Lightspeed: Edited by John Joseph Adams

LIGHTSPEED & NIGHTMARE Kickstarter graphic. Left side: Bright light blue background with rays (as of light) bursting out from the center. Central image is an open book with a rocket blasting up out of it. Below the book is the LIGHTSPEED magazine wordmark; the word lightspeed is rendered in a orange-to-yellow gradient, with a white outline around it and dropshadow underneath it. Right side: Bright light yellow background with rays (as of light) bursting out from the center. Central image is an open book with a haunted house emerging from it. Below the book is the NIGHTMARE magazine wordmark; the word nightmare is rendered in a dark red to lighter red gradient, with a white outline around it and dropshadow underneath it. Top: the words "LIVE on Kickstarter"

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Editorial

Editorial: May 2025

by John Joseph Adams

Published in May 2025 (Issue 180) | 253 words

Welcome to issue 180 of Lightspeed Magazine!

This issue is full of stories turning things on their heads. For example, one of our flash shorts, “Where Are They Now?” by Meg Elison, tells the story of touring the Wonka factory from the perspective of Augustus Gloop, and it’s a wildly different experience than the original! In one of our longer fantasy works, Martin Cahill tells a story (“The Price of Manners”) about a cursed tome with a legacy of death and destruction. But what if all that chaos is a big misunderstanding?

Our fantasy fiction continues with a powerful secondary world fantasy: “Ninnagan Says Remember” by Jonathan Olfert, a story of both resistance and redemption. And we have a great flash story (“Shadows on the Pavement”) from R. P. Sand.

Our science fiction shorts include “Rthing It Up: An Oral History,” Gene Doucette’s all-too-human take on an alien invasion. In her story “Through the Machine,” P.A. Cornell dives into the potential impact of AI on film. Given the state of our world today, both of these SF short stories are a little too plausible for comfort—and that’s a great reason to read them both. We also have two terrific flash pieces: “The Temporal Displacement of the Graves” from Russell Nichols and “The Meaning We Seek” by Nancy Kress.

Our nonfiction this month includes author spotlight interviews with our writers and of course three reviews of exciting new books.

Thanks for joining us for another terrific issue!

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John Joseph Adams

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John Joseph Adams is the editor and publisher of the Hugo Award-winning Lightspeed and publisher of its sibling magazine, Nightmare. He’s also the editor of more than fifty anthologies, including the Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy series, Wastelands, A People’s Future of the United States, and the New York Times bestselling Out There Screaming (with Jordan Peele). John is a winner of the Hugo, Stoker, Locus, and British Fantasy awards, and is a ten-time World Fantasy Award finalist. In addition to his short fiction work, he’s the co-creator of The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast, and for five years he ran a novel imprint for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Lately, he’s also been working as an editor and game designer on TTRPG projects for Kobold Press, Paizo, and Monte Cook Games. Learn more at johnjosephadams.com.