Apex Magazine Issue 142: Apex Magazine, #142

By Lesley Conner

Strange. Surreal. Shocking. Beautiful.

 

APEX MAGAZINE is a digital dark science fiction and fantasy genre zine that features award-winning short fiction, essays, and interviews. Established in 2009, our fiction has won several Hugo and Nebula Awards.

We publish every other month.

Issue 142 contains the following short stories, essays, reviews, and interviews.

 

EDITORIAL
Musings from Maryland by Lesley Conner

 

ORIGINAL SHORT FICTION
Spread the Word by Delilah S. Dawson
Born a Ghost by Nadia Bongo
Just You and Me, Now by KT Bryski
When No One Has to Say Goodbye by Elisabeth Ring

 

FLASH FICTION
Then Came the Ghost of My Dead Mother, Antikleia by Nadia Radovich
For As Long As You Want It by Kanishk Tantia

 

CLASSIC FICTION
The Man Who Fed Dilophosaurs by M.M. Olivas
The Enduring by Eugen Bacon

 

NONFICTION
I Like Movies Too: Loving Movies Made for the Male Gaze by Somer Canon
Horror Tells Me I'm Not Alone by John Wiswell
Words for Thought: Short Fiction Review by AC Wise

 

INTERVIEWS
Interview with Author Nadia Bongo by Marissa van Uden
Interview with Author Elisabeth Ring by Marissa van Uden
Interview with Cover Artist Adrian Borda by Bradley Powers

• Language: English
• Publisher: Apex Book Company
• Release date: Jan 2, 2024
• ISBN: 9798223552925

Book preview

Apex Magazine

APEX MAGAZINE

ISSUE 142

DELILAH S. DAWSON NADIA BONGO KT BRYSKI ELISABETH RING NADIA RADOVICH KANISHK TANTIA M.M. OLIVAS EUGEN BACON SOMER CANON JOHN WISWELL A.C. WISE

Edited by

LESLEY CONNER

APEX PUBLICATIONS

CONTENTS

Editorial

Musings from Maryland

Lesley Conner

Original Fiction

Spread the Word

Delilah S. Dawson

Born a Ghost

Nadia Bongo

Just You and Me, Now

KT Bryski

When No One Has to Say Goodbye

Elisabeth Ring

Flash Fiction

Then Came the Ghost of My Dead Mother, Antikleia

Nadia Radovich

For As Long As You Want It

Kanishk Tantia

Classic Fiction

The Man Who Fed Dilophosaurs

M.M. Olivas

The Enduring

Eugen Bacon

Nonfiction

I Like Movies Too: Loving Movies Made for the Male Gaze

Somer Canon

Horror Tells Me I’m Not Alone

John Wiswell

Reviews

Words for Thought: Short Fiction Review

A.C. Wise

Interviews

Interview with Author Nadia Bongo

Marissa van Uden

Interview with Author Elisabeth Ring

Marissa van Uden

Interview with Artist Adrian Borda

Bradley Powers

Miscellaneous

Subscriptions

Patreon

The Apex Magazine Team

Copyright

Stay Connected

EDITORIAL

MUSINGS FROM MARYLAND

700 WORDS

LESLEY CONNER

Welcome to Apex Magazine issue 142! We’re kicking off 2024 with tales that are unsettling and creepy. What better way to fill the long cold nights of January than with some spine-chilling horror! It reminds me of chilly nights gathered round a campfire telling ghost stories. Well, this issue does have a campfire and at least one ghost, so get something warm to drink, make yourself cozy, and let us tell you a story.

The issue opens with Spread the Word by Delilah S. Dawson. Will has a lot to worry about. Will he make friends at his new school? Will he fit in? Will people notice that the house he and his mom live in isn’t quite as nice as theirs? But his biggest worry is that the thing that happened at his old house will start again. When strange things start happening, Will decides he has to stop it. This story is strange and unsettling, and so good! It has a way of worming into your brain and not letting go.

Nadia Bongo’s Born a Ghost is a lovely dark fantasy about a child born with cobwebs in their hair. Based on ancient tradition, this means the child is ghost-born and destined to protect the family from rivals and misfortune by haunting them. The story that follows is achingly sad and at times humorous. The narrator has no choice in who they are to become. They are trained from birth to embrace their fate: to be quiet and to eat only the offering given them. What is a ghost-born child to do when they want more than the haunting life they are destined for?

There is nothing fancy or flashy about Just You and Me, Now by KT Bryski. It’s a horror story about a family that goes camping: Mom, Dad, and their three kids. What could go wrong? As it happens, a lot. Bryski masterfully builds a slow, lurking dread that never lets up throughout the entirety of this tale. It is horrifying, leaving the reader with an unsettling realization that there are no right answers—no quick fix to make all of this go away. It’s a situation that feels unfair but inevitable.

Elisabeth Ring perfectly weaves complex emotions and a toxic relationship in When No One Has to Say Goodbye. When science cures death but not disease, people are left constantly worrying about new diseases that can pop up unexpectedly and have grotesque consequences. Add in a boyfriend who twists her words and intentions and pushes Marissa in ways that make her very uncomfortable, and you have a story that made me deeply unsettled and angry in the best ways possible.

In our nonfiction essays this issue, Somer Canon reflects on how the male gaze in horror movies impacted her as a woman who loves horror, and John Wiswell explores why horror can be so comforting. Marissa van Uden interviews authors Nadia Bongo and Elisabeth Ring. Bradley Powers talks with our cover artist Adrian Borda.

Our reprints this issue are by M.M. Olivas and Eugen Bacon.

Our flash fiction this issue is by Nadia Radovich and Kanishk Tantia. Then Came the Ghost of My Dead Mother, Antikleia, by Nadia Radovich, submitted for our Necromancy theme, is a beautiful contemporary fantasy about cultural loss and mother-daughter relationships. For As Long As You Want It, by Kanishk Tantia, is a science fiction exploring what it means to be human in a world where technology dominates and interprets reality, and was submitted for our Botanist theme.

As always, if you’d like to see Apex Magazine continue to thrive, please considering supporting us financially. Year-long subscriptions are only $27 and can be purchased here. Or become a patron on the Apex Patreon. We have a lot of different tiers to fit different budgets. Find more information or become a patron here. Our subscribers and patrons pay for all of the wonderful stories, essays, and art you see in Apex Magazine!

Thank you for reading.

Lesley Conner

Editor-in-Chief

ORIGINAL FICTION

SPREAD THE WORD

7,200 WORDS

DELILAH S. DAWSON

Content warnings ¹

Iwas kinda worried about being the new kid, but apparently new kids are cool here. This guy named Scott Marsh who seems pretty popular and has a good jump shot was really nice to me, so the other guys were nice to me, too. I think maybe because me and Scott were wearing the same Air Jordans and I’m taller than most of the kids in fifth grade and they need a center. I’m tall because I’m actually a year older, but they don’t need to know about what happened last year. This is a do-over. We’re in a new town, and I told everyone my name is Will because I’m too old for Billy, and so far everybody likes Will, so that’s good.

The guys asked me to eat at their lunch table the first day, and it sort of felt like an interview, but I guess it went okay because now it’s a regular thing. I’m doing better in school than usual, in part because I already did half of fifth grade once, and also because everything is fine at home. Our new house is smaller, but there are woods in back, and I saw a deer out there last week, watching me. I guess I miss my dad, but my mom—it’s like she’s relaxed for the first time in forever. She’s there when I get home in the afternoon, smiling. Sometimes there are even cookies. It’s weird, but it’s nice. Better.

Three weeks into school, and I guess I’ve passed another test because Scott invites me over to spend the night, along with Johnathan and Brad, who are like his best friends. Scott’s house is nicer than anybody’s house I’ve ever been in, with a pool and a pool table and a big TV in the den, the kind that has a fancy wooden case and is half as tall as me. They have cable and get like fifty channels that I didn’t even know existed, and he has a bunk bed and everything. When my mom dropped me off, she told me to remember my manners and be careful.

Are you sure you’ll be okay? she asked as her Datsun chugged away in front of this fancy brick house. We both knew she meant more than that, though. She stubbed out her cigarette in the overflowing ashtray and tried to grab my face, but I pulled away because what if the guys were watching from behind Scott’s curtains.

Yeah, I’ll be fine, I told her, because I will be.

She tried to smile encouragingly and failed. Have fun, baby, she managed, and then I was walking up the sidewalk, my new red sleeping bag rolled tightly under my arm along with a pillow in a plain white case. I left my Star Wars pillowcase back home because Brad said Star Wars is for nerds, and I disagree but I want the guys to like me.

We start off swimming because it’s still warm enough for that in September in Georgia, and I didn’t bring a suit because how could I know? Scott lends me an old one and I keep my shirt on and we take turns doing cannonballs off the diving board and I do a big jackknife and splash Scott’s older sister Lindsay and she gets mad and goes inside and everybody laughs and Brad high fives me. Scott’s mom comes out with a tray full of lemonade and cookies and a big bag of chips, and she’s the prettiest mom I’ve ever seen. She looks like Goldie Hawn, and she wears makeup at home, and she’s so nice. They have a little brown wiener dog that follows her around, his whole butt wagging with his tail, and his name is Spanky and I wish I still had a dog.

We’re on loungers discussing which movie is better, Top Gun or Rambo, when Scott’s dad appears, and I tense up but everybody else seems fine. His dad kind of looks like Sean Connery, and he’s in a gray suit, but he’s smiling, and it seems like a real smile.

Working hard or hardly working? he says.

Hey, Mr. Marsh, the other boys say.

Who’s the new kid? Mr. Marsh asks.

This is Will. He just moved here from— Scott looks at me. Where’d you used to live?

Idaho, I lie, because that was on the back of the potato chip bag.

What city?

Boise, sir.

He nods like this is interesting, and I hope he doesn’t ask me any more questions because I’ve never been to Idaho and I only know the capitol from a quiz last year and I didn’t think this part through.

Never been, but I hear there are lots of potatoes, he says, and it’s meant to be a joke, so the guys kind of laugh, like they’re trying to be polite, and so do I. Well, welcome to Georgia. I’m sure I’ll see you around. He ruffles Scott’s drying hair, and Scott looks super embarrassed, but I guess everyone is used to it because no one makes fun of him, after.

Mr. Marsh seems really nice, for a dad. He came out here to say hello to us, he was polite, he tried to make jokes. Maybe he’s so nice because he has a huge house and a pretty wife who makes lemonade. Or maybe some dads are just friendly and kind. I wouldn’t know.

Scott’s mom orders pizza for dinner, and I’m kinda worried we’ll all have to eat together like a family, but we don’t. They have a big basement, and we take a large pepperoni down with us, along with a two-liter of Coke, and it feels like a birthday party but I guess it’s just a regular weekend at Scott’s house. There’s nothing good on TV but Scott has a VCR and we can choose between The Terminator or Splash, and it’s guys, so we watch The Terminator. We set up our sleeping bags and Scott gets the nice couch with Spanky the dog and soon we switch tapes and fall asleep before I can find out if the mermaid dies or not.

I drank way too much Coke, so when I wake up in the middle of the night I have to pee so bad I could die. I don’t know if there’s a bathroom in the basement, but I know there’s one upstairs by the front hall. I tiptoe upstairs by the light of the basement TV, which is still on after the movie is over, stuck on that crumbly gray channel.

As I cross the upstairs hall, I hear a noise I don’t want to hear, so I try to ignore it and take care of my business, because peeing yourself at Scott Marsh’s house would not be cool. I wash my hands and tell myself I’m going straight back downstairs, but …

I have to see, don’t I?

I have