“A Little Magic in Me”
by Avery Vanderlyle
“Dude, I always knew we’d end up like this.”
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Halloween Microfiction: The Offering by Jennifer Williams
“The Offering”
by Jennifer Williams
“Fuck,” I whisper.
His magic sings across my skin as my eager cunt pushes on empty air. My body is pulled taut, bound in iron round my neck, wrists, and ankles. Not that I need it. I’m exactly where I want to be. The room is dark and I imagine it is cool. I can see the shadow of damp stone walls surrounding us and I smell the must of neglect and decay.
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Halloween Microfiction: Desire by DJ Tyrer
“Desire”
by DJ Tyrer
She beckons in the mist to follow her down steps into the darkness below.
It smells musty, like earth after the rain. Not horrible.
She’s no more than shadow, but I hear movement within the vault, her dress hitting the floor.
Offers a hand with thin, sharp fingers. I take it.
We kiss. No lips touch mine, just bare teeth, fleshless cheeks.
I don’t care. The urge is too strong. We become one.
Flesh melts away. Flesh grows.
In the furnace of our climax, she is reborn and I feel my consciousness burn away to the clatter of falling bones.
–
DJ Tyrer is the person behind Atlantean Publishing, editor of View From Atlantis webzine, and has had flash fiction published in anthologies and magazines around the world, such as Apples, Shadows and Light (Earlyworks Press), and Journals of Horror: Found Fiction (Pleasant Storm Entertainment), issues of Sirens Call, and Tigershark, and on Cease Cows, The Flash Fiction Press, Space Squid, and Trembling With Fear.
https://djtyrer.blogspot.co.uk/
Halloween Microfiction: Danse Macabre / Memento Vivere by Bernie Mojzes
“Danse Macabre / Memento Vivere”
by Bernie Mojzes
You’d think we’d be beyond all this by now.
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Halloween Microfiction: Cloudless Climes and Starry Skies by A.C. Quill
“Cloudless Climes and Starry Skies”
by A. C. Quill
In the autumn of Jenna’s life, the opportunity arose for her to live on another planet.
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Microfiction: I Am the Candle by Eric Del Carlo
Editor’s Note: This story contains suicidal ideation.
“I Am the Candle”
by Eric Del Carlo
I see your tears. And I know your lover has left you. The boy pigmented in autumnal hues? Or the raven-haired, much-tattooed girl? Who was here last? I try to recall if I heard harsh words. I can’t always understand what you and your paramours say to one another, but I often recognize tone, timbre. And know when emotions run high and perilous.
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It’s Alive! Call For Submissions: Halloween Microfictions
On November 1st of last year I made a very heartfelt post surmising that the Circlet Press Halloween Microfictions had met their end. We were in the thick of the pandemic and Circlet Press had been bought out by Riverdale Avenue Books. Our understanding, at that time, was that we would eventually lose control of the website and no longer have posting access. Bye, bye, microfictions.
Life has a funny way of doing what it wants to do though. Due to circumstances out of everyone’s control we’re still here and still have posting access. So why not make the best of it?
In that spirit, I am reviving the Halloween microfictions. And since this is a bit of a resurrection I’d like to stick with that theme. Rebirth, renewal, resurrection. Pick your flavor. Or if you want to go more in the horror direction you could pick the rising/raising/reanimation of the dead. Whatever floats your boat.
Just remember the following:
Stories must contain erotic elements.
Consent must be EXPLICIT.
Nothing under the age of consent.
No bestiality.
No fan fiction.
Please familiarize yourself with our work before submitting. We prefer character driven stories. No porn without plot.
While all are welcome to submit work we STRONGLY encourage marginalized writers to submit. And, of course, we welcome (and love!) stories featuring LGBTQ+ characters.
Word count limit is 1,500. No reprints. Multiple submissions are okay. Please send as a Word doc or RTF (or in the body of the email) and follow standard manuscript formatting guidelines. Look up William Shunn if you aren’t familiar with manuscript formatting.
The deadline is October 6th. Payment will be $5 for stories under 1,000 words and $10 for stories 1,000 words to 1,500 words. Author retains all rights. Please include a short bio with your submission. Send submissions to jwsubs13@gmail.com
Microfiction: The Way You Look Tonight by Sonni de Soto
“The Way You Look Tonight”
by Sonni de Soto
Your sightless eyes, covered in the blindfold you always tie tightly over them, are cast downward. “Are you sure about this?”
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2020 Halloween Microfiction Roundup (And Goodbye)
And so the wheel has turned. Another year has passed and with it has come great change for many of us. I began my Circlet Press journey in 2008. It was a very dark time in my life and I needed something to hang on to. Cecilia Tan had put out a call for interns and though I was not a college student I applied anyway and she said yes. The lesson here? Don’t self reject.
In the years since, I have developed friendships that I hope last a lifetime. I have learned. I have failed. I have got up again. I’ve had the great honor of reading work from newcomers and pros alike. And the even greater honor of publishing those works.
As you may all know by now, Circlet Press has become an imprint of Riverdale Avenue Books. My future involvement is unknown and this is likely the last of the Circlet Press Halloween Microfictions. I wanted to take a moment to say thank you. Thank you to Cecilia Tan for giving me a chance. Thank you to my fellow editors. I miss sitting up in that attic with you, drinking tea and laughing about love tunnels and popped blouses. And thank you to all my authors, the ones I said yes to, and even the ones I said no to. It was a privilege to read your words, to share in your fantasies, and to teach you, and learn from you. Some of you quite literally saved my life, and I wish nothing but the best for all of you in both your writing and in your lives.
Without further ado, here is a roundup of all the 2020 Halloween Microfictions. Do take a moment to treat yourself on this rainy November day, the first day of the next year of our lives. May it bring us all great pleasure and fortune.
Movie Lovers by Kaysee Renee Robichaud
On a Wing and a Curse by Eric Del Carlo
A Little Knowledge… by Avery Vanderlyle
Mid-Autumn Incense by September Sui
Never Broken by Morrigan Blackburn
Double Feature by Tom Cardamone
From Beyond the Veil by Jena Burne
Halloween Microfiction: From Beyond the Veil by Jena Burne
“From Beyond the Veil”
by Jena Burne
The fire crackled and popped, filling the small home with the scent of smoke and warmth. Gus stirred the pot that currently simmered over the fire, waiting for the second and only other member of their small coven. They planned the ritual for midnight but their sabbat celebrations always started at sundown. Eli tended to argue that the gods weren’t punctual, so he shouldn’t have to be either. He’d arrive soon enough, though. Eli had never once let Gus down and he wouldn’t start today.
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