In his editorial this month, Jason Sizemore tells us a little about the latest issue, and dishes out some excellent Halloween advice.

This month, we offer four original short stories by D.K. Thompson, Aaron Saylor, Maurice Broaddus and Arkady Martine. These stories are nothing alike in tone, setting, style, or mood. But they all share a central theme of “protection.” If you enjoy unique explorations of a singular conceit, then we have a great issue for you. And if you want your eyebrows raised and your tropes turned upside down, then read “Super Duper Fly” by Maurice Broaddus. If this story doesn’t start a discussion, then I will be very disappointed in you!

Or if you simply like a good werewolf story, well, we have that, too. It is the Witching month, after all!…

While this issue comes out several weeks prior to Halloween, I would like to close with a word of advice. If you’re giving out candy to trick-or-treaters, remember that nobody likes candy corn. Nobody.

Here’s the complete TOC.

Fiction

“When the Fall is All That’s Left” — Arkady Martine
“All Things to All People” — D.K. Thompson
“Me and Jasper, Down by the Meth Shack” — Aaron Saylor (available October 27th)
“The Atlas of Hell” — Nathan Ballingrud (eBook/subscriber exclusive)
“Super Duper Fly” — Maurice Broaddus

Poetry

Ten Little Zombies — Gregg Chamberlain
The Underworld — Laurel Dixon
The Minotaur — Zachary Riddle
Hello, Wild Things, and Good Luck — Sarah Hollowell (available October 29th)

Novel Excerpts

Empire Ascendant — Kameron Hurley (eBook/subscriber exclusive)
The Pickpocket’s Tale — Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart (eBook/subscriber exclusive)

Nonfiction

Words from the Editor-in-Chief — Jason Sizemore
Unreliable Narrators in Kiernan and Chambers — Lucy A. Snyder
Author Interview with Maurice Broaddus — Jason Sizemore
Author Interview with D.K. Thomspson — Andrea Johnson
Cover Artist Interview with Joshua Hutchinson — Russell Dickerson (available October 28th)

Podcast #28

“When the Fall is All That’s Left” by Arkady Martine (14:15 in length)

Apex Magazine is a monthly science fiction, fantasy, and horror publication featuring original short stories, poetry and non-fiction. It is edited by Jason Sizemore and Sigrid Ellis, and released the first Tuesday of every month. In 2012, 2013 and 2014, it was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine.

We previously covered Apex Magazine with issue 76.

Apex Magazine is published by Apex Publications. Issues are available free online, and sold for $2.99 in a variety of digital formats. Subscriptions are just $19.95 for one year (12 issues) in EPUB, Mobi, and PDF formats.

This issue’s cover is by Joshua Hutchinson. The complete issue is here, and you can buy back issues or subscribe at their website.

Our mid-October Fantasy Magazine Rack is here. See all of our recent fantasy magazine coverage here.