From Modern Mythcraft to Magical Surrealism

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Fiction

Fiction

Seven Spells to Sever the Heart

by K.M. Ferebee

Samuel Crewe was the son of a witch. He was, in fact, the seventh son of a witch, who had herself been one of seven daughters. In fairy tales, this sort of lineage was meant to point to great strength, good fortune, and adventures.

Seven Spells to Sever the Heart by K.M. Ferebee

In Nov. 2011 (Issue 56)

Fiction

The Invisibles

by Charles de Lint

Here’s what you do, Jerry says. You get one of those little pipe tobacco tins and you put stuff in it. Important stuff. A fingernail. Some hair. A scab. Some dirt from a special place.

The Invisibles by Charles de Lint

In Oct. 2011 (Issue 55)

Fiction

Unnatural Disaster

by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Horizontal rain, darkness, and a nearly empty beach. Jaclyn Tadero trudged through the thick wet sand, listening to the ocean’s waves crash beside her. The Coast Guard helicopter flew overhead.

Unnatural Disaster by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

In Oct. 2011 (Issue 55)

Fiction

Absolute Zero

by Nadia Bulkin

It sat on a tree stump the way neighborhood men sat on bar stools, surrounded by a cavalry of thin, burned trees. Max almost recognized this nightmare place as Digby Forest, a festering infection of wild land on the edge of Cripple Creek.

Absolute Zero by Nadia Bulkin

In Oct. 2011 (Issue 55)

Fiction

The Secret Beach

by Tim Pratt

Though I’m the kind of person who uses the self-checkout line at grocery stores just to avoid the necessity of small conversation with a human cashier, I blurted out, “Hey, where were you guys swimming?”

The Secret Beach by Tim Pratt

In Oct. 2011 (Issue 55)

Fiction

Three Damnations: A Fugue

by James Alan Gardner

I woke naked in the garden. Nothing grew there—not even weeds. Just withered stalks that looked ages old. Maybe dating back to when things were still okay. The darkness was beginning to brighten. I always came to, just before dawn.

Three Damnations: A Fugue by James Alan Gardner

In Sept. 2011 (Issue 54)

Fiction

The Nymph’s Child

by Carrie Vaughn

She’d sail off the edge of the world with him. She very nearly had, that time through the Iron Teeth. This was simply another journey, and it would be over soon. Rope around her neck, a moment of fear, then nothing.

The Nymph's Child by Carrie Vaughn

In Sept. 2011 (Issue 54)

Fiction

Using It and Losing It

by Jonathan Lethem

Pratt walked the distance to work, stopped in at his accustomed cigar store to buy cigarettes, and rode the elevator upstairs to his office; in short, his standard routine, without deviation—yet it didn’t feel right.

Using It and Losing It by Jonathan Lethem

In Sept. 2011 (Issue 54)

Fiction

Lessons from a Clockwork Queen

by Megan Arkenberg

She pulled back the sheets and found the little hole in the queen’s throat where the winding key fit like a kiss, and she turned and turned the key until her shoulders ached and she couldn’t turn it anymore.

Lessons from a Clockwork Queen by Megan Arkenberg

In Sept. 2011 (Issue 54)

Fiction

The Edge of the World

by Michael Swanwick

The Edge of the World lay beyond the railroad tracks. The streets were narrow here, the sideyards crammed with broken trucks, rusted out buses, even yachts up in cradles with stoven-in sides.

The Edge of the World by Michael Swanwick

In August 2011 (Issue 53)