I’m writing this editorial while listening to a Sundays album I first purchased in Champaign/Urbana over thirty years ago, back when I first came here for college. It’s the right kind of autumnal mopey. This will be my last fall in Champaign/Urbana. My late daughter Caitlin’s final house will soon be on the market, and my life will change in a million different ways.

Meanwhile at Uncanny Magazine, the BEST STAFF IN THE UNIVERSE is ploughing through 2,800 short story submissions from our most recent open submissions period of August 25 to September 8. That is a lot! I would love to say that the only reason for such a large number is Uncanny is very popular and lots and lots of writers want to be a part of the magazine. That certainly is true of most, but a big reason why our submission numbers are this large is AI—stories created or edited with AI.

All of them are complete trash.

Here is the AI statement from the Uncanny Magazine Submissions Guidelines:

Please note that Uncanny Magazine does not accept any submissions written with artificial intelligence or similar technologies. These submissions will be rejected, and authors will no longer be able to submit to Uncanny Magazine if they didn’t disclose that they used artificial intelligence or similar technologies for creating their submissions.

Sadly, this has had little or no effect in stopping the deluge.

We don’t use AI detectors, so I have yet to block a person for submitting. That doesn’t mean the staff and I can’t spot this, though. AI garbage is fairly obvious.

I realize that many sectors of the economy are promoting AI. Folks may very well have to use it at work or school. It seems the stock market is currently fueled by this snake oil. But I can’t stress enough that it creates a terrible, soulless product. You will never, ever, create a story with AI that is as transcendent as the gorgeous stories created by the human authors of Uncanny Magazine. You’re wasting your time and our time if you send in an AI story. Just don’t. Please don’t feed an AI industry that is literally destroying the planet with its power and water needs. Find your own voice. Create something special. Don’t fall for the AI bullshit.

Now, let’s leave this editorial on a happier note: THIS ISSUE BEGINS UNCANNY MAGAZINE YEAR 12! How amazing is that?!? The world is very different than it was in 2014, but Uncanny Magazine persists. Thank you, Space Unicorns, for making another year possible. You are amazing.

Here we go!

Fabulous news, Space Unicorns! Uncanny Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief/Publisher Michael Damian Thomas is once again the Content Editor for the podcast It’s Storytime with Wil Wheaton, now starting its second season! You most certainly know Wil Wheaton from television shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Big Bang Theory, and Leverage, and the film Stand by Me. Wil is also an accomplished audiobook narrator and is once again bringing these skills to this exciting podcast. In each episode, Wil narrates a fabulous SF/F story from the pages of your favorite SF/F magazines (including Uncanny Magazine), giving some of the best authors working in the field today an even larger audience. Michael helped Wil choose the stories for the second season and is so excited to hear Wil’s interpretations of these magnificent speculative tales.

Wonderful news, Space Unicorns! “Marginalia” by Mary Robinette Kowal won the 2025 Eugie Foster Memorial Award for Short Fiction! Congratulations to Mary Robinette!

Once again, congratulations all of the finalists, including Uncanny Magazine Interviewer Caroline M. Yoachim for her story “We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read” from Lightspeed Magazine.

From their website:

The Eugie Foster Memorial Award for Short Fiction (or Eugie Award) celebrates the best in innovative fiction. This annual award is presented at Dragon Con, the nation’s largest fan-run convention.

The Eugie Award honors stories that are irreplaceable, that inspire, enlighten, and entertain. We will be looking for stories that are beautiful, thoughtful, and passionate, and change us and the field. The recipient is a story that is unique and will become essential to speculative fiction readers.

And now the contents of Uncanny Magazine Issue 67! The spectacular cover is Mushroom Mother of Us All by Paul Lewin. Our fabulous new fiction includes “The Millay Illusion” by Sarah Pinsker, “And on Their Graves a Fall of Angels” by Natalia Theodoridou, “Anémona” by Ana Hurtado, “The Teleporting Disaster Fairy” by Rati Mehrotra, “Thicker” by Eleanna Castroianni, “To Speak in Silence” by Mary Robinette Kowal, and “Who Are You Wearing?” by Russell Nichols.

Our provocative and compelling essays this month include “I Am Insecure About My Character(s)” by Javier Grillo-Marxuach, “Portrayals of Disability in The Wheel of Time, Sony Pictures/Amazon Studios” by Mari Ness, “The Mistletoe Creeps for You or A Discussion of the Transformation of Xmas Horror from Societal to Fantastic” by Jordan Shiveley, and “The Stranger Next Door: The Domestic Fantastic in Classic Nordic Children’s Fantasy” by Marissa Lingen. Our gorgeous and evocative poetry includes “Call Us Boy.” by Somto Ihezue, “Prayer for Winter” by Romie Stott, “My Duende: in the Wall and in the Mirror” by Angel Leal, and “Welkin Burials for Drones” by Hannan Khan. Finally, Caroline M. Yoachim interviews Natalia Theodoridou and Eleanna Castroianni about their stories.

The Uncanny Magazine Podcast episode 67A features “The Millay Illusion” by Sarah Pinsker, as read by Erika Ensign, “Call Us Boy.” by Somto Ihezue, as read by Matt Peters, and Michael Damian Thomas interviewing Sarah Pinsker. The Uncanny Magazine Podcast episode 67B features “The Teleporting Disaster Fairy” by Rati Mehrotra, as read by Matt Peters, “My Duende: in the Wall and in the Mirror” by Angel Leal, as read by Erika Ensign, and Michael Damian Thomas interviewing Rati Mehrotra.

As always, I am deeply grateful for your support of Uncanny Magazine. Shine on, Space Unicorns!

© 2025 Michael Damian Thomas