Category Archives: Horror Stories

34 ORCHARD taking submissions for the Autumn 2023 issue!

34 Orchard is now considering work for our Autumn 2023 issue! We will only be open from July 1 – 15, 2023, so if you’re planning on submitting, please keep in mind that anything after July 15, 2023, will be deleted unread (and yes, we adjust for all worldwide time zones. So that’s after July 15 at 11:59pm wherever you are).

Please refer to our guidelines for information on how to submit. Check that out here at https://34orchard.com/guidelines/, and we look forward to reading your work!

34 ORCHARD ISSUE 7 HAS BURST ONTO THE SCENE!

IT’S RELEASE DAY!! I’m thrilled to announce that 34 Orchard ISSUE 7 is here! Heralding the coming of spring and the concept of the fresh start, Issue 7 has another winner from Nigeria’s Ernest O. Ògúnyẹmí (Issue 1’s “Christmas Chicken,” about which we STILL get mail!) and a few other 34O alums, as well as work by others familiar and brand-new.

Plunging into the visceral rip tides of lost love, medieval history, personal agency, folklore, witchcraft, grief, motherhood, and so much more—and rendered in everything from magical realism to soft science fiction, horror, and literary—there’s something for every taste!

Get your free copy here: https://34orchard.com/issue-7/

34 ORCHARD ISSUE 7 SAMPLE COVER

Once again, our ToC:

Cover Art: Optic Nerve – Page Sonnet Sullivan

An Old Romantic – Mark Towse

Little Monster – Elin Olausson

The Doe – Brandon McQuade

Wildfire – Alexandra Provins

The Flute – Ernest O. Ògúnyẹmí

The Perimeter of Others – Marie-Andrée Auclair

Simulacrum Vehemens – Remo Macartney

Twenty Birthdays with You – Karen Cline-Tardiff

Penelope Learns to Weave a Double Helix – Shelly Jones

The Squealing – McLeod Logue

Where’s Lucy? – W.T. Paterson

The Procedure – Jeff Adams

poisoned earth – Corey Niles

There Is No Tomorrow – David H. West

The Triple G – Gregory Jeffers

I Once Worked There – Christian Hanz Lozada

The Last Day – Elaine Pascale

The Choice – Jenna Moquin

With the Turbulent Flow …  – Angi Shearstone

The Shrine of Saint Amandus – Rex Burrows

How to Make a Vase – Kieran Thompson

Announcing the ToC for 34 ORCHARD ISSUE 7, SPRING 2023 – Coming April 25!

I’m thrilled to announce the Table of Contents for 34 Orchard Issue 7, Spring 2023! Heralding the coming of spring and the concept of the fresh start, Issue 7 has another winner from Nigeria’s Ernest O. Ògúnyẹmí (Issue 1’s “Christmas Chicken,” about which we STILL get mail!) and a few other 34O alums, as well as work by others familiar and brand-new.

34 ORCHARD ISSUE 7 SAMPLE COVER

Plunging into the visceral rip tides of lost love, medieval history, personal agency, folklore, witchcraft, grief, motherhood, Read the rest of this entry

We’re still making decisions — and announcing our SPRING 2023 Cover!

We haven’t made our final selections for the Spring 2023 issue of 34 Orchard yet–we’re finishing those up in the next few weeks. HOWEVER, I’M THRILLED TO SHOWCASE OUR COVER, featuring Optic Nerve by Page Sullivan. We’re only three months away from release!

I wanted to take a moment, also, to thank all of our supporters–writers who send in work, those who donate, our reading volunteers, those who have jumped in to save my ass whenever I’ve needed it, and our incredibly loyal readers. When I founded this publication back in 2019, I was going to be happy if I just had a little magazine that ten of my friends read. Never would I have dreamt that so many people would read and enjoy it. It has completely blown past all of my expectations, and we plan to continue to deliver quality experiences for many issues to come.

34 ORCHARD ISSUE 7 SAMPLE COVER

Welcome, 2023! 34 ORCHARD’s submissions window is open through January 15!

34 Orchard is now considering work for our Spring 2023 issue! We will only be open from January 1 – 15, 2023, so if you’re planning on submitting, please keep in mind that anything after January 15, 2023, will be deleted unread (and yes, we adjust for all worldwide time zones. So that’s after January 15 at 11:59pm wherever you are).

Please refer to our guidelines for information on how to submit. Check that out here at https://34orchard.com/guidelines/, and we look forward to reading your work!

PERFECT STOCKING STUFFER! “Sea Legs” available in Lovecraftian Microfiction Vol. 8!

Tree Nestle 1

How CUTE is this tiny book on a Christmas tree?

I’m thrilled to announce that my piece, “Sea Legs,” is now available in Lovecraftian Microfiction Volume 8!

“Sea Legs” is one of thirteen winners in the 2022 H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival and CthulhuCon Microfiction Contest, and the collection makes the perfect stocking stuffer (tiny trim size is so cute too!!). It’s also two books in one, with Tales from the Tainted Inkwell—stories from the past that are out of print, including by cosmic favorites Cody Goodfellow and Peter Rawlik—on its flipside.

In “Sea Legs”: On a North Sea island, villagers are grateful for what the sea goddess gives—until what She tries to take in return may force one of them to go to unusual extremes. I was trying my hand at a cosmic/folk horror blend, something about which I learned at this year’s Necronomicon in Providence, RI in August.

Fill a stocking, put it under the tree, or treat yourself. You can get it here:

https://arkhambazaar.com/books/lovecraftian-microfiction-2022-tales-from-the-tainted-inkwell-collection/

Yay! My short story “Let the Rain Settle It” accepted for HUSH, DON’T WAKE THE MONSTER—Stephen King homage anthology!

So excited to announce that my short story, “Let the Rain Settle It” has been accepted for publication in Hush, Don’t Wake the Monster—A Women in Horror Anthology containing stories inspired by Stephen King but with a female spin!

Hush, Don't Wake the Monster Cover

“Let the Rain Settle It” is an homage to Stephen King’s “Rainy Season,” which I read in the early 1990s and has haunted me ever since. Here’s the introduction I penned for my submission:

Why I chose Stephen King’s “Rainy Season”

 It’s been said the experience of a story is different for each reader, because it depends on what that person brings to the table. I didn’t read Stephen King’s “Rainy Season” until it was reprinted in his 1993 Nightmares & Dreamscapes collection, but of all the pieces I’d read of his, this is the one that stuck. As a starry-eyed twenty-two year old who was, at the time, blissfully unaware she was engaged in a toxic relationship, I connected most with the subtle clues King presents about the broken young couple heading toward not just physical demise, but eventual emotional disaster if they did survive. While John and Elise aren’t the focus of King’s narrative—the spotlight, as always, shines on unsettling Mainers—they’re clearly in a place where the ordinary drudge of life and its reactionary transgressions have squelched the blush of love and romance. The blinders are off, they see each other for who they really are, and it’s not pretty.

While it’s been accused of being too similar to Jackson’s “The Lottery,” and a “time passer,” “Rainy Season” isn’t just another folk horror tale or creature feature. It’s a warning that the killer toads of life are always at your romantic door, and sometimes, it’s just better to let them in.

I’m so excited and honored my story was chosen for this unique project, and I can’t wait to read everyone else’s stories! Watch this space for pre-order and ToC announcement—Hush will be released March 2, 2023!

Awesome announcements: “What the Ocean Knows” and “Sea Legs” accepted!

Scusset Beach Cape Cod -- Ghostly Footprints and Ribbons September 23, 2022

This washed-up eel grass and the ghostly prints of my boots inspired my short story, “What the Ocean Knows.” This photo was taken at Scusset Beach, Sandwich, MA, September 23, 2022.

My newest short story, “What the Ocean Knows,” has been accepted for publication in Sirens Call eZine Issue 60, Winter 2022! In “What the Ocean Knows”: A grieving Mavis finds comfort in afternoons spent talking to the sea… until the day the sea talks back.

This is a free online ’zine that has loads of good fiction, so I’ll let you know when it’s released and you can download your copy.

Sea Legs Winner -- HPLFF Colorful Cosmic Logo

In addition, my microfiction, “Sea Legs,” was one of thirteen winners in the 2022 H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival and Cthuluthon Microfiction Contest, and will be published in Lovecraftian Microfiction Volume 8!

In “Sea Legs”: On a North Sea island, Read the rest of this entry

It’s here! My story “Wish Bones” in DEAD STARS AND STONE ARCHES

Wish Bones Kristi

TODAY IS RELEASE DAY! My western cosmic horror story—first shot at that, too!—“Wish Bones,” is now available in Timber Ghost Press’ Dead Stars and Stone Arches: A Collection of Utah Horror.

In 1873 Utah, Quicken offers to shepherd a woman condemned to hang for the massacre of a Mormon traveling party—but what’s waiting for them in the canyon is more terrifying than any crime she could have possibly committed.

Pick up your copy for Kindle or Print here!

Dead Stars and Stone Arches Cover

“Beware Burning Snow” is now available for free in THE SIRENS CALL eZine!

SIRENS CALL EZINE Issue 58 Cover

I’m thrilled to announce that my short story –“Beware Burning Snow” — is now available to read for FREE over at The Sirens Call eZine Issue #58!

In “Beware Burning Snow”: In 1980, ash people warned ten-year-old Sissy of the imminent eruption of Mount St. Helens. But there’s a natural order to things, and now they’re back. Sissy’s not only driven to keep one eye on the mountain—she’s compelled to keep them from haunting her teenaged daughter, too.

This issue is huge and features stories Read the rest of this entry

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