Volume I, Issue IV: Lost At Sea
Bearings, by Graham Robert Scott
Since the moment a confused pelican got caught in our rigging and, killed in the freeing, was made into soup, our compass had behaved oddly, pointing no consistent direction.
Jenny's Song, by Nicholas Oliver Murdock
“Mommy, there’s a light down on the shore again,” Sarah said.
A Song of the Sea, by Eamonn Murphy
The crystal clear voice seemed to float across the room towards him, past the chandelier, over the top of the elderly couples shuffling around the dance floor and the people sat drinking small glasses of prosecco at the round wooden tables.
The Fire Ghosts, by Harris Coverley
It was the night of Wednesday 3rd December, 1941. Those who know their history will recall this is just days before the attack on Pearl Harbour and the Japanese bombing of Singapore, which began Britain’s Eastern Front.
Rip Tide, by Victory Witherkeigh
Once upon a time, there lived a young princess on a beautiful island in the South Pacific.
The Shape of the Storm, by Brock Poulsen
"Tall ship, three leagues west." The first mate's voice is calm and direct, and he braces his significant weight against the bulwark. "Give us a nice fog, young one."
I Didn't Know, by Malcolm Richmond
“So where are you watching the football then Fritz?” Mister Harrison asked. Berthold smiled, he knew the “Fritz” was good natured.
Those Are Pearls That Were His Eyes, by Christina Ladd
There are few who know the true deep. Landsmen think all far-off waters are fathomless, but even sailors cannot guess at the depth which no anchor has ever touched, to which not even human bones have sunk.
Sea of Bereavement, by Keily Blair
Bailey stood on the cliff that separated her from the sea, blood dripping down her legs. Her white hospital gown whipped around her in the forceful winds, and a wall of water met stone in a clap like thunder.
If Fish Could Scream, by Tylor James
A saran-wrapped turkey sandwich smothered with mustard. A zip-lock of unsalted cashews, pecans, and prunes. An apple, rinsed and delicately polished with a kitchen towel.
The Lure, by Rob Francis
Spirits, is it? There are spirits all along this coast, my friend. The tides trap ‘em.
FROM THE PERIODICAL, FORLORN ARCHIVES
Phosphorescence, by Carlisle
It had all begun with a garbled report of a strange green light moving up and down the river.
Appearing in this Issue:
About the Authors:
Graham Robert Scott:
Graham Robert Scott grew up in California, resides in Texas, and owns neither surfboard nor cowboy hat. His stories have appeared in Nature, The Arcanist, Paizo's Tales from the Drift, Pulp Literature, and others. He can be followed on Twitter @graythebruce, on his blog at hemicyon.wordpress.com, or on Curious Fictions.
Nicholas Oliver Murdock:
Nicholas Oliver Murdock is the Nom de Plume of a gentleman who moved to St. John's Newfoundland from South Mississippi (where it never snows) just before the worst storm in 125 years hit Newfoundland.
He has been writing stories for years, but this is his first published story. He takes much of his inspiration for his stories from Irish/Celtic music and lore. He has one wife, two sons, three cats, and a dog.
Eamonn Murphy:
Eamonn Murphy was born and bred in Bristol in the south-west of England many years ago. He grew man-size but retained childish interests like science fiction, fantasy and comic books. Never settling to a career he earned beer money on building sites and in call centres. He has a perfectly useless degree in Humanities and History from the Open University. Now, aged, bent and broken, he lives in a quiet cottage with a nice lady where he types reviews for sfcrowsnest and stories for small press publications.
Visit his website: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/bigfootmurf
Harris Coverley:
Harris Coverley has short fiction published or forthcoming in Curiosities, Hypnos, The Centropic Oracle, and Horla, amongst many others. He is also a Rhysling-nominated poet, with verse in Spectral Realms, View From Atlantis, Corvus Review, Ariel Chart, and elsewhere. He lives in Manchester, England.
Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/ha_coverley
Victory Witherkeigh:
Victory Witherkeigh is a female Filipino author originally from Los Angeles, CA. Victory was a finalist for Killer Nashville’s 2020 Claymore Award, an Honoree for Cinnamon Press’s 2020 Literature Award, and Wingless Dreamer’s 2020 Overcoming Fear Short Story award. Her work has appeared in online literary magazines, Allegory Ridge, Bad Bride, Thought Catalog, Masque & Spectacle, For Women Who Roar, Fright Girls Autumn, Mason Street Review Blog. For print media, she has fiction short stories published in Red Planet Magazine, From the Farther Trees, and Pvssy Magic Magazine. She has her print publications in a horror anthology, The Hollow Horror Anthology Book #3, as well as a literary short story in Overcoming Fear, through Breaking Rules Publishing and Wingless Dreamers, respectively.
Follow her on:
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/witherkeigh
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victory_witherkeigh/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/victorywitherkeigh/
Brock Poulsen:
Brock Poulsen spends his time reading and writing, and thinking up ways to perplex his readers and the players around his (virtual) RPG table. His work has appeared previously in the collections Weird Wasatch and Not Far From Roswell. He currently lives in Idaho, with his wife and three kids.
Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/brockst4r
Malcolm Richmond:
Malcolm Richmond is a writer and storyteller who lives in Folkestone, a small seaside town in Kent, England. He has written several short horror films that have been screened at festivals around the UK, had two plays performed at the Folkestone Quarterhouse theatre and tells ghost stories at events and on the radio.
Christina Ladd:
Christina Ladd is a writer, reviewer, and librarian who lives in Boston, MA. She will eventually die crushed under a pile of books, but until then she survives on a worrisome amount of tea and pizza. You can find her work on Strange Horizons, Speculative North, The Nerd Daily, and more.
Follow her on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/OLaddieGirl
Keily Blair:
Keily Blair is a creative writing student at UT Chattanooga, where her nonfiction won the Creative Writing Nonfiction Award. Her fiction has appeared in Five on the Fifth, The Dread Machine, Trembling With Fear, Breath and Shadow, and is upcoming in Dream of Shadows and Night to Dawn. Her nonfiction has appeared in Breath and Shadow and Sequoya Review and is upcoming in HerStry. She is currently at work on a fantasy novel and a collection of essays about being a person with bipolar disorder.
Visit her website: https://www.keilyblair.com
Follow her on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/keily_blair
Tylor James:
Tylor James is a dark fiction writer living in the American Midwest. He’s a proud member of the Horror Writers Association and has dark tales published in Hypnos Magazine, The Literary Hatchet, Weirdsmith: Issue One, and several anthology books. A Skeleton Reads Shakespeare, one of his best short stories, was adapted into a dramatic reading by The Other Stories Podcast. Additionally, James' second book of stories, MATTERS MOST MACABRE, will be available in paperback/kindle May 2021.
Visit his website: https://www.tylorjames.com
Or find him on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tylor.mintz
Rob Francis:
Rob Francis is an academic and writer based in London. He mainly writes short fantasy and horror, and his stories have appeared in magazines such as The Arcanist, Apparition Lit, Metaphorosis, Tales to Terrify and Novel Noctule. Rob has also contributed stories to several anthologies, including DeadSteam by Grimmer & Grimmer books, Under the Full Moon’s Light by Owl Hollow Press, and Scare Me by Esskaye Books. He is an affiliate member of the HWA. Rob lurks on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/RAFurbaneco