Welcome to Apex Magazine issue 145.
This issue we bring you four original short stories that are dark and weird and have a strangely literary feel. We open with Daniela Tomova’s “Our Lady of the Clay.” Two brothers risk everything to try and save their mother, facing the dangers of the forest to find the fabled Lady of the Clay. What seems like a straightforward story reveals layers of depth and meaning as the story unfolds. It’s a beautiful and heartbreaking read.
In “The Owl” by Stephen M. A., we see a man experiencing the end of the world. He reflects on his life and whether this is a fitting end. This story is raw and searing and bursting with emotion. I don’t want to say more, because I don’t want to reveal anything that would lessen the impact of your first read, but I love this story and I hope you love it just as much as I do.
If you are a constant Apex reader, then Marie Croke is a name you are sure to recognize. She has had two stories previously published in Apex Magazine, plus she wrote the opening story in Robotic Ambitions, is a former slush reader for the magazine, and has written book reviews for us. In her fiction, Marie takes heart-wrenchingly sad and/or disturbing premises and makes them exquisitely beautiful with her mastery of syntax and diction. You will never be disappointed that you read a Marie Croke story and her story in this issue, “A Lullaby of Anguish,” is no exception. If this is your first time reading her, I am overjoyed that I get to introduce you to her work. If you’ve read her before, then you know you are in for a treat.
We posted our final original short fiction piece on our Patreon for a single day to honor Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Day. “Loss Prevention” by Pamela Rentz handles the topic of missing Indigenous Peoples with grace and beauty. It’s a subtle sci-fi tale about a woman using the resources she has to make a difference, even if that difference is small and she will never see the outcome. To learn more about the tragedy of violence against Indigenous Peoples, please visit The National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center: https://www.niwrc.org/policy-center/mmiw.
Our flash pieces are for the GRIMOIRE and SKIN theme respectively. "What is Conjured Shall Vanish" by Akis Linardos is a dark fantasy about what we sacrifice for family and the way powerless people retain agency. "Intertwined" by Anne Wilkins is a story that comes off the page, creating a dystopian world surprisingly rich for the length.
In our nonfiction pieces this issue, Christopher Mark Rose discusses the importance of building community and Malon Edwards delves into how he used the novel Dune to help navigate the world. Leah Ning reviews Kelsea Yu’s new YA thriller, It’s Only a Game. Our author interviews are with Stephen M. A. and Marie Croke.
Next week we are launching a Kickstarter to fund Apex Magazine in 2025. We have tried over the past year and a half to be able to move away from crowdfunding and rely solely on subscribers and patrons to pay our amazing authors, artists, and editors. Unfortunately, this doesn’t build the same excitement and community support as a Kickstarter. And that’s okay. We tried, but it didn’t bring in what we hoped for, so we’re moving back to a funding format that has been more successful in the past. I am incredibly excited for what 2025 is going to bring to Apex Magazine readers, and I hope that if you are not already supporting us with a subscription or through Patreon, that you will consider backing our Kickstarter. Be sure to check it out when we launch on July 9th!
If you are a subscriber or patron, thank you! Your continued support truly means so much to us and has made Apex Magazine what it is today.
Yours in reading,
Lesley Conner
Editor-in-Chief
Apex Magazine
