Stellar Parallax:

Human Hope in Grimdark Worlds

In the end, perseverence.

A mother introduces her child to an orchard aboard a space station.

On a floating city, a boy risks everything to save his baby sister.

When the police escort an aging Puerto Rican man off his front porch, he expects to be shot. Instead, he finds himself on the way to a floating island where he may find peace after all.

These and 17 other stories explore the role of hope at the extremes of human experience. The writers have imagined a variety of dangerous futures, and they’ve also imagined connection and compassion guiding the people of the future.

In twisted underground passageways, in the desolation of space, and on barren landscapes where the fate of a few seeds could make or break the future, the protagonists of Stellar Parallax: Human Hope in Grimdark Worlds find glimmers of light in darkness. Together, these stories ask: when we can’t count on our world to be rational or safe, where does that leave us? And what can we build when everything we once trusted falls apart?

Featuring stories by Aaron Timothy, K.M. Veohongs, Em Harriett, Roberto Cofresí Hopgood, Susan L. Lin, Heather Zoppetti, Austen Lee, Lucy Zhang, Fendy S. Tulodo, Jason P. Burnham, Marie-Hélène Lebeault, Monique Cuillerier, Lancer Kind, Jon Negroni, Stuart Conover, H.V. Patterson, R F Daniels, Naomi Klouda, Joyce Frohn, Frank Baird Hughes.

Edited by A.J. Van Belle

Releases Sept 29, 2026

Included Stories

A Map of Bruises on Her Smile by Fendy S. Tulodo

The Other Apocalypse by Aaron Timothy Ponce

Love Finger by Lancer Kind

Beans are Seeds and Legumes by Jason P. Burnham

For Terra by K.M. Veohongs

Underworld Recognition by Lucy Zhang

Keeping Warm After the End by R. F. Daniels

Cat Ladies of the Apocalypse by Joyce Frohn

Second Growth by Marie-Hélène Lebeault

A Mausoleum of Hand-Me-Down Memories by Em Harriett

Returning by Naomi Klouda

Screaming Against the Void by Jon Negroni

Good Citizens by H.V. Patterson

Junker by Austin Lee

Island 23 by Roberto Cofresí Hopgood

The Orchard-Bay by Monique Cuillerier

The Slow Unspooling by Stuart Conover

The Space Between Bodies by Frank Baird Hughes

Elevated by Susan L. Lin

Fragment 610-A by Heather Zoppetti

Edited and curated by AJ Van Belle

Combined Trigger Warnings

sound-induced violence, neural breakdowns, corpses found in disturbing conditions, suicide implication (not by main character), disability discrimination (from the perspective of a deaf author), claustrophobic environments, language (frequent swearing), mentions of apocalyptic scenes on Earth (including lack of food, collapse of social structures), childbirth, including death of mother or child (birth itself not described on page), mentions of loss and grief, environmental collapse and survival trauma, implied corpse scavenging, threat of violence and stalking, medical distress, mild body modification (tech implants), family trauma, dead animals, deceased parents, graphic injury and amputation, depictions of starvation and dehydration, child endangerment, military trauma, death, references to systemic oppression and exploitation, displacement, colonialism, imperialism, authoritarianism, police, war, poverty, airplane danger, baby shaking, natural disaster (aftermath), death of a robotic animal (mostly offscreen), fatphobia, scorpions, pandemic, psychological trauma (effects of war, betrayal, and survival in dystopian environments), child endangerment, government oppression, implied adult consensual intimacy, moral ambiguity (betrayal), memory manipulation, gun violence, experimentation, gaslighting, physical abuse (brief) of a teenager, alcoholism, misogynistic society, references to infanticide, some ableist language, ageism, ableism, systemic genocide, corpses, sexual assault, themes of hopelessness, emotional void, and societal decay, medical trauma, psychological horror (mild), burn injury (minor).

About AJ Van Belle

An on-sub multi-genre novelist, I’m represented by Lauren Bieker of FinePrint Literary. My short fiction and essays have recently appeared in I’m an emerging author with work recently in Sand, Salt, Blood: an Anthology of Sea Horror, If There’s Anyone Left, Heartlines Spec, and Mine: An Anthology of Body Autonomy Horror, and others. With a PhD in biology, I draw on my science background for world-building inspiration in my fiction. I’ve been a first reader for Apparition Lit for the past two years, an experience that has confirmed my interest in contributing to the world of speculative short fiction from the editorial side as well as the writer’s side. I’ve edited a handful of novels for a small press, been a technical editor in PR, and taught undergraduate writing and science courses at Boston University and Babson College.

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