Oct. 2025 (Issue 157)

Enjoy short fiction from Sam J. Miller (“Courtney Lovecraft Book of the Dead”) and Osahon Ize-Iyamu (“Body? Glass”). Our Horror Lab originals include a poem (“Stillborn”) from Shantell Powell and a flash (“The Versions of Yourself That You’re Better Off Without”) from Aimee Ogden. Beatrice Winifred Iker brings us the latest installment of our column on horror, “The H Word,” plus we have author spotlights with our authors, and a feature interview with Carson Faust.

Cover art by Alexandra Petruk / Adobe Stock

Oct. 2025 (Issue 157)

Editorial

Editorial: September 2025

by Wendy N. Wagner

We always try to pull out the stops in our birthday issues, and this year is no different. There’s no real theme this month—although regret and reparation loom large—but every single piece is out to squeeze your heart or slap you across the face.

Publishes Online on 10/8

Fiction

Courtney Lovecraft’s Book of the Dead

by Sam J. Miller

Honey, the spirits are here with us tonight and they are deeply disappointed. [audience laughter] Momma, do you not own a mirror? Did you think you looked cute when you walked out of your house tonight? My brother, I’m so sorry for your loss. Losses.

Publishes Online on 10/8

Author Spotlight

Author Spotlight: Sam J. Miller

by Devin Marcus

In an interview, the iconic drag queen Sasha Colby said something like—drag for her was a tool to empower people who had been disempowered. And that sparked the essence of Courtney’s character and her journey.

Publishes Online on 10/8

Poetry

Stillborn

by Shantell Powell

This poem was written in response to the LandBack movement and as part of the brainstorming process for my unpublished cli-fi novel The Everwhen.

Publishes Online on 10/15

Nonfiction

The H Word: Horror Needs Hoodoo

by Beatrice Winifred Iker

Raised in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, known for the uncanny woods one oughta avoid at night, I know fear. Growing up, fireside ghost stories (i.e., oral horror storytelling) felt too real. At church, I swore the shadows . . . lingered down corridors.

Publishes Online on 10/15

Fiction

Body? Glass

by Osahon Ize-Iyamu

My head. Let’s start with my hair, more specifically, follicle by follicle. Brown in color to match my eyes; curly like traps—I’m Black—see it now. My hair lies fluffy on my head, like a good wig for the wrong owner. Like something too precious for me to have.

Publishes Online on 10/22

Author Spotlight

Author Spotlight: Osahon Ize-Iyamu

by Devin Marcus

We know that these feelings are unreasonable. We ideally know that comparison is the thief of joy. But it also doesn’t change the fact that people feel these things. I think that’s why I feel some comfort in having this story out there, because it’s necessary to discuss these themes.

Publishes Online on 10/22

Fiction

The Versions of Yourself That You’re Better Off Without

by Aimee Ogden

Story background: I’m probably not the only person dealing with intrusive thoughts about everything I’ve ever said or done, or not said or not done, that I wish I could change. Sometimes I’ve wished I could shout at the past versions of myself.

Publishes Online on 10/29

Nonfiction

Interview: Carson Faust

by Alex Puncekar

Carson Faust is two-spirit and an enrolled member of the Edisto Natchez-Kusso Tribe of South Carolina. He is the recipient of fellowships from the McKnight Foundation, the Camargo Foundation, and the Jerome Foundation. His debut novel is If the Dead Belong Here.

Publishes Online on 10/29