Category Archives: Short Stories

34 ORCHARD ISSUE 9 IS HERE!

The twenty-one artists in 34 Orchard Issue 9 examine all aspects of waiting: its ups and downs, its held-breath nature, its power. A dead girl languishes instead of going towards the light and a predator banks on his next meal. One mother is driven to pursue a reunion with her daughter, another’s moment for revenge finally arrives, and generations of sons resist—yet compulsively anticipate—the inevitable. A frozen town dreads its death knell. An angry specter prays for her misery to have company, while spirits trapped in the brick and mortar of a bridge wait for nothing more than the next passer-by.

34 ORCHARD ISSUE 9 COVER featuring "When the Light Dies" by Keith Molden

Sooner or later, the waiting’s over, but when we finally get what we want, was it everything we’d imagined? At the end of it, was it really worth it—or did it turn out to be the beginning of yet another long wait for something else? Find out and get your copy at this link today!

Once again, the ToC:

Cover Art: When the Light Dies – Keith Molden

D-Day – Norie Suzuki

Revenge – Dan B. Fierce

Lake Effect – Jason P. Burnham

There – L.T. Ward

First Day Jitters – Donna J.W. Munro

Humans Suppress and History Reveals – Sonali Roy

The Man in the Gray Suit – Fariel Shafee

You Have Summoned a Demon – Ray Daley

Search Underway for Missing Submarine Bringing Tourists to Titanic – John Jeffire

Stillbirth – Jaclyn Eccesso

Suyuntu – Christine Lajewski

Skyline – Jennifer Fanning

Hot on the Trail – Josh Schlossberg

The Seduction – Elizabeth Falcon

Halloween Notes from Bloody Mary of the Philippines– Caroline Hung

The Ghosts at Yazá Bridge – Andrea Ferrari Kristeller

Family Heirloom – Christopher Emmerson-Pace

Last Stop – Brenna Monaghan Behel

Eleven Ways the World Could End – Jack Powers

Unidentified Climbing Object – Angelique Fawns

IT’S RELEASE DAY!! 34 ORCHARD ISSUE 8 is here!

It’s release day for 34 Orchard Issue 8! You can head here to get the PDF: https://34orchard.com/issue-8/

(Issues are free, but donations are appreciated).

34 ORCHARD ISSUE 8 COVER

A clown questions his actions during the Hartford Circus Fire, a woman spends hours calling for the missing, and a man’s unsettled conflict with his brother rents his world in two. A dog mommy may fail at making the ultimate choice and an uncertain slaughterhouse worker may end up without one. In Issue 8, twenty-four artists ponder the dangers in unanswered questions, and the effects on us when things are left unresolved. Once again, our Table of Contents: Read the rest of this entry

If you missed the “Candlewood’s Creepy Tales” I-95 interview… listen here

CANDLEWOOD LAKE I-95 ARTICLE SCREENSHOT

If you missed the Halloween drive-time Ethan & Lou Show interview on the creepy tales of Candlewood Lake, you can listen to it here…lasts about ten minutes!

The original “7 Creepy Tales of Candlewood Lake,” in case you’d like to read those, are here:

http://nehw.blogspot.com/2016/08/legends-of-candlewood-lake-guest-blog.html

It’s always Tiki Time…

Me and Elaine Gen-X

Writer Elaine Pascale and I cocktail it up at TT’s Tiki Bar in Punta Gorda, FL. Photo by Michele Ingram

…when you’re a Gen-Xer! When I was in Florida, fellow writer and I Elaine Pascale got together at TT’s Tiki Bar down in Punta Gorda and had some serious fun with icy tropical cocktails and a few of the anthologies in which we share a Table of Contents.

If you haven’t already, join the party and get your copy of the Generation X-ed anthology full of short shocking trips down memory lane by Elaine, me, and a formidable f-ton of horror-slinging Gen-X writers edited by Rebecca Rowland today—AND you can even get it in good old-fashioned hardcover if you wish!

Generation X-ed short story anthology

What the hell’s that pretty blue think I’m drinking? It’s called an Under the Sea Colada.  Elaine had herself a Tiki Tai (that’s like a mai-tai. YUM!)

TT's Frozen Drink Menu

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

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

Join me for Edgar Allan Poe’s Birthday Bash Online next Thursday, January 19!

So thrilled to announce it’s almost time to grab your amontillado and join me and a host of other Poe-enamored writers as we read “The Raven” and “The Bells” in celebration of Poe’s birthday Thursday, January 19, at 7 pm on Zoom!

2023 Edgar Allan Poe Birthday Bash Art

The event is free. If you’d like the Zoom link, PM me, email me, text me or however you get in touch with me, and I’ll get it right to you. You can also reach out to me through my contact page.

Co-sponsored by the Untitled Open Mic at Lowell Poetry Wheel and hosted by writer Meg Smith, we’ll each be reading Read the rest of this entry

New story and essay, novel excerpt AVAILABLE NOW in FREE SIRENS CALL EZINE ISSUE 60!

SIRENS CALL ISSUE 60 COVER

BIG NEWS!! I’m ecstatic to announce that Sirens Call eZine Issue #60—FREE to download—not only contains my story, “What the Ocean Knows,” but, because they honored me with being featured author, also contains an essay, “Whispers Beneath the Lines: Dark Fiction’s Power to Heal” and a longer excerpt from my novel, Bad Apple! This giant issue also features Read the rest of this entry

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!