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Oct. 2023 (Issue 133)

We have original short fiction from Rachael K. Jones (“The Sound of Children Screaming”) and David Janisch (“The Cello in the Cell”). Our Horror Lab originals include a flash story (“Clown Town”) from Dan Stout and a poem (“when you see the dead”) from Frances Ngo. We also have the latest installment of our column on horror, “The H Word,” plus author spotlights with our authors, and an interview with Keith Rosson. Ebook readers will also get a tasty excerpt from OUT THERE SCREAMING, the new anthology edited by Jordan Peele and John Joseph Adams.

Cover art by Alex Tihonov / Adobe Stock

Oct. 2023 (Issue 133)

Editorial

Editorial: October 2023

by Wendy N. Wagner

These stories are beautiful, well-written pieces that shout about the way our society has simply stopped caring about certain populations of people. As allegories both delightful and painful to read, they do the kind of work that only speculative fiction can do, and I am honored to present them to you.

Fiction

The Sound of Children Screaming

by Rachael K. Jones

Author spotlight

You know the one about the Gun. The Gun goes where it wants to. On Thursday morning just after recess, the Gun will walk through the front doors of Thurman Elementary, and it won’t sign in at the front office or wear a visitor’s badge.

Author Spotlight

Author Spotlight: Rachael K. Jones

by Xander Odell

I don’t have the privilege to put school shootings out of mind all the time. If push came to shove, I’d absolutely die for my students, for other people’s children, even though it is more than we should ask of someone who doesn’t get hazard pay or combat training.

Fiction

Clown Town

by Dan Stout

I get up before dawn. Those pale-gray hours hold signs of unseen life: a trace of pungent spray, a flutter of wings, distant car doors slamming shut. Of course I attribute these to animals and early morning commuters. Sometimes I wonder if I’m wrong.

Nonfiction

The H Word: Reality Is a Nightmare

by JP Bradham

My experience in marketing, the secrets I was privy to in understanding what controlled people to make purchases: It felt like a strange power I had and one I didn’t really want anymore.

Fiction

The Cello in the Cell

by David Janisch

Author spotlight

Dear Andy: The day I was arrested, someone bought the winning Powerball lottery ticket that was worth 1.2 billion dollars. I remember dreaming what I would have done if I had won. You might not believe me, but I’m being serious here.

Author Spotlight

Author Spotlight: David Janisch

by Xander Odell

Each volunteer might have their own reasons why working with incarcerated people is meaningful but maybe fundamentally it has to do with prisoners being humans, and like the rest of humanity, there is a need for them to be emotionally healthy and to develop both intellectually and artistically.

Poetry

when you see the dead

by Frances Ngo

I’ve often worked in natural history collections where it was my job to convert roadkill into museum specimens. So everyone who knew me (my sister, romantic partner, friends) would enthusiastically text me about dead animals they found!

Nonfiction

Interview: Keith Rosson

by Gordon B. White

Keith Rosson is the author of the novels Fever House, Smoke City, Road Seven, and The Mercy of the Tide as well as the Shirley Jackson Award–winning story collection Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons. His forthcoming novel, The Devil by Name, will be published by Random House in the summer of 2024.

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