The big magazine news in March is the arrival of the first issue of the most exciting new adventure fantasy periodical in years — Tales From the Magician’s Skull, edited by our very own Howard Andrew Jones and packed with writers and characters familiar to readers of Black Gate, including a brand new Morlock tale by James Enge, a Gaunt and Bone story from Chris Willrich, a graveyard fable from John C. Hocking, “There Was an Old Fat Spider” by C. L. Werner, the start of a brand new fantasy series from Howard Andrew Jones, a tale of wharf pirates and deep-sea creatures from Bill Ward, and the story of a sorcerous tyrant by Aeryn Rudel — all under a beautiful cover by Jim Pavelec.

TFtSK isn’t the only magazine worth reading in March. Far from it. Locus has an excellent tribute to the great Ursula K. Le Guin, and the regular crop of fiction mags include brand new stories from Kij Johnson, Juliette Wade, Xiu Xinyu, E. Lily Yu, Rachel Harrison, Cassandra Khaw (twice!), Adrian Cole, Bryan Camp, Ken Liu, and lots more.

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

[Click the images for bigger versions.]

Apex Magazine — Issue #106 of this SF monthly has brand new fiction from Rachel Harrison, Cassandra Khaw, and Bentley A. Reese, plus a reprint from T. A. Pratt
Broadswords & Blasters — Issue #4 wraps up a full year of fiction for this new pulp mag, with stories by Richard Rubin, Karen Thrower, Steve DuBois, Benjamin Cooper, and more
Cirsova — The Kickstarter-funded 7th issue, cover dated Spring 2018, has a big new novella by Adrian Cole and stories by JD Brink, J. Manfred Weichsel, Jennifer Povey, and more
Gathering Storm — Issue #7 of this full-color digital mag contains stories by Peter Hurtgen, Christina Grant, John Hawkhead, Rosanna St. ALbert, and others
Lightspeed — Issue #94 has original SF & fantasy by Beesan Odeh, Cassandra Khaw and A. Maus, Bryan Camp, and Ken Liu, plus reprints from Jeremiah Tolbert, Seanan McGuire, A. Merc Rustad and N.K. Jemisin
Clarkesworld — The March 2018 issue, #138, contains new stories from Kij Johnson, Juliette Wade, Izzy Wasserstein, Xiu Xinyu (translated by Blake Stone-Banks) and E. Lily Yu, with reprints by Kage Baker and Rich Larson
Locus — March is the special Ursula K. Le Guin appreciation, plus interviews with James Gunn and Angela Slatter; a column by Cory Doctorow; reviews and lots more
Tales From the Magician’s Skull — The first issue of the most exciting new magazine of adventure fantasy in years, with brand new stories from Howard Andrew Jones, Chris Willrich, John C. Hocking, C. L. Werner, James Enge, Bill Ward, and Aeryn Rudel

Our early March Fantasy Magazine Rack is here.

Earlier this month we also covered:

March/April 2018 Asimov’s Science Fiction
March Short Story Roundup, Part 1, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #35 and Tales from the Magician’s Skull #1, by Fletcher Vredenburgh
Steven Silver’s Birthday Reviews — covering Twilight Zone Magazine, Astounding Science Fiction, Analog, Infinity Science Fiction, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Interzone, 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 51 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
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
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
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
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
Reader’s Digest
Realms of Fantasy
Satellite
Science Fiction Adventures
Shadis
Shock Totem
Spellbound
Strange Tales
Strategy & Tactics
Subterranean
Super Science Stories
The Twilight Zone Magazine
Unknown
Venture
Wizard
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.