Dark Horses: The Magazine of Weird Fiction No. 43, August 2025 – Hobb’s End Press!

Posted on August 1, 2025

I’m pleased to say I’m back in Dark Horses Magazine, Wayne Spitzer’s long running Amazon Kindle and print periodical of genre fiction. This would be my second outing in Dark Horses, this time No. #43, the August 2025 Issue. I’m also back with a popular Japanese-inspired horror story, The Bite of the Cherry Blossom. And leading the Table of Contents this time around to boot. It’s a beautiful cover. The author line-up can be found below. Hobb’s End Press puts together a few of these monthly speculative fiction publications, including Black Sheep and Mobius Blvd. So if you missed Bite of the Cherry Blossom before, now’s your last chance to sink your teeth into this eerie tale about Japan’s suicide forest.

Dark Horses Magazine #43, August 2025 Issue

Published by Hobb’s End Press – Edited by Wayne Spitzer

Featuring Dagstine story: “The Bite of the Cherry Blossom”

Get it on Amazon Kindle or in print format.

Go directly to the Dark Horses website below, be redirected.

LINK: https://darkhorsesmagazine.mystrikingly.com/

Dark Horses Magazine August 2025 author lineup:

THE BITE OF THE CHERRY BLOSSOM
Lawrence Dagstine

BLACK MAGICK 101
Gray McClary

GLADIATORS IN THE SEPULCHRE OF ABOMINATIONS
Alexander Zelenyj

LEX TALIONIS (THE RULE OF CORD)
R.C. Bramhall

SADIE
Wayne Kyle Spitzer

NORMAN NODDING
Stephen McQuiggan

THE CROOKED ROAD
Stephen Shewmake

THE GOOD SHIT
Brian J. Smith

BEYOND UNKNOWN
Barry Vitcov

WISP
M.P. Strayer

Other New Entries: “Magazines”

Wicked Shadow Press: “Drop Dead Gorgeous” – DAMSELS OF DOOM!

Posted on July 1, 2025

It’s that time again. Wicked Shadow Press time. And I’m in one of their hauntingly beautiful (or should I say hideously ominous?) anthologies about supernatural women! That’s right, ghost girls! This time to a two-volume series in paperback and epub formats. Drop Dead Gorgeous: Damsels of Doom. So remember that. Damsels of Doom. My tale is brand new and inspired by Japanese folklore (Japan’s infamous suicide forest) and the video game series, Fatal Frame. There’s a lot of great stories in these two books, but if you decide to just check out the one I’m in (pictures and links down below), be sure to read: “The Bite of the Cherry Blossom.” You’re in for a tasty treat, I promise. Cheers.

Drop Dead Gorgeous: Damsels of Doom Anthology

Published by Wicked Shadow Press

Featuring Dagstine story: “The Bite of the Cherry Blossom”

Where to order this spooky tome (click links, be redirected):

Paperback: https://www.lulu.com/shop/rasiika-sen-and-parth-sarathi-chakraborty/drop-dead-gorgeous-damsels-of-doom/paperback/product-e7w272k.html

ePub: https://www.lulu.com/shop/rasiika-sen-and-parth-sarathi-chakraborty/drop-dead-gorgeous-damsels-of-doom/ebook/product-e7w27vn.html

Wicked Shadow Press on Social Media:

Like WSP on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/wickedshadowpress

Follow WSP on Instagram:https://instagram.com/wickedshadowpress

Other New Entries: “Books & Anthos”

MODERN FICTION: “Mono No Aware” – Anthology on the Fleeting Nature of Beauty

Posted on October 3, 2024

Pleased to announce I have a fiction piece in the modern fiction anthology from Culture Cult, Mono No Aware. This is not a genre piece. While I’m mostly known for scifi and horror and a small touch of humor, I don’t always write to the beat of a specific drum or “formulaic forms” in fiction (per se). While Mono No Aware is chock full of fantastic fiction, it is a book of forty-five stories by forty-five very talented authors on the subject of nature and beauty, as depicted from a particular saying in Japanese. The fiction in this book is literary and modern. My story just happens to take place in Japan, where a young boy relocates with his mother. The child suffers from a terrible stutter (a speech impediment), and he’s able to conquer this disability by befriending the seals of the region. Check out Mono No Aware, An Anthology of Fleeting Nature and Beauty. Be sure to read my tale, “The Seal Whisperer.”

Mono No Aware – Anthology of Modern Fiction

Stories on the Fleeting Nature of Beauty

Featuring Dagstine Story: “The Seal Whisperer”