Sum Quod Eris, Christopher Lee Kneram
“The street was abandoned in both directions. The pub to our right was silent, near empty at this hour, the music store to our left closed and vacant. Across the street, the graveyard peered out from within its envelope of darkness, watching quietly, unmoving.”

Gate Night, Ally Malinenko
“[W]hen Killian looked at us again, lifting the bottle to his lips, and he smiled, he didn’t have normal teeth anymore. They were like dog teeth, a jumble of incisors, black gums. And as quickly as it happened, it was gone. But I can still see it, each time I close my eyes, the moment when Killian went…wrong.”

A Shirt of Bears, Robert Buswell
“And there the matter rested for all but Val, for she alone saw the child’s face and was unable to cleanse her psyche of the specter of the child’s horrified look as the car bore rapidly towards it.”

Seven Minutes in Heaven, Christine Reilly
“Her first kiss felt like nothing, like bumping into somebody while taking public transportation, any setting when she would neither want to thank someone for touching her nor feel violated. She didn’t want to take off her shirt. She felt like she was in class, or in church. Anywhere where it would be inappropriate.”

Mermaids at St. Abbs Head, Gwendolyn Edward
“But the children’s dreams of cities became only hushed hopes, and were buried under blankets so fathers wouldn’t hear, or were blown away in the wind that carried the boats to sea. This was because the children of St. Abbs had learned never to speak of dreams, ever since Finlay had carried one in his mouth all through the village only to spit it out along the way to St. Abbs Head when his too thin body couldn’t contain the excitement anymore.”

The Magician, Stephen James Price
“‘They were still a half-mile from town when they encountered the other wagons. They lined the dusty road and were moving very slowly. Kids were running alongside several of them. They were chanting “The Magician, the Magician,” as they ran and played. “This is going to be one hell of a show,” Pa said to no one in particular.”

Cover art: Grime 107, Eleanor Leonne Bennett