We asked our wonderful Apex community to recommend a story we published this year and to say something about why it stood out or was meaningful to them. Here's what they said!
Sarah Hollowell's "Junebug" is a story that manages to be emotionally wrenching and comforting at the same time, like having a piece of art hold your hand while you sit with a loved one at hospice. It beautifully explores the complications of friendship and loss, and it came to me just when I needed it.
– Marissa Lingen
“Experimental Protocol for the Coronal Sectioning and Assessment of a Human Soul” by Sagan Yee. I keep coming back to revisit this story because I love its structure and rich sensory detail. I think about it often.
– Remi Cabal, Apex Magazine First Reader
I was really struck by “Ncheta” by Chisom Umeh. I loved the story, and I think it does justice to the spiritual Black experience.
– Jamiella Brooks, PhD
One of my favorite stories of the year was "Daughter, Mother, Charcoal" written by Akis Linardos. A theme that always gets me right in the gut is the theme of selfless motherhood. This story was dark, curious, heart-breaking, and resonated with me long after I read the final word.
– Angelique Fawns
“The Monster Fucker Club” by A.V. Greene. It's bold and funny, but under that wonderful voice is deep meaning and deep feeling. "I couldn’t imagine swearing off the ecstasy of the mud." Me neither sometimes, A.V.
– Sasha Brown
“River Bargain Baby” by K.S. Walker knocked me over. The language and the voice just flowed over me and made me feel like I was in that swamp with the MC. This is second person POV done so well, I felt the narrator was possessing me the way she did the woman on shore. The culmination was devastating, sins of the mother visited on the child, and nothing for free in the end. Just stunning.
– Amy Robinson
Amal Singh's "Island Circus" transports us to an incredible, difficult world with beautiful, vivid writing. It's a story about loving someone for who they are and letting them be that person even as the world itself is falling apart around them.
– Alana Perrin, Apex Magazine First Reader
I really loved Lyndsie Manusos’ “She Builds Quick Machines,” [published in Robotic Ambitions], in which the main character is asked to build a machine for a fugitive and then one to defeat that previous machine … but not for the reasons you think.
– Dawn Vogel
“Hole World” by J.S. Breukelaar really pulled me in with its character relationships and the corporate cosmic horror worked well. It reminded me of “The Mold Farmer” by Rick Claypool, which not enough people have have read and I would definitely recommend if you liked “Hole World.”
–Johnny Pickering, EiC Seize the Press and Apex Magazine First Reader
"All the Good You Did Not Do" by Jolie Toomajan. It sits in my head and heart as a reminder of how shallow our society can be, how easily we discard both people and memories of the most important and life affirming things, how we tend to worship violent heroism at the cost of life and the trauma stemming from said violence, and in the end all too often nothing comes from it. I haven't been able to stop plumbing the depths of this narrative, even long after the story ends.
– Jonathan Gensler, Author and Apex Magazine First Reader
“The Monster Fucker Club” by A.V. Greene. Sure, you come for the title, but you stay because the story delves into the psyche behind staying in abusive relationships and acting on urges that you know are ruinous.
– Russell Weisfield
“The Relation of Ink to Blood” by Alex Langer is a fascinating examination of humanity. It's the exploration of a cog in a very dark and brutal machine, but manages to humanize even the bricks in the mortar of totalitarianism. A terrific and humane work that reveals so much in such a sparse number of pages.
– Zach Rosenberg, Apex Magazine First Reader
“The State Street Robot Factory” by Claire Humphrey. Everybody has to prove their value. The system has 1000 excuses for not helping. What a cold and hopeless world quite similar to ours. A story scarier and more enlightening than every monster story.
– Robert Leubner
“A World Unto Myself" by P.A. Cornell is my favorite. I found this gem of a story in the slush pile. The story starts on a melancholy note with a robot that has been left behind and feels as if it no longer has a purpose. It is short but sweet and beautifully written.
– Kai Delmas, Apex Magazine First Reader
“The Immortal Game” by Lindz McLeod is one I love and think about often. The way the story is told like a chess game and how each section brings us closer to the Daisy’s domination - it’s so captivating and fun.
– Ryan Cole
“Thank Mother for Your Life” by Mary G Thompson. Fantastic and haunting!
– Beth Dawkins
“Wet, Dry, Bitter” by Leah Ning had me riveted from attention-grabbing opening to chilling middle to gut-punch ending. I love the way Ning plays with form and structure and gradual reveals, giving us just enough time to savor the taste of each bitter thing. The first thing I did after reading it was scream. The second thing I did was reread. Definitely give this stunning flash fiction piece a look!!
– Kelsea Yu
I really enjoyed “Nightglow Pizza” by A.M. Lomuscio. I love surrealism and weird fiction, and this feels like cozy yeasty surrealist horror. It's rare, I think, for surrealism horror to work without straight-up body horror, but this story absolutely nailed the mind-control and capitalism halves of the horror.
– Katlina Sommerberg, Apex Magazine slush reader with cealiac
“Monster Fuckers Club”by A.V. Greene. It's such a funny, strange, and overall gutting exploration of the oft-minimized diversity of young women's traumas and desires.
– Ria Hill
“Daughter, Mother, Charcoal” by Akis Lindaros is haunting and brutal in its delving into generational trauma and how we often dissect our power one undermining thought at a time. That the voice of the story starts as a child and grows to mother makes the tale that much more poignant.
– NV Haskell
All of these stories are eligible for the major speculative fiction awards, as well as the rest of our original fiction published in 2023. We are grateful for any consideration! See our full award eligibility here: https://apex-magazine.com/apex-blog/apex-magazine-2023-award-eligibility/
