Fantasy magazine

From Modern Mythcraft to Magical Surrealism

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Fiction

Fiction

The Failing Name

by Eugen Bacon and Seb Doubinsky

Author spotlight

The oval fruit, uneven on all sides even when it’s ripe, is not just for eating. Spaces in the dust roads filled with reddish-brown wind are what she sees in her lost childhood. Jolainne wants to tell you, to tell anyone who’ll listen, of hiding in the leaves of a mango tree, witnessing what could have been the onset of an assault.

In Aug. 2021 (Issue 70)

Flash Fiction

Shapeshifter

by Vanessa McKinney

At the Last Black Unicorn, no one is too much to too little; everyone is enough. Period.

I’ve had golden wings that glittered, making me a jewel of the sky as I glided through the air. Swam in pink and purple oceans on a nameless planet. Traversed the cosmos to witness the birth of a star. And yet none of that compares to the ecstasy I feel being loved by a Black woman.

In Aug. 2021 (Issue 70)

Fiction

I Would

by Benjamin C. Kinney

Author spotlight

I had only one defense against a woman who knew me. “Fine.” I layered venom into my voice, to make her think it a hard-won concession yet again. “I’ll prophecy for you.” Queen Iroda stood alone by the parapet, a dark silhouette against the mountains. The scant light caught the gold embroidery on her robe and the perfect braids of red and silver that draped down her chest like chains.

In Jul. 2021 (Issue 69)

Flash Fiction

There Will Be a Question and Answer Period After Your Inevitable Demise

by Marika Bailey

We hope the manner of your death has been pleasing to you. You’re confused, perhaps. Uncomfortable? This period of adjustment is necessary—optimal—for your full post-life experience. Contrary to your expectations, there are no angels here, no mead hall with feasting warriors.

In Jul. 2021 (Issue 69)

Fiction

A Softness of the Heart

by Lulu Kadhim

Aunt Violet had been sick for a long time before she died. The doctor said cancer, but Louise’s Aunt Sinna said it was a soft heart. Louise was inclined to agree, knowing little of this cancer business. Anyway, Aunt Sinna never, ever lied.

In Jul. 2021 (Issue 69)

Flash Fiction

To My (Final) Girl

by Dustin Katz

You wanted to buy the house. Could you at least admit that? You looked at the dark wooden floors and the bay windows, and you said, “This is the one.” You didn’t mind at all that our neighbors refused to approach the property, would only wave from across the street as they jogged by. It didn’t even slow you down when our agent got around to disclosing what had happened in the house before we lived there. That has nothing to do with us, you said.

In Jul. 2021 (Issue 69)

Flash Fiction

The Port of Le Havre, Night Effect, 1873

by Celeste Tyler

Mermaid stories and selkie stories, mother Eve stories, they always start the same way: with curious girls who want to know. So they leave their homes and lose themselves, but only for a time. Mermaid stories and selkie stories, mother Eve stories, they always end the same way: heads bowed, hearts heavy, they go back. They go home.

In Jun. 2021 (Issue 68)

Fiction

A Gift from the Queen of Faerie to the King of Hell

by Cara Masten DiGirolamo

Author spotlight

The designs weren’t in the window or in any of the shop’s sample books, but I caught sight of the tattoo artist tracing stencils onto transfer paper. I’d been looking for a place to finish my sleeves, and though the tumbling spike-thorn roses weren’t what I’d pictured, I could see them winding between my birds and beasts, viny tendrils and jagged rocks, the buds tempting and lush, the thorns sharp and deadly.

In Jun. 2021 (Issue 68)

Flash Fiction

Dos Coyotes

by Catherine J. Cole

Three more big swallows should keep the beast inside. Lupita sat against the wall, on the kitchen floor littered with broken glass, panting from the pain, clutching the canteen in one hand, the bottle cap in the other. Her body screamed for her to stop drinking the liquid fire that would keep her human for another day.

In Jun. 2021 (Issue 68)

Fiction

Your Ticket to Hell

by Rajan Khanna

Author spotlight

Your journey to Hell begins on a ferry. You clutch your ticket and line up in the stinging rain, waiting for your chance to board. You remember something about a river in Hell, and a ferryman, but in your memory, he rowed a boat more like a canoe in exchange for gold coins. You’re lined up to board a ship, a modern ship, the kind that might take you to an island.

In Jun. 2021 (Issue 68)