© Dusan Kostic – Fotolia.com
Happy Birthday, Mr. Poe.
Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19th, 1809. His short stories and poetry have been an influence on this author/editor since she was a child and read her first Poe story, The Tell-Tale Heart. My love for all things creepy and weird grew from reading Edgar’s stories, and later I discovered the bizarre terror that is H.P. Lovecraft. These two authors are must-reads for fans of horror fiction. H.P. Lovecraft was himself a fan of Poe and was greatly influenced by his work, which can be seen in his poems The Poe-et’s Nightmare and In a Sequester’d Providence Churchyard Where Once Poe Walk’d. Lovecraft called Poe his “God of fiction.”
I got a ton of submissions for this issue. Some you can tell in just a few lines are undeniably Poe/Lovecraft fandom, while others are a bit more subtle and some blend elements of Poe and Lovecraft together. New Mythos abominations have been born. There is even a poem. And a creepy new Dupin story with a horror twist. Monsters coming out of every shadow.
CAUTION: Don’t read before bedtime…unless nightmares are your thing.
There’s something here for every Poe/Lovecraft fan to enjoy. Be careful, though. Something may just rise up out of the screen: something old…and hungry.
Issue 12: The Shadows Only Hide the Monsters: A Tribute to Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft
No Mortal Dares, by Melanie Atherton Allen (Short Story)
Karminrot, by Tia Kessler (Short Story)
The Boy Who Would Know Tomorrow, by Ralph Greco, Jr. (Short Story)
Baby Rhyme Time, by Deborah Walker (Flash)
The Disappearance of Mr. Becker, by K.R. Smith (Short Story)
Little Windows, by Kevin Harkness (Short Story)
In the Shadow of the Square, by Delphine Boswell (Flash)
Picnic in the City (On My Lonesome), by Gary Murphy (Short Story)
You Can Bait a Fool with Water, by David Stewart (Drabble)
Stone City Old as Immeasurable Time, by Kelda Crich (Flash)
Balancing the Scales, by Ray Dean (Short Story)
A Horse of a Different Color, by Edward Taylor (Short Story)
Homecoming, by Gary Hewitt (Micro-fiction)
The Dream Pull, by Rick McQuiston (Short Story)
Challenger Deep, by Mathias Jansson (Poem)
Ruth, by Jack Flynn (Short Story)
The Holy Order, by Matthew C. Seams (Short Story)
Moon, by Steve Christie (Flash)
Plum Wine, by Noel Osualdini (Short Story)
Wedding Night, by Bruce Priddy (Short Story)
Cosmic Justice Comes to Slumsville, by Mark Antony Rossi (Flash)
The Farmer in the Well, by James Dorr (Micro-fiction)
The Golden Monarch, by Shenoa Carroll-Bradd (Flash)
Request for Answers: Received. Answers: Delivered, by Bryan Nickelberry (Short Story)
Memories of Inhuman Nature, by Rick McQuistion (Short Story)
Summoner from the Depths, by Andrew Sydlik (Short Story)
