Short Stories 366:124 — “The Dance of the White Demons,” by Sabrina Vourvoulias

And this is it! I'm at the end of Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History, which is probably the anthology I had the longest in my possession and only partially read before I started this wee project. This final trip from the anthology takes us to Guatemala in 1524, and is thematically …

Short Stories 366:117 — “Lone Women,” by Victor LaValle

One of the more contemporary of the stories in Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History, "Lone Women" brings us to 1914 Montana, and a lone woman homesteader, and a trek that's somewhat miserable on the back of a wagon. We meet Adelaide Henry on this trek, and though she is heading to …

Short Stories 365:110 — “Medu,” by Lisa Bolekaja

This week, Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History drops us in 1877 in Ellsworth, Kansas, and we're on a cattle drive. I feel like I say this over and over, but I adore the settings and time periods of this anthology, and especially the attention to detail the authors paid in doing …

Short Stories 366:103 — “A Wedding in Hungry Days,” by Nicolette Barischoff

Years ago, I listened to a novel, Peony in Love, by Lisa See, and it was my introduction to a story that took place (in part) in the Chinese afterlife. I really enjoyed the novel, so when I realized this story from Barischoff was set in the same afterlife, I was quite pleased. It tells …

Short Stories 366:96 — “Find Me Unafraid,” by Shanaé Brown

Charlotte, Carolina in 1905 is the setting of this next story from Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History, and given that it starts with an attack from the KKK, I was braced for impact. Brown doesn't pull punches with the aftereffects, nor the ongoing impact of the looming fear that is the …

Short Stories 366:89 — “There Will Be One Vacant Chair,” by Sarah Pinsker

I waffled a bit over this story, and I'm still not 100% sure this story and I will see eye-to-eye, but it was incredibly well written, and once again, the setting is nearly a character in and of itself. This particular story in Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History takes place in …