The Map of Lost Places

"This Is the Map, Let's Get Lost" (Introduction) - Linda D. Addison
"Girlboss in Wonderworld, USA" - Vivian Chou
"Blood in Coldwater" - Danian Darrell Jerry
"This Side of the Living" - VH Ncube
"Hulderhola" - Oliver Ferrie
"Silverheels" - Rebecca E. Treasure
"The Salt" - Lavie Tidhar & Nir Yaniv
"Three Ways to Break You" - Beth Dawkins
"Place of Lost Stories" - Rich Larson
"All Praise the Durians" - Joshua Lim
"A Realm Alive After Dusk" - Ai Jiang
"Salt" - K.S. Walker
"When I Cowboy in Puuwaawaa" - Ferdison Cayetano
"Development/Hell" - Samit Basu
"The (Lost) Tribe of Ishmael" - Maurice Broaddus
"Inviting the Hollow Bones" - Octavia Cade
"Chuckle Wet, Chuckle Low" - R.L. Meza
"Codewalker" - G.M. Paniccia
"In Nobody's Debt" - Jenny Rowe
"The Death of Black Fatima" - Muhammed Awal Ahmed
"Notes Towards a History of LeHorn's Hollow" - Brian Keene
"The Promised Void" - Dimitra Nikolaidou
"You Have Eaten of Our Salt" - Fatima Taqvi

Sheree Renée Thomas is an award-winning fiction writer, poet, and editor. Her work is inspired by myth and folklore, natural science and Mississippi Delta conjure. Nine Bar Blues: Stories from an Ancient Future (Third Man Books) is her first all prose collection. She is the author of the Marvel novel adaptation of the legendary comics, Black Panther: Panther's Rage (Titan Books). She edited the World Fantasy-winning groundbreaking black speculative fiction anthologies, Dark Matter (2000 and 2004) and is the first to introduce W.E.B. Du Bois’s science fiction short stories. She is the Associate Editor of the historic Black arts literary journal, Obsidian: Literature & the Arts in the African Diaspora and is the Editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. She is a Marvel writer and contributor to the groundbreaking anthology, Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda edited by Jesse J. Holland. She lives in her hometown, Memphis, Tennessee near a mighty river and a pyramid.

Lesley Conner is the Editor of Apex Magazine and has co-edited several anthologies with Jason Sizemore, including Do Not Go Quietly, Robotic Ambitions, and Apex Magazine: 2021. She lives in Maryland with her family, including two adorable dogs named Oz and Pax. You can follow her online via X (formerly Twitter) @lesleyconner.

"Filled with showstoppers and unique gems, The Map of Lost Places is a horror collection that creeps, crawls, and makes you think. A fantastic read!"
—Mary G. Thompson, author of One Level Down

"Thomas and Connor are tour guides to a terrifying world both familiar and fantastic, well worth a visit from anyone who thinks they've seen it all. This collection proves you haven't."
—Terence Taylor, author of Bite Marks and Out There Screaming

"In The Map of Lost Places, Sheree Renée Thomas and Lesley Conner have mapped out a disturbingly unique trip into horror. Featuring stories from both classic authors and up-and-coming writers, this anthology rips apart familiar tropes to reveal terrifying new looks at our world that will shake readers to their core."
—Jason Sanford, author of Plague Birds, finalist for the Nebula and Philip K. Dick Awards

From: "Girlboss in Wonderworld, USA" by Vivian Chou

Location: Seaside City, Delaware, USA

Population: 2,402

My brother Terence and I stand in front of the Wonderworld arcade counter, our eyes as big as Skee-balls. 

"Two hundred and eighty tickets," the teenage girl says. "What would you like?"

I stare through the glass at Chinese finger handcuffs and an orange slime ball, either of which I could get, and sigh. "The s'mores Squishmallow keychain is three hundred tickets, but it's time to go and I'm outta quarters." 

"Sorry, Jules," Terence says, squeezing my arm. "I didn't know, or I woulda saved some tickets for you." Terence's horse derby racing skills just slay. 

"It's okay," I say. I stand up on my tippy-toes and look up at the clerk. "I'll have the slime ball."

The girl looks at me and smiles. "What's your name?" She wears her hair in one long dirty blonde braid that curves around her neck. On the top corner of bright orange Wonderworld shirt is a black nametag that reads GERTRUDE. I think of that as an old-people name, but my friend Ellie's baby sister just got named Mildred, so maybe not. 

"I'm Julie Chen," I say. 

Gertrude leans down and whispers, "I can give you the s'mores keychain, Julie Chen, but you have to give me something of yours." She smells like raspberry Bath and Body Works glitter bath gel and I admire her Totoro earrings. 

A thrill rises in me. People tell me all the time I'm cute because I'm ten. Maybe I remind her of a kid she babysat once. 

"I don't have anything," I say, turning out my pockets and finding a gum wrapper and dirty tissues. I pull my thick black hair out of my ponytail. "Do you want this? I just got it last week." I hold out my pink and purple striped scrunchie. 

"Nah. Just give me an eyelash," Gertrude says, unblinking. 

I flinch and don't know whether to laugh at the joke or pluck one out. Is she crazy?

"I don't know how to give you an eyelash," I say. I look to my side. Terence has drifted towards the Connect 4 hoops game to watch some teenagers shoot basketballs. 

"I can pluck one and you won't even notice, I promise," Gertrude says. 

"Okay," I say, and before I can ask what to do next, she pockets an eyelash in her black fanny pack and hands me a s'mores Squishmallow keychain. She's right: I don't feel a thing. The keychain has a small card attached to the product tag. In an old-timey font, it reads: 

ONE BRIGHT FUTURE

"Hey, Jules," Terence appears, glancing down at my new prize. "Oh, you got one. Cool!" He looks up at Gertrude and smiles. 

I clutch the s'mores keychain in my hand. Pride surges through me and I stand up straighter. Gertrude zips to the end of the counter to help another girl, and we walk out to the Delaware boardwalk.