Khairete! Em hotep! Salaam! Welcome to the Winter Solstice 2023 issue of Eternal Haunted Summer! Our theme for this issue is horror — and what an issue it is. We received more submissions for this issue than for any other in the history of EHS. It was difficult to choose from among so many amazing poems, prose poems, and short stories. Those that were selected we feel best exemplify the theme for this issue.

It should be noted that this is also the first issue of EHS to come with a content warning. Horror is a highly subjective and wide-ranging genre. What thrills one reader may be too much for another. As such, we have created two tables of contents: one in our usual format and another with warnings for gore, violence, body horror, references to assault and abuse, and more. If you love horror in general and have no concerns, continue to the usual table of contents. If you have some concerns, though, please proceed to the second.

All of the poems, prose poems, and short stories in this issue feature mythological, witchy, fairy tale, or folklore elements. However, they vary in subject, source material, tone, and subgenre. Some are humorous, some more fantastical or adventurous. Others fall into the realm of ecological horror, or political horror, or re-imagine the nature of death and the afterlife. All, in their own way, create an unsettled sensation, a feeling of disquietude that may inspire fear, anger, nervousness, or even revulsion and loathing. You have been warned!

In Poetry, Nnadi Samuel’s “Aubade for Carnivores” is a fever dream of rage and hunger, while “Bealltuinn” by Clay Franklin Johnson is a darkly sensuous exploration of that much loved seasonal holiday. Matt Schumacher’s “Black Forest Nocturne” warns of dangers in the wilderness of the night, and “Blue-beard’s Collective” by Deborah Sage retells that classic fable of murder and betrayal. “The Curious Incident of the Black Dog of the Night” by Nicole J. LeBoeuf draws upon Welsh folklore, while Colleen Anderson turns to the figure of Santa Muerte in her poem, “Death Comes Calling.” Adam Bolivar’s alliterative verse “The Dréag” looks to old English folklore, and Scott J. Couturier’s “The Ghoul” calls forth a figure from pre-Islamic Arabian tales. Ennis Rook Bashe’s “hemiplegic migraine as willing human sacrifice” explores the horror/awe of mystical initiation, Gerri Leen’s “Last Gasp” paints a terrible picture of ecological collapse, and Susan Bennett’s “Mother of Night” draws upon ancient Greek traditions in its dreadful portrayal of Hekate. Hayley Arrington’s “Mummy’s Curse” speaks of love betrayed and righteous revenge, while Kyla Lee Ward’s “Never Leave the Path” warns of what happens when we ignore the supernatural knowledge of our forebears. Alexander Etheridge’s “Notes On a Nightmare” takes us into the mind of a tormented dreamer, and Terry Trowbridge’s “Question of Corvid and Chiropteran Society” is a quieter meditation on the unnerving beauty and alienness of the world around us. Samantha Casey’s “Sins of the Father” is an epic re-imagining of a hellish afterlife for the modern world, while “The Stench That Befouls the Night” by Ngo Binh Anh Khoa was inspired by one of the most awful creatures of Southeast Asian folklore. Finally, Amelia Gorman’s “Tide Mouse” is an almost-cozy, but still foreboding work, while Ashley Dioses laments what becomes of those “Without Coin” for the ferryman.

In Fiction and Prose Poetry, Danielle Davis brings us a frightening tale of sacrifice, greed, and indifference in “Choosing Day,” while Mary Kuna’s recipe for “Cuckoo’s Egg Chocolate Cupcakes” questions the nature of motherhood, mythology, and sanity. Katherine PF Holmes retells the story of Scylla, who is much more than just the monster of The Odyssey, while “I, Moros” by Maxwell I. Gold speaks in the voice of Death Itself. Edward St. Boniface brings us the terrifying, mystical adventure of Simon Magus Iscariot in “Imperiatrix Abyssa,” while Simon Bleaken takes us to the modern English countryside — with its hidden supernatural dangers — in “Jenny’s Song.” Ray Van Horn’s “Last Rose for Breanna” imagines a dystopian near future of religious persecution when the witch burnings have returned, while Daniel Stride’s “Lost in the Desert” finds two travelers lost among the dunes, being hunted by something other-than-human. “Making Sense of Merlyn” by Peller G. Sauvage (aka J. Everett Feinberg) is a meta-fictional analysis of the figure of Arthur’s otherworldly mentor, while Mark Mellon brings us the rousing dark fantasy sword-and-sorcery adventure “Melkart and the Daimon’s Bride.” Sarah Walker’s “Rabbit Moon” finds two city slickers at odds with the unfettered nature around them, and “Rattus” by Jim Johnston is a Victorian era adventure about magic, ancient cults, and human sacrifice. “Sebastian Smirch’s Own Double Entry” by Tim Newton Anderson is a humorous horror tale of stagnant bureaucracy, prejudice, and the dangers of negotiating with the fae. Finally, Mord McGhee brings us the tale of happiness and love sacrificed to an ancient hunger.

In Interviews, we sit down with Max Ingram and Kele Lampe. Ingram is the author of the just-released Traveler’s Rede: Poetry From Hávamál, while Lampe penned a long-running urban fantasy series starring witch-musician Caitlin Ross.

And last, in Reviews, we look at the noir science fiction collection The Alvin Goodfellow Case Files by Leah Cutter, the erotic fantasy adventure Amazon’s Pledge by Sara Hawke, and the nonfiction history/cultural analysis The Valkyries’ Loom by Michele Haveur Smith.

As always, we hope that you enjoy the new issue. And thank you to the many talented poets and writers whose work makes Eternal Haunted Summer possible.