Nightscript — Vol. VIII

Nightscript received some truly amazing dark fiction during its open reading period this past January, and today I am pleased to reveal the contents of volume eight. Thanks to everyone who submitted!

Here, then, are the “nightscripters” of 2022:

N is for Night — Steve Rasnic Tem
I Came Back — Christi Nogle
The Mythologization of Tymber Prescott in Five Selected Photos — Luciano Marano
Homecoming — Joshua Rex
The Abandoned — Jo Kaplan
Kindling — M.C. St. John
The Drums of Baron Ridge — John Garland Wells
Sophie Anne — Harrison Demchick
Ghosts of the Pantal — Daniel Braum
Hairberg — Sam Dawson
The Change — Justin A. Burnett
Queen Bee — Grace Lillie
Malocclusion — Dixon March
Limber Lost — K. Wallace King
Ghost Girl — J. S. Kuiken
This Night I Will Have My Revenge on the Cold Clay in Which We Lie — LC von Hessen
The Wardrobe — Gordon Brown
It Goes Without Saying — Patrick Barb

Volume VIII will be released on October 1st, 2022.

Until then, I hope you’ll check out the previous editions of Nightscript, available in either print or e-edition.

New to the anthology? Check out this Special Bundle Offer.

Nightscript — Vol. VII

Cover by Jana Heidersdorf.

Nightscript had another successful open reading period this past January, and today I am pleased to reveal the contents of our seventh edition. Thanks to everyone who submitted a tale for consideration. It was a busy month of reading some pretty wonderful dark fiction!

Here, then, are the “nightscripters” of 2021:

Feast Your Eyes on the Yawning Monotony of Humdrum Rot — Clint Smith
The Passing — Joshua Rex
When Sleep At Last — Douglas Thompson
The Summer King’s Day — Timothy Granville
Roadkill — Elin Olausson
It Looked Like Her — Gordon Brown
Little Gods To Live In Them — David Surface
We Are The Gorillas — Douglas Ford
The Body Trick — Alexander James
Feed — Jason A. Wyckoff
’Neath The Mirror Of The Sea — Rhonda Eikamp
Clipped Wings — Steve Toase
The Cardboard Voice — Tim Major
The Validations — Ashley Stokes
A Perfect Doll — Regina Garza Mitchell
Madam and Yves — Marc Joan
The Delf — Danny Rhodes
Where the Oxen Turned the Plow — Charles Wilkinson
Feast of Fools: A Heartwarming Holiday Romance — LC von Hessen

Update: Volume VII is now available for purchase here.

New to the anthology? Check out this Special Bundle Offer.

Nightscript — Vol. VI

Cover art: Yaroslav Gerzhedovich (via Shutterstock)

Today I am pleased to reveal the contents of volume six of Nightscript, and would like to extend a big note of thanks to everyone who submitted a tale for consideration. It was a privilege to read your work.

Here, then, are the “nightscripters” of 2020:

Dauda’s Return — Timothy Dodd
The Patent-Master — LC von Hessen
Let Your Hinged Jaw Do the Talking — Tom Johnstone
The Best Thing About Her — Ralph Robert Moore
What Crows Mean — Julia Rust
A Postcard From White Dunes — Jeremy Schliewe
Baddavine — Dan Coxon
Beyond the Lace — Charles Wilkinson
The Gods Shall Lay Sore Trouble Upon Them — Christi Nogle
A Photograph — Alexander James
The Owner— Francesco Corigliano
Passed Pawn — Selene dePackh
The Death Bodies of Kanggye — Kurt Newton
Loneliness — James Owens
Victims of a Transitional Time in Morality — J.R. Hamantaschen
The Whisper Gallery — Amelia Gorman
Long Rock — Gary Budden

Volume VI will be released on October 1st. Preorder information can be found here.

Until then, I hope you’ll check out the previous editions of Nightscript, available in either print or e-edition.

New to the anthology? Check out this Special Bundle Offer.

Nightscript — Vol. V

Today I am thrilled to reveal the contents of volume five of Nightscript. As with previous years, the quality of submissions was outstanding, making it particularly difficult to narrow down the final ToC. I would like to extend a big note of thanks to everyone who submitted tales for consideration. As ever, it was a privilege to read your work.

Here, then, are the “nightscripters” of 2019:

Mother Sylvia — Patricia Lillie
The Brambles — David McGroarty
American House Spider — Shannon Scott
The Plague Victim — Samuel M. Moss
Sometimes We’re Cruel — J.A.W. McCarthy
The Orchard — Sean Logan
Mr. and Mrs. Kett — Sam Hicks
Jason’s in the Garden — Simon Strantzas
The Parchment Thief — M.K. Anderson
The Border — Dan Stintzi
Sin Deep — Tracy Fahey
Paradise Point — M.R. Cosby
The Surgeon — Mary Portser
The Surrey Alterations — Charles Wilkinson
Eternal Roots of Lane County — J.C. Raye
Wed — Brady Golden
The Valley — Casilda Ferrante
Sitting Shiver — Adam Meyer
One For the Wolf — M. Lopes da Silva

Volume V will be released on October 1st. Until then, I hope you’ll check out the previous editions of Nightscript, available in either print or e-edition. (New to the anthology? Check out this Special Bundle Offer.)

Thank you for your patronage and support!

Nightscript — Vol. IV

Today I am thrilled to reveal the contents of volume four of Nightscript. As with previous years, the quality of submissions was outstanding, making it particularly difficult to narrow down the final ToC. I would like to extend a big note of thanks to everyone who submitted tales for consideration. As ever, it was a privilege to read your work.

Here, then, are the “nightscripters” of 2018:

“Sugar Baby” — V.H. Leslie
“There Has Never Been Anyone Here” — J.T. Glover
“The Thing in the Trees” — Joanna Parypinski
“By the Sea” — Steve Rasnic Tem
“A Harvest Fit for Monsters” — L.S. Johnson
“The Monkey Coat” — Daniel Braum
“Seams” — M. Lopes da Silva
“A Gut Full of Coal” — Mathew Allan Garcia
“Crow Woman” — April Steenburgh
“The Dandelion Disorder” — Charles Wilkinson
“Of Marble and Mud” — Farah Rose Smith
“All is There Already, Just Not Seen Yet” — Armel Dagorn
“Half-Girls” — Cate Gardner
“A Different Sunlight” — Jackson Kuhl
“Cinnamon to Taste” — Christi Nogle
“The Strigoaica” — Ross Smeltzer
“Swim Failure” — Jennifer Loring
“Visions From the Autumn Country” — Tim Jeffreys
“Stella Maris” — Elana Gomel
“Rainheads” — Mike Weitz
“My House is Out Where the Lights End” — Kirsty Logan

Volume IV will be released on October 1st. Until then, I hope you’ll check out the previous editions of Nightscript, available in either print or e-edition.

Thank you for your patronage and support!

The Outer Dark, ep. 27

For the third year in a row, Nightscript has been featured on The Outer Dark, an award-winning podcast hosted by the inimitable Scott Nicolay. This time around the focus is on a special Night Time Logic event which took place in November of last year. It features a panel discussion and readings by four Volume III contributors: Daniel Braum, Inna Effress, David Surface and Julia Rust. There is also a short interview with yours truly as well as the organizer of the event, the above-mentioned Mr. Braum. Fans of Nightscript are sure to enjoy this unique presentation.

The Outer Dark, Episode 27: “A Strange & Darksome Night”

Nightscript — Vol. III

Today I am thrilled to reveal the contents of volume three of Nightscript. As with previous years, the quality of submissions was outstanding, making it particularly challenging to narrow down the final ToC. I would like to extend a big note of thanks to everyone who submitted tales for consideration. It was a privilege to read your work.

Here, then, are the “nightscripters” of 2017:

“The Flower Unfolds” — Simon Strantzas
“A Place With Trees” — Rowley Amato
“What Little Boys Are Made Of” — Malcolm Devlin
“Grizzly” — M.K. Anderson
“Might Be Mordiford” — Charles Wilkinson
“Palankar” — Daniel Braum
“The Gestures Remain” — Christi Nogle
“House of Abjection” — David Peak
“The Undertow, and They That Dwell Therein” — Clint Smith
“Downward” — Amar Benchikha
“The Familiar” — Cory Cone
“Liquid Air” — Inna Effress
“The Beasts Are Sleep” — Adam Golaski
“The Witch House” — Jessica Phelps
“On the Edge of Utterance” — Stephen J. Clark
“Homeward Bound Now, Paulino” — Armel Dagorn
“The Affair” — James Everington
“When Dark-Eyed Ophelia Sings” — Rebecca J. Allred
“We, the Rescued” — John Howard
“Twenty Miles and Running” — Christian Riley
“Something You Leave Behind” — David Surface
“Young Bride” — Julia Rust
“The Other Side of the Hill” — M.R. Cosby

Volume III will be released on October 1st. Until then, I hope you’ll check out the previous editions of Nightscript.

Thank you for your patronage and support!

A Lineage of Shadows, Redux

I had the honor last year of appearing on The Outer Dark, a podcast hosted by World Fantasy Award-winning author Scott Nicolay. The program has since shifted platforms, appearing now on the essential web-presence This is Horror. Scott was kind enough not only to remaster the original interview, but to record a second segment wherein we discuss Nightscript Volume 2.

Give it a listen, if you’ve the time and inclination.

 

Nightscript — Vol. II

It is with great delight today that I reveal the contents of Nightscript Volume II. This year I have chosen to include twenty-one tales, a number that might very well have been tripled due to the high quality of stories received and reluctantly turned away. I would like to extend a big note of thanks to everyone who submitted their work. It made for quite the exhilarating reading period.

Here, then, are the “nightscripters” of 2016:

“The Carnival Arrives in Darkness” — Michael Griffin
“In the Dark, Quiet Places” — Kristi DeMeester
“Phantom Airfields” — Christopher Slatsky
“En Plein Air” — J.T. Glover
“The Inveterate Establishment of Daddano & Co.” — Eric J. Guignard
“White Elephants” — Malcolm Devlin
“Reasons I Hate My Big Sister” — Gwendolyn Kiste
“Nearness” — Ralph Robert Moore
“This Lonely Hecatomb” — Christopher Ropes
“Apartment B” — Steve Rasnic Tem
“Understairs” — Jason A. Wyckoff
“As Summer’s Mask Slips” — Gordon White
“And Elm Do Hate” — Nina Shepardson
“A Silence of Starlings” — Kurt Fawver
“Aycayia” — Rowley Amato
“The White Kisses” — Charles Wilkinson
“Down by the River” — H.V. Chao
“Arena” — Daniel Mills
“From the Fertile Dark” — Rebecca J. Allred
“No Abiding Place on Earth” — Matthew M. Bartlett
“Pause for Laughter” — José Cruz

As you can well imagine, I am more than a little eager to get this volume into your hands come grand October. Until then, I hope you’ll check out the inaugural edition of Nightscript.

Thank you for your patronage and support!

Scripting October

Today marks the official release-date of Nightscript, and I must say that I am overjoyed (and a bit relieved) to finally be able to craft this entry. When I originally announced, back in January, that I was planning to publish an anthology devoted to “strange stories,” I was amazed by the positive response. I can only hope that now, ten months later, this interest still holds. Now that the journal has become a reality, it’s hard to imagine that I nearly shelved the idea, thinking the project would take away from my own writing and (even more importantly) family life. But the exact opposite occurred. During the stages of fashioning the anthology, I found myself in the midst of various (and most welcome) surges of creativity, and my kids were delighted to see how a book comes together. I can only hope that I have created an exciting new venue which will thrive (in the form of numerous subsequent volumes) for many years to come. And now, good reader, it’s time to take the plunge. The nøkk awaits…

Nightscript can be purchased from Amazon.

Or, it may be obtained directly from me, via PayPal.

Thank you for your patronage!

Nightscript — Vol. I

Earlier this year, when I announced my intent to publish an anthology of “strange tales,” I was humbled and more than a little elated by all of the encouragement and high praise. A venture such as this would not have been possible without the enthusiasm of numerous gracious individuals, and for this I am grateful to the “Nth” degree. Now that my reading period has ended, I have started the process of typesetting and such, and my plan is to have Nightscript available for purchase on October 1st of this year. And so, without further ado, the “nightscripters” of 2015:

“Everything That’s Underneath” — Kristi DeMeester
“Strays” — Gregory L. Norris
“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” — Kirsty Logan
“She Rose From the Water” — Kyle Yadlosky
“Animalhouse” — Clint Smith
“Tooth, Tongue, and Claw” — Damien Angelica Walters
“Momma” — Eric J. Guignard
“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

To conclude, I would like to thank everyone who thought highly enough of my pet project to submit a story. I had to turn away a lot of fantastic stuff due to space limitations, enough to fill numerous other like journals.

That said, my next reading period begins January 2016. To keep abreast of all things Nightscript, please consider following its Facebook page.