Contents

Short Fiction

“The Armoires” Horror by Dylan Nicholson

“The Devil in the Pear Tree” Flash Horror by Joanna Theiss

“HMO” Social-Realist-Horror by Billy Stanton

“Sleigh Bed” Psychological Horror by Heather Webb

“Frozen in Time” Horror by Alec Glisson

“Fragile Guts” Dark Science-Fiction/ Fantasy by Caleb Coomer

“Void with Teeth” Dark Science Fiction by Dan Dellechiaie

“The Frisk Whispers” Ghost Story by Mansi Rathore

“L’Inconnue de La Seine” Horror by Chloe Spector

“East, Sleep, Repeat” Horror by Sarah Muldowney

“Gold Dust Woman” Surreal Horror by Elizabeth J. Wenger

“Archon Fugue” Dark Fantasy-Horror by Titus Green

“The Brownstone” Horror by Rhema Sayers

“Emerald Palace” Horror by S. Eamma

“Household Gods” Horror by Josh Hanson

Flash Fiction

“To Be a Butterfly” Horror/Thriller by N.V. Devlin

“Grinny: Free to a Good Home” Monster Tale/Micro Horror by Douglas Gwilym

“Feminine Growl” Horror Microfiction by Madison Randolph

“Dispassionate” Dark Fiction by Joseph Townsend

Poetry

“Late Night Recitation” Dark Poetry by Thomas Piekarski

Dark Poem by Alistair Thaw

Two Poems by Jay Horan: “i sustain i engrain i heal from the pain” and “a-people”

The Next Issue Appears April 7, 2023

Contents

Short Fiction

“The Armoires” Horror by Dylan Nicholson

“The Devil in the Pear Tree” Flash Horror by Joanna Theiss

“HMO” Social-Realist-Horror by Billy Stanton

“Sleigh Bed” Psychological Horror by Heather Webb

“Frozen in Time” Horror by Alec Glisson

“Fragile Guts” Dark Science-Fiction/ Fantasy by Caleb Coomer

“Void with Teeth” Dark Science Fiction by Dan Dellechiaie

“The Frisk Whispers” Ghost Story by Mansi Rathore

“L’Inconnue de La Seine” Horror by Chloe Spector

“East, Sleep, Repeat” Horror by Sarah Muldowney

“Gold Dust Woman” Surreal Horror by Elizabeth J. Wenger

“Archon Fugue” Dark Fantasy-Horror by Titus Green

“The Brownstone” Horror by Rhema Sayers

“Emerald Palace” Horror by S. Eamma

“Household Gods” Horror by Josh Hanson

Flash Fiction

“To Be a Butterfly” Horror/Thriller by N.V. Devlin

“Grinny: Free to a Good Home” Monster Tale/Micro Horror by Douglas Gwilym

“Feminine Growl” Horror Microfiction by Madison Randolph

“Dispassionate” Dark Fiction by Joseph Townsend

Poetry

“Late Night Recitation” Dark Poetry by Thomas Piekarski

Dark Poem by Alistair Thaw

Two Poems by Jay Horan: “i sustain i engrain i heal from the pain” and “a-people”

The Next Issue Appears April 7, 2023

Contents

Short Fiction

“Potsherds” Dark Magic Realism by Johanna Haas

“Good Girl” Fiction by Katie Trescott

“Death of a Poet” Dark Fiction by Guy Prevost

“The Bird Woman and the Silent Minority” Dark Fantasy by Elinora Westfall

“The Broken Doll” Horror by Kate Bergquist

“Another Will Take Your Place” Dark Drama by James Hanna

“Sour Dough” Dark Fiction by Kate M. Tyte

“The Ideal Man” Dark Science-Fiction by Leland Neville

“Angels of the Morning” Dark Fiction by Alan Catlin

“Thanksgiving” Folk Horror Dark Fiction by Sara White

Poetry

“The Man by the River” Dark Poetry by David Newkirk

“The Wolf in Winter’s Wool” Dark Poem by Algo (Alec Gourley)

“Proof That Dragons Still Live” Dark Poetry by John Michael Sears

Five Dark Poems by Damon Hubbs

“A Vampire’s Internet Search History” Dark Poetry by J.Richard Kron

Flash Fiction

“Taste” Flash Horror by Madison Randolph

The Next Issue Appears August 5

Contents

“Billy the Killer and Martha Jean” Horror by Rachel Brands

“Ghost” Dark Poetry by June Allyn Johnson

“No Rose without Thorns” Flash Horror by Madeleine D’Este

Two Dark Poems by Travis Black: “May My Sorrows Comfort Me in my Time of Need” and “The Sound of a Train in the Distance”

“Teddy Bear” Dark Poetry by A.N. Rose

“The Feverish Fast of Albert Drach” Dark, Surreal Microfiction by Karin Kutlay

“Quetzalcoatl Comet” Dark, Historical Fiction by Titus Green

“Last Call at the Divina Comedia” Dark, Hyper-Real Fiction by Alan Catlin

“Finding Shadows in the Fire” Dark, Historical Fiction by R.P. Serin

“12 Items or Less” Dark Fiction by Kay Summers

“Bloodsucker” Dark Supernatural Fiction by Mehnaz Sahibzada

“All’s Over, Then” Horror by Gershon Ben-Avraham

“Night” Dark Fiction by Amita Basu

“Tea with Nanna” Dark Fiction by B.C. Nance

“It Wasn’t My Fault” Dark Fiction by Joseph Buckley

Special Feature–“Son of Abyss”: discographic debut of multifaceted duo Abisso

The Next Issue Appears July 1

Contents

“Ferry Ride” Dark Fiction by Alan Catlin

“Peppermint Candy” Dark Fiction by James Mulhern

Three Dark Poems by Peter Michael Bush: “Fear in the Eyes of the Crocodile”, “First…Serial…Rites”, and “Blood in the Sycamores”

“You Monster” Horror by Janelle Chambers

“Speakers” Dark Fiction by Patrick R. Wilson

“A Saga of Blasphemy” Dark Fiction by Hareendran Kallinkeel

“Like Moths to a Flame” Dark Fiction by Cecilia Kennedy

“In My Heart There Stirs a Quiet Pain” Dark Fiction by Kate Bergquist

“Act 1, Scene1” Dark Poetry by Prithvijeet Sinha

“Interrogation” Dark Horror by Damir Salkovic

“Little Bunny Foo Foo” Dark Fiction by Tre Luna

“His Heart’s Desire” Horror by N.D. Coley

“Fathers & Sons” Dark Fiction by Andre P. Audette

“Two Beds, One Room” Dark Fiction by Angel Polanco

Three Darkly Humorous Poems by K.A. Williams: “Lunch at the Lake”, “Cal and Kay”, and “Night Caller”

“The Hangings” a Dark, Futuristic Parody by James Hanna

“Flowers in the Woods” Dark Sudden Fiction by Anita Joy Balraj

“Office Friends” Dark Psychological Fiction by Pauline Chow

Contents

“Useless Things” Dark Fiction by James Mulhern

“The Red Eye of Love” Dark Fiction by Len Messineo

“All the Coney Islands of the Mind” Dark Fiction by Alan Catlin

“Greetings from Krampus” Dark Fiction by Tiffany Renee Harmon

“Voice in the Casket” Dark Poem by Bernadette Harris

“Ideal You Bars” Dark Fiction by Emma Burger

“Doctor Dread’s Creative Writing Revolution” Dark Fiction by Thomas White

Three Dark Poems by John Tustin: “The Crush of the Moon”, “Dead Candles”, “Respite”

“The Black Curtain” Dark Surrealism by Leonard Henry Scott

“Resurrection” Dark Fiction by Kelly Piner

“Medusae” Science-Fiction/Horror by Elana Gomal

Dear loyal readers,

I have decided to put The Chamber on hiatus from March 11 until April 1 after which The Chamber will become a monthly magazine. There will be no March 11, March 18, or March 25 issues. This is something I have been contemplating for several months.

I will run this issue’s (March 4) cover for a week, after which it will be replaced with a notice about the hiatus. All stories, poetry, and other material will continue to be available. I will even update the blog occasionally.

The first reason I have for this is time management. Running a weekly magazine of 6-7 stories/poems every issue takes up considerable time, which I could use to finish a novel I have had in the works for a few years. This is also time I could use for personal matters such as visiting family. You may have not realized this, but this is a one-man operation. My time is limited as it is, as I have a 40-hour/week day job to keep a roof over my head and the barbeque occasionally rolling in.

The second reason I am doing this is a drop in the number of submissions over the last few weeks. When I started The Chamber, I was receiving a lot of submissions. Coming up with several stories per issue was easy. I could even have 3-4 issues prepared in advance allowing me time for personal matters. Submissions have slowed in the past few weeks making it tricky to maintain approximately the same length for each issue. Sometimes I find myself hoping that I will have enough material for the upcoming issue. By going to a monthly format, I will be able to take the same number of stories and poems coming in currently, and maybe double (more or less) the length of each issue, and have a few issues prepared in advance to automatically publish themselves when the first of each month rolls around. I am hoping that going to a monthly format will also help The Chamber improve in terms of quality. A monthly format will afford me more time to concentrate on the details of each story and poem and on the details of each issue.

For the time being, any stories and poems that were slated to appear in the March 11 issue will now appear in the April 1 issue.

Honestly, I wish I did not have to go this route. I love reading the high-quality, creative material submitted and doing the minimal editing sometimes required. Though I will still be doing these tasks, I will be doing them less.

I also love interacting frequently with the authors and poets, who are all terrific people. I have had no conflicts with anyone in the year and two months I have been publishing The Chamber (I wish I could say the same for my day job). Working with The Chamber’s contributors in a field that I love and enjoy is like going outside and playing with the neighborhood kids when in grade school. Unfortunately, I now have to go back in the house for a while and do my homework. I will be coming out to play now and then though.

Sincerely,

Phil Slattery

Founder, Publisher, Editor-in-Chief, Graphic Designer, Head Honcho, Gopher, Chief Cook and Bottle Washer

Contents

“A Proper Ballerina” Dark Fiction by Janet Goldberg

“Piñata” Dark, Supernatural Flash Fiction by D.C. Marcus

Three Dark Poems by Callum McGee: “Black Oracles of Anfield Cemetery”, “Black Taxi”, and “Four Years of Hell”

“The Shade” Dark, Supernatural Fiction by Wess Mongo Jolley

Three Dark Poems by Joseph Farina: “fever planes”, “simulacrum”, and “what we leave behind”

“A Game of Horrors” Dark Fiction by Philip Laverty

“The Orange Tree” Fiction by Molly Osborne