Category Archives: Fantasy Tales

Eldritch Cat Press: “Cemetery Songs Vol. 1” – NEW PRESSES, NEW ANTHOLOGIES!

Busy season for horror and dark fantasy. Pooped. Back again with yet another anthology appearance. This time for a new genre publisher, called: Eldritch Cat Press. The editor there is the talented Alanna Robertson-Webb. And for this press’s debut anthology they decided to go with something themed. Stories centered around three things: cemeteries, songs, and cats. The anthology includes all those things. That’s the recipe here. It got such an amazing turnout, it spawned TWO volumes. I was one of the lucky authors to make it into the first volume. Volume one. My story takes place in ancient times, Greater Assyria. It’s called: “Songs for the Unburied.” I’ll leave pictures and essential info below. Check it out on Amazon, in print or ebook formats.

Cemetery Songs Anthology – Volume #1

Published by Eldritch Cat Press – Edited by Alanna Robertson-Webb

Featuring Dagstine story: “Songs for the Unburied”

***Available on Amazon Kindle or in print paperback formats***

Company Logo Copyright Alanna Robertson-Webb, Eldritch Cat Press

DESCRIPTION FROM AMAZON: ‘Cemetery Songs Volume 1 is the first of two books featuring 20 fictional, short horror stories from a unique blend of authors. While each story is vastly different in tone, style and content they all have three elements in common: a cat, a song and a cemetery. Some stories will send chills down your spine, others will leave you with a quiet, unsettled feeling in the pit of your stomach and a few may even bring a tear to your eye. Come, pull up a seat with us as we dive into this incredible blend of entertaining tales fit for the living…and the dead.‘

Other New Entries: “Books & Anthos” and “Digital Credits”

The Orange & Bee | Substack Publication – Professional Venue for Magical Stories and Fairy Tales…

I have a professional credit (8 to 10 cents per word) in the Substack publication, The Orange & Bee. It’s a flash fiction piece, and this would be my third pro credit the past three years. The Orange & Bee is a venue with thousands of subscribers. They seem to update their newsletter-like publication on a weekly basis, and their mission is to publish stories aimed at enchanting readers. They offer critiquing services, and have something called writing and reading “roundtables.” They also seek contemporary short stories inspired by a long tradition of fairy tales. But they celebrate all styles and genres, as they aim to explore, expand on, and subvert the rich traditions of international folklore. They publish poetry and non-fiction, too. According to them, they look at stories that stretch between the shadows. Which is good, because my story this time around falls into this category (along with the theme of loss and grief). Read my flash fiction story, “Shadow Play.” In the Oct. 24th 2025 edition of The Orange & Bee…

The Orange & Bee – Professional Substack Publication

Featuring Dagstine flash fiction piece: “Shadow Play”

The Orange & Bee MAIN PAGE – (click link, be redirected):

https://theorangebee.substack.com/

Lawrence Dagstine piece, Shadow Play – (click link, be redirected):

https://theorangebee.substack.com/p/shadow-play

And be sure to subscribe to them for weekly content! As in upgraded subscription!

I’ll put the banner above in magazines, since that’s where I put webzine-related stuff for close to twenty years.

Other New Entries: “Magazines”

The Triumvirate: A Journal of Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror Vol. 6…

Pleased to announce I have a brand new speculative fiction story about afterlife science and “where do we go from here” when, as senior citizens, our time is up. And you can find this exclusive tale in David Oliver Kling’s The Triumvirate Volume #6. This would be my third outing with Mr. Kling’s fiction digest, which he started in the name of fandom as a teenager back in the 1980s. I’m also appearing beside Joshua Vise, who I’ve shared a handful of TOCs with these past two years. It’s available in a paperback format, just like the pulp journals of yesteryear. Or for convenience, you can get it on Kindle for the low price of $2.99. The name of my story is: “Where All Souls Eventually Go.”

The Triumvirate: A Journal of Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror Vol. 6

Edited and compiled by David Oliver Kling

Featuring Dagstine story: “Where All Souls Eventually Go”

Sample or buy on Amazon below (Kindle or print):

Details about The Triumvirate:

Four stories. Three genres. One unforgettable journey into the strange, the haunted, and the transcendent.
In this sixth volume of The Triumvirate, the boundaries of imagination stretch and shatter. Step into a near-future where souls are collected like family heirlooms. Descend into a haunted mansion that opens its doors straight into Hell. Witness the slow unraveling of civilization through the eyes of a historian in a broken world. And follow a grieving girl’s perilous quest to a cursed temple where legends are born and blood remembers.

Featuring:

  • Where All Souls Eventually Go by Lawrence Dagstine. A daughter keeps vigil in a hospice that preserves the essence of the dying, contemplating what we carry beyond the veil.
  • House Sitting in the Satan House by Mark Mackey. When two sisters take a last-minute job in the wrong house, a night of glamor turns into a descent through damnation.
  • The End of a Lineage by Joshua Vise. A chilling chronicle of humanity’s fall, told from the ruins of reason, where an everyday miracle becomes the seed of apocalypse.
  • The Dagger and The Wish by David Oliver Kling. A sorrowful girl. A sacred blade. A temple steeped in ancient power. Witness the origin of the legendary warrior known only as the Blue Devil.

The Triumvirate: Volume 6 is your portal to the darkly beautiful, the eerily prophetic, and the mythically charged. Open its pages, if you dare.

Other New Entries: “Magazines”

SCIENCE FICTION BOOKS: “Quaternary Realms, Short Stories of SF & Fantasy Vol. 2” – Edited by C.M. Bratton

I’m pleased to announce that I’m back in one of the San Antonio SF & Fantasy Authors’ association’s print anthologies. Last time it was a book on science fiction and fantasy poetry. This time, it’s an anthology of brand new and exclusive short stories, and edited by C.M. Bratton again. The name of the book (now up on Amazon, and I will provide links and a TOC below): Quaternary Realms Volume #2. My piece could best be described as a tale of somewhat forbidden dinosaur science on a distant Jurassic world. It delves into the realm of “Cretaceous-style hunting and cloning” for sport, and the responsibilities of a veterinarian who has to coexist with giant reptiles. Read my new science fiction tale now: “Dinotopia.”

QUATERNARY REALMS ANTHOLOGY: Volume 2 – Edited by C.M. Bratton

Published/put out by The San Antonio SF & Fantasy Author’s Association

Featuring Lawrence Dagstine story: “Dinotopia”

Available on Amazon in paperback. Also available on the convention circuit.

Click and sample below:

AUTHOR LINE-UP:

Science Fiction & Fantasy story titles:

Other New Entries: “Books & Anthos”

Other New Stuff in Addition: “Lawrence Dagstine Newsletter”

https://lawrencedagstinewrites.substack.com/

TIME TRAVEL BOOKS: “A Stitch in Space Time: Time Travel Stories” – Culture Cult Press

The next book I’m in, and I believe this is my 6th anthology acceptance of 2024, is time travel themed. I have a lot of stuff floating out at time travel markets at the moment. It seems like every few years the subject of time, the mechanics and physics surrounding it, being able to travel backwards and forwards to a specific era and meet somebody historically important, becomes popular again. However, for Culture Cult Press’s latest book, A Stitch in Space Time, I decided to submit a fairy tale-style “mashup,” where Lewis Carroll (aka Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), uses H.G. Wells time machine and tech to travel through a surreal but alternative version of Wonderland. And from a scientific point of view, it involves the Queen of Hearts. What I like most about Culture Cult Press — besides their stellar covers, immaculate interior design, and major distribution throughout India — is that a portion of the proceeds goes to help street animals without owners in Kolkata. Be sure to check out my time travel-themed story in A Stitch in Space Time Anthology, entitled: “Lewis Carroll and the Time Machine.” Links and pics below, and in the side column just to the right.

A STITCH IN SPACE TIME Anthology – published by Culture Cult Press

Edited by Jay Chakravarti – 22 Stories revolving around time travel

Featuring Dagstine Story: “Lewis Carroll and the Time Machine”

AVAILABLE IN PRINT PAPERBACK or as a DIGITAL EPUB (direct links):

Order the Paperback Book from Lulu: https://www.lulu.com/shop/jay-chakravarti/a-stitch-in-spacetime/paperback/product-e786k52.html

Order the Digital Version from Lulu: https://www.lulu.com/shop/jay-chakravarti/a-stitch-in-spacetime/ebook/product-2m5898q.html

Culture Cult Press Socials:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/CultureCultPress
Instagram: https://instagram.com/CultureCultpress
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/CultureCultPub

Homepage: https://CultureCult.co.in

Other New Entries: “Books & Anthos”

FANTASY BOOKS: “Witch Wizard Warlock” – Three Cousins Publishing

It is with great pleasure to announce I have a themed story in the fantasy anthology, Witch Wizard Warlock. This one is put out by Robert Lupton and the gang at Three Cousins Publishing (I believe in conjunction with West Mesa Press, but don’t quote me on that last part). Links and cover pics will be down below as usual, or off to the side (just scroll down to “Purchase Now” to be redirected to anything of mine still in print). My tale is on witches and wizardry. So you could say I have that ground covered. It is a tale of family bonding, being taught magic, growing up around relatives who are gifted in the arcane arts, and just have a little something to share with someone younger than themselves, but told from the perspective of a child. Read my short story, “Family Ties.” In Witch Wizard Warlock. Page-wise it comes in at around 530 pages and is available in Kindle format, paperback, and a gorgeous hardcover for the shelf collector. I would easily say the word count is in the 160K range.

WITCH WIZARD WARLOCK

A Fantastical Anthology about the three classes above.

Available on Amazon from Three Cousins Publishing/Robert Lupton

ORDER ON AMAZON TODAY:

LINK: https://www.amazon.com/WITCH-WIZARD-WARLOCK-Robert-Lupton-ebook/dp/B0CG9YHLN3

Available on Kindle, in paperback, or gigantic hardcover…

Other New Entries: “Books & Anthos”