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September 2023 (Issue 95)

In the September issue of Fantasy Magazine, short stories by Lowry Poletti (“Dread of the White Dog”) and Sam Kyung Yoo (“Set Yourself on Fire”); flash fiction by Angela Liu (“The Cursed Universe Inside Your Eye”) and Alex V. Cruz (“Bacá”); poetry by Zaynab Iliyasu Bobi (“A Brief History of Monsterification”) and Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe (“A Mortal’s Guide to Attaining Godhood in the Era of Chaos”); and an interview with several contemporary anthologists. Enjoy!

Author Spotlight: Sam Kyung Yoo

“Set Yourself on Fire” actually started out as a realistic fiction short story. I wrote it in second-person, originally, but I was drawn to the idea of the narrator being an actual ghostly presence in the story, so I decided to do a complete rewrite using first-person direct address instead. I wanted it to look like it was written in second-person, right up until the moment the narrator makes themself known to the reader as an actual character present in the story who is quietly observing everything. I ended up being a lot happier with this version. Since every word of narration is in the voice of a ghost, the story itself becomes haunted.

Interview: Anthologists

As short fiction lovers, anthologies hold a special place for us. Anthologies over the decades have been the battlegrounds of political movements, as well as markers for shifts in genre communities. We grew up reading them, and we still see them as wonderful places: they often contain amazing work, and interesting things are still happening by virtue of their publication. Nowadays, editors/publishers are creating spaces for a broader range of perspectives through anthologies – bringing out books with an awesome array of stories.

Set Yourself on Fire

The chrysanthemums are dying. The yellow flowers face downward, stems wilting at the neck. Their petals curl and brown at the edges like burning paper. You lift one of the ragged blossoms up, as if to try and help it support its own weight. You keep the flowerpot on the kitchen countertop right by the apartment window where it can get the most sunlight, but it doesn’t seem to be enough.

Bacá

When I was a child and played in mud, my father was still alive. “Come, m’ijo” he’d say, chewing tobacco, fingernails dirty from working the land. “The night is for monsters,” his eyes glassy from the sun, “and so is the day.”

Author Spotlight: Lowry Poletti

This story had two distinct points of inspiration. The first was that I wanted to write about a sort of Faustian deal but from a new perspective. It doesn’t make sense to me that a malevolent entity would separate humans from animals; at some point, if you’re so far above the mortal world, wouldn’t humans and animals look the same to you? What would a deal like this look like if it were offered to a wolf, and why would a wolf take it?

Dread of the White Dog

In the fading shadows of dawn, a hunter meets a wolf with white eyes, a wolf whose mouth stretches open, and in its growl there are three faraway voices, distorted as if heard through water, so the hunter shoots. He does not wait to see what he has done.

Editorial: September 2023

In this issue we’re proud to bring you short stories by Lowry Poletti (“Dread of the White Dog”) and Sam Kyung Yoo (“Set Yourself on Fire”); flash fiction by Angela Liu (“The Cursed Universe Inside Your Eye”) and Alex V. Cruz (“Bacá”); poetry by Zaynab Iliyasu Bobi (“Brief History of Monsterification”) and Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe (“A Mortal’s Guide to Attaining Godhood in the Era of Chaos”); and an interview with a few of the many anthologists doing interesting work in the field. Enjoy!

The Cursed Universe Inside Your Eye

The glass bottles are caked with so much grime you can’t see what’s in them anymore. It’s better that way because you don’t think you’d be able to do what you need to, if you could. You fish the knife out of your canvas bag, and a lighter with just enough fluid for one more flash of fire. This is your first time—but you’ve seen your mother do the same thing countless times before. Before she made her first mistake. Before you were forced to take her place.