In our ongoing efforts to accidentally come up with themes at the most inappropriate times, we are proud to present Issue Fourteen of Jersey Devil Press, dedicated to that most wonderful and terrible of all emotions: Love.

That’s right.  In the dead of autumn, just in time for Halloween, we’ve got a bunch of stories about the most pink and frilly of feelings.  Or is it?  After reading these five stories, I’m not so sure.

The authors here get love down in all its messy glory: the selflessness and the selfishness; the pain, the passion, the effort and the ease; the wonder and, especially, the unexpectedness of it all.

The first stop on this textual Tunnel of Love is Hilary Gan’s remarkable debut story, “The Pragmatist,” followed by “The Ballad of Done Me Wrong and Maybegirl,” by the enigmatic Sandra Bazzarelli.  Next is the moving “The Rodeo Clown” by the prolific Annam Manthiram, then Michael Frissore’s “The Seven Stages of Sorrow,” equal parts beautiful and trippy.  Then the ride brings us ashore, into a dirty fever dream of life in Brooklyn, as presented by the magnificent Chloe Caldwell in “That Was Called Love.”

There’s truth and heartbreak in these tales, as well as Chicken McNuggets and ninjas.  If that’s not love, then I don’t know what is.

The issue is available for reading online here and downloading as a .pdf here. Remember to comment the crap out of the stories you like; it makes the writers feel special.