by C M Muller
John Claude Smith has published 1,100+ music journalism pieces, over 60 short stories, and about 15 poems. He has also had two collections published, The Dark is Light Enough For Me and Autumn in the Abyss, as well as two limited edition chapbooks, Dandelions and Vox Terrae. His debut novel, Riding the Centipede, was published in June of 2015 and is gathering stellar reviews. He is currently working on a new collection and a stand-alone novella, while he revises another novel…or two. Busy is good. He splits his time between the East Bay of northern California, across from San Francisco, and Rome, Italy, where his heart resides always.
Zdravka Evtimova was born in Bulgaria where she lives and works as a literary translator. Her short stories have appeared in 31 countries in the world, including USA, UK, Canada, China, Australia, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, etc. The list of her short story collections comprises: Bitter Sky, SKREV Press, UK, 2003, Somebody Else, MAG Press, USA, 2005, Miss Daniella, SKREV Press, UK, 2007, Pale and Other Postmodern Bulgarian Stories, Vox Humana, Canada, 2010, Carts and Other Stories, Fomite Press, USA, 2012; Time to Mow and Other Stories, All Things That Matter Press, USA, 2012, Impossibly Blue and Other Stories, Skrev Press, UK, 2013, Endless July and Other Stories, Paraxenes Meres, Greece, 2013. Her novel God of Traitors was published by Book for a Buck Publishers, USA, 2007. Her novel Sinfonia Bulgarica was published by Fomite Books, USA, 2014; by Salento Books, Italy, 2015; by Art and Literature Press, China, 2015; and by Antolog Books, Macedonia, 2015.
Jason A. Wyckoff was born, educated and resides still in Columbus, Ohio, USA, with his wife and their pets. His first published work was the short story collection, Black Horse and Other Strange Stories (Tartarus Press, 2012). He has also contributed to anthologies from Tartarus Press, Sirens Call Publications, and to the revived Weirdbook.
Ralph Robert Moore’s fiction has been published in a wide variety of literary and genre magazines and anthologies in America, Canada, England, Ireland, India and Australia, including Black Static, Shadows & Tall Trees, Midnight Street, and Sein und Werden. His books include the short story collections Remove the Eyes and I Smell Blood, and the novels Father Figure, As Dead As Me, and Ghosters. His website SENTENCE at www.ralphrobertmoore.com features a broad selection of his stories, essays, diary postings, and more. Moore and his wife Mary live in Dallas, Texas.
Christopher Burke grew up in Cincinnati and spent many subsequent years in Louisville, KY, where he received his M.A. and worked as an audio book editor and bookseller. Christopher’s fiction has also appeared on the award-winning NoSleep podcast, and he has contributed nonfiction to www.weirdfictionreview.com. He currently resides in Providence.
Michael Wehunt makes his home in the lost city of Atlanta. There are an awful lot of trees there, which keeps him happy. His short fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in such publications as Cemetery Dance, The Dark, Aickman’s Heirs, Shock Totem, and Shadows & Tall Trees, among others. His debut collection will see light in 2016. You can visit him at www.michaelwehunt.com.
C.M. Muller lives in St. Paul, Minnesota with his wife and two sons—and, of course, all those quaint and curious volumes of forgotten lore. He is related to the Norwegian writer Jonas Lie and draws much inspiration from that scrivener of old. His tales have appeared in Shadows & Tall Trees, Supernatural Tales, Visiak’s Mirror, The Yellow Booke, and Xnoybis. He hopes you have enjoyed the twenty tales collected herein.
Table of Contents
Everything That’s Underneath
Kristi DeMeester
Strays
In His Grandmother
’
s Coat
Charles Wilkinson
The Cuckoo Girls Patricia Lillie
The Sound That the World Makes
David Surface
Below the Falls
Daniel Mills
The Keep
Unnamed
Kirsty Logan
She Rose From the Water
Kyle Yadlosky
Animalhouse
Tooth, Tongue, and Claw
Damien Angelica Walters
Momma
The Trees Are Tall Here
Marc E. Fitch
A Quiet Axe
Michael Kelly
The Death of Yatagarasu
Bethany W. Pope
The Cooing
John Claude Smith
A Knife in My Drawer
Zdravka Evtimova
On Balance
Jason A. Wyckoff
Learning Not to Smile
Ralph Robert Moore
Fisher and Lure
Christopher Burke
The Death of Socrates
Michael Wehunt
About the Contributors