Short Story Mania

This year (2026) has been the year of the short story for me! I am really pleased that I’ve had so many pieces released and have another one (plus a poem!) still scheduled for release later this year. And it’s only May!

Published and Available to Read

Here are the pieces that have been published:

When the Ghosts Come Tumbling In

The tumbleweed is haunted and rolling across the sands, highways, and towns in search of more souls.

Published by a new magazine, The Rotting Leaf.

I had a lot of fun with this piece. It’s ecofiction, which isn’t something I normally write. Except about tumbleweed, apparently. Because I now have two published tumbleweed stories. (The other one is in the Thorns anthology published by Black Hare Press).

Anyway, the editor of The Rotting Leaf was a delight to work with, and he invited me to write a short essay about ecofiction. I, of course, took that opportunity to write about ecofiction as it relates to horror. So, that was a lot of fun. I highly recommend giving his magazine a read-through - it’s free, and all of the stories are a lot of fun.

Like and Subscribe

After years of living under the camera’s unblinking lens, the children of the Humbart Family channel want one thing for Christmas: Revenge.

Published by Horrific Scribblings

TW for abuse and violence.

Horrific Scribblings has published a previous work of mine, Dysmenorrhea. They look for very dark and intense horror, and Like and Subscribe definitely delivers

This piece is about the world of family vlogging and was inspired by Caroline Easom’s YouTube series about the Sandwich Family. That series, though incomplete, was an eye-opening look into the world of family vlogging. The abuse of children in the YouTube/Family Vlogger world is very reminiscent of the early days of film, before the Coogan Law was implemented for child actors. Although if you read I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, you know that child abuse in the film industry is still alive and well.

I am from Los Angeles, and I wanted to be an actor at one point (an idea I was swiftly disabused of after I found I literally cannot look at a camera when there’s pressure on me to do so), so this area feels very relatable, and I know the abuses here are extremely real.

Anyway, it’s a tough story, and I know it’s a drop in the bucket when it comes to the art coming out of this space. But I hope it brings a teensy bit of awareness to the many issues surrounding family vlogs and the exposure of children to the constant, unblinking eye of the camera every. single. day. In. their. own. homes.

Lifeblood

Margaret discovers a dark substance oozing beneath her sliding glass door, staining her carpet, and engulfing her life.

Published by Creepypod.

I absolutely loved writing this story. It’s actually a piece I originally wrote back in May of 2024 for an open call, and I submitted it and submitted it for over a year before I decided to finally give it a rewrite. It’s one of my favorites (don’t tell the other stories), and Creepypod picked an INCREDIBLE voice actor to read this piece. I am obsessed. The end was inspired by Junji Ito, who I think is an absolute genius.

The Need for Blood

Space. Vampires.

‘Nuff said.

Published by Black Hare Press

This short story was a ton of fun to write. Who doesn’t want to write about space vampires? I know I do! I actually have a piece that I wrote… twenty? years? ago? about people who had adapted themselves to live in the void of space and attack ships, and this is not that, but after I finished it, I was reminded of that story. That story wasn’t well written, but I still like it.

ANYWAY… this one is well written! So read it! It is paywalled because it’s on Black Hare Press’s Patreon. It will also be included in their annual anthology, so that might be a fun option if you don’t want to subscribe to something. That anthology is Year Eight: Dark Moments and Patreons, and it comes out at the end of 2026.

Coming up!

Hopefully, as the year progresses, more stories and poems will be added to this list. But, for now, I have two more pieces coming out this year. They are:

Submit. Submit. Submit.

A poem! It’s the first poem of mine that anyone has published, so I’m pretty pleased with myself!

Coming in July 2026 on FooFraw Press

P.S. I recommend checking out FooFraw Press. This zine has several very short pieces that are a lot of fun.

Twelve is Divisible by One

This is a rather messed-up short story told from a first-person POV. It’s one of those stories that came to me, and I wrote it down furiously during every spare moment until it was done.

Coming in November at HorrorSmith Publishing (on their Patreon & in their magazine)

A Secret Third Thing

Guess what?

What?

I am working with some of my fellow Horror Writers Association members on a brand new dark fiction magazine! It’s called Northern Shadows Magazine, and there are some really fantastic people involved.

I’m so excited to be part of this project. We are all volunteers, and the magazine doesn’t offer payment to authors yet. But there are plans in the works once we get this inaugural edition off the ground. We’d love to offer people something for their incredible contributions.

I’m the social media manager, and I’m learning so much from my fellow Northern Shadow members. It’s been a great experience so far, and I hope to see the zine grow into something even more exciting.

So, if you’re a dark fiction author who wants to submit to a fledgling magazine with a killer editorial team, be sure to do so here. And if you’re a fan of dark fiction who would like to read a free magazine once it’s out, be sure to periodically check the website and social accounts for official release dates. We can’t wait to share the many incredible stories we’ve been receiving with you!