"How do you stop yourself from growing up?"

Unlock the continuing mind-bending possibilities of ethical and moral dilemmas with "After Dinner Conversation - Season Five," the next installment of the must-read collection of the best short stories from the critically acclaimed After Dinner Conversation magazine series.

Spanning all genres, from science-fiction to historical fiction and everything in between, each story is guaranteed to captivate you and leave you questioning your own beliefs. Perfect for philosophy students and fiction lovers alike, each story comes with five suggested discussion questions that are the ultimate conversation starter for your dinner party, book club, or social gathering. Don't miss out on the chance to read a book that demands conversations with others and explores the complexities of human nature in a whole new way!

Reader Reviews

✓ "The stories in this anthology speak to the collective and individual man alike, delicately balancing outcomes, possibilities, while celebrating and demonizing advances of the human mind and those extraordinary feats of technology by pointing out what humanity gains and what it constantly loses." Raluca Comanelea

✓ "Thought-provoking stories that bring ethical questions to life." Tina Forsee

✓ "Captivating and enthralling glimpse at the thought process...Futuristic, but also relevant." Jane Hill

Short stories by (in alphabetical order) Michael Barron, Marin Biliškov, Harman Burgess, Laura J. Campbell, N. M. Cedeño, Logan Thrasher Collins, Garrett Davis, Rebecca Dueben, Alexis Dubon, Fiona Ennis, A.M. Entracte, Geoffrey Hart, Sebastian Hoyle, Alexander B. Joy, Ville V. Kokko, Joe Labriola, Ty Lazar, E. B. Ratcliffe, Daren Schuettpelz, Deborah Serra, Tim Sharp, L. A. Shortliffe, Saba Waheed, Darcy L. Wood

Let your imagination bloom with these mind-opening tales

Featuring stories by Veronica L. Asay, Warren Benedetto, Jason P. Burnham, Michael D. Burnside, Laura J. Campbell, Arasibo Campeche, Jay Caselberg, Philip Brian Hall, Tom Howard, Tim Kane, Benjamin C. Kinney, Stephen McQuiggan, Mike Morgan, Sam Muller, Jason Restrick, and Elyse Russell.

Etherea Magazine #5

Ten wonderful pieces of speculative fiction!

Hear from Independent Author, Melanie Harding-Shaw, winner of the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Services to Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror.

Enjoy the amazing artwork supplied by highly talented artist Serena Malyon

Blue Ticket by Sophie Mackintosh is reviewed by Katie McIvor

THE STORIES:

“You can try again Mr. Bridges, I know you can.” She dared a glance at his left arm, and her skin came alive with goosebumps. The limb had been severed below the elbow, and a hardened stump poked out of his shirtsleeve… – The Tolling of the Bell, by Zachary Torres

“I found this book in an antiquarian bookshop in London while I was on holiday. The bookseller said he didn’t have any book with that title on inventory. He thought I brought it in on my own. He couldn’t charge me for it, so I left with a free book along with a first edition Agatha Christie…” – The Latest Reviews of The Best Walking Tours of Faerie on ElusiveBooks.com, by Amanda Cook

“You can’t outrun the Kothaki hunters, they are mindless killing beasts, and the whole planet is covered with them.” Pek had explained this to Aaron multiple times… – Rite of Passage, by O.M. Kindel

Her new face was grown in a lab. The product was created using patented TrueYou PlasmaSkin, designed using an app on Elsie’s phone. To design a new face, the app only required a three-dimensional upload of her current face and an interactive sculpting stylus, which she’d needed to order… – TrueYou, by Tee Linden

“Lost something? Like your tongue?” Apparently unaffected by his dimples, she gave him no opportunity to wriggle out of a conversation that could lead to an unpleasant interview with a guardsman. Vasi’s mind began to swim with panic… – The Talisman Plant, by Bronwyn Venter

When Hikaru reached the gate of her city, the hummingbird bid her farewell and flew away. As she walked along the once-familiar street, charred structures razed to the ground greeted her… – Moon Over Her Realm, by Toshiya Kamei

The noise throughout the Bucket stilled again, and again all eyes were on him. And they lingered for a longer period this time, for Harbin had just conspicuously ordered the signature drink of the very class of criminal that, an hour previously, he’d been determined to make a career out of fighting… – What We’re Looking For, by Eric Lewis

…the years since Da and Mum had gone out on their boat to collect a certain type of bottom-dweller that only surfaced during storms. Bits of their boat had washed up the next morning, battered to splinters by the storm and the waves and the hidden rocks that rimmed the edge of the cove… – The Cirein-cròin, by Wendy Nikel

“It is a living thing,” he said, with ancient authority. “And it wants to go with you.

Explore Evocative Imagined Realities

All Worlds Wayfarer is a quarterly literary magazine specializing in character-and-theme-driven speculative fiction. We celebrate stories that take readers on tours through wonderful and terrifying realms, evocative visions, and eye-opening new lives. When our readers come home, they should return ever so slightly changed for having made the journey. After all, the most powerful stories transcend, enlighten, and entertain at once.

“Books give a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” -Plato

Our autumnal equinox 2021 issue includes 15 stories spanning the speculative fiction spectrum:

Biological Conflict by K.T. Roth
"I was born shortly before my eighteenth birthday, and I'll die soon, a decrepit man at thirty-five."

The Meaning of Isolation by Josh Warriner
"On that day, he was afraid, perhaps terrified, of what it really meant to be alone."

The Lady of Rêver by Shelby Cohen
"Rêver and all her secrets now belong to me."

Ascension by Gwen Montealto
"Other churches didn't need to feed their gods."

After Death by Elizabeth Davis
"She remembered her own sleepover rumors whispered under the radio, of poor drowned Ophelia."

Terrible Tilly Hunts the Cadborosaurus by Laurel Beckley
"There were rules. She needed a living monster. Actual, undeniable proof that the cadborosaurus existed."

Dead Eyes by M.E. Proctor
"Maybe evil spirits get impatient, just like us."

A Simulation by Philip Charter
"Going one level deeper was surely the key to exponential human potential."

Riding with Euripides by Laura J. Campbell
"'A lot of truth can be found in nothingness,' Sarah replied to the ghost."

Blood Brothers by Tom Howard
"'You're too young to remember what vampires are really like.'"

Widow's Walk by Shannon Frost Greenstein
"We chose the house, but the widow's walk chose me."

Joy Ride by Rowan Rook (Kindle Edition Bonus Story)
"'There are bloodstains in the back. Didn't think they were still fresh.'"

Upper G by Maya Djurisic
"The voice sounds like yours, and so you obey."

What Ye Sow by Joshua Keown
"We wonder how he'd react if we were to tell him that these superstitious rituals are worthless."

The Necromancer's Husband by Ali LaForce
"Since then, Necromancy began creeping into respectability inch by inch, along with the steam engine train and dresses short enough to reveal women’s ankles."

Venture beyond the mundane with the best of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and magical realism with this especially haunting issue.

"After Dinner Conversation" Magazine - September 2021

• Evening Star: Two bullied school children decide to reveal their true selves to their classmates and suffer the consequences.
• Conscience Cleaners: A genuinely repentant criminal appeals to the court to have his memory erased of the crime he committed.
• The Room Above: A convicted criminal wakes to an erased memory and finds he is part of a strange government rehabilitation program.
• Appreciating Hate: Police do a wellness check to a home and find a man who has been systematically working to remove art that glorifies the vile.
• The Showing: A real estate agent tries to sell a haunted home and must come to terms with the homes past.
• How The Cockroach Lost Its Voice (Children's Story): A talking cockroach takes his nephew to the top of the refrigerator to survey the world, and discuss the unhappy humans with three eyes.
• Prohibition: A wealthy addict heads to a seedy part of town for his fix and gets more than he bargained for.

After Dinner Conversation believes humanity is improved by ethics and morals grounded in philosophical truth. Philosophical truth is discovered through intentional reflection and respectful debate. In order to facilitate that process, we have created a growing series of short stories, audio and video podcast discussions, across genres, as accessible examples of abstract ethical and philosophical ideas intended to draw out deeper discussions with friends and family.

★★★ If you enjoy this story, subscribe via our website to "After Dinner Conversation Magazine" and get this, and other, similar ethical and philosophical short stories delivered straight to your inbox every month. (Just search "After Dinner Conversation Magazine")★★★

Canadian Zine of Horror and Dark Fiction.

Issue 4 features:

• an interview with author Matthew G. Rees
• Short horror stories by authors: Malcolm Timperley, Ken MacGregor, Cecilia Kennedy, Susan Cornford, Elana Gomel, Laura J. Campbell, Neil Whitfield, J.W. Wood, David Watson, Nick Petrou, Harris Coverley, H.T. Grossen, and DJ Tyrer.
• Drabbles by Elyse Russell, Miriam H. Harrison, M.M. MacLeod
• Poetry by M.M. MacLeod