In his editorial this month, Jason Sizemore gives us the lowdown on the issue.

This month we offer three outstanding works of science fiction to our readers. “Blood on Beacon Hill” by Russell Nichols is that rarest of things — a vampire story in our publication…. completely by coincidence is the use of the word ‘beacon’ in Day Al-Mohamed’s “The Beacon and the Coward.” Finally, we have a story by one of the genre’s rising stars, Sam J. Miller. “To Die Dancing” has a tightly bound emotional core that I think you’ll enjoy.

Gemma Files is one of the best when it comes to writing unsettling fiction. To back my assertion, we’ve included her “Signal to Noise” as this month’s reprint feature.

Rounding out the issue are interviews with author Russell Nichols and artist James Lincke, a thought-provoking essay by Ed Grabianowski titled “Cthulhu Apocalypse and the Terrifying Tradition of Horror Role-Playing Games”, and poetry by Brittany Warman, Chloe Clark, Michael Sikkema, and Julia Kingston. We have three excerpts. The first is How to Pass as Human: A Guide to Assimilation for Future Androids by Android Ø by Nic Kelman. The second is The Flux by [Ferrett] Steinmetz. And, finally, The Weight of Chains by our esteemed managing editor Lesley Conner.

Here’s the complete TOC.

Fiction

“Blood on Beacon Hill” by Russell Nichols
“To Die Dancing” by Sam J. Miller
“The Beacon and the Coward” by Day Al-Mohamed
“Signal to Noise” by Gemma Files (from Imaginarium 2012: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing)

Poetry

Rolling Dice by Chloe Clark
Mother-Doll by Brittany Warman
When the Gods Come Knocking by Julia Kingston
Time Missing by Michael Sikkema

Novel Excerpts

The Flux by Ferrett Steinmetz (eBook/subscriber exclusive)
The Weight of Chains by Lesley Conner (eBook/subscriber exclusive)
How to Pass As Human: A Guide to Assimilation for Future Androids by Android Ø by Nic Kelman (eBook/subscriber exclusive)

Nonfiction

Words from the Editor-in-Chief by Jason Sizemore
Interview with Author Russell Nichols by Andrea Johnson
Cthulhu Apocalype and the Terrifying Tradition of Horror Role-Playing by Ed Grabianowski (Nonfiction)
Interview with Cover Artist James Lincke by Russell Dickerson

Podcast #29

“Blood on Beacon Hill” by Russell Nichols (46:05 in length)

Apex Magazine is a monthly science fiction, fantasy, and horror publication featuring original short stories, poetry and non-fiction. It is edited by Jason Sizemore and Sigrid Ellis, and released the first Tuesday of every month. In 2012, 2013 and 2014, it was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine.

We last covered Apex Magazine with issue 77.

Apex Magazine is published by Apex Publications. Issues are available free online, and sold for $2.99 in a variety of digital formats. Subscriptions are just $19.95 for one year (12 issues) in EPUB, Mobi, and PDF formats.

This issue’s cover is by James Lincke. The complete issue is here, and you can buy back issues or subscribe at their website.

Our late November Fantasy Magazine Rack is here. See all of our recent fantasy magazine coverage here.