If you’re a big fan of fantasy fiction, then you’re probably the type of person who’s always looking for a new story to read. But buying new books can quickly add up, and sometimes you just want something shorter to read without having to dedicate yourself to an entire novel.

Fortunately, there are a ton of sites out there that can help you find short stories to read, and entirely for free. Here are five of the best.

1. Beneath Ceaseless Skies

A Screenshot of Beneath Ceaseless Skies Landing Page

First up on this list comes Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Beneath Ceaseless Skies is an online magazine dedicated to publishing literary adventure fantasy.

If you’re not entirely familiar, an online magazine is more or less exactly what it sounds like. It’s a magazine that you can access online. Some require subscriptions while others, such as Beneath Ceaseless Skies, are entirely free and require donations to keep operating.

Each issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies contains about four short stories. Typically, two of them are entirely new short stories that have been bought by the magazine itself for you to read.

Of the remaining two, one is an audio fiction podcast, and the other a story from Beneath Ceaseless Skies’ archives. The audio fiction podcast is typically one of the two short stories provided by the magazine, except spoken aloud for you to enjoy while you drive or the like.

Issues of the magazine come out bi-weekly, meaning that you’ll get new short stories to read around about twice a month. The magazine itself can be read a number of different ways.

If you want, you can easily access the short stories from your browser, but if you prefer to read on a tablet or digital reader, then Beneath Ceaseless Skies has options to download each issue as well. This is a great alternative to some of the best free eBook download sites out there.

2. Tor.com

A Screenshot of Tor Landing Page

Next up on this list is Tor.com. Tor Books is a publishing house that focuses almost entirely on science fiction and fantasy titles, and Tor.com is their website dedicated to news, discussion, and of course, short stories.

The easiest way to find new content to read on Tor.com is by navigating to its All Fiction category. It’s here that you can find original fiction, comics, poetry, and more.

You can sort through this list of stories in a variety of different manners, such as by author, title, or simply by how new it is. There are also options to browse by genre, which is a great way to find something more specifically in line with your tastes.

If you don’t mind what you read, however, you can always just work your way down the list by organizing it by newest and seeing what Tor.com has to offer. New original fiction comes out every Wednesday, more or less, so you can find new content on Tor.com most weeks.

If you’re a lover of fantasy in general, then the rest of Tor.com also might have some good reads to offer. While it's not short stories or fiction at all, there are also many articles on this site to read if you’re interested in finding more stories.

3. PodCastle

A Screenshot of PodCastles Landing Page

If you love fantasy short stories but don’t have the time to physically read, then PodCastle might just be a good pick for you. PodCastle, as you might have guessed from the name, is not a website but rather, a podcast.

PodCastle aims to bring fantasy short fiction to the podcast format by giving you an audio performance of various short stories. Each episode contains a number of short stories, sometimes one, sometimes several, from a range of authors and narrators. If you're looking for the best websites to download audiobooks for free, then this is a great place to do so.

The podcast comes out every week, so there’s quite a bit of variety here in terms of what you can listen to. Each episode also includes a content warning for the story in particular, which is a useful little feature that gives you a bit of an idea of what you’re getting into before you listen.

If you don’t particularly like podcasts or audiobooks, then PodCastle still may hold some value for you. Each episode comes complete with podcast notes, and in these notes, you can find the entire story written out in text.

If you prefer to read over listen to your fiction, then this is a great way to find some short stories that you probably wouldn’t have otherwise.

4. Project Gutenberg

A Screenshot of Project Gutenberg Landing Page

Next up on this list, we have Project Gutenberg. If you’re looking for free stories, and you’re not too fussy about any curating or more modern writing, then Project Gutenberg is a great place to start looking.

Project Gutenberg itself is one of the largest online libraries of free eBooks currently available. Its goal is, at its core, to make the creation and distribution of eBooks easier than it has ever been before.

It’s important to note here that Project Gutenberg is an entirely legal resource. You aren’t going to find any current bestsellers in its library, but classics such as Frankenstein, Dracula, and just about any other story in the public domain can be found here.

Which makes it great for finding free fantasy fiction. Doing so is a little trickier than with a lot of the other options on this list, thanks to the way that Project Gutenberg is structured, but if you have a story in mind or with the right perseverance, you can find some hidden gems.

One way to go about this is to use Project Gutenberg’s advanced search function. You can filter by titles, authors, and by subject as well.

5. Lightspeed Magazine

A Screenshot of Lightspeed Landing Page

Finally, we have Lightspeed. If you’re less picky on your fantasy or just like a mix of fantasy and science fiction, then Lightspeed is a great magazine to check out.

Much like Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Lightspeed is an online literary magazine dedicated to giving you fantasy and science fiction stories in an easy-to-access way. You can read it online entirely for free, or you can purchase the issues as an eBook to help support the magazine.

There is quite the selection of comic issues available here, ranging back for some time, so you should have no problem finding more to read if you work through the first couple of stories and find yourself wanting more.

Find the Perfect Stories for You

As you can see, there are a ton of different ways to find new fantasy short fiction to read, and all entirely for free. If you’re looking for a new story, why not give one of these sites a go? There’s plenty out there that you might find appealing.