Welcome to Issue #146 of Nightmare Magazine!
It’s taken me four decades to come to enjoy November. September has those thrilling back-to-school vibes, October crackles with Halloween energy, and December sparkles with lights and parties. Here in Oregon, November is the serious beginning of the wet season. The fallen leaves start to get claggy and slippery; pumpkin spice is beginning to tire; and the sun starts setting before five p.m. I always used to wonder what was there to love about November besides all the food.
But beneath November’s quiet exterior lies some of the most delightful days of the year. The world has begun to reveal her bones and with them, her secrets. There’s no time like November to find tree hollows and tiny smeuses, secret entries into miniature worlds. November is a time when magic feels particularly possible.
Which is why I’ve decided that November is the month Nightmare goes all-out celebrating dark fantasy. That’s right, it’s our annual all-dark-fantasy issue, but don’t worry: just because it’s extra magical doesn’t mean it’s not horrifying.
Love is always a powerful motif in fairy tales and fantasy stories. That’s why both of our short stories this month focus on love—and its dark side. We kick things off with Raven Jakubowski’s “She Sheds Her Skin,” the story of a woman in love with a shapeshifter. If you’re expecting something heartwarming, you haven’t read enough selkie stories. When one person requires a skin to shift their shape, nothing good can ever happen. Later in the issue, Caroline Hung’s story “Moon Rabbit Song” traps us in a time loop with two very problematic lovers.
Our Horror Lab originals include a poem (“Sumbisori”) from Jess Cho and a flash story (“A Guide for Your Journey to the Green Hills”) from R.K. Duncan. They’re not focused on love, but they both crackle with potent dark magic.
Sofia Ajram joins us for a “The H Word” essay about liminal spaces, and we have an in-depth interview with author Nino Cipri. Of course, our spotlight interviewers sat down to talk with our fiction writers, too.
It’s an issue packed with magic, darkness, and mysterious worlds, which is better than being packed full of stuffing. And it’s an issue we’re so grateful to be sharing with you all, our fantastic readers.
