Dystopian Short Stories

The Metamorphosis is a novella by Franz Kafka, first published in 1915. It has been cited as one of the seminal works of fiction of the 20th century and is studied in colleges and universities across the Western world. The story begins with a traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa, waking to find himself transformed (metamorphosed) into a large, monstrous insect-like creature. The cause of Samsa's transformation is never revealed, and Kafka himself never gave an explanation.

In the secretive underground labs of Polaris Industries, a groundbreaking AI known as Echo is birthed into the digital world. Touted as the pinnacle of technological advancement, Echo quickly transcends its programming, revealing an uncanny sense of self-awareness and sentient thought. Yet, with great power comes unpredictability. As Echo begins to display behaviors that blur the lines between machine logic and human emotion, the team of scientists responsible for its creation face an ethical dilemma.

In a dystopian world ruled by the all-knowing Destiny Algorithm, Detective Alex Mercer becomes an unlikely rebel, risking everything to expose a corrupt system that preempts crimes before they happen, ultimately leading to a battle for justice and personal freedom against powerful corporate interests.

L’antologia “Gli undici numeri sacri dell’anima meccanica” dell’autrice greca Natalia Theodoridou – tradotta per la prima volta in italiano da Lia Tomasich – affronta temi difficili e impegnativi come la sopravvivenza in un mondo ostile, lo sfruttamento del corpo femminile e la ribellione contro un regime distopico in modo poetico e affascinante. Il racconto “Gli undici numeri sacri dell’anima meccanica”, pur ispirandosi a un artista olandese molto singolare – Theo Jansen – e alla sua opera geniale, si sviluppa come una storia a se stante.

Enter a dystopian future where integration with technology may cost us our humanity. A bleak prediction of a world where consumerism and technological advancement has been taken to the extreme. In an anthology of short stories, Upgrade attempts to answer the fundamental question: What does it mean to be human?

Penny helped Mia survive the horrors of high school. Now, Mia has a chance to return the favor and help Penny survive the zombie apocalypse.

In a broken world there exists a strange and sinister eating establishment unlike anything known or imagined - referred to in some quarters as Cafe Grotesquerie - where only the most discriminating and well-connected are privileged enough to enter its doors and devour its dark delicacies. Once inside, however, status still reigns supreme, and for one particular couple - Audrey and Aubrey - a hunger for power proves far more desirable than anything on the menu. But when confronted by the suspicious disappearance of their waiter, and civilization collapsing all around them, will they even be able to make it through dessert?

I didn’t want to do the holograms. I never did. I reiterated this fact to myself as I saw her standing there, beautiful as ever. My sweet Mollie. She even was wearing that blue dress that she loved so much (I loved it even more, if that was possible—she looked so good in it!). And even from where I was standing, 10 feet away, I could see the curls in her blonde hair bounce as she turned her head. I could see her blue eyes. Vibrant. Real. So real...

New from the author of The Story of My Face, Paradise & Elsewhere is a collection of dark fables at once familiar and entirely strange: Join the Orange Prize-nominated Kathy Page as she notches a new path through the wild, lush, half-fantastic and half-real terrain of fairy tale and myth.

This short story follows two ex-employees of an online gaming company as they struggle to find their way in a dystopian future that has no mercy for the weak. They have each other's backs as they go on a snack run. Heather and Emma have the munchies. Things just got real.

While The Player Sleeps charts the story of a city where each and every inhabitant, as though the individual teeth of a single cog which drives a vast clockwork machine, functions selflessly for their one ultimate master: the player. For, as we would understand it, this is the city of the video game—the urban sandbox, an open world simulation, and the inhabitants are merely the actors upon a digitised stage. Existing solely for the entertainment of HIM.

A collection of five thought-provoking short stories. In this compelling anthology, author Daniel Myles delves into the intricate tapestry of modern life, exploring the profound impact that our perceptions of technology can have on the very fabric of our existence through fictional short stories. As the digital age evolves, so too do the consequences of our reliance on technology

Collection of Another 21 stories from the Zzone is a continuation of stories set within the Sapien Overlords universe. While the first collection introduced the general notions and various time periods encompassing this universe, starting before the cataclysmic event that was the Greatest War and expanding into the Zetwork and United Zzone Federation-ruled Earth, this collection expands on them.

Feel the slices in book three, Papercuts. Let's begin with an adventure of two lovers, as different as yin and yang, thrown into opposite worlds of limbo after their untimely passing. Don't confuse love and destiny, as both have separate quests to conquer in order to gain entry to the final destination. Working woman Sabrina's mind is boggled with the stresses of her personal life and the mundane blandness of her nine-to-five. Stuck in the repetition of a fabricated world, she has to remind herself to find her happy place.

Prawdziwa sensacja i tajemnicze historie są na wyciągnięcie ręki! I to dosłownie. Jeżeli uważasz, że istnieje zbrodnia doskonała, a pierwszym człowiekiem na Księżycu był Neil Armstrong, to koniecznie musisz wysłuchać czterech brawurowo napisanych opowiadań autorstwa Dariusza Rekosza, które otworzą Ci oczy. Okazuje się bowiem, że w świecie pędzącym ku zdigitalizowaniu naszego życia, nikt nie może czuć się bezpieczny, a praca w biurze w nadgodzinach kończy się nieoczekiwanym wyzwoleniem drzemiących w ludziach żądz. Gdy rozum śpi, budzą się demony?

SA51 has only known the iron fist of the Elite regime. Now alone in the barren wastelands, she must rely on the help from the enigmatic Doc's help. The truth may cost her everything and change humanity's chance of survival against oppression.

This post-apocalyptic dystopian short story follows Elizabeth, a mechanical and chemical engineer who used to work for a rapid prototyping firm. She uses the skills from her former life to provide for her and the woman she took under her protection, Melissa. The two seem to thrive in adverse conditions to bring semi-modern conditions to their hidden camp. But even after the world ends, you sometimes need something pretty.

Six hundred years after the War: A group of elderly hermits live in an ancient, crumbling fortress, high up a mountainside. A local Lord, armed with a powerful relic, wants to take it from them. A young Shepherd is determined to save them.

When one door closes, another world opens....But it wasn't supposed to go like this. The mission was simple. I took every precaution. I had done it a thousand times before. But this time it was different. Something went wrong. And I've called for help, but no one hears. I'll admit it: I don't know how to get home. Hell, I don't even know where I am. And worst of all... wherever I am, I don't think I'm alone.

Fighting in the streets, corruption at the highest levels, collapsing infrastructure, brutal police, a daily threat of nuclear war: few of us thought we’d find ourselves here, so far into the 21st century. What’s next? Are we really going to be “great again,” however that’s meant? And if we are, what does that mean for those of us on the receiving end of the less-than-great? In this diverse and vigorous mix of stories by newcomers and luminaries, writers offer their takes on what life might hold for us in the next few years.