Welcome to Issue #138 of Nightmare Magazine. This is where I would normally say something pithy about the weather or perhaps something clever about an upcoming holiday. But instead, I’ll address a topic that’s not rooted in anything timely. In fact, it’s equally applicable across all seasons and all continents, and it’s evergreen content that goes against much of what I say and believe about humanity.

It’s this:

Sometimes people just suck.

Let me clarify. Lest you think I’ve been mainlining cable news or perhaps just reading a lot of Sartre (who hurt you, Jean-Paul, to make you say, “Hell is other people”?), I mostly believe in human goodness and expect the best from people. But I think we can all agree that when people decide to be mean, it hurts like nothing else. When a tree falls on your house, it’s scary and terrible, but you know it didn’t happen on purpose. A hurricane doesn’t pick and choose its victims. All of those terrible things? They stink, but they’re not malicious. It’s people who are.

This issue is all about things that suck. It’s about interactions gone bad, relationships that have fallen apart, and people making bad choices. That stuff is the mainstay of fiction, but this time we’re really getting into it. I’m not exactly sure what to call this bundle of bad vibes, but for better or for worse, that’s what this issue is about. That’s why we’re kicking off the month with a short story from Keith Rosson called “Second Deaths.” Keith’s work has appeared here in Nightmare before (“Primal Slap,” May 2023), but this story delves more deeply into the kind of content his novels explore—crime and poverty and just plain human nastiness. It’s a terrific story, and I hope you enjoy every gross, depressing second of it!

Fatima Taqvi’s story “Our Very Best Selves!” tilts in a very different direction. As you might guess from the title, it’s all about toxic positivity and how it helps—er, “helps”—people in difficult situations. It’s gross, too! Hooray!

Over in our Horror Lab short works, we have a delicious new poem from E. Catherine Tobler, “The Let Go,” and an uncomfortable little ghost story from Oyedotun Damilola Muees, “A Guide to Camping in the Forest.” The latest installment of our The H Word column is about the Scream franchise and what makes it so darn fun. Of course we also have spotlight interviews with our authors, and Adam-Troy Castro has some book recommendations.

It’s another terrific issue, all of it written and edited by real actual humans, not a one of whom suck. In fact, just like all of you reading this, they’re pretty delightful.

Thanks for reading (and double thanks if you have a subscription)! It’s people like you who keep me believing in this species.