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: December 2024

by John Joseph Adams

Published in Dec. 2024 (Issue 175) | 267 words

Welcome to issue 175 of Lightspeed Magazine!

Both of our science fiction original shorts contain a warning for our near future selves. In Pat Murphy’s “A Catalog of 21st Century Ghosts,” a woman travels America searching for connection in an age of climate disaster—and finds it where she least expects it. Gene Doucette mixes comedy and concerns about privacy and AI in his story “Get Hyped!” Tamra Masri has her Lightspeed debut with “Inside the House of Wisdom,” a flash story that looks with hope toward a future Gaza. We also have a piece of dark flash (“What We Plan to Do to You”) by Adam-Troy Castro.

Melissa A Watkins launches off our fantasy short stories with “Ol’ Big Head,” the story of one young man’s education about family history . . . and the importance of taking care of one’s community. Cressida Blake Roe’s story “The Godhood of Ima Day” is set in a future where, for better or worse, people can host gods. In our fantasy flash, Lincoln Michel gives us a retelling of Sleeping Beauty (“Sleeping Beauty and the Restless Realm”) and David Anaxagoras spins an entirely modern fairy tale in “Three Birds That Came Out of Grayson Huff and a Bunch More That Fell from the Sky.”

All that, and of course we also have our usual assortment of author spotlights, along with book reviews from our terrific review team. It’s a terrific way to wrap up 2024, and we couldn’t be more delighted to share all this fantastic spec fic with you.

Happy holidays, and see you next year!

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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.