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American Short Fiction

Publishing exquisite fiction since 1991.

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Online Fiction

The Moths Came

by Elin Hawkinson | April 7, 2019

The Moths Came

In a cloud, at night. Or like an army at sunrise. To every tree and every spike of grass, every ridgepole, every windowsill, they came. To every clothesline, especially. From the candy-coated wires, they formed strings—onions braided together by their tops—and we woke to find them swaying. Don’t open the door, we say to our daughter. Our daughter puts her hand on the knob, but the lock catches. Click. We imagine the chubby tips of her fingers nibbled down to their pin-thin bones. They’ll come … [Read more...] about The Moths Came

Filed Under: WEB EXCLUSIVES Tagged With: Contest, contest winners, Flash Fiction, Online Fiction, short fiction, Short Stories, Web Exclusive, Web Exclusives

Five Questions for the Snake Charmer

by C Pam Zhang | February 5, 2019

Five Questions for the Snake Charmer

  https://soundcloud.com/americanshortfiction/five-questions-for-the-snake-charmer-by-c-pam-zhang At some point on my way to the nephew’s birthday without a present, somewhere between swigging Gatorade and weaving around piss puddles and clamping my lips against vomit or provocative statements (as my dear sister puts it), I feel a hand grab mine. A shock of warmth, then the hard shove of a box. I watch enough news to know: I'm holding a bomb. In a few seconds the wet red jelly of … [Read more...] about Five Questions for the Snake Charmer

Filed Under: WEB EXCLUSIVES Tagged With: Fiction, Flash Fiction, Online Fiction, Short Stories, Web Exclusive, Web Exclusives

Flood

by Keenan Walsh | January 4, 2019

Flood

https://soundcloud.com/americanshortfiction/flood My sister couldn’t see till she was seven, after we’d moved across town for the fifth time because all our landlords “had it out for us,” as my parents said, and the new place was in a better neighborhood because my mom’s boss owned it and had cut us a deal on rent, so we were zoned at a better school that was more equipped to deal with my sister’s seizures than our old school had been—though since she’d switched to phenobarbital the year … [Read more...] about Flood

Filed Under: WEB EXCLUSIVES Tagged With: Fiction, Flash Fiction, Online Fiction, short fiction, Web Exclusive, Web Exclusives

The Clown

by Mark Mayer | October 31, 2018

The Clown

The clown counted his murders as he drove the new couple to the house on Rocking Horse Lane. Not few. The Lexus needed air again, according to the little orange light, the man in his passenger seat was offering original commentary on the Clintons, and behind the clown’s left eye a toothache and an earache were collaborating. Not few at all, and some of the murders had been admirably painful, admirably patient. Outside the Lexus it was seventy-two degrees in October, and inside the Lexus, … [Read more...] about The Clown

Filed Under: WEB EXCLUSIVES Tagged With: clowns, Fiction, Flash Fiction, murder, Online Fiction, serial killers, short fiction, Web Exclusive

Surface Treatments

by Zach Powers | October 9, 2018

Surface Treatments

It took less than a month for the coats of paint to completely cover the electrical outlet in the kitchen. So much for coffee. So much for toast. The nearest outlet was in the dining room. The longest extension cord was only six feet. We suggested that our parents buy a longer one, maybe one that wasn’t orange and meant for outdoors, maybe one that wasn’t caked with saffron dirt, but we were only children. Like most children, even the wisest things we said went ignored. This was when Dad … [Read more...] about Surface Treatments

Filed Under: WEB EXCLUSIVES Tagged With: Family, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Online Fiction, short fiction, Short Stories, Web Exclusive

Sign of the Times

by Dante Pragier | September 6, 2018

Sign of the Times

Simon had first seen the sign while walking back from the Sunday farmer’s market in early November. It was printed on paper, affixed to a streetlamp, and stuck over an old gig poster. He hadn’t paid it much mind but, as he walked, he saw another copy, and then another still. He had an urge to stop and read one, but he was balancing several oversized aubergines and further investigation seemed an unreasonably cumbersome affair, so he continued home. That evening, as he sliced and fried his … [Read more...] about Sign of the Times

Filed Under: WEB EXCLUSIVES Tagged With: Fiction, Flash Fiction, Online Fiction, short fiction, Web Exclusive

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Issue 81

Guest-edited by Fernando A. Flores, featuring new stories by Yvette DeChavez, Julián Delgado Lopera, Carribean Fragoza, Alejandro Heredia, Carmen Maria Machado, Ruben Reyes Jr., and Gerardo Sámano Córdova.

You can preview the issue here.

NEWS

Read the winners of the 2024 Insider Prize

Read the winners of the 2024 Insider Prize

By ASF Editors

“Memories are a nuisance,” Peter wrote to one of our writers after reading his short story, “but nonetheless they seem to make us who we are, as this story confirms.” This year’s submissions told many stories burdened with memory, but just as many stared bravely into the face of hope, satirized the state of politics, speculated on the future of the world, or else built entirely new worlds to inhabit. In short, the stories written on the inside reflected the stories we wrote this year on the outside. Stories of human toil and dreams and everything in between.
 

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