A Problematic Prophecy & Other Stories
Front and back covers of A Problematic Prophecy & Other Stories by Stephen Newton © 2025
Stephen Newton’s short story collection, A Problematic Prophecy & Other Stories was published September 10, 2025. Its fifteen stories invite readers into an eerie landscape of magical realism where dreams, signs, and portents foreshadow the future. “My fiction is inspired by the unexplained, random events we often experience in life, but seldom share,” Newton says.
“To dissolve into a dream, to find oneself anew, to experience great loss yet discover solace despite devastation: such themes not only animate these beautifully written stories but offer readers ways of reckoning with a range of human experience from horror to hope. Stephen Newton’s exacting eye gives life to his characters and their surroundings even as unfolding events challenge their very existence and, with it, readers’ expectations.” —Lee Quinby, author of Anti-Apocalypse and Millennial Seduction.
“These entertaining tales kept me riveted, trying to imagine what startling plot twists would resolve them. They display a skillful mastery of the craft and should be of interest to anyone who savors satisfying short stories.”—Lisa Alther, New York Times bestselling author of Kinflicks, and five other novels.
“Grief and loss underlie the best of the stories in A Problematic Prophecy. They contain the details that feel most observed, creating a sense of the firsthand that makes those, like the title story, feel lived in, the situations both authentic and moving.” —Gary Fincke, author of The Out-of-Sorts: Selected Stories
The paperback and eBook editions are available on Amazon. Audiobook version will be available January 2026.