Jason Sizemore

Original Fiction: "It Happened in 'Loontown" by Lavie Tidhar "City Lights" by Yilun Fan (translated by S. Qiouyi Lu) "Sheri, At This Very Moment" by Bianca Sayan "What Una Loves" by Rich Larson "Lamia" by Cristina Jurado (translated by Monica Louzon) "The Cure for Loneliness" by M. Shaw Classic Fiction: "O2 Arena" by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki "That Rough-Hewn Sun" by Benjanun Sriduangkaew Nonfiction: "Tie Me to the Mast (Metaphorically Speaking): Social Writing in the Age of the Pandemic" by C. S. E. Cooney "The Importance of Presenting Disabilities in Literature" by Mercedes M. Yardley

ORIGINAL FICTION - Root Rot by Fargo Tbakhi - Your Own Undoing by P H Lee - Love, That Hungry Thing by Cassandra Khaw - Mr. Death by Alix E. Harrow - The Niddah by Elana Gomel - Gray Skies, Red Wings, Blue Lips, Black Hearts by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor HOLIDAY HORRORS FLASH FICTION WINNER - All I Want for Christmas by Charles Payseur CLASSIC FICTION - The Ace of Knives by Tonya Liburd - Roots on Ya by LH Moore INTERVIEWS - Interview with Author Fargo Tbakhi by Andrea Johnson - Interview with Author P H Lee by Andrea Johnson - Interview with Cover Artist Vicki Be Wicked by Russell Dickerson NONFICTION - Story-less: A Forethought by Usman T. Malik - Trapped in Stories by Malka Older - Words for Thought: Short Fiction Review by AC Wise Cover art by Vicki Be Wicked.

Apex Magazine is a monthly science fiction, fantasy, and horror magazine featuring original, mind-bending short fiction from many of the top pros of the field. New issues are released the first Tuesday of every month. This month we celebrate Indigenous American fantasists with guest editor Amy H. Sturgis.

With stories by Alix E. Harrow, Sam J. Miller, Sheree Renée Thomas, Cassandra Khaw, and many more, Apex Magazine 2021 is a collection of darkly beautiful tales appearing originally in Apex Magazine January-December 2021. From a spaceship in the far-flung reaches of space to a cozy living room where a detective interviews a killer, this anthology explores the good and the ugly. It dissects what makes us human versus what makes us monsters. Within these pages, you will meet a golem that doesn’t know how to save its family, a group of robots debating whether they are alive, and a woman striving for that social media-perfect life. From parasitic twins to a hospital dreamscape, to a town full of people wearing masks, this anthology will take you on journeys you never could have expected. Come with us and discover the 48 surreal, strange, shocking, and beautiful stories in Apex Magazine 2021. Table of Contents “Root Rot” — Fargo Tbakhi “Your Own Undoing” — P H Lee “Love, That Hungry Thing” — Cassandra Khaw “Mr. Death” — Alix E. Harrow “The Niddah” — Elana Gomel “All I Want for Christmas” — Charles Payseur “Gray Skies, Red Wings, Blue Lips, Black Hearts” — Merc Fenn Wolfmoor “Barefoot and Midnight” — Sheree Renée Thomas “The Amazing Exploding Women of the Early Twentieth Century” — A.C. Wise “Black Box of the Terraworms” — Barton Aikman “If Those Ragged Feet Won’t Run” — Annie Neugebauer “A Love That Burns Hot Enough to Last: Deleted Scenes From a Documentary” — Sam J. Miller “The Life and Death of Mia Fremont: An Interview with a Killer” — A.K. Hudson “This Is the Moment, Or One of Them” — Mari Ness “Throw Rug” — Aurelius Raines II “Mishpokhe and Ash” — Sydney Rossman-Reich “All This Darkness” — Jennifer R. Donohue “DEMON FIGHTER SUCKS” — Katherine Crighton “Eilam Is Forever” — Beth Dawkins “Without Wishes to Bind You” — E. Catherine Tobler “How to be Good” — R. Gatwood “Osu” — Kingsley Okpii “Survival, After” — Nicole J. LeBoeuf “What Sisters Take” — Kelly Sandoval “Cottonmouth” — Joelle Wellington “Next to Cleanliness” — Rose Keating “Discontinuity” — Jared Millet “Candyland” — Maggie Slater “Gift for the Cutter Man” — D. Thomas Minton “Wake Up, I Miss You” — Rachel Swirsky “Security Breach at Sugar Pine Suites” — Pamela Rentz “Happy Trails” — Theodore C. Van Alst, Jr. “Marked by Bears” — Jessie Loyer “Spirits of the Broken Lands” — Kevin Wabaunsee “When Evening Arrives” — Tiffany Morris “An Incident at Hellpoint Prime” — Norris Black “To Seek Himself Again” — Marie Croke “This Shattered Vessel, Which Holds Only Grief” — Izzy Wasserstein “In Haskins” — Carson Winter “Whose Mortal Taste” — Erin K. Wagner “Hank in the South Dakota Sun” — Stephanie Kraner “I Call Upon the Night as Witness” — Zahra Mukhi “Soil of Our Home, Storm of Our Lives” — Renan Bernardo “Robin’s Last Song” — Nina Munteanu “Godmother” — Cheryl S. Ntumy “The synchronism of touch” — Gabriela Damián Miravete “Dreamports” — Tlotlo Tsamaase “Samsāra in a Teacup” — Lavanya Lakshminarayan