Lots of great new fiction in May, including new stories by Mark Lawrence, Nicholas Kaufmann, Kelly Robson, John Shirley, Naomi Novik, Erica L. Satifka, Steven J. Dines, Lynne Jamneck, Katharine Duckett, Michael Washburn, Robert M. Waugh, and many others.

The new kid on the block this month is Vastarien from Grimscribe Press, a 284-page journal “of critical study and creative response to the corpus of Thomas Ligotti as well as associated authors and ideas.” The first issue includes contributions from Michael Penkas, S.L. Edwards, Devin Goff, Christopher Ropes, Patricia Allison, Carl Lavoie, and many others. I’m also very pleased to see the latest annual issue of Weird Fiction Review, with a big color section devoted to the great D&D artist Erol Otis, plus new issues of GrimDark and Pulp Literature.

Here’s the complete list of magazines that won my attention in May (links will bring you to magazine websites).

[Click the images for bigger versions.]

Beneath Ceaseless Skies 251 — Brand new fiction from Jonathan Edelstein and Maria Haskins, plus a reprint by Christie Yant and a podcast
Black Static 63 — Includes a big novella from Steven J. Dines, plus J.S. Breukelaar, Matt Thompson, Kristi DeMeester, and Nicholas Kaufmann. Cover by Richard Wagner
Pulp Literature 18 — The Spring 2018 issue has fiction from Genni Gunn, Jessica Barksdale, Mel Anastasiou, JM Landels, Susan Pieters, Sophie Panzer, and the conclusion of AJ Odasso’s “We Come Back Different.”
Uncanny 22 — The big May/June 2018 issue contains new stories from Naomi Novik, Katharine Duckett, Marina J. Lostetter, Kelly Robson, A. Merc Rustad, and C.L. Clark. Cover by Julie Dillon
GrimDark Magazine 15 — Fiction from Mark Lawrence, Raluca Balasa, and Anna Stephens, plus interviews with Garth Nix, R.J. Barker, and Ed McDonald, and Matthew Cropley asks Why do so Many Fantasy Worlds Look Like Medieval Europe?
Interzone 275 — New fiction from Erica L. Satifka, Steven J. Dines, Abi Hynes, Malcolm Devlin, and Leo Vladimirsky
Vastarien #1 — The first issue of a critical journal (weighing in at 284 pages!) dedicated to the work of Thomas Ligotti includes nonfiction, literary horror fiction, poetry, and artwork from Michael Penkas, Wade German, Dave Felton, and others
Weird Fiction Review #8 — The thick 392-page annual journal of the Weird has fiction by John Shirley, Lynne Jamneck, Michael Washburn, Robert M. Waugh, and others, plus Adam Groves on the Golden Age of Speculative Erotic Fiction, Forrest J Ackerman on Robert Bloch, and Chad Hensley’s gorgeously-illustrated interview with Erol Otus, the iconic D&D artist. Cover by Grant Griffin.

Our April Fantasy Magazine Rack is here.

Earlier this month we also covered:

May Short Story Roundup by Fletcher Vredenburgh — covering Heroic Fantasy Quarterly 36 and Swords & Sorcery Magazine #75
Tor.com Celebrates 50 Years of Locus Magazine
Steven Silver’s Birthday Reviews — covering Analog, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Astounding Science Fiction, Cavalier, Clarkesworld, Dragon, Fantastic, Galaxy, Imaginative Tales, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Other Worlds, Pulphouse, Realms of Fantasy, Tomorrow Speculative Fiction, Worlds of If, and more

As we’ve mentioned before, all of these magazines are completely dependent on fans and readers to keep them alive. Many are marginal operations for whom a handful of subscriptions may mean the difference between life and death. Why not check one or two out, and try a sample issue? There are magazines here for every budget, from completely free to $35/issue. If you find something intriguing, I hope you’ll consider taking a chance on a subscription. I think you’ll find it’s money very well spent.

Black Gate reports exclusively on fantasy magazines, although we also cover the occasional science fiction or mainstream magazine with some fantasy content. We currently cover 58 active magazines (links will take you to our latest coverage):

Adventure Tales edited by John Betancourt
Albedo One edited by Robert (Bob) Neilson
Analog, edited by Trevor Quachri
Andromeda Spaceways Magazine, edited by a rotating staff
Apex, edited by Jason Sizemore
Ares Magazine, edited by Michael Anderson
Asimov’s Science Fiction, edited by Sheila Williams
The Audient Void, edited by Obadiah Baird
Back Issue, edited by Michael Eury
Beneath Ceaseless Skies, edited by Scott H. Andrews
Black Static, edited by Andy Cox
Bloke’s Terrible Tomb of Terror, edited by Jason Crawley
Broadswords and Blasters, edited by Matthew X. Gomez and Cameron Mount
Cemetery Dance, edited by Richard Chizmar
Cirsova, edited by P. Alexander
Clarkesworld, edited by Neil Clarke and Sean Wallace
The Dark, edited by Jack Fisher and Sean Wallace

The Digest Enthusiast, edited by Arkay Olgar
Fantasy and Science Fiction, edited by C.C. Finlay
Fiction River, edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Galaxy’s Edge, edited by Mike Resnick
Gathering Storm Magazine, edited by Michael McHenry and Cinda McHenry
GigaNotoSaurus, edited by Rashida J. Smith
Grimdark Magazine, edited by Adrian Collins
Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, edited by Adrian Simmons, David Farney, William Ledbetter and James Frederick William Rowe
High Adventure, edited by John P. Gunnison
Holdfast, edited by Laurel Sills and Lucy Smee
Inhuman Magazine, edited by Allen Koszowski
Interzone, edited by Andy Cox
Kaleidotrope, edited by Fred Coppersmith
Knights of the Dinner Table, edited by Jolly Blackburn
Lackington’s, edited by Ranylt Richildis
Lightspeed, edited by John Joseph Adams
Locus, edited by Liza Groen Trombi
Luna Station Quarterly, edited by Jennifer Lyn Parsons
Meeple Monthly, edited by Jenna Piller and Amy Clarke
Mythic Delirium, edited by Mike Allen
Nightmare, edited by John Joseph Adams
Occult Detective Quarterly, edited by Sam Gafford and John Linwood Grant.
Outposts of Beyond, edited by Tyree Campbell
Postscripts, edited by Nick Gevers
Pulphouse Fiction Magazine, edited by Dean Wesley Smith

Pulp Literature, edited by Mel Anastasiou, Jennifer Landels, and Susan Pieters
Red Sun, edited by Ben Richards
Science Fiction Classics
Scrolls of Legendry, edited by D.M. Ritzlin
Shadows and Tall Trees, edited by Michael Kelly
Shimmer, edited by E. Catherine Tobler
Shoreline of Infinity, edited by Noel Chidwick
Skelos, edited by Mark Finn, Chris Gruber, and Jeffrey Shanks
Space & Time, edited by Hildy Silverman
Swords and Sorcery Magazine, edited by Curtis Ellett
Tor.com, edited by a cast of thousands
Uncanny, edited by Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, and Michi Trota
Vastarien, edited by Matt Cardin, Jon Padgett, and Dagny Paul
Weirdbook, edited by Douglas Draa‎
Weird Fiction Review, edited by S.T. Joshi
Weird Tales, edited by Marvin Kaye

We also cover many fine magazines that are now defunct:

All Hallows
The All-Story
Amazing Stories
Arcane
Beyond Fantasy Fiction
Blood, Blade and Thruster
Bull Spec

Cosmic Crimes Stories
Crossed Genres
Dark Realms
Darker Matter
Doc Savage
El Conquistador
Electric Velocipede
Fantastic Novels
Fantastic Stories of the Imagination, edited by Warren Lapine
Fantastic Stories
Fantastic Universe
Fantasy Book
Fantasy Magazine
Fantasy/Fantasy Newsletter
The Fantasy Fan
Fantasy Review
Fantasy Scroll, edited by Iulian Ionescu, Frederick Doot, and Alexandra Zamorski
Flashing Swords
Future Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction
Gygax, edited by Jayson Elliot
H.P. Lovecraft’s Magazine of Horror

I Palantir
Infinity
Innsmouth Magazine
Interfictions Online, edited by Delia Sherman
Jabberwocky
Kobold Quarterly
The Last Province
Level UP
OMNI
The Original Science Fiction Stories
Other Worlds
Paradox
Planet Stories
Port Iris
Pulphouse: The Hardback Magazine
Reader’s Digest
Realms of Fantasy
Satellite
Science Fiction Adventures
Shadis
Shock Totem
Spellbound
Strange Tales
Strategy & Tactics

Subterranean
Super Science Stories
Tomorrow Speculative Fiction
The Twilight Zone Magazine
Unknown
Venture
Wizard
Wonder Stories
Worlds of If
Zahir

And we’ve covered the following magazines intermittently:

3×3 Illustration
Adventure House Pulp Reprints
Alarums and Excursions
Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine
Against the Odds
Alter Ego
Betwixt
Blind Spot

Dark Worlds
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
Entertainment Weekly
The Excellent Travelling Volume
Faerie Magazine
Game Informer
Goblin Fruit
Graphic Classics
Granta
Heliotrope
The Lorelei Signal
Lovecraft eZine
New Realm
The New Yorker
The New York Review of Science Fiction
On Spec
PC Gamer
Primeval: A Journal of the Uncanny
Rue Morgue
The SFWA Bulletin
The Best of Star Trek
Strange Aeons
Strange Horizons
Stupefying Stories
Tin House
Vanity Fair
Virginia Quarterly Review
Whistling Shade
Wired

Check out all of our recent magazine coverage here.