Edition 9: The Stygian Lepus Magazine, #9

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

Call Me Karma by Linda M. Crate

Dora of Boat Landing Road by Ann Wuehler

Eating the Elephant: What You Don't Know You Know by Kimberly Rei & Dean Shawker

Echoes in the Silence by Avery Hunter

Enter the Apocalypse by Jack D. Harvey

Fine, I am the Monster by Linda M. Crate

Hairy and Scary by Don Money

Holy Mother of the Drowned by Laila Amado

Horned Demon by Janis Butler Holm

Jesus Is My Co-pilot by Delphine Gauthier-Georgakopoulos

Just What I Want by Warren Benedetto

Kings of Winter by Engilbert Egill Stefánsson

Look for the Faces by L. Anne Greenspan

Nothing But A Monster by Linda M. Crate

On an Old Billy Goat by Dennis McFadden

Organ Donor by Trier Ward

Return of the Drummer - Part Four by Jodi Jensen

Rides by Trier Ward

The Gift of Immortality by Lori Green

Vampire Bunny by Janis Butler Holm

Waking by Trier Ward

Walker - Part Four by Glynn Owen Barrass

When Did I Say I was Only Love and Light by Linda M. Crate

Worse Than Death by Rod Raglin

Your Society by Linda M. Crate

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stygian Lepus
• Release date: Jan 17, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224656967

Book preview

The Stygian Lepus

Digital Edition 9

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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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The Hawkmoth – Cover Designer

Copyright © 2023 by The Stygian Lepus Magazine

First published in Australia in December 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

Call Me Karma

Linda M. Crate

Fine, I am the Monster

Linda M. Crate

Nothing But A Monster

Linda M. Crate

When Did I Say I was Only Love and Light

Linda M. Crate

Your Society

Linda M. Crate

Walker - Part Four

Glynn Owen Barrass

Return of the Drummer - Part Four

Jodi Jensen

Horned Demon

Janis Butler Holm

Vampire Bunny

Janis Butler Holm

Organ Donor

Trier Ward

Waking

Trier Ward

Rides

Trier Ward

Jesus Is My Co-pilot

Delphine Gauthier-Georgakopoulos

Holy Mother of the Drowned

Laila Amado

The Gift of Immortality

Lori Green

Just What I Want

Warren Benedetto

Worse Than Death

Rod Raglin

Look for the Faces

L. Anne Greenspan

On an Old Billy Goat

Dennis McFadden

Kings of Winter

Engilbert Egill Stefánsson

Hairy and Scary

Don Money

Enter the Apocalypse

Jack D. Harvey

Dora of Boat Landing Road

Ann Wuehler

Echoes in the Silence

Avery Hunter

Eating the Elephant: What You Don’t Know You Know

Kimberly Rei & Dean Shawker

Fiction Editor

Jodi Christensen

Fiction Editor

Dean Shawker

Poetry Editor

Kara Hawkers

As we gather around the proverbial hearth for the ninth edition of The Stygian Lepus: A Dark Speculative Fiction Magazine, I extend my warmest wishes to you for a uniquely eerie and enchanting holiday season. This edition is a Christmas Special, a dark gift wrapped in shadows, and I am thrilled to welcome you to this spectral yuletide celebration.

In this special edition, we present a collection of chilling tales that intertwine the magic of the holiday season with the enigmatic and the unsettling. Within these pages, you’ll find stories that explore the eerie side of holiday traditions, where the festive lights cast haunting shadows, and the warmth of hearth and home hides secrets that defy explanation.

As you delve into these tales, let your imagination be your guide through the wintry landscapes of the unknown. The Stygian Lepus embraces the holiday spirit, albeit with a twisted twist, as we unwrap the eerie presents that lie beneath the tinsel and mistletoe.

To our dedicated readers who have journeyed with us through these shadowy realms, I offer my deepest gratitude. Your unwavering support and insatiable curiosity are the true gifts that keep us inspired, year after year. May your holiday season be filled with wonder, even in the darkest corners of your imagination.

As we embark on this festive journey, may you find both chills and enchantment amidst the tenebrous depths of our Christmas Special. The Stygian Lepus remains your steadfast guide through the realms of the bizarre, the unsettling, and the utterly captivating, even in the heart of the holiday season.

Yours in the shadows and the holiday spirit,

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The Styg

Editor-in-Chief

The Stygian Lepus Magazine

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Call Me Karma

Linda M. Crate

You left me buried

and for dead,

but i rose from the cold,

wet ground with new

flaming wings;

you cannot bury a phoenix—

but now it’s time for

revenge,

because i am not like most

phoenixes who believe in

forgiving and forgetting;

i have been slapped too many

numerous times by abusers

i have turned the other cheek for—

so now you’re going to go

down in flames,

and i am not sorry;

when villains insincere and lying

think themselves good men then

karma will give them the hell

they rightly deserve. so call me karma

i am here to destroy you.

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Fine, I am the Monster

Linda M. Crate

You killed my spirit,

drained me of my essence,

left me watering a dead

friendship and when i walked

away for my own peace of mind

decided to disrespect my boundary;

i know in your mind that you’re

the victim,

you always are;

never do you take accountability nor

do you have any interest in healing

or becoming the best version of yourself—

so you want me to be the bad guy?

the dragon to be slain?

a villain worth hating?

fine, i am the monster,

behold my claws and fangs;

you’ll never bury me

and my rage will consume you until

you are gone—

satisfied?

you get to die the victim your

narcissism always made you and i am

the witch they’ll all hate.

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Nothing But A Monster

Linda M. Crate

Little werewolf

thought he’d have himself the

last laugh, eh?

forgot to scatter

those ashes,

so now i am back to remind

you that i am not only light and love

and show you exactly who you

disrespected;

you wanted darkness, then all you

had to do was ask. but now i know

what you want, i will see to it

that death becomes your bride—

all my life i was told forgive and forget,

to simply bury the hatchet;

but i am going to bury you—

i’ll be the silver bullet and the rage

that burns through you,

give you back all the flames you used

to reduce me to ashes;

give you all the growing pains that came

from rising again from nothing—

i will make you see that you’re nothing

but a monster.

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When Did I Say I was Only Love and Light

Linda M. Crate

You foolishly thought me

nothing more than arm candy,

someone you could bury

who would willingly

go to the grave;

but here i am surviving without you—

i couldn’t see the forest for

the trees they truly were,

should’ve known the mermaids

in your eyes were really sirens

ready to rip me to ribbons;

but i have risen from that place you buried

me in and burned straight through it like

i was the sun, himself—

when did i say i was only love and light?

because i don’t recall that conversation,

even persephone has more than one form;

i am so glad you underestimated me

now i get to put you in your place—

& you will see you were never a match for me.

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Your Society

Linda M. Crate

You wanted me

to fall into the habits

of everyone else,

instead of being me;

but i could never be

anyone but me—

couldn’t be your Cinderella—,

kind always no matter

how badly she was treated;

nor your aurora laying there in

the