Vermilion Sands is a collection of science fiction short stories by British writer J. G. Ballard, first published in 1971.

All the stories are set in an imaginary vacation resort called Vermilion Sands which suggests, among other places, Palm Springs[1] in southern California.

In the preface, Ballard himself wrote: "Vermilion Sands has more than its full share of dreams and illusions, fears and fantasies, but the frame for them is less confining.

Ballard is … one of the most accomplished creators of evocative landscapes in modern fiction … he achieves this effect partly by painting his desert in the manner of Dali, a mixture of appalling clarity and the exotic."

A few other stories not set in Vermilion Sands are comparable because of their similar artistic games, especially "Sound-Sweep" (1960, on music/opera) and "Passport to Eternity" (1962, full of decadent trends and live fashions).