Vastarien: A Literary Journal is a source of critical study and creative response to the corpus of Thomas Ligotti as well as associated authors and ideas. The journal includes nonfiction, literary horror fiction, poetry, artwork and non-classifiable hybrid pieces.ContentsVenio Gemma FilesThe Lord is an Active Shooter Fiona Maeve GeistThe Sisters F.J. BergmannHorror Religiosus The Dark Passions of Mark Samuels David PeakThe Curse of the Biblical Magi Sepehr Goshayeshi Aharesia Natalia TheodoridouSilhouette Golems S. E. CaseyOrchid Architecture K. A. OppermanAll the Stage is a World Forrest AguirreBurger Shop Jayaprakash SatyamurthyRat King Lia Swope MitchellVanpool C. M. MullerMagic, Madness, and Women Who Creep: The Power of Individuality in the Work of Charlotte Perkins Gilman Gwendolyn KisteThe Ageless Agelasts Rhys HughesIn the Way of Eslan Mendeghast Farah Rose SmithEffigies of Former Supervisors Matthew M. BartlettContributors

Vastarien, Vol. 2, Issue 1

Literature & Fiction

Files, Gemma

History & Criticism

Grimscribe Press

In That Endlessness, Our End

Winner of the 2021 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection\n﻿﻿﻿COME CLOSER, FRIEND. LET ME TELL YOU A STORY.\nHeard the one about the Airbnb that eats your dreams or the iron-crowned king who preys on his own bloodline from the air, still smoldering centuries after being burnt alive? How about the cloudy antique bottle you can wish your excess rage inside, or that crooked alley down which something waits to replace your disappointing child with a far more pleasant facsimile? We all know the truth, especially in times like these-in an anxiety-ridden, sleepless world such as ours, it's only ever our very worst dreams that come true. Here streets empty out and people pull themselves apart like amoebas, breeding murderous doppelgangers from their own flesh; houses haunt, ideas possess and a cold and alien moon stares down, whispering that it's time to spawn. New myths rise and ancient evils descend. From the seemingly mundane terrors of a city just like yours to all the most dark and distant places of a truly terrible universe, nothing is as it seems...not even that dimly-recalled cinematic memory you've been chasing all these years, the one you think might be just something you stumbled upon while flipping through channels after midnight. The one that still disturbs you enough to raise a cold sweat all over your body, whenever you try to will its details clear.\nHot on the heels of her 2018 This Is Horror Award-winning short story collection Spectral Evidence, critically horror author Gemma Files compiles fifteen more of her most startling recent nightmares-a creepily seductive downward spiral of dark poetry and existential dread, entirely suitable to the slow apocalypse going on all around us. So take your mind off your troubles and send it somewhere the rules still operate, if only to punish those who violate them.

United States

UNWELL... Cody Goodfellow wants to introduce you to a goddess who offers unsurpassed pleasure at an unspeakable price. UNWISE... Gemma Files wants you to see what happens when you look too closely into places and things better left unknown. UNQUIET... Mort Castle wants to play some unfamiliar music for you... the tunes of the lost and the damned. UNDONE... Gary A. Braunbeck wants to take you to the edge of madness and perversity... and push you over. From the agony of unrelenting grief to the desperation of spontaneously-combusting convicts, from the grim battle between a human monster and his otherworldy competition to the salacious secret life of Ro-Man(!). All this and more in strange worlds vividly painted by four supremely talented authors worlds that are twisted, cruel and mighty unclean.

Mighty Unclean

Castle, Mort

Goodfellow, Cody

Braunbeck, Gary A.

Genre Fiction

Dark Arts Books

Two years after the Civil War, Pinkerton agent Ed Morrow has gone undercoverwith one of the weird West's most dangerous outlaw gangs the troop ledby ""Reverend"" Asher Rook, ex-Confederate chaplain turned ""hexslinger,"" and hisnotorious lieutenant (and lover) Chess Pargeter. Morrow's task: get close enoughto map the extent of Rook's power, then bring that knowledge back to helpProfessor Joachim Asbury unlock the secrets of magic itself. Caught between apassle of dead gods and monsters, hexes galore, Rook's witchery, and theruthless calculations of his own masters, Morrow's only real hope of survivallies with the man without whom Rook cannot succeed: Chess Pargeter himself! ButMorrow and Chess will have to literally ride through Hell before the truth ofChess's fate comes clear the doom written for him, and the entire world,in A Book of Tongues.

A Book of Tongues Volume 1 of the Hexslinger Series

ChiZine Publications

Strangers Among Us: Tales of the Underdogs and Outcasts (Laksa Anthology Series: Speculative Fiction)

Recommended by Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal, School Library Journal, Locus, Foreword Reviews and Quill &amp; Quire. There's a delicate balance between mental health and mental illness . . . Who are the STRANGERS AMONG US? We are your fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, friends and lovers. We staff your stores, cross your streets, and study in your schools, invisible among you. We are your outcasts and underdogs, and often, your unsung heroes. Nineteen science fiction and fantasy authors tackle the division between mental health and mental illness; how the interplay between our minds' quirks and the diverse societies and cultures we live in can set us apart, or must be concealed, or become unlikely strengths. We find troubles with Irish fay, a North Korean cosmonaut's fear of flying, an aging maid dealing with politics of revenge, a mute boy and an army of darkness, a sister reaching out at the edge of a black hole, the dog and the sleepwalker, and many more. After all, what harm can be done… AUTHORS: Kelley Armstrong, Suzanne Church, A.M. Dellamonica, Gemma Files, James Alan Gardner, Bev Geddes, Erika Holt, Tyler Keevil, Rich Larson, Derwin Mak, Mahtab Narsimhan, Sherry Peters, Ursula Pflug, Robert Runté, Lorina Stephens, Amanda Sun, Hayden Trenholm, Edward Willett, A.C. Wise Introduction by Julie E. Czerneda Praise for Strangers Among Us "Strangers Among Us . . . is important, shining a much-needed spotlight on issues that get far too little attention. A wonderful anthology, one of the major SF&amp;F books of the year. Bravo!" -- Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Quantum Night "The stories in Strangers Among Us are as varied in tone and approach as their authors. The power of the collection derives from this variety; while each story can be read in isolation, the assemblage of outsiders feels, on a whole, exultant. There is, indeed, strength in numbers, when each individual is accorded space and respect." --Quill &amp; Quire ". . . The 19 stories collected here tackle the idea of people who are other, even to themselves, as a result of mental health issues. The authors, all Canadians, take different approaches, some addressing the concept straight on, some exploring it slantwise, with characters whose differences created challenges or granted fresh insights. The excellent opener, Kelley Armstrong's "The Culling," concocts a dark, resource-starved future in which those who are deemed too unusual are culled from society. In Tyler Keevil's "The Weeds and the Wildness," a man in the grip of extreme paranoia believes malevolent gardeners are stalking his neighbors. And "The Dog and the Sleepwalker" by James Alan Gardner has a hero named "Dog" whose difference might save an entire spaceship's crew. -VERDICT Mental illness is an exciting theme for an anthology, leaving plenty of room for variety. The volume also includes an appendix of mental health resources." -- Library Journal Recommended as one of the "August 2016 Science Fiction and Fantasy Book You'll Want to Read" by Kirkus Reviews. "The writers of these stories address such varied subjects as agoraphobia, depression, schizophrenia, autism, anxiety, and addiction . . . readers who have mental illnesses may find themselves somewhere in these pages and as a result may no longer feel so alone or isolated." -- School Library Journal *2017 Alberta Book Publishing Awards winner (Speculative Fiction Book of the Year) *2017 Aurora Awards winner (Canadian SF&amp;F-- Best Related Work) *2016 Foreword INDIES Finalist (Anthologies) The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2017 (ed. by John Joseph Adams &amp; Charles Yu): one honorable mention The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Fourth Annual Collection (ed. by Gardner Dozois): six honorable mentions Wilde Stories 2017: The Year's Best Gay Speculative Fiction (edited by Steve Berman): one story selected

Willett, Edward

Sun, Amanda

Armstrong,Kelley

Forest, Susan

Law, Lucas K.

Dellamonica, A.M.

Trenholm, Hayden

Church, Suzanne

Peters, Sherry

Short Stories & Anthologies

Laksa Media Groups Inc.

Nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award! H.P. Lovecraft, the American master of horror, understood with horrible clarity that all things must die. After summer is winter, and life inevitably gives way to frozen sterility. In our modern world, we live cushioned existences, and congratulate ourselves on our supposed escape from the old dangers. We think ourselves caught out of nature’s reach by our technological wizardry. Safely cocooned. This foolishness blinds us to the truth that our elder forebears could not avoid. Engulfed by the rhythms of the world, they understood... Autumn means death. There are far worse fates than mere death, of course. As blight spreads, the leaves wither and fall — as do the most important foundations of life. There is nothing more horrible than watching the sources of meaning in your world unravel before you. But these things we cherish are just pretty lies. In autumn’s cold grasp, the bright petals of our reality shrivel and die. Beneath them, there is nothing but the insanity of the howling void. Faced with inevitable, agonizing corruption, death is a gentle blessing. The stories collected in Autumn Cthulhu reflect the darkest, most ancient truths of the season. Inside, you’ll find nineteen beautiful, terrifying glimpses of decay and loss inspired by Lovecraft’s work. Be sure that you want the burden of understanding before venturing further, though. The dissolving strands of mind, of love, of legacy within leave no room for merciful doubt. The true meaning of life is that there is no meaning. "From Nadia Bulkin's sharp, politically savvy creeper to John Langan's stunning epic novella, Mike Davis's anthology is a compelling, eclectic collection of stories from some of today's best and brightest. Autumn Cthulhu does more than find its place within the Lovecraftian/weird fiction universe, it expands it." -- Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and Disappearance at Devil's Rock (NOTE: The print edition of Autumn Cthulhu contains four story illustrations that were used for promotional purposes. You'll find them near the end of the book.)

Autumn Cthulhu

Wagner, Wendy

Langan,John

Barron, Laird

Gavin, Richard

Levy, Robert

Dicken, Evan

Kollodge, Trent

Grey, Orrin

Pulver, Sr. Joseph S.

Lovecraft eZine Press

Playful, whimsical, or dark, but always thoughtful and tinged with the inexplicably weird,the Weird Dream Society brings together twenty-three stories from the most innovativecreators in speculative fiction.Nathan Ballingrud, Carina Bissett, Gregory Norman Bossert, Karen Bovenmyer,Christopher Brown, Emily Cataneo, Julie C. Day, Michael J Deluca, Gemma Files,A.T. Greenblatt, Nin Harris, Chip Houser, James Patrick Kelly, Marianne Kirby, Kathrin KöhlerMatthew Kressel, Jordan Kurella, Premee Mohamed, Sarah Read, Sofia Samatar,Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam, Steve Toase, A.C. WiseAll proceeds from the Weird Dream Society anthology will go to RAICES. RAICES envisions acompassionate society where all people have the right to migrate, and human rights are guaranteed.Some dreams can change the world.

Weird Dream Society: An Anthology of the Possible & Unsubstantiated in Support of RAICES

Read, Sarah

Toase, Steve

Ballingrud, Nathan

Kirby, Marianne

Kelly, James Patrick

Day, Julie C.

Bossert, Gregory Norman

Bissett, Carina

Houser, Chip

Reckoning Press

OTHER VOICES, OTHER TOMBS is an anthology packed with unsettling stories from the finest independent authors in the horror genre. This collection runs the gamut of styles, including everything from literary horror to creepypasta. Ania Ahlborn, Kealan Patrick Burke, Michael Wehunt, Mercedes Yardley, and Gemma Files are widely considered some of the best authors working in dark fiction right now. Also included are stories from NoSleep Podcast legends: Gemma Amor, JD McGregor, and Michael Whitehouse. OTHER VOICES, OTHER TOMBS is a must-read for the Summer and Fall of 2019!

Other Voices, Other Tombs

Chaney, Cameron

Lucia, Kevin

Amor, Gemma

Sullivan, Joe

Wehunt, Michael

Burke, Kealan Patrick

Yardley, Mercedes

McGregor, J.d.

Independently published

COME CLOSER, FRIEND. LET ME TELL YOU A STORY.\nHeard the one about the Airbnb that eats your dreams or the iron-crowned king who preys on his own bloodline from the air, still smoldering centuries after being burnt alive? How about the cloudy antique bottle you can wish your excess rage inside, or that crooked alley down which something waits to replace your disappointing child with a far more pleasant facsimile? We all know the truth, especially in times like these-in an anxiety-ridden, sleepless world such as ours, it's only ever our very worst dreams that come true. Here streets empty out and people pull themselves apart like amoebas, breeding murderous doppelgangers from their own flesh; houses haunt, ideas possess and a cold and alien moon stares down, whispering that it's time to spawn. New myths rise and ancient evils descend. From the seemingly mundane terrors of a city just like yours to all the most dark and distant places of a truly terrible universe, nothing is as it seems...not even that dimly-recalled cinematic memory you've been chasing all these years, the one you think might be just something you stumbled upon while flipping through channels after midnight. The one that still disturbs you enough to raise a cold sweat all over your body, whenever you try to will its details clear.\nHot on the heels of her 2018 This Is Horror Award-winning short story collection Spectral Evidence, critically horror author Gemma Files compiles fifteen more of her most startling recent nightmares-a creepily seductive downward spiral of dark poetry and existential dread, entirely suitable to the slow apocalypse going on all around us. So take your mind off your troubles and send it somewhere the rules still operate, if only to punish those who violate them.

The Best of Eternal Haunted Summer: A Thirteenth Anniversary Edition

Malinowski, Kim

Couturier, Scott J.

Connor Winward, Shannon

Keane, Bran

Lilly, Alison Leigh

Routery, Michael

Beiter, Tristan

Khoa, Ngo Binh Anh

Poetry

lulu.com

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