Welcome to Issue #151 of Nightmare Magazine!
The first of April is a day to poke fun at the world, to play tricks, and to have a good time. In French-speaking nations (and French classrooms everywhere—thanks, Mrs. Ternahan! You made learning a foreign language so fun) it’s Poisson d’Avril, when people affix fish stickers to each other’s backs and pastry shops sell chocolate fish pastries. In the US, newspapers and corporations get in on the fun; everyone knows you believe any announcement made April 1st at your own peril. It’s a day to laugh at the gullible, or least tease them a lot.
But in folklore the fool has also played the role of the teacher. They make mistakes so we don’t have to. This month’s issue is full of fools and those who take advantage of them.
Some of the foolishness is rooted in maliciousness, like the condescending imperialist who narrates Nuzo Onoh’s short story “The Witchdoctor’s Revenge” or the misogynists in Cynthia Gómez’s flash story “A Girl Goes on a Date, Alone.” In Ian Li’s poem “Brooklyn Magic,” the foolishness comes from simple innocence about the true nature of a magical place. But you’ll have to make your own decisions about the narrator of Neal Auch’s over-the-top body horror tale “Glory Hole”—both his nature and his punishment are as murky as some of the liquids described in the text.
In all of these works, mistakes are made and events play out in surprising ways. Fuck around and find out, right?
Even our nonfiction features a very FAFO-ish H Word essay by Kyle Tam about the mixed blessing of lucid dreaming. We also have an interview with author Nat Cassidy, and of course we have author spotlight interviews with our terrific writers.
This issue is packed with so much fun, I think you’d have to be a fool to miss it!
. . . I’ll see myself out.
