Khairete! Salaam! Em Hotep! Welcome to the Summer Solstice 2024 issue of Eternal Haunted Summer! Our theme for this issue is gardens.

When we selected gardens as the theme for this issue, we thought it was fairly straightforward. Flowers. Herbs. Gnome statues. The Deities and myths associated with beautiful and peaceful vistas. The many contributors to EHS, however, had other ideas, and surprised us with the variety of poems, prose poems, short stories, artwork, and more that were sent in for consideration.

For some, the garden is, indeed, a place of rest and contemplation, of meditation and communion with creation. For others, however, it is a prison that must be escaped no matter the cost. For still others the garden is a source of inspiration and liberation, of self-discovery and self-definition. Some of our contributors see the garden as a horrifying place, an Other realm of primeval horrors that have little use for humans except as victims or food. Other contributors see gardens as the haunts of less malevolent but no less primeval Powers, beings honored across the globe as Deities of beauty, fruitfulness, virility, and immortality. Still other contributors draw upon fairy tales, folklore, and ballads, exploring between the lines for the meanings of gardens under the sea and over the hedge. And for still other contributors, gardens offer the opportunity to watch, to sit and observe the world as it is, without care for human laws or morality — a reminder that the world is so much bigger than our petty rivalries and insecurities.

A note on content: while most of the poems, prose poems, and short stories included in this issue are appropriate for all, there are a few that contain elements that might be upsetting to some readers. Check the table of contents for more details.

It has been a joy to put together the Summer Solstice 2024 issue of Eternal Haunted Summer. A heartfelt thank you, as always, to the many talented contributors and loyal readers without whom EHS would have remained an unrealized dream.