
People don't like to admit mistakes. You know how it is. Sometimes it's just easier to act like you didn't make a mistake at all, like you're doing exactly what you meant to do all along...


In Search of the Mongolian Death Worm: Part Two
Bruce Holland Rogers Subscription
FinalRune

Music by Lyle Mays, Dave Grisman, Norm Sherman and U2 (Parody)

Podcast
Drabblecast 131- Storm Comes A' Callin’ by Jeremiah Tolbert Drabble- Hanging by Doug McIntire
Friday, September 25, 2009
I heft the axe. Lighter now, and warm in my palms. My old bones creak, I lift it over my head. I stare at the groove in the ground, beaten into the land. Many a storm been broke here. Too many, maybe...

In Search of the Mongolian Death Worm: Part One
Doug McIntire
Jeremiah Tolbert
Cheyenne Wright
Super Animal Deathmatch Season III

Music by Big Bill Broonzy, John Campbell, Cheyenne Wright and Norm Sherman

Podcast
Drabblecast 130- Trifecta IX

Dinosaur by Bruce Holland Rogers
Monster Talk by Steve Calvert
The Curse of the Android’s Wife by Bruce Boston

Podcast
Drabblecast 129- Annabelle's Alphabet by Tim Pratt
Drabble- Tell-Tale Signs by Ralph Gamelli

Annabelle's mother closed her eyes. "Get it sharp," she said. "Very sharp, so it doesn't hurt much. I'll boil some water."

Somewhere in the house, far from the green places she'd known, baby Annabelle lay on her stomach and cried...

Podcast
Drabblecast 128- The End of the Universe by Eugie Foster
Drabble- The Story by Michael Young

"Countdown commencing," the computer announced. "Termination of the universe in 10 . . . 9 . . . 8 . . ."

Eight seconds until the end of everything. No Earth, no galaxy, no existence...

Podcast
Drabblecast 127- Nanuq by John Kratman
Drabble- The Place Where Dogs Go When They Die by John Medaille

His years away from me had bled any belief he once had in the old ways. I had thought to educate him, to make him wise in the ways of science and the world. I thought after he graduated he would return and learn the way of the _angatquq_, the shaman, and take his place in the secret circles of the People, as his mother had.
But the University had narrowed his mind instead of widening it. He had turned his back on his people...

Podcast
Drabblecast 126- Dagon by H.P.Lovecraft
Poetry- The Fungi from Yuggoth by H.P. Lovecraft
Bbardle- The Heartache Over Innsmouth

As I crawled into the stranded boat I realized that only one theory could explain my position. Through some unprecedented volcanic upheaval, a portion of the ocean floor must have been thrown to the surface, exposing regions which for innumerable millions of years had lain hidden under unfathomable watery depths...

Drabblecast 125- Little Brother™ by Bruce Holland Rogers
Drabble- Prayer to Human by Christopher Perria

This year when Peter ran into the living room, there sat Little Brother™ among all the wrapped presents, babbling baby talk, smiling his happy smile, and patting one of the packages with his fat little hand. Peter was so excited that he ran up and gave Little Brother™ a big hug around the neck. That was how he found out about the button.

Drabblecast 124- Ghosts and Simulations by Ruthanna Emrys
Drabble- Navy Wife by A.S. Lowe

"You're looking for people to mind the ghosts?" I asked, as I signed for the co-pay...

Drabblecast 123- Toast by Jamie Lackey

Elayne won't eat toast anymore. A week ago, she never would have dreamed of giving up toast. It was her favorite breakfast food, and breakfast is the most important meal of the day...

Drabblecast 122- The Fallen and the Muse of the Street by Tim Pratt
Drabble- The Most Wonderful Dream by Tim “ShoEboX” Crist

Angels, fallen or otherwise, weren't known for their appreciation of human art...

Drabblecast 121- Trifecta VIII

Paranormal Kansas: Cretaceous Ghosts by Jeremiah Tolbert
Aqua Vita by Stephanie Campisi
Jake and the Carpet Sharks by Michelle Howarth

Drabblecast 120- Doubleheader III: Fishermen & A Sandwich Shop in Chicago, 1 AM by Jeremiah Tolbert
Drabble- The First Swim by Richard Asbury

We reach the rocky banks, out of breath. We do not speak. We can barely hear our voices over water raging against the rocks. Our breath makes white clouds. I buckle my helmet and cinch my gloves tighter...

Drabblecast 119- The Seven Deadly Drabbles by Jake Bible

Damascus started to object, but feeling the stares from those in the infinite line behind him, he angrily flipped open his courier’s bag and grabbed two bloody, dripping muslin bags.  He slapped them on the counter and huffed away...

Drabblecast 118- The Relativity Prison by Igor Teper
Drabble- Coiffuture Conundrum by Jake Webb

It took weeks for me convince myself that my condition is universal, and I'm still not entirely sure. It's almost always something in the eyes, and sometimes also in the corners of the mouth. Resignation. I had to learn to look for it. Otherwise, the illusion of volition is perfect. Everyone looks as if they're just going about their business, even as their business is going about them...

Drabblecast 117- Curse of the Alien's Wife by Bruce Boston
Drabble- The Entertainer by Brett Reynolds

Now that his supernal caress has become the familiar sanctum of her nights, she fears that no mere human partner could ever satisfy her again...

Drabblecast 116- It's All in the Knowing by Mikal Trimm
Drabble- Tax Form Zero-G by Sonny Traylor

Kelly Lester, a soft-spoken, unassuming young girl, with lovely sparkling green eyes and a smile that seemed fresh-born each time she used it. I fell in love with her the day she started here, and I convinced myself she'd never have anything to do with me the day after.

Of course, I was not all-knowing at the time...

Drabblecast 115- Clown Eggs by Jay Lake
Drabble- The Absurdly Connected Machine by J. Alan Pierce

The spring tide rolled across Momus Beach, tossing the flaccid corpses of clowns like so many torn balloons. Weathered to a dispirited pallor, they twisted in the foamy surf with the eternally surprised expressions of the dead...

Drabblecast 114- Arms and the Man by Mary Turzillo
Drabble- Happy Ending by Michael Young

Courtney had never considered squid love before.  She was an accountant for a Chicago restaurant chain, and not really looking.  After a bitter, acrimonious divorce, Courtney was burned out on romance...

Drabblecast 113- Charlie the Purple Giraffe Was Acting Strange by David D. Levine
Drabble- The Good Doctor by Jake Webb

A change came over Charlie then, like a cloud passing in front of the sun.  He placed his hands flat in his lap, straightened his neck, and took a deep breath.  "Us," he said at last.  "They read us."

Drabblecast 112- The Guardian by Michael Anthony
Drabble- 3:52 to Oblivion by J.D. Riso

She sprinted along the sidewalk, the bag bouncing against her back. The sun melded into the horizon, disappeared, engulfing the city in grave dark. Blood-thirsty screams could be heard in the distance, human howls. The gangs and muties were waking, to reclaim the city in their nightly routine...

Drabblecast 111- Frequent Flier Miles by Greg van Eekhout

He folds his barely eaten burrito away in its paper wrapper and regards me seriously with his warm, friendly eyes. "I have a *lot* of frequent flier miles. I'd be more than happy to share them."
I understand that we're not talking about the kind of miles the airlines give you. This has nothing to do with credit card rewards...

Drabblecast 110- Trifecta VII

The Frozen People by Danny Adams
Sheltered by Ralph Gamelli
In Order to Conserve by Cat Rambo

Drabblecast 109- Babel Probe by David D. Levine
Bbardle- The Babylon Battle of the Bands

I have been sent to investigate one of the greatest mysteries of all time.  The identity of Jack the ripper, the fate of the lost colony at Roanoke, even the hidden story of the Crucifixion have all been revealed, but the truth--if any-- behind the Tower of Babel myth, found in so many cultures, still lies shrouded in secrecy...

Drabblecast 108- The Wicked Witch Looks at 40 (Decades) by Janet E. Sever
Drabble- The Moth by Zac Alexander

The wicked witch business wasn’t what it used to be.  It had been such a simple thing, to lure children with candy; back in the old days when candy had been hard to come by...

Drabblecast 107- The Alchemical Automaton Blues by Ian McHugh
Drabble- Hide and Seek by Liz Mierzejewski

"How often does it do that?"  the faun asked.
"Most of the time.  The poor thing's totally neglected.  They never speak to it or interact with it-- except for when the kids are throwing rocks at it..."

Drabblecast 106- Boiled Black Broth and Cornets by Frank Key
Drabble- Deep in Flemming by David Steele

"From fortress-building to cornet-playing, you never cease to amaze me, Beckie."  I replied, dumping my weekend luggage in a corner of the grm brickish vestibule...

Drabblecast 105- Doubleheader 2:  The Blueberry Pie & The Last of the Pie Hunters by Mur Lafferty

She'd been hunting full-grown pies for four years now.  The little hand-held fruit pies were for kids-- the preservatives made them slow and stupid-- but pies in the wild, they were the true treasure, they had formed the culture of her people...

Drabblecast 104- The Food Processor by Michael Canfield
Drabble- To Market by Carson Beker

Though the boy's birthdays occurred weeks apart, Mother combined their gift to please Father. 
"You may choose your present this year, boys,"  said she.  "Something to fulfill your destiny, perhaps."  The boys were born to change the world...

Drabblecast 103-  Out of His League by Bruce Golden
Drabble- Sammy Has a Good Day by Josh Hugo

An influx of uniformed combatants filed into the room, some mumbling, others grumbling-- the sure sign of another loss.  In moments the place smelled of dirty socks and planetary jocks...

Drabblecast 102- The Last Dog by Mike Resnick
Drabble- Rain in the Wind by Jake Freivald

He was panting now, his breath coming in a never-ending series of short spurts and gasps.  His sides ached, his eyes watered, and every now and then he would trip over the rubble of the decayed and ruined buildings that lined the torturously fragmented street...

Drabblecast 101- Bemused by Michael R. Fosburg
Drabble- A Gentleman Caller by Rodney Elliot

My Muse is the life of every party.  He does keg-stands and plays beer-pong like he was born to the game...