Antony Johnston
Award-winning New York Times bestseller
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Short Stories

Outrider

A weirdpunk story of loss, hope, and livestreaming

COMING IN 2025

Savage is an Outrider – a bodyguard for influencers who explore the Block, an otherworldly building where cruel ghosts wander its ever-changing layout. After losing her boyfriend to the Block's traps, Savage risks everything to find him by taking one last trip inside . . . alone.

Published in Of Shadows, Stars, and Sabers
(Stars and Sabers, 2025)


Soul Music

Technogothic biopunk on a dead-end world

Shoska is an avant-garde musician and performance artist, trying to deal with a grieving ex-boyfriend who won't quit, an upcoming gig that she still hasn't finished putting together – and the trauma of her home, a distant mining colony, suddenly being cut off from the rest of the universe by The Closure. But then her ex gives her an ancient, forgotten instrument called a 'guitar' . . .

First published in Interzone #274
(TTA Press, 2018)

Now also available on Kindle: Amazon US / Amazon UK


A Decent Country

What if sovereignty meant the right to NOT have to choose?

On her twenty-fifth birthday, Stella finally becomes a ‘decent person’ and awaits her first Votification, to take part in an election and build a decent country.

Published at Wattpad (2020)

read it for free online


Food By Hand

Are you brave enough to eat food touched by people?

A post-viral story with a twist, of illegal underground restaurant dining, government health agencies, and too much tequila.

Published online by the Crime Readers’ Association as part of National Crime Reading Month 2020

read it for free online


Shelter in Place
A Joe Shelter Novel Coronavirus Novel

A parody of opportunistic hard-man thrillers

Inspired by, written, and released during the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020, Shelter in Place imagines a ‘ripped from the headlines’ book hastily written by an over-the-top and not-entirely-competent author.

Originally posted on social media as photo snippets of the imaginary manuscript to amuse friends and fans, now compiled into a free PDF for all (with a cover design and additional notes by the ‘publisher’).

download the free PDF


Watching The Football

How do you stop an insane president pushing the button?

Inspired by real-life political brinkmanship, Watching the Football is an ultra-short science fiction satire that asks the eternal question, “What price peace?” from a new and unconventional perspective.

Published at Wattpad (2018)

read it for free online


Acid Burns

A StarCraft II story tying in to Heart of the Swarm

When a sleepy Dominion listening post's tranquility is disturbed by a zerg surprise attack, the base's marine forces find themselves fighting against a terrifying enemy – bringing with it a deadly sense of déjà vu for the commanding officer and her husband.

Published in Starcraft II: War Stories
(Blizzard Entertainment/Simon & Schuster, 2014)


Last Drink Bird Head

“Who is Last Drink Bird Head? He, she, or it.
Under 500 words. Don't ask – just write.”

Those were the sparse instructions given by Jeff and Ann Vandermeer to an eclectic group of writers for the charity benefit anthology Last Drink Bird Head. Antony's story plays with language and symbolism to spin a tragic fantasy of animal ritual.

Published in Last Drink Bird Head
(Wyrm Publishing, 2009)