Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for September 18, 2026

 

 

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with the Masters of the Universe live action film and Masters of the Universe in general, season 4 of Star Trek Strange New Worlds and Star Trek in general,  Spider-Noir and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general, Lanterns and the DC Cinematic Universe in general, Coyote vs. Acme, Practical Magic 2, Parasomnia, Chronovisor, an uproar inside the HWA, tributes to Tim Curry, Peter Cullen and Dolly Parton, the 2026 Worldcon and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Cheryl Eddy shares 144 new science fiction, fantasy and horror books coming out in September 
• Reactor shares all the new science fiction books arriving in September 2026
• Reactor shares all the new fantasy books arriving in September 2026 
• Reactor shares all the new horror books arriving in September 2026 
• Reactor shares all the new romantasy books arriving in September 2026 
• Reactor shares all the new young adult SFF books arriving in September 2026 
• Reactor shares all the new SFF crossover books arriving in September 2026 
• Natalie Zutter shares romantasy novels coming out in September and October 2026. 
• Alex Brown lists their most anticipated young adult SFF for September and October 2026. 
• Jo Walton shares her reading list for August 2026. 
• Justin Young shares his five favourite time travel books of all time. 
• Lorna Wallace shares five science fiction stories set in sandy places. 
• James Davis Nicoll shares five SFF stories featuring dubious schemes and terrible ideas  
• Nicole Field talks about polyamory in young adult speculative fiction 
• Sam Reader shares eight versions of fairy tales that tell a different story 
• Matthew Byrd talks about the rise of LitRPG. 
• Rebecca Stafford talks about the entrancing moral quandaries of dark academia
• Molly Templeton talks about finding your recipe for literary comfort food 
• BBC Witness History profiles Octavia Butler. 
• Stuart Cripps-Schnoor shares a guide to the Warhammer books. 
• David Gerrold talks about the issues and ethics of still buying Harry Potter merchandise, visiting theme parks and watching the new show in 2026.  
• Sylas K. Barrett discusses the surprising similarities between the Wheel of Time character Perrin Aybara and the X-Men character Wolverine.  
• Emma Loffhagen reports that classicist Emily Wilson will retranslate The Odyssey from scratch 
• Locus remembers David Kopaska Merkel. 
• Groundbreaking feminist writer and campaigner Gloria Steinem has died aged 92 
• Pulp and comic writer Will Murray has died aged 73. 

 

Comics and Art:

• Audris Candra explains what the graphic novel Lunar Boy by Jes and Cin Wibowo says about the realities of queer experience in the Global South
• The Phantom talks about eighty years of Phantom publishing history in Australia. 
• Tom Gauld shares a cartoon about methods for encouraging a reluctant young reader 

  

Film and TV:

• Josh Pearce reviews Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma
• Steve Vertlieb reviews The End of Oak Street 
• Germain Lussier declares that season 3 of Silo goes out with a bang  
• C.T. Phipps shares his thoughts on The Vampire Lestat. 
• Philip Oltermann calls Jupiter a French thriller about nuclear war fears. 
• Peter Bradshaw calls Scherzetto a dithering Neapolitan ghost story
• Joshua Rivera declares that The Dog Stars is just as tired of post-apocalyptic stories as we are
• Steve Erickson calls Buddy refreshingly original filmmaking that delivers as many laughs as scares
• Leslie Felperin calls Hungry a horror film about a rampaging hippo that forgets that hippos are vegetarian.  
• Leah Schnelbach declares that the documentary Boorman and the Devil will make you want to create art and it might make you reassess The Exorcist II. 
• Simran Hans interviews Maisie Williams, who played Arya Stark in Game of Thrones.  
• Rich Pelley interviews Alex Winter who played Bill in the Bill and Ted movies.  
• Miles Klee interviews Richard Kelly, director of Donnie Darko.  
• Isaiah Colbert interviews Na Hong-jin, director of Hope and The Wailing.   
• Kiaran Fisher reports that H.G. Wells intensely disliked the 1927 science fiction movie Metropolis. 
• Kali Wallace revisits the 1931 horror movie Frankenstein. 
• Kali Wallace revisits the 1932 horror film  Island of Lost Souls
• Jason Sacks revisits the 1971 horror film Let's Scare Jessica to Death 
• Darren Richman revisits the 1976 The Muppets Show for its fiftieth anniversary. 
• Tyler Dean revisits the 1982 sword and sorcery movie Conan the Barbarian. 
• Dan Larsen revisits the 1986 animated superhero series Defenders of the Earth. 
• Camestros Felapton revisits the 1987 satirical science fiction film RoboCop. 
• Leah Thomas revisits the 1998 anime Serial Experiments Lain 
• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the 1999 Babylon 5 TV movie A Call to Arms 
• Judith Tarr revisits the 2002 anime The Cat Returns 
• Fawzia Khan revisits the 2015 science fiction mini-series Childhood's End. 
• James Hibbs shares Mark Gatiss' ideas on how Doctor Who should handle the Billie Piper cliffhanger. 
• Niall Gray lists five great superhero movie sidekicks that deserved their own movies 
• Anna Billson ranks her favourite giants in movies. 
• Maya Phillips discusses the latest horror trend of movies about inescapable places.  
• Jamie Grierson and Steven Morris report that according to Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park, Gromit was almost a cat. 

 

Tributes to Peter Cullen, Tim Curry and Dolly Parton:

• Frank Welker, who voiced Megatron in Transformers among many others, shares a tribute to his friend and co-star Peter Cullen who voiced Optimus Prime. 
• Tyler Dean lists his ten favourite Tim Curry roles. 
• Mya Copeland reports that Tim Curry's cause of death has been revealed. 
• Olivia Rutigliano shares a guide to the crime movies of Dolly Parton. 

 

Comments on the Masters of the Universe live action film and Masters of the Universe in general:

• The Masters Cast wonders if Masters of the Universe will get a sequel. 
• He-Mania reports that the 4K release of the 1987 Masters of the Universe movie will include several deleted scenes.  
• He-Mania reports that the voice cast of the video game Masters of the of the Universe: Dragon Pearl of Destruction has been unveiled.  
• Watch "Man-at-Arms and Trap Jaw Are Trapped", the latest episode of the Masters of the Universe: Tales from Eternia animated series.  
• Watch "Beware Ram-Man!", the latest episode of the Masters of the Universe: Tales from Eternia animated series.  

Comments on season 4 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek at 60 and Star Trek in general:  

• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw shares her thoughts on “Off-Hour”, the previous episode of season 4 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.    
• Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on “Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass…”, the latest episode of season 4 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.   
• Caroline Siede shares her thoughts on “Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass…”, the latest episode of season 4 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.    
• Alyse Wax shares her thoughts on “Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass…”, the latest episode of season 4 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.    
• Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on “Orders of Magnitude”, the latest episode of season 4 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.     
• Joshua M. Patton interviews Rhys Darby who plays Trelane in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. 
• Ryan Britt interviews John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who are supposed to write the next Star Trek movie. 
• Arturo Serrano celebrates the sixtieth anniversary of Star Trek.  
• Mark Yon celebrates the sixtieth anniversary of Star Trek. 
• Peter Bradshaw revisits the 1986 Star Trek movie Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
• Lynnette Rice reports that the cast of the medical drama The Pitt has done a live reading of the script for the 1966 pilot episode of Star Trek to benefit the Writers Guild Foundation. 
• Cheryl Eddy reports that Star Trek fans are planning to gather at the Science Museum in London, UK, for an attempted Guinness World Record in Vulcan salutes. 

 

Comments on Lanterns and the DC Cinematic Universe in general:

• Emmet Asher-Perrin shares their thoughts on "OutKast”, the latest episode of Lanterns. 
• Dennis Perkins shares his thoughts on "OutKast”, the latest episode of Lanterns. 
• Germain Lussier shares his thoughts on "OutKast”, the latest episode of Lanterns. 
• Emmet Asher-Perrin shares their thoughts on "The Weenie”, the latest episode of Lanterns. 
• Joshua Rivera asks whose show Lanterns is anyway 
• Nick Romano interviews the actor who plays the Manhunter in Lanterns.  
• Ronda Racha Penrice interviews Vanessa Baden Kelly, writer of "OutKast"  
• Vanessa Armstrong interviews Stephanie Economou, composer of Lanterns.
• Cheryl Eddy reports that Lanterns is getting more popular with each new episode  
• Zack Sharf interviews Gal Gadot who played Wonder Woman in the previous iteration of the DC Cinematic Universe.   

 

Comments on Coyote vs. Acme: 

• Arturo Serrano calls Coyote vs. Acme the little movie that could
• Emmet Asher-Perrin declares that Coyote vs. Acme has a lot to say and only so many signs
• Jesse Hassenger declares that Coyote Vs. Acme won its case, but still loses to the legacy of Looney Tunes 
• Alan Siegel shares an oral history of Coyote vs. Acme. 
• Olivia Rutigliano recounts the struggle Coyote vs. Acme faced to reach movie theaters.

 

 Comments on Spider-Noir and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general: 

• Nellie Andreeva reports that Spider-Noir has been cancelled after a single season.
• Nellie Andreeva shares the reaction of Nicholas Cage who played Ben Reilly in Spider-Noir to the series' cancellation. 
• Rebecca Rubin reports that Chloe Zhao, director of Eternals, defends comic book and superhero movies.  
• Watch a trailer for Avengers: Endgame Encore. 

 

Comments on Practical Magic 2:  

• Adrian Horton calls Practical Magic 2 an odd sequel that still casts a spell 
• Katie Edwards wonders whether Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman’s seeming agelessness is the real trick of Practical Magic 2. 
• Liz Parker lists twenty witchy books to read if you love Practical Magic 

 

Comments on Parasomnia:

• Phil Hoad calls Parasomnia a horror film that suffers from an overly complex plot
• Cheryl Eddy calls Parasomnia convoluted, but oddly compelling.

  

Comments on Chronovisor: 

• Jacob Oller declares that Chronovisor turns a research rabbit hole into must-see cinema
• Leah Schnelbach calls Chronovisor a film about libraries, time travel and the joy of research:   

 

Awards:

• The winners of the 2026 Dragon Awards have been announced. 
• The winner of the 2026 Eugie Foster Memorial Award has been announced. 
• The winner of the 2026 Mike Resnick Memorial Award has been announced. 
• The winners of the 2026 Emmy Awards have been announced with lots of love for Widow's Bay, Pluribus and Spider-Noir.  
• The longlist for the 2026 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction has been announced.
• The Queensland Writers Center shares an open letter to the Australian speculative fiction writing community regarding the Aurealis Awards.
• Mike Glyer reports that Baen Books has established the David A. Drake Memorial Award. 
• Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on the 2026 Hugo Award winners. 
• Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on the 2026 Dragon Award winners.  

 Writing, publishing and promotion: 

• Linwood Barclay talks about writing ordinary characters in extraordinary situations
• Angela Boord asks if trope marketing is ruining literature.
• Sean Delone discusses the collapse of the non-fiction book market. 
• Lois McMaster Bujold talks about printer errors happening to her and other books. 
• Katy Hershberger reports about widespread problems as author begin to receive their Anthropic AI settlement payments. 
• Lee Hae-rin reports about the popularity of literary collectibles in South Korea. 

 

Comments on controversies inside the HWA:

• Mike Glyer reports that the Horror Writers Association has dissolved its executive director position amid a series of controversies 
• Michael Patrick Hicks discusses what he describes as the HWA's neverending August 2026 shitshow. 

 

Interviews:

• Nathan Alderman interviews Alix E. Harrow. 
• Avery Kaplan interviews Charlie Jane Anders. 
• Arley Sorg interviews Cadwell Turnbull.
• Arley Sorg interviews Peter Watts.   
• Scott Edelman interviews Alex Jablokov. 

 

Reviews:   

• Lesa Holstine reviews Fury in Death by J.D. Robb 
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews Time Travel for Beginners by Jaclyn Moriarty 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews The Best of All Possible Planets by Alex Shvartsman  
• Grimdark Magazine reviews An Empire in the Clouds by Ai Jiang 
• Marlene Harris reviews Engines of Reason by Adrian Tchaikovsky 
• Abigail Nussbaum reviews The Felicity Complex by August Clarke 
• Paul Du Filippo reviews Testament of Leaves by Carolyn Ives Gilman 
• Marion Deeds reviews Smoke Season by Carrie-Edmund Laben 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Slow Burn by Amal Singh 
• Beejay Silcox reviews Under Story by Chloe Benjamin   
• Roseanna Pendlebury reviews The End of Everything by M. John Harrison  
• Ian Mond reviews Valet by J.P. Lacrampe 
• Marlene Harris reviews Daggerbound by T. Kingfisher 
• Tom Joyce reviews Ironbound by Andrew Givler 
• Esmay Rosalyne reviews The Knave and the Moon by Rachel Gillig
• Grimdark Magazine reviews The Raven and the Reindeer by T. Kingfisher 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Black Doe by Cleland Smith 
• Colleen Mondor reviews Henry Tudor Must Die by Jillian Laine 
• Esmay Rosalyne reviews One Last Prayer by Mosha Winter 
• Paul Weimer reviews A Dubious Clamor by Marissa Lingen   
• Bill Capossere reviews Portrait of a Witch Undone by K.S. Shay 
• Marlene Harris reviews The Wednesday Witches Book Club by Sarah Beth Durst 
• Jen Lucas reviews Witchcraft For Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix 
• Colleen Mondor reviews The League of Dangerous Young Ladies by J.A. Morgenstein 
• Colleen Mondor reviews The Spiritualists by Kristin O’Donnell Tubb
• Marlene Harris reviews The Whitechapel Full Moon Society by Elizabeth DeLozier 
• Stew Hotston reviews Make Me A Monster by Kalynn Bayron  
• Ed Crocker reviews Kiss Slay Replay by Rachel Harrison 
• Alex Brown reviews Find My Way Down to You by Julian Winters 
• Aaron Jones reviews Valhalla Burning by Michael Pogach 
• Saif Shaikh reviews Upon the Forge of Battle by Anthony Ryan
• Eddie Clark reviews The Dungeon Book by Gareth Hanrahan  
• Krystle Matar reviews Dreamland by Olivie Blake 
• Esmay Rosalyne reviews Somnium by Eden Apelbaum 
• Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews No More Levels by Benjamin Barreth  
• Gabino Iglesias reviews Odessa by Gabrielle Sher 
• Alex Brown reviews The Saw Mouth by Cale Plett 
• Alex Brown reviews That Which Feeds Us by Keala Kendall 
• Rai Furniss-Greasley reviews Filth Eaters by Ito Romo
• Clara Cohen reviews Spread Me by Sarah Gailey  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Bad Things Happen Here by Mark Morris 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Sweetside Motel by E. L. Chen  
• Hache Pueyo reviews City Like Water by Dorothy Tse. 
• Paul Di Filippo reviews The Book of Bots by James Patrick Kelly 
• Arley Sorg reviews Africanfuturism Short Stories, edited by Chinelo Onwualu. 
• Paul Di Filippo reviews Lovecraft’s Brood, edited by Ellen Datlow 

 

Classics reviews:

• Alan Brown revisits the 1897 science fiction novel The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells 
• Mark Yon revisits the 1967 science fiction novel Hawksbill Station by Robert Silverberg. 
• Arturo Serrano revisits the 1968 science fiction anthology Farewell, Fantastic Venus!, edited by Brian W. Aldiss and Harry Harrison. 
• Gideon Marcus revisits the September 1971 issue of Analog. 
• Fiona Moore revisits the 1971 science fiction anthology New Worlds Quarterly #2, edited by Michael Moorcock. 
• Alissa Burger revisits the 1995 YA horror novel Switched by R.L. Stine. 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 2004 science fiction collection The Collected Short Fiction of C.J. Cherryh by C J Cherryh  
• Kat Hooper revisits the 2007 Pip and Flinx space opera Patrimony by Alan Dean Foster 
• Kat Hooper revisits the 2009 Pip and Flinx space opera Flinx Transcendent by Alan Dean Foster
• Polly Stewart and Abby Dunn revisit the 2012 ghost novel I Remember You by Yrsa Sigurdadottir 

 

Crowdfunding:

• New Edge Sword and Sorcery are looking for funding for their 2026 novellas. 
• Lightspeed and Nightmare Magazine are looking for funding. 
• Seasons Gone Bye, a narrative urban fantasy podcast set in 1990s Seattle, is looking for funding.  

 

Comments on LACon V, the 2026 Worldcon:

• Sydney Gaw reports about LACon V, the 2026 Worldcon in Anaheim, California. 
• Sarah Gulde and Isabel Shechter report about LACon V, the 2026 Worldcon in Anaheim, California. 
• Pickled Okra shares his experiences at LACon V, the 2026 Worldcon, in a multi-part post. 
• Francis Hamit shares his experiences at LACon V, the 2026 Worldcon, as someone who is disabled.
• Francis Hamit reports about the panel "Catching a Criminal: Forensics for SF/Mystery Writers" at LACon V, the 2026 Worldcon in Anaheim, California. 
• File 770 shares photos of LACon V. 
• Richard Man shares photos from LACon V. 
• Mike Glyer shares a photo of past, present and future Worldcon chairs taken at LACon V. 

 

Other con and event reports:

• Kendall Murry reports about Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia, from the POV of a black fan. 
• Hinse Mutter reports about the 2026 Dutch Fantasticon in n Nieuw-Vennep, the Netherlands 
• Lavie Tidhar reports about RichmondCon in Richmond-upon-Thames, UK.
• Arley Sorg reports about the 2026 Gen Con Writers Symposium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
• Jimmy Diaz shares his terrible experiences trying to pick up his badge at the 2026 Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia. 
• Adam Christopher Smith reports about the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, China. 

 

Science and technology:

• Felix Tamsut reports that the Bavarian company Isar Aerospace has successfully launched its Spectrum rocket into orbit. 
• Stephen Clark reports that ESA will run the Envision Venus probe alone after the US pulled out unexpectedly. 
• Madeline Martin profiles Matthew Hopkins, the seventeenth century Witchfinder General, and his deadly witch hunts.
• Tom Tapp reports that the Trump government has shown off the uniform designs for its newly created Space Force, which turn out to be inspired by the 1997satirical military science fiction movie Starship Troopers.  

 

Gaming: 

• Joe DelFranco reviews the video game Tunic by Isometricorp Games 
• Daniella Lucas reports that mail thieves in the UK are targetting mail order sales of Pokemon cards. 
• Keith Stuart is frustrated that mainstream journalism focusses too much on the expected blockbuster release of Grand Theft Auto VI and ignores what else the gaming world has to offer. 

 

Toys and collectibles:

• Pixel Dan discusses where the Masters of the Universe Origins toyline from Mattel will go in 2027. 
• Cheryl Eddy shares a look at an upcoming Wallace and Gromit Lego set 
• Cheryl Eddy shares a look at a  Lego PlayStation set.
• Nostalgia Rewind explains that Tonka's GoBots toyline actually predates Hasbro's Transformers, though it is viewed as a Transformers copy today. 

 

Free online fiction: 

• "The Eldest Bird of Paradise" by Denzel Xavier Scott in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. 
• "Seneschal of Shattered Tor" by Abhijeet Sathe in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. 
• "The Red Veil" by Daniel Roop in Nightmare Magazine.  
• "Red Riding Wolf" by Suzan Palumbo in The Sunday Morning Transport.  
• "Water-Eaters" by Beth Goder in Clarkesworld. 
• "To Walk This Distant Shore with You" by A.D. Sui in Clarkesworld.
• "Where the Wild Things Grow" by Osahon Ize-Iyamu in Future Tense Fiction. 
• "Audit of the Collapse and Convalescence of Minds" by Renan Bernardo in Reactor.  
• "Long Goodbyes" by Anya Ow in Lightspeed. 
• "The Chrysalis of Moth One" by V.M. Ayala in Lightspeed.  
• "Ticky-Tacky" by Kristi DeMeester in The Dark.

 

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for Godzilla Minus Zero. 
• Watch a trailer for Avatar: Seven Havens. 
• Watch a trailer for Wildwood. 
• Watch a trailer for Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom 
• Watch a trailer for Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 
• Watch a trailer for Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu 
• Watch a clip from Optimus Prime: Awakening.  
• Watch a trailer for Street Fighter. 
• Watch a trailer for Clayface. 
• Watch a trailer for City of Blood. 
• Watch a trailer for Sunrise of the Reaping.  
• Watch a trailer for Ghosts: The Possession of Button House 
• Watch a trailer for Whalefall.  
• Watch a trailer for Below. 
• Watch a trailer for the latest adaptation of Carrie.  
• Watch a trailer for American Horror Story 13.