Just a quick note to let everyone know that The Chamber’s tagline (“Contemporary Dark Fiction and Poetry”) is being supplanted by a new one: “the strange and dark and beautiful”. You may see these two switching out in a lot of places over time. For now, I am using it just on The Chamber’s homepage.

I got the phrase from one of The Chamber’s contributors, Patrick Crossen, whose story, “His Assistant”, was published by The Chamber on September 2 (check out the story if you have a few minutes). In his cover letter for the story, Patrick stated:

Please find enclosed my short story, “His Assistant ”. It’s a reworking of a common trope with a fresh angle that I had a lot of fun writing. Due do your magazine’s tendency to lean toward the strange and dark and beautiful, I think it would be a good fit for your magazine.

Received by Phil Slattery, Fiction by Patrick Crossen “His Assistant”, 20 June 2022.

That phrase resonated with me and has stuck in my mind since then. It struck me as a simple, concise, and powerful way of stating what I had not realized The Chamber was truly about until I read it. So, this evening, I sent Patrick an email asking permission to use it, which he graciously granted.

Over time, I will be using this and probably some variations here and there. You will see them pop up occasionally on this website, in The Chamber’s social media, and on merchandise as I test out its suitability in various places.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Have a wonderful rest of your day.

Drop by The Chamber’s Bookstore if you have the chance.