October 1, 2007

It's that month - the month of Halloween, Samhain, of walking between worlds and happy candle-lit pumpkins. To kick things off right, we have a sweet original fairy tale, Six Events in a Love Story, by returning Byzarium author Rochita Loenen-Ruiz. Rochita is also the author of Mistress Vogel, the Flash Fiction contest winner in the April 2006 issue. Mistress Vogel is available as a downloadable MP3 file.

Next, we have Gareth Powell's science fiction story, Pod Dreams of Tuckertown. Gareth is the author of the sci-fi short Sunsets and Hamburgers, which appeared in the January 2006 issue, won a Firebrand Great Fiction Award from SFreader.com. Sunsets and Hamburgers is also available as an MP3.

Last, but most certainly not least, is new-comer Jeremy Schneider's bizarre horror story Socks. Do yourself a favor and read this story! It is the most original horror story I've read in years and had me alternately shivering and laughing my ass off.

We also have a review of JoSelle Vanderhooft's dream-like fantasy novella The Tale of the Miller's Daughter. JoSelle is an incredibly gifted writer whose short story, To Sleep, Perchance, appeared in the September 2006 issue.

Our Bad-Fic Contest is still open, and will be until the end of November, so send in your entries! We are also still accepting entries for the Frida Kahlo painting that serves as our Fall inspiration for our Flash Fiction Contest.

I'll sign off with a gentle reminder to celebrate Banned Books Week this year. It runs from September 29th through October 6th.