Edition 1: The Stygian Lepus Magazine, #1

By Stygian Lepus

The Stygian Lepus Magazine is a thrilling foray into dark speculative fiction. In each new edition, readers explore the depths of imagination, where fear and fascination intertwine.

Offering diverse genres from horror to science fiction, each story pushes the boundaries of reality.

Talented authors craft tales that transport readers to new dimensions, where the ordinary becomes extraordinary. The magazine is a vessel for exploring the human psyche, embracing darkness as a means to understand ourselves.

Join this journey into the unknown, where the bizarre and unsettling captivate, all within the pages of The Stygian Lepus Magazine.

 

FEATURING

 

Anger Issues by Dawn DeBraal
Classroom Jazz by Rachel L. Tilley
Easy Prey by Gabby Gilliam
From Harwich to Hollywood (Well Almost) by David Bowmore
From the Monster by Gabby Gilliam
Heavy Heart by Avery Hunter
Hell's Marshal by Don Money
Heroes Are Hard to Find - Part One by Zack Zagranis
I Got Your Back Be Beholden by Colin James
Influenced by Warren Benedetto
Just One Taste by Cat Voleur
Leporid Weapon I by S. Jade Path
Meat Minion by Maggie D. Brace
Meeting Cute by Ron Capshaw
Philosophy 301 by Brett Mitchell Kent
Puppetry by Corinne Pollard
Recombitant by Brianna Bullen
The Art of the Drabble by Kimberly Rei
The Bad Box by M.A. Dosser
The Doctor is In by Andrew Kurtz
The Kahil Gibran's Killer Consortium by Colin James
The Queen of Ash and Space Dust by Erica A. Clayton
The Unicorn of Death by Andrew Kurtz
The Woolson Twins by Tim Law
Troglodyte by Rick Ansell Pearson

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stygian Lepus
• Release date: Nov 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223492733

Book preview

The Stygian Lepus

Digital Edition 1

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The Stygian Lepus Magazine

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Jodi Christensen – Fiction Editor

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Kara Hawkers – Poetry Editor

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Dean Shawker – Fiction Editor

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Planet Bizarro - Cover Image

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The Hawkmoth – Cover Designer

Copyright © 2023 by The Stygian Lepus Magazine

First published in Australia in November 2023 by The Stygian Lepus Magazine

All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this production may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, including in any AI activity such as training, etc, without the prior permission of the publisher and copyright owner.

Contents

Easy Prey

Gabby Gilliam

From the Monster

Gabby Gilliam

Hell's Marshal

Don Money

Meat Minion

Maggie D. Brace

From Harwich to Hollywood (well almost)…

David Bowmore

Anger Issues

Dawn DeBraal

The Queen of Ash and Space Dust

Eric A. Clayton

Heavy Heart

Avery Hunter

Just One Taste

Cat Voleur

Recombitant

Brianna Bullen

Puppetry

Corinne Pollard

The Unicorn of Death

Andrew Kurtz

The Doctor is In

Andrew Kurtz

Classroom Jazz

Rachel L. Tilley

Influenced

Warren Benedetto

Leporid Weapon I

S. Jade Path

The Woolson Twins

Tim Law

The Bad Box

M.A. Dosser

The Art of the Drabble

Kimberly Rei

Philosophy 301

Brett Mitchell Kent

Troglodyte

Rick A. Pearson

Meeting Cute

Ron Capshaw

I Got Your Back Be Beholden

Colin James

The Kahil Gibran Killer Consortium

Colin James

Heroes Are Hard to Find - Part One

Zack Zagranis

Fiction Editor

Jodi Christensen

Fiction Editor

Dean Shawker

Poetry Editor

Kara Hawkers

Welcome to the inaugural edition of The Stygian Lepus : A Dark Speculative Fiction Magazine. We are thrilled to embark on this journey into the depths of the human imagination, where shadows dance with the unknown and the macabre takes center stage.

In the realm of dark speculative fiction, we delve into the recesses of our minds where fear and fascination converge. It is a genre that allows us to explore the uncanny, the unsettling, and the extraordinary, all while reflecting on the human condition. As the editor of this magazine, it is my pleasure to introduce you to a world where reality blurs with the surreal, and where nightmares come alive on the page.

Within the pages of The Stygian Lepus, you will encounter tales of horror, science fiction, fantasy, and the inexplicable. Our talented authors have crafted stories that will take you on a journey through the darkest corners of existence, pushing the boundaries of what is possible and challenging your perceptions of reality. Each story is a unique portal into a new dimension, where the ordinary becomes extraordinary and the familiar becomes haunting.

We have assembled a diverse array of voices, each with their own distinct style and perspective, to ensure that this magazine offers something for every dark fiction enthusiast. From spine-tingling ghost stories to mind-bending science fiction, from ancient myths reborn to contemporary nightmares, our authors have worked tirelessly to deliver a collection of tales that will both chill and captivate you.

As you immerse yourself in the stories within these pages, remember that the darkness is not to be feared but to be embraced. It is through the exploration of our deepest fears and fantasies that we come to understand ourselves and the world around us. It is within the shadows that we discover the truths that lurk just beyond the reach of the ordinary.

The Stygian Lepus is more than just a magazine; it is a vessel for the exploration of the human psyche, a canvas for the expression of the extraordinary, and a testament to the enduring power of storytelling. We invite you to join us on this journey, to step into the unknown, and to confront the darkness that lies within and without.

Thank you for embarking on this adventure with us, and we look forward to sharing many more tales of the bizarre and the unsettling in the editions to come. Your feedback and support are invaluable to us as we strive to bring you the finest dark speculative fiction.

Yours in the shadows,

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The Styg

Editor-in-Chief

The Stygian Lepus Magazine

Easy Prey

Gabby Gilliam

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Crush of dancers throbs

like a beating heart, bodies freeze

in flashes of light. He stalks the floor

appreciates abundance of bare flesh.

She pretends she isn’t hiding

in the ladies room, touches up

blotchy face, adds a second layer

of lip gloss. Concealer barely masks

red puffiness around eyes. Her friend

barrels in, splashes water on flushed cheeks

drags her back to the dance floor. Assaulted

by scents of fruity alcohol and sweat

she considers flight, but enthusiastic friend

squeezes fingers tighter, makes escape impossible

without sacrifice of limb. She finally wrenches free

and retreats to an empty table. Dark eyes pull her

attention from across the bar. Lopsided grin

coaxes a smile of her own. A free drink appears

at her table, whiskey over ice just the way she likes it.

She raises the glass to the eyes that sent it over

and sips as he stalks closer. He eases into the seat

beside her, orders another round. By the fourth whiskey

her head’s grown heavy, so she rests it against

the offered shoulder. He trails kisses across her

tender neck, lulls her body

into compliance before

he sinks fangs so deep in her

neck she can’t even scream.

From the Monster

Gabby Gilliam

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Icarry this tundra

frozen chronicle

of our shared history

even this stretch

of permafrost too cramped

to hold your ego

reanimated flesh

your badge of honor

until I could not be contained

so chase me across

these frozen fields

my freedom the glint of sun

on glacial isolation

my body so delicately

stitched together

by those nimble

fingers that are now

so close to insensible

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Gabby Gilliam lives in the DC metro area with her husband and son. Her poetry has most recently appeared in One Art, Tofu Ink, The Ekphrastic Review, Pure Slush, Deep Overstock, Vermillion, MacQueen’s Quinterly, and Equinox. You can find her online at gabbygilliam.squarespace.com.

Hell's Marshal

Don Money

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The badge’s design, an inverted five-point star, crimson in color, was as peculiar as the US Marshal wearing it. The marshal strode up the center of the street through town. His nearly seven-foot-tall frame drew the first looks, but the stark white hair and beard and the coal black patch over his left eye held people’s stares. It was hard to tell for sure, but it seemed like a layer of thin smoke was continually drifting off his tan duster coat.

Equally odd was the fact that he had walked into town, seemingly out of thin air. Raven’s Rock was home to gamblers looking for other’s fortune, ranch hands looking for entertainment, outlaws looking for trouble, and little else. A thrown together ramshackle town in the New Mexico Territory located along the route for those traveling further west. It was a place where travelers often gave up their westward dreams and stayed, letting them die there, baking in the heat. There were no habitable points to just walk in from.

The new arrival stopped and looked at the sheriff’s office to his left, then down the street to the town church, almost as if trying to decide which one he should visit first. He spun sharply on his boot heel. The quick turn sparked a small fire off his spur in the dust that smoldered out as the marshal stepped up onto the boardwalk and into the sheriff’s office.

Deputy Alton Dupree looked up from the nap he was catching, boots up on the desk and hat tilted down. The man ducking his head coming through the door, stirred him from his reverie and he stared at the man who came to a stop before him. Dupree, clean cut and, some thought, a little baby faced to be a deputy in a hard scrabbled frontier town, stood and pulled back the nervousness that washed over him at seeing this strange man with an even stranger US Marshals badge. Marshal, how can I help you?

The marshal held the deputy with a silent stare before speaking. I’m US Marshal Amaris. The marshal’s voice was smooth, a distinct difference from his appearance. I need some information on the message that was telegraphed by your sheriff regarding the bodies that were discovered.

Dupree flinched, his mind drifting to the horror that had engulfed the town. For the most part, Raven’s Rock was an average western town, fist fights among the cowboys and outlaws over cards or women that sometimes devolved into a gunfight. Nothing out of the ordinary for the time or place the town found itself in, but the discovery of the miners’ bodies at Amon Gulch, that was different.

The marshal interrupted Dupree’s thoughts, I am here to talk to the sheriff about it and have someone guide me out to the location.

Sheriff Dugan returned to the gulch three days ago with the other two deputies, Dupree told him. People in town are stirred up like hornets over it and he went back out to poke around again. Haven’t seen them since.

A grim look settled on the marshal’s face, and his one good eye flared red for