Contributors

Jason Frederick Myers lives in the upstate of South Carolina, USA. A lifelong fan of suspense and horror, he grew up reading Shirley Jackson, Clive Barker, and Stephen King and draws inspiration from the 70s and 80s classic movies that terrified him as a child. His fiction can be found or is forthcoming at PsychoToxin Press, Bewildering Stories, Black Sheep Magazine, and the anthology “The Horror Zine’s Book of Monster Stories.” Follow him on Twitter @Jasonfmyers.

Jason Ryberg is the author of twenty-five books of poetry, six screenplays, a few short stories, a box full of folders, notebooks and scraps of paper that could
one day be (loosely) construed as a novel, and countless love letters (never sent). He is currently an artist-in-
residence at both The Prospero Institute of Disquieted P/o/e/t/i/c/s and the Osage Arts Community, and is an
editor and designer at Spartan Books. His work has appeared in As it Ought to Be, Up the Staircase Quarterly, Thimble Literary Magazine, I-70 Review, Main Street Rag, The Arkansas Review and various other journals and anthologies. His latest collection of poems is “Bullet Holes in the Mailbox (Cigarette Burns in the Sheets) Back of the Class Press, 2024)).” He lives part-time in Kansas City, MO with a rooster named Little Red and a Billy-goat named Giuseppe, and part-time somewhere in the Ozarks, near the Gasconade River, where there are also many
strange and wonderful woodland critters.

Jayde Fontana (they/she) is a transgender poet and aspiring novelist. Being an avid reader, Jayde’s favorite genres include sci-fi, fantasy and horror. Poetry has recently won them over as well through its incredible ability to turn mental breakdowns into something productive. When not writing, reading or doing schoolwork Jayde is often playing video games, walking their dog, or running Dungeons and Dragons sessions for her friends. Put simply, she is a nerd who wants to share her nerdiness with others.

Born in New Jersey and raised in New York, Jayson Carcione now lives in Cork, Ireland, where he works for the Irish Examiner newspaper. His short fiction has appeared The Forge, Lunate, Epoque Press, Passengers Journal, Across the Margin, and Pigeon Review. His work was also highly commended in the 2020 Sean O'Faoláin International Short Story Competition. Twitter: @carcionejay

Jean Sheppard is a teacher and editor living in Toronto. Her writing has been published in Memoir Magazine, Syncopation, and Immanence Journal and will shortly appear in Bath Flash Fiction's 2023 anthology.

Jeffrey Zable is a teacher, conga drummer/percussionist who plays for dance classes
and rumbas around the San Francisco Bay Area, and a writer of poetry, flash-fiction,
and non-fiction. He's published five chapbooks and his writing has appeared in hundreds
of literary magazines and anthologies, more recently in Uppagus, Ellie, Beach Chair,
The Paradox, Trashlight, The Broken Teacup, The Raven's Perch, Part Two, and many others.
His selected poetry (from Androgyne Books) should be out very soon.

Jen Ross Laguna is an Ottawa-born Chilean-Canadian journalist and storyteller who spent 10 years working internationally for the United Nations before moving to Aruba, where she took time off to write fiction and poetry and now works as a freelance writer and editor. Her poetry appears in Last Stanza Poetry Journal, the other side of hope, descant, The Caribbean Writer, Better than Starbucks, Woods Reader, Aloka Magazine, Azahares Literary Magazine, and an anthology by The Poet Magazine. Her poem “A New World Order” recently won the Marvin E. Williams Literary Prize by The Caribbean Writer for a new or emerging writer. Her creative nonfiction has appeared in Guernica, Hispanic Magazine and Defenestrationism. Her fiction appears in the Latin American Literary Review, Mslexia Magazine, Global Youth Review, LatineLit, Isele Magazine, Evocations Review, Arlington Literary Journal, Pine Cone Review, New Myths and the Everlast anthology by Dragon Soul Press.

Jen Schneider is an educator who lives, works, and writes in small spaces in and around Philadelphia. She served as the 2022 Montgomery County (PA) Poet Laureate.

Jennifer Cox (she/her) is a writer, mother, and lawyer. Her writing has previously appeared in numerous publications, including Arc Poetry Magazine, Room Magazine, Poetry Pause and Literary Mama. She resides in Ottawa with her family. She is on Instagram as @jencoxpoetry

Jennifer Skogen loves reading too many books at the same time and going for long walks in beautiful places (usually in the Pacific Northwest). When she isn’t maintaining her two cats’ extravagant lifestyles, she can be found writing speculative fiction and poetry. Her work has appeared, or is forthcoming, in journals including Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, Orion’s Belt, Luna Station Quarterly, Hungry Shadow Press, Drabbledark III anthology, Crow & Cross Keys, and Rust & Moth.

Jerome Berglund graduated from the University of Southern California’s Cinema-Television Production program and spent a picaresque decade in the entertainment industry before returning to the midwest where he was born and raised. Since then he has worked as everything from dishwasher to paralegal, night watchman to assembler of heart valves. Jerome has exhibited many haiku, senryu and haiga online and in print, most recently in the Asahi Shimbun, Failed Haiku, Scarlet Dragonfly, Cold Moon Journal, Bear Creek Haiku, the Zen Space and Daily Haiga. He is furthermore an established, award-winning fine art photographer, whose black and white pictures have been shown in New York, Minneapolis, and Santa Monica galleries.

Jim Young is from the Niagara Region of Ontario, Canada. Born in 1968 and raised in St. Catharines. He has a degree in Science with Honours in Mathematics from Brock University. He taught mathematics for 16 years at the secondary school level. From there, he was a secondary school vice-principal for two years. In 2022, he officially retired from Education. He is blessed with 3 fine children and a wonderful wife. Now, he plays guitar as much as possible for the Seniors in his community. As well, he gets out on the hockey rink three times per week. And of course, he enjoys writing !

Joan Harvey has published stories, poetry, and translations in many literary magazines such as Bomb and Web Conjunctions, won prizes for both poetry and fiction, had an opera for which she wrote the libretto performed, and has been an essayist for the science and arts blog 3 Quarks Daily.

Joan Kydd is a native New Yorker transplanted in Northern Vermont. She doesn’t raise chickens, have a vegetable garden, ski or kayak. She started ‘seriously’ writing in August 2022, and has had several personal essays published in online/hard copy magazines, one of which was a semi-finalist in the Brooklyn Film & Arts essay contest.

She loves to write, cook, sing off key, and laugh. She is also fond of red wine and goose liver pate.

Joan McNerney has been the recipient of three scholarships. She has recited her work at the
National Arts Club, New York City, State University of New York, Oneonta, McNay Art Institute, San Antonio and the University of Houston, Texas. Published worldwide in over thirty five countries, her work has appeared numerous literary publications. Four Best of the Net nominations have been awarded to her. The Muse in Miniature, Love Poems for Michael
and At Work are available on Amazon.com A new release entitled Light & Shadow explores
the recent historic COVID pandemic.

Joanne Macias is a multi-disciplinary creative, having featured in both online and print publications including Living Stories, Best of Times, The Sour Collective, Five Fleas Poetry, Short Stories Unlimited, Eloquentia and many more. Focusing on no set genres, she loves to challenge reader perception through unique scenarios in everyday settings. If not writing, she is either teaching poetry or being distracted by the neighbour’s cat. Follow her adventures at @joanne_macias_writer

Jodi Di Menna grew up near Lake Erie in the southernmost part of Ontario. She works as a writer and editor in Ottawa where she lives with her husband and two daughters.

Joe Luscombe lives in Leeds, UK. A journalist-turned social worker, he likes stories that explore both language and feeling. Joe has appeared in Dark Mountain magazine, so is excited about appearing in DarkWinter. Dark Side and Dark Star magazine have yet to return his phone calls.

Joe Martelle resides in Eastern Ontario where he takes great joy in being a husband, father, grandfather and storyteller. He is a published author, freelance journalist, editor and columnist with decades of experience behind a keyboard. Joe’s fiction leans more towards the dark side. Scary things happen. Sometimes people get hurt. As a journalist, Joe’s choice of work would be human interest, entertainment and anything connected to his home community of Edwardsburgh-Cardinal.

Joel Robert Ferguson is a Nova Scotian poet of working-class settler origins who lives in Winnipeg, Treaty One Territory. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Arc Poetry Magazine, Best Canadian Poetry, The Columbia Review, Prairie Fire, Queen's Quarterly, & Riddle Fence, and his debut collection, The Lost Cafeteria (Signature Editions 2020), was awarded the Lansdowne Prize for Poetry.

John Armstrong lives in England.But his heart resides in many places; On a boat, In the South of France,Ireland and always within what he would call ‘The Silent clouds of nothingness’.His work often invokes dreamlike imagery, themes of memory, loss, and transformation..Armstrong’s earliest work was poetry written at 15 years old for ‘The Young socialist newspaper’ His most recent title and first book is ‘The Seduction of an English Twat Magnet’.A lover of dystopian science fiction( favourite book ‘The Time machine’ ) ‘The Mary Maker, The Sorrows, and The Half-Moon Choices’ is Armstrong’s first short story.His hobbies include; Growing Cosmos flowers and seeing them survive past the first frosts.Exploring Holland on an old bicycle.Photography and astronomy. And of course reading, a lot of Dickens, because why not? Instagram: #johnarmstrongwrites

John D. Nesbitt is the author of more than fifty books, including traditional westerns, crossover western mysteries, contemporary western fiction, retro/noir fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. He does literary translation and court interpreting. He has won the Western Writers of America Spur Award four times—twice for paperback novel, once for short story, and once for poem. He has won the Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Award twice—once for novel and once for short story. A CD of his songs, In a Large and Lonesome Land, has been recorded by W.C. Jameson. He has also received two creative writing fellowships with the Wyoming Arts Council—once for fiction, once for nonfiction.

John Ganshaw graduated with his BS in Leadership Development from NYU; after a 31-year career in banking, John retired early to follow a dream. John spent five years living in Cambodia, owned a successful boutique hotel, and established an NGO to give back. John saw the hurt this world brings and started to write about his life experiences in 2021. Since then, John has published over eighty poems and essays. John continues to share his stories and hopes to share his unpublished memoir.

John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in Midnight Mind, Novus and Abbey. Latest books, “Bittersweet”, “Subject Matters” and “Between Two Fires” are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in the MacGuffin, Touchstone and Willow Review.

John RC Potter is an international educator and gay man from Canada, who lives in Istanbul. He has experienced a revolution (Indonesia), air strikes (Israel), earthquakes (Turkey), boredom (UAE), and blinding snow blizzards (Canada), the last being the subject of his story, “Snowbound in the House of God” (The Memoirist, 2023). When in high school John had the opportunity to interview the Nobel Prize winning author, Alice Munro, who resided in his hometown. It inspired John to begin creative writing, and is the subject of his story, “In Search of Alice Munro” (Blank Spaces, 2023; Bosphorus Review of Books, 2022). His poems and stories have appeared in a range of magazines including Blank Spaces, Memoirist, Plenitude, Fragmented Voices, The Write Launch, Literary Yard, Bosphorus Review of Books. John is working on a novel-in-progress set in WWI-era Canada, ‘Blood from a Stone’. John RC Potter – Author Website (author-blog.org)

John Sara is a writer from Parma, Ohio. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from Ashland University, where he works as an adjunct professor and lead fiction editor for the student-run literary journal The Black Fork Review. His work has been featured in such places as Prairie Margins, Paper Dragon, Blood+Honey, Schlock! Webzine, Cul-de-sac of Blood and more. You can follow him on Instagram @darkbat616.

John Timm writes in several genres. His literary fiction appears in 300 Days of Sun, Bartleby Snopes, Euphemism, Flint Hills Review, and elsewhere. When not writing, John teaches foreign languages and communications.

John Zedolik is an adjunct English professor at Chatham University and Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, and has published poems in such journals as Abbey (USA), The Bangalore Review (IND), Commonweal (USA), FreeXpresSion (AUS), Orbis (UK), Paperplates (CAN), Poem (USA), Poetry Salzburg Review (AUT), Third Wednesday (USA), Transom (USA), and in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In 2019, he published his first full-length collection, entitled Salient Points and Sharp Angles (WordTech Editions), which is available through Amazon, and in 2021 he published another collection, When the Spirit Moves Me (Wipf & Stock), which consists of spiritually-themed poems and is also available through Amazon. He recently published his third collection, Mother Mourning (Wipf & Stock), again, available on Amazon. John's iPhone is his primary poetry notebook, and he hopes his use of technology to craft this ancient art remains fruitful.

John-Paul lives in St. Catharines, Ontario with his wife and two children. He’s been writing for years and is a fan of Sci-fi and fantasy. His stories have appeared in the Niagara-On-The-Lakes’ Writers Circle’s anthologies Beginnings and Endings and Journeys as well as on sites such as Commuter Lit, DarkWinter Lit, The Writer’s Journal, and Jerry Jazz Musician. He is a person of few words, so he enjoys writing short stories and novellas the most.

Jonathan Worlde’s novel Latex Monkey with Banana was winner of the Hollywood Discovery Award. He has over thirty short stories published in various journals, including Trembling with Fear, Cirque Journal, Raven Review, Mystery Tribune, Stupefying Stories, Daily SF and Metastellar. In his spare time he performs blues as Paul the Resonator; his CD is Soul of a Man.

Joseph Clegg's fiction and poetry have most recently been published by Impspired, Confluence and Avatar Review, and he writes about jazz and hip hop for BRICK. He is co-organiser of two literary critique groups based in Amsterdam. Find him on Instagram @cleggjjg and at www.cleggjjg.com

Joshua St. Claire is an accountant from a small town in Pennsylvania who works as a financial director for a large non-profit. His haiku and related poetry have been published broadly including in The Asahi Shimbun, Frogpond, Modern Haiku, The Heron’s Nest, and Mayfly. He has received recognition in the following international contests/awards for his work in these forms: the Gerald Brady Memorial Senryu Award, the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Haiku Invitational, the San Francisco International Award for Senryu, the Touchstone Award for Individual Haiku, the British Haiku Society Award for Haiku, and the Trailblazer Award.

Joyce Bingham is a Scottish writer who enjoys writing short fiction with pieces published by Molotov Cocktail, Ellipsis Zine, FlashBack Fiction, VirtualZine, Funny Pearls and Free Flash Fiction. She lives in the North of England where she makes up stories and tells tall tales. @JoyceBingham10

Julie Allyn Johnson is a sawyer's daughter from the American Midwest whose current obsession is tackling the rough and tumble sport of quilting and the accumulation of fabric. A Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee, her poetry can be found in Star*Line, The Briar Cliff Review, Phantom Kangaroo, Lyrical Iowa, Moss Piglet, Cream Scene Carnival, Coffin Bell, The Lake, Haikuniverse, Chestnut Review and other journals. Julie enjoys photography and writing the occasional haiku, some of which can be found on her blog, A Sawyer’s Daughter.

Justin Muir is a writer from Ontario, Canada. He is a recent graduate from Trent University. He mainly writes horror novels or whatever interests him in that given moment. When he is not writing, he's failing to square the circle.

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Late blooming author K.D.Straus has been, what her clients cheekily refer to her as a ‘hairapist’ for over thirty years. It is in the Waterloo Region that her miniature English Bull Terrier generously shares his home with she and her husband.

K.C. Hill is an accredited blogger, eclectic artist and hybrid writer who has been living abroad since 2002. Having taught EFL and Creative Writing for several years, she launched Great Storybook in 2014, which though archived since 2018 is visited 30,000 times a month. Some of her writing has gotten published and awarded, some of her artwork has been sold in galleries. K.C. is ever working to hone her craft and has just submitted her first novel of Magical Realism to a literary agent. Sign up for K.C.’s The Morning Buzz at www.KC-Hill.com and follow her on Twitter @KC_Hill_.

Kara’s poetry has appeared in Anti-Heroin Chic, Autumn Sky Poetry DAILY, Bards Against Hunger Pennsylvania Anthology, GrassLimb, Skinny Poetry Journal, and others. Kara’s earlier poetry has appeared in regional publications such as Pennsylvania Poetry Society anthologies as well as Yorkfest Literary Competitions in her hometown of York, Pennsylvania where she currently resides. Her first collection of poems, Where the Compass Points, is forthcoming.

Karen Quickley is an emerging American poet and writer. Her work has been featured in numerous print and online publications and has been nominated for Best of the Net. She lives in northern Indiana with her two favorite pussycats. More at karenquickley.net and apoetinlove.substack.com.

Karen Schauber's flash fiction appears in ninety-five international literary magazines, journals, and anthologies, with a Pushcart, Best Small Fictions, and four Best Microfiction nominations. She is editor of the award-winning flash fiction anthology The Group of Seven Reimagined: Contemporary Stories Inspired by Historic Canadian Paintings (Heritage House, 2019). Schauber curates Vancouver Flash Fiction, an online resource hub, and Miramichi Flash, a monthly literary column. In her spare time she is a seasoned family therapist. https://KarenSchauberCreative.weebly.com

Karen Wolf is a Pushcart Prize nominee. She has been published in Rocking Poems in Honor of Walt Whitman’s 200th Birthday, Chaleur Magazine, Adanna Journal, Ground Fresh Thursday, Silkworm 12, and many others. Her chapbook, THAT’S JUST THE WAY IT IS, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2018. She says that poetry soothes the savage beast and opens her eyes to the beauty that abounds within the world.

Karly Foland is originally from Omaha and has spent over a decade living in Africa, Asia, and Europe. She recently moved from Abuja to Brussels and lives with her husband, newborn, and the two cats they rescued from the streets of Rabat. Her short stories have appeared in print in Best Climate Change Stories and online in Unleash Lit, Panorama, Gargoyle Magazine, and soon in Black Hare Press.

Residing in Southern Ontario, Karolina Bednarek, also known as Sunset Queen on social media, is a poet, photographer, blogger, book and film reviewer, and is an aspiring novelist. She enjoys experimenting with language, painting with words and blending poetic form with emotional depth. With a deep connection to nature, relationships, and her inner voice, her work reflects an ongoing exploration of the world around and within.

Katey Taylor is a San Francisco Bay Area based writer. Her recent personal essay was an editor’s pick for SWAAY Women’s Magazine. She’s an author of two young adult novels and was featured in Young Entertainment Magazine. She’s represented by Serendipity Literary Agency. Visit her at www.kateytaylor.com.

Katherine Hunter is a Namibian illustrator, graphic designer and writer with an interest in fantasy-based creations that draw on southern African narratives and spaces. She loves stories that prompt questions with unclear answers. Katherine obtained her BA in Visual Communication (Illustration) from the Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography, then continued her studies by completing her Honours in Illustration and her Master’s in Art Education at the Stellenbosch University. Her artwork, published in Doek! Literary Magazine, was shortlisted in the 2021 and the 2023 Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards. Her short story, Eat or be Eaten, appears in Now Now, the 2023 Doek Anthology. Katherine can be found at maan.atelier.na on Instagram.

Kathleen Chamberlin is a retired educator living in Albany, New York. Her writing has appeared in both print and online journals and in several print anthologies, the most recent of which is CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL: Attitude of Gratitude. In addition to writing, she enjoys gardening, genealogy, and grandchildren.

Kathleen is currently a 7th-grade American history teacher. She obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from Villanova University in 2000 and a Master's Degree in Education with a concentration in social studies from Monmouth University in 2007. When Kathleen is not working or writing, she spends her time on the Jersey Shore with her husband and two daughters.

Kathy Pawluk lives in the prairies and has a Bachelor of Arts from University of Saskatchewan.
She will be devoting more time to her writing now that she is retired. Kathy began writing in
her teens and writes mainly short stories. Her work is inspired by her favorite author Raymond
Carver.

Kati Bumbera is a video game writer who’s happiest in the mountains with a notebook in her backpack. Snow and ice are her favourite things to write about. She has short fiction published in The Fabulist, Roi Faineant, The Fantastic Other, The Disappointed Housewife and The Selkie. She lives in France and occasionally posts as @KatiBumbera.