Fantastic Fiction at KGB

Matthew Kressel
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Books
  • Monthly

Fantastic Fiction at KGB is a monthly speculative fiction reading series held at the famous KGB bar in NYC, and hosted by Ellen Datlow and Matthew Kressel. Some of our past readers include N.K. Jemisin, Joe Hill, Jeffrey Ford, Scott Westerfeld, Kelly Link, China Miéville, Nancy Kress, Paul Tremblay, Joyce Carol Oates, Samuel R. Delany, Holly Black, Michael Swanwick, Kit Reed, Peter Straub, Catherynne M. Valente, Jeff VanderMeer, Scott Lynch, Elizabeth Bear and many other talented authors.

  1. 6d ago

    Audio from Oct 14th, with John Langan & Carrie-Edmund Laben

    Here’s the audio from the October 14th Fantastic Fiction at KGB reading series, with guests John Langan & Carrie-Edmund Laben. Both read from their work to a large, enthusiastic crowd. Support the Fantastic Fiction at KGB series by clicking here!​​​​​​​​​​​​ ​   John Langan John Langan is the author of two novels, House of Windows and The Fisherman, and six collections of stories, the most recent of which is Lost in the Dark and Other Excursions. For his work, he has received the Bram Stoker and This Is Horror Awards.  He is one of the Founders of the Shirley Jackson Award, for which he served as a juror during its first three years. He continues to serve on its Board of Advisors. Recent work includes “This Fleshy Side of the Bone,” published in Reactor, and “The Auld Woman with the Broom,” published in Ellen Datlow’s All Hallows Eve anthology. He lives in New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley with his wife, younger son, and Bean the rescue cat, who as it turns out is actually pretty tough. & Carrie-Edmund Laben Carrie-Edmund Laben is the Shirley Jackson Award-winning author of the novels A Hawk in the Woods and Smoke Season, as well as short work in venues like The Dark, Electric Literature, and Typebar. They have been supported by MacDowell, the Anne LaBastille Memorial Residency, and Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts. They hold an MFA from the University of Montana and live in Queens with a gang of rats.

  2. Sep 25

    Audio from Sept 9th, with Jeffrey Ford & John C. Foster

    Here’s the audio from the Fantastic Fiction at KGB reading, with guests Jeffrey Ford & John C. Foster, recorded live at the KGB Bar on September 9th, 2026. Support the Fantastic Fiction at KGB series by clicking here!​​​​​​​​​​​​ ​​   Jeffrey Ford Jeffrey Ford is the author of five novels The Physiognomy, The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque, The Girl in the Glass, The Shadow Year, and Ahab’s Return. His short stories are collected in eight books, the most recent being Big Dark Hole and The Pandemonium Waltz. Ford’s fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies from Reactor.com to McSweeney’s to The Oxford Book of American Short Stories and been widely translated. It has garnered World Fantasy, Nebula, Edgar Allan Poe, Shirley Jackson, Hayakawa, and Grand Prix de L’Imaginaire awards. & John C. Foster John C. Foster is a writer of horror and crime fiction in Brooklyn, New York and has been afraid of the dark for as long as he can remember. He is the author of ten novels, including Final Boys, Hate House, and Leech. His short stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies including Dark Moon Digest, Strange Aeons and Lost Films, among others. Find him on most social media platforms at johnfosterfic for updates on writing and his pitbull Coraline.

  3. Sep 1

    Audio from August 12, with guests Suzanne Palmer & Kailee Pedersen

    The following audio was recorded live at the KGB Bar on August 12th, 2026, with guests Suzanne Palmer & Kailee Pedersen Support the Fantastic Fiction at KGB series by clicking here!​​​​​​​​​​​​ ​​   Suzanne Palmer Suzanne Palmer has won Hugo Awards for her novelettes, “The Secret Life of Bots” and “Bots of the Lost Ark”, and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for her novella Waterlines. Her latest novel, Ode to the Half-Broken, is a standalone SF tale about a retired old war mech living in the old Botanical Garden in the ruins of New York City. She also completed her four-book series, The Finder Chronicles, about an interstellar repo man. She is currently working on new things, both short and long, as one does. & Kailee Pedersen Kailee Pedersen is the author of queer poetry chapbook Pastorale and the Midwestern Gothic novel Sacrificial Animals, which was named one of the New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2024 and a finalist for Best Horror at the 2025 Libby Book Awards. Adopted from Nanning, China, she works as a software engineer and opera singer in New York City. The Minimalist is her second novel.

  4. Jul 15

    Audio from July 8th, with Sam Rebelein & Victor Manibo

    Here’s the audio from the July 8th, 2026 Fantastic Fiction at KGB reading series, with guests Sam Rebelein & Victor Manibo, recorded live at the KGB Bar. Support the Fantastic Fiction at KGB series by clicking here!​​​​​​​​​​​​​ ​   Sam Rebelein Sam Rebelein writes and teaches in Poughkeepsie, NY. His fiction has appeared in PseudoPod, The Deadlands, Bourbon Penn, Press Pause Press, Ellen Datlow’s prestigious Best Horror of the Year, and elsewhere. His first three books (The Poorly Made and Other Things, Galloway’s Gospel, and the Bram Stoker award-nominated novel Edenville) are all set in the fictional world of Renfield County. His sci-fi horror chapbook Meatship is also available from Rapture Publishing. For more about Sam’s work, and pictures of his scruffy pooch Frodo, follow him on Instagram @rebelsam94. & Victor Manibo Victor Manibo is a Filipino novelist living in New York. He is the author of the science fiction novels The Sleepless and Escape Velocity, and the crime thriller Dead Note. His first horror novel, The Villa, Once Beloved, is out now from Erewhon Books. Aside from his books, he also spins fantastical tales in his career as a lawyer. Find him online at victormanibo.com and on most social media platforms @victormanibo.

  5. Jun 22

    Audio from June 10th, with Nicholas Kaufmann & A.C. Wise

    Here’s the audio from the June 10th, 2026 Fantastic Fiction at KGB reading with guests Nicholas Kaufmann & A.C. Wise, recorded live at the KGB Bar. Support the Fantastic Fiction at KGB series by clicking here!​​​​​​​​​​​​ ​   Nicholas Kaufmann Nicholas Kaufmann has been a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, the Thriller Award, and the Dragon Award. Two of his novels, 100 Fathoms Below (co-written with Steven L. Kent) and The Hungry Earth, were Amazon and Barnes & Noble.com bestsellers. His latest book is the collection Monuments in Darkness. He also co-hosts the strange-but-true science podcast Spooky Science Lab with author David Wellington. & A.C. Wise A.C. Wise is the author of the novels Wendy, Darling, Hooked, and her most recent, Ballad of the Bone Road, published in January 2026. She’s also the author of various novellas, collection, and short stories, and her work has won the Sunburst and been a finalist for the Nebula, Stoker, World Fantasy, Shirley Jackson, and Locus Awards, among others. Along with her fiction, she contributes regular review columns to Locus and Apex Magazine.

  6. May 31

    Audio from May 13th, with Siobhan Carroll & Micaiah Johnson

    Here’s the audio from the May 13th, 2026 Fantastic Fiction at KGB, with guests Siobhan Carroll & Micaiah Johnson, who read live at the KGB Bar. Support the Fantastic Fiction at KGB series by clicking here!​​​​​​​​​​​​ ​   Siobhan Carroll Siobhan Carroll is a Philadelphia-based writer of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Her award-winning short stories are defined by rich historical settings and a mixture of tragedy and comedy. They have been translated into multiple languages and adapted to television by Netflix’s Love, Death + Robots and Amazon Prime’s Secret Level. Carroll teaches creative writing, 19th Century British Literature and the history of exploration at the University of Delaware & Micaiah Johnson Micaiah Johnson is the Compton Crook and Carl Brandon Award-winning author of The Space Between Worlds. Her debut novel was a Sunday Times Bestseller, an Editors’ Choice at The New York Times and was named one of the best books of 2020 and one of the best science fiction books of the last decade by NPR. Her second novel, Those Beyond the Wall, has been named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2024 and a finalist for the Ursula Le Guin Prize. In her academic life she studies race, the unhuman, and death, themes featured in her upcoming work The Unhaunted.

  7. Apr 15

    Audio from April 8th, with Michael Swanwick & Mike Allen

    Here’s the audio from the April 8, 2026 Fantastic Fiction at KGB, with guests Michael Swanwick & Mike Allen. Both read from their works to wow the audience. Support the Fantastic Fiction at KGB series by clicking here!​​​​​​​​​​​​ ​   Michael Swanwick Michael Swanwick has been writing fantasy and science fiction at every length from flash fiction to novel trilogy for over forty years, during which time he has received the Nebula, Theodore Sturgeon, and World Fantasy Awards, as well as five Hugo Awards. As a hobby, he writes critical non-fiction and the occasional interview. & Mike Allen Mike Allen’s most recent novel is Trail of Shadows, published in 2025. Two of his collections of horror tales, Unseaming and Aftermath of an Industrial Accident, were finalists for the Shirley Jackson Award, and as an editor, he’s a two-time World Fantasy Award nominee. His short fiction has appeared in Apex Magazine, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Cosmic Horror Monthly, Interzone, Weird Tales, and Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology. With his wife and creative partner, Anita, he runs Mythic Delirium Books in Roanoke, Virginia.

  8. Mar 21

    Audio from March 11th, with C.S.E. Cooney & Kristina Ten

    Here’s the audio from the March 11th, 2026 Fantastic Fiction at KGB reading with guests C. S. E. Cooney & Kristina Ten. Support the Fantastic Fiction at KGB series by clicking here!​​​​​​​​​​​​ ​   C. S. E. Cooney C. S. E. Cooney is a two-time World Fantasy Award-winning author: for her novel Saint Death’s Daughter, and her collection Bone Swans, Stories. Other work includes Saint Death’s Herald, The Twice-Drowned Saint, Dark Breakers, and Desdemona and the Deep. She’s a Rhysling Award-winning poet and a SAG-AFTRA voice actor, having narrated over 130 audiobooks. As singer-songwriter “Brimstone Rhine,” Cooney has produced two EPs, an album, and an SF musical. With her husband Carlos Hernandez, she co-designed the collaborative tabletop roleplaying game Negocios Infernales, out now from Outland Entertainment. Find out more at C. S. E. Cooney’s  website, her Substack newsletter, and elsewhere on social media. & Kristina Ten Kristina Ten is the author of Tell Me Yours, I’ll Tell You Mine, a collection of dark, strange stories released in October from Stillhouse Press. Her writing appears in The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, We’re Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction, The Best Weird Fiction of the Year, and elsewhere. Along with winning the McSweeney’s Stephen Dixon Award, she has been a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award and the Locus Award. Ten is a graduate of Clarion West Writers Workshop and the University of Colorado Boulder’s MFA program in fiction, and has received fellowships from the Ragdale Foundation and the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing.

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
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About

Fantastic Fiction at KGB is a monthly speculative fiction reading series held at the famous KGB bar in NYC, and hosted by Ellen Datlow and Matthew Kressel. Some of our past readers include N.K. Jemisin, Joe Hill, Jeffrey Ford, Scott Westerfeld, Kelly Link, China Miéville, Nancy Kress, Paul Tremblay, Joyce Carol Oates, Samuel R. Delany, Holly Black, Michael Swanwick, Kit Reed, Peter Straub, Catherynne M. Valente, Jeff VanderMeer, Scott Lynch, Elizabeth Bear and many other talented authors.

Information

  • Creator
    Matthew Kressel
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2026
  • Episodes
    149
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Content copyright the authors unless noted. Reproduction without permission prohibited.
  • Show Website
    Fantastic Fiction at KGB